Our Little Student

Keith and I are so proud of our two wonderful little girls, and we couldn't be happier with Mackenzie's interest in the world around her and her drive to constantly learn new things. At four years old, she's already reading at a first-grade level, and I'm constantly trying to find more materials to satiate her hunger for math, science, reading, and art. She's gone through a pile of "workbooks" that we got at Barnes & Noble and, when she earns her allowance for helping out around the house and doing her chores, she immediately wants to spend it on more books. When she and Giselle were packing up to go spend last weekend with their Grammie Phyllis, Kenzie begged me to let her bring along her "homework" (her newest collection of science and math workbooks). I tried to explain that Grammie had a lot of fun activities planned and that there probably wouldn't be much time for homework, but I eventually lost that battle. I made her promise not to finish the books while she was gone, though...if we let her, she'd fill out every page in a matter of a few days and, at $10+ for each book, this could become a spendy practice. I'm really looking forward to this September when we start her in kindergarten, and we have more materials--and a more structured plan--for our little student.

I may have already mentioned this (sorry...tired preggo mommy brain), but we're going the homeschooling route with the kids, and I've enrolled Kenzie in an online charter school called California Virtual Academies, or CAVA. Here's a short description I've borrowed from the CAVA website: "The California Virtual Academies are a tuition-free public school that uses the K¹² curriculum, which is accessed via an online school as well as through more traditional methods. Materials are delivered right to the family's doorstep—including books, CDs, and even bags of rocks and dirt. We also partner parents and students with a state-credentialed teacher to guide and track their progress through the curriculum. There are regular, face-to-face meetings as well. Student-to-student interaction is emphasized too, so CAVA students are always well educated and well socialized." I'm excited and nervous about this new adventure for our family...mostly nervous about the time management aspect of it, since we'll also have a 3-year-old and newborn here with us. But, I think having "school" inside our home will have a positive impact on the younger kids as well, as we've already seen a huge increase in Giselle's interest in reading as Mackenzie has become more immersed in learning (and Kenzie loves reading to her little sis!). Regardless of any anxiety I'm going through right now, I feel very lucky to have such hands-on involvement in our kids' education.

Here's a short video of Kenzie reading from one of her workbooks. It's a little hard to hear, but it was the best clip I could get of her (she's a little nervous about reading in front of the camera).

One month to go

I finally got a few more pics of my pregnant belly with the help of Keith, Kenzie, Grammie Phyllis, and several attempts at "self-portraiture" (not easy while trying to balance on the kids' plastic princess chair in the bathroom!). Here's a look at Jackson and me at 35 weeks...

Weekend "off"

This past weekend, the girls went up to Sonoma and spent a few nights at their Grammie's house, and I got to enjoy a VERY lazy Saturday. I had a big list of "to-dos" that I had hoped to tackle, but I officially got nothing accomplished...and it felt great! I even got to sleep in until 10am, when Ginger ran out of patience and literally started bouncing on me to wake me up. Unfortunately, Keith had to spend the majority of the day at UC Berkeley because of work, and I considered going with him because I haven't spent any time in Berkeley since college, but I was not willing to get up at 5am on my first day "off" in 22 weeks! On Sunday, we picked up the girls and spent a very fun afternoon with them at Howarth Park in Santa Rosa, where we rode on a mini train and the kids went on pony rides (while wearing the biggest smiles EVER!), and then we met up with Keith's dad for dinner. Overall, it was a fantastic weekend, and we are very grateful to Grammie Phyllis for some much-needed downtime before baby Jackson's arrival.

Sisterly love

Mackenzie and Giselle are getting SO excited for their baby brother's arrival in ~6 weeks. They constantly talk about how they're going to take care of him...he has NO idea what he's in for once he meets these two little "mommies." Keith and I were having a hard time narrowing down name choices so, instead, we let Kenzie and Zelle come up with his first name. Actually, they both mentioned the name simultaneously in the truck one day, and we all liked it, so it's official...baby #3 will be "Jackson." Our two girls are best of friends but, personality-wise, they couldn't differ more. It's going to be fascinating to see what their brother will be like and how he will deal with laid-back 4-going-on-30 Mackenzie and dual-personality "you can't tell ME what to do" Giselle. So far, he's measuring bigger (1-2 weeks ahead of the gestational "norm") than either of the girls were when I was carrying them, so at least he'll have size on his side against our shrimpy first- and second-born!
Below are some pics of the girls playing dress-up this morning (can't believe how grown-up Giselle is starting to look! yikes!), monkeying around on their bikes a few days ago, and opening a HUGE Easter gift box from Grandma Joni--full of "Oh, this is SO cuuuuute!!" (per Kenzie) clothes.