I have heard that when it comes to kids reading the most important thing is that they are comprehending and processing the story. Phonemic awareness is a great start, but it’s nothing if the child isn’t gathering any information from the text.

This is one of the reasons that Z’s 3rd grade Language Arts teacher does a 40 book challenge rather than tracking reading minutes. Here is an excerpt from one of her emails:

“My ultimate goal is to inspire students to

become passionate, independent readers. Who wants to be curled up in bed with a good

book and their reading log, tracking every minute?

I believe in reading nightly. Research shows that the more a child reads, the more

successful he/she will be in all content areas. I still expect students to read at least 100

minutes/week, but I am no longer going to require students to record every minute he/she

has read. My plan is to create a more authentic experience for our readers. Instead of

recording the minutes read, students will record when they complete a book. I am

presenting it as the 40 Book Challenge, inspired by the work of educator Donalyn Miller.”

When I say reading together I don’t mean aloud. We are all reading separately, but at the same time. When we each have a sliver of opportunity we’ll grab the book and pick up where we left off. Our schedules are all so different it’s been easy to share. Z likes reading in the morning and early evening. I am mostly free mid day and J has later evening and weekends, not that any of it has been that structured.

I gave Z the assignment of making individualized book marks so we each knew where we were at in the book. He did a great job!

Z was hesitant to get started with this story, but now he loves it and is further than all of us in book #2!

The Magician’s Nephew is the first book if you are reading them chronologically. It was written in the 1950’s, but takes place in the year 1900 and it’s british so a lot of the dialogue and vocubulary is a little difficult to keep up with for a little guy. Z describes it as being written in biblical language which made me chuckle. Coincidentally, we just recently watched Mary Poppins and it was the perfect movie to accompany our book. I know that may sound strange, but it is also set in London in the year 1910 (and written around the same time even). This gave a visual and auditory example of the setting that we had been reading about!

Sorry, I know I am rambling, but I am a book nerd through and through and I had to share about this little endeavor. It’s turned into a great boding experience for us. All three of us have completely fallen in love with the Narnia series and we can’t wait to read more.

A couple years ago I wrote a blog post about sleep habits and was absolutely fascinated with the diverse responses I got on the subject. As I mentioned yesterday in my post “15 Weird Fact About Me” I like to fall asleep on my back with my feet tucked behind my knees (Indian style). My husband isn’t the biggest fan of this habit, so I will sometimes compromise with what we call “the figure four” where I put the leg nearest him straight and the other leg bent at the knee.

I also start off with socks, but then I kick them off in the middle of the night. By the end of the week there is a pile of socks collecting at the bottom of the bed.

Lastly, I prefer it to be really dark. When I was pregnant with Ezie I struggled with insomnia and had to wear a sleep mask. Sometimes I still put something over my eyes like a soft headband. I can’t have anything covering my mouth and nose though, but I know people that swear by keeping their face covered to go to sleep.

One thing is for sure, most people have a preferred ritual for maximum rest and I find it all very amusing.

Here are the comments I received from readers in the past. Please feel free to add your own if you haven’t already!

                 I sleep on my left side all curled up under my blankets, and my hair has to be covering my right ear. I cannot sleep if my ear is exposed. Random 🙂

                –Kate

                My sleep isn’t boring; neither is it regular!! I don’t always fall asleep right away, or stay asleep for long. I tend to wake up MANY times during the night. I                   think I sleep better the last 2 – 4 hours of the morning!! And, I also wear socks to bed in the winter…but if my feet get warm, my whole body is warm and I cannot     sleep; so, yes, the socks come off!

                  –Barbara L.

               I use to sleep without a pillow. I’d read somewhere that it was better for you. My husband hated it. Over the years I changed. Now I’m a pillow snob. I                      would travel with my own pillow more if it were easier.

-Nancy

I used to have a harder time falling asleep, but after my deployment everything change. I had to sleep with lights on, people being noisy, other random military type noises. After a week of not sleeping my body decided to just sleep through everything. lol Now I can sleep almost anywhere, but if I need to pee, I will lay awake for hours. So now I just hop out of bed if I have been awake for more than 15 min and it usually knocks me out.
I am a back sleeper and when I’m pregnant I have to sleep on my side which annoys me. 🙂

–Amanda H.

Depends on the season of the year, if it is summer, I throw the covers down and sleep on top of my head. If its winter, I love to be snuggled up under my blankets. I like having my feet warm too. I actually go to bed with slipper socks on which I love. You should try them out if you haven’t. I like no noise too.

–Tara U.

I need my feet covered, ever since a childhood babysitter said a lion would eat them if I threw the covers off. I do love me some nice cotton sheets to cover up with though.

–Jennifer P.

I have to have my covers all bunched up tight around my neck and shoulders even if it is smoldering hot, but I often kick my feet out. I also like to tangle up my legs with my hubby’s but it bothers me if he moves and rearranges me. I have figure 4 sleeping son and it has always cracked us up that he could sleeps like that.

Colleen M.

I start out Indian style! But I move a lot before actually falling asleep. I used to sleep on my belly, with my arms underneath me as well. It isn’t good for my neck & back (therefore my migraines), though. At some point in the night, I’ll wake up and discover that I’m on my belly, so I’ll roll over onto my back again. If my husband is already asleep, I sleep with earplugs so I don’t hear him snoring! If I really need to sleep in on a Saturday I’ll use a sleep mask. I wear socks when it’s cold, and I keep my feet covered.

-Amy

Well I sometimes start with socks but usually they are kicked off as well. I almost always have one leg/foot out of the covers at some point. I sleep with an extra quilt on my side because my husband is a cover thief, and I have a pillow I hug up to and a box fan. Box fan goes everywhere with us and if we don’t have enough room to travel with one it is the first thing we buy when we get into town and then we return it on our way out of town.

–Laura M.

I am not really interesting.. I sleep on my right side, hugging my pillow 🙂

-Marina

Pitch dark. No socks. Tank top and undies only. Sheets pulled up over my head. On my back. Arms across my chest holding my own hands.

–Susan S.

I typically fall asleep best on my back or side spooning my husband from behind.

He likes noise in the background because he has ringing in his ears and sometimes it bothers me but I can usually fall asleep with noise. Same with light, I don’t need complete and total darkness.

I’m very much like my mother, I can fall asleep anywhere, anytime. lol

-Linds

I sleep on my side and hug a pillow, my husband jokes and says I create a fortress for myself which is sort of true but I do it on purpose, I just find it most comfortable to be in a cocoon.

–Jessica

My husband also sleeps indian style, but he even crosses his arms too! Very annoying…after 18 years though I’ve gotten used to it.

-Kristin

Looking through old blog posts I came across one carnival I joined up with where you had to share random facts about yourself. Some of the old ones didn’t really apply anymore, so I decided to start a new list. Here are 15 random things you may or may not know about me.

1. I own a pair of pink cowboy boots that my aunt wore in a movie with Whoopi Goldberg.
2. I used to be a puppeteer and even competed. It was a children’s ministry I was a part of in Atlanta.
3. I can cross my pinky toe over my other toe, but only on my right foot. I don’t want to post a picture of my gross feet so here is a drawing I found online. 

4. I learned the Greek alphabet in the 6th grade and I still remember it. Of all the things I have forgotten, that one stuck.

5. I used to be allergic to shrimp and bee stings. I am no longer allergic to shrimp because one time I accidentally had some dip made with shellfish and I did not react. The jury is still out on the bee stings because I haven’t been stung since I was  young girl.

6. I tried  hair extensions one time

I know that’s probably not what you were expecting to see, but my hair was really short at the time.

Also, this was 2005. Emo was the thing and chunky extreme layers were in style, plus I was 22.

7. My husband has a niece and a nephew that are older than me, and no they do not call me Aunt Natalie.

8. I ate cow tongue once.

9. I prefer falling asleep on my back in the “criss cross applesauce” position.

10. I haven’t drank soda since high school

11. I used to be a big time couponer. In 2009 I got $1,000 worth of free products and was questioned by the police for trying to find coupons in a recycling bin.

12. I am Natalie and my husband’s name is Jeremy. My brother’s name is also Jeremy and his wife is also named Natalie. We each have 2 boys and 2 girls. Between the two of us they are ages 9, 7 (in a month), 6, 5, 4, 3 (in a couple weeks), 1, and 10 months. 

13. I used to work on a farm and milk goats; this goat is a buck which I did NOT milk. 

14. We have lived in 5 different homes in the last 5 years: three different states, 4 different houses, and one apartment. 

15. My favorite kind of book is memoirs. I don’t know how many I’ve read, but definitely over 50. I am currently reading “The God I Love” by Joni Eareckson Tada. 

Over the summer I worked with my 8 year old and his best friend doing reading and writing projects. This was a way to bridge the summer gap and start off 3rd grade ready to learn.

With this assignment they even made a few bucks. I wanted them to know that writing is beneficial in all areas of life and can help you make money too. Without further ado here is a guest blog post by L. Pikachu (not his real name)

In this experiment you’ll get all the information on how to make slime.  You can make slime, but when you don’t add food coloring it will be white. Slime is a very squishable thing. You need lots of stuff to make it.

Here is What you need:

1. 3/4 cup of cold water

2. 1 cup of glue

3. food coloring

4. 1 teaspoon of borax

5. 1/2 cup hot water

Instructions :

Step 1: In bowl mix together cold water, glue, and food coloring.

Step two: In another bowl mix together the cold water glue and borax until the borax is completely dissolved

Step 3: Slowly add glue mixture to borax mixture. Mix well. Pour off the excess water.

The Way Slime Works:

Slime is a liquid plymer. Molecules in the glue are in strands like a chain. When you add borax it connects all the chains.

My favorite part is that I can play with it. The slime is very fun.

Fun fact. Actually, cancel that. It’s not really fun. Everyday I have a to-do list of 10 things that I want to accomplish that day. I have done it this way for YEARS. In fact when SJ was diagnosed in 2012 I had “SJ’s ENT appointment” as #8 on my to do list that day. I will never forget it. It was supposed to be so simple. 1 of 10 things to do that day. Who knew that number eight would dramatically change my life forever. For a while I even stopped making lists because it haunted me. I couldn’t keep the habit at bay for long though before I was back to my to-do lists. If you are a list person you understand. We get each other.

In the spirit of my daily to do lists here is a master list for the year.

1.Devotions with kids

This year we kept it simple for advent by doing a daily scripture reading and devotion ending with a prayer. While the fights over who got to put the sticker on the advent tree could be brutal, the kids have already missed this daily time focusing on Jesus a family. So yesterday we started Fruits of the Spirit. We aren’t going to be doing one every day, but maybe weekly or bi-weekly. Whatever rhythm we end up with, I hope to make to do at least 10 lessons, because it’s been so great for all of us.

2. Pinned it Spinned it

I blogged about this yesterday. I am hoping to participate in Pinned it Spinned it a couple times a month, like those rare times I am actually out of the house.

3. Get Ezie in Preschool

Ezie will be turning 5 in 2017 (Gasp. That sounds so grown up.). That’s not until October though, so he still has another year before he starts kindergarten. However unlike public school, preschool isn’t free. In fact it’s really expensive.  I could skip it, but I think at age 5 he would really benefit from the structured environment that would prime him for when he does go to school the next year. Lots to think about it.

4. Eye doctors, ear doctors, and dentists OH MY!

I am bad about keeping up with all the regular exams. When you have a family of 6 with at least 3 doctors each (except for Ezie who only goes to the pediatrician, but needs to start seeing the dentist) you end up with over 40 doctor visits a year. I hate going and dragging along all the younger kids along for the ride. But everyone is due for all kinds of regular checkups so I am going to make that a priority. Bleh.

5. Clean up old blog posts

I have a lot of old blog posts that either need to be deleted or revamped. What this means, along with #6 below is that I won’t be writing new stuff on the blog as often as I usually do. I’ll be around though.

6. Get a book deal

I know this sounds ambitious and it is. This is my number one focus for the year. Even if the deal is with myself. I am ready to move forward with the book I have been working on.

7. Four Fabulous Dates

Year after year my goal has been to go on one date a month with my husband. It never happens. NEVER. This year I’ll make it realistic and aim for quarterly dates and hope to make them really  special.

8. Relaunch my email list

I am so sorry, I have failed big time when it comes to my email subscribers and I am hoping to change that.

9. Soak up every last drop of school for SJ.

This is it. We’ve spent the last 5 years of our life primarily focused on giving SJ the gift of communication. She started at OVV when she was two years old. She is about to be 7! She won’t graduate until summer of  2018, but she starts 2nd grade in the fall and it will be her final year. We’ve had so many memories and traditions that are now coming to a close. There will be lots of emotions going on. There are also practical matters as far as transitioning her into a main stream school. So that’s going to be a big focus for the second half of 2017.

10. Get Elle hearing aids

Elle gets hearing aids in January. Hearing aids were a nightmare with SJ, but they were not benefiting her because her hearing loss was so profound whereas Elle’s will make a notable difference. I was told to be prepared to struggle for a few days or weeks even. After that hopefully it will be smooth sailing.

 I am looking forward to the new year, and I wish you all the best as well. Cheers.

*This post was originally posted on MessyMom.com two years ago and never transferred over when I switched to Word Press. I wanted to reshare it though because I am going to be doing it Pinned It Spinned It again this year.* 

I recently saw something on instagram called “Pinned It Spinned It”. I thought the idea was to pick any pin you want from your “fashion board”  and try to recreate it.  But, it turns out that is not how it works. The outfits for the week are preselected and if you want to follow along you can view the pin for that day and then put your own spin on it.

Get it?

At first I didn’t think I would like that because I would rather pick outfits that I pinned personally, but in the end I really enjoyed doing it this way. It forced me think outside of the box and make different combinations using what I already own in my closet. I don’t dress up everyday  hardly ever, so I only partially participated. I still had so much fun with the three that I did do.

SCARF: The Limited (although I bought it used)

DRESS: Target (my friend tried it, but it didn’t work for her so she gave it to me)

TIGHTS: Target girls department

SHOES: Yard Sale

 This dress is made of soft, stretchy tshirt material that isn’t even hemmed, so it’s super casual and comfy. Also, the neckline is low and stretchy enough to breastfeed in a dress. I just have to keep the score kind of middle of the road because it’s always tricky to chase little ones in these boots.

I still love them though!

JEWELRY: The necklace used to belong to a friend, but she was getting rid of it so I scooped it up. Over the weekend I wore it long,

but this pin inspired me to double loop it to make it shorter.

The bracelets were a gift from my brother from Africa.

SHIRT: Gap outlet and the white tank is Forever 21

PANTS: H&M

SHOES: Lucky Brand. Also a reject item. I don’t like that word! Regift? Recylce? Eh, whatever. They were my sister in laws, but she was giving them away so I took them. Anyone else starting to see a pattern here?

The only reason it’s not a 5 star for moms is the jewelry. Shiny jewelry with my children is just no the best combo. This outfit is still very practical, although for the record I changed to boots before I left the house because it’s freezing cold and I am not walking through ice and snow in flats!

So that’s it for my first ever pinned it spinned it.

If you want to joint in on the pin it spin it weekly challenge you can follow the pinterest board and follow Amy and Jamie on instagram. And if you don’t already follow me, but you want to connect on social networks then by all means follow me at instagram.com/messymom or pinterest.com/the messymom, or twitter/themessymom.

One more link and then I’ll leave you alone. Check out What I Wore Wednesday at the Pleated Poppy for more inspiring outfit ideas.

Have a great day everyone!

Christmas has been so incredibly great this year. This year’s card was finished up and sent out by the first of December and we’ve gotten some really precious cards in return.

We had our family photo taken on the beach this past July thanks to my best friend in Michigan pushing the button on my camera.

I briefly toyed with the idea of different wintery themed photos and card, but it was short lived. I didn’t want to add any extra stress this year. I slapped a “Merry Christmas” on the inner tube and voilá. Done.

Only 5 days left until Christmas. I hope everyone has a wonderful Holiday weekend!

Z got a hair cut yesterday, which gives me an excuse to post a pic of his sweet face and brag on him. He is the most responsible 9 year old I have ever met. He makes eggs, he can make coffee in the french press (and grind the beans), he gives me the daily weather report and keeps track of the time for me. He lays out his clothes the night before and is up before I am everyday. His motto is “If you aren’t early you’re late” HA! He definitely doesn’t get that from me or Jeremy. I believe God gave him this trait to go along with the big world-changing projects he will oversee in the future. Go get ’em buddy!

I shared this on Facebook today and I wanted to expound on it here on the blog.

Although Z’s teacher called him the model student in our last conference it hasn’t always been that way. Oh, and side note every child person has strengths and weaknesses. We are all imperfect and that certainly includes my oldest son, but I choose not to embarrass him or air out his 9 year old dirty laundry on the internet. We are focusing on the good here. You can keep that in mind incase you are tempted to think that other people have perfect children. Anyway, back to my point.

Z was the precious treasure that made me a mom. He was a perfect angel and no one could convince me otherwise. I remember seeing a little boy tell his mother no in a defiant toddler tone and I gasped. I remember thinking I don’t know what I would do if my little baby every talked to me that way. Fast forward a couple years and I got to see all that the toddler and preschool years had to offer. I was exhausted and really at a loss for how to handle him.

I remember one day at a church event he was being his typical strong willed self, running away from me and not listening. Then a man from church scooped him up, sat him down in a chair and barked “Now, you stay here and you listen to your mother!” (which I didn’t appreciate, but that’s another story). He would act out and get in trouble for biting in the nursery and the comments would be “it’s always the pastor’s son”. Then there was one of the times he was screaming at the top of this lungs in the grocery store and I overheard an elderly woman grumble a hurtful comment. Her voice still haunts me. Not to mention when he escaped at 2 years old and I had to call 911!

Z had big emotions, big ideas, and lots of energy. He was really smart, which made me even more frustrated that he would pee his pants right after I sat him on the toilet and made him try to go potty. He would bang his head against the hardwood floor when he was throwing a temper tantrum. I searched Google for the signs of behavioral disorders, because I was genuinely concerned. I would get so upset and ask God for strength. One time I questioned God, telling him that maybe there was a mistake and I wasn’t cut out for this job. This child was more than I could handle.

Now on the other side of things I can see that Z was a strong willed toddler, but he was also just a toddler. The second, third, and fourth time around I have let similar behavior roll off my back. In fact sometimes I get annoyed at that label- Strong Willed. Every single one of my 4 children have been identified at some point as strong willed. Even the baby. It was one of her first newborn checkups and she was crying so hard she would hold her breath. Oh, a breath holder. Yeah, that means she’s strong willed. The Doctor said. Just like that my 4th child was diagnosed with strong willedisitus at the age of 2 weeks.

My theory is that MOST young children are strong willed to varying degrees. They are learning to test boundaries and that is the healthiest thing they can do at that age so that they know where boundaries are. So if you have a strong willed child, good for you. What you probably have is a regular kid. If you have a passive compliant child you are in the minority. They are a rare breed that I am sure comes with many gifts, but also challenges of it’s own, except I wouldn’t know.

I say all this as an encouragement for mothers of littles struggling through those preschool years. I love hearing encouraging stories from other moms that have been there done that, like this one from Kristen Welch. Or the mom whose son was a holy terror, but grew up to be the CEO of his own company and spends his spare time building wells in Africa. That one I made up, but just to hear of children like mine that turned out okay is comforting enough.

Every child has their own free will and everyone’s story is different, but we hold onto the promise that you train up a child in the way he should go and when he is old he will not depart from it. I am only half way to the 18 year mark with my son and I am certain we have ups and downs ahead of us. So I am not saying I’ve arrived or that I am success story, but I am saying that I am so proud of the young man my strong willed boy is becoming. He no longer pees in his pants and eventually your son or daughter won’t either.