so much alone time {and a lot of pictures}

jonah's character has changed since big brother started school. i wouldn't say it has changed in a bad way, though. just heightened maybe? i don't know. but this little boy is going through some phases and i'm wondering just what the heck he needs.
>> once he has mentioned that we need to pick up Andrew. at 9 am. surely he misses him. and when big brother comes home, he will not leave Andrew's side.
>> many times he's given up on a simple activity. thrown a fit and thrown things on the floor in a rage.
>> his interest in doing 'school' is amazing and i'm kicking myself in the butt for not having a pre-school curriculum ready for him each morning. i scrounge around for books and educational videos on the computer. do a lot of drawing monsters and crafting.
>> i also need to find a group with other kids or something where he can exercise but i simply have no idea where to search for that...
>> we try to do things together by ourselves--mommy & jonah. Some days it is a treat, an errand, or simply sit together on the couch and read a book.
>> he has taken his blanket-love and thumb sucking to the next level--maybe he's trying to cope?
>> his respectfulness has gone out the window. often hitting, disobeying, talking back, etc. how can i discipline you when i can't tell whether you need more love or just a good spanking?!
regardless, i find his tenderness untouched. he still needs me and says so. he still watches out for my growing belly and talks about his baby sister. when he wants something, he always says peeeease in the cutest way.
oh jonah baby....it's hard being a mommy dude. but i bet it's harder being a three year old.

from my Instagram @sanlynet : follow me! 

so, my little thumbsucker, i am struggling as your mommy right now. your world keeps changing. and in february it will change even more. and it's not your fault. we will just have to do our best together. 
i love you, silly monster.

Us-Made

This week has been great. I love this feeling of this goodness. In fact, when I talk on the phone with my relatives I've got nothing to say or whine about it's all going so great. Makes me feel like something big and horrible is liable to come up, because you know how you have to have your turn every once in a while...

But for right now, my little family is awesome. The boys and I have a routine. That's how my days go faster, and how discipline is learned. The weather is great--I am loving this weather and I'm so grateful for it because come July & August, I WILL NOT be this happy!  

School for Andrew is also great, even the little one is learning from just being around us while doing school! It's amazing and surprising to hear him say his letters and know all of his shapes/colors without me even teaching him one-on-one. I tell ya, life's pretty sweet right now :) My tank is full. Thank you, God.

My allergies have been killing me though...that's about as sick as this family gets---UGH allergies! 

But you wouldn't even believe what made my day the other day---my Calla Lilies came up!!! 

These are SO special to me because they were Mother's Day / Anniversary gifts from my amazing husband and they ended up dying when we moved to this place last summer (shown below, top right).

Anyway, I was EVER so excited and EVER so frickin' excited because I just knew they were coming back {I apparently don't know anything about flowers} and guess what, they did! I don't know if you've ever grown anything, but it's pretty rewarding to know things grow out of the ground that were planted by your hand. At least it is to me. 

My poor little garden though, it has rained and been really cold down here in the coast of this great state, and the combination of too much water / not enough sun is not a good thing on this raised little garden :( we will see what comes out of it. Every morning, I peek out the window to see how my little garden is doing...kinda like I peek in the boys room to see how they're laying in their beds...just to make sure they're ok. 

The garden and my potted flowers are like my fourth child {third child are my 2 cats, HA!}...I love them to death and it makes me sad they're not getting enough sunlight!  

You wanna know what's been going on around this house this past week?? Paper. 

And lots of it. The Mr. has totally taken on this hobby and I could NOT BE more prouder, if not the proudest, wife of a paper maker. I love that he gets artsy like that!!! 

But you know what I'm not a fan of? 

the lack of space in this tiny 2 / 2 house. Seriously, this kitchen / dining area is as big as a big city apartment. The Mr. has to take his assembly line outside in our garden-crowded back patio! For goodness sakes, we need a somethin' to remedy this...because I can't take it anymore. I might have to research shops / sheds to use as studio space around here! 

So the Mr. makes paper, and I make art ON the paper. Ohh, his stacks of paper are so nice. He keeps getting better and better at it...it's a craft. I am doing a little stamp carving / lithography on the side too.

And I'm stepping back into serigrafia {screen-printing} again, after about 6 years...I seriously love it. 

My dad used to have a business in it, I went to Art Camp for it, I worked at a shop that did it...I mean, it's always been part of me and I LOVE IT. I think it's my favorite medium :) 

My etsy store would fill up faster though if I could just sit down and actually work!!! Two little {homeschooled} boys + meals + house maintenance + hungry husband really take up all my time! 

This is actually my first screen print since 2005 :) + I printed on home-made paper.

AND I'm listing it on my etsy soon

{thinking about doing a giveaway of the image below, but would like input on it first, so let me know!!!}

Also crafty me has been doing all this below: PHOTO PROPS

again, for my cousin's wedding a couple of weekends ago!

This flower head crown thingy is still my favorite! I invented the finger uni-brow and posted it on 

my Instagram @sanlynet {psst, follow me}

And I keep saying to myself how I don't need to snap any more pictures of them doing school, because I just don't want to overwhelm you with those kinds of pictures, but I think the concentration on their faces, the way their eyes just focus, is so incredible to me. I was once 4, I once sat in a chair and had to do the same things. I don't have pictures of that. I don't remember those times. 

But I wish I could. So here, Andrew and Jonah. Have some photographic memories. 

You were amazing little boys. And I am glad I took your pictures. 

Sun light + cat hair + school work + little toes + coffee = it is the life! 

You guys! Thanks for sticking round til the end! I love yall and want to wish you all a happy weekend! 

progress...en la escuelita {school!} !

Yes, I am still my son's teacher. After much praise and encouragement from my family and mentors during Thanksgiving, I know that I am on the right path. Although it would be easier for me to dump drop him off at school, I am enjoying every day with him in school. The tantrums aren't as often and each morning he asks if today is a school day. I'm assuming to mentally prepare himself. 

Add PBS educational shows for him and he is a freaking learning bug. 

I love it when it clicks in his little brain, or when he brings up something he learned from school in real life. 

Incorporating robots and trains and dinosaurs is just what a little boy needs.

The letters to his name are the letters we learned first. We practice and practice them. 

A fun and memorable science project with pinto beans was a must for science.

I remember growing this as a little girl and loved watching the sprout grow and grow.

But I didn't quite remember how fast they actually grew! 

Everyday for 3 days, I would remind Andrew to check his beans to see if they had grown. I had also reminded him of the story of Jack and the Beanstalk and pretended that our beans would grow up to the sky. And after those 3 days, a little something popped out. And then a little someone couldn't contain his facial expressions with excitement!!!

After it climbed and climbed about 6 inches from the top, I knew we had to plant it. 

We unwrapped the roots from the paper towel. 

Packed some soil and planted in to the smallest left over planter I had :( 

{but hey, it did the job}

And then we watered it.

And within another week, the plant was about 18 inches tall.

We still have the plant, I make him water it and take care of it. Those are his beans. 

And they're super tall. And they're awesome <insert Andrew voice here. 

His hand-writing improves each week. He asks me to write out each of our names so that he can copy them.

Jonah also likes to pretend to write. You can check out his video HERE

He's big into coloring, unlike his big brother. I love his sense of independence and how easy he will ask for help if he needs it. 

Lately, Andrew's been into drawing skeletons. He's got a fascination with them just like his momma.
So he draws them everywhere. I am so proud.

His first skeleton ever. 

Even at AWANA he draws them. He's not too fond of coloring. 

We did the life of a butterfly for science one week and I wish I could had had more resources than pictures and videos, like those grow-your-own-butterfly kits? But maybe that's best for when both boys can appreciate growing butterflies in our own home.
Since Andrew's not too fond of coloring, I had fun helping him color.
He glued it on without fuss and wrote down the word "butterfly".

It's hung above his desk proudly, below our 5 senses. Our living room is quickly becoming a classroom. 

Wish we had a spare bedroom :( 

And since we are at the very beginning stages of learning how to read, he thinks he needs his daddy's glasses. He can't see anything with them, but he must have them on to "read". 

Leave me some comment love, yeah?! OK! Thanks.