Gabe starts Kindergarten

Happy Fall (well, technically it is still summer)!

Gabe started kindergarten this year! We are still homeschooling, so our preparations for the start of school included choosing curriculums and a schedule. 

Gabe's subjects include: reading/phonics, math, art, science, geography, cooking and handwriting. Materials include:

Primary Mathematics (Singapore Math)

Science is Simple

Explode the Code (Phonics)

For art, but Gabe is also taking an art class too

Pretend Soup (cooking)

Other materials not pictured include Now I'm Reading books, Universal Publishing Handwriting Series and Beginning Geography. Also considering DK Children's Bible for religious literacy.

I'm also co-organizing a homeschooling co-op with a group of other parents. Starting on September 16, we're going to meet twice a week for group activities covering science, language or anatomy, and cooking. Expertise from our parents include nursing, Spanish speakers, and formally educated teachers. Once a month, I'm going lead the kids to create a "front page" story of all they've learned up to that point (using my own expertise as a journalist).

Here are some pics from Gabe's first week. He already completed his first "Now I'm Reading" book. He also seems to really like math.

As far as Zach goes, he is pretty much along for the ride!

Carisa's birthday and Newport Vacay

Hello! We just got back from Newport, Oregon. We spent 3 days there and it was mostly fun, lol. I think by the time Craig and I have traveling with little kids down to a science, they won't be so little anymore! Main take away: no matter how fun your plans are, kids still get freaked out by the unfamiliar. Overall, it was good though. We went to the Oregon Coast Aquarium, visited Devil's Punch Bowl, Agate Beach, and checked out a few playgrounds.

Saturday was my birthday. I turned 36, kind of a boring age. Not as exciting as 40. Got four more years to go, lol. I didn't do much, but we did have a nice dinner at Noodle Cafe. I got a chicken and eggplant dish with a spicy Thai basil sauce. Very good.

Here are a few pictures. I took them with the iPhone.

Zach turns 2, Mom visit, Gabe's birthday party!

My mom visited the last bit of April and early May for the boys birthdays, so that was a very busy time for us. Our little Z turned two-years-old on April 25. We had a small party for him, invited one family with twin boys his age and of course the Grandmas! We did a Spider-Man theme because Zach really likes action oriented things. Every time we go to the toy store or some place like Target, he makes a beeline for Iron Man and The Avenger's stuff. Obviously, he is waaay to young to watch those movies, but he recognizes the characters from me watching interviews and movie trailers on You Tube. I do let him watch the old Spider-Man cartoon from the early 80's. It's fairly tame.

Craziness during gift opening

Gabe's birthday isn't until the end of the month, but we had his party at the beginning of the month to avoid people not being able to come during Memorial Day Weekend (I think we'll do this every year we have parties). Of course, we totally failed on taking a ton of pics during all the socializing since we were trying to socialize ourselves. But we do have a few. The theme this year was Hungry, Hungry, Hippo because it is one of Gabe's favorite games and he hippos are one of his favorite animals. 

Kids kept these as a parting gift.

Strawberry jam and cream cheese

We got those hippo candies from World Market. It's kinda like a glorified Kit-Kat, very good.

It was fun having my mom here. We got to drink coffe together in mornings and Craig and I were able to have two date nights while she watched the boys. Both she and my brother are coming back to visit in June and August. Hope all the mamas had a good Mother's Day!

Yo Gabba Gabba and Hobbit Holes!

The YGG concert was at the beginning of the month and it was great. The boys enjoyed it and so did we!

Today, we also went over to one of our friend's homes and made Hobbit Holes. Gabe and 3 other boys were not interested; the girls, adults and one other boy were totally into it. Just an observation, lol. We used shallow bowls, dirt, grass seed, jars for the "door" and pebbles and rocks. Then, we poured milk moss over it. 

Red one is ours

Making milk moss, using, you guessed it, moss and milk!

Outside my friends apt. We took ours home and put it out front.

In a few days, grass and moss should start growing all over it. I'll take more pics of that. Hope everyone is having a good week!

Babywearing, walking, and kids first rock concert

First off, Zach is walking very well now. We never had to go to PT. I think he was definitely on his own schedule.

Today, we did our reading and social studies. Gabe started a game where he was having a baby and then Zach wanted to copy. Then Gabe asked about carrying the baby, and I made little wraps for them to put their babies in. Now, Gabe's baby was a basketball ball and Zach's baby was Foofa beanie baby. My planned activity was having Gabe and I come up with house rules that apply to everyone (parents and kids), but I think playing the baby-wearing game counts as social studies, too. I explained to Gabe that both mommies and daddies can wear their babies.

Gabe moved on from his baby wearing, asking when he could put his down, though. Zach, however, has been baby-wearing Foofa all day and gets mad when she falls out of her carrier.

In early March, Yo Gabba Gabba Live will be coming to Portland and we're going! It's has been described as a child's "first rock concert" and we're very excited about it. Zach now loves YGG as much as Gabe. We'll definitely take pics and put them here and on Facebook. 

Another project we did was making a YGG character named Gooble. He is not a main character, but appears in a few episodes. He is a friend of Muno and cries all the time. No one knows why, not even him, lol. Gabe is very drawn to this character and after searching online, a lot of other kids are, too. Since Gooble and Muno are shaped alike, we took our old Muno beanie baby, took him apart (we bought Gabe a new Muno beanie baby), and copied the pattern for Gooble from that. Craig started the sewing, but after his wrist started hurting, I finished up.

There was one episode in particular, where Toodee got irritated at Gooble's crying, but Plex told her and everyone else that even though he is sad, they should treat Gooble kindly and with respect. Great lesson!

Parenting and Type

Here is my latest article at Portland Family Magazine. Enjoy!

Happy New Year!

We hope that everyone had a great holiday season and a fun, safe New Year. Here are some highlights for the Brewsters from 2012:

Craig

He launched his company's newly designed website. Every year he also designs their Christmas/holiday card and it was a great success. Click here to get a look at the card on their FB page. Everyone, from the CEO to iovation customers, loved it. Craig also attended the HOW Design Conference in Boston this past June courtesy of his job.

Gabe

He is enjoying a weekly art class at Masterpiece Studio in Beaverton. His favorite characters are Plex (Yo Gabba Gabba), Pablo (Backyardigans), Big Bird and Oscar the Grouch (Sesame Street). Gabe also enjoys making all kinds of improvements on his toys.

Zach

We have another "late" walker here! Just a few days ago Zach walked around, unassisted, for the first time. Yesterday, he seemed to think that was enough walking, then today he got into it again. Ironically, he is incredibly adventurous physically, willing to climb steps or jump onto anything and anyone. To address the delayed walking, we do have him scheduled to see a PT at the end of January. However, with this latest development we may not need to go. We'll see how things progress within the next few weeks.

In addition to taking the philosophers route on walking, Zach loves dancing, being in the water, copying big brother and is very attached to Daddy during weekends and off-days.

Carisa

I wrote two articles this year for Portland Family Magazine. One was on unschooling and the other on Myers-Briggs and parenting (hopefully to be published in January). Currently, I'm working on a cover letter project for a colleague. I was also interviewed by ITYC Radio, about raising mixed-kids, being in an interracial relationship and living in Oregon. I still maintain my other blog and update when I can.

The Fam

We took three trips this year: Philadelphia, Lincoln City, Ore. and Gig Harbor, Wa. 

In Philly, I was able to see my maternal grandfather but he was too sick to interact with us. He was ailing and unfortunately passed away not long after we returned home. He did bounce back a little and told us over the phone how he appreciated our effort to see him. He was 97 and lived a great life. He will live on in myself and the boys.

In Gig Harbor, we visited Craig's paternal grandmother. She recently relocated there to be closer to her youngest son. She was very happy to see the boys and meet Zach for the first time. We also hung out with Uncle Bill and his family.

Lincoln City was a nice family oriented beach town. Easy access to the beach and very beautiful of course (it's Oregon, duh).

As far as visitors to our home, were were honored to host Grandma Claire, Uncle Will and Uncle Mark…although not at the same time, haha. Cousin Alamea had some soccer games here in Beaverton, so she and Uncle Mark stayed a few days with us. Grandma Claire and Uncle Will came from Philadelphia to stay for two weeks in August, as they do every summer.

Education

In short, we're still homeschooling and it's going well. We made some changes to our approach for the coming year that I'll start implementing tomorrow. I believe that all children are born geniuses, but Gabe definitely has an amazing attention span for academics, considering his age and gender.

Regarding New Years Resolutions, one that I will share is that I hope to update our family blog more often, :) Y'all know how I be...

We hope that 2013 brings much joy and happiness for you all. 

Hugs+Kisses!

  

Gig Harbor, Wa Visit

Two weekends ago made it up to WA to visit Craig's Grandma Mary and Uncle Bill+Family in Gig Harbor.

Grandma had recently moved there from Ocean Shores, Wa after Grandpa Ernie passed away in January. She is doing very well and loves living closer to Bill (her youngest son). We had a great visit. We ate dinner with her and she was pretty tickled at the energy pouring out from the boys. Of course, having raised four boys, she wasn't shocked. We teased her, saying that she would have to rest for a week to recover!

The next day, we went to Sehmel Park with Uncle Bill, Aunt Julie and cousins Jessica and Jonathan. Gabe was a bit loopy from not getting proper nap, but he can pretty much hang out with folks all night even if he's about to fall asleep, :) Zach napped in the Ergo. We had a lot of fun and the park was great. One of Gabe's favorite things to do is walk in the "woods".

Bill+Julie

Trying to catch falling leaves

Jessica, Jonathan, their mama

This week, Craig is off. Today we went to Lewisville Park in Battle Ground, Wa, about an hour drive from us. I'll post pics of that tomorrow.