Happy Fourth of July!!

It was a red, white and blue day at the Grant house.  It was only those colors because the girls had blueberries, bananas and strawberries for their dessert.  Was the only true way we celebrated the Fourth of July today.

Our day consisted of going on a trip to Walmart.  All five of us.  Was longggggggggggg....  but the girls were good because they both had their iPod touches.

Then I took Riley and Madi to Barnes and Noble.  They have both finished eight books so I filled out their reading logs.  They each got to choose a free book from a list provided by the store.  They both read their books on the way home.  Was really cute.  Riley created a story to go with the pictures and Madi began reading her book.

Madi did about an hour and a half of math work today.  It was one page with only 12 problems on it.  The math problems were something she could do with good concentration and effort.  The issue was that she didn't want to do it and sat there for long periods of time either resting her head on the table or turned toward us.  Mind you, we had just finished lunch and Riley and Jules were in the room at times.  She was only able to get done with five problems in over an hour.  However, she was purposely taking her time and trying to barter with us to only do a few questions.  We were unrelenting and told her that she would finish the page and possibly more if she was going to argue with us.  Jeremy and I did not have to help her with the problems.  In fact, she got them all correct.  Though we did do the problems at the same time to double check her work and motivate her to do it.  It was all about her effort and whether or not she would try.  She and Jeremy finished up the page in her room while I had the other girls downstairs.  When she finished, she said it was boring.  I just told her that's sometimes how things are and that I'm glad she finished her work.

We talked briefly with her about how when school comes around, she'll have to focus to get her work done.  She can't sit and stare or complain about it because it does no good.  We can't be taking hours to do for her what she can already do for herself.  We don't mind at all helping her when she needs it, but we will not do the work for her.  We kept telling her that if she were to stop wasting time doing nothing and just do the work, she'd actually have more time to play and do other things and be finished faster - much faster.  So we'll see how the study time tomorrow goes.

Tonight went well after dinner.  Madi and I finished the Babysitter's Club book together and she is starting her new book "Pandora...." - I don't remember the rest of the title.  Mixes a little Greek mythology in it which she likes.

She'll be at Kami's with Julia all day tomorrow.  Riley has a doctor appointment and then I have piano students and a crochet lesson in the afternoon.  Wednesday she is having a playdate at our house with another girl named Madison from Ethridge.  Then the other Madison's mom is picking the girls up the same day to do a babysitting class in Frisco with another Ethridge girl named Shelby.  So she'll get to meet a few more friends which will be great.

Madi, Riley and I will be doing a road trip on Friday morning to Killeen to spend the weekend with Poppi and Grammy which will be fun!

Going to the Park

This morning the girls and I walked while Madi rode her bike.  We went down to the park to play in the heat for a few minutes before heading back home.  Then girls watched a Barbie movie.  They are eating lunch at the moment.  Madi finished her lunch and we're helping her with her multiplication (multiplying four numbers by two numbers).

Sweet sisters

Riley chased Madi for almost a quarter of a mile!  

Check out the running outfit!
Socks to the knees were her choice.

Beautiful girl!

And.... wait for it... more swimming!

Today was good.  We woke up, got ready and went to church.  Madi said they talked about perseverance in the Kid's Church.  Riley learned about Noah and the ark.  And we learned about salvation - Romans 6.

We came home for lunch and some computer time.  Jeremy has been playing a game with Madi called Avadon (or something like that).  They're loving it.  He'll have to explain more about it as I have no idea really what it is.

Then we went to my parents' house to do more swimming and had some dinner.  I put Riley and Julia to bed.  Riley, Madi, Jer and I read the story of Jairus and how Jesus healed her as well as his healing of the woman with the issue of blood.  Jeremy is having time with Madi at the moment and they're reading.  I did hear quite a bit of giggling a second ago so they must be having fun!  Hopefully he didn't fall asleep again... hahaha

Talk to you tomorrow!  Madi will be excited to hear your voice again!

How to Go to the Bathroom

When you're having trouble going to the bathroom, it always helps if the rest of your family makes farting noises with their mouths and hands.  (not pictured - me (the photographer) and Riley (the one needing help))

Note:  do not try this without adult supervision.  hahaha

Spa Baths

In an effort to help Riley wash her hands (and make it more fun), I have done "spa baths" with her.  Very girly and makes it seem more special than just washing your hands normally.  We don't do it every time, but here's how to do it:

1.  Plug the bottom of the sink.
2.  Add water half way up.
3.  Put soap in - a squirt or two.
4 - Put your hands in the sink and swish around.  Or gently pat your hands on top if you're wanting to really feel pampered.  :)

Get Wild, Get Crazy, No Need To Be Lazy...

The title of this blog is a phrase we used to say all the time at youth camp.  Anyway - a wild and crazy fun day here.  Madi and I went out for our morning bike ride/run.  We stopped by the park near our home and I jogged a short path near it so she could play.  Then we finished up.  I had a piano student this morning.  Girls went upstairs with Jeremy during it.  We were supposed to go to a birthday party for our neighbor's daughter, but I had forgotten to write down the time.  Swore it was at 2pm.  Was actually at 11am.  So needless to say, we missed it as Julia went down for her one and only nap at 10:40am and slept until 1pm-ish - when the party ended.

Jeremy made another smoothie this afternoon.  Girls loved it.  Madi did two pages on fractions today - rocked it out.  The girl really knows her fractions well!

This afternoon we went to my parents' house.  Madi always calls them Grandpa and Grandma just like Riley.  Sometimes she calls my mom Aunt Lesley, but my dad is always Grandpa.  He was laughing about it earlier and wondered if she thought he was really that old :)

The girls went wild when they got to my folks' house.  You would have thought we had put them on an all-sugar diet.  Riley was riding a pretend horse around the house and Madi was talking and talking.  Julia started to copy them.  They finally settled down once we got in the pool a few minutes later.

Madi named herself the family fish.  Very true.  Your dad called her "Mahi Mahi" on the chat when they talked.  She is such a good swimmer and loving every minute of it.  After they swam, we ate pizza and my dad made them banana splits with ice cream, strawberries and a little bit of chocolate sauce.  

They sat to watch a twenty minute show and then went back out for another dip in the pool.  They kept doing small jumps from the tanning ledge and calling them "cannon butts" because they were shallow jumps and they led with their butts.  Totally silly and fun.  They also made some paper dolls and paper horses with yarn for reins.  My mom has some amazing pics of the girls in the pool that she'll post on facebook.

I read two chapters from two different books with Madi.  She was so incredibly tired tonight.  Didn't even try to pinch my nose while I prayed and had Yo-Yo Ma already playing on her ipod.  All in all - a very great day!

Work Hard, Play Hard

Today had its ups and downs.  Madi woke up at 3am and couldn't get back to sleep until 6am.  Slept until around 7am.  Was still very tired, of course.  She finished the entire book "Trumpet of the Swam" by E.B. White during the three hours she was awake.  Loved the book!  We spent the morning in the playroom and eating breakfast.  Julia woke up super happy and was running through the house yelling "Aaaaaahhhhhhhhhhhh" with her hands out to her side and going as fast as she possibly could.  At one point, she ran into the kitchen doing it and then stopped to look at Madi and I.  She had a pot in one hand and a purse on her other shoulder.  She smiled and ran the other direction yelling again.  Totally loud and crazy.

We left for my parents house around 10am.  As soon as Jules went down for her nap, Jer, the girls and I all went swimming.  Riley actually put on her goggles and went underwater!  One time, but still loved it.  Was even talking about it tonight at bedtime.  Though she didn't want to do it again, it's one step closer.  Madi was a fish as always.  Diving in and swimming underwater more than above water.  She splashes constantly.  Riley would go to wipe her face off and said "Everyone always splashes me when they go under water!"  haha - very true.  Riley would also grunt every time she got splashed - "errrrr."  An exasperated grunt.  Totally gets that from me as I do it whenever I'm really frustrated.

We had Sonic for lunch (gotta love those free gift cards) and then went home.  Afternoon felt long today.  Everyone was tired.  Jer and I had both gotten up with Riley the last two nights in the middle of the night.  Madi had hardly slept and was talking quite a lot.  Riley had gotten to bed late, but woke up fine.  By afternoon, she was sassy and kept doing this walk where she puts her hand in a fist and pumps it far in front of her as she takes long strides across the room saying "Fine.  Then I'll just move over here."  Julia was Julia and while she was totally happy most of the time, she also hardly stopped whining all afternoon and never stopped running.  I was about at my wits end juggling it all.

We hadn't had Madi do any studying the last four days due to VBS so today we had her do some math work from one of the books you gave her.  (we just said goodnight to Madi - only Jeremy called her Manny... too much Modern Family, I think! hahaha)  She was going quite fast through the multiplication fact pages (just simple multiplication like 5X5 or whatever - single digit).  It was a wheel to fill in so she could also just add another "5" to the next problem so it became more about addition than multiplication and was too easy compared to having it mixed up on flashcards or other problems in the other book she has.  So I looked through her book until we found a much more complex problem page for her.  Told her that she needed to be challenged as she's smart and she can handle it.  Don't want her just doing what comes easy to her.  She really didn't want to do the page.  But we made her do it anyway.  Took quite a bit of time which is fine.  It was good to have her really think through the answers.  She had to show her work and prove her problems just like she'll have to do at school.  It was four digit numbers multiplied by two digit numbers.  She finished the page with Jeremy while he worked through each one with her (letting her do her work on her own while he did his on the iPad).  Then they checked the work together.  I was chasing Julia and Riley around and we had to go to the store to get something for the neighbor for the birthday party tomorrow for their two year old.  So all in all she studied about an hour and a half.  Was great for her to persevere through it and finish the work.  It was quite a bit harder for her.  Also let us know what things are too easy for her and where her point of struggle is.  Makes it easier for us to know when to help and what to expect of her.  We were both very proud of her for working so hard on her math today.

Tonight for dinner we had cold pasta with vinaigrette and chicken.  Riley took 1 hour and 47 minutes to finish eating - argh!!!  Julia ended up throwing her food against the wall and all over the floor.  So between the cleanup, the bath for Jules, bedtime for Jules, mopping the floor, and watching Riley eat one piece of noodle at a time followed by an entire egg with cheese which she gobbled down, it was a stressful dinner.  We're working on having Madi keep her mouth closed as she eats.  Jeremy just does the same thing to her that your dad did with you guys and it is helping.

Bedtime went great tonight.  Jeremy actually fell asleep with Madi as she was reading.  When she nudged him to wake him up, she was staring right into his face and grinning ear to ear.  She told him "you were snoring!"  He thought it was hilarious!