New Site

I have recently found shutterfly and really liked the format and ease of sharing pictures and since most people seem to want pictures of kids instead of my cute anecdotes, I have decided to open up a shutterfly page for just that reason. Since there is also a blogging function, I will probably not use this website too often, but I will keep it open just in case. Anyway, here's the site, enjoy:

http://gatzkechildren.shutterfly.com

Since Moving...

...we have found a playground which not only has a large play structure, but it also has a flower garden, greenhouse, pool with slide, art exhibit, pond with bridge, and a walking trail. All among tall (enough) shade trees and soon to be green grass. One of the high points was discovering that this park had swings! Have you ever noticed that newer parks don't have swings? All this, within a mile of our house!

We found the Riverwalk, which though it is unimpressive at the moment, will probably be nice come summer.

Then we got snow...in March...highly unusual for our standards. It went away a day or two later.


Then, while getting lost on the way to the library, found this! Jordyn was absolutely terrified of walking too close to the edge and would severely caution Noah against getting within ten feet of the edge of this cliff. Jordyn was very proud to note the dam just out of the picture to the left.

So, you can see that despite the constant work on the house, we are still getting out to enjoy ourselves occasionally. It hasn't all been roses, but it hasn't all be thorns either. Eric plans on joining us in about a week and we have a lot of adventures saved up to enjoy with him. 

Recreational Activities

My kids new favorite activity is to remove all the cushions from the couch and then use the couch as a trampoline, something they get in trouble for doing. I don't mind the removal of the cushions, but I strongly dislike the jumping on the couch. I have told them that they can jump on the cushions which are placed on the ground. I remember doing that as a kid and as long as they are willing to clean up after the mess (which I force them to do...), I am okay with this.

Besides, they look cute! Noah had just stolen a slice of bread from the kitchen and was eating it here.

Jordyn wanted in on the action too, so she asked for a piece of bread, but I made her take a picture first.

The really big change is the addition to our family: 

Yup. We now have two cats. We haven't named them yet, but they were originally called Cookie (black and white) and Angel (brown and white). Only Angel is a boy and Cookie is a girl...it just doesn't go right. We are thinking of naming them Oreo and Butterfinger. Butterfinger is really shy and spends most of his day underneath my bed. Oreo will come out occasionally, but only as long as the kids don't move quickly or noisily. The cats were around kids, so I think this will wear off over time. They are still adjusting to their new environment...which is changing....because we are moving!!! We are setting our date at February 27-28th. We will probably take 3-4 days to drive down there because each of us is driving the entire time, we have four cars between 3 people (including the moving truck)!

I am sure I will be posting more on that vein in the near future. 

Stay Tuned!!!

Sleepy Kids

Yesterday we had a big evening. We stayed out late at my mom's house, just hanging out and playing. It was nice having a three-day weekend to have a day completely off to relax, so Sunday night we were able to spend a little more time than usual just playing. Eric had gone home earlier because, unlike Mom, he had to work, so he headed home to sleep. The kids and I didn't get home until 11:10 pm!!! At which time, I, obviously, put them to bed.

Two days ago, I woke up to a loud noise in the kid's room and when I went in, their heater was making this awful noise and it was bright red. It freaked me out a little a lot and I turned the heater down, all the way down, and so it has been freezing at night. I have dressed them in their warm jammies and used their extra blankets. Both of them sleep under their covers and don't kick them off, so I didn't really worry about the cold, but it got really cold last night. I suppose that was the reason that they woke up at 6:15 am this morning.

Of course, they were beat by the time naps came around and though we had tentative plans to do something fun with Mom again, the kids did not want to get up. This is them refusing to wake up. I had been in the room singing to them for about five minutes. Noah didn't budge.

You will notice that Noah is wearing his favorite outfit: a diaper. By this time, I had put in a space heater and their room was nice and toasty, so don't be alarmed.

By this time, Jordyn had woken up, but was not happy about either the waking up or me being in her room. It was as I was coming around her bed that she said in her most ornery voice, "Mommy, take pictures to yourself." Of course, she rolled over to avoid the flashing light.

Noah still wasn't having it. It wasn't until I rubbed his head that he reluctantly got up.

Anyway, there are some pictures of my beautiful children, even if they are asleep.

A New Homeschooling Curriculum

So, my "curriculum" for this summer, yes, you read that right, is going to be Sonlight's P4/5 Core. I want to try to do this on my own, but Sonlight's book selection and early development handbooks seemed too good to be true, so I am going to try it out and see if it it just perfect for our family. If it is, then I will consider purchasing their Core K this fall. Otherwise, I have selected:

Bible: The Children's Illustrated Bible and the CM Method of Bible Memory
Reading: The Ordinary Parent's Guide to Teaching Reading and the Bob Book collection (along with plenty of library visits)
Read-Alouds: I have a very large list from several different sites and will just pull off from that list a week or two at a time. This is truly going to be the bulk of our homeschool time.
Writing: Zaner-Bloser. This font is just soo pretty, but if Jordyn can't handle it, then we'll switch to Handwriting Without Tears.
Math: Saxon K with manipulatives and these wooden pattern blocks. (Yes, this is an optional activity for my daughter...no pressure here. REALLY.)
Science: Everybody Has a Body: Science from Head to Toe and Mudpies to Magnets. (I think Jordyn will like these, but again...they are completely optional)
Other/Character Development: Polished Cornerstones, a character development for young girls, and Hymns for a Kid's Heart (all four sets)

So there you have it! I also plan on getting out of the house weekly. Library trips are a good start and we'll search out other field trips as time and budget allow. I think this is a particularly good start for homeschooling and a good test for me to see how well I'll do with a multi-subject curriculum. I am looking forward to doing all of this and I know that Jordyn is too. If you have any recommendations or cautions, let me know...

Yes, it's another blog!

I have had my website (http://web.mac.com/ekgatzke) for some time now but the thing is, they charge a fee- an expensive one. As much as I love being able to update a batch of pictures at a time and how easy that is to do from my computer, the ease of it all matters little since I just don't do it. I also get my email address (ekgatzke@mac.com), but I have a gmail address now (ekgatzke@gmail.com) and that is preferable anyway.

So, hi-ho, hi-ho, it's off to blogger I go...I hope that this website will be filled with wonderful pictures and commentary of these children. I plan to update weekly (or more). I am going to put an RSS reader on this blog so you should be able to subscribe through your email and it will just send you out anything new that is posted. Otherwise, keep checking back and pester me with emails whenever its been too long!