Books, Books, Books!

The other thing on Chris' list of things to tackle while he was hanging out with the kids, letting me rest, was to get Clara reading. He looked to the Hooked on Phonics set we bought a while back for some guidelines on how to go about it all. It worked! Clara has a way of refusing to try something when she thinks it's too hard -- never mind whether or not it really is too hard. It's extremely frustrating and something I have little patience for (despite the fact that I'm fairly certain she gets that from me). However, Chris was a saint when it came to staying patient to keep her in the game of reading! She's reading now, and is very excited about it. They practice a little every night and have started to bring in practicing math, spelling and writing as well.

Here she is with her workbook.

Those are all the books she has already read. The charts behind her help keep track of her progress. There's a chart for each subject (reading, spelling, writing and math). She gets to put a sticker on the path as she completes each new section. She's progressed so much in the past 2 weeks that Chris went ahead and ordered the Hooked on Phonics for the 1st grade level. I am so proud of this little girl...who told her she could grow up so fast?

Here she is reading to me one of the first evenings we were home after Christmas...when the morning sickness was at it's worst! I spent a lot of time in bed just trying to sleep the nausea away since I was lucky enough to have that luxury with Chris being home 24/7. Clara would come in to visit me and read to me to 'help me feel better'. I am a blessed woman!

So in the 3 weeks Chris had off after our vacation he set the same goals I had set as he left for his 6 month deployment: To have Clara riding her bike, to teach Clara to read, and to have Jonathan potty trained and out of the crib. Jonathan is not potty trained still, but honestly very little effort has been put in there, esp since Jonathan isn't showing any interest whatsoever. It's just not a task we look forward to. I can say I laid some groundwork on the bike riding, but all the credit for Clara's reading goes to Chris (and Clara, of course!) Do I feel bad that I was not so successful? Not at all. It simply has shown us how important it truly is to have 2 involved parents. It gave Chris a lot to think about. While we are extremely thankful and lucky (esp. in today's economy) to have the comfort and security of Chris' job in the navy, we are also more aware than ever of how important his role is in our family. Chris has begun to seriously think about and plan for our future after the navy, which we've planned to start in about 6 short years from now. Chris will retire once he has 20 years in, and we look forward to a time when he will not have to leave us for 6 months at a time anymore, will not have to miss any more milestones and will always be there to pick up the pieces when I fall short.

Who knows what that all really means for us in 6 years...either way, I'll say it again, I am a blessed woman!