Math accomplishments

While playing the "slugbug" game today I had three points (we had to change to points rather than hitting - as you can imagine 3 boys were a little too enthusiastic with the hitting) and saw another one worth one point. Conner immediately piped up, "Now Mommy has 4 points." As I sat stunned Tegan asked Conner, with amazement, how he knew I now had 4. Very matter of factly Conner responded, "Well, 4 comes after 3 just like 5 comes after 4 and since mommy got one more point 4 would be next so that's what mommy has." He was exactly right. Maybe it's good that Tegan struggles so much with math because Riley and Conner hear all the reiteration with him and are obviously picking up something. Yesterday, while playing "slugbug" (it happens every time we drive away) Riley said they had 26 points and asked how many I had. I told him seven and without skipping a beat he said, "All right, we're 19 points ahead of you." I asked him how he knew that so fast and he told me that 26 minus 7 was 19. I couldn't argue with that. These guys are whizzes at math in their head, but you put it on paper in front of them and it takes forever for them to complete. As of this week, I have set the worksheets aside and am approaching the subject differently. I figure if we drive around enough playing slugbug they'll have their addition and subtraction down. I had Tegan double a recipe for me yesterday using measuring devices and he did great. Today, he learned to read how many miles it is from point ot point on a map and then added it all up between here and Boise usign some manipulatives, but never writing it down as an actual math problem and he did it perfect. Now it's just the creativity challenge (I much prefer the worksheets).

I went to start the motorhome today and it wouldn't start. We're hoping it's just the battery so we'll charge that tonight and see what happens tomorrow.

Riley has had a horrible stomache ache for the past 6 days so I finally took him to the dr tonight. He couldn't figure anything out so he's having us try a laxative just to rule out constipation and if he's not better tomorrow we'll have to take him back in.

While playing a concentration type game with Conner tonight I had to leave the room several times to deal with Riley since he wasn't feeling good. Every time I came back Conner would get a match. He was cheating!! He'd look at the cards while I was gone and then wait until I returned to get his match. He wouldn't admit it to me, but Andy talked to him about it later and he finally admitted it. He is quite a character.