Family Life

Family Mountain Biking Outside of Albuquerque

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Friends,

We like to Mountain Bike. That is, my husband loves it and he is getting us slowly into it, as well. Last week we all piled up in the car and went to the East Mountains, outside of Albuquerque to go for a ride. It was a rather spontaneous thing, so I was surprised that our 6 kiddos could have fun without the usual snacks, gear, extra clothes, etc. Take a look:

We put as many bikes as we could fit on the bike rack (everyone except the baby had a bike), and the rest we piled in the trunk of our suburban.

David and I took the 4, 6, and 8 year old on the bike path. While my two oldest stayed back to watch the baby. The baby is almost 2 years old, but we call her the baby, and probably always will…My 4 year old can’t really ride yet, so we put her on a scoot, the kind of bike that does not have pedals.

She got tired pretty quickly going uphill on her scoot, so she decided to take a rest and do a pine cone dance.

Here is my man in action after the younger kids were done and heading back to the parking lot.

Natasha had a great time walking around the picnic area with no one stopping her.

Lucille taking a much needed rest after her 10 minute bike ride.

At the picnic area I wanted to shoot some action shots of my husband jumping off a ledge on his bike. This turned into everybody jumping off and having a really fun time.

I think we are on our way to becoming a mountain bike family. I so hoped we could find a sport that we can all enjoy on different levels, and this might be it.

So, if you are ever in the area, bring a bike!

Have a great day, I’ll see you back here soon with a kid’s fall fashion shoot I did with my friend. So exited to share it with you.

-Sofija

Family Mountain Biking Outside of Albuquerque

Teaching German

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Friends,

Today I’m going to share with you how I have taught my kids to read German. Understanding and or speaking wasn’t good enough for me. I really want them to be able to read German and ideally write as well. The challenge for me was to find the right material. They are not native speakers, so they are missing some vocabulary and grammatical nuances that are assumed in German school textbooks. However they are beyond the level that  might be available here to kids that have no prior knowledge. So you have to improvise. Personally I always wait until my kids are solid in their English reading before I would teach them how to read in German. However bilingual schools show that it is possible to do both at the same time. Thankfully German is much easier phonetically than English so it doesn’t take that long to teach. Above I have a German reader that is used in German schools. They are easy to understand even for non native speakers. Once we work through that I have them read simple books like the Max und der Keks series to give them the opportunity to read on their own.

For the next level I use the second grade reader above left. I also use different grammar and writing helps.

Above are German readers. They are called Leseloewen or Lesemaus.

After the second grade level I have them read books like early readers. Once they are at a 4th grade level they might be able to read Pippi Longstocking, or similar books.

I bought most of these books in Germany, they have great sales around August. Another great resource is Alphabet Garden, an online store; they have quite a bit of text books and refer you to billingual websites. Amazon.de is also a great option.

My oldest just started high-school. He is pretty fluent and a decent reader. However his grammar and writing skills are lacking. Therefore I enrolled him in German. I want him to start from scratch with Grammar and relearn some of those things he has missed.

In my experience immersion is not enough. If you don’t have a strong grammatical foundation you will always be guessing as how to built your sentences. I was immersed in Croatian all my life. I was taught grammar in elementary once a week but it was assumed that I was a native speaker. I would have benefited relearning it in high-school as a foreign speaker to fill all those gaps I have.

This is just to show you what we have done. I’m sure there are better options out there. If you know of any do tell. I’d love to hear from you.

-Sofija

Teaching German

First Day of School

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Kid’s out fits from left to right:

On Natasha: one-piece from H&M. On Lucille: Benetton top and skirt. On Ella: Top and skirt from H&M. On Shane: Top from Old Navy, shorts from Benetton. On Esther: top from Gap. On Finn: top from Polo.

Hi,

How is your week going? Ours is a whirlwind. My head is spinning. We started school last Monday. My oldest started high-school and my second oldest middle school with K-12, an online school. Not only is this school new to us, it is new here in the state as well. That translated into some confusion, technical difficulties (because it is mostly online), and frustration. But that is just how it is with new things. I see it as good practice for college. I expect the next week to be much better. So far I’m pleased with k-12. They seem to have a classical bent, which is what we have been doing. We are trying it for this year and re-evaluating for next year. I’m teaching the rest of the gang myself. Shane is starting 3rd grade, Ella 1st, and Lucille is demanding a rigorous pr-school curriculum involving a lot of coloring. In fact I have to start out my day with her; she won’t let me work with anyone else. Natasha, the toddler, chimes in with her coloring book, as well.

I have been asked before what I do with my younger ones when I school the older ones. Here are some things I have tried int the past or think about trying to keep the younger ones happy.

  • Buy educational toys, coloring books, even pre-school books for school hours only. I keep those toys in the school closet. That makes it special and helps them to know they get to do school also.
  • If you can tolerate messes, let them play bubbles in the sink, Play-doh, water colors, hand painting, etc.
  • Set a schedule and schedule some time with the older ones playing with the younger ones. For example my 14 year old may have an hour a week to play with my 1 year old.
  • A schedule is a really good idea. You can schedule times when your little ones play on their own with designated toys such as Legos or Playmobil. For more on schedules read: “Managers of Their Homes” by Teri Maxwell. She has tons of different kinds of schedules, even for people who DO NOT schedule.
  • I try to start off my day “schooling” my 4 year old, meaning I let her scribble in a pre-school book and I teach her letter sounds. This lets me have one on one time with her first. This way she is satisfied and can move on to other things.
  • Often I do lessons with the older ones on the couch while my youngest sits on my lap.

How about you? Do you have little ones? What have you found helpful? I’d love to hear your ideas.

Have a great day!

-Sofija

First Day of School

City Swim Meet

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How was your weekend? Did you watch any of the Olympic events? Did you witness the South African runner compete with two amputated legs? If that wasn’t inspiring, I don’t know what is… And how about the 37 year old gymnast competing and winning a medal?

We had our own mini Olympics here in Albuquerque. Every year the city offers two months of daily swimming with swim meets on the weekend. At the end of the summer kids can try out for city. The top 18 in every event get to compete in the city meet. After three years of trying my 11 year old daughter made it in. The energy was great. Maybe because of the Olympics, maybe it is always like that. I do have a new appreciation for parents of Olympic athletes. I found two Saturdays in a row a bit much.How about doing it week, after week, year after year….I vote for parents getting medals!

Here we are celebrating at California Kitchen.

By the way, she placed 5th in the 50 m breast stroke, and she swam 4 seconds faster than last week. So proud of her!

Have a great day,

Sofija

City Swim Meet

Our Week in Pictures

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Friends,

it’s been a fun week. We visited with some old and newer friends, went to the pool, and did a lot of nothing. Next week I need to get serious about preparing for the new school year. Boy, this summer went by so fast. But I’m exited about the new school year. We are trying something new this year with our soon to be high-schooler and middle-schooler: K12, an online school. Ever heard of it? Good or bad? For my 3rd grader and 1st grader I will remain the teacher. Not sure if the online school will help me out or drive my independent self crazy.

What are your plans for the weekend? Any fun trips planned?

See you here next week,

Sofija

Our Week in Pictures

Pool Party Fun?

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Last week we went to a pool party, and it was actually fun.

Let me explain. For several years now during any given summer we have at least 2-4 non swimmers. A few years ago we went to a  4th of July pool party. The minute we arrived our then 2 year old Shane walked straight into the water and landed on the bottom of the pool. Thank God my husband was there to jump in. Some other time my then 3 year old Esther went briefly under in a hot tub. Needles to say I associated going to friend’s pools with near death experiences. However I didn’t give up. We kept going swimming. If my husband wasn’t available, I was often blessed with friend’s to help me. Now I have my two oldest helping (age 14 and 11).

This year we have 3 swimmers and 3 non swimmers. This is how we do it. My 6 year old Ella is really close to being able to swim. For her I use a noodle. Yes, a noodle. I tie the noodle around her waist. I would only recommend this for a child that is older, because the noodle can become loose. With our 4 year old, who is not close to swimming,  we use every floating device imaginable. She could probably float across an ocean. We put her in a floating swimsuit and put rings on her arms. We don’t ever have to worry about her. I don’t have to worry about my toddler this year either, since she has no interest in going into the water. Therefore we only have to keep an eye on our 8 year old Shane, who just learned how to swim, and our 6 year old  with the noodle. That makes it more manageable.

There are a lot of ways to do it, but two things are important: go often and have fun. That way they become comfortable being in the water. As they play and splash around they get used to putting their faces in the water, and sooner or later they will swim. And when that happens, go celebrate with some ice cream!!

Pool Party Fun?

Rain in the Desert

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Hello,

How is your summer going? It has been hot here for a while. Looking at the pictures above is actually quite refreshing. We live in the high desert. Rain is a big deal around here. When it rains all the kids run out as fast as they can to soak it up before it is gone. Here are my 8 year old son Shane (bottom picture) and his friends enjoying themselves. My friend Emily took the pictures. She is so good at capturing children naturally, don’t you think? I like how Shane’s head pops up in the first picture. You can barely see it. Or how about Eirik’s head (in the middle) turned upside down?!

Wishing you a restful end of the week,

Sofija

Pictures curtesy of Lonely Mountain Photography

Rain in the Desert

Summer is here!!

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Hello,

we are done with school and summer has officially started. What sort of picture comes to your mind when you think of summer? My mind goes straight to the pool (above). We live in the high desert; there is not much else you can do. We are not big on organized sports, but there is one thing we do every year: swim team. The city offers two months of swimming every day, with swim meets on Saturdays for a very low cost. Once I have taught my kids how to swim I sign them up for summer swim team, so they can get good at their strokes. I swim there as well once a week doing laps.

That is one thing crossed off my summer to do list. Other things include organizing, planning for the next school year, cleaning, sipping on smoothies in the late afternoons… How about you what are your plans for the summer? Do you like to pack them full or do absolutely nothing?

Summer is here!!

I’m going on vacation!!

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Summer is here!! And for the first time in 12 years (!) I am actually going on a 2 week vacation to Europe (I’m going to pretend my last trip to freezing Germany in January never happened).
A traveler needs a suitcase. I stumbled upon the Container Store’s new line of suitcases. Whatever happened to boring, black, and heavy?? These are so fun. I ended up buying the 360 degree Ricardo (last picture) in grey from Costco, cause they are cheaper and I share with my men, who won’t go for polka dot or orange. Though the orange would have been my pick. Have a look, which one is your favorite?

Gallery