Saturday, August 1, 2009

Thanks Nana and Dala

We came home to a big box of goodies from Nana and Dala.  Ryan was excited about the new costumes…he loves to dress up especially as super heroes!  He also loves his venom tent!  He has slept in it the last two nights! 

   03 gift from nana 04 gift from nana 05 gift from nana 06 gift from nana

Ari was very excited about her princess magazine!  She also loved making stickers with her new sticker machine!  Tonight we worked together on a Tinkerbell art activity.   

02 gift from nana01 gift from nana

Thanks for the gifts Nana and Dala!

Tweetsie Railroad

We went with Yaya to Tweetsie Railroad for the first time last week. The kids had so much fun! They both enjoyed pretending to get the Indians. Ryan dressed as a cowboy to defeat the Indians and Ari decided to dress like an Indian because then the Indians wouldn't mess with her because they would think she was an Indian. She is a smart girl! My favorite memory is when we rode the spinning ride and listening to the laughter from us all during the ride. Both kids are ready to go back! Ari asked if we could use the money we are saving to go to Disney to return to Tweetsie...I told her NO WAY :)!!! Hmmm....Tweetsie or Disney is a no-brainer to me:) It is amazing to me that my Mom's family has lived 30 minutes from Tweetsie for the last 18 years and have never been to there! With 6 kids under 5, I am willing to bet we will go many more times in the near future...

I Took His Hand and Followed

I Took His Hand and Followed
Mrs. Roy L. Peifer

My dishes went unwashed today,
I didn't make the bed,
I took his hand and followed
Where his eager footsteps led.

Oh yes, we went adventuring,
My little son and I...
Exploring all the great outdoors
Beneath the summer sky

We waded in a crystal stream,
We wandered through a wood...
My kitchen wasn't swept today
But life was gay and good.

We found a cool, sun-dappled glade
And now my small son knows
How Mother Bunny hides her nest,
Where jack-in-the-pulpit grows.

We watched a robin feed her young,
We climbed a sunlit hill...
Saw cloud-sheep scamper through the sky,
We plucked a daffodil.

That my house was neglected,
That I didn't brush the stairs,
In twenty years, no one on earth
Will know, or even care.

But that I've helped my little boy
To noble manhood grow,
In twenty years, the whole wide world
May look and see and know.

Tuesday, July 28, 2009

Power of Books: Progression of Pretend Play

I am so excited to be slowly leaving the princess stage! Arianna is very much into dressing up like Laura Ingalls. She made 2 aprons with her Nanny. She loves wearing them with her long dresses. We went into town last week and she wore her "Laura" outfit. I called Arianna and she said "that is not my name, it is Laura". She enjoyed playing Little House on the Prairie with friends at the blueberry patch. She also enjoys being Susan from Narnia and going on adventures with Peter (aka Ryan). I so much more prefer this type of character than the Disney princesses. It is exciting to watch the books we read become loved characters to my children!

Goodbye Princess...don't get me wrong she can still be very swayed by those princesses but I am glad that she is willing to leave them behind for deeper characters!

Season's of a Mother's Heart

This is the book I have been having my Quiet Times on. Wonderful and challenging book!

Monday, July 27, 2009

School’s About To Begin

Well it is that time again…it feels more real now since many of Arianna’s friends have already began Kindergarten!  We are certainly officially homeschooling!  Arianna did not get on the big yellow bus and head off!  Wow I feel such a huge responsibility for my children's’ education!  The truth is that it is not about me but about trusting God and relying him to meet the individual needs of each of my kids.  With that being said, here are our plans for the fall semester…Ari decided she wanted to begin school on August 17.

We are going to continue doing workboxes.  I already have a general outline for each child.  If you are interested in viewing them, I will try to link to them…Arianna (5.5 years) and Ryan (3.5 years)…the blank spaces are for inserting things from unit studies, art, etc. The yellow highlighted ones in Ryan's sheet are for things that will be done as a group

We will also continue to do Unit Studies.  Within the unit studies we will cover the basics (reading, math, science, geography, etc).  I also am doing more disciplined studies with Arianna.  Some of our treasures for the fall are:

Math:  Making Math Meaningful Level 1, Singapore Math 1A,

Reading:Teach Your Child to Read in 100 Easy Lessons, Language Lessons for Little Ones (also have one for Ryan)

History:  Early American History by Beautiful Feet,

Science: Classic Science:  Elementary Life Science

Critical Thinking:  Critical Thinking Company (Pre-K for Ryan and K for Ari)

Read Aloud List (for both kids):  Little House on the Prairie, Anne of Green Gables, Charlottes Web, Chronicles of Narnia:  The Lion the Witch and the Wardrobe, The Adventures of Peter Rabbit, Winnie the Pooh , Treasure Island

Nature Study: goal is to take nature walks twice a week

I know these are big plans, we will see how things go to determine what works:)

On Tour—Taking a Break from Mommyhood

I didn’t realize how much fun Guitar Hero could be! We got the game on Friday and had a blast playing it through the weekend.  My family was having a face off most of the Saturday evening.  And then my sister and I figured out how to do a Co-op career and we stayed up late on Saturday night touring. 

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You Rock!!!

Nature Study Indoors

We don’t even have to go outside to have nature study.  On Friday morning I heard this strange crunching sound behind the couch…I look over the couch and Apollo had a turtle.  The kids and I chased Apollo around and rescued the little turtle.  Then we took him outside and studied and observed the little guy.  The turtle and us had different agendas…the turtle was trying to get to the grass and we were enjoying marveling over him.

 Apollo and turtle Apollo and turtle (2) Apollo and turtle (3) Apollo and turtle (4)

Apollo and turtle (5)

My Surprise Half Birthday Princess Party

My Mom and Aunt planned a surprise half birthday party for me too:)  Thank you both for such an encouraging time!   Cry  

Happy Birthday To Me!

Cry (4)

My two adorable kids

Cry (5)

Aunt Barbara, Mom and Me goofing off!

Cry (6) Cry (7)

Me and my sweet niece KatelynCry (8)

Ryan licking the icing off of the cake

Cry (9)

My sister and her two little ones…Katelyn and Graceson

Cry (3)

This picture cracks me up…Don looks terrified, hard to believe you have a daughter THAT old:)

Ryan's 3.5 Birthday Party

We decided to have Ryan's birthday party in July (Christmas in July) since his birthday falls 3 days after Christmas. We did an outdoor water party. He couldn't decide between which superhero for the theme so we did a little from each. The kids enjoyed playing on the water slides and the sprinkler. We also played with the parachute, singing happy birthday while bouncing balloons in the air. Next we threw water balloons at the bad guys. Next was the Darth Vader Pinata. I gave the kids too heavy of a pinata stick and Darth had no chance...

We had cake and then came inside to open presents. Arianna was so excited to give Ryan the presents that she had picked out for him. We had a fun morning celebrating my sweet son!

Ryan is the sweetest, most joyful little boy! He loves the superheroes and dressing up. He was so excited about his party. Around the Christmas holidays, there is so much going on and it is difficult to have a party. I think we will probably continue this new tradition.

I <3 Electronic Books

I love reading fiction books on my handheld! I was very resistant to leaving paper bound books behind. My husband is a tech geek/genius, and he has been trying to get me to read books on my handheld for years.

Last year, he loaded several books on my handheld when my Daddy was in the hospital. I took the handheld with me mainly since my husband took the time to load it. I also took along several bound books also. I started out reading the paper books but at night fall, I no longer had light to read by. So I took the leap and tried the electronic book. Well boy am I glad I did.

That was almost a year ago and now I mainly only read on my handheld. I recently couldn't find a new release for my handheld so I checked it out at the library. I have had the hardest time reading it because I usually only read before bed and I don't want to keep Chris awake with the light. I am looking forward to finishing this book so that I can go back to reading by the light of my handheld.

I will say that I tend to still prefer non-fiction books paper bound. I tend to retain the info more that way. The fiction books, I read solely for relaxation and entertainment.