Wow, I forgot all about this

Man have I forgotten all about updating this blog with stuff going on for us. Here's a little snapshot.

 

Here are a couple of my projects that I'm working on. Custom made Bible covers as well as quilts to order. I've made more but I keep forgetting to take pictures before I give them away.

We had family pictures done last fall and this is one of my favorites. They did this without having to be posed. I love that Logan wanted his arms around his sisters! They are growing up so fast. 

Organizing Daily Art Supplies

I finally reached my breaking point with the clutter on my kitchen table. I should have taken a picture of it before I started this picture but imagine a 6x3 table half full of paper, notebooks, markers, crayons, pencils, and scissors. Yeah not very easy for a family of 5 to eat dinner around that small space. I needed a solution. I had searched on some blogs and found so caddies that people had bought at Target. Well the closest Target is an hour away and I wasn't going to make a trip only for that. I searched at Walmart and JoAnn Fabrics but neither had anything I could use. Time to get crafty!

All the Valentine's Day items are 50% off. I got 2 packs of red heart cups that come 5 in a pack as well as 2 larger pink cups. I also bought a set of burner covers. There were 4 total, 2 small and 2 large. I used the large. Still not sure what I am going to do with those yet. I forgot to take pictures during the process but trust me you can do this.

First get out your burner cover and set out how you would like the cups. I did 5 cups around the edge and 1 large one in the center. Once arranged, bust out your hot glue gun and glue the cups to the cover. That's it! Simple and great. The kids love it because there can be a set of supplies on each set of the table. Mommy likes it because there is less stuff on the table and less arguing over markers. I think my total spent was about $8 and this created 2 caddies.

George Washington's Birthday Party

We just started a history unit. My plan is to have it start with George Washington and go through the American revolution time period. We are reading George Washington: Our First Leader from the Childhood of young americans series. We just started it yesterday, but I pre-read some before we started it. I really like it and want to get most of the series for our history lessons. My plan is to also do the Felicity books from American Girl. Those are set in 1774 which will tie in perfectly. My wonderful sister-in-law actually has the set for us to borrow!

While reading our chapter yesterday we realized that Washington's birthday is today! So I came up with a great idea for the kids: a tea party for his birthday! They were so excited. As soon as daddy came in the door from work they were telling him all about it. It is the only question they have had for me today: When can we do the party Mommy? So after naps we went ahead and had the party. We had tea sandwiches with ham. The kids each got to make their own sandwiches. We also had sliced apples and mini chocolate chip cookies. Here are some pictures of the kids enjoying the fun "tea party".

 

Valentine Discovery Box

Each month I create a discovery/sensory box. This month we obviously did a Valentine's day theme. I stuck with red and pink. We have hearts, confetti, necklaces, bracelets, boxes, gems, and then a variety of red and pink objects to find.

In order for them to know what to look for in the box, I took individual pictures of each item. I punched a hole in the pictures and put on a ring. Logan doesn't like that very much but the girls do. Caitlyn pretends to be the teacher and has Libby look through the box to find the items.

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The girls couldn't wait to get into the box. As soon as they heard Logan start playing they were in it.





This was entertaining for about half an hour. Huge accomplishment for them!





Sorry so long

I am absolutely horrible at keeping this page updated. Rather than try to play catch up I am just going to jump in.

We have started a new curriculum called Alpha Omega Horizons. So far Caitlyn loves it. It is much more fast paced. We just completed our 100th day on Friday! That for me is a huge accomplishment.

I have also started to do read aloud times with chapter books. The kids are interested but don't like the lack of pictures on every page. The first one we completed was Magic Tree House #1 Dinosaurs before Dark. Caitlyn loved it. At the end she created a notebooking page so we can start a story notebook for her.

SO that is where we are at right now with Caitlyn. Oh, we are also doing a new science book too! It is Apologia's Exploring Creation with Zoologoy 1: Flying Creatures of the Fifth Day. We haven't finished the first chapter yet but she is starting to develop more of a questioning nature about the book. I'm excited if nothing else!

I will try to update tomorrow with what the other two are doing as well.

Horrible

I am horrible at keeping this blog updated. We have been doing so many things and I do take pictures of them, but actually getting them on to the computer is a completely different story.

Here are some goals that I am wanting to accomplish and hopefully by listing them on here I will hold myself accountable:
1. Load pictures onto computer
2. Write blog posts about homeschool activities
3. Create some holidy printables
4. Post pictures of felt food that I have made

Okay, I am only going to list these 4 things (even though my mind is continuing to go with more things.)
Wish me luck!

Beginnings

Well we have started a new chapter in our life. We are homeschooling now. Hubby and I felt a huge calling by God and a tremendous amount of His signs showing us that we were not supposed to put Caitlyn in our school district but to keep them all home instead. Since then things have been interesting and exciting.

We just started class on Monday. To start with I was going to stick completely with ABeka curriculum. That is still what we are using for our main study for phonics, reading, writing and math. They do some social studies and science but I feel like they aren't quite enough to get her attention and help us keep the little ones interested in something too.

To offset that I am creating science units for them based on things they want to learn about. The first thing was my decision, which they now fully love, is ladybugs. I found some printables online for ladybugs that I will be creating lapbooks for them on as we go along.  We have also gone to the library and got books about ladybugs as well as fun stories to read about ladybugs. Today we read, The Very Lazy Ladybug as well as learned the parts of the ladybug. The kids loved it and have created their own list of questions that they want to learn about.

As well as creating my own science units, we are going to be following a new curriculum for geography named, Expedition Earth. This was created by an awesome blogger, Confessions of a homeschooler. It contains so many different aspects that I will able to keep it adjusted to each kid as well as expand it in future years. She also has a free addition to the curriculum about animals based on the country you are studying. Libby is going to absolute love that part.

I am going to be creating additional projects that I think they will like. Today, Caitlyn and I worked on sewing. She created a pocket purse by sewing together some felt.

We will be creating many more projects to come. Check back in with us tomorrow and I will go over the preschool curriculum I'm using as well as the Bible class idea I'm using.