Birthday Boys

My boys both have spring birthdays- less than two weeks apart, in fact!  This year, they decided that rather than having birthday parties, they wanted to do something different to celebrate.  Works for me!  Planning two celebrations so close together can be exhausting- not to mention- expensive!

TS 2 asked if we could go to an indoor water park for the day, so we packed up and set off for an overnight birthday celebration.

It was a fun-filled day and worth the emotional effort it took for me to don a bathing suit and get wet while snow softly fell outside.

The snow, though annoying this late in the season, was beautiful and reminded us of the day TS 2 was born on a snowy, late winter day NINE years ago.

One of the fun perks of this trip was an impromptu reunion of sorts we had with old friends.  We decided to go to church on Sunday morning at a church local to the water park.  Several old friends from our church had moved to this area over the years, and we hoped we might see some of them.  Did we ever!

We were even able to grab some lunch with them afterwards.  It was a blessing to catch up with our sweet friends!

TS 1 requested tickets to a Yankees/Red Sox game for his birthday celebration.  If you're not from around these parts, perhaps you don't appreciate the rivalry between these two teams, but it is pretty intense.  Despite the bitter cold, our die hard Yankee fans had a blast!

Of course, both boys also had their annual celebratory dinner at a local Mexican restaurant as well.

It's hard for me to believe that TS 1 is TWELVE years old now.  He is changing so much, so quickly.  Yet in so many ways, he is still a child.  It's a new phase of parenting for us.  I'm trying to help him think and make good decisions for himself, rather than making all of the decisions for him.  I'm trying not to be too frustrated when he fails.  I am so proud of who he is and who he is becoming!  I am so thankful for the gift of TIME with him now that we are homeschooling.

Happy birthday to our precious boys!

Cousin Homeschool Day!

Monday was our first day of a week-long winter recess, and guess what we decided to do?  Homeschool!  Actually, my sweet niece (let's call her TS 4, shall we?), has been asking for me to homeschool her all year, so we chose Monday to do just that.  She slept over Sunday night and we had our Cousin Homeschool Day Monday.  Actually, it was just us girls.  The boys could not be convinced that it would be fun to pretend to do homeschool on our first day of break.  They promptly parked themselves in front of a variety of screens all day from TV to computer to iPod, until I called for a friend to come over and play.  

 TS 1 checking on spring training news on the iPad

TS 2 playing LEGO Harry Potter on the iPod

When we woke up Monday morning, my niece was so excited to get started.  She told me she was dreaming all night about homeschooling!  We started off with a pancake breakfast, complete with cookie cutters to make fun shapes.  

 TS 4 making a butterfly pancake

TS 3 with her flower pancake

After breakfast, TS 4 helped TS 3 with her morning chores while I got ready for the day.

We started with our usual morning activities: Bible, calendar, reading and writing.  My sister sent a list of CVC words and sight words that TS 4 is working on, and I used those for our reading and writing activities.  

Then it was time for audio book and center time.  The girls listened to Flat Stanley on CD in TS 3's room while I prepared a fun President's Day craft for center time.  I found this Log Cabin idea on Pinterest.

After center time, we had snack and a read aloud.  I read Abe Lincoln's Hat to the girls while they munched on goldfish.  They seemed to enjoy it and asked good questions during the story.

While they played together during break time, I pulled together some activities for math and science.  The girls did a simple addition with pictures worksheet I found online first.  Then I gave each of them a handful of coins to sort by president onto another President's Day sheet I found online.  They each got to keep their coins after, which they loved!  Finally, they practiced their addition facts with the Math Fact Master iPad app that we use daily.  TS 4 was even able to e-mail her results to her mom through the app.

For science, we read a few pages about the nervous system from the First Human Body Encyclopedia I have been working through with TS 3 all year.  We discussed the pages and then watched a couple of nervous system videos I had pinned on Pinterest during lunch.  The boys joined us for that.

We wrapped up our Cousin Homeschool Day with more reading.  The girls each took turns reading a story to me.  They were very proud of their accomplishment!

What better way to end a busy Cousin Homeschool Day than some Just Dance 3?

It was so much fun to bless my niece!  And she was a blessing to me.  About halfway through the day, she turned to me with a beaming smile and said, "Titi Natalie, I am having so much fun, I never want this day to end!"  Thanks for the wonderful endorsement, TS 4!

Weekly Wrap Up: The One after Christmas Break

How is it possible that I have not written a weekly wrap up post since September?!?  That's just crazy!  It's certainly not from a lack of wanting to blog- I love documenting our great homeschool experiment here.  It seems, though, that  my free time and energy level has decreased exponentially with the addition of our third test subject.  

The first week of January seems like as good a time as any to get back to writing a weekly wrap up, so here goes:

Our (almost) two week Christmas break included the typical frenzy leading up to Christmas as well as family gatherings for Christmas Eve, Christmas Day, New Year's Eve and New Year's Day.  

Christmas Eve

Christmas Day 

Kid's Table 

Jesus's Birthday Cake 

 Christmas Day Attire- The difference in the way the boys and TS 3 dress makes me smile!

Some of the cousins on New Year's Eve

Cookies and Milk for the Kids' Toast

We started back to school on Wednesday, and although we have not yet gotten back to our pre-break schedule in terms of getting up on time and finishing on time, we were able to fall back into a full work load.  

We treated ourselves to a play date after our first day back to school.  While the kids played, the moms learned to crochet.  I felt like an old lady, and had resisted the trend for so long.  When I saw this blanket on my friend Vanessa's blog, though I succumbed to the peer pressure.  

Here is my first piece of work!  Isn't it cute?!?

Thursday morning we hit the books again.  We are wrapping up our Tapestry of Grace unit on Colonial Times.  It has been an engaging study for all of us!  We are hoping to join with some homeschooling friends for a unit celebration in the near future.  The kids are excited about the idea- we had so much fun at our Medieval Feast last year.

We are in the midst of a media fast this week for the kids.  I am convinced that there is much more peace in this home when we power down the iPods, iPad, TV and computer for an extended period and remember how to interact with one another and play creatively!  

After dinner, this little lady pulled out a workbook to "play" with last night.  

Co-op does not resume until January 18th, which gives us another day at home this week and next.  We are treating them as normal school days and following our regular routine.  

We have another play date scheduled for this afternoon.  We have been trying to have these friends over for months now!  (We are a bit over-scheduled after-school this year, but that is for another post.)  

Our weekend holds a basketball game both Saturday and Sunday for TS 1.  TS 2's team has the weekend off.  On Saturday, TS 3 and I will make our annual trip to the American Girl store with my sister, her daughter and our mom.  We are looking forward to an afternoon of browsing the store, wrapping up with dinner in the cafe!

I hope your holidays were filled with joy and peace and you make a smooth transition back to school, friends!

Weekly Wrap Up: The One with 2 Baptisms and a Birthday

Phew!  Homeschooling three test subjects is kicking my butt!  Moving from two to three students has increased the demands and busyness of my day exponentially.  I am still trying to find a schedule that seems fair and manageable for each of us.  In addition to the hectic school day, a few after-school activities, namely dance and baseball, started up again this week, too.

I am still working with TS 3 first thing in the morning for about an hour, and then sending her off to do centers and computer work while I rotate among the boys.  I have decided, though, that TS 1 must get to his math in the morning, so meeting with him in the morning is also a priority.  He doesn't really need me to teach him the material.  My presence at math time is usually more for moral support than anything else.  If he has to wait until the afternoon to begin math though, it usually ends in tears or conflict.  

I am also re-evaluating how much work I have been assigning TS 2.  He is an industrious worker for the most part and does not waste much time, yet he is often the last to finish each day.  Considering he is only in third grade, while big brother is in sixth, I need to figure this out.  As I mentioned last week, I am contemplating moving him back to Lower Grammar in TOG to see if that helps.

Moments like these, make all the frenzy of this adjustment period worth it:

TS 2 reviewing sight words and phonograms with TS 3 

Switching gears for a bit, I have to share that both of our boys decided to get baptized this Sunday!  TS 2 was the first to tell us that he wanted to be baptized when he heard an announcement at church about upcoming baptisms.  TS 1 was not sure if he was ready even up to Sunday morning.  We want our children to take the step of baptism out of of obedience to God and of their own accord and not under pressure from us, so we talked to him about why a believer gets baptized and we helped him decide if the reasons he had for and against baptism were valid.  In the end, though, we left him to wrestle with the decision on his own.  Of course, we rejoiced that they both decided to enter the waters of baptism.  It was a beautiful day!

Today is TS 3's sixth birthday!  SIX years ago today, the most beautiful little girl in the world was born in Guatemala!  A little girl, 2,000 miles away, was born in our hearts and changed our lives forever. 

We started the day today with her requested breakfast treat: chocolate chip pancakes.

Tonight we will celebrate as a family with her birthday dinner at the local Mexican restaurant we go to for all our birthdays.  Obligatory birthday girl in sombrero picture forthcoming :)  Cousins and friends will join us on Sunday afternoon for a gymnastics birthday party.

Well, friends, I think this is about all I can muster today.  I am wiped out!  And next week, co-op starts!  I think I can, I think I can...

Weekly Wrap Up: A Whirlwind

Well, this time it's been over a month since my last wrap up post this summer!  We have had the busiest summer I can remember.  I'll try to share some of the fun here.  

In my life this month…

My mind has been focused on getting organized and ready for school.  The kids and I did a major playroom clean out and our basement is a much more pleasant space right now.  If only it could stay that way for the long haul :)  

I just began cleaning out the attic yesterday, but it is so overwhelming up there that I can only do 30 minute spans before I need to leave.  However, in 30 minutes yesterday, I gathered a large bag of garbage, three large bags of toys and household items to donate and several cardboard boxes for recycling.  

I have had the chance to crack open all the curricula and begin the first few weeks of lesson planning for all three test subjects.  Right now, I am feeling most apprehensive about teaching Kindergarten, believe it or not.  I guess it is the unknown that has me a little anxious.  Trusting God will work all the details out.   

Places we’re going and people we’re seeing…

Over the past month, we spent more time on the baseball field watching TS 1's team work their way up from a 0-5 record to a 9-5 record, ending up in third place in their division.  Not bad, huh?

We spent three days at the beach with Tom's sister and her family.  It was a wonderful, relaxing getaway.

We went to a local aquarium with my sister and her daughter. 

My delicious little nephew stayed behind with our mom, but I have been visiting him as much as possible.  He is at the cutest stage, smiling and cooing when you talk to him.

My dad and I took my three kids to the Six Flags I grew up going to each year with my family.  It was a fun-filled day.

Next up was VBS!  The theme this year was Sky, where everything is possible with God.  My role is always to teach the kids the songs and motions, and to take the pictures for the daily slide show.  I am truly blessed to serve at VBS.  TS 1 was a crew leader for the first time this year, which he was very excited about!

The morning after VBS ended, we loaded (and I mean LOADED) up the minivan and headed to the mountains for a week at the Word of Life Family Campground.  We had no clue what was in store for us, but it turned out to be the best family vacation we have ever had.  In addition to time for relaxing and fun family activities, we each had a few hours of solid Bible teaching every morning and a few evenings as well.  We all left feeling stronger and encouraged in our walk with the Lord!

My cousins had a celebration on what would have been their baby Jayden's first birthday this month.  Much to my disappointment, we were not able to be there, but my heart and prayers were with them all day.  

Last weekend, we enjoyed our annual church picnic.  We all enjoyed a beautiful day with our church family.  The boys were especially excited to have a softball game against the grown ups :)  They won, of course!

My favorite thing this week was…

A date night in followed by a last minute decision to take in a movie.  The kids were at Papa and Abuelita's for a sleepover. 

Questions/thoughts I have…

Still pondering these questions: How will I manage home schooling all three of my own kids next year?  Will I be able to give each one what he/she needs?

Things I’m working on…

The attic.  Hold me.

And getting back into our routines- morning Quiet Time, breakfast, morning chores, evening chores, etc.

I’m reading…

I finished re-reading and taking notes on A Charlotte Mason Companion, as well as Jimmie Lanley's Notebooking Success e-book.

I am working through Beth Moore's Mercy Triumphs study, which is on the book of James.  It is excellent so far.

As for our Read Aloud goals, I'm sad to report that we did not get further than Homer Price.  We listened to about half of The Secret Garden on audiobook, but it never really captured their attention.  I felt like I was forcing it on them, so I just let it go.  Perhaps we will get into a read aloud groove in the fall.  

I’m praying for…

My prayer partner and I agreed to pray for one another's specific requests everyday in August.  It has been a wonderful experience.  

I am also using this plan to pray for my husband everyday.  It's almost impossible to follow the times laid out, so I usually combine a few of the prompts and pray a few times each day instead.  It's been instrumental in keeping a positive outlook on my husband and our marriage.  I encourage you to try it! 

A photo, video, link, or quote to share…

And he said, “Naked I came from my mother’s womb,

And naked shall I return there.The Lord gave, and the Lord has taken away; Blessed be the name of the Lord.”  Job 1:21