Week in review - The Birthday Party!

So N turned 4 over the weekend!!!  Last week we had a BIRTHDAY week for him and had a "classroom party" with his 2 bestfriends and sister.  SO MUCH FUN!!!  I love my  kids and love doing things for and with them to make them feel special.  Here are some of the things we did...

I hung a banner while he was sleeping and surprised him with it the next morning.

This was his birthday hat of choice!!!

He wanted BLUE cupcakes...He got BLUE cupcakes! ;)

Each kid made their own pizza.  We made our own crust and added favorite toppings.  They were tasty!

HAPPY BIRTHDAY (well, almost!)

See, they really were blue.

What did you do last week?

My Heart is Smiling

I LOVE being a mommy!  I am so happy that God chose for me to be the one to stay home with them and teach them the things that they are learning.  This past week I was a bit anxious about the new things we were going to be covering.  We were delving into consonant digraphs - ch, th, sh, wh - and counting by 10's.  S just grasped how to count to 100 in the past few weeks and we had not really done much in the way of skip counting.  She had just learned CVC words and a few bigger ones but I wasn't sure she was ready to start making the longer sounds.  Boy was I WRONG!  She dove in head first with both concepts and is doing so well with each one.  I give all the glory to God!  He is helping me find ways to teach her the things I was not sure I could teach.  He gives me the words I need to speak to show her how things work together.  In other words, she is learning.... A LOT and it makes my heart smile!

N is doing very well too.  In the past few weeks he has learned how to hold a pencil correctly and has started copying most anything I write down for him to write.  He has been working in his workbooks regularly (by his insistence) and is catching on to so much so fast!  I cannot believe how quickly a child's mind absorbs such things.  They truly are like little sponges.  It really does make my heart smile!

On Wednesday's we are joined by 2 of the greatest kids I know.  We have a blast together.  We do our book work together and then work on some Bible, science and other FUN things!  This past week we made our own pets.  These pets are perfect pets. They don't poop, pee, bark, whine, yelp or do any of the other things some find annoying about pets.  These are Pet Rocks!  I first had the kids paint the rocks white.  Since most children are not patient I used my blow drier and sped up the drying process.  After that they each used markers and colored them up.  They got to chose the googly eyes they wanted to use and glued those on and named them.  Here they are...

Tot School

The tot in the house insists on doing "school" each day with his sister.  I have been semi successful at finding things for him to do but he got bored and wanted "MORE mommy!"  I saw in last weeks paper that Walgreens had their workbooks 2/$4 so I went straight over and picked some up.  They are a HIT!  First thing I sit S down and ask her to color or draw quietly while her brother and I do his school work.  He does 1-3 sheets per book depending on his mood.  He is learning from the books very quickly and I couldn't be happier.  He had learned to write his name all own his own and I am finding random N's all over the house (not so happy about that).  Here are some shots of Tot School...

In addition to the work books we also have manipulatives for him to play with, a large collection of puzzles, flashcards and LOADS of coloring books.  He seems to really enjoy his Tot School-ing.  *sorry about the quality of the photo's

2 Weeks Wrap Up

What a fun week we had with rain and the Ark a few weeks ago.  After we finished that unit we moved onto bees.  I didn't get as in depth with either of them as I had planned due to some health issues but we will redo them son so we can get more involved with the lessons. Here are some highlights of the last 2 weeks.

I didn't realize that I didn't get any real photo's of the rain unit in action.  BUMMER. But I did get some great shots of our home made crayons.  I plan to do this again soon.  It was loads of fun.

The pics above were from our "BEE-ing who God created you to be." Unit.  It was loads of fun.  They created self portraits and shined pennies.  We made jello and painted.  So many fun activities but I didn't get shots of any of them.  I must do better about that!

Honestly...

Honestly, I never intended to ever homeschool my children.  I didn't think I could do it.  I thought I would have to get up at 6am each day, sit them down at a desk and hover over them for hours on end.  I knew that was not at all something I wanted to do.  What I do want to do is be with my children.  Enjoy them everyday.  I want to watch them discover new things and learn how things work.  I want to see their eyes light up when they realize they "CAN" do whatever it may be that they "thought" they could never achieve.  God put homeschooling on my heart, HEAVY on my heart.  I resisted.  I almost pleaded with him to help me send them to public school.  The more reasons why to send them to public school, the more reasons to homeschool them showed up.  I mentioned it to my husband who was 100% on board even when I was still riding the fence.  So I prayed.  I prayed a LOT!  With each day my fears turned to excitement.  I started surfing the web for blogs that other homeschool moms write.  I found a wealth of information.  Some fun and educational things that I could do with my kids.  I started seeing that homeschooling my children did NOT mean that we were to be stuck in the house 8 hours a day behind a desk drudging through school work. On the contrary we only spend about 2 hours doing "school work" during the day.  The rest of the day we learn through doing.  Granted we are only about 6 weeks into our first year but this has been an amazing experiance so far.  It has proven to be exactly what the kids and I needed.  I get to be Mom first and teacher second.  I get to love on my babies all day long and show them the world.  I love this journey and plan to be on it so long as God sees fit.  If you are struggling with the idea of homeschooling ask yourself one question... Why not?  If you can't, God can.  If you wont, God will.  You have all the support you need in God.  Lean on him and he will show you the path you need to take!

CurrClick Back to School Sale

I have never bought anything from them before but I am looking right now while the prices are so good.  Go check this out...
CurrClick

Ice Cream Melt Down

In planning our ice cream theme for last week, I neglected to notice that it was also VBS week for my kids.  That meant that they were whiney, grumpy and tired from the previous nights activities.  We didn't get to do many of the activities I had planned.  We did use the printables and LOVED them!  I definitely recommend checking out 2 Teaching Mommies if you want to incorporate themes and units in your classroom.  N is the one who uses the bulk of the material but S enjoys the games.

This week we have been doing Noah - Rain - Rainbows.  I am using the printables from 2 Teaching Mommies unit for Rain.  I found a weather graph and watercycle printables from Super Teacher Worksheets. I laminated each sheet as I plan to use them regularly to explain weather patterns and record them.

We have listened to the story of Noah on CD that came with a book.  It was a gift and my kids love it.  I found several different images of the ark from start to end of the flood for the kids to color each day in sequence to reinforce the story.  The kids have made their own ark from building blocks.  I am planning other fun activities to go along with this theme through the week.  We have watched VeggieTales: Minnisotta Cuke and the search for Noahs Umbrella and "Evan Almighty".  Both are very good movies and my children enjoyed both.  I am sure repeat viewings are in my future and honestly, I am ok with that!

I am really enjoying this journey that God laid at my feet.  It isn't one I would have chosen for myself but I think that is what makes it so great!  I hope to have more images of our science fun and action shots later this week.  I also hope to re-do the ice cream theme this winter when we need a good dose of summer!  Until then, happy homeschooling!