Just another pot on the stove
During all our VBS hub-bub I had to run Princess #1 into the Drs for a nasty rash she had on her back. It turns out to be a strep infection rash. Her throat culture is negative but she is on meds to clear up the infection.
Just another "thing" to add to our lives. LOL!
Just another "thing" to add to our lives. LOL!
Rainforest Expedition
This week has been a hectic one. On Sunday night we started our VBS program at church. We are doing Answers in Genesis Rainforest Expedition. It is a six day program written on the concept of the "7 C's of History" : Creation, Corruption, Catastrophe, Confusion, Christ, Cross, and Consummation" It is very well written and I have enjoyed learning more about the ministry of Answers In Genesis. Prince Charming and I decided the Creation Museum might be a good excuse to get down to Kentucky and check that off the list of states to visit. (It was supposed to be this summer, but Princess #3 decided to join the family instead)
Anyway, this is the first time either of the girls has done a VBS program and our church's program runs from 6-8:30pm which is a really late night for our girls. (especially Princess #2) In year's past we have bi-passed the program due to the late nights, but we decided to give it a try this year. Princess #1 is technically eligible to start in the preschool class and Princess #2 is technically not, but because the class below her is a nursery class the director moved her up to the preschool class. (We are in relatively small church and Princess #2 is the only one in her age group) I was curious to see how Princess #2 would do as most of the other children have completed preschool and are headed into Kindergarten and she is still 3 1/2 without any formal learning at this point. Thankfully the "leader" of her group is a wonderful preschool teacher and she is understanding of the children's abilities. She told me that Princess #2 is doing great and she is following directions well. She is obviously not able to do somethings that the others can do, but she does what she can. Mrs. H also allows her to take some "time outs" on the carpet to just rest or play with some toys on her own. Last night Princess #2 had a hard time going into class, she just wanted to stay with me, but after I finally got out she was fine. Princess #1 on the other hand is at the exact age the program is geared for and she is loving all the activities geared for her. She loves the crafts and the games and special snack they get every night. Unfortanely I am not sure how much of the bible lesson she is getting every night because like most VBS programs, it a rush it get in all the activities for a 2.5 hour night. Sounds like a good school circle time lesson at home to me...
Since the girls were going over for church, Prince Charming and I decided to volunteer our time too. I took charge of all the publicity before VBS started and then the Missions Moment and photography during VBS. Prince Charming is "Captain Taylor" in the skit for the closing each night. (he is quite the actor)
So.... needless to say our nights are extremely busy, with our day looking somewhat like this....5:30am: Prince Charning get up and leaves for work at 6am. Kids and I sleep in until 7am when Princess #3 awakes and needs to eat. We have breakfast. Then 8am-11am is catch up on everything around the house, unpacking bags from the night before, doing the dishes, doing laundry, giving baths, walking the dog, errands around town, etc... then I start "dinner" for the girls; I, because we don't have a "dinner" time at night. at 12pm: we are eating our big meal and then shortly thereafter all the girls are down for a good two hour nap because of the late nights. It also give me a time to work on my "Missions Moment" for that night. Then between 2pm-3pm I start packing "lunches" for everyone and the all the bags we will need for that evening (Prince Charming's costume, my papers, camera, etc). At 4pm I get a plate ready for Prince Charming (usually leftovers from our "dinner" lunch) to have when he gets home at 4:30pm while I pack the car and get the girls ready to get out the door. Then we all pile in the van to leave at 4:50pm and the girls get to eat some PBJ sandwiches and snacks on the way to church (me too). We arrive at church at 5:30pm and Prince Charming takes the girls to their "class" and watches Princess #3 while I set-up the computer and my presentation for the opening Missions Moment. The program starts at 6pm and I am done with my opening at 6:20pm. I take Princess #3 and Prince Charming goes and becomes "Captain Taylor". I head to the church office and work on the computer for the next hour on previous night's pictures (arranging them in a slide show to show during the closing.) Prince Charming has skit rehersal for the next hour. Between 7-8pm I scoot around and take some pictures (with other photographers too) and then head back to the sacturary to start up the slide show for the closing. Prince Charming does his skit in the closing (which so far has been the girls favorite part) and then we both go pick up the girls whip them into their PJ's and pack them into the van. I feed Princess #3 for the final time and we head out by about 9pm. We get home between 9:30 and 9:45 (kids have long since fallen asleep). We tuck them into their beds. We bring all the stuff inside maybe talk alittle about the evening or watch then end of a TV program. By 10-10:30pm we are tucking ourselves into bed only to start the day again....
Whew... have I exhaused you yet??
Anyway, this is the first time either of the girls has done a VBS program and our church's program runs from 6-8:30pm which is a really late night for our girls. (especially Princess #2) In year's past we have bi-passed the program due to the late nights, but we decided to give it a try this year. Princess #1 is technically eligible to start in the preschool class and Princess #2 is technically not, but because the class below her is a nursery class the director moved her up to the preschool class. (We are in relatively small church and Princess #2 is the only one in her age group) I was curious to see how Princess #2 would do as most of the other children have completed preschool and are headed into Kindergarten and she is still 3 1/2 without any formal learning at this point. Thankfully the "leader" of her group is a wonderful preschool teacher and she is understanding of the children's abilities. She told me that Princess #2 is doing great and she is following directions well. She is obviously not able to do somethings that the others can do, but she does what she can. Mrs. H also allows her to take some "time outs" on the carpet to just rest or play with some toys on her own. Last night Princess #2 had a hard time going into class, she just wanted to stay with me, but after I finally got out she was fine. Princess #1 on the other hand is at the exact age the program is geared for and she is loving all the activities geared for her. She loves the crafts and the games and special snack they get every night. Unfortanely I am not sure how much of the bible lesson she is getting every night because like most VBS programs, it a rush it get in all the activities for a 2.5 hour night. Sounds like a good school circle time lesson at home to me...
Since the girls were going over for church, Prince Charming and I decided to volunteer our time too. I took charge of all the publicity before VBS started and then the Missions Moment and photography during VBS. Prince Charming is "Captain Taylor" in the skit for the closing each night. (he is quite the actor)
So.... needless to say our nights are extremely busy, with our day looking somewhat like this....5:30am: Prince Charning get up and leaves for work at 6am. Kids and I sleep in until 7am when Princess #3 awakes and needs to eat. We have breakfast. Then 8am-11am is catch up on everything around the house, unpacking bags from the night before, doing the dishes, doing laundry, giving baths, walking the dog, errands around town, etc... then I start "dinner" for the girls; I, because we don't have a "dinner" time at night. at 12pm: we are eating our big meal and then shortly thereafter all the girls are down for a good two hour nap because of the late nights. It also give me a time to work on my "Missions Moment" for that night. Then between 2pm-3pm I start packing "lunches" for everyone and the all the bags we will need for that evening (Prince Charming's costume, my papers, camera, etc). At 4pm I get a plate ready for Prince Charming (usually leftovers from our "dinner" lunch) to have when he gets home at 4:30pm while I pack the car and get the girls ready to get out the door. Then we all pile in the van to leave at 4:50pm and the girls get to eat some PBJ sandwiches and snacks on the way to church (me too). We arrive at church at 5:30pm and Prince Charming takes the girls to their "class" and watches Princess #3 while I set-up the computer and my presentation for the opening Missions Moment. The program starts at 6pm and I am done with my opening at 6:20pm. I take Princess #3 and Prince Charming goes and becomes "Captain Taylor". I head to the church office and work on the computer for the next hour on previous night's pictures (arranging them in a slide show to show during the closing.) Prince Charming has skit rehersal for the next hour. Between 7-8pm I scoot around and take some pictures (with other photographers too) and then head back to the sacturary to start up the slide show for the closing. Prince Charming does his skit in the closing (which so far has been the girls favorite part) and then we both go pick up the girls whip them into their PJ's and pack them into the van. I feed Princess #3 for the final time and we head out by about 9pm. We get home between 9:30 and 9:45 (kids have long since fallen asleep). We tuck them into their beds. We bring all the stuff inside maybe talk alittle about the evening or watch then end of a TV program. By 10-10:30pm we are tucking ourselves into bed only to start the day again....
Our Church as a Rainforest
Prince Charming aka Captain Taylor
Princess #2 doing a craft in her class
Princess #1 in the "closing" program
Whew... have I exhaused you yet??
What I would do with a billion dollars....
I saw this over at By Sun and Candlelight and liked it, so here are my answers...
1. What were you doing 10 years ago?-I was planning my wedding, living at home, and getting to know my in-laws to-be
2. What are 5 things on my to-do list for today:
-Clean the house
-Walk the dog
-Make dinner (frozen pizza)
-Lesson Plans
-Prepare for VBS
3. Snacks I enjoy:-Granola bars
-Cheese Sticks
-Popcorn
-Chips and Dip
4. Things I would do if I were a billionare:-Help others-Design/Build a dream house (complete with a in-law apartment and pool)
-Buy a new decked out Mac computer complete with top of the line printer and scanner
-New vehicles- Honda Odessy for me, Toyota Tundra for the mister, Spyder trike for the mister, and a cute little VW Jetta (black with grey interior, 5 speed, and all the trimmings) for me to just cruise in
-Travel the country
1. What were you doing 10 years ago?-I was planning my wedding, living at home, and getting to know my in-laws to-be
2. What are 5 things on my to-do list for today:
-Clean the house
-Walk the dog
-Make dinner (frozen pizza)
-Lesson Plans
-Prepare for VBS
3. Snacks I enjoy:-Granola bars
-Cheese Sticks
-Popcorn
-Chips and Dip
4. Things I would do if I were a billionare:-Help others-Design/Build a dream house (complete with a in-law apartment and pool)
-Buy a new decked out Mac computer complete with top of the line printer and scanner
-New vehicles- Honda Odessy for me, Toyota Tundra for the mister, Spyder trike for the mister, and a cute little VW Jetta (black with grey interior, 5 speed, and all the trimmings) for me to just cruise in
-Travel the country
Ahhchoo, More Milk Please, Quiet in the Library, and Good Friends... my week in a Nutshell
As you can see I have not posted for a very long time due to a variety of reasons. Reason #1: I came down with a nasty cold this week and I have been using most of my free time to catch up on my rest. (That is funny, free time??) Today is the first day I have felt pretty good. Reason #2: Princess #3 has been going through a growth spurt lately and so I have been nursing alot more and trying to focus on increasing my milk for her (all of you in cyberspace just wanted to know that didn't you?) Reason #3: I checked out a new fiction triology from our church library and I am an avid reader, so I spend alot of time reading new books. As a matter of fact I become so engrossed in them that I have to pace myself in checking out books. I only allow myself a max of three books on rare occasions. Reason #4: And finally, we were gone for the entire weekend socializing. Saturday night we had our Food Night. For those of you who are not familiar, for about 5 years now a group of couples from church have been getting together to enjoy each other's company and enjoy good food. Each time we have a theme (i.e. Seafood Night, Breakfast Night, Mexican Night) and everyone brings a dish or two within the theme. We currently have 6 couples who come, we originally had 7 couples but 1 couple left about a year ago for Alaska as missionaries (WE MISS YOU!). These couples have been our best friends and have seen us through many valleys and mountains in our lives. Anyway... this past Saturday was Seafood Night and we brought Steamed Clams, Shrimp Cocktail and homemade ice cream. Then on Sunday we attended Prince Charming's cousin's wedding which was about 3 hours away. The girls spent the night with my parents and we drove out right after church. It was a beautiful wedding and we were able to catch up with family that we don't see often. So, now you are caught up on my week...the next posts are catching you up on our school...
Princess #3 is now proficient at rolling over, this time she decide to read a book
Princess #3 and me at the wedding
Prince Charming me at the wedding
Princess #3 at the wedding with PopPop
The happy couple
Just a cute picture of the girls playing together
Princess #3 is now proficient at rolling over, this time she decide to read a book
Princess #3 and me at the wedding
Prince Charming me at the wedding
Princess #3 at the wedding with PopPop
The happy coupleTo the Moon
Today was a theme on "space," which is a hard concept for preschoolers to grasp but we attempted to anyway. I really wanted to do this lesson because the summer sky is so perfect for warm night star gazing. Plus we have a trip planned for the Children's Museum and Planetarium this weekend, which has a preschooler's astronomy show. I searched through a lot of books and websites for this lesson because most were geared to higher levels of learning. I did find some books in the library that when I read them I just summarized a page. I also printed out solar system maps for each of the girls. We started the day with me explaining that we live on earth and there were other planets, I named all of them and explained in minor detail what each was like. We talked about the sun being the center of our solar system and how the moon orbits the earth. Princess #1 understood that there were 9 planets (yes, I know that pluto is no longer considered a "planet" but the book I used was older so for our lesson it was a planet) and that they all orbited (or made circles) around the sun. Princess #2 just was able to name "Earth", "Moon" and "Sun". We then did a "Moon Walk Misson." I got my husband's motorcycle helmets and our computer joystick and set them up on the coffee table. The girls wore their mud boots and I stood on the other side of the room with a walkie talkie to be "mission control". I gave them instructions on how to fly the space shuttle and land on the moon and they were able to drive with the joystick. We also planted a flag on the moon, just like the astronauts did. Then we collected a bag of moon rocks to bring back to school for observation and painting. (We also shot a few aliens while we were up there)It was really cute, because Princess #2 kept calling me "Roger" the rest of the time because I would say "Roger, over and out!" We also made star scopes, which is a toliet paper tubes with black construction paper over one end and then I took a pin to poke holes in the construction paper so that when the girls pointed it at a light they could see stars. We built rocket ships with our legos and finally we made a sun from a template I found at First School. For individual activities Princess #1 worked on the short vowel sound "a" as in astronaut. And Princess #2 worked on recogition of the letter "a", star shape recognition and her cutting abilities, which are coming along nicely. All in all I think they had a really good time, the favorite was our moon walk mission, which of course we had to do again and again.
Our star scopes
Our Moon Walk Mission
Collecting Moon Rocks
We left a flag on the moon just like the astronauts
Painting the moon rocks and a picture of the moon
Building rockets out of legos
Princess #2 working on her "a" worksheet
Our star scopes
Our Moon Walk Mission
Collecting Moon Rocks
We left a flag on the moon just like the astronauts
Painting the moon rocks and a picture of the moon
Building rockets out of legos
Teddy Bear Stories
So last week on Friday, we did school and our theme was teddy bears. For this topic there wasn't alot of "knowledge" things as we didn't get to far into the "bear" thing but just kept it light with fun teddy bear items, this is summer school by the way. We read a lot of stories about bears (46 books from the library!!), I think the favorite was "P.B. Bear goes to School". We also started our first chapter book "Teddy Bear Tree" and we are almost finished with it. We played with our "Dress the bear" puzzles. This is a box of pieces consisting of faces, tops and bottoms, and then the girls piece together the bear in the top of the box. They each had to make a bear and then tell me a story about that bear. They had a lot of fun doing this and we did it many times. We then had a snack of teddy grahams and they each got a knife and some frosting to "paint" the teddy bears. We had rice on a tray in which they drew teddy bears and the letter "B" and then we worked with some games to work on lower case letters. (Princess #1 needs to learn these before school starts). We ended the day by making bear puppets. I found a template at First School which the girls colored and then attached them onto paper bags. As I said at the beginning it was a very laid back lesson this week but the girls had a lot of fun.
Painting the Bears
Princess #1 working on matching the lower case letters 
Playing in the pan of rice
My Daybook
I saw this on another woman's blog and thought it was interesting, so here are my enteries for today...
FOR TODAY, July 18th
Outside My Window... is a hot and humid July night
I am thinking of.... the school lessons I need to write and the movie I want to watch and wondering if I can do both before I fall asleep
I am thankful.... for my husband and three babies
From the kitchen... I see the dirty dishes piled in the sink
I am wearing ...my pink nightgown
I am creating... this post and my school calendar and future blogs in my head
I am going to... go watch a rented movie from the library
I am reading... 100 top picks for homeschool curriculm
I am hoping... the elves come and do my dishes
I am hearing ...the summer band playing on the school lawn, of which I would be at if not for my sleeping babies
Around the house... is fairly clean except for the dishes
One of my favorite things... is playing on the computer,reading, and cooking
A Few Plans For The Rest Of The Week: Seafood Night at Best Friend's House and a wedding to attend
Here is a picture I thought of sharing..
If you would like to see more daybooks visit
FOR TODAY, July 18th
Outside My Window... is a hot and humid July night
I am thinking of.... the school lessons I need to write and the movie I want to watch and wondering if I can do both before I fall asleep
I am thankful.... for my husband and three babies
From the kitchen... I see the dirty dishes piled in the sink
I am wearing ...my pink nightgown
I am creating... this post and my school calendar and future blogs in my head
I am going to... go watch a rented movie from the library
I am reading... 100 top picks for homeschool curriculm
I am hoping... the elves come and do my dishes
I am hearing ...the summer band playing on the school lawn, of which I would be at if not for my sleeping babies
Around the house... is fairly clean except for the dishes
One of my favorite things... is playing on the computer,reading, and cooking
A Few Plans For The Rest Of The Week: Seafood Night at Best Friend's House and a wedding to attend
Here is a picture I thought of sharing..
My School Room
If you would like to see more daybooks visitOur New House
As some of you know we have been tossing back and forth the idea of building our own home. This week we were offered our own custom built house for free... check it out...
The playgroup
Then yesterday we went to the airport to see my parents who were flying home from an Alaskan cruise. We went early and watched the planes land and taxi. Our airport has a great observation deck and you can listen to the planes talk to the tower. The girls loved it but I forgot to bring my camera. (sorry) We went to the Parent Teacher store afterwards, which is the greatest store ever by the way... then on to the hospital where we saw my cousin and her new baby,
This seems the closest we will get to our own custom build home!! HeHe!! We were gifted this beautiful doll house for the girls to play with. They LOVE it and it has been the favorite toy for the past week. Especially at the playdate on Wednesday. We had 5 families come play at our home. It has been awhile since we had playdates due to our hectic school schedules. So summer vacation arrived and we hosted the first of hopefully many this summer. Each of us has 3 kids, except for one who has one set of twins and another on the way! (She likes to do things in doubles). So let's do the math, 5 adults and.... drum roll please.... 14 kids and two on the way! (in reality two were missing because of camp) Fun!...
The playgroup
Then yesterday we went to the airport to see my parents who were flying home from an Alaskan cruise. We went early and watched the planes land and taxi. Our airport has a great observation deck and you can listen to the planes talk to the tower. The girls loved it but I forgot to bring my camera. (sorry) We went to the Parent Teacher store afterwards, which is the greatest store ever by the way... then on to the hospital where we saw my cousin and her new baby,
Speaking of babies, we just got the news that our old youth paster had his baby this morning too! It is the year of "M" babies. We have known a lot of babies being born lately, of the 10 babies 7 of them started with "M"s
We had school today, it was teddy bear day, I will type more later about that, Princess #3 is calling for attention. Enjoy everyone!
Boohoo and Yeah in the Same Moment
A few posts ago I talked about meeting with a woman about homeschooling... it is actually Prince Charming's cousin and his family. Anyway, they have been very special to Prince Charming and I and we have shared many first moments with them, our first couple's bible study, they are our first daughter's godparents, our first struggles with infertility, our first homeschooling attempts... and the list goes on. They have received a great opportunity to move accross the country and have been trying to sell their home in order to leave, and as you can see from below, the day is here! I will truely miss them with all my heart, but I am happy for their family! in the words of The Veteran Teacher...
Well, friends and family, the e-mail you have been praying for is HERE!
We are excited to share with you that we signed a contract on our home this past weekend. Of course nothing is final until the money is in the bank at the closing, but if all goes as planned we will close on our home in New York around August 8th and be on the road to Oregon shortly after. WOW! So, over the next few weeks we will begin to wrap up our lives in NY and pack all our worldly possessions for an adventure of a lifetime!
God's timing is perfect. Our family has a planned vacation to Oregon for a family reunion from July 23-29. While we are there, we can hopefully locate and secure a rental house so we can move immediately into it when we arrive mid August. A major concern was getting our beloved cat to Oregon without stressing her too much. She does not travel well and the thought of taking her by car would have really been difficult, so since we are flying out for vacation just a week and a half before we move she will be coming with us on the plane! Grandma D will gladly "catsit" for us until we arrive to stay in August. I know this may sound funny, but this is a big answer to prayer! God is Good!
Needless to say, this is an exciting however emotional time for us. We have waited with anticipation for this moment for 18 months, but now that it's REALLY here, it's having a hard time "sinking in". Please pray for us over the next 3 weeks as we prepare, travel to Oregon for vacation, pack, and say our good byes.
We have appreciated your support in encouragement and prayers through this interesting journey and transition in our lives.
Well, friends and family, the e-mail you have been praying for is HERE!
We are excited to share with you that we signed a contract on our home this past weekend. Of course nothing is final until the money is in the bank at the closing, but if all goes as planned we will close on our home in New York around August 8th and be on the road to Oregon shortly after. WOW! So, over the next few weeks we will begin to wrap up our lives in NY and pack all our worldly possessions for an adventure of a lifetime!
God's timing is perfect. Our family has a planned vacation to Oregon for a family reunion from July 23-29. While we are there, we can hopefully locate and secure a rental house so we can move immediately into it when we arrive mid August. A major concern was getting our beloved cat to Oregon without stressing her too much. She does not travel well and the thought of taking her by car would have really been difficult, so since we are flying out for vacation just a week and a half before we move she will be coming with us on the plane! Grandma D will gladly "catsit" for us until we arrive to stay in August. I know this may sound funny, but this is a big answer to prayer! God is Good!
Needless to say, this is an exciting however emotional time for us. We have waited with anticipation for this moment for 18 months, but now that it's REALLY here, it's having a hard time "sinking in". Please pray for us over the next 3 weeks as we prepare, travel to Oregon for vacation, pack, and say our good byes.
We have appreciated your support in encouragement and prayers through this interesting journey and transition in our lives.
It's Off to Grandmother's House We Go...
This weekend was wonderful for our family. We spent the whole day on Saturday at our church for the VBS carnival and then we went back to Prince Charming's parents house and spent the night there. We live 30 minutes from our church and it was nice to be able to just drive around the corner for a change. We were able to have a relaxing Sun AM before church and still be on time for church! The kids loved being at MomMom and PopPop's house! We brought the dog with us this time... but he got into a lot of trouble so I think he gets to stay home next time!
Today was shopping day, and I actually felt like I did good in my "list". I got all the stuff I needed and not alot of things I didn't. The girls were pretty good too. I am slowly getting the hang of three kids and shopping.
Prince Charming's dad is over tonight helping him fix his motorcycle... a process that has taken 3 yrs on and off again.
I am pretty tired tonight, so this will just be a short post!
Here are some pics from the Rainforest Festival...
Snakes Alive Photo Booth
I think you have something on your back!
I think they like their dads
Prince Charming is the "mean" pilot in the skit for VBS
Today was shopping day, and I actually felt like I did good in my "list". I got all the stuff I needed and not alot of things I didn't. The girls were pretty good too. I am slowly getting the hang of three kids and shopping.
Prince Charming's dad is over tonight helping him fix his motorcycle... a process that has taken 3 yrs on and off again.
I am pretty tired tonight, so this will just be a short post!
Here are some pics from the Rainforest Festival...
Princess #1 and Curly Top... these guys have been buddies from day one!
Snakes Alive Photo Booth
I think you have something on your back!
I think they like their dads
Prince Charming is the "mean" pilot in the skit for VBS
Rainforest Festival
Today we are off to church for the whole day and then to stay the night at the in-laws. Our church is kicking off our our VBS programs (Rainforest Expedition by Answers in Genesis) with our Rainforest Festival (a carnival like program) and then dinner and a movie on the big screen (Jungle Book). We are going to spend the night at Prince Charming's parents and then go back to church in the morning... have a wonderful weekend and I will post some pics of our day tomorrow evening or Monday AM hopefully... Get out and enjoy the beatiful weather!
Just some fun pics...
Princess #1 with her baby sister
Just some fun pics...
Prince Charming foolin around in the pool
Princess #1 with her baby sister
Ice Cream at School
So, yesterday was school and the schedule ran much smoother. Meghan still woke up and wanted to eat, but I planned activities for them to do while she was eating (it just became snack time/free play for all of us) I also started "school" a little bit later, wrapped storytime right into school and then it was lunch time right after "school" which meant that I could feed Meghan too and then it was "rest time" for everyone and I was able to clean up a bit and get somethings done myself. I really like the way it turned out. I also started searching for a video related to our theme in school and letting them watch the video while I set up the school area. It helps to visual our topic for the kids. I have also become best friends with the local librarian with the number of books I am "requesting".
So anyway, at school we did a few neat things.... of course we learned the letter "I" and we did the shape of a circle. Kimberly learned the long vowel sound "i" and the difference between cream and milk. (Keep in mind I use the term "learned" loosely, "introduced" is probably a more appropriate term) We made our first "lapbooks" (see picture below) in which we practiced the "i" sound and did some copywork in our letter I books (top left in lapbook) and then we all drew our own ice cream come (bottom left) and then I did an anagram for "CREAM" and Kimberly did more copywork and Courtney practiced the letters on the front.(center-left top) We choose the all the pictures of ice cream topping that we liked and put them in the pocket (center left middle)We practiced the number "9" b/c this was the day National Ice Cream Day became to be.(center-left bottom) We then put together a wheel of the process to make ice cream starting with the cow and ending with buying it at the store (center-right top), then we cut circles (I cut Courtney's while she cut a blank sheet of paper) for a recipe for ice cream in a bag to put in the circle pocket... we did try this recipe later and it worked! (center right bottom) We also did cut and paste of different types of ice cream (top right) and then finally we did a science expierment in which we took two cups of ice water and added ice to one and then observed how they were different and took the temp. every 30 minutes for a total of 90 minutes. We then recorded the results. (bottom right). Least you think, OMG you are amazing to come up with all those ideas... I just did the lesson posted for free at Homeschool Share, so unfortantely I cannot claim the ideas as my own. The lesson was obviously written for a much older kid and I ended up doing a lot of prepwork so I don't know if I will do them all the time but it would be fun to try another one sometime.
We also went berry pickin' again last night. We all returned with berry stained hands.
As for me... still working on the "control freak" book but now I am on to lesson plans for the fall, trying to organize my thoughts on what objectives I have for Courtney in the 08-09 school year. Oh yeah, by the way I did finish that book So You're Thinking About Homeschooling which is basically 15 different families and the reasons why and how they homeschool. I still think I like the electic, pick and choose method, but I also am a unit study kind gal. Pick a specific curriculum as a core and build from that. I am definitely pretty detailed about how and what I want to teach but I love the flexiblity of home and time.
Cole- I got the sling and put it to good use right way... Meghan has also made good use of the quilt... (see below)
Anyway... again I think I have babbled enough... here are some pics from yesterday
So anyway, at school we did a few neat things.... of course we learned the letter "I" and we did the shape of a circle. Kimberly learned the long vowel sound "i" and the difference between cream and milk. (Keep in mind I use the term "learned" loosely, "introduced" is probably a more appropriate term) We made our first "lapbooks" (see picture below) in which we practiced the "i" sound and did some copywork in our letter I books (top left in lapbook) and then we all drew our own ice cream come (bottom left) and then I did an anagram for "CREAM" and Kimberly did more copywork and Courtney practiced the letters on the front.(center-left top) We choose the all the pictures of ice cream topping that we liked and put them in the pocket (center left middle)We practiced the number "9" b/c this was the day National Ice Cream Day became to be.(center-left bottom) We then put together a wheel of the process to make ice cream starting with the cow and ending with buying it at the store (center-right top), then we cut circles (I cut Courtney's while she cut a blank sheet of paper) for a recipe for ice cream in a bag to put in the circle pocket... we did try this recipe later and it worked! (center right bottom) We also did cut and paste of different types of ice cream (top right) and then finally we did a science expierment in which we took two cups of ice water and added ice to one and then observed how they were different and took the temp. every 30 minutes for a total of 90 minutes. We then recorded the results. (bottom right). Least you think, OMG you are amazing to come up with all those ideas... I just did the lesson posted for free at Homeschool Share, so unfortantely I cannot claim the ideas as my own. The lesson was obviously written for a much older kid and I ended up doing a lot of prepwork so I don't know if I will do them all the time but it would be fun to try another one sometime.
We also went berry pickin' again last night. We all returned with berry stained hands.
As for me... still working on the "control freak" book but now I am on to lesson plans for the fall, trying to organize my thoughts on what objectives I have for Courtney in the 08-09 school year. Oh yeah, by the way I did finish that book So You're Thinking About Homeschooling which is basically 15 different families and the reasons why and how they homeschool. I still think I like the electic, pick and choose method, but I also am a unit study kind gal. Pick a specific curriculum as a core and build from that. I am definitely pretty detailed about how and what I want to teach but I love the flexiblity of home and time.
Cole- I got the sling and put it to good use right way... Meghan has also made good use of the quilt... (see below)
Anyway... again I think I have babbled enough... here are some pics from yesterday
Our ice cream lapbook (a file folder with projects inside)
The girls cutting and pasting for the lapbook
Courtney practicing the letter "I" in whipped cream
Our science expierement "Salty Slush"
What Kimberly does during rest time! 
The girls picking berries
Mommy's berry stained hands
The girls playin' on the computer
Mommy's new and improved sling... thanks Cole!!
Meghan's quilt.... thanks again Cole!!
Happy Ice Cream Day
Did you know that July is National Ice Cream month? On July 9, 1984 Ronald Regan signed the proclaimation making it offically National Ice Cream month... so... Happy ice cream day! We celebrated by making our own homemade chocolate ice cream... mmmm! The girls had fun, although mommy didn't read the recipe really well and it ended up being a two day process due to cooling times (oh well). We also installed our AC units yesterday. Being in upstate NY the weather only requires us to have window units in the dead of summer and even then it is a luxury we save only for nightime sleeping. It has been in the high 80's and low 90's with dew points in the 70's which means you just drip with humidity! We lost one AC unit this year and thought we were going to have to get a new one, but Prince Charming found someone at work getting rid of one... THANKS! (pie to follow really soon)
Yesterday was the first day of our summer bible study. It is a really relaxed sort of book study. A group of ladies have decided to read "To Shepherd A Child's Heart" by Tedd Tripp (if you haven't read it I highly reccommend it) and get together to discuss what we read. (basically swap parenting stories) We let the kids run in our church's gym area (this week there were 5 ladies with 22 children) but the great thing is that they range in age from 15 yrs-3 months, so the older ones entertain the younger ones.
Yesterday I also met with a very good friend, who happens to also be family, a veteran homeschooler, former preschool teacher, and former school administrator. (She started the Christian school in our area) Anyway, now that I have sung her praises... I meet with her to get some direction on what I want to do this year in school. As I have tried to put together my "plan" for next year I realized I was all over the board on what I wanted to teach. I needed to find some direction. She suggested that I first write out what I wanted Princess #2 to accomplish by the end of the school year and then figure out how best to get that end result, rather than starting from the beginning and trying end up with goals. She also told me I was also expecting too much from Princess #2. She is really only at a Pre-preschool level and I was preparing for a preschool level. So I have spent the last few days researching on line for resources on what 3 year old should be able to do. The Veteran Teacher also lent me some good books to read. Prince Charming is actual reading some too... I am amazed! Yeah! Currently I am into "So you Think you Want to Homeschool", which is a good book to just kinda figure out what type of homeschool might work best for your family. I thought I was classic school type teacher, but so far the stories I seem to relate to best are called "electic"... hmmm sounds kinda eccentric huh? ... anyway, all that means is you find out how each child learns and teach that way to that child. But I have yet to finish the book, so I could change between now and then... hmm maybe I am more electic than I thought...no wait maybe not... oh just stop it!
Also this week, I happened upon a website called FlyLady . In this website there is an item called a "control book". I love this idea! It is a binder with everything you need for life in check list format... menu, grocery lists, lesson plans, daily schedules, cleaning, etc... As you can see from this post, I can get a tad side-tracked at times and the idea of a "control book" is to keep me on track. (Plus I am a control freak and love checklists) I haven't yet figured out how to post anything other than pictures, so when I do figure it out I will try and post some examples of my control book. Yes, I know I am wacko, I loved making this control book!
So anyway, I guess I have rambled on enough for one night... don't you agree... here are some photos of our ice cream adventures... (which will continue on tomorrow at school)
Making the ice cream mixture
Yesterday was the first day of our summer bible study. It is a really relaxed sort of book study. A group of ladies have decided to read "To Shepherd A Child's Heart" by Tedd Tripp (if you haven't read it I highly reccommend it) and get together to discuss what we read. (basically swap parenting stories) We let the kids run in our church's gym area (this week there were 5 ladies with 22 children) but the great thing is that they range in age from 15 yrs-3 months, so the older ones entertain the younger ones.
Yesterday I also met with a very good friend, who happens to also be family, a veteran homeschooler, former preschool teacher, and former school administrator. (She started the Christian school in our area) Anyway, now that I have sung her praises... I meet with her to get some direction on what I want to do this year in school. As I have tried to put together my "plan" for next year I realized I was all over the board on what I wanted to teach. I needed to find some direction. She suggested that I first write out what I wanted Princess #2 to accomplish by the end of the school year and then figure out how best to get that end result, rather than starting from the beginning and trying end up with goals. She also told me I was also expecting too much from Princess #2. She is really only at a Pre-preschool level and I was preparing for a preschool level. So I have spent the last few days researching on line for resources on what 3 year old should be able to do. The Veteran Teacher also lent me some good books to read. Prince Charming is actual reading some too... I am amazed! Yeah! Currently I am into "So you Think you Want to Homeschool", which is a good book to just kinda figure out what type of homeschool might work best for your family. I thought I was classic school type teacher, but so far the stories I seem to relate to best are called "electic"... hmmm sounds kinda eccentric huh? ... anyway, all that means is you find out how each child learns and teach that way to that child. But I have yet to finish the book, so I could change between now and then... hmm maybe I am more electic than I thought...no wait maybe not... oh just stop it!
Also this week, I happened upon a website called FlyLady . In this website there is an item called a "control book". I love this idea! It is a binder with everything you need for life in check list format... menu, grocery lists, lesson plans, daily schedules, cleaning, etc... As you can see from this post, I can get a tad side-tracked at times and the idea of a "control book" is to keep me on track. (Plus I am a control freak and love checklists) I haven't yet figured out how to post anything other than pictures, so when I do figure it out I will try and post some examples of my control book. Yes, I know I am wacko, I loved making this control book!
So anyway, I guess I have rambled on enough for one night... don't you agree... here are some photos of our ice cream adventures... (which will continue on tomorrow at school)
Making the ice cream mixture
Packing the ice and salt in the ice cream maker
MMM... ice cream
MMM... ice cream
Enjoying the fruits of our labor after dinner
Cleaning the AC units with Daddy
Princess #1 and Princess #2 both received their very first Barbie dolls at Firecrakers's birthday party this weekend, they are the new favorite toy.
Just a really cute picture of the three girls
Just a really cute picture of the three girls
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