100 Days!!

This week was our 100 days celebration!  It was a  short week because we had taken Monday off for a "field trip" (it was more of a vacation day) but it was cancelled due to weather.  Then, we took Wednesday off for my birthday.  :)  We made it to 100, anyway!  We {finally} read this book that the kids have been begging me to read but I was holding out for just such an occasion!  They only were begging to read it because it had an envelope in the back and they wanted to know what was in there.  Ha!  The book is called How Big is a Million? and it's very cute!

Our teacher store in town had a major sale before they closed so I picked up these 100 day posters.  I think I'll have enough to do this for the next 3 years.  :)  Lily wrote that she would wish for 100 American Girl dolls.

Hunter wrote that he would wish for 100 feet of a bouncy house.  :)

Just a bonus picture...Lily doing her math independently, on the couch, in pajamas.  Love it!  This week was all about measurements for her!  

Next week we are making up the "field trip" so we have another day off!  It's also Samuel's birthday--but we aren't taking that day off!  We will be having fun, though!

Catching Up

Well, it's time for a post of pictures that do not involve homeschool.  Other things do go on here!  :)

Lily wanted to learn to cook and asked if she could help me peel potatoes.  I only have one peeler so I told her she could try 1 but then I needed to get them done for supper.  She did great 3/4s of the potato and then she nicked her wrist.  Just a dot of blood--no big deal and she was totally fine.  Then, she got her finger--more blood and I just couldn't handle her going on after that.  She loved it, though.  I've been looking for a safer peeler ever since...  She did mash the potatoes after Hunter added the milk/butter, though. 

We had a nice, sunny day recently so the kids were able to get outside with Brian and build a snowman.  Nathan was napping so he's not in these.

Nathan had his first hair cut.  My sister's mother-in-law used to cut hair for a living so she agreed to do it for me.  2 years old and no hair cut??  It's unheard of for us but his hair is so pretty!  He was obviously not feeling the joy of the experience.  My Dad went along to hold him.

Once it was all combed out, it looked like this!  

This is the face I had to look at.  :(

All done and looking awesome!  *Some* people think it's not short enough but I love it.  It's still his look but it's layered so it doesn't rat up every time he sleeps.

Brian's parents had us over last weekend and it was COLD but the kids spent a little time sledding.

Too cold for this little guy, though.  

Today is my birthday--yeah!!!  I have celebrated with Nichole, Theresa, the Kregers, the Pettyjohns and finally with the 6 of us today.  We had so much fun!!  I wasn't able to sleep in so I got up, waiting for people to tell me Happy Birthday.  Ha!  Nathan had a morning appointment to recheck his ears and since that is about 30 minutes away, I decided we'd eat lunch out at Charlotte's.  I've only been there once but enjoyed it.  

We were waiting for it to open so got right in there.  The kids loved free refills on root beer.  Ha!  They did a great job.  The food was yummy, too!

We got home...notice my pajama pants, I did nap shortly after this...and the kids buttered my nose.  A wonderful tradition, if you can't tell.  :)

We then went to Orange Leaf Yogurt when Nathan woke up from nap.  It was a big hit--we'll be going again for sure!

This picture shows how we felt:

The kids and Brian gave me cards and pictures and felt so loved.  Nathan signed Brian's card, Samuel drew me a dinosaur with hearts, Lily made me a card and drew me a picture of a happy face and Hunter made me a poster that said--with typos fixed--"Happy Birthday to my Mom.  I love my mom as my teacher.  1+3=4  0+3=3  That is why I love my Mom as my Mom."  Awwwww!   

A Busy Week!

I don't have too many weeks where I feel like we run a lot during the day.  I've heard people say that the biggest problem with homeschooling is being home but that's certainly not my problem!  I have a low tolerance for busy. This week, however, we had a playdate on Monday morning, dental appointments on Tuesday morning (8am!) and speech therapy on Wednesday morning.  That daytime stuff added to the regular weekly events of BSF, cheerleading, coffee with a friend and Scouts...I was at my limit.  So I actually skipped Moms night through the homeschool group--gasp!  I always love it but I was tired and it was cold and the house was farther away than I wanted to go.  Thankfully, it's the weekend now and we can have some home time!!

Anyway, we did get school done with all this activity!  Samuel has been having 1 day where he does work all by himself in the afternoon. This is something he would not have been able to do at the beginning of the school year. I see a lot of growth in him all of a sudden.  He did a great job today matching capital letters with their lowercase partner.  I'm excited as I look to next year's kindergarten plans!!  This week we did P for Police, Peter Pan, Penguins and Pirates.  Quite the list, I know.  It's kind of fun to pick and choose from different themes--all free online!!

The twins are moving right along with their studies...nothing out of the ordinary.  They are working on writing a sequencing book for Language Arts, though.  They also do a weekly journal called 'Write About Me' and worked on writing a story with a beginning, middle and end this week.  Hunter's included ninjas and Lily's included fairies.  :)  We are really enjoying The Railway Children, maybe me the most?!  I love it!  Hunter started a new book recently called Christian Liberty Nature Reader and it's a lot of fun.  We're learning a lot about wasps and spiders right now.  Lily is finishing a children's version of an autobiography on Amelia Earhart.  That's about all I can think of for our happenings at school!

Nathan has kept busy.  He still expects to have the same work as Samuel...or else!  :)  Although, he is into cars and blocks so that is a good distraction on some days!

Nathan and Samuel finger painting. 

Lily and Hunter doing a color by number {those are good for Hunter's eyes!}. 

Samuel's P is for Pirate hat.  This was the 4th picture attempt and the best one I got.  He was feeling silly. 

These are some signs the twins made me for a surprise.  Lily's says "I love teachers that start with R for Rikki" and Hunter's says "I love Mom".  So sweet.  This reminds me that the other week, the 3 kids (sorry Nathan!) put on a play for Brian and I and gifted us with homemade art because they love us and appreciate us.  What?!  :)

Some of the artwork proudly displayed. 

More fun artwork.  The bottom one is hard to see but it was a fun P is for Police activity.  Samuel added the right number of fingerprints that each box asked for.

 New organization!  My teacher books have been driving me nuts because they get so messy throughout the month day so I found these magazine files in the $1 bins at Target and put my subjects into them.  How cute is that?  And so organized!

Today (Friday), we did all of our work in the morning for a change so we could have half a snow day.  That made for kind of a crazy day but I pulled out this game I got at the teacher's store (going out of business sale) and it was fun.  Easy for the twins, good for Samuel and something to keep them busy!

The Dance Video

January School

We started back at school on January 2nd but it was a rough start.  I had a nasty cough and it hurt to talk for long periods, which I seem to do during school {lots of reading!}.  The boys all had coughs, too, so we were a fun bunch.  It wasn't the full start I had anticipated but we made do!

This week has felt more normal.  We are back full steam and it's been great.  No cabin fever because it had been really nice out.  The kids spent the last nice afternoon outside and then got out briefly today because it was our 1st snow of the season {finally!!!}.

Some highlights of the week:

• Samuel has been doing wonderfully at his work.  He loves to practice handwriting so I'm printing off more formal handwriting sheets instead of just the "pre-writing" he had been doing.  He did a shape worksheet this week and I was literally amazed at how well he did with shapes.  I couldn't get all proud of my teaching, though, because he told me he learned it on Nick, Jr.  Ha!!!  Well, I do enjoy that channel.  
• We started The Railway Children last week and it was slow going at first but now it's getting really interesting.  I love reading through different genres--this is our mystery selection!
• Lily flew through her math this week with hardly any instruction from me.  Hunter started a new math after break and it's been awesome.  He felt it was "easy" but it's getting harder and I think he's learning a lot more.  It's CLE for anyone that is interested.
• We are also back on track with spelling.  Lily started Level 2 and Hunter is reviewing Level 1 before he begins Level 2.  I still really like All About Spelling!!
• Mad Libs are a big hit!!  The curriculum I use had assigned a story to be read and then pick out the verbs, adjectives, etc. but I picked up a fairy tale Mad Libs at the store and the kids enjoy this much more.  They laugh and laugh and we review the meaning of those terms.  Love it!
• Brian was off one day last week to help with appointments and the kids all begged to have him be a substitute teacher.  They said he was the best teacher.  Ha!  I handed over preschool and spelling to him.  I think they all enjoyed it.

Hunter and Lily *love* art!  Here's their sparkler candles. 

The boys love to do their work together!  Hunter had been working on a color by number but decided he must cut it out and put it on a blue background.  This is Samuel's shape worksheet {O was for owls and octopus this week}. 

Lily spelling with the tiles.  She loves to use these but Hunter really doesn't, which is funny because I thought Hunter would love it.  :)  And isn't her outfit too adorable???

Look how patiently and quietly Hunter is waiting for his turn to do math/spelling.  I can't teach those things to both kids at once.  In all honesty, Hunter was told to sit at the bookshelf for being too noisy during Lily's school time and Nathan's nap.  :) 

Ignore the dirty kitchen!!  The kids were so excited to see all that snow and were excited to get out.  The wind chill was below 0 so it didn't last long (mainly because my Dad insisted I bring them back in before their 30 minutes was up!).  

 Lily and Hunter both threw themselves down for snow angels right away!

Samuel looks unsure at this point! 

Snowball fight!  The kids were pretty red when they came in.  We cuddled under blankets and watched Nick, Jr. while the snow continued on!

And since Nathan didn't make it into any pictures...I took a video of the kids doing Just Dance for Kids.  Nathan kept smiling at me like I was taking a picture so I snipped this frame out.  The video is a kick--I'll have to get it on here sometime.

2 Years Old

2 years ago on December 29th, I had my {last} baby.  I love this picture of us but I'm sure my brother is totally grossed out right now so I made the picture small.  :)

2 years later, he is this big guy...with gorgeous hair.  :)  I did plan on cutting it before his birthday but life is busy that late in December!

Since he wasn't into opening presents at Christmas, I put his birthday gifts in gift bags and he loved that.  Here he is wearing his new pajamas like a scarf as he opens a toy!

It ended up being a GOOD thing that I asked my parents if we could come over for supper because Brian had a nasty, horrible stomach flu and we couldn't get out of there fast enough!  Here's Nathan when he realized his Mickey card sang a song:

His own chair!  This is the traditional 1 year old gift from my parents so all the kids have their own chair now! Now if they would only use them as chairs instead of forts, airplanes, etc.  Ha! 

He was all set with his musical card, his book from the Henleys and his new chair.  Happy 2 years old!!!!

*No cake pictures because, as is a 2 year old's prerogative, he wanted no part in the pizza supper and demanded cake.  I couldn't find it in me to care so he ate cake early and we missed out on pictures!*