My Birthday Week

Samuel did some addition with animals this week.  He loves adding the '+' and '=' the most.  :)  He's doing okay with reading--not quite ready to move full speed ahead.  Math, I know I just have to settle in for an extended time because he likes to create an elaborate story and drawing for  each problem.  That's why we sometimes just do math orally.  Ha!

  We were in Mexico for Geography this week!  A coworker of Brian's had given him this children's pottery wheel last year so we finally got it out to try out for our craft.  The kids enjoyed it, I think.  We still have to paint and decorate their pots so no finished picture.

 Keeping Nathan occupied and away from Skylanders is taking some planning on my part.  I got out this Tupperware of beads and it kept him busy but the clean up was a little not fun.

 It was a short week because my birthday was Friday!!  We had the day off of school and Brian took the day off of work--it's kind of a big deal to me and we count it as his present to me.  Lily planned all week to make me breakfast and was even up at 1am to ask Brian if it was time.  She knows I usually just eat fruit in the morning so she created a parfait for me--it had ice cream, apples and peanut butter with a fruit twist sticking out of the top.  

I decided I wanted to take the kids to the Science Station in the morning since we have a family pass and it would pass the time until lunch.  :)  

It was a very fun, full birthday!!  I feel like I must be an adult now.

Saturday, Hunter had his pinewood derby race.  Lily was very supportive!

Hunter's is the car with the Lego guy in it.

The big, horrible news is this guy's hair cut.  Trust me, this is the most flattering picture.  I still really can't talk about it.  I cried forever about his curls being gone and the *mean* hairdresser's attitude about it all.  Sigh.  Just hoping the curls come back--they will, right????? 

Spontaneous

I didn't do so well taking pictures again this week.  My camera is dead and I just haven't taken the time to charge it.  So sad.  I did get 1 picture of Hunter and Lily with their self-portrait they did in art.  So fun!

We had an unexpected day off this week--quite the shock for us because I prefer to have school over not having it--it keeps kids busy!  And I'm pretty scheduled-oriented, although I'm much more relaxed in this 2nd year of homeschooling.  Anyway, we had a rough morning with an erased video game and grumpy attitudes and crying and etc. so we called a family meeting and decided to do double the work the next day (there were complaints the next day but I reminded them of their day of leisure!).  I had the kids help me clean the kitchen in the morning but that was really all the work any of us did.  We popped popcorn and watched a movie in the afternoon--2 kids fell asleep.  It was a nice day--we'll call it a snow day since we don't seem to be getting snow again this year.  :(  Otherwise, a fine week for us all--uneventful....  Next week is a 4 day week, as well, because of my BiRtHdAy!!!!

New Semester

This week signaled the start of a new semester of school with new plans and goals.  It was a long week but a really good one!  We got through all of our schoolwork and adjusted to new rules and routines just fine.  Not school related, we have kicked Nathan's bedtime issues this week.  It feels good!  

Nathan is being nice to Cinders, which is a picture-worthy moment.  He kicked her twice yesterday so, truly, this was a sweet moment.  

Samuel has started All About Reading Level 1 and it is HARD.  He resists the work a little but does well.  We are taking our time through the work--about a week per lesson right now.  He is doing well learning to sound words out and actually READ.  In math, he stared learning about money, pennies and dimes to begin with.  Friday is fun-day so I had him throwing pennies and dimes into a bowl and then counting the money in the bowl afterward.  He loved this game--he has ants in his pants with the longer lessons so it's good to incorporate some movement!

We were in Canada this week for our geography.  We looked online at the hotel made of ice and then tried our hand at creating ice sculptures.  Here the twins are getting ice cubes with food dye ready.

And this shows how entirely horrible it was to put food dye into the water.  Ha!  What a mess!!!!!!!!!!  I didn't think that through.  The 3 of us had green hands for awhile.  But, Hunter enjoyed building and it looked pretty good!  Lily put hers in a pile and called it good (she is my child!).  

Also, this week was the start of extracurricular activities.  Lily does gymnastics in the evening and the boys watched her once and came home begging to do gymnastics.  About that time, my friend, Jess, had asked the owners of the same gym to start a homeschool class so it worked out perfectly!!!!!!  The boys go during the day once a week with my friend's boys so we all have a good time.  There's no other class going on so Nathan has the run of the waiting room so no stress there.  It's really just a perfect set up

*watching their brothers*

Birthday and Routine

We celebrated Nathan's 3rd birthday shortly after Christmas.  He was excited because he really got into opening presents at Christmas time.  He does argue with us that he is 2 but we just keep telling me he's 3 now.   

Brian buttered his nose, as tradition calls for.  :)  He hated it.

We spent his birthday morning together, grabbed lunch and let him open his presents from us.  He was excited to see more trains.  I'm glad because I may have gone a little overboard on train-buying.  

We then went to Grandma Barb and Papa Lee's house for the afternoon.  He got a Mickey Farm!  

We headed to Grandma and Papa PJ's house for supper.  He was impressed with the money Great-Grandma Hill (in the background) gave him in his card.  

He kept saying "Pirates.  Hook." over and over when he opened this present.  

I wanted to provide the cake for his supper but decided baking was not going to happen.  Too much after-Christmas mess and leftovers, etc.  So, I ordered this cake ONLINE.  How cool is that?  

Papa PJ was on don't-let-him-burn-himself duty.  He acted like he knew just what to do, which is funny because we don't have candles all the time.

Yum!

After his birthday, it was time to get back to normal life.  I undecorated the house--I don't like to linger after Christmas.  I'm over it quickly.  :)  I helped the kids put new toys away and the house was clean (it's not now).  Brian had 3 days off this week so that was awesome.  

They spent time playing Skylanders (a big draw for the boys!).

Lily dressed herself and her new American Girl doll up.

And, we slowly started back at school.  We had 2 days with just a few subjects to ease into it.  Samuel started All About Reading Level 1 and it's great so far.  Here he is playing a game with Ziggy.

I think I'm the one that struggled with getting back into the routine so I'm hoping to get things done this weekend to help me feel back on track for Monday.  I changed some stuff in our homeschool routine and I'm looking forward to a fresh start!