Homeschool Recap, Feb 24th (Week 22)...

In my life this week...

I blinked and the week was over.  Um, let's see.  The weather was soooo not Wintery, but very, very lovely and warm.  The boys played outside a lot this week, which was nice.  Yay fresh air!  On Thursday, the boys and I went to our friend Candi's house for a playdate... there were a total of 11 kids!  It was so crazy, but everyone had a great time.  I did a story-time with my Usborne books, and the kids loved it.  So fun!  Then, today we had two boys over to play with my boys, while I had a nice time chatting with Lizz. 

The tax refund that was supposed to deposit on Feb 21st never did.  So all plans of getting a van this week fell through.  Now the IRS website says it should deposit Feb 28th, so we'll see.  I've given up on making plans, forget it.  Lol.

A picture to share...

Cuddle Bear is for cuddling!

I got some inventory in, including the new Cuddle Bear, and Callen fell in love.  Lol.  It was the most difficult thing prying this sweet bear from his grip, haha.  He really is soft and cuddly - very hard to resist!  And a portion of the proceeds goes to fight pediatric cancer, you can't help but love that!

In our Homeschool this week...Well, I went ahead and placed an order for Adventures in My Father's World, which is the 2nd grade curriculum.  It's going to go up in price soon, and they were offering super cheap shipping... and since our tax return will be in soon, I went for it!  Excited to not be mulling over that anymore.  But, I will have to make a decision on our math.  I'm probably going to go with Math Mammoth, and it's supposed to go on sale with the Homeschool Co-Op in March, so we'll see!

Tot School: Callen spoke some new words this week... I can't remember them all, but "mess" and "morning" spring to mind.  Here's a video of him "reading" my Bible from last nite:


Bible: Proverbs 14:14, "The faithless will be fully repaid for their ways, and the good man rewarded for his."  Went through more New Testament books of the Bible. We talked about Samson and King Saul a bit.

Reading/Writing: Going through grammar, phonics, etc.  Nothing exciting to report here.  Lol!

Math: Worked on adding and subtraction, and reviewed place value in the Complete Book of Math.

Science:  This week was mixing!  We did some mixing experiments with water and all kinds of things, like sand, shampoo, salt, orange juice and such.

What happens if you mix THIS in water?

Music/Art: This week we started the hymn, "Take My Life, and Let It Be." We talked about the trombone and mellophone, listened to those instruments.  We looked at a Georgia O'Keefe painting.  And we skipped Drawing with Children this week... just weren't into it.

Callen likes to help Bubba color.

Spanish: We started on school/classroom type words this week.  Preston exclaimed, "I'm casa escuela-ed!"  Lol!  Love it.

We are using My Father's World First Grade. See our curriculum here.

Blog Hoppin' with:
 

Gorgeous Spring Weather!

Ok, yes, I'm a bit peeved that seemed to have completely skipped Winter this year.  BUT, considering how absolutely beautiful it was yesterday and is today... I find it difficult to complain.  The boys are enjoying playing out in the backyard most of the morning.  That certainly helps me get the little one down for a nap after lunch... he's exhausted from all the running around!  I spent some time out there this morning, sipping on my second cup of coffee and just enjoying the scenery - my boys running around like crazies and the nice breeze, blue sky and green grass.  So beautiful.  

I just feel so thankful to God for allowing His Creation to be so lovely to look at, to take in, to enjoy.  Sure, there is ugliness, hatred, pain in this world... but we can't always focus on that, we'll go insane.  Take the time today to breathe in the fresh air, smile at a yellow dandelion (yes, it's a weed, but enjoy it anyway) and twirl around until you fall down laughing!  God is good, all the time.  Even when you can't feel it.  He is there.  I promise. 

Homeschool Recap, Feb 17th (Week 21)...

In my life this week...

Wow, so I'm a few days late getting our our Homeschool Recap.  The reason:

Breathing easier.

Preston has had a cough every so often, especially at nite, for a week or two.  We thought it had to do with his asthma.  But on Thursday night, around 1am, he woke up coughing hard, sounded like a barking seal, and couldn't get himself under control.  He was crying and barking and we tried to calm him down to see what was going on, but he just couldn't.  So, we rushed him to the ER, thinking it was an asthma attack.  The whole way there he was having such a hard time breathing and he just sounded so awful, it was really scary.  As soon as I got up to the front desk with him, he had stopped making the horrible barking/honking noise, though.  I guess he was so scared of the ER that he was able to calm himself down from the coughing fit.  But, they could tell right away that it was Croup.  We had never experienced that before, so it was new to us.  They gave him a Popsicle, a breathing treatment and cool mist mask for a while and we were sent home.  We spent Friday taking it easy and sleeping a lot.

Then, Friday evening, Michael and I went to see Remedy Drive in Arlington.  Love that band!  They were soooo good.  It was definitely a date night that was needed.  We honestly couldn't remember the last time we had gone to a concert, especially sans kids. 

Hold on, Daylight is Coming!!!

A picture and story to share...

Singin' and Dancin' in the Rain!

It rained all day Saturday, so I introduced the boys to one of my all-time favorite movies, Singin' In the Rain. They LOVED it!  In this picture they dancing along to "Good Morning."  I've always sang this to them when waking them up, but NOW they know where it's from.  Haha!

Praying for...

Preston to continue getting better.  We had to miss church today because he is still coughing a lot... don't wanna contaminate the other kids there.  And for my business.  I have 10 days to meet my sales goal for February to stay in the running for the iPad2, and I had a party cancel on me for this Saturday.  It was the one party I had this month, and I was really hoping it'd help me make my goal.  Now, I'm not sure I can do it...but I'm sure gonna do my best to try!  Hoping that more people will take advantage of our Cards for a Cause fundraiser, that would certainly help!  We were going to go door-to-door in our neighborhood on Saturday, but it rained and Preston still wasn't feeling up to it anyway.  So, we'll see!

In our Homeschool this week...

Tot School: Callen did a lot of coloring... he really likes that.  My mom and dad came over to watch the boys on Friday night.  They bought the boys a big paper roll and they made some awesome pictures!  Callen also still really enjoys our Peg Board from Discovery Toys.  If you haven't checked out DT, you really should.  They have fantastic stuff!

Stacking the "pegs."

Bible: Proverbs 25:28, "Like a city whose walls have broken down, is a man who lacks self-control."  We talked about New Testaments books of the Bible, Romans through Galatians, the Battle of Jericho, Israel & Judges and Samuel.

Reading/Writing: Continuing through the phonics lessons, e/ie and |oo| sound using multiple spellings.  Preston continued reading a lot of books on his own for our library reading program.  And we finished up Hank The Cowdog #10 "Every Dog Has His Day."

Math: Worked on adding and subtracting more... were kinda sporadic with really doing math this week 'cause we just got so busy.

Science:  The subject this week was "Vanishing Water."  We put a bowl of water up on the window ledge, and checked on it daily to see how it had evaporated.  We also put some ice in a jar and watched the condensation gather on the outside.

Music/Art: This week's hymn was still "Rejoice, Ye Pure In Heart."  We also talked about the the bugle and trumpet, the differences and similarities and watched some youtube videos of those instruments to hear the differences.  Michael helped with that because he was home early from jury duty on Wednesday.  For art, we looked at a portrait from Renoir of two girls playing a piano.

Spanish: We continued with words having to do with our community or neighborhood.

Oh, and this week was Valentine's Day, huh?  I almost forgot, seems like forever ago already.  We went to a homeschool group party, and the boys had a blast playing with the other kids!  I also made them a special Valentine's dinner: Breakfast!  Haha.  Pumpkin pancakes, sausage and yogurt-covered strawberries!  Here's what the Valentine's they gave out to the kids in our group looked like:

Callen scribbled and I clarified, haha!

We are using My Father's World First Grade. See our curriculum here.

Blog Hoppin' with:
 

Homeschool Fundraiser!

Preston wanted to do a commercial for our fundraiser, so here ya go!


I am in the process of getting ready to buy next year's 2nd grade curriculum for Preston.  I thought it would be fun to do a fundraiser - hey, all the other kids in my neighborhood have hit me up to support THEIR school... why can't we do it to support ours?  Am I right, homeschoolin' mamas?  So, I am holding a Cards for a Cause now through Feb 25th!  Please call or email me to get your order in (you cannot purchase these through my site, though buying books from me helps too... so, feel free to do that as well!).

The greeting cards are high-quality, colorful, hand-crafted and so much fun!  We have two versions you can choose from (or get one of each!).

All-Occasion

Specifically for Kids!

Each box of cards is $30, contains 30 cards (yes, making them only $1 each - but these are no typical dollar store cards!) and has a nice keepsake box as well!  These are so great to have on hand for those emergency "Thank you" or "Happy Anniversary!" needs.  You know you have 'em!  You'll be covered!

So cute!

Help support our homeschooling, buy a box of cards today!  And tell your friends!

*If you are interested in learning more about our Cards for a Cause fundraising for your needs, email me at HeyJadeBooks[at]gmail and I can get your group started right away!

Valentine's Day 2012!

This year, I let the boys make their own Valentine's... with a lot of help from me, of course.  We printed some things from the internet and assembled them with lots of glue!  Preston helped me a lot, and did a great job signing him name to each one (there were 40!):

Diligently writing his name over & over!

I let Callen do his little scribble on each one too, then I followed up by writing "Callen" under it, haha:

Callen adding his scribble.

They came out really cute.  A maze on one side and a reminder of the source of True Love on the other:

Final product.

We went to our homeschool group's Valentine's party and the boys had a blast playing with the other kids.  Snacks, games, passing out Valentine's... it was a lot of fun!

Michael worked that whole day, so the boys and I had a special Valentine's dinner: Pumpkin Pancakes, sausage, eggs and yogurt-covered frozen strawberries.  They didn't come out quite as I expected, but the boys enjoyed them anyway!

Does my mouth look heart-shaped?

It's a little tart, mama!

We also played "Towel Ball," which is really just wacking at the ball with a towel to try to get it past Mama.  Haha!

Get it, Callen!

Handwriting Meme...

1. What is your name

2. Blog URL

3. Write: The quick brown fox jumps over the lazy dog.

4. Favorite quote

5. Favorite song (at the moment)

6. Favorite band/singers (at the moment)

7. Say anything you want

8. Tag 3-5 bloggers

Hope you can read that!  Was tagged by Tina, who has gorgeous handwriting!  How 'bout you give it a try?

Homeschool Recap, Feb 10th (Week 20)...

In my life this week...

Despite a ton of run-around with the bank and the buyers, we finally sold our Rav4 and purchased a Kia Soul!  Woo hoo!  It's super cute and drives like a dream!  That was a huge relief off my shoulders.  I swear it's just been one thing after another and I have been wound so stinkin' tight, I can barely breathe!  When we get our tax refund, we plan to buy a cheap mini-van or 3rd row SUV that I can use.  I'm so tired of being a one-car family and not being able to even run to the store when I need to!  Praying that a certain pizza place that Michael worked at last year gets our flippin' w2 to us pronto, so we can file - we're just waiting on you, pizza place!!!  Grr.

Being all stressed out has made me one cranky mama, too.  I have been a total jerk to my kids lately, and I feel so bad about it.  But every two seconds one of them is doing something naughty.  It's hard to keep from losing my cool when it's just a constant battle, one after the other.  Mix that in with some other stuff, and man... yeah, jerk city over here.  =(  I attempt to re-adjust my attitude every few minutes, TRYING to snap out of it, but... blehhhh, just one of those valleys, I guess.

A picture and story to share...
This big cardboard stand up was at the Kia dealership.  I had to go stand next to Vince Neil and send the picture to Rosie to see what her reaction was.  Lol!  When we visited her in California (a million years ago now!), we were sitting outside The Roxy in Hollywood waiting for The Rocket Summer & Watashia Wa show to start, and right in front of us a fancy, red sports car pulls up and scrapes the heck out of the bumper on the curb.  We laughed, and Michael was all, "Don't laugh, it's probably one of the dude's from Motley Crüe or something."  We laughed even harder because Michael wouldn't recognize those guys anywhere!  And then... who was it?  Vince Neil.  Hahah!  Oh man, we were inconsolable by then.  I ended up getting a photo with him, and it was just such a ridiculous nite... something we'll never forget or stop laughing about, I'm sure!

With Motley Crüe, haha!

Praying for...

The pieces of the puzzle to fall into place.

In our Homeschool this week...

Tot School: Callen is picking up some new words, but he is as ornery as ever.  You cannot leave him alone for two seconds before he's either on top of the cabinet or has already destroyed something into a million pieces.  My goodness, he wears me out.  But then, we have nites like this, too.  Cutie pie!

Bible: Proverbs 20:11, "Even a child is known for his actions, whether his conduct is pure and right."  Been trying to use that one to convince Preston to behave!  Haha. We started in on the books of the New Testament, Matthew-Acts so far.  And we talked about the Israelites not having enough faith to enter the Promised Land and having to spend 40 MORE years wandering.  Here is a video of Preston reciting the books of the Old Testament from memory!


Reading/Writing: Preston has been reading a lot of books on his this week because we're doing the Winter Reading Club at the library.  Other than that, just continuing through our MFW workbook.

Cute drawing of a mouse under the chair!

Math: Worked on reviewing addition and subtraction, just continuing on with some pages in his Complete Book of Math, moving into subtracting bigger numbers and adding three values!

Science:  The subject this week was water's skin.  We did a few activities from Science With Water, like floating a needle on top of the water and playing with water drops.  Today we went outside to enjoy the sunshine and played with bubbles!

Blowing bubbles!

Stitch blows 'em, they chase 'em!

Music/Art: This week's hymn was "Rejoice, Ye Pure In Heart."  We also talked about the sousaphone and french horn and watched some youtube videos of those instruments to hear the differences.  For art, we looked at a painting of a country road and house and Preston worked on some abstract drawings using various designs/shapes/lines.

Spanish: We continued with words having to do with our community or neighborhood.

We are using My Father's World First Grade. See our curriculum here.

Blog Hoppin' with:
 

Sometimes I could just EAT HIM UP!

Like tonite's cuteness...

More Tickles!


Who Loves You?

As in, Bob the Tomato. Yep.

And, of course, this:

Rock it, Callen!

Switched! by Billy Myers Review

Switched! is the fifth title in the "TJ and the Time Stumblers" series written by Bill Myers.  We had not read the previous books, but were quickly and easily brought up to speed with what we needed to know to understand the current story.  Apparently TJ Finkelstein is destined to become a great leader, and a couple of goof-ball teen travel back from the 23rd century to do a history report on her.  Only they cause way more trouble than anything else and send TJ off into all kinds of bizarre adventures.  In this particular book, a mishap with a "Thought Broadcaster Pen" causes TJ to switch bodies with the person she despises the most!  And, of course, chaos ensues.

My son was a little young for this particular type of book, which I think is probably best suited for tween girls, but he found parts to be absolutely hysterical (a giant crab with sunglasses?! everyone suddenly losing track of who's who?!).  I read it aloud to him, one chapter per night, and personally was a bit annoyed by the so-called humor and the use of adjectives as last names ("Mr. Hatemijob").  But then, I don't fit the demographic for this type of book either.  Again, I'm thinking a tween girl would find this book amusing and interesting, as there is also just the slightest hint of a love story there.

The overlying message of the story, however, is a good one: the importance of forgiveness.  It is weaved into the story on multiple levels, though not overly shoved down your throat.  I enjoyed that at the end of the story, TJ learns to be forgive and keep on forgiving even when it's difficult - that is certainly a lesson we all need to keep in mind!

Disclosure of Material Connection: I received this book free from the publisher through the Tyndale Blog Network. I was not required to write a positive review. The opinions I have expressed are my own. I am disclosing this in accordance with the Federal Trade Commission’s 16 CFR, Part 255 : “Guides Concerning the Use of Endorsements and Testimonials in Advertising.”

Homeschool Recap, Feb 3rd (Week 19)...

In my life this week...

Ugh, we've all been sickish this week... cold, sinus... whatever.  It's yuck.  I have been so unmotivated to get out of bed, it's not even funny.  I have not been a very patient or nice mom this week, basically I've been a slug.  I'm also sad that it's been stinkin' 70-something degrees everyday when it's supposed to be WINTER!  Grr.  A little cold weather isn't too much to ask, is it?

I did get around to making phone calls like crazy trying to get my Usborne business hoppin'.  There's an awesome challenge over the next 4 months and I want to earn myself an iPad2... so I'm trying really hard to meet my goals.  Plus, I need/want the extra income that comes with the diligence.  Now, if people would just answer their phones or return messages, we'd be doing well!  Lol.  I'm trying, though.

So, the car situation is at a stand-still.  Haven't had a buyer for our current one, haven't bought a new one either.  Still just waiting and watching for what's to come.  Hoping for a buyer soon!

Places we're going and people we're seeing...
This week was such a blur, I don't even remember what all went on.  I made it out of the house last nite to go to the Mom's Support Meeting with our Homeschool Group, so that was a nice little while away from the house!  Other than that, not much excitement around here since we've been sick.

Praying for...

The car to sell. For us to make a wise decision regarding a new(ish) car for the family.  For my business to pick up.  For all of our sickness to go away for a long, long time.  Energy and motivation!

A recipe and photo to share:

Slow Cooker Salsa Chicken

I love using my crock pot for dinner, and I love Chef-In-Training's recipes.  Put 'em together!  Yes, please!  I have made this Slow Cooker Salsa Chicken twice, and both times it came out more creamy than expected, BUT it's soooo good!  The first time I turned it into enchiladas and this time I just put it over rice and the next day chips.  Yum!  Even the kids gobbled it up, even though it was just a bit spicy!  They LOVED it!  Super easy recipe, very few ingredients, and it cooks all day and makes your kitchen smell so delicious you can barely stand to wait till dinner time!

In our Homeschool this week...

Tot School: Gahhhhhhh!  That is all I can even say.  Lol.

Bible: Proverbs 3:6, "In all your ways acknowledge Him, and He will make your paths straight." This week we finished up the Old Testament books of the Bible.  Preston has nearly all of them memorized and only needs just a little prodding here and there to keep going.  So proud of how well he did at this task!  Talked more about Moses as he was leading the Israelites over the desert for 40 years... bitter water, manna and water from a stone.

Reading/Writing: I love when Preston takes his time and really focuses on his writing, he can write SO WELL!  He just needs to focus!  I know that's hard for a 6-yr-old boy, of course.

Math: Worked on reviewing addition and subtraction, just continuing on with some pages in his Complete Book of Math he started a while back.  I was able to assign him a page and leave him at the table while I attended Callen several times, and came back and found the page completed and almost completely correct (just a miscalculation here and there).  Yay!  We also read a couple of really fun books that had word problems in them, and Preston did such a good job of figuring them out.  They were called You Can, Toucan, Math and How High Can a Dinosaur Count?

Science:  The subject from Science with Water this week was boats.  We read a lot of story books about boats and some fact books about how they work.  Didn't do much hands on this week since I wasn't feeling well.  On Groundhog's Day we went outside and put our little Phil to work:

I think he sees his shadow!

Winter?  It's 70degrees out here!

 Music/Art: This week's hymn was continuing "The Lord's My Shepherd, I'll Not Want."  We also talked about the tuba and baritone horn and watched some youtube videos of those instruments to hear the differences.  For art, we looked at a portrait of some young boys and I let Preston watercolor a picture of his choosing.  He wanted to paint a castle and dragon.

Getting started.

Spanish: This week we started on words having to do with our community or neighborhood.

We are using My Father's World First Grade. See our curriculum here.

Blog Hoppin' with:
 

January 2012 Tweets to Remember...

Jan 1st - Will prob regret this w/all its little parts, but they love it!

Jan 4th - We're not gonna get things back to normal. It's only gonna get more abnormal, which will soon become the new normal. Right?

Jan 4th - Oh my goodness, big boy bed for Callen! http://twitpic.com/839pmo

Jan 5th - I am about to put the crib back together & give it to Preston... the crying, the whining, the fussing!!! Auugghhhhh! #MommyVent

Jan 6th - I just spent an hour outside, in my driveway, vacuuming books and fake plants. What? What do you do on Friday afternoons?

Jan 8th - Gahhhh, I hate being so needy, dependent on people and having to ask for so many inconvenient favors. =(

Jan 12th - Just heard P explaining,"That's cool! ....OH! Cool means 2 different things, Callen. Cold and AWESOME! Get it, baby?" #BrotherlyLove

Jan 13th - Cleared my RSS feed of 3000+ unread blog posts (since before Christmas) and I am probably not seeing your tweets either. #NotKeepingUp

Jan 15th - "Sometimes that peace comes from knowing that you are NOT in control!" Pastor Reggie

Jan 17th - I have a puking Preston. =( Poor kid, bad fever 2 nights in a row last week, now this? No idea whats up.

Jan 18th - One kid hurling, the other falling out of bed. After a nite like that, glad the roofers next door waited til 8. =/

Jan 19th - My Winter/Let It Snow window clings are melting off of the front door. #NotCoolTexas (literally). Hmph.

Jan 19th - Coffee, coffee, coffee, coffee, #coffee, coffee. That is all. Carry on.

Jan 20th - Not to be a broken record, but sometimes life does revolve around #coffee. Ok?

Jan 20th - In the middle of a Ghoti Hook dance party, I realized we never finished school today. Picnic, nap, dancing...check. School... nope.

Jan 21st - Sipping pumpkin spice #coffee, letting the boy stay up late so we can all watch Bolt together. Had a great nite with new & old friends!

Jan 26th - The sound of hysterical laughing coming out of a toddler, caused by his big brother? Best.Thing.Ever. :::melt:::

Jan 27th - I know my scale is broken, but it was still nice to stand on it and be at my goal weight after only 3 weeks of WW. Ha!

Jan 29th - Our family just grew by 5! My nieces & nephews have moved in.  http://twitpic.com/8dc0gz

Jan 31st - Both of our alarms are set correctly, his clock & my phone, yet neither went off! How does that happen? =(

Jan 31st - Just caught my not-yet-2-year-old attempting to make #coffee with my Senseo machine! Oh dear, he's starting awfully early!