Hey, It's Jade! and family

Friday, January 25, 2013

Homeschool Recap, January 25th (Week 22)...

In my life this week...
I keep meaning to spend some time blogging on things other than the boys and homeschooling, but it just isn't happening.  There isn't time enough in all the world at this point.  It's amazing how busy I feel... but what am I DOING with all my time?  Who knows?!  Anyway, the week gets away from me and here I am again, trying to mark out enough time to throw together our weekly recap.  This week?  I don't even know.  I had an Usborne book party scheduled for Thursday, but it was rescheduled for next week.  Jill and Steve came and took the boys out for a few hours anyway, since they had it already planned.  They went out to the woods, hiked, had a picnic and ended up with ice cream.  So fun for them.  I spent the time trying to get my business stuffs organized and make some lead calls.  It felt nice to have some quiet and get some things accomplished. 

Preston had his 7-year check up at the doctor, everything looked good except he didn't quite pass the eye screening.  I took him to the eye clinic and they tested him with all kinds of contraptions, and it appears his left eye is 20/40, so slightly weaker than the right.  The doc said at this age, glasses would be more trouble than they're worth because the vision loss is not even enough to notice really.  Only if he starts complaining about headaches or not being able to see should we look into glasses.  She asked him if he had trouble seeing the board at school... his answer what "huh?"  Hahahah!  Loved it.
Waiting for his eye exam, enjoying himself.

Places we're going and people we're seeing...
Last Sunday, my parents came over and we walked around the Paragon Outlets here in GP and then had Spaghetti Warehouse for dinner.  Yum!  Love spending time with our families!

A Picture to share...
I love my boys!!!

In our Homeschool this week...
Tot School: We continued the 1plus1plus1equals1.net "Tot School" printables this week with letter "Q" for Queen and royalty!  We read a few books having to do with queens, like Isabella Abnormella & The Very, Very Finicky Queen of Trouble and Pizza for the Queen.  Honestly, we didn't spend a lot of time on tot school this week.  Callen did a really good job tracing the letter "Q" though!  And he ended with two busted lips this week.  Boys!  Oh, and he had a fantastic time playing with Play-Doh... he's never really been let loose with it before, so it was quite a delight for him!
Play-Doh-Palooza!
Bible:   This week's name of Jesus was Head of the Body. Preston's memory verse is Col 1:18 and we looked up verses in The Discoverer's Bible that talked the church being the body and God as the head. 

Reading/Writing: We continued Spelling by Sound & Structure. Continued with lesson 49-51 in Primary Language Lessons, this week was about letter writing and addressing envelopes. We continued our read-aloud, On the Banks of Plum Creek, by Laura Ingalls Wilder. 

History: 
This week Preston learned about Illinois, reading Hog Music and Growing Seasons.  And Alabama, reading a biography of George Washington Carver and a book on Rosa Parks called The Bus Ride That Changed History.  We also learned about wagon trains, reading from American Pioneers and Patriots and a library book called Wagons West.

Math: Preston continued Part B of Math Mammoth, Second Grade.  Finished Chapter 7 on measuring all different kinds of ways, did a mixed review, chapter review and a chapter test: got a 93% (he only missed one question).

Science:  This week's theme was the human body, and we over subjects like organs, muscles, bones and food processing in the First Encyclopedia of Science and made pages in his Science Notebook.

Music/Art: Continued practicing "The Star-Spangled Banner."  We also continued our World's Greatest Artists, Vol 1 unit study, with our third artist: Monet. We read from Famous Artists, What Makes a Monet a Monet?, A Picnic with Monet and A Blue Butterfly. Preston worked on his lapbook we're making with all of our artists and recreated a Water Lilies-style picture in the Usborne My Very First Art Coloring Book. We are also listening to and learning more about Tchaikovsky's Swan Lake. 
Beautiful colors. It's all about the impression, not the details.
Spanish: Continued with the next episode of Salsa. Reviewed some of the things we have previously practiced with La Clase Divertida, like A-W, 1-20 and animals.  We reviewed words having to do with "Las dias" in our First Thousand Words in Spanish and went through some review using the Spanish Words & Phrases Flashcards


We are using Adventures in My Father's World. See our curriculum here.



[This post contains affiliate links for Usborne Books & More and Amazon.com.  By clicking on those links and purchasing items, you are helping me continue to be a SAHM so that I can focus on homeschooling my children!  Thank you!]

Friday, January 18, 2013

Homeschool Recap, January 18th (Week 21)...

In my life this week...
I think, for the most part, our sicknesses have ended.  There is still a lot of sniffling going around, and Michael's ears are not healed yet... but we are tons better than we have been.  This week flew by, once again.  We had our ups and downs, as usual.  Michael started his class, teaching several nights a week.  He's got a big class this time, compared to last semester's FOUR students.  Praying it goes smoothly for him this time around.  The boys seemed to be having a pretty rough go of it in the behavior department the early part of the week, which made me one tired mama.  The weather warmed up a bit so they've been able to play outside some the last few days and for HOURS today, so I think that helps.  

Places we're going...
Last Sunday we spent time with Michael's parents at their rental place in Dallas... we went to the park down the street and out to dinner to celebrate Jill's birthday. 
Family Shadow Photo at the park.
Our homeschool group took a field trip to one of the fire stations in our town that we've never been to before.  It was neat because they have a fireboat! 
Fire Boat!
Things I'm cooking...
Since the beginning of the year I've been trying hard to make a dinner menu plan for two weeks at a time.. and so far it's working well.  It helps me not have to suddenly think up something, or worse... run and get something... at the last minute.  Trying to keep from having to go to the store every time I want to cook something, too.  Doing my best to stick to the plan. Though, I admit, Monday night the boys didn't want what I had on the list and I didn't much want to cook it, so we had Brinner... but we are back on track now, lol.  Made some yummy roast last night.  The boys only liked the potatoes, but I thought the whole thing was tasty.
Yummy pot roast!

What I'm watching...
Well, our Netflix Streaming trial is about up... I finished Freaks & Geeks and Season 1 of Downton Abbey.  Had to find a place online that offers Season 2, lol.  I still have a few movies in my queue to try to squeeze in if I can, but pretty much watched everything I wanted to.  The boys haven't quite watched all 99 episodes of Phineas & Ferb yet.  I'm caught up on Once Upon a Time, Nashville, Parenthood and Bunheads... so, I'm good.  Haha. 



In our Homeschool this week...
Tot School: We continued the 1plus1plus1equals1.net "Tot School" printables this week with letter "P" for Pencil and other school supplies!  We read a lot of books featuring other writing utensils: The Pencil, The Little Red Pen, The Good-Luck Pencil and Art's Supplies.  Callen is really progressing in his coloring... he seems to really enjoy it, though only in short spurts, of course.  He still throws crayons and unwraps them, sigh.  He is also enjoying is Crayola Dry Erase Activity Center Zany Play a lot.  Oh, and he loves "writing" along in his "America book" while Preston is working on his states and history lessons.  It's really just a $1 Store workbook that has info on all 50 states with dot-to-dots, little puzzles and a place to copy the names of the states.  He scribbles in it, does the puzzles if he can and such... I love it.

Bible:   This week's name of Jesus was The Vine. Preston's memory verse is John 15:5 and we looked up verses in The Discoverer's Bible that talked Jesus being the vine and God the gardener. 

Reading/Writing: We continued Spelling by Sound & Structure. Continued with lesson 46-48 in Primary Language Lessons. We continued our read-aloud, On the Banks of Plum Creek, by Laura Ingalls Wilder.  I think Preston is enjoying this one a bit more because there's more action happening in every chapter... Laura gets into a lot of mischief and he can relate, lol!

History: 
This week Preston learned about James Watt, who re-engineered the steam engine, and Robert Fulton, who created the paddle/steamboat, reading Watt Got You Started, Mr. Fulton?  We also learned about Indiana and Mississippi, reading A Fourth of July on the Plains, A Placed Called Freedom, Granddaddy's Gift and Freedom School, Yes!

Math: Preston continued Part B of Math Mammoth, Second Grade.  Started Chapter 7 on measuring all different kinds of ways.

Science:  This week's theme was floating and juice from fruit.  We read two pages of First Encyclopedia of Science on why things float.  Then we read through two pages of Science in the Kitchen and talked about how and why there is juice in fruit, and how some fruit juice can be used to dye cloth

Music/Art: Continued practicing "The Star-Spangled Banner."  We also continued our World's Greatest Artists, Vol 1 unit study, with our second artist: Michelangelo. We read a biography by Stanley.  We looked at more his paintings and sculptures, and Preston colored in a printout of The Holy Family. We are also listening to and learning more about Tchaikovsky's Swan Lake.  The boys decided to put on "pretty dresses" one day when we were listening.  Haha!
Dancing the Swan Dance.
Spanish: Continued with the next episode of Salsa. Reviewed some of the things we have previously practiced with La Clase Divertida, like A-W, 1-20 and animals.  We reviewed words having to do with "Opposites" in our First Thousand Words in Spanish and went through some review using the Spanish Words & Phrases Flashcards


We are using Adventures in My Father's World. See our curriculum here.



[This post contains affiliate links for Usborne Books & More and Amazon.com.  By clicking on those links and purchasing items, you are helping me continue to be a SAHM so that I can focus on homeschooling my children!  Thank you!]

Friday, January 11, 2013

Homeschool Recap, January 11th (Week 20)...

In my life this week...
Sickness.  We have been sick for weeeeeeeeks, but I think we're finally seeing an upturn.  I am feeling better, and the boys seem to be better, though they are both still coughing and producing tons of drainage (eww, sorry).  Michael went back to the doctor and got some different meds for labyrinthitis (ummm, ok), so hopefully he will be able to hear soon.  It sucks to work in an audio business and not be able to hear out of one ear.  Plus, he starts teaching his Audio II class next Tuesday... REALLY hoping he gets healed before that!  We had a homeschool support meeting on Tuesday and AWANA on Wednesday, it was so nice to get out of the house and do some normal things!

Other than that, Michael's parents are here so we're getting to see them a bit.  They're here till March, and the boys are eager to really get to spend some time with them while they're here.  
 
And we got back to school!
Back at it after a nice, long break!
In our Homeschool this week...
Tot School: We continued the 1plus1plus1equals1.net "Tot School" printables this week with letter "O" for Ostrich and other African Animals!  We read a lot of books featuring African Animals:  If All the Animals Came Inside, The Water Hole, The Lonely Lioness & The Ostrich Chicks, How the Ostrich Got It's Long Neck, Ten Little Animals, Nanta's Lion, African Animals and Jungle Jack Hanna's Safari Adventure.  We also joined our homeschool group for an interesting activity involving a missionary to Africa.  A young lady who has visited Africa multiple times recorded a video all about the areas she's been to. Then, after the video, we called her on speaker phone and all the kids had a chance to ask her a question.  The kids really enjoyed that!

Bible:   This week's name of Jesus was The Vine. Preston's memory verse is John 15:5 and we looked up verses in The Discoverer's Bible that talked Jesus being the vine and God the gardener. 

Reading/Writing: We continued Spelling by Sound & Structure. Continued with lesson 43-45 in Primary Language Lessons. We started our new read-aloud, On the Banks of Plum Creek, by Laura Ingalls Wilder.

History: 
This week Preston learned about the Louisiana Purchase, Lewis & Clark and the War of 1812.  We read from our Story of the U.S. about Thomas Jefferson's deal for the Louisiana Territory, read How We Crossed the West and watched a National Geographic documentary on Lewis & Clark's journey on Netflix and briefly read about the War of 1812 and writing of The Star-Spangled Banner in Red, White & Blue.  We studied about the state of Louisiana and read Four Little Old Men and The Story of Ruby Bridges, plus got some food from Popeye's Chicken.  The boys didn't like the red beans and rice, but I sure do!  Lol.
Yummy lunch!
Math: Preston continued Part B of Math Mammoth, Second Grade.  Finished up Chapter 6 of the book, and taking his chapter review, mixed review and chapter test.  He is zipping right through this stuff.

Science:  This week's theme was plants.  We read two pages of First Encyclopedia of Science.  We were supposed to do a corn kernal growing experiment, but I didn't have any... so we just didn't do it.  Preston read from some other library books on the subject: Start Science: Plants, People Need Plants and Trees, Weeds & Vegetables: So Many Kinds of Plants!

Music/Art: Finished practicing "There are Many Flags" and moved on to "The Star-Spangled Banner" to coincide with the info on the War of 1812 we learned in history.  Preston already knows the first verse, of course.  We also continued our World's Greatest Artists, Vol 1 unit study, with our second artist: Michelangelo. We read about his from Famous Artists and a book called Michelangelo's World.  We looked at some of his paintings and sculptures, including The David, the ceiling of the Sistine Chapel and The Holy Family.  Preston and Callen colored in a small part of one of his paintings while upside down to see what it was like.
Sistine Chapel puzzle, Callen working on "O"
Coloring upside down is hard!
Spanish: Continued with the next episode of Salsa. Reviewed some of the things we have previously practiced with La Clase Divertida, like A-W, 1-20 and body parts.  We reviewed words having to do with ""Doing Things" in our First Thousand Words in Spanish and went through some review using the Spanish Words & Phrases Flashcards


We are using Adventures in My Father's World. See our curriculum here.



[This post contains affiliate links for Usborne Books & More and Amazon.com.  By clicking on those links and purchasing items, you are helping me continue to be a SAHM so that I can focus on homeschooling my children!  Thank you!]

Wednesday, January 9, 2013

Christmas 2012 Recap...

My goodness, here it is already January 8th, 2013... oops!  Being off of school for two weeks certainly didn't help me have extra time for anything... weird, huh?  I just realized I haven't blogged our Christmas, shared photos, etc.  Bad me!  I'll try to remember, though a lot of it is a daze because... honestly, we've been sick for the past 3-4 weeks.  Ugh, it's been awful for all four of us in the house.  But, we have had some good times in there, too!

Leading up to Christmas Eve, Preston and I attend some practices with the Children's ministry at GFC.  Preston was part of the production, and it went SO WELL!  The kids all did great, performing to Fred Hammond's "His Name is Jesus." Preston got to run around the whole sanctuary with a huge "Jesus" banner, and it was awesome!
His name is Jesus!  Jesus!
With all the Christmas Eve gifts!
After the Christmas Eve service, we went back to our house with my mom, dad and brother-in-law.  We had delicious food (including my mom's famous tuna sandwiches, lol) and we opened presents.

The boys received some wonderful gifts from Grandpa David and Grandma Darlene that they were very excited about, like Dreamlites!  Preston got the puppy to go with his puppy Pillow Pet and Callen got the giraffe he wanted.  They still go to sleep every night with those things on, they LOVE them... so funny.  Michael and I got coffee mugs and jeans, which were definitely needed!

Then, on Christmas morning, the boys woke up to their Santa gifts...

Santa brought Preston a Lego DS game, some funky notepads that change color when your write on them, cups, ear buds and some other stuff. Callen got a "Mario game" like he wanted (it was Yahtzee, not sure that's REALLY what he wanted, but he was happy with it, lol), and all kinds of little things too. We had breakfast and second breakfast (Michael made corn fritters!). Then Uncle Daniel came over and we opened presents, then went out to play in the snow. So incredible that we actually had a white Christmas... one that was white enough to really throw snowballs and SLED in. Preston was an expert sledder by the end of the day! So much fun!

Even though we were all sick off and on, we did some fun things like visit Mema, walk around the Galleria and see their giant Christmas tree.  We finished up our Advent/Christmas countdown with books.  Not sure I'll attempt that again, the boys fought over who got to unwrap the book every time, not exactly good for family bonding time.  Ha!  On New Year's Eve, we hung out with church friends, playing games and just having fun.  The rest of the time we rested, watched movies/tv, played games and enjoyed each others' company. 
Our Christmas book countdown!

 All in all, it was a great holiday vacation.  Hopefully we can finally get over our many illnesses and get back in the groove!  Happy New Year!

Tuesday, January 1, 2013

December 2012 Tweets & Instagrams to Remember...

Dec 3rd - Finally got around to wrapping the birthday presents. Can't believe my boy turns SEVEN tomorrow.

Dec 4th - Yep. My big guy is 7 today!  

Dec 7th - powerfm party over here!  

Dec 8th - There's a tree in our house!  

Dec 9th - Oh yeah! Baby, it's cold outside!  

Dec 10th - Brrrr! Snow on my van this morning. Happy birthday to me!  

Dec 10th - Had a mini-heart attack, LOST Callen at the scout meeting. Somehow he got away & was in a diff bldng completely for like 10 minutes.

Dec 11th - So I got a new phone I have no idea how to use. Including how to answer a call or which side is up, which is down most of the time. 

Dec 13th - Tell me HOW one loses a pair of shoes u wear ALL the time? Like completely vanished. I don't even know what to say.

Dec 13th - Checking out the Dead Sea Scrolls. My head is spinning, but its so fascinating!

Dec 14th - My heart hurts. Sitting here watching Christmas tv w/my little one, can't stop hugging him. So many families w/out their littles tonight. 

Dec 16th - Watching a crazy disaster movie on ION called Christmas Twister, based here in DFW. They keep saying "the I-35" and such. Um, no.

Dec 17th - Working on our handprint snowmen cards. Brotherly teamwork!

Dec 18th - Cubscouts Christmas Party w/Santa! @ First United Methodist Church

Dec 20th - Merry Christmas! Childrens Fired Up for Jesus fun! @ Grace Fellowship Church

Dec 21st - Love our GFC Childrens Ministry picture ornament!

Dec 24th - Eating Goldfish and watching Ernest Saves Christmas, lol.

Dec 25th - Santa came! Filled their stockings w/fun stuff!

Dec 25th - Daddy made corn fritters. At first P said they were disgusting, then he asked for more.

Dec 25th - Exciting white stuff around here!

Dec 26th - Callen napping, M and P playing in the other room, I'm snuggled on the couch watching You've Got Mail. Merry 3rd Day of Christmas!

Dec 29th - That's a big one! Giant Christmas tree at the Galleria. @ Galleria Dallas

Dec 29th - Just experienced an American Girl Doll store. Completely different atmosphere for a boy mom, I guess.