Teaching Tuesdays - We are back in session

I don't have any great photos to share this week or any links to pages - I know, I know I'm a slacker but I can tell you what we did.

1) The most important thing of the week is  that Josh learned to read.  After spending the first half of the year focused on letter sounds, vowels sounds and blending all kinds of sounds, we pulled out the first book in our curriculum and Josh read the whole first story.  We then talked about plural words and how you add an "s" to show more than one (Hat vs. Hats).  His smile was HUGE.  Now, Nate keeps bringing him books and asking him to read to him.  Josh just shakes his head and and says, "Not yet Nate, I can't read ALL those words" HA!

2) On Monday, we did school at the grocery store.  Timing didn't allow me to get to the store for full shopping until Monday.  I decided to take the boys and the princess after the munchkin got on the bus.  We started out in the store doing all kinds of school stuff - Counting Fish, using the fish tanks to make math problems, finding letters/numbers on things (Such as, find a V and an 8 on a juice bottle or look for juice thiat says it is 100% !  Well, that lasted through about 5 aisles and then I said, we are done, I need to finish shopping and get out of here :-) 

3)  We did School in the morning on Wednesday.  Darryl was home and I knew the boys wanted him to play in the afternoon so we got all of our work done before lunch.  Then, after lunch, the best thing ever happened.  For the first time in almost 14 months, Darryl was able to get on the floor with the boys and build train circles (Play with their wooden track).  Yes, there were THREE happy boys (one big one and two little ones) as they worked together to build the perfect track. 

So yes, our homeschool start up after Christmas was a full success.  Now we will cruise through to the end of the year that will end sometime early May!

Make It Monday - A Bible Study Idea

I've been focusing more lately on my Quiet Time with God.  So when I came across this Bible Study idea that revolves around the concept of what I can give that blessed Babe in the manger, I really loved it.  I also love it because it's a great focus study for after Christmas because, lets face it, before Christmas life is busy - I'm more focused on teaching my Kids about the true meaning of Christmas than taking time for my own study.  I found the idea over at Brightlystreet and it is so simple to put together. 

You are able to print out everything you need from the above mentioned sight for free.  I had this little bucket on my desk so I taped the tag on the front, cut about the Character Traits, folded them and placed them in the bucket.  Now, I can pull one out, do some research and find a story about Jesus that teaches that trait, read it, and write about it in my journal. 

Now, to keep it real.  This is sitting on my end table ready to be used but I haven't pulled one out yet.  I started my accountability group Bible Study this past week and have found that I don't have the extra time for this study as well.  I'm thinking that I might try to do one of these each weekend instead. 
 

Things My Kids Say

* The boys were playing "Rock Band" this past week.  Josh was beating away on their homemade drums (chairs, tables, kitchen utensils ect) while Nate and the munchkin sat nearby watching.  The munchkin made a comment about them being Rock Stars to which Nate replied, "No, Josh is the Star, we are just the Rocks.  Some day we'll be good enough to be the stars."

*Driving to AWANA last week the boys could see stars as the clouds were finally parting in the sky.  Josh told Nate to wish on the stars and tell him what he wished for.  Nate replied that he wished we lived right next door to Papa and Nana's so they could go there anytime they wanted.  He said that we would live in the house that connects to their fence and Papa could put a gate in so they could go through the gate.  Then Josh added that if no one else wanted to go to Nana's house, that would be ok, since he could go through the gate, he could walk there all by himself anytime he wanted.  I think it is safe to say that the boys love their Papa and Nana very much.

* Nate likes to ask me, "Mom, do you know what I'm thinking?"  I will say, "What"? and he'll reply, "I'm thinking about YOU because I love you so much!"

*Nate had on a shirt recently that had a pocket.  He found a pen, put it in that pocket and said.  "This is what Papa Does.  Now I'm a man with a pen in my pocket"  Seriously?  LOL

Family Fun - Christmas Eve

Christmas Eve was a little crazy.  When we went to bed the night before we were still up in the air about going to my parents house due to fevers and sickness.  When the boys got up Christmas Eve, everyone seemed to be ok . . .so I made a decision that we go.  The boys were excited about going, I was excited about going so, I put it in overdrive.  I had food to make, bags to pack, the truck to pack, the dog to load up not to mention we still had to stop at the store and pick up the gifts we had planned to shop for on Monday but couldn't due to illness and pick up a few other things.  My goal was to leave the house by about 12:30 and we got out pretty close to that time and spent a good hour in the store.  By the time we were in checkout Nate was in tears due to saying his ears hurt and Josh was feeling very warm but, at this point we were "all in" so we hit the road.  Both boys were sound asleep by the time we hit the expressway which gave me a very quiet, relaxing ride which was very nice :-)  When we arrived at my parents, both boys walked in the house and curled up in chairs - so unlike them.  Nate fell asleep on the couch and didn't move for hours.  Darryl arrived a little later and I went to (attempt) to attend the Christmas Eve Service at my parents church but an intense round of coughing sent me to the foyer and I ended up returning to their house instead.  When I got there, Nate was lethargic and was running a fever of over 103 so we made a call to the doctor to see if we needed to take him to the ER - at that point, the Doc felt that if we could get his fever down, we could wait a few days to get him in to see his regular doctor.  So, here are a few pictures from our crazy night once Nate's fever was done.

 The boys opened their Christmas Eve gifts with little fan fair and not a single photo.  They got their new Christmas PJ's, slippers (which have to be returned since they don't fit) and an awesome spiderman motorcycle.  You can see in Nate's face how he doesn't feel good even though he is trying to hard to have fun!

 At this moment, Josh seemed to be doing ok but this was just the beginning of the downward spiral.  Our tradition on Christmas Eve is to eat snacks after attending church.  Yum!

 Nate (this was after opening his Birthday gifts so he was happy!) with Papa - one of his all time favorite people ever. 

 Josh took over Nana's chair and said he was freezing . . . .notice his face?  Yep, his fever was creeping up fast.

 The Christmas tree!!

 Cookies, Carrots, and Chocolate Milk for Santa and his reindeer.  The boys asked me to get this ready for them since they couldn't do it. 

 My poor sick boys - this is the only photo I got of them together this Christmas Eve.

Nate was willing to stand in front of the tree for our annual picture but Josh just wasn't up to it so I also didn't get our traditional "facing the tree photo" either.  Oh well - some times, you just have to let go and be thankful for little things like we did NOT spend Christmas Eve in the ER, right? :-)

Weekly Menu

Yeah!  I'm "back" !  It was amazing how quickly a "sometimes not working power cord" became an "absolutely not working power cord"  BUT my new cord arrived Thursday, I plugged in and, BAM, my computer was back into working order!

We had a little craziness and boy, did I fry a lot this week too!  On Monday, I had to take Nate to the ER due to neck stiffness and swelling and a fever which are signs of something not so good so the doctor was a little concerned BUT instead he just continues to have the Strep virus that was attacking his Lymph nodes.  So, after that visit we ran through the drive through since it was almost 7:00 and we were starving!  As far as frying, I figured if I was going to pour a whole bottle of oil into a pan I was going to use it alot - we had (mediocre) Southwestern egg rolls, (Fantastic) Chinese Pork Egg Rolls, and (not so good) hush puppies that were supposed to taste like the ones from Long John Silvers but tasted like . . .nothing.  The oil is gone now and I don't plan to fry anything for awhile :-)

Oh I also took three kids to the grocery store on Monday morning. Wow.  I was tired HA!  It was nice to not go at night but, wow, three kids and a full cart is a lot of work! 

This weeks plan is as follows:

Saturday - Normally, if Darryl works on Saturday (which he is) I like him to bring home dinner BUT we are going to go out tomorrow so I need to cook!  So I'm going to try something called Salsberry Steak Meatballs along with Egg Noodles, Veggies and Biscuits. 

Sunday - Today we are attending a church where the group Darryl has played in for years is playing; he had to take a sabbatical for the past year but is going to start going back.  We thought it was be fun to go hear the group and see all of our friends! After church, we'll head out to dinner.

Monday - Breakfast Pizza, Roasted Veggies, and Cherry Fluff Stuff (Waffles for the boys because that is what they love)

Tuesday - I have a Missions Meeting tonight so we'll be passing ships . . .on a night like this, Hot Dogs and Fries are the best option.

Wednesday -Waffles, Sausage and . . I might have a BLT.  :-) 

Thursday - Ham, Potoates and Beans in the crockpot, Rolls

Friday   - Tacos!

Teaching Tuesdays - An extra week of Break

This is what our week looked like:

1) I planned, originally, to start school this week.  I wasn't really feeling it.  Then, it was set up for the contractor to install some cabinet doors on Monday.  The boys did learn - they asked the guys tons of questions about what they were doing and watched the cabinet doors get installed.

2) I considered starting school on Tuesday but we didn't.  We DID focus on health though.  My boys took a shower.  For real.  Uuuggg.  Due to illness and water problems (at one point over the last week we had zero cold water .  ... and then zero hot water!) their bath scheduled got messed up.  So, I finally made them take showers on Tuesday with lots of soap and shampoo to get super clean.  Good thing - since between AWANA and lack of that hot water, it would be a few days before that could happen again.

3) I knew we wouldn't do school today.  I babysat for a friend as she had a funeral to attend.  With an extra person here, school wasn't happening.

5) By Thursday, I know that THIS was our break week.  The boys played and played.  I got some things done and enjoyed doing not much of anything.

Now, we are ready to start school full force on Monday and push through so we can be done as early as possible in the spring.  Sure, I love teaching my kids and they love school but, when that weather turns nice, they will want to be outside all of the time and I will want them outside too!

Make It Monday - New Pinterest "Plan"

First up, I'm fighting a losing battle with my power cord for my computer and will be ordering a new one this week but, if I "disappear" in blog land for a few days it is simply because both my power cord and my battery are dead :-)  Crazy!

Second, I love pinterest as much as the next person but it is so easy to "pin, pin, pin" and never accomplish anything - even great ideas so what is my new plan?  Some specific boards.

1) Each Month, I create a secret board where I pin all kinds of ideas that pertain to that month (especially for school) and I go through my other boards and pin ideas I'd like to accomplish that month.  Why is it secret?  Well, because that way I was blowing up other peoples boards but, really, I highly dislike the secret board because it is hard to use :-)  So, I'll probably start making them unsecret HA! 

2) Each week, I go through that board and pin the things I really want to get done, really want to research, or really want to start :-) 

For example, I pinned a variety of things to my "This Week" board last last week.  Over the weekend I actually went through and read each item to determine whether or not I really wanted to do it or if it wasn't really a good fit.  I actually deleted a good 4-5 ideas.  I had pinned several Bible Study ideas I thought looked good but as I investigated them, I discovered they were all pinned from Morman's and followed their teachings/set-up and, considering the fact that I'm not Morman, they really didn't fit.  Finally, I printed off everything I needed to accomplish each of the tasks left.  I'm kind of excited to accomplish the tasks I have on plan this week. 

Hopefully next week I'll actually start having ideas to post on Mondays :-)