Spring and other things...

Wow! It's been half a year since I've blogged...almost to the day. Ok, enough dwelling on that note.

So it is SPRING! The weather is nicer and the air and EVERYTHING is covered in yellow. As beautiful as spring is, it's not my favorite season. I am thankful for it and all the growth and renewing of life that our Creator has blessed us with during this season, but I am just not comfortable...all the sneezing, itchy eyes, irritability...It's a good thing that He didn't stop spring for me ;)

I am once again trying to defy my black thumbs and attempting my hand at another garden. My sweet hubby has agreed to build some raised garden beds in our backyard (fully aware of my history with gardening and planting). I am hoping to get this garden started here soon while we are still in the Spring season. My little gardeners and I have already planted some seeds in smaller pots and they are just waiting to be transplanted into a bigger home.

Also, in other news...Hubs and I are official Warriors! OK, we just completed the Warrior Dash for the first time (in 1 hour and 20-something minutes). It was fun and it was MUDDY. It only took FOUR washes to get the mud out.

My bro and me

Got Tide?

He is my handsome data nerd :)

~H

Prayers...

10.15.12 -isms from my children

C-bear has said some pretty funny things as of late...
The other day in the car, the kids were talking about the tooth fairy. C-Bear says "The bad part about losing my tooth is that I don't want it to happen, but it's going to happen anyways. Yes, it's going to happen."

Today at breakfast, they were discussing the tooth fairy again. E-Pie says the tooth fairy is real at which C-Bear responds with, "All fairies are real except for the pretend ones."

The funny thing is that they both have not lost their teeth...still a mouth full of them! :)

Life so far...

We are now into our third week of homeschooling and everything has been going relatively smoothly. I have definitely been less stressed about getting everything done that I had planned for the day knowing that tomorrow is another day. I can definitely see my kids are learning and some of the things they do or say really blows me away. Here are some snapshots into our learning...will work on capturing more. We were able to take a very spontaneous field trip to a certain big rock with some friends ;)

Watch out Tiger!

reflections

Ambidextrous? Nope...just being silly.

Can you guess the letter of the week?

Thinking about soccer

Playing soccer through the city park and recreation.

He can learn anywhere! :D

E-Pie just started American Heritage Girls and is very excited about earning her badges, and I am excited to be involved as assistant unit leader...I know...just jump right in! 

We started our first Classical Conversations class last week, and it went very well. This week, the kids and I have been working on their first week of memory work. I am very impressed with how much they are retaining. I am also kind of impressed with what I am retaining and learning. We find that combining movements with our memory work is a lot of fun. They have practiced during a walk in the park, during warm up exercises in the backyard while I watered the plants, and just while we eat and drive around. It is literally learning ALL day long but it is also pretty fun!

~ H

School year 2012-2013

Welcome to our new school year! We are so excited to be starting another year of our homeschooling journey. We started this week with a little celebration day on Monday.

First day goodie basket

Special first day breakfast- Rainbow sprinkled pancakes!

with marshmallows of course!

smarties...

On Tuesday, we kicked it into gear and actually went through the day according to "my schedule". Result of the day...it went very well, except I went over the time by 45 minutes. This might not be a big deal but it might also mean I am trying to plan too many things for us to do at one time. I will be tweaking things a bit I am sure. Really excited about this school year. Again, I need to work on getting up before my children so that I can feel better prepared to start the day.  Looking forward to the rest of the week. I am hoping include a  weekly post on this blog titled Moments to Remember as I try to capture some special moments in our lives. We will see...sometimes I get ahead of myself...sigh ;)

~ H

Six Already???

Yes, my little girl turned 6 this past weekend. At first, we weren't going to do a big party (Which is a weakness of mine since I do get a lot of joy from planning and being pseudo-creative thanks to Pinterest). But as the date got closer, we decided to throw a party for her friends and some of ours that we hadn't seen in awhile due to our move. When we asked E-Pie if she would like a party, she said she did and wanted to do a party for charity like her brother did last year. Who could argue with that??? She wanted to donate toys to Toys for Tots instead of keeping them for herself. A friend at the party even asked her..."why do you not want any presents?" She responded with "because I already have enough." (Heart melts.) She was super excited about her party and with helping me plan for it. 

I had originally "promised" hubby, "no themes"...but I lied. I have a hard time planning things if it's not around some sort of theme. I know...I'm a freak! So we decided a rainbow theme would be fun. The colors would also tie in her love for colors and art. Plus, she is like a rainbow in our lives, always there to bring a smile to our hearts. We are thankful for our sweet little girl and all the goodness she brings into our lives and to those around her. We love you!!!

The rainbow spread

The sign is from Eighteen25

Love this picture!

E-pie with my cousins who love her very much and were so helpful at her party.

Can you almost taste the rainbow?

So happy...

Because she got a bow and arrow.

Merida!

With my parents who can kind of be silly ;)

~ H

Get ready, set....SCHOOL!

We are in the process of starting another wonderful year of homeschooling...although, I don't think we have technically stopped from last year. This year has been a stop and go kind of year with all the moving and excitement. We will definitely need to work on staying on more of a schedule...which is what I have been working on. I think I have a pretty good plan for this year, but my problem is always with the execution of the plan not so much with the creation of a plan. I will need to pray daily for God's help with staying focused and on task.

I am really excited about this year. C-Bear will continue with preschool and E-Pie will begin "first grade". We are also starting Classical Conversations this year. I am super excited about the premise of Classical Education and about learning and exercising my own mind alongside my children.

My curriculum for the kids this year (in case you were interested...)
E-Pie who will be 6:
Language Arts- Explode the Code 2, Handwriting without Tears First grade, First Language Lessons, and Sequential Spelling.
Math- Alternating between RightStart Math Level B and Math-U-See Alpha
Reading- All About Reading, BOB books, and other Easy Readers

C-Bear who is 4:

Language Arts- Explode the Code A,B,and C, Handwriting without Tears kindergarten, and Letter of the Week activities (I have gotten these all over the web and can be found on my Homeschool Resource page)
Math- Math-U-See Primer
Reading- BOB books and You Can Read lessons

Together, we will do Memory Work from our Classical Conversation classes, some Calendar time, basic life skills, learn how to be a responsible member of the family, Chinese with Rosetta Stone and classes, Science with Apologia's Exploring Creation Zoology 1, and enjoy read-alouds as a family. E-Pie will continue her piano lessons and ballet. C-Bear will try a soccer class.

Whew! That seems like a lot. Here's to plans working out ;)


We will celebrate Back to School with a fun pool party this week with some other homeschooling families...our wonderful friends who also attend church with us, in our small group, and part of the same CC (classical conversation) community.

In the meantime, I will continue planning so that we can begin school on August 20th...that is the date for now. I will also be busy planning a little shindig for my quickly growing daughter this next week. I told Hubby I wanted to keep things simple and just invite some friends over, but my mouth cannot tell my mind to keep it simple...there's always got to be a THEME! This year, it will be rainbows :D  I am all over Pinterest for great ideas and there are so many out there! I will post pictures after the event.