Sunday, November 29, 2009 - It's that time again!

Time for our annual - 'day of torture' ...
also known as ....
"Try to get just ONE decent photo for a Christmas card day!"  

And here are some of this years options....

We have your garden-variety 'eyes closed' poses

Or "Mom's finger over the lens" is always a winner....


Then there's the 'distraction' shot...

Cat on the floor (AND bonus eyes closed) shot

Awkward pose (and glowing eyes of doom)

And then things really went south....

It started with one

And spread from there


So if you end up with a 'boxed' card this year.... now you know why.  

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Thursday, November 26, 2009 - Happy Thanksgiving!

I just wanted to wish everyone a very Happy Thanksgiving!

In honor of today, Katie made her first lapbook called...Turkey Time!
(We used the project pack from In the Hands of a Child - although we 'tweaked' it a little' -
Yep.....I even tweak lapbooks)

Opening the folder

Originally the project pack called for the child to paint with popcorn, but
there was a darling poem called "Turkey In the Barnyard" on the first page,
so we opted to 'illustrate' that with a hand-print turkey instead.

This particular lapbook design called for  vertical flaps - I added 2.

If you flip down the first flap, you can see a page about what people eat for Thanksgiving - including what Katie plans to eat - (chicken, corn and mashed potatoes.)

And on the reverse side of the flaps is a 'turkey feathers' game.

Katie counts how many feathers each turkey needs, and pulls them out of the envelope

Before we glued them down  - she made sure they were all there - LOL.

Other activities include:

Counting popcorn
Matching colors

and foods that begin with "T"

Now we're all set to enjoy our own Turkey Time...
or rather...chicken time... ( my kids don't like turkey)

I pray you all have a blessed day!

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Wednesday, November 25, 2009 - Preparing our Hearts and Minds

Happy Thanksgiving Everyone!

Aside from Thanksgiving, this weekend also marks the beginning of Advent.  
I had never formally celebrated Advent while growing up. 

Yes, my (non-denom) church did a wonderful job of celebrating Christmas itself, but since it was a Bible church - we methodically studied a book of the Bible verse by verse until it was finished - no matter what the time of year.  (I'll admit, I learned a lot that way!)  They also did a great job of celebrating the birth of Christ.  But in the weeks before Christmas, it was typically 'business as usual.'   (There is nothing wrong with that, and some people thrive in that type of church, but as someone who LOVES Christmas...I wished we would focus on it a bit more....)

Then I got married and changed denominations.
Our current church follows a liturgical calendar :  Advent, Christmas, Epiphany, Lent, Holy Week/Easter, Pentecost, End Times...and then the cycle starts all over again.
I have found that I really love this cycle.

It  focuses on the life, death, and resurrection of Jesus,
and it allows me to focus on what that part of His life meant
in terms of God's eternal plan for our salvation.

And now we begin the season of Advent. 
The time when we reflect on Jesus's birth, and we prepare our hearts and minds
 for the 'advent' of the long awaited Messiah.

We don't do an Advent wreath in our house, (burning candles and preschoolers - not a good combo!) but we do 'prepare' with other activities such as:
reading books about Christmas,
learning Advent hymns,
having special daily devotions,
and making a Jesse Tree

Some of my favorite books for Advent are:

One Wintry Night  (By Ruth Bell Graham) 
This book has beautiful illustrations, and goes from creation through the resurrection.  
It tells of our need for a Saviour, and why Jesus came.

Other favorites are
Mary's First Christmas, by  Walter Wangerin Jr.

The Very First Christmas, by Paul L. Maier
Another book that we have liked is  - Countdown to Christmas
It comes as a 'kit' and it has a daily devotion with a corresponding ornament for that day.
(We have a little table-top Christmas tree that we hang these on.)

But I think even more preferred over the above book, is making a Jesse Tree.
The kids really love doing this, and I think that having them draw the ornaments themselves makes it all the more special.  I really feel like we are not only preparing our hearts - but we are making wonderful family memories as well.

Here are a few links that I have used over the years for our Jesse Tree devotions
*(Note - I have NO affiliation to any of these churches/denominations - and so I am not sure about any doctrinal content on these sites.   We do use their Bible reading schedules, and some have printable ornament templates....just in case you don't want to make your own. )

This one is my favorite for younger kids
http://www.rca.org/Page.aspx?pid=1628

And I like this one for slightly older kids
http://www.cresourcei.org/jesse.html

This one has some ornaments to download/print
http://www.eriercd.org/jessetree.htm

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Tuesday, November 24, 2009 - Katie

I haven't blogged about Katie's progress in school for awhile - so I thought I'd post a little update on how she's doing.

Her neurological issues, are still present, although she is finding ways of coping with them better.   Thanks to her braces, her tiptoe walking has greatly improved.  She is able to go for much longer periods without her braces now, and only occasionally do I catch her up on her toes.  
Her tremors and speech are what challenge her the most now - and I think she is at the point where she realizes she is 'different'.  It has shaken her self-confidence a little.  I need to be extra patient and encouraging with her while she does her lessons, as she gets discouraged quite easily.    :-(

We've really been focusing on phonics lately.   CLE's Learning to Read program is going great, and Katie is reading several 3 and 4 letter words, and even sounding out a few simple sentences.

She is getting better at listening for beginning/middle/end sounds in a word, although it still poses a challenge to her.    Rhyming is also quite difficult for her.For further practice in decoding words - we are using Explode the Code.
Pages like this are frustrating for her, and it can take her several minutes to 'sound out' just one sentence.  :-(
I have recently discussed with her pediatrician the possibility of having her tested for specific learning disorders, so that I can better know how to help her with her work.

One area that she actually does very well in is penmanship! 
She loves to do her Handwriting Without Tears workbook, or write/draw in her journal.
(Quite the opposite of Joseph - LOL.)

(For her journal she narrates to me what she wants to say - I write it down - and then she copies it.)


She is doing surprisingly well in math.  We are using Singapore 1A right now.
I had thought about switching her to CLE math - but since she's doing so well with Singapore, I might just stick with it.

For our main program - we're still using Heart of Dakota's - Little Hearts for His Glory. 
We've slowed it down, and changed things a bit, due to our heavy focus on phonics, but the 'heart' of the program is still there.   (As with most programs - I'm not completely happy unless I tweak it a bit)
(I do love how these guides are laid out though!)

Katie really loves the art and science projects that LHFHG has scheduled.




Aside from school Katie has really developed a love for her baby dolls lately.
She saved up her own money to buy a 'diaper bag' full of doll care supplies, and she spends most of her free time mothering her 'babies.'  
(She even wanted a sling for baby-wearing!... How could I say no?)

If asked what she wants to be when she grows up - she replies,
"A mother."  
That's my girl.....

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Saturday, November 14, 2009 - Webelo Adventures (November 14)

Tyler and Jason went off to Hutchinson, Kansas for the day with Tyler's Webelos den to explore at the Cosmosphere and at the Underground Salt Museum.  They came back exhausted, but seem to have had a good time.  No captions for the pictures, as I wasn't there, so I don't know any more than you do about what's happening in them!

(He does love being photographed, doesn't he?)

(Again with that brilliant smile!  What?!?  You don't see it?  It must be such a blindingly big smile that it's even blinded you, my dear viewer.  )

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