I am so excited that tomorrow we get to go up north to Williams, AZ and ride the Polar Express. The kids can't wait!!! It is a magical ride complete with cookies, hot chocolate, a reading of the story and then of course arrival at the North Pole and a visit from Santa. We will stay at a local hotel afterwards and then come home on Saturday.
We are starting the season early with this adventure as it books up quick and this was the only weekend spot left. They have these rides through out the country so you should see if there is one near you. Just google "The Polar Express" to find out.
I have decided to start a blog for just Christmas things. This will still be my main blog but on the new one I will be posting everything Christmas from traditions, activities, crafts and everything in between. I am just getting started but come on over and visit and be sure to keep checking back. Feel free to share some of your favorite traditions and maybe you will be inspired to try some new ones.
Intro:Computers Help People Help People(Marketing credit: IBM)
There are many ways computers help us. It is a wonderful way to stay in touch with family far away, “meet” other christian women around the globe, and it can be such a blessing with homeschooling.
Assignment:
Share some of your favorite homeschooling sites. The only “rule” for this assignment is that you have to list at least one “free” site. Many homeschooling families have made the choice to live on very little income to do what they believe is best for their children and I want everyone to be able to benefit from this assignment. If you have other sites that are “paid” sites, feel free to include these also as it might be something someone would really appreciate. If you feel led, share your curriculum choices with us. I always love to learn what is out there that I don’t already know about. Please make sure to include links to the sites you share.
Wow, where to begin! I use so many different sites...I will list some free ones first and then others:
www.paperbackswap.com - This is a great site that you can sign up for free and it is a paperback book exchange. I have found lots of great books here. If you do sign up for this please put down my email address as a referal. I would appreciate it.
http://www.dltk-kids.com/ DLTK's Crafts for Kids features a variety of fun, printable children's crafts, coloring pages and more including projects for holidays, educational themes and some of our children's favorite cartoon characters. - (I copied this description from their site.)
http://learningpage.com Great site for worksheets on basic themes and complete curriculum for some unit studies
Other sites that I love but have a cost or sell a product are:
www.handsofachild.com This is one of my favorite sites. I own a lot of thier lapbooks (You can see pics of a completed one below). They offer one free lapbook per quarter.
I could go on but there are others listed on the right side of my blog that you can click on as well.
For pictures here is the Explorer Lapbook that Anastasia just finished. It is from Hands of a Child.
For this lapbook we had a lot of activities so we made a double lapbook with 2 file folders. The front cover, above, Anastasia designed in publisher from clip art and printed out.
Memory Verse: Ephesians 4:29
Do not let any unwholesome talk come out of your mouths, but only what is helpful for building others up according to their needs, that it may benefit those who listen.
This weekend was just spent at home hanging out. Saturday Anastasia had the play again and then we ran some errands and what not. Sunday we went to church and then I went grocery shopping ( I enjoyed some alone time with my hazel nut coffee from McDondalds (medium only 4pts. )and I just have to share I was so excited. I went to Frys (Krogers) they are having great sales right now and I had some coupons, just from this weeks paper. Guess what?! I spent $126. and saved $147!!!!! I was quite impressed. With budgets being tight and trying to save where ever I can and this excited me. What a deal.
Here are just some cute pictures of Natasha that I wanted to share. She is getting so big so fast!
Friday night we went to the opening of Jungle Book. This is the first time Anastasia has ever been in a big production play. There were 160 kids in it!!!! They all did awesome and she is having a great time. Anastasia was a Mahi Villager. They get to perform it 5 times.
Homeschool Mothers do a lot in a day…. I’d say they do more than the working mom because they have to care for the kids, the house, the meals, and much more. They are constantly on the go and with the kids! Sometimes you just need a break. You need to sit down and have a break. While I’m not a mom - YET - I know there I are times I need to sit down for a breather.
THEME:
This week I’d like to invite you to share what YOUR “Mom” help is. Some drink coffee, soda, or chia-tea. Others check email or read their favourite blogs. Some talk a walk…. what do you do when you need to clear your head and take a breather?
Scripture Share:
Please share a Scripture that gives you a “mom” help when you’re spirit is feeling overwhelemed.
For me to take a breather I love my coffee or should I say a little coffee with my creamer. I like to drink it while checking email and working on my blog. I also like to go to the grocery store by myself and take my time!
The easiest verse I quote is : Philippians 4:13- "I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me."
Intro:We Bring Good Things To Life. (Marketing credit: GE)
The passion to sing, the passion to draw, the passion to build, the passion to ride, the passion for reading, the passion for nature… the list is endless. Some children exhibit their passion from day one, others need an experience to spark that passion
Assignment:Share a field trip/lifestyle learning experience where you really felt you were bringing good things to life for your children, where something came alive for them, or ignited a passion.
Memory Verse: Philippians 4:8
In conclusion, brothers, focus your thoughts on what is true, noble, righteous, pure, lovable or admirable, on some virtue or on something praiseworthy
As a homeschooling mom this is an area I try to be conscience of with my children to make sure they are exposed to a variety of things so that they can find their passion. Four of my children are young yet and their passions vary from day to day with whatever new thing they are exposed to (paint, playdough, markers etc.) However with Anastasia there have been two things come to life this past year. The first was from an art class she took over the summer. She is a perfectionist and would not draw anything because it was "wrong". Well she wanted to take this class and wow what a difference it made and not that it was anything spectacular but it sure changed her attitude about drawing and painting. Now she is willing to try. The other thing that was neat with our Co-op the first month they did a unit on Shakespeare and I had never done this with her before and she loved it. This coming from a girl who has struggled with reading off and on! She asked if we could learn and read more. I am so glad she had this opportunity because it is not my passion and I was in no hurry to teach it but seeing her excitement, excited me about it.
It is hard to belive that there is only one more week and we will have completed 3 months in our Co-op already. The kids and I have really enjoyed it. This month Anastasia's class has been reading "A Wrinkle in Time". They have had to read 4 chapters each week before class and then have been having discussions and activities realting to the book. They even learned a new craft and have been making some Christmas gifts. Joshua's class has been doing activities with Junior Acheivemnt (http://www.ja.org). They have been learing about families and communities and the differences between needs and want. This coming Monday they will be hosting a store for other students to come and buy snacks for different amounts of change so they can practice dealing with money. Joshua will get to dress as a shopkeeper. Savannah's class has been doing Thanksgiving activities and learning all about seeds. Mrs. Claudia brought in all sorts of fruits and vegetables for the kids to get seeds from and to fill their cornucopia's.
This week was also the annual Thanksgiving lunch with familes and friends. It was a feast for all to enjoy.
Savannah examining the squash
What a spread!
Yummy!
After lunch we were treated to a performance by the girls. They performed a worshop lyrical dance to the song "Breathe". They did a beautiful job.
Saturday night was the big night!!! The kids and I slept over at their cousins house. Thurs night-Sunday night, Jay was working security out at PIR with my brother-in-law. The worked from 6PM-6am and then slept during the day. Jay slept over there since they live much closer. So my sister and I planned a sleep over with all the kids (9 of them!!!!). All week my kids were counting down the days. They were so excited and we had a great time!!! We got over there late Saturday afternoon and the playing began. We made homemade pizza for dinner and had rootbeer floats for dessert. The kids played Wii, made a movie, played outside, girls put on makeup and dressed up and much more. I think what was really nice is that they are old enough and all played so well together that Brandy and I were able to just sit and talk and hang out with the baby. The kids all kept one another entertained. I just couldn't get over the fact that we have 9 kids between the two of us!!!
Girls making pizza
Joshua couldn't wait for the rootbeer floats!!
The girls got theirs in princess cups.
The boys playing Wii
Mikaela put make-up on Alexa and Savannah and they wanted to return the favor! LOL
The long awaited grand opening of our local library branch was Saturday. The kids and I had a great time walking around looking at all the booths seeing performers and looking inside the new library. We are anxious to go back next week when it won't be so crowded.
The local firemen were there with their truck.
Along one wall inside the library is decorated as the beach and also a winter scene. The kids really liked this.
The highlight for the kids was that we can check out 10 DVD's a week instead of only 5 from the other library. Do we really need 10 DVD's in one week??
Chores and cleaning up has seem to become a bad word around here matched with bad attitudes so this week we are trying something kind of new and it is helping a lot. I made one set of morning cards awhile ago and the kids really liked following them so I have expanded it.
Each kid has three sets of chore cards. We came up with the stop light method. Green cards are for morning because they "get up and go". Yellow is for afternoon before lunch "they are slowing down". Red is for before bed "it is time to stop for the day".
In the morning when they wake up they get their green cards which are hanging on a hook in their room. They follow the cards before they go down for breakfast. The best thing about these cards are they are picture cards so the kids don't have to read (good thing since 3 of them can't yet LOL) I was able to print them from Titus2.com because I own the "Managers of their Chores" book (I don't follow their entire system) You could also make up your own from pictures from Publisher or such.
So morning ones are get dressed, make bed, brush hair, brush teeth, say prayers, then feed cat or dog
Before lunch is zone clean (their part of the loft/school/play area), trash (each child empties a different trash can) laundry (put away or bring to me) then wash hands for lunch
Before bed is zone clean downstairs, clean room, jammies, brush teeth, say prayers.
The few days we have been doing this has been great. I have to be right there with them but they love following the cards and things have been staying picked up, which is the biggest battle. So we are free to concentrate on other things.
Anastasia's cards are different since she is older and as they get in the habit of these I will add special Saturday cards for more cleaning and such. And I remind myself that the more time I spend now training and teaching them than one day they will be able to do more and more on their own!!
Homeschoolers are very resourceful people. They use what they have and use them to their best ability. I know in our home many times people ask us how we use this or that for learning, and we are happy to explain it’s value. I think the main thing that a lot of people miss is that life is learning, and you must use everything in your home for learning otherwise you won’t fully be prepared.
THEME
This week I want to invite you to share what different games you use for learning in your homeschool. Outside games, board games, or card games, and what purpose or subject you use them for.
I love playing games and so do my kids. We play board games, card games computer games, file folder games you name it! We have a whole game closet
Having lots of little ones we play:
Candy Land, Chutes and Ladders and Hi Ho Cherry-O for colors, counting, taking turns, sharing
They like to play hopscotch- numbers, large motor skills
I have to share two favorites though that we just got this year from Aunt Teri and Uncle Brett (thank you)
The first one is Journey Through Bible Land it is for ages 3-6 and no reading required. It is similar to Candy Land but Bible based.
The other one is Armor of God board game for ages 5 and up. You have to go around the Board and be the first to collect the Armor of God pieces (cards).
This is a picture of our Thankful Tree. We make one each November and it is on our kitchen wall. Each night at dinner everyone fills out one leaf (or tells me and I write it down) with something they are thankful for and we stick them on the tree. By Thanksgiving our tree is overflowing with "thankfullness". The only rule is that there can be no repeats. I will take another picture closer to Thanksgiving so you can see how it is filling up.
I lost another pound this week!!! I thought I would share this recipe it is a favorite salad of Anastasia and I.
Cabbage Crunch Salad
1 lg. head green cabbage 3 chicken fillets cooked and diced
6Tbsp. Red Wine Vinager 2 pkgs. Ramen noodle soup (chicken)
3/4 C. vegetable oil 4 tsp. sesame seeds
4 tsp. sugar 2 tsp salt 1 tsp pepper
1 C. sliced almonds
Combine all ingredients except chicken and cabbage and mix together in a baking pan. Bake for 10 min at 350 and then stir it then bake another 10 minutes. Then just add that to the shredded cabbage and diced chicken and you have a very yummy salad!
Assignment: My family and I rarely do anything apart from each other. We don’t really have quality time together because all our time is together. We feel like the more special moments are when we have dinner together or when we worship God together. For this assignment, tell how you and your family spend QUALITY time together.
Our QUALITY time is spent in several different ways. One main thing each day is eating dinner together. This is very important to me . During this time the kids get to share with daddy what they did that day and the "child of the day" gets to pray and daddy usually tries to do a devotion as well. Also Friday nights are Family fun nights where we might watch a movie or play games or other things just to relax together and look forward to the weekend.
I try to spend some one on one with each child as well. I like to take just one of them grocery shopping with me. Taking one is fun and enjoyable it is a whole other story if I have to take all five. My oldest and I also stay up some nights together and watch Little House on the Prairie together. We check them out from the library and she insists on watching them in order! The weeks that I don't teach co-op my 2 year old and the baby and I get to go hang out together for the day and it is nice having that time with just the two of them.
Alexa and I feeding the ducks at a park.
Memory Verse: I Timothy 4:12-13 - Let no man despise thy youth; but be thou an example of the believers, in word, in conversation, in charity, in spirit, in faith, in purity. Till I come, give attendance to reading, to exhortation, to doctrine.
Top 10 Predictions No Matter Who Wins the Election
1. The Bible will still have all the answers.
2. Prayer will still work.
3. The Holy Spirit will still move.
4. God will still inhabit the praises of His people.
5. There will still be God-anointed preaching.
6. There will still be singing of praise to God.
7. God will still pour out blessings upon His people.
8. There will still be room at the Cross.
9. Jesus will still love you.
10. Jesus will still save the lost when they come to Him.
*ISN'T IT GREAT TO KNOW WHO IS REALLY IN CONTROL?!!*
Knowing the outcome of the election now I am really trying to rest in these assurances.
This Gratituesday will go down in history in one way or another! We will know in a few hours (hopefully) who our next President will be. So I wanted to take this Tuesday to state that I am so thankful for our country and my right to vote. I am greatful to live in this great country where I can not only vote but pray and worship God freely as well. I have been in constant prayer and will continue to be the rest of the day.
(I will catch up on the rest of my blog later today)
Friday was a very busy day for us!! I got to spend the day with a veterinarian, two princesses (Belle and Cinderealla) and a ghost...no spiderman,,,,no Anakin Skywalker?!?! Lets just say Joshua had a hard time making up his mind.
We started out at 11:00am at our homeschool Halloween Party hosted by the Collins Family. It was a great time for all. Claudia had centers set up both inside and outside. The kids were able to make sucker spiders, glitter spider webs, coloring pages, make goop and collect tracts to hand out in the evening. Everyone brought a lunch item and a treat to share (it was hard watching my points with all that great food!!) After lunch Claudia read the Pumpkin Patch Parable by Liz Curtis Higgs and then each family got to go out back and pick a pumpkin to carve.
We chose to take our home to carve as we had to be at Jay's work by 3:00. Jay works for University of Phoenix and his division hosts a trick or treating for the kids. This was our 2nd time attending and the kids love it. However they think this is what daddy's work is like all the time! Jay's team was dressing up like vagrants and bums and boy did he really look the part and we forgot to bring any extra clothes so he stayed like that the rest of the day! Aunt Brandy and Uncle Sean and the cousins met us up there and the kids went around and then we went to the Harvest Festival hosted by the church where we do co-op school. We first went trick or treating in that neighborhood and then went over. The kids had a blast there was so much for them to do!!! We went from activity to activity and spent over 3 hrs there. Needless to say as soon as we got in the car they fell right asleep dreaming of candy I am sure!
This is the week for big events!!! After an absence for awhile, Tristy, the littlest tooth fairy, stopped by our house this week. Joshua lost his first tooth (naturally anyways!) He was so excited he went to bed early and woke up before 6:00am. The cause for all this excitment was Tristy. Tristy was daddy's and then Anastasias tooth fairy so Joshua has heard the stories of the notes that she leaves. She loves collecting teeth to build her houses and Joshua had an extra special one. It was two teeth that grew in fused together. (one permenant will take it's place). So Tristy left him a special note and $5.00 (yes a bit excessive by mommy's standards but daddy was sure it was because it was his first tooth and a special one!!)
Now Savannah and Alexa keep wiggling their teeth and want to know when they are going to start loosing some.
I’m a dreamer. I dream of visiting all the historic places and foreign countries. Not sure if it’s in God’s plan that I will, but still I’d like to. Over the past few years, as homeschoolers, my family has thought of visiting quite a few different places. When we went on vacation last June we had planned on visiting the Roy Rogers’ museum as well as a few places in Texas and New Mexico. Things didn’t workout so we’re able to but it would have interesting to visit I’m sure.
THEME: This week I’d like to invite you to share your favourite field-trip that you’ve been able to go on since you’ve started homeschool. I’d encourage you to include photos, but you don’t have to.
Ahhh field trips!! I don't think I could pick just one favorite field trip we have done so many! They are one of the many reasons we love homeschooling. We can take a field trip anytime and get real hands on learning. The best part we love is going places "off season" on our own schedule! We love to travel as a family whether it is to the local zoo or all the way to South Dakota which we were blessed to get to do this past summer. There are yearly field trips that we always do such as the State Fair, The pumpkin patch, zoo lights, the arboreteum, things like that and then we do special trips. Ok I guess I could pick a couple that stand out.....
Mt. Rushmore was incredible even our littlest kids were impressed. We read books and looked it all up on line before we went. So it was neat getting to experience it in person.
Two years ago Anastasia and I got to go spend a day in the "Life of Laura Ingalls Wilder" and that was a great trip. Anastaisa wore a prairie dress we packed a picnic lunch and it was a wonderful day. We learned how to make candles and butter, learned how to dance the Viginia Reel, make rope and tie knots. (I will have to find some pics)
I would have to say another favorite of this past year would be the Hall of Flame Museum here in Phoenix. It has the largest display of fire trucks. We were able to tour the museum, learn about fire saftey and then the kids got to shoot the fire hose and participate in a bucket brigade.
Ok I could go on but I will end with stating that our ultimate goal is to spend a year "field tripping" (my new word) We want to get a motor home and just go travel the USA. We want our youngest to be old enough to remember most of it and Jay will need a job where he can telecommute. Wouldn't that be awesome!!!
I am so excited that tomorrow we get to go up north to Williams, AZ and ride the Polar Express. The kids can't wait!!! It is a magical ride complete with cookies, hot chocolate, a reading of the story and then of course arrival at the North Pole and a visit from Santa. We will stay at a local hotel afterwards and then come home on Saturday. 
)and I just have to share I was so excited. I went to Frys (Krogers) they are having great sales right now and I had some coupons, just from this weeks paper. Guess what?! I spent $126. and saved $147!!!!! I was quite impressed. With budgets being tight and trying to save where ever I can and this excited me. What a deal.
Friday night we went to the opening of Jungle Book. This is the first time Anastasia has ever been in a big production play. There were 160 kids in it!!!! They all did awesome and she is having a great time. Anastasia was a Mahi Villager. They get to perform it 5 times.
They were so excited to watch their big sis!
"Mogli"
Jungle Animals
Anastasia's friend, Rachel was a 60's elephant
Savannah examining the squash
What a spread!
After lunch we were treated to a performance by the girls. They performed a worshop lyrical dance to the song "Breathe". They did a beautiful job.
Girls making pizza
Joshua couldn't wait for the rootbeer floats!!
The girls got theirs in princess cups.
The boys playing Wii
Mikaela put make-up on Alexa and Savannah and they wanted to return the favor! LOL 
Beautiful!!! 
Settling down watching a movie 
Zach sleeping the night away
The local firemen were there with their truck.
Along one wall inside the library is decorated as the beach and also a winter scene. The kids really liked this.
This is a picture of our Thankful Tree. We make one each November and it is on our kitchen wall. Each night at dinner everyone fills out one leaf (or tells me and I write it down) with something they are thankful for and we stick them on the tree. By Thanksgiving our tree is overflowing with "thankfullness". The only rule is that there can be no repeats. I will take another picture closer to Thanksgiving so you can see how it is filling up.
. My oldest and I also stay up some nights together and watch Little House on the Prairie together. We check them out from the library and she insists on watching them in order! The weeks that I don't teach co-op my 2 year old and the baby and I get to go hang out together for the day and it is nice having that time with just the two of them.
Alexa and I feeding the ducks at a park.
