These are the ramblings of a sometimes caffeine addicted mom who, thanks to her super duper supportive and wonderful husband, has the opportunity of being able to stay home and homeschool their four children. http://www.homeschoolblogger.com/mansmom/ en-us Homeschool Blogger Fri, 18 Sep 2009 20:26:00 -0500 Fri, 18 Sep 2009 20:26:00 -0500 So we just finished week 4 of school!  I seriously can't believe it.  So far, truth be told, things are going very well.  Who knew?  Mary and Alison are both getting in a grove and finding a good routine.  They are LOVING Bigger Hearts for His Glory from HOD.  Nathan is finishing up his last Before the Code Book and is on his second math book already.  We finished up Bedtime for Frances this week and he really enjoyed that also.  Here are a few photos from this week....the first is of Mary just sprawled on the chair reading her book for DITHOR....which we actually finished our Biography projects.  We started this in the summer, which is why we have already completed one unit.  Anyway, I took this picture because I saw her completely comfortable and intent on her reading.  I thought to myself, "This is why we homeschool....how awesome!"   Each week, the girls are learning a new verse from Proverbs.  And on Day 4, they write the bible verse out.  So, I decided to use their love of crafts for this activity.  I found them clearenced 8 x 8 scrapbooking albums.  They write their verse on a notecard and then get to "scrapbook" a page for it.  So we have four pages done so far.  And we had a blast today looking back over the previous week's verses.  It is going to be such an awesome collection by the end of the year.  It is Alison's FAVORITE day of school.  So here's a picture of one of Alison's, I just don't know how well it will come out.   And today we finished up an art activity.  They were to make indian blankets on paper.  But I remembered in fifth grade we did a similar project on a brown paper bag.  So I cut up grocery bags and gave them to the kids yesterday.  The more you crinkle it up, the softer and more like an animal skin it becomes.  So after dinner tonight, we all got out the markers and they went to work.  They wondered if anyone would barter with them for trinkets.  (They were doing their vocabulary!!) They also had to nibble up graham crackers to represent each continent.  That was fun...and a bit messy.  This is, without a doubt, our best start to school.  YIPPEE!! http://www.homeschoolblogger.com/mansmom/728336/ Fri, 18 Sep 2009 20:26:00 -0500 http://www.homeschoolblogger.com/mansmom/728336/ Well, I should have known I was doing too well at keeping up with the blog...the summer has almost gone by and I cannot believe it!  We have had a lot of fun.  The kids have been really busy.  So...here's a very small recap of the highlights.... Alison turned seven earlier this summer....here's a picture of her on that day...with her little innocent grin...don't let her fool you! We have some great friends who invited us out to THEIR house to tie die shirts for the Fourth of July...suckers!  About 30 seconds into the project, Sam found the die and dumped it all over, but we made it and I think the shirts turned out AWESOME! So we also have friends that took my children fishing (Do you see a theme here?)  Nathan caught a fish...okay it's a small fish, but he could not have been more PROUD! Well that about wraps up...let's see if I can do a bit better now... http://www.homeschoolblogger.com/mansmom/714405/ Tue, 4 Aug 2009 21:58:00 -0500 http://www.homeschoolblogger.com/mansmom/714405/ Well any day that starts with Krispe Kreme doughnuts and four smiling children just has to be a great day!  And that's how my Mother's day started.  My husband brought home doughnuts and flowers.  He's so sweet!  We spent the rest of the afternoon working on a landscaping project out front.  It was day two of this project and we were very tired by this time, but the kids worked REALLY hard.  It was great! Then we had dinner with my parents and my 90 year old Gram was able to make it as well.  It was fun to have Gram back here and hanging out with us.  We had a great time and we even managed to grab a family picture!  So I thought I should post it. http://www.homeschoolblogger.com/mansmom/687961/ Mon, 11 May 2009 14:37:00 -0500 http://www.homeschoolblogger.com/mansmom/687961/ After dinner tonight, the kids and I went out for a bike ride.  Sam, of course, can't ride a bike, but was very content in the trailer behind me.  As we were riding along the trail, I looked out and saw my kids talking and laughing, and thought to myself, I am really loving my big kids right now.  It is so incredibly fun to laugh with them and watch them laugh with each other.  We are having fun just doing things together....I'm loving my big kids! Everyone grew too big for last summers bikes...so we moved Alison up and Nathan and Mary got new bigger bikes....here's pictures of all three. And more on my big kids....Mary begged to mow the yard last year...but she was really just too short...but here she is giving it a try this year... And so Sam doesn't feel left out of this one...here's  an adorable picture of Sam helping Alan clean the bathroom mirror...he really is a big boy too now! http://www.homeschoolblogger.com/mansmom/686092/ Tue, 5 May 2009 21:10:00 -0500 http://www.homeschoolblogger.com/mansmom/686092/ So we are wrapping up the school year and the weather has finally turned nice.  We are SO enjoying the outdoors, taking lots of walks and just hanging out on the deck.  Here are a few pictures of all the kids enjoying the weather. We'll start with Mary who asked to do her math outside on the trampoline....now this falls under the "I'm trying to not have to control everything all the time"...so I said yes...she would do a part and then jump, do a part then jump...probably her most successful math lesson in a few weeks. Next we turn to darling Alison, who is not as excited about the outside as the rest of us!!  But she can read and read and read and..... Then we get to the boys...oh the boys....what a great summer it will be for them.  Sam is just old enough that he can actually play with Nathan and they are enjoying every minute of it.  Tonight I found them digging in the mud...a small hole that had collected all the rain we have had apparently looked like the perfect place to play.  They were covered in mud and giant smiles!  They needed a bath before entering the house....but they sure enjoyed themselves!  Here is Nathan on the swing...which has been his favorite past time since he was a baby!  And then Sam climbing up on the trampoline...he won't go in...it must scare him!  I think in this picture, Sam is yelling at me not to take his picture...that's a face I often see during the day!! And one final picture...I actually got them to slow down a minute and all stand together...this is the best the pictures get right now...but they are all together! We have about one week of school left.  We tend to still do some activities throughout the summer to keep up on skills...but we are definitely looking forward to changing up the routine for awhile! http://www.homeschoolblogger.com/mansmom/684632/ Thu, 30 Apr 2009 22:06:00 -0500 http://www.homeschoolblogger.com/mansmom/684632/ Finally, the weather has cooperated enough that we could get outside for a few days this week.  Between the rain and the cold weather hanging around...we are all desperate for some sunshine. Here is a picture of Sam who is completely entranced by a bubble machine that his grandparents gave him for Easter.  Both the boys absolutely adore it...we are going through an alarming amount of bubbles! Today I went outside to find the boys playing baseball together.  I'm so happy that Sam is "almost" old enough to really play with Nathan.  Nathan has been waiting for a boy buddy to play with for awhile!  So I just watched them while they were taking turns hitting the ball off the tee and chasing after it...it was really sweet! And then on a day earlier this week, when we couldn't get outside yet.  I came downstairs to find Alison and Sam cuddled up on the couch together watching a movie....they looked so adorable together, I just had to take a picture of it! http://www.homeschoolblogger.com/mansmom/680431/ Sat, 18 Apr 2009 14:17:00 -0500 http://www.homeschoolblogger.com/mansmom/680431/ Our bible verse this week was: Do not worry about tomorrow, tomorrow will worry about itself. And it was a good one for us to learn.  There were several times the girls had  a problem and we talked about that verse.  There are certain verses that we have learned this year in Beyond and they have really stuck with us....two from earlier this year that I hear my kids say repeatedly are: I will lie down and sleep in peace.  For you alone, Oh Lord, make me dwell in safety. The other one which brings much happiness to my kids to repeat and use is: Encourage one another and build each other up. They tend to use that one repeatedly!!!  I love Beyond and how it all works together to hide these words in their heart...to quote a great cd we use!! So we had another great week.  Here is a picture the kids did Friday of a treasure chest.  They danced around a hat and sang Yankee Doodle another day.  This went along with us learning about a family that traveled west on the Sante Fe trail.  I had no idea that families would meet in Independence, Missouri and then from there they had three trails they could take to get out west.  Depending on where they wanted to go, the Santa Fe Trail, The Oregon Trail, and the California Trail.  So I have really learned a lot this year as well!! The greatest time I think I had this week was with Nathan.  He made it to Lesson 11 in Reading Made Easy where he read his first sentence!  He was the proudest boy in the house that day!  He carried around a notecard with the sentence on it for a good part of the day.  Below is a picture of the sentence that he copied and then drew a picture to go along with.  I love that I get to be part of that learning.  I love that I am the one cuddling up on the couch with him and teaching him to read....I love that I get to homeschool my children!  http://www.homeschoolblogger.com/mansmom/680426/ Sat, 18 Apr 2009 13:58:00 -0500 http://www.homeschoolblogger.com/mansmom/680426/ Well, it was a bit of a crazy week for us.  My husband's work hours changed this week.  So we are all adjusting to a vastly different schedule...and some of us adjust a bit more slowly than the rest!!! I really think we had a great week though....mostly spent at home trying to establish some new routines.  We are in week 30 of Beyond with the girls.  We discussed the difficulties and excitement as the pioneers traveled west.  It was a review week for our bible verses so thankfully we got to review The Fruits of the Spirit on Tuesday...as I realized I was in desperate need of ALL of these this week...it was very fitting!  We continued on our reading with All-Of-A-Kind Family which everyone is enjoying very much.  It's crazy to think we will be done with Beyond in just four more weeks.  We had SO much fun that it never seemed like work....YEAH!!!  And Nathan has been working very slowly working through Reading Made Easy...(Oh how I wish I had this book with my oldest!)....but one day early this week we were all cuddled up on the couch, going through his lesson.  This lesson was a review on the sounds that he had learned and we played a bit of a game that involved me describing an animal and giving him the sound that the animal started with....I would end with, "Can you guess what animal I'm talking about?"  And with a GIANT smile across his face he would answer, "OH YES I CAN!  It's a ____________."  It was so cute....when we were done, he said, "Mom, that was SO much fun!"  And he was right!!! Here are a few pictures to recap our week.... If you look closely my husband makred out a 6' by 10' rectangle with a white rope.  This represents the size of the bison, or American Buffalo, that used to roam so freely.  All 4 of the kids laid down in this space and there was still room to spare!! WOW...imagine 100's of those stampeding toward you!!!! We learned that vultures fly on a draft of warm air and tried to simulate this fact with a bent notecard and some hot air.  I told the girls they had plenty of hot air and should be very successful at this!!!! Then I promised Mary last week that I would take a picture of her timeline this week....they are really fun to look back on. And finally....I was working in the kitchen and I could hear my husband talking to what I  hoped was one of the kids...explaining how a toilet works and how to fix it (at that time one was broken and that's not good in a family of SIX!)  So I just had to go see what was going on...I took my camera and got this photo of my darling husband patiently and thoroughly explaining the workings of the toilet to our sons.  It was so sweet and I decided they were both going to be great husbands and daddies themselves one day!  And I assure you my oldest son listened very carefully, because he explained to me in detail at bath time, how to fix the toilet.... http://www.homeschoolblogger.com/mansmom/677993/ Fri, 10 Apr 2009 19:04:00 -0500 http://www.homeschoolblogger.com/mansmom/677993/ Okay...I really did it...pictures from our week in Beyond Little Hearts Unit 29! Our highlights this week are definitely talking about Johnny Appleseed and moving west along the Ohio River.   The bible verse was Honor your Father and Mother....aahhh there's some good discusions!! We started All-Of-A-Kind Family for our book this week.  We wrote a letter from one of the main characters back to our family.  We all worked together and wrote as if we were Mama in the book...the girls were streaming along and all of a sudden Nathan pops up with, "Don't forget when she lost her book."  Guess those little ears really ARE listening!! In science we discussed the phases of the moon....WITH COOKIES!!!   Here are their pictures that we did discussing the different parts of a tree....it was so many different activities in one...it was awesome.  And it ALMOST got done before Sam woke up from his nap...another plus! And here is Sam with a cracker because he did wake up before we were done.   I also just wanted to share a photo of Alison's timeline so far...I think they are awesome and a great way for us to look back and talk about what a wonderful year we have had.  I will photo Mary's next.   So that's it...we skipped through this week fairly fast bc we had a lot going on...and yet I still feel like we accomplished the main goals...gotta love HOD!! http://www.homeschoolblogger.com/mansmom/675631/ Fri, 3 Apr 2009 15:36:00 -0500 http://www.homeschoolblogger.com/mansmom/675631/   This is what we woke up this fine Sunday Morning...SNOW in March...it is unbelievable!!  We had a very busy and  awesome day spent with family....we had a birthday party at Chuck E. Cheeses for my nephew.  We all went to the ISU women's basketball game -- they are still playing in the WNIT...and won again today!!  Then we went to dinner at my parents house....we are all exhausted...but it was just a great day!! http://www.homeschoolblogger.com/mansmom/673893/ Sun, 29 Mar 2009 21:30:00 -0500 http://www.homeschoolblogger.com/mansmom/673893/