My sweet husband has realized our sad home computer conditions, and I have a new laptop for Christmas.  Our home computer was on it’s last leg and barely functioning, so he hunted for a great deal.  I am very excited because I can now download things (our home computer was only useable to browse the internet), import pictures, work on school stuff for Micah, and upload and post here more often. Yippee!!  So, all the missed school posts that have fallen by the wayside will be coming soon.  :)

We continued our letter of the week curriculum this week.

And, to show you that life around here is not perfect and we have our moments (as if you thought such!), Micah got very discouraged and frustrated with his scissor activity and fell apart in seconds!  Normally, I wouldn’t put this picture on here, but Micah and I had a talk about perseverance and then had a good laugh about his “sad face”.

His favorite thing this week SHOCKED me.  I have mentioned a few times his lack of interest in coloring.  He does enjoy it more if he can use markers, but it is still not his activity of choice.  So, the fact that he LOVED this color-by-number was such a shock to me.  And, I must say, he did an awesome job!

I have all these grand plans each week to do all these creative things and spend all this time in activities, but we just aren’t getting to it.  On Tuesdays we go to the library and Fridays Daddy is off work, so we are only getting in three days of school.  That is fine, but I would love to find a way to make better use of our time and schedule things out in a way that will allow us to get in some fun stuff.  I guess as he gets more independent in his activities, we will be able to do more.  I am also thinking of adding an afternoon time to our school schedule.  We currently do school in the morning during Heidi’s nap, but if we do something in the afternoon, we may have to work around her.  :)  Meanwhile, it is as it is…

LIFE SCHOOL

The weather was so nice on Monday that Micah suggested we have a picnic.   What a smart boy he is!  We enjoyed it so much and Heidi loved trying to eat her sandwich like a big girl.

My little man with his favorite toy at the moment…  :)

We used a lot of Confessions of Homeschooler’s Letter of the Week materials this week.  I also found a site that has a few printables I can use to sort of “assess” how well he is learning and understanding what we talk about.  He really enjoys his school time and often asks for more.  I am trying hard to come up with fun activities and things that will make what he learns memorable.  That is taking a lot of research and planning right now for me, but as I get used to it, I hope it will get easier.

Anyway, here is what we did this week…

He really loves to color with his markers, but this is what I get when he does.  I let him use them on occasion, but am also having him use his crayons and practice coloring.  :)

Putting together the caterpillar puzzle.  He loved that it had the numbers on the caterpillar because he got his puzzle finished so much faster.

We read the book  The Very Hungry Caterpillar.  Then, we went back and made a graph of all he had eaten.  Micah loved this and he was so focused on coloring in the boxes so well.  This was another great printable from Confessions of a Homeschooler.

more practice with numbers and counting…he loves this!

And, his favorite activity of the week…

FINGERPAINTING!!!!

We talked about how mixing colors can create new colors and tried it out for a bit before getting messy.  We made this activity double in purpose.  We threw a surprise lunch birthday party for Daddy!

She is a big fan of cake!

Jonathan dressed as a PEZ dispenser (you should see his collection!)

We love our times at Disney.

He’s a little obsessed with his favorite foods!

My travel mate on life’s journey.

I love you!  What else can I say?!  You are my best friend, my encourager, and my sweet husband and mate.  I am blessed beyond measure!  Happy Birthday, my love!

I am just thrilled that these turned out so well!  They were my trial run at this tutorial.  I have already started another pair and plan to play with embellishments.  I even have some pieces of leather for a nice pair of brown shoes.  :)

And, Heidi is a pretty cute little model!

She is becoming very fond of books and has just learned how to climb into the rocking chair.

So Bb took two weeks.  Not because we had tons of materials and content or were simply inspired, but because Heidi had a staph infection and Mommy was a little preoccupied with all that fun and simply felt worn out, so we took things a little slower and enjoyed some other activities that were just as beneficial around here.

So, just to show you a little of what we did with our time here are a few pictures of the fun around here.

Oh, wait!  This is ALL I have to show for those two weeks.    I guess you will just have to take my word for it!  It is also a little tougher to take photos with the video camera.  I will have my camera back soon and take lots of photos for Cc to make up for my short comings here!

We did a few little activities and printouts on Bb is for Bear, but not much.  It was harder to find materials and I was a little preoccupied to really research for stuff.  We did get a bunch of fun books from the library and even started preschool corner (a story time that includes some preschool skills and activities.  We are reading from our My ABC of Bible Verses, but aren’t really learning the verses yet.  We may hit them again later in the year or this summer and really focus on memorizing the verse each week, but right now we are using our memorization time for AWANA verses.  Micah is starting Cubbies this year and he is so excited.  He has called it his “baseball class” a few times. Heehee!   It is hard to think of anything other than baseball when mentioning Cubbies in this house. Anyway, we are incorporating that into our daily routine and look forward to doing some scripture memorization.

In fact, I am extra excited because I found this!  What a treat to have materials ready to make this whole experience so much fun for Micah!

Some days just don’t go as planned. We had a rough start this morning. We headed out for the first day of Preschool Corner at the library. It is a kind of specialized story time with focus on the alphabet and other preschool skills. Micah had been asking all morning if it was time to go. We got there and he was eager for it to start, but when it was time to go in and take our place…he froze and then he cried and wailed with panic. Fortunately, a church family was there and took Miss Heidi while I sat outside the room with Micah and discussed why we were there. Let’s just say it took quite a bit of convincing to get him to finally go in. Once in there, he really enjoyed it. He used to have this little thing he did with his hands when he was nervous (I mean it has been almost two years since I have seen him do it) and he did that the whole time we were there UNTIL the music time started. Then he settled in and had a great time.
It was weird to see him like that. I know he has some stranger anxiety, but it always catches me completely off guard because he is eager to just chat with people he doesn’t know on other occasions. I am always at a loss at how to handle these moments. Sometimes it is like he is throwing a fit and other times I can see he is actually very worried or scared and panicked.

The more I think about it, the more I begin to think there is something to learn about this moment in the library.  Don’t you think God looks at us sometimes and thinks, “What in the world, child?  What is up with you?  You asked for this…you wanted this and now you are all panicked when it is here before you?  Don’t you know I am going to be with you the whole time?  I’m not leaving and I know you are going to appreciate this experience if you will just let Me show you?”

Just my thoughts for the day…

Micah has been hearing for weeks about all of his friends starting school today.  He really got very interested and was asking to do school time with Mommy.  So, we decided that it would be good for him to have a set time to start and establish this routine.  Micah is a boy who thrives on structure, I think.  He does so much better when on a schedule of some sort and when he knows what to expect.  So, we have been getting ready for weeks (He could not wait! He was so excited!) and even bought school supplies together.    He got a notebook ,and picked a blue one, markers, and gluesticks.  I am sure they will be put to good use.

As for curriculum, we are not doing any one specific program.  I am doing a little bit of the following:

Confessions of a Homeschooler‘s Letter of the Week ideas

Carissa at 1+1+1=1 has some great ideas for pre-school and I am starting “Tot School” with Heidi (just being intentional about exploring new things and playing).  She is one of my favorites!

Totally Tots

Getting great ideas to use from Homeschool Creations

I know there are other websites I will visit and find along the way with lots of ideas and inspiration.  It will be challenging for me in the beginning because all my teaching experience is 3rd-5th grades.  Anyway,  we are also using Kumon workbooks we have gotten over time and he loves them.  I have picked up a few other little workbooks  that focus on colors, shapes and other skills.

Some other books and things I will be using as we get into it:

Bright Beginnings – we will probably wait at least until we have finished our letter of the week routine before beginning this

Big Truths for Little Kids

My ABC Bible Verses

Slow and Steady Get Me Ready – a book that has simple activities to do with your child birth to age 5 that are developmental skills

My sister-in-law is my go-to person for advice and experience of good stuff for this age group and I have been picking her brain lately about stuff she has used.  After looking at some of her things a few weeks ago,  I am probably going to get What Your Preschooler Needs to Know Activity Book.

I think that will be plenty!   We are also going to be more intentional about family worship time.  I am getting lots of ideas gathered for this and hope to share later.  Daddy loves playing music for us and all of us singing together.  That will always be an important part around here.  Micah connects so well to music (how did that happen?!) and can share the gospel by singing the Gospel Fuzzies song he learned in Bible School this summer and he cannot wait for Mrs. Jennifer to start back with preschool choir very soon.

Last week was so crazy I never got to post a celebratory message, so …”Yippee, Our Heidi is ONE”. 

This mommy did what she always does and tried to do more than necessary to make it the best birthday party ever…yes, I know that Heidi will not remember a thing!  Anyway, the perfectionist in me had so many ideas she needed to try.  Amazingly, I got most everything done (with loving help from family members!) and the party was wonderful even if I didn’t sit down long enough to finish  piece of cake.

I decided on a vintage birdie theme.  I just love the look of embroidered pillowcases, so I found a few to work into the theme.  I ended up making dresses for Heidi and her cousins, Saylor and Emma Kate.  I also made ruffle pants (ugh, the trouble I had with those…pattern issues!).  They were so cute!  I taught myself how to embroider just so I could make Heidi a birdie bib.  I loved learning and it went so much faster than I expected!  The bib turned out so cute…and free!  I already had all the materials.

We had the party in Little Rock to make it easier (and even possible) for all our family to attend.  Because we would be traveling and such, I decided to buy a cake to save time and struggles.  Unfortunately, the quote and responses I got convinced me that I would have to make the cake!  EEK!  Now, I normally make all the birthday cakes, but this traveling part made it stressful, but it all worked out in the end.  I also made little bird mints and birdie lollipops with candy melts.  I got cookies from a local bakery and made cupcakes as well.  I was going for a dessert bar feel and I think it turned out great.

For a few extra details, I got cheap birdhouses at Michael’s and painted them and put them on the tables with embroidered pillowcases.  We also had a little craft table for the kids.  We made pompom birdies and feather masks.  I think the kids enjoyed it. 

Heidi enjoyed her cupcake even if it took her a bit to figure out how to approach it.  She had fun seeing all of her family and playing with all her little goodies.  She gave each of the kids a goody bag with a paint-your-own birdhouse (on clearance at Michael’s), bird silly bands, and handmade gummy worm treats.

I think everything went well.  My only regret is the same as at any party…there’s never enough time to just visit with family that we don’t see very often.  I wish we had time to just sit for more than a couple of hours and just enjoy each other’s company.

For my Heidi girl, you are growing up so fast!  This year has gone by faster than any other and I get teary just thinking about how much you are doing already.  You can wave and say “Hi” and “Bye-Bye”, call for Daddy, BaBa (Micah), and Mama, growl like a bear and tell us about the doggies, you can sign for more and kitty, give love and kisses and blow a kiss, clap and high-five, scrunch your nose in a silly face, nod yes and no, crawl and pull up, dance when you hear music (and even sing a little), point and say, “Ooh” which we think means look ,try to make a one with your fingers, and melt our heart with your smiles, growls, and silly giggles.  We are so proud of you and pray that God would continue to bless you and protect you.  We pray that you continue to grow into a beautiful (inside and out) young lady who yearns for God and His love.  We love you, little bird!

Ten years ago today,  I married my sweet husband. I got up that morning sort of floating on a cloud.  Ok, that sentence might make you laugh, but I was certainly oblivious to the world around me.  You see, I am a planner… an ‘everything must be perfect and just right’  kind of planner.  I fret over details and panic over the minorest of issues.  But, on the day of my wedding there were so many things going on around me that sort of just seemed like no big deal for me.  That is big for me!  It rained all morning and the church began to leak!  I didn’t seem to care.  There was a breakfast and lunch to be eaten, but I kind of forgot. (I had to have a reception food snack brought to me before I passed out!)   I had no sense of time.

By afternoon, it stopped raining and we had pictures made outside by the beautiful gazebo.  But, before that, I met my future husband in the church chapel.  Evidently, he was a little more panicky.  I was running late, and he had heard I was a bit sick (from not eating).  This made him a little on edge, but the minute we met in the chapel all that went away.  We were so excited for the day ahead (and years to follow).

These past ten years have not been without their troubles,worries, and obstacles, but we have done it all together.  I have loved all that we have experienced (good and bad) together.  We have learned so much about each other.

I have enjoyed watching Jonathan become a Daddy, too.  There is nothing like watching your spouse and his children find pure joy in one another.  It melts a Mommy’s heart.  We are truly blessed with wonderful children.    I look forward to the next ten years (and more).

For our anniversary, my sweet husband will be taking me to Germany.  We went together to Germany during our second year of marriage on a quick little ‘backpacking-train hopping’ tour.  We hope to do some of that again and try to travel light.  For various reasons, we will be going in November, and I can’t wait.  We both have a love for Germany.  We both have a minor in German (though I think we are VERY rusty) and my ancestry comes from there (could you guess that with a name like Schmeckenbecher??).  It is such a beautiful place, and we both enjoy traveling so much and seeing new places.

pictures from our last trip to Germany and Austria