Saturday, February 23, 2013

Homeschooling and Life: Feb. 18-23, 2013

We had a pretty good week, with the exception of one day. It seemed like the kids didn't want to get anything done that day, and then *I* had a major attitude that night! Some days are like that, though, but we keep on going and loving and forgiving each other through it all. Baby Girl is continuing to make progress in expressing her needs, so that is thrilling! Bug is still having a blast with his Narnia unit study, and Doodles is really thriving with Oak Meadow. Making the switch from Sonlight to Oak Meadow was a great decision for us. Here are some of the best parts of the week:

Treat of the Week

Doodles drew this ziggurat as part of her Oak Meadow History assignment.

Doodles wrote this for Oak Meadow's Science 6 this week

This is more of Doodles' writing assignments from Oak Meadow 6

This is what Doodles wrote about Hammurabi's Code (Oak Meadow 6)

Doodles made this trademark out of clay for an Oak Meadow project assignment...

then she used it to stamp her trademark on paper.

Doodles also studied bas reliefs in ancient Mesopotamia.

Funny of the week: this is baby girl...actually sleeping!!!



Monday, February 18, 2013

Weekly Fun: First Half of February

I've been doing a few things for fun. First, I took some "me" time to read a book outside in the afternoons. When Baby Girl napped, I treated myself to two of my favorite things: cool, sunny weather and a great novel! Also, my best friend is starting a book club, so I'm doing that, too. I am really looking forward to it! This past weekend, two of my friends and I took Doodles and one of her friends to The Rock and Worship Roadshow concert. It was wonderful! My favorite acts were Mercy Me, Jeremy Camp, and Kutless. It was lots of fun, but it was also a great time of worship and renewal. I've been walking through some difficult places, and I've been through quite a crisis of faith, so it was a very healing experience for me to join with so many other believers and worship together. I am so thankful that God never leaves me or forsakes me, and that He relentlessly pursues me. I plan to share more about this in a later blog post, though, since this one is about "fun." So, back to the fun things, I've tried a few more makeup looks. Again, my inspiration can be found on my Pinterest board entitled "Eyes." Here you go:

This is a black, white, and grey smokey eye

This is a purple, gold, and brown cat eye look

Homeschooling and Life: Feb. 11-17, 2013

This past week was hectic, yet it was good. Our schooling went very well, and so far Doodles and I are very pleased with our transition into Oak Meadow. The crafts and projects have breathed new life into her schooling. I am hoping that it stays that way. Bug is still having an absolute blast with his Narnia unit study, and I have to say that it's one of my top curriculum choices...ever!!! We celebrated Valentine's Day with our homeschool co-op group, which was fun. Baby Girl is still doing better, but she does have her bad moments, meltdowns, and sleep (or lack thereof) issues. I have started her on a gluten free diet in hopes that it will help-of course this is in addition to her medication...and lots of prayer! And...we gained a new family member this week! It's of the furry sort. She is adorable, and you can see her pics below, along with the other hightlights of the week:

Treat of the Week

Baby Girl's Valentine Box: View 1

Baby Girl's Valentine Box: View 2


Baby Girl's Valentine Box: View 3

Baby Girl's Valentine Box: View 4

Baby Girl's Valentine Box: View 5

Doodles' Valentine Box: View 1

Doodles' Valentine Box: View 2

Bug's Valentine Box: View 1

Bug's Valentine Box: View 2

The new addition: our puppy

Puppy love!

All snuggled and comfy

Doodles' new school books: Oak Meadow 6, plus my choice for her Bible study: Every Young Woman's Battle

Bug, playing Blind Man's Bluff as part of his Narnia unit study

Bug, loving on the new "baby"

Writing assignment that Doodles did for Oak Meadow 6 (We had to take a look through our neighborhood and identify things that prehistoric people might have eaten.)

Doodles works on a math assignment

More puppy love!

"Cave" painting that Doodles did for Oak Meadow 6

Doodles had to gather items from nature as part of her Oak Meadow Science 6 studies-don't worry, the wasp nest was empty!

Doodles had to observe an animal for Oak Meadow Science this week. She chose the new puppy!

Baby Girl was ready for lunch, so she grabbed her gluten-free broccoli & cheese soup and tried to eat it!

Baby Girl's Valentine for her daddy

Bug studied Centaurs, and we found this site.



 

Bug's Centaur writing

Baby Girl works on her balance...Sit & Spins are great therapy tools!


















Friday, February 8, 2013

Homeschooling and Life: Feb. 1-8, 2013

  Well, we had another good week. Baby Girl is continuing to improve. This week she learned about "around" with her Sit & Spin. She will spin it by hand, and when I help her, she can ride it, too. As you'll see in the pics, I personally demonstrated to her how to ride it. Fun times! She will laugh and laugh and say, "Round and round!" She gets so excited, and it just pure joy for all of us to see her having so much fun. She also got interested in her iPad again, so we've been using it to practice letters and counting.
  Bug is still LOVING his Narnia unit study. We are both having a blast! This week, just to cover a few topics, we learned about bears, the human eye, and optical illusions. And the Bible lessons...WOW!!! They are phenomenal. C.S. Lewis is brilliant. I am truly learning as much as Bug is with this study.
  Now, to Doodles...I have made the decision to switch her from Sonlight to Oak Meadow. I was going to wait until next year, but she BEGGED me to go ahead and make the switch since I've already received the Oak Meadow materials (bought used...yay!!!) While *I* love Sonlight, I have come to the difficult conclusion that it's just not a good fit for my kiddos. They just don't enjoy reading that many books. It overwhelms them, and that, in turn, overwhelms me. I just have too much going on to juggle that many books with each child. We needed something with fewer books, yet still just as meaty. And Oak Meadow fits that bill; plus it is very artsy/craftsy, which suits Doodles perfectly. So, with a bit of sadness - but also excitement - we bid goodbye to Sonlight and say hello to Oak Meadow.
  Here are some of our highlights from this week:

Treat of the Week

I demonstrate the Sit & Spin for Baby Girl

Baby Girl rides her Sit & Spin

Bug helps Baby Girl read Goodnight Moon on her special TV

Baby Girl and I use her iPad to learn letters and numbers

Bug drew "tree people" for his Narnia unit study

Bug completed this Bear Worksheet for his Narnia studies

Bug used the internet to learn about bears. He also read a book about bears and told me several things he discovered-many of which I didn't know!

Bug and I studied about the human eye

Bug and I had so much fun looking at optical illusions at this site

Bug learned about graphing in one of his math lessons this week.

Friday, February 1, 2013

Weekly Fun: Feb. 1

This is my periwinkle look.

Here I just used light blue and gray eyeshadow, with the biggest focus on my red lips. More red lipstick...fun!!!

Self-Care That's Not So Fun

As promised in my previous post, I am now going to talk about self-care that's not so much fun. This kind of self-care involves thin...