The World According to Them

A family day

2011-10-02T23:31:00.000-07:00

I feel like the days when we actually get out of the house and have a fun day as a family are too few and far between. Today, however, we really made the best of the whole day and filled it to the brim with fun. I didn't get pictures of everything but I will try to give you a running commentary of what I did capture.

Sleepy boy- crashed out on the way out to Cabellas (a sportsmen's store, for those of you not familiar)

Lion Cub pretty much woke up like this and spent much of the rest of the day in a similar mood. He takes terrible two to a whole new level... I can't imagine what his terrible threes will look like!
...but I love him anyway.

Nothing like looking at some big fish to cheer a guy up...

...or maybe not... (watch for it... that priceless pouty face will be making a reprise later in the day!)

Interlude- mama needs new shoes! Something comfortable, practical for winter and with a funky stylish edge (ya know, to match my Miche persona- more on that on BOLD Turquoise)...

These will do!

We stopped by a farm on our way back from Cabellas, drawn in by the corn maze. The huge slide (which dad accidentally video-ed instead of photographed... hence why there are no pictures of mom) and giant tires are what caught our boys attention though, so we made it simple and cheap and just stuck with those.

Rhythm actually is trying to smile, but he was squinting into the sun. Lion Cub, well, I have no explanation for that.

Lion Cub was a little unsure, so he slowly tested the waters with dad's help.

Sweet daddy-son moments!

Haulin' that little rascle back to the car!

Back home the boys rode around the driveway on their bikes and scooters while dad assembled parts on our replacement generator (the reason we had gone to Cabellas- we'd only used or first one once before it broke).

Lion Cub asked Rhythm to take him for a spin in the monster truck and he happily obliged, until he realized it was almost out of battery-life and running rather slow.

So he decided to push it... for a minute...

...and when he went back to riding his bike he left this in his wake (I told ya' you'd see that face again!)

We concluded our day with lasagna, playing in super hero costumes and then wrapping things up with a little Charlotte's Web right before bed.

Although it was a day not void of screaming or fits, it was a precious day with my family none the less. We need to have more of these making-memories kinds of days!

By the way- the hipsta' picks were taken with my hipstamatic app on my iPhone.

Grapevine Studies- Joseph

2011-09-13T09:43:00.001-07:00

Hey people! I just wanted to let you know that I just featured a review of what I think of Grapevine Studies newest addition- Joseph, a Timeline Study- over on BOLD Turquoise! If you haven't heard of Grapevine Studies you should really go read about what we thought! You'll be glad you did!

Summer fun... At the cabin

2011-08-31T07:00:00.000-07:00

We recently had the chance to spend a nice weekend with my inlaws at their lake cabin. They actually took the boys on Thursday and we met them up their late Friday. It was a nice little break and always helpful to have my mother-in-law around to give me a hand with the boys. She bathed them, changed diapers, cooked and even slept with Judah (gotta love a full nights sleep!). So here are some pics from that fun trip!

The crazy tadpole man! He caught tadpoles EVERY chance he got! Which, for this little guy who like to have his hands washed, was pretty darn impressive!

Eve this guy got in on the tadpole action!

A little Grammy Hair Styling!

The book he is reading is called "Who Pooped in the Park"- fairly appropriate if you ask me!

Rhythm & Grammy

Our little fisherman!

And the other one!

The Handsome Carpenter!

We all love that chair!

Lincoln Logs!

Brothers!

The first day fishing with Pappy!

Summer fun... At the pool

2011-08-29T22:42:00.001-07:00

We have had so many fun time this summer and now that we are at the end, and I am getting back into my blogging groove, it is time that I get caught up on posting some of our favorite photos! So, this first catch-up post will give you some pics of a fun day at my parent's pool (ok, the pool at their apartment, but can we just pretend it's theirs'?) and my aunt and uncle's pool. The other boy you will be seeing in the lower pics is my cousin, J, who the boys positively adore! Enjoy!

Doesn't he look old in this shot?! A total glimpse of the future!

And at the aunt and uncle's...

A rare picture of my brother and I, sorry for whoever's finger is in the bottom of the pic! I'll edit it when I get a chance, I'm just happy to be posting!

My boys have had so much fun being in the water this summer! Hopefully they will get even more chances next summer and Rhythm will officially get out of that swim ring, although he did make some wonderful strides towards it this summer with his swim lessons! Look for more summer updates soon!

Week 1 Tot School- I just never expected...

2011-08-28T21:30:00.000-07:00

For months I have considered in bewilderment what to do with my very mischievous 2 year old while we embarked on our first "official" year of homeschooling. There is not a day that goes by that I don't find him into something. Whether it is pouring an entire new gallon bottle of laundry detergent (bought desperately in the first place because I had just run out of my homemade stuff) all over my tiny laundry room floor (even under the machines), emptying a bottle of shampoo into my bedroom carpet (took "shampooing the carpets" to a whole new level for me), taking apart a brand new toy, or covering his face in super glue (this one actually happened when I wasn't at home, so I can't take all the credit there), our dear Lion Cub just never takes a break from finding new (or old) things to get into.

Many days, it utterly exhausts me.

So, as you can imagine, the prospect of having him not be either into something or a constant distraction while I worked on school with Rhythm felt daunting. Whatever would I do with him?!

Well, our first day of school rolled around this week and I had a loose plan of what I would try with him- some montesorri-inspired Tot School activities from 1+1+1=1. Right after calendar time, which we included him in, and Bible, which he pretended to draw along with, I broke out some button and a painting tray from Michaels for him to sort colors into.

And he sat there.

And he did it.

For 10 whole minutes he sat happily sort colors, mostly correctly (also to my surprise). It was bizarre.

So, as he began to lose interest I quickly switched the buttons out for some colored craft puff balls, a different tray and a pair of kid chopsticks from PF Changs. Jackpot! He LOVED this! Another good 10-15 minutes of giggly fun as he transferred balls into the tray. To be honest, we all had a good laugh a few times because the balls just kept popping out of his grasp. A little distracting, but hey- he wasn't destroying anything so I could encourage Rhythm to ignore him.

After that, also to my amazement, he went in the living room and sat down in the recliner with Rhythm's Mobigo and played for the rest of school time. Now please realize how extraordinary this is- he doesn't even actually know how to use it. He has picked it up and messed with it many times before but never for more than five minutes! Craziness!

Day two we broke out my new iPad (actually, let me rephrase that- I don't think I ever want to use the words "broke" and "iPad" in the same sentence!) and he played some games and watched the free Toy Story interactive book with headphones on so as not to distract Rhythm with the sound. That kept him busy for a good bit of time, but once that was over he headed over to play with the duplos. Once again, these are not a typical toy for him. He has never really just sat down and started building with them. But, low and behold, he sat and built, and built and built- FOR OVER AN HOUR!!!

Excuse me while I pass out- I feel a bit like I have entered an alternate universe!

I just really cannot express to you the relief that has spilled over me in this area over the last few days! SO many people asked me whatever would I do with him in order to let Rhythm actually have a shot at learning this year, and although I could tell them what I planned and hoped, I was really thinking the same thing. But somehow, someway, God worked a miracle this week. I don't know if it is the sense of structure or maybe even the more active sense of my participation with them (even if my attention is mostly focused on Rhythm, I am there with them and not busied by housework or whatever else is going on in life, which I think he picks up on)- whatever it is, it's a miracle and I praise the Lord that He has made it so!

I know we will have rough days, but just knowing that he can stay busy in a nondestructive way and we can get through school without him being a total and complete distraction is an incredible encouragement!

How did your week go with your smallest learners?

First Week of Kindergarten 2011- Hello Reality!

2011-08-27T11:00:00.000-07:00

Wow- what a first week. If I'm being completely honest, it didn't go at all as I had planned or expected. In some ways I knew that there would be some adjustments that would have to be made, I just had no idea they would be so drastic. I'll tell you right now that the first part of this post is a bit of a rant, but it gets better at the end, and its filled with honest homeschooling mama confessions, so stick with me!

For starters, the school room that I have been so vigorously planning and working on is still not finished. A sprained ankle sidelined The Carpenter (my hubby) for a day last week which took a huge chunk out of his available time to work on the desk he is building for us. I think once he gets it finished I will fairly quickly be able to organize everything and finally get the room to the unchaotic state that I have been planning on, it just hasn't happen yet. And let me tell you, I will be really glad when we are done trying to accomplish school on a tiny card table!

So after the schoolroom hurdles came scheduling snafoos. I ended up having to run errands for our business first thing in the morning on our first day of school, which put a serious kink in my day- REALLY not the way I wanted to get our school year started! So two hours behind we finally managed to get sat down and start things rolling. And this is where some of the good stuff comes in- Rhythm was so excited and he put forth so much effort, more than I have ever seen him put forth before. I can honestly say that he was making his absolute best effort and I was just so surprised, proud and delighted!

Despite our late start, our school time on Monday ended up turning into such a sweet time with both my children, fully focusing on them. Lion Cub shocked us all by really getting into his Tot School activities and keeping happily and unmischieviously occupied the ENTIRE time (which I will go into more in my Tot School post for the week) and Rhythm and I were able to really work together to get through his core subjects. We were even able to go set up his play tent in the yard and read together while Lion Cub took his nap in the afternoon- what a priceless memory to mark the beginning of our school year with. That alone truly made the day feel redeemed!

However, (back to one of those unexpected hurdles I hadn't planned for and really probably should of) I quickly found out that once we made it through Calendar time, Bible, Math and Reading, Rhythm really started to check out and he has every day since. He has never had to sit and concentrate for this long and it was obviously becoming too much for this active little boy. One morning he was so distracted right from the get go that I made him go out in the yard and run laps until he was good and worn out and ready to sit and concentrate. It wasn't his best day but those laps definitely helped!

So, as a result of this realization, each day I have done it a little differently, but basically I have started planning in a break right after we finish those 3 core subjects- recess, essentially. One day we went for a walk. Another day the boys wrestled and played with trucks while I got dinner in the crockpot. So far it seems that that break ends up falling about the time that they are getting hungry for lunch, so I have moved our lunchtime up to about 11:30ish. It seems to work best if I go ahead and just let him have his independent play time until after I get Lion Cub down for his nap and then we can resume again, just the two of us, to work on all the fun stuff I have planned. Ya know, the stuff I spent countless hours mapping out for the entire year!

It has become dramatically apparent that I have definitely expected too much and my plans are far loftier than he is capable of handling at this point. But ya know, I am also more okay with it than I would expect from myself, especially considering all that work! I think that I feel more grateful than anything that we are homeschooling so that I can pick up on his cues and really create an environment and timing that he can work best in. As I discussed it with The Carpenter this evening he expressed the same thankfulness that our incredibly active little boy isn't being forced to sit at a desk for an entire morning and end up totally checking out (and likely getting in trouble) wasting away these precious learning years.

Now, I won't lie and say that it hasn't been a bit discouraging as well. I have such fun stuff planned! But as I saw with the plaster homemade globe we attempted to make this week that ended up turning into a 100% mommy project in about 2 minutes, what I think is fun may not be as fun for him, so I really have to taylor what I'm planning to him and respond to how he is doing with the projects I present to him. however, I do have to say that he did enjoy the painting of it (he just really didn't like having the plaster on his hands!).

In all honesty there have been times this week that I have considered completely postponing our geography, science and history plans (which are a combined unit study) until next year when he may be more up for it, but I still haven't come to any real conclusions on this. For right now I think we will forge ahead but just not be afraid to cut out the things that he isn't ready for. There is so much wonderful literature included in what we are studying and beautiful opportunities to learn about God's creation and everyone's need to learn about Him, that I hope to still be able to make a lot of it work. The key will just be to not burn either of us out and try to come at it in a more relaxed way. And really, like I said, I'm pretty amazed that I haven't had a nervous breakdown because things are so not how I prepared for- it absolutely cannot be me. I truly feel that God has given me an extra measure of grace, patience and flexibility this week because if it had all been me, well, let's just say it wouldn't be pretty and we would all most likely already hate homeschooling by now!

So thank you Jesus for answering prayers, giving guidance and most of all giving me a little boy who is eager to learn combined with affording us the priceless opportunity to still let him very much be a five year old boy!

Tiny Talk Tuesday- August 9, 2011

2011-08-09T00:20:00.000-07:00

I was singing a song the other day- kind of in a goofy way- and Lion Cub shouted out, "Fwoot Cake!" (Translation- Fruit Cake!) He has a habit of calling names (most of which are nonsensical, thank goodness) but this one just cracked me up!!

______________________________

Lion Cub: Knock Knock
Me: Who's There?
Lion Cub: "Lion Cub"
Me: "Lion Cub" Who?
Lion Cub: "Lion Cub" Bak Kook! (this is the main nonsensical name that he calls people all the time. He uses it in anger and affection- its very odd!)

______________________________

In our house we generally refer to "manly parts" as chickens (don't ask me why!). Well the other day I nearly died laughing when Rhythm (5) apparently hurt his manly business and yelled out, "Oh my tenders! Ya know, cause that's my chicken and these are my tenders!"

Our School Room... in the works!

2011-08-08T12:05:00.000-07:00

For any of you who missed it, I posted our plans for the school room over on BOLD Turquoise. So head on over there if you want to see what's in store design-wise! As soon as it is all finished you can be expecting a full-blow tour right here on The World According to Them! Should be no later than the end of next week! Eeek!

Curriculum Choices for 2011-2012- K & Tot School!

2011-07-31T15:48:00.000-07:00

**UPDATE** I originally posted this about a month ago, but wanted to update to say that I have officially finished Rhythm's lesson plans for the year! Wahoo! I am now working on wrapping everything up for Lion Cub and co-op, along with working on our school room- which I am very excited about and can't wait to share with you all! My posting has been sparse in recent months but I fully plan to dive back in and being documenting our year as soon as we start, the week of August 22, so subscribe and stick around! I'd love to get to know you!***

I can't believe that Rhythm is actually heading into Kindergarten this fall! How can this be possible?! Needless to say, we are both very excited! In fact, I have been considering curriculum for almost two years to figure out what we would be using this next year and began the official buying of books and working on ideas in February! I have been slowly writing our lesson plans now for the last two months, but have been feeling the urgency lately to get things wrapped up since we plan on starting school August 22! I am currently up to Christmas and plan to finish the rest when we get back from our little holiday.

Before I really get into the details, though, I feel the need to not really apologize, but I guess explain that my little plan for this year really doesn't seem to look like a lot of the other Kindergarten plans I have recently come across in blogland. I come at things from a Charlotte Mason, Unit Study, slightly eclectic style because I believe in it and think it will work best for my children. It is definitely a method that takes more planning, preparation and organization on my part, but I really believe that both of my boys are going to learn well from this approach and we are all going to enjoy the process more than we otherwise would.

Much of my inspiration for this style of learning has come from this wonderful lady- Susan Evans at Hands-on Learning!

I stumbled upon Susan at last year's local Homeschool Conference and was instantly enthralled with her energetic, immersive style! You could just tell that her kids LOVE to learn! She takes the hands-on, unit study style to a whole new level! I was thrilled to be able to attend both of her workshops at this year's conference and learned so many awesome ideas for incorporating journals into all sort of study and art projects with history lessons. You have just got to go check out her site! Her blog also has some wonderful articles and her You Tube Channel beyond rocks! I really hope to incorporate more and more of her approach over the next couple of years, and honestly wish we were friends and I could just go sit with her family while they do school for like a week to see how they do it all! Although, her videos do offer an awesome glimpse.

Anyway! Alright, now that I have given that little disclaimer, here we go...

Rhythm- Kindergarten

Bible-
We will be using Grapevine Studies, Beginner Level as our main curriculum to really get in the word and learn the actual accounts.

With that said, Bible will be our main, over-riding daily focus and I am going to do my best to incorporate it into as many aspects throughout our day as I can. We will start our morning by reading/reciting our memory verses (using the system from Simply Charlotte Mason) during breakfast and going over Bob Jones' Bible Truths for Christian Growth K5. The boys will be having their own quiet times in the afternoon where they will listen to The Word of Promise Audio Bible or praise music while looking through picture Bibles and spending their own little time with Jesus. During dinner we will read a short chapter from Leading Little Ones to God and go over our memory verses again. Then before bed The Carpenter will read the boys a story from The Jesus Storybook Bible.

Math-
Horizons K- In all honesty I think Rhythm is going to fly through this curriculum fairly fast because he has a natural pension for math, but I plan to just meet him at his level and we will move on to 1st grade math as soon as he is ready.

Reading-
This is a harder one because Rhythm has a harder time focusing in this subject. Our plan right now is to start over with Teach Your Child to Read in 100 Easy Lessons, use You Can Read for sight words, use Abeka's Blend Ladders for some drills and hopefully incorporate some word play ideas from 1+1+1=1 as well. If All About Reading comes out with their level 1 curriculum this summer I may also consider using it if it seems like a good fit.

Spanish-
We will be listening to Spanish podcasts during lunch every day and using some spanish learning apps on my phone (and hopefully my iPad if I get one by fall), then we'll see where it goes from there. I am also considering getting a subscription to Speekee, if money allows and it is also kind of dependent on that iPad thing since my computer is too slow to play video very well.

Piano-
I will be teaching Rhythm some very basic piano using Bastien's Young Beginner series. We were going to use these last year but he just wasn't ready. I think he finally has enough of an attention span to start again though.

All the rest-
Ok- this is where I get all carazay! The rest of our subjects (yup- geography, history, science, art, writing composition, handwriting and whatever else you can think of) will be covered unit-study-style using a combination of Galloping the Globe and Expedition Earth. We will be incorporating a lot of hands-on projects, copywork, lapbooks, narration and living books to accomplish this. This is where I think the bulk of my blogging will come into play to document how we are taking this little journey into unit-study land. This is also the part we are both most excited for and I hope to be able to tie Lion Cub into our studies as much as possible as well!

Co-op-
We will being attending a co-op this fall where Rhythm will be taking three classes- Music, Learning with Playdough and Lego Build. He is beyond thrilled and we love that we get the best of both worlds- he get's the "school" experience with teachers, friends, backpacks, lunch boxes and all the rest, while also being homeschooled. We are thrilled to have found this independent & Christian option so close to us.

In addition I will also be teaching two classes at the co-op, which I am totally pumped about! I will be teaching Improv for junior highers, since I have extensive experience with both acting and junior highers, and A Becoming an Explorer class for 2-4th graders! And yes, I will be posting all the fun details about this class right here on the blog so that hopefully some of you can utilize them in your homeschool or co-op as well!

Hip-Hop & Breakdancing-
Rhythm will be continuing his hip-hop and breakdancing classes at a local breaking studio which he totally loves! He is really coming along and being introduced to more power moves this summer! It is absolutely hilarious and, even better, Lion Cub is really catching on!

Lion Cub- Tot School (2 Years Old)

As I mentioned above, I really am going to try to include Lion Cub into most of what I am doing with Rhythm, but at his own level. I do want to do a few things just for him though because I really think he will thrive on things geared just for him and absorb them quickly. We tried out some of Carisa's Tot School printables last week and he ate them up, so we will likely be doing one letter a week. As far as printables go I will also probably be mixing in some Tot books and packs, just to keep things fresh for him.

In addition, I plan on having a selection of tot trays for him each week and a monthly themed sensory bin. I made a very basic one for him recently and he has adored playing with it. My only hang up is finding a way for my house to not get covered in beans or rice or whatever happens to be in the tub while he and Rhythm play!! These are the themes I have planned out for the year:

September: Asia/geography
October: Fall
November: Thanksgiving
December: Christmas
January: Winter
February: Valentine’s
March: St Patrick’s Day
April: Spring
May: Spring cont... Butterflies & bugs

So that's the break down! It's all still a little subject to change as I nail things down (more so for Lion Cub than Rhythm), and I still have a TON of work to do to get ready, but we are really excited and looking forward to a great year!

What are you doing for school next year? I'd love for you to leave a comment and a link!

Father's Day

2011-06-29T10:26:00.000-07:00

We had such a fun Father's Day this year! After trying out a new church (where Lion Cub actually stayed in his class for the whole service! Wahoo!) we headed for pastries at a local bakery and then made a beeline for local fun center!

We played a rousing game of miniature golf (the boys were excited because Dad wore the shirt the gave him as a gift), and Rhythm actually, legitimately tied me (and I'm not too shabby!)! He got a hole-in-one and made par or close to it on many holes! His Papa (the avid golfer) is so proud! We actually gave him our score card as part of his gift since he has been teaching Rhythm more this summer than ever.

In this ridiculous shot I actually got it in the right hole but somehow it bounced and got stuck right here! I couldn't believe it! Arg! There went my score!

Proof that I was there- a pink ball!

Here Lion Cub is beatin' on some poor flowering tree! He played a bit but mostly just did his best to drive us all crazy! :-) We love him anyway.

Aren't these flowers beautiful! I love that my iPhone can get such close-up shots!

After the golf we raced go carts! Rhythm rode with me and we lapped daddy and Lion Cub not one but TWICE! If it hadn't been for that nasty little wreck we got in when someone spun out in front of us we would have kept our lead and smoked 'em! Even so, I was positively thrilled that I creamed The Carpenter in something that involved a gas peddle! Ha Ha!

What's that you say? I should have let him win or at least not rubbed it in because it was Father's Day?

Nah!

We had a blast and look forward to doing it again!

God Gave Us the World

2011-06-27T05:00:00.000-07:00

What a sweet little book this is! I thought it would be a kind of fun book to review since we are going to be doing world geography next year for school and I thought this would be a fun introduction to the differences between people living in different places around the world.

It did exactly that! Through the simple idea of using the differences between different types of bears I was able to teach my boys how people living around the world live in a huge variety of ways. We eat different foods. We have different kinds of weather. We talk differently and live at different paces.

The illustrations were sweet, as they are with all these books, and my boys really enjoyed it. And of course I loved that everything ties directly back to God as the creator! I am sure we will return back to God Gave Us the World many times throughout the year and am glad we had the chance to review it!

I was sent this book as a part of the Blogging for Books program from Waterbrook Press for honest review. All opinions are solely my own.

Rumble, Zap, Pow (Review)

2011-06-26T05:00:00.000-07:00

Rumble! Zap! Pow! by Diane Short and Illustrated by Luke Daab is a sweet and fun little Bible that packs a quick punch in a short space. All the stories focus on ways that God proved himself mighty throughout the Bible and each story features a Mighty Thought (kind of like the theme), Power words (or key verse), and and activity to drive everything home.

I think this children's Bible is an ideal pick for little boys for a whole host of reasons! My boys have loved the comic book style. I think it keeps them actively involved, following all the different pictures around the page. All the comic book style action words (such as a blast cloud with the word "Zoomfa" inside) really take the stories into "boy language" and speak straight to their little sound-effect sensibilities! And there is just the cutest little sheep super hero who introduces all the stories- so that appeals to both mom and boys!

I will say that it is pretty surface, as Children's Bibles tend to be, but if you are just looking for a good overview of Bible Stories that present them in such a way that your kids are sure to listen, then you will most definitely enjoy Rumble! Zap! Pow!

I was sent this book as a part of the Tyndale Blog Network. All opinions are solely my own.

Grapevine Studies- Check 'em out!

2011-06-20T12:34:00.000-07:00

Hey Everybody! I just posted a review for the Bible Curriculum we will be using next year- Grapevine Studies- over on BOLD Turquoise. You should definitely go check it out!

Chirp Chrip... Chirp Chirp...

2011-06-18T22:06:00.000-07:00

There are crickets- do you hear them? Ok- you all probably thought this blog was abandoned becaue well, it pretty much was! With the launch of my new blog (BOLD Turquoise) a couple of months ago, my efforts and pictures have mostly been stashed over there. But as we're heading into summer and I am vigorously working to get all of my lesson plans written for next year, I have been feeling drawn back to this space. I mean, this is the boy's blog, after all, and it is supposed to be all about their life and homeschool. And since Rhythm will be heading into kindergarten this year and it all feels so much more official, I want to do a better job of documenting, sharing and gathering ideas from you all about our little journey.

And then there's Lion Cub! He is such a busy, inquisitive little guy that I really think he is going to take much more to Tot School than Rhythm ever did. Not to mention the fact that I am going to need to keep him busy with things while I am trying to work with Rhythm. So there will be a lot to share about his little "school" days too.

So, basically all of this to say that in the next couple of days I am going to reside my place in this little space and be posting about our kindergarten curriculum choices, Tot School plans and start posting pictures again from the boy's activities and day to day lives!

Thanks for hangin' around! I love you ladies more than my luggage!

-MacKenzie

Back-logging

2011-03-05T12:22:00.000-08:00

I am hopelessly behind on this dear blog and it must end! So, please forgive me as I attempt to bring us up to speed in the coming weeks! Some pictures are as old as last summer- so bear with me!

Once that is done I can get on to the new and the wonderful! No, really!

Our little Breakdancer!

2010-12-14T19:43:00.000-08:00

Rhythm had his first breakdancing/hip-hop show this past weekend and it was hilarious! He had only been taking the classes for three weeks before the show but he did surprisingly well! He practiced a lot at home and was very serious during his classes!

The day of the show he asked me if he would be singing as well. When I told him no, just dancing, he replied, "Well, are you sure mom? Cause I could write a really great song to sing! It would be really good!" This child has no fear! He loves to perform! (Hmmmm... wonder where he gets that from?!) I love that not only did he want to sing but he actually wanted to write the song too!

So, ladies and gentlemen- Enjoy!

Tiny Talk Tuesday- December 14, 2010

2010-12-14T18:51:00.000-08:00

Rhythm- "Well mom, just for the record...." (his new saying! so funny!)

__________________________________

Lion Cub- "Oh boo boo!" (translation- Oh Peekaboo!)

And there have been so many more lately- I just can't remember them, dagnabit! If I remember, I'll post!

To find more funny kid sayings visit Not Before 7!

Eeek- how did this happen?!

2010-11-29T07:50:00.000-08:00

November 29th? Seriously?! But wait! I still have to post our summer pictures! Erg!

I really don't know how time got so far away from me! Maybe it has something to do with having two CRAZY little boys! (FYI- Now that the snow gloves are out they have decided to use them as boxing gloves! And Lion Cub is only 17 months old! I just don't think this sort of thing happens with little girls!) So, my hope is that as a little Christmas present to myself I will get all of our pictures caught up by December 24th and get back on my regular blogging schedule (oh the things I have to write for Tiny Talk Tuesday- you're going to just die!). That's the plan any way!

So, for starters, how about a few fall photos!? These were taken while raking up the yard about a month ago. Both boys were eager to help and get right in the thick of it!

Big Helpers!

Jumpin' Away!

As much of a pain as these tree are to clean up, they sure do offer some great chances for childhood fun (much better the the pine needles I had as a kid!) and some awesome photo opps! Can we say Christmas Cards?! Yeah Baby!

Sheer Wonderment!

2010-11-22T12:33:00.000-08:00

I love to see my children's faces as they see the first snow of the season! It is one of the most precious things to me about this time of year. I managed to capture them this year- enjoy!

excitement at first sight

wonderment

joy

"I have no idea what's going on!"
Oh, and notice the chipped front tooth- yup, that's a new one this weekend! Now both my boys have chipped teeth!
Lovely.

And this is the view overnight! About 4 inches! Insane!

Prayers for Ella!

2010-11-14T13:14:00.000-08:00

Alright- October was hard and I was absent from this blog for lots of reasons. We were in the process with getting back on track this month and were completely sidelined by sickness the first week and then this last week, if you don't already know, one of my very best friends had an emergency c-section at 31 weeks because her sweet baby girl, Ella, has Fetal Cardiomyopathy (an enlarged heart and the left ventricle isn't working). I have been spending lots of time watching her boys and getting up to the hospital whenever I can to be with her and help her. Here is a video:

So, while we plan to get back into the flow this week I will also be devoting much of my time to the Dordal family and want to urge all of you to pray without ceasing for this precious baby! She needs nothing short of a miracle! Tuesday morning is when the cardiologists are going to meet and they are going to have to start discussing what comes next and the alternatives are obviously not ideal. Ella just needs a miracle from the Lord! She needs her left ventricle to start functioning and her heart to get much stronger.

Please pray and spread the word for my wonderful friends and their baby girl, Ella Louise!

Wordless Wednesday- Eatin' like a big boy!

2010-10-13T05:00:00.000-07:00

Tiny Talk Tuesday- October 5, 2010

2010-10-05T10:50:00.000-07:00

Rhythm- "Who let the dogs out?! Who? Who? Who? Who? Who? Oh man! I still have that song stuck to my head!!"

____________________________________

Lion Cub- "All Done! All Done! All Done!" (all the time!!)

For more Tiny Talk head on over to Not Before 7!

where I've been...

2010-09-30T01:13:00.000-07:00

We've been a little weary lately- weathered by the storm. We'll be back soon, hopefully with good news and new kick in our step. For now though, we're laying low. Thanks for your patience!

What I love about you- 15 months!

2010-09-21T05:00:00.000-07:00

You are still a total and complete handful (seemingly more so by the day) but you are also getting more and more fun! These are the things I love about you right now:

Your cheesy grin! You love smiling for the camera now!

Your silliness- you really like to by sly and funny and see if anyone notices.

One of your big mischievous moves these days is finding the remote!

Yup- you're naked behind that milk jug! You LOVE taking off your diaper and running away as fast as you can!

Your new-found love of your apron! You bring it to me all the time so I will put it on you!

Just Cute!

You are enjoying books more. Now you not only tear them off the shelves but actually sit and look at them for a while!

You have an inherent sweetness behind the whining and mischief!

How badly you wanted to "hunt" with you dad and brother! You were freaking out because you wanted to be in the blind with them so much! You can't wait to be older!

Sweet love!

You have always wanted to be held, but you are becoming more of an actual cuddler these days. I love those moments!

You and your brother pick on each other to no end but you also love each other and I catch you snuggling every now and then. I love how you go around the house calling for him (although you say "mama" you mean his name) if you can't find him and the way you two interact is priceless. I can see a life-long friendship flourishing and it is incredibly sweet!

You are cutting teeth, sleeping horribly and constantly ransacking our house but I wouldn't trade you for the world! You give me a total run for my money and I love you to pieces!

Oh, and you weigh 25.14 lbs and are 33 1/3" long!! Just 7 inches shorter and 5 pounds lighter than your brother who is three whole years older than you! It's insane... but I have the most toned arms of my life!

T-Ball with 4 year olds!

2010-09-18T10:00:00.000-07:00

Quite possibly one of the funniest things on the planet! In fact, if I would have had video of one particular episode, I am pretty sure we would be at least $10,000 richer via Funniest Home Videos and probably could have take home the $300,000 grand prize.

Rhythm is second from the left on the bottom row

You see, Rhythm is a very enthusiastic little guy, who is always very busy and apparently playing for just his own team wasn't enough- he not only hit the ball when he was up to bat, but ran after it and threw it to first base! He then repeated these actions with the next TWO kids who were up to bat from his own team! It was hilarious and he was completely delighted with himself! So funny!

Here are a few of the pics from his games and practices:

Some help from dad!

Whack it!

There he goes!

Up to bat for real- my little bobble-head!

At the lake...

2010-09-16T07:00:00.000-07:00

We have had a few opportunities to spend sometime out at a nearby lake last summer and I just wanted to share some of our pictures from the fun times we had!

The first time we headed out for a local street fair with Nana (my mom) and boy oh boy, was it a busy and HOT day! We had a really fun time though! One of the highlights of Rhythm's day was getting a tattoo (airbrushed on)! He felt like such a stud!


Tough Guy!

We checked out the local sandcastle artist...

And a fountain in the park...

Then, to escape the heat and have a little fun, we dared drag that darned stroller all the way down the steep, gravely beach to go swimming and build some sand castles of our own!

Woo! A little deeper and colder than expected!

Teamwork- precious and rare!

Check out that booty! And that is without a diaper!

COVERED!

buried!

When we were done at the beach we headed up to another fun little fountain in the park to wash off and get dressed to go. I love this little fountain- it gives way to a little stream that runs all the way down to the lake and you can walk in it the whole way! Refreshing and fun!

"Ahh! It splashed my face!"

Gotta wash those feeties!

And I swear- I really was there, even if I'm not in any of the pictures! Haha! Isn't mama always behind the camera?! It was a great day and just the first of a few that we had out at this little lake town- but I'll save the rest for another post!

Tiny Talk Tuesday- September 14, 2010

2010-09-14T07:00:00.000-07:00

Rhythm: God is tickling my heart mom! Now He is tickling you! Do you know why He tickles you? Because He loves you! Do you love God?
Mama: I do!
Rhythm: I love Jesus!

_____________________________________

Rhythm: Mom, I just really appreciate that you did that!
Mama: When did you get so old?
Rhythm: On my birthday. Don't you remember?

_____________________________________

Rhythm: You Mr. Funny Head! (Right now he is really into adding "Mr." and "head" to pretty much everything!)

For more goofy kid sayings hop on over to Tiny Talk Tuesday at Not Before 7!

I made the team!!!

2010-09-13T05:00:00.000-07:00

I am very excited to let you all know that I made the Heart of the Matter Review Team! You may have noticed that I posted a couple of reviews recently that were listed as audition posts (All Frogs & Giraffe Copy Work & Fun) and to my great delight I found out shortly there after that I made the cut!

This is so exciting to me for a few reasons: one- we will get to add some really fun new additions to our school days, two- I don't have to plan them, and three- I feel one step closer to getting on The Crew review team when they begin accepting applications in March!

So, you can expect to be seeing a dabbling of reviews each month on great new products that I can't wait to share with all of you!

Preschool Corner- Week 4- Errrrrrrch!

2010-09-12T18:55:00.000-07:00

Alright. We got through our work last week... mostly. By Thursday I went ahead and had a complete meltdown and came to the dreaded realization that my well-thought-out routine/schedule was just not working! Every day by about 11:30 all of us are stressed and frustrated. Lion Cub is inevitably screaming and either climbing up on Rhythm's chair with him or just completely distracting him with his antics, and I am worn so thin that I begin to display a side of myself that makes me cringe to even think about.

So, as much as I hate it, I am going to have to reevaluate. I think we are going to have to transition into doing things that we can all do together or Rhythm can do independently while Lion Cub is awake and then do the work that he needs my help with once Lion Cub is down for his nap. As soon as I work out all the bugs to our new routine I will post more about it, but I am hoping this new plan is going to lead to less burn-out and better concentration all the way around.

On the upside, I am very proud that we have made it through our first four weeks of school!! We have stayed on track and I feel good about where we are headed. Rhythm is learning much more than I expected and seems to even be enjoying school!

My favorite things that Rhythm learned this week, however, were not planned at all and mostly revolved around hunting! Jer headed out on a hunting trip last week but before he left he of course had to practice and get all prepared! to being with he set up his ground blind in the backyard and gave Rhythm a pair of binoculars, which he over course completely loved!!

Rhythm spent hours in the back yard pretending that he was bow hunting for deer!

I think they both look forward to the day when they can hunt together.

Aim...

Did you hit it?

"Nice job dad!"

Before Jer left on his trip Rhythm also decided that he wanted to make him a surprise card and he wrote the entire message himself! Of course I helped with the spelling but he was so proud of his work!

This is the picture of a trailer that he drew for the front of the card. He wanted it to be a surprise and hid it in Jer's jacket but of course couldn't wait for Jer to find it for himself and spilled the beans as soon as he walked in the door! It was very cute!

You can find much more inspirational posts about preschool over at Homeschool Creations!

Wordless Wednesday- Seriously?

2010-09-08T15:39:00.000-07:00

Mom! Someone left the bathroom door open!

Oh yeah- he knows exactly what he's doing!

Giraffe Copywork & Fun-Review

2010-09-08T15:36:00.000-07:00

I was blessed recently to receive a copy of Giraffe Copywork and Fun by Homeschool Bits, to review. This copywork study has 32 pages full of copywork, activities and internet links that thoroughly address grade levels K-5, but could easily be used for younger or older students as well. Homeschool Bits has a history of making very versatile homeschool tools and this study is no exception.

The first thing that jumped out at me about this copywork study was the wide variety of copywork options that are given. Some of these options include:

Fill in the blanks
Fill in the blanks with traceable letters
Traceable printing passages
Traceable cursive passages
Blank ruled lines for independent copywork
Blank standard lines for independent copywork

Each passage offers each of these options, making it quite simple to assign the same copywork to a number of children at different levels, and also gives you the option to use this same study again in later years. Interspersed throughout the copywork pages are also numerous pictures and clipart of giraffes that help keep the work engaging and interesting.

Rhythm working on a traceable fill in the blank page.

In addition to the copywork being well thought out and put together, the actual information is top notch. The writing is interesting and the facts are not tedious to read. We have been working on it currently but I am even more excited to break it back out when we do our studies on Africa next year. It will be a wonderful addition to the curriculum we will be using, but is informative enough to stand alone if you wished for it to as well.

Giraffe Copywork & Fun by Homeschool Bits can be purchased for only $0.50 at CurrClick! That is a total bargain for a resource that can be used time and again and really helps put the fun back in copywork! I would highly recommend this product.

Thanks to Heart of the Matter for supplying this unit study for sample review in their reviewer application process. All opinions are honest and completely my own.

All Frogs Unit Study by Homeschool Bits- Review

2010-09-08T13:49:00.000-07:00

We took a little break from our Farm Unit Study this week to tryout a new curriculum by Homeschool Bits called "All Frogs." This study is geared for grades K-5 but I found it very easy to simplify for Rhythm, who is doing Pre-K4. The curriculum consists of a plethora of elements to create a very well-rounded study, including:

Information pages that cover the differences between frogs and toads, 5 different frog species, the life cycle of a frog and more. These pages also contain pictures and links to frog sounds.
2 different varieties of quiz pages (fill in the blank and multiple choice)
Coloring pages (including a frog parts diagram)
Activity pages (including a word search, two different levels of mazes and frog jokes)
Frog Fact Cards
A frog fable mini-book
4 different varieties of copywork (beginning guided printing, guided printing, guided cursive, and standard lines for unguided copywork)
Lapbooking Components (very colorful and including extra frog clipart)
Links to websites for additional learning about frogs (including information and video sites as well as crafts and even how to draw a cartoon frog).

To say that I was pleased and impressed with this curriculum would be an understatement! Our first day of reading, in which we read about the differences between Frogs and Toads, Rhythm was able to actually participate in narration for the first time! I was so delighted by this (I think he was too!). We have tried before but he generally always responds with "I don't know." This text, however, was well written and engaging enough for even a typically distracted 4-year-old boy to glean and repeat the facts from.

Lapbook Cover

Inside of lapbook

Flap of Lapbook with trimmed down copywork page

Back of lapbook w/Frog jokes, frog cartoon drawing & maze

I also loved being able to write all of his narration down on the lapbooking components as he dictated to me. The lapbook comes together so nicely and doesn't have an insane amount of printing to do. It was very easily customizeable and can easily be used for any grade level. Rhythm and I both love being able to not only make the lapbook but use it for review- it is so much more engaging than a boring fact sheet or series of notes!

Working on the simple maze

All the links provided have been very helpful and interesting. Rhythm loved learning how to draw his very own cartoon frog and hearing the frog sounds also really helped to keep him interested in the lessons. I was also extremely surprised that he was able to complete the simple maze from the activity pages. The beginning guided copywork pages have been fun for him to try as well, since he is just getting started with writing. They work well because they only have a few key words to trace, instead of the whole passage, so they aren't too overwhelming for him.

Clearly impressed with himself that he actually did it!

This lesson is also flexible enough to complete over a varied amount of time, depending on what works best for you and the level of your child. For older students you could finish the study in probably less than a week if you really wanted to, but it also lends itself well to spacing out over a couple of weeks if you only did a component or two a day. It has been perfect for us to just do a couple of things at the end of our day and has really brought a little bit of extra life to our school day. I think this study would also work well with a number of children at varying ages.

I think the only thing that I could be critical of was the design of the mini-book, as it did not leave much room for stapling and would not have gone in the correct order if I had assembled it per the instructions. That is really the only thing I could think of though- the rest of the study we genuinely loved and thought was expertly put together! I would definitely purchase a study from Homeschool Bits again, hands down. Oh, and did I mention that this whole study is only $1 at CurrClick!? Insane, right?! I couldn't believe that! I would have paid much more for a study that was this well put together!

Thanks to Heart of the Matter for supplying this unit study for sample review in their reviewer application process. All opinions are honest and completely my own.

Do you subscribe through e-mail?

2010-09-06T16:59:00.000-07:00

It seems that since I switched the name of the blog and the address something isn't working with my Feedburner e-mail delivery. So, could one or two of you who receive my posts via e-mail pop over here and leave a comment about whether you are getting them or not? If no one comments then I will assume that you aren't. Hope it is working ok!

Tot School- Living Life

2010-09-06T00:35:00.001-07:00

We didn't have much structure to Tot School last week but that didn't stop Lion Cub from learning and trying new things! His communication is really on the upswing lately and I can tell that he is understanding much more of what we are telling him. He is also starting to "sing" which is just about the cutest thing ever! He likes to dance at the same time and it is hilarious! His favorite is to "sing" Rhythm to sleep at night!

He is getting better at feeding himself which is fun to see! We still have to drop cloth the floor but I am beginning to see the light at the end of the tunnel!

I also made a batch of cinnamon rolls again this week. As soon as I turned on the beaters to make the frosting he heard them and came racing into the kitchen, whining and pointing at my Bosch mixer. Apparently he remembered that I let him lick the beater the last time I made them and was adamant that I not deprive him of that privilege this time!

Lion Cub tends to be fussy a lot of the time. He needs a LOT going on and gets bored and annoyed VERY quickly. This last couple of weeks he has stepped up his attitude however and it has been rather exhausting. He has also been having trouble sleeping, so there has been more than once that I ended up like this on the couch with him:

You can find some actual ideas of things to do with your tots over at 1+1+1=1's Tot School post.

Preschool Corner- Week 3- Getting in the Groove!

2010-09-03T00:32:00.001-07:00

We're not totally in the groove, but man oh man are we getting a lot closer! School is starting to feel more a part of normal life and not this new exception to what we typically do. Rhythm isn't really fighting it at all anymore. He just knows that this is what we do everyday and has actually been getting excited for it many days.

Working on his Raising Rock Stars "Honor Your Father and Mother" cut/color/glue craft.

This week I definitely noticed a difference in his ability to work independently- especially with our Raising Rock Stars Preschool curriculum. Since the same basic activities repeat each week I see a confidence growing in him that he knows what he is supposed to be doing and I am able to lay him out with 1-3 tasks at a time while I take care of Lion Cub or attend to some other urgent need (of course I prefer to sit with him but it just can't always happen). I love coming upstairs from putting Lion Cub down for a nap to find that Rhythm has actually completed a good portion of work and is excited to show me! We are still struggling with some concentration stuff, but I already see an improvement when he is working on things and knows what to expect.

Reading his reader from the Raising Rock Stars Curriculum.

We added a few new things this week that I have been beyond thrilled with. The first of which was incorporating the Character First website into our morning calendar time. You can do a trial run on their website and it goes through the lesson on attentiveness, which just happens to be the character quality we are focusing on right now. Along with great stories of animals and characters from history who have exhibited the particular character quality you are working on, it has wonderful audios for a little memory chant about the character quality and a song to help get the meaning and application of the quality into your head. Of course, we did have a little word mix-up in which the song, "I'll be attentive, so very attentive" turned into "I'll be distracted, so very distracted." It was a completely honest mistake that he made, but oh so funny (and telling!).

Working on his writing for his 2nd lesson in Teaching Your Child to Read.

The second thing I worked in was actually not something that I intended to try for another good 4-6 months. In fact, I wasn't even sure that I would be working it in at all, it was just a book I had put on hold at the library so that I could check it out and see if it was something that I would want to try. I am sure many of you have heard of it- Teach Your Child to Read in 100 Easy Lessons. Rhythm saw me looking through it when we got home from the library and we decided to give it a little trial run. To my shock he just took off with it! He sailed through the lesson and actually enjoyed it! The lessons are very short, which is perfect, and it is so well spelled out for you that there is very little (if any) prep work. I am very excited to continue with this curriculum and see how he does.

I wish I would have gotten more pictures for this week but our schedule was kind of odd and we were so engrossed in our work I simply forgot to pick up the camera! Next week I hope to get more shots and share more specifics of what we really love about Raising Rock Stars Preschool. All in all though, I am very pleased that we are three full weeks in and I haven't dropped the ball!! Each week we have completed all the work that I planned on absolutely getting done (there were a few things that I let slide just because they weren't fitting in or working yet) and we are both enjoying it more and more each week. I am so proud of how he is learning and taking on new challenges!

Winner of the Hands on Bible!

2010-09-03T00:31:00.000-07:00

Well, let's face it- you guys had pretty stinkin' good odds! As much as I would have loved to have more entries, I am very happy that random.org choose the person that they did, because, let's also face it, I feel like I owe this person a lot! I mean, she has written our entire core curriculum for this year, provided it for free and has been a loyal friend and follower for almost 3 years now! If you haven't already guessed, the Hands on Bible goes to....

Carisa from 1+1+1=1!!!

Congrats and THANK YOU for everything!!

For the rest of you who didn't win, better luck next time! And if you haven't heard of Carisa or 1+1+1=1 (which is actually pretty impossible if you read my blog in any capacity) then you really should go and check her and her out! You won't be sorry!

Tiny Talk Tuesday- August 24, 2010

2010-08-31T07:00:00.000-07:00

Last week we were at my parent's house and my mom were getting ready in the bathroom. Rhythm came in as we were doing our hair... this ensued...
Rhythm, "You're Beautiful."
Nana (my mom), "Oh, you're so sweet!"
Rhythm, "I was talking to my mom."
Oh sheesh! I quickly pointed out that I look very much like Nana!

__________________________________________

Rhythm, "Oh Mom! I think your going to have another baby!"
Me, "No, I'm not."
Rhythm, "Yes you are. Hello in there little baby!" While patting my stomach!
Me, "No, I'm really not. Why do you say that? Is my belly sticking out?"
Rhythm, "No, it's just getting bigger and bigger and bigger! I think you're having a baby!"
Me, "No honey, I'm not having a baby yet!"
Rhythm, "Mom, (putting hands on hips) there is just a child in there!"
If I hadn't been laughing so hard I would have been offended! Maybe I should look at this as a good thing though since I have been trying to gain weight (because of being fairly severely underweight during my first year of breastfeeding) so that I can safely get pregnant again!

There are more ~~embarrassing~~ cute things from other kiddos around the web linked up over at Not Before 7 in the Tiny Talk Tuesday meme.

Guest Posting on HannahKeeley.com today!

2010-08-30T07:00:00.001-07:00

Hello all you lovely ladies visiting from HannahKeeley.com!! Thank you so much for stopping by! I hope you enjoy your look around. Stay a while, grab a cup of tea and put up your feet! The World According to Them is my little corner of the web to share all about our family and homeschooling adventures. I hope you find it entertaining, relatable and maybe even helpful!

I would love to have you stop back by more often (or even grab a subscription!) and I would especially enjoy hearing what you have to think in a comment- I will be sure to stop by your blog as well! Also, don't forget to check out the giveaways I am currently hosting (Marmee's Favorites recipe bundle & The Hands on Bible) and my upcoming BOSCH Universal Mixer Raffle!! If you want to see more about my hodge-podged journey as a homemaker and more talk that is mom-to-mom focused, be sure to take a peek at my other blog, The Mama Kenz Studio.

For those of you who don't know, I am very honored to be guest posting over at HannahKeeley.com today! If you haven't checked out this Christian Mom of 7's great website you should definitely go and do so! And while you're there, check out my post about getting ahead of the game!

Tot School for sickies!

2010-08-29T13:56:00.000-07:00

Ugh- as I mentioned in our Preschool Corner post, the boys and I have had colds all week! They have both been waking up throughout the night and on the whole our sleeping schedules have just been really messed up. Bleh. So, of course the sickness and sleepless crankiness took their tole and it was difficult to keep Lion Cub happy and occupied during school time.

He did happily do some coloring for a bit, but inevitably ate half the crayon, bringing the activity to an abrupt halt!

He also worked with his stacking rings some, but mostly enjoyed throwing them on the floor!

The one gem I did discover this week that I actually employed during dinner preparations instead of school to keep Lion Cub from screaming and clinging to my legs, was Rhythm's old bean bin!

Oh man- is this thing ever going to make its way into Tot School! They both loved it, but Lion Cub especially could have sat there for hours (and he practically did)!

Now I must admit- the mess was considerable! At one point every. last. bean. was on the floor! But he was happy and content, which is so rare that I didn't even care. As soon as they began throwing the beans, however, I did have to wrap up this activity, but as soon as I can find a bigger bin (that Lion Cub can actually sit in) I can see this becoming a very regular option for him!

I'm hoping to set aside some time today to get a little bit more organized about our Tot School options for the week (along with school in general). Now, if a certain little someone will just cease his screaming, whining and clinging...

Find more Tot School posts at 1+1+1=1!

Preschool Corner- Week #2!!

2010-08-27T07:00:00.000-07:00

Hmmmm, what is there to say about this week? We did make it through all of our Raising Rock Stars work, but that pretty much sums it up! Drat! It started off with just not getting as prepared for the week as I should have on Sunday evening. I then found out that an old friend of mine died over the weekend- a big emotional hit even though I haven't seen him in years. Follow all that up with the boys and I all getting colds, leading to erratic sleeping schedules and general crankiness, and our week couldn't help but culminate in routine and school FAIL. Arg.

Well, let me show you what we did do:

Rhythm is really enjoying doing his Weekend Report each Monday. He has taken to coloring much more than he ever has before, and what you see him doing in this picture is actually dictating what he is "writing" about his weekend! Very cute and funny! He literally talked and "wrote" for 5 minutes straight!

Here he is taping his verse strip up on the wall behind his chair. He loves all of the cutting activities in the Raising Rock Stars Curriculum- right up his hands-on alley!

We found a Phineas and Ferb (big fans here!) folder at Target before school started and he loves putting all of his completed work in it during the day. At the end of the week we then put all of his work from the week into his Raising Rock Stars binder as we review.

At the beginning of the week we did manage to complete the assessment sheets that Carisa has to offer on her Raising Rock Stars site (I think they are in the members only section- which is only $10 for a lifetime membership!! Yeah- serious deal!! It may be going up slightly soon though so get in while the price is still this crazy!). Rhythm did better than I expected with some things and other he was right about where I expected. It was very helpful to have this gage to mark his progress on and will be nice to compare back to and keep a record of throughout the year.

He is so goofy! Here he is coloring his Ten Commandments craft. He kept getting very distracted (or perhaps he was dawdling- I'm still deciding) by his crayons! He had to have them all perfectly lined up next to each other and desperately wanted to get out one of his truck and trailers to haul them on (which he did later do!).

I can see that distractions are going to be a constant battle for him (even the leaves blowing in the wind outside the window have the potential to completely sidetrack him!) and the more organized I can be the easier this battle will be to win. I have to get back in the game with our routine this week! Even though our first week was rough, I can so see the difference there was in his ability to follow the flow and stay on task week 1 vs week 2. I am hoping we will all be feeling better by Monday and I will be able to get everything in place for a much more smooth week! Wish us luck- better yet, pray very hard!

Just to wrap things up I thought I would include a little video of Rhythm saying his memory verse from week 1! Enjoy!

I have linked this post to Homeschool Creations' Preschool Corner- go there to find lots of great preschool ideas!

My First Printables!! Nature Study and The Weekend Report!

2010-08-26T07:00:00.000-07:00

I am so excited to share with you all my very first printables!!! I have been wanting to offer something to my readers for quite some time but never really knew what I had to offer. Well, now that we are getting into the swing of things I am starting to get more and more ideas and so I hope that this is just the beginning! So, here they are!

The first is a printable I call The Weekend Report. Now I cannot claim this as my own original idea. We actually started doing this last year while we were working on our Itty Bitty Bookworm curriculum and I liked the idea so much I wanted to tie it into this year as well. The printable, however, is my little creation. I typically have Rhythm dictate to me what he remembers doing over the weekend and then let him draw a picture of one of those things above. It is a great way to warm into narration plus helps him have a gentle introduction to school on Monday mornings.

The Weekend Report Form

The second printable I would like to share is our Nature Study form. This is another one of those things that obviously requires mama participation since Rhythm isn't writing yet, but the questions help guide him into making his own discoveries while we are outside. I try to point out little things about nature as I notice them and I have naturally seen his interest and observation grow.

As we are getting started I help him a bit with his observations if he can't think of specifics. For instance, this last week he chose a rock to draw. So, I asked him things like, "What color is the rock? Is it smooth or rough? Is it heavy? Where did you find it? What do you like about it?" As he gets used to this process I suspect he will begin verbalizing more of his own observations and as that happens my guidance will become more general, such as, "Tell me everything you can think of about this rock."

I find it is best to ask the questions on the back of the form after we have come back inside so he is not distracted by whatever it is outside that he wants to be playing with. Asking these questions afterwards also allows him to think about the things he observed while he was playing and not just limit him to the things he was looking at during our actual nature study time.

Nature Study Form

**A little side note, there is a blank third page in this printable that I couldn't get deleted without deleting half the document. One of those bazaro, "Why are you doing this to me you dumb computer!?" moments. Please forgive me and dismiss it!**

Wordless Wednesday- What Mischief?

2010-08-25T07:00:00.000-07:00

Ugh- I feel tired all of the sudden!

This post is linked to Wordless Wednesday- where pictures say it all!

Fall version of The Ultimate Homeschool Expo! Great Price!

2010-08-24T12:00:00.000-07:00

This past spring I really wanted to attend the Ultimate Homeschool Expo but just didn't have the money. Well, this Thursday the team behind that great online conference are kicking off a Back-to-School-Blast and it is only $1.99 for the full deal, including access to the Members Only site, MP3 downloads of all the seminars, $50 worth of freebies and an entry to win an iPad! Hello! Great deal!

They also have a free version where you can attend all the live workshops if you just sign-up for the newsletter! Oh, and did I mention that one of my very favorite speakers in the whole darn world is going to be speaking- the one and only Mrs. Lorrie Flem!? (check out her awesome ministry, TEACH, right here!) I will so be there!

A Day in Our Life!

2010-08-23T07:00:00.000-07:00

Just to let you know up front- this post is long and it covers not only our school day but our entire routine for a normal day. If you want to know just about our school day, feel free to scroll down to just that part! Thanks for stopping by!

Developing a routine that we can stick with and that is actually reasonable for my family has been one of my biggest missions for this year! As I have mentioned before, we are kind of in that in between stage of transitioning from having small kids being able to just do whatever whenever, to having a homeschooler who needs some structure and routine. What a task! It has been, and in many ways still is, a huge adjustment for all of us but I can already see the efforts paying off.

I put a lot of time, thought and effort into planning out this routine. I tried to take into account what all I wanted to accomplish in a day and a week (certain tasks happen only on certain days, such as particular chores and errands) and then fuse that with what was actually feasible for our family. The end result became three color-coded "routines" that detailed our days- one for "At Home Days," one for "Errand Days," and one for "Activity Days," just so I could make sure that I had all our bases covered!

Today I am going to share with you our base, "At Home Day" routine, which is what our day is supposed to look like! Later this week (hopefully) I will post about what a day actually looks like, but hopefully it will be something close to this!

Morning

Between 6:00-6:30 I get up, get my tea and have time with the Lord, followed by some blogging and Google Reader time.
By 7:40 I try to have breakfast going, which, if I have followed my pre-prep schedule, should usually only involve throwing something in the oven.
At 8:00 I wake up Rhythm, if he isn't up already, and get him upstairs for breakfast (which should be done by now, or very close to).
During breakfast we read a story from our Jesus Storybook Bible and do some of the questions from our Young Children's Catechism
As soon as breakfast is over it is chore time for all of us! Rhythm has a chore pack (which I will be posting on soon) that has things such as putting his dishes in the sink, emptying silverware from the dishwasher, emptying bathroom garbages, making his bed, brushing his teeth and getting dressed. I empty the dishwasher, do the breakfast dishes, put out some laundry and also do the following things, based on the day:

I then put on Baby Einstein (which actually has taught Rhythm some signs) and take a quick shower (if I haven't already the night before) and get dressed.

School Time

We aim to start school between 9:00-9:30 (usually closer to 9:30). We use a workbox system to keep things organized, and generally our school day goes something like this:

Calendar Time & Morning Board (which I will also be posting on in detail soon)
Introduction to our Raising Rock Stars work for the day using the RRSP Board
Snack while mama reads aloud (books usually focus around our unit theme)
Our Raising Rock Stars work for the day (during which we usually have our RRSP music for the week playing quietly in the background)
An extra activity or two (Piano, Nature Study, various preschool printables, file folder games, etc...)
And eventually, somewhere in there, we will be adding a project to go along with our unit study
Also, while Rhythm is doing some of his more independent work I start to prep for the following day and begin refilling our bags for our workbox, all the while trying to keep Lion Cub busy as well!

Afternoon

Around 12:00 we try to start preparing for lunch (which, once again, is hopefully very minimal if I have done my prep-ahead work the day before). During lunch we read "Leading Little Ones to God"
Directly after lunch we have free play time and maybe try to get a little bit of time outside (which is currently difficult because our backyard is a weed pit in desperate need of landscaping).
By 1:00ish I try to get Lion Cub down for a nap. I usually have Rhythm nap also every few days so that he doesn't get over-tired (his tiredness tends to accumulate). If it isn't a nap day for Rhythm, we typically try to get in a little bit more reading time together or play a game after Lion Cub is down. After that Rhythm will typically either play quietly or watch Phineas and Ferb- his end-all, absolute FAVORITE TV show (that the whole family secretly loves!). He also usually has another snack around now (3:00ish).
During that time I try to get in some blogging time, catch up on my Google Reader some more and work on my Prep Work for the next day:

Between 3:45-4:00 I try to start working on meal prep. This includes not only dinner but the following day's breakfast and lunch as well. You can read more about this on The Mama Kenz Studio.

Evening

We aim to eat dinner right around 5:00. Directly following dinner (or while Rhythm is still eating- he's even slower than ME!) we do family devotions, typically reading from the One Year Bible for Kids.
After dinner the boys typically play with dad while I clean up the kitchen and try to get some laundry put away. We occasionally try to sneak in a family game, which I am hoping to make more consistent.
Throughout the evening I try to do the following:

At 7:30 I bathe the boys if it is a bath night or at 7:45 we start having the boys clean up their toys and and begin winding down.
At 8:00 we head downstairs where I, generally, get Rhythm ready for bed and put him down and then take Judah in and nurse him to sleep. My aim is to be back upstairs by 8:45 but no later than 9:00.
The rest of the evening is usually spent watching a favorite show and sometimes even reading together with Jer. We also both usually end up on our computers at some point during this time.
This is where it gets really difficult for me. My plan is to be heading downstairs to get ready for bed between 10:00-10:30. The idea is that I could be downstairs, ready by 10:30 with a half an hour to read and have lights out by 11:00. This has yet to happen, but I keep telling myself that if I continue to get up early and not nap with the boys, one of these days I am just going to be so flat out exhausted that I will have no choice but to go to bed early! Ok, hopefully it won't come to that- it is just a really hard adjustment for this night owl!

So there is our day, all boiled down. I am still tweaking and reconfiguring things, but for the most part it seems to be working and giving us more of a predictable rhythm which is helping me to accomplish more and feel more on top of my game.

I have linked this post up to The Heart of the Matter Not-Back-to-School Blog Hop. Head over there to see more Days in the Life of more homeschool families across the nation!

Tot School- On the Fly!

2010-08-22T17:00:00.000-07:00

I always planned to do Tot School with Lion Cub this year, and by "planned" I mean this is actually the only thing that I didn't plan but intended to do. I figured it would be on a fairly small scale since he is still so young, but fun none the less and would help him feel included during school time. After all, with Rhythm it was a fun thing to do but never something that ended up being terribly consistent (as much as I wanted it to be!). It just wasn't my priority... until this last week! I had no idea that Tot School wouldn't just be a fun thing to do- it would be necessary to my survival and the survival of my children (specifically Lion Cub)!!

You see, without something structured to do Lion Cub has a tendency to... well...

get into mischief (yes, that would be the kitchen sink, a lemon and a box grater!)...

or scream uncontrollably (or haven't you noticed?!).

So, after Monday, when I literally thought I was going to loose my mind (see below), I got so far as to realizing that we needed to do the bulk of school at the kitchen table, hence enabling me to ~~tie down my wild child~~ kindly strap Lion Cub into his table seat.

Awww... what a difference!

Happy little yogurt face!

For a good part of school on Tuesday I was able to keep him busy with snacks, but when the interest faded there (which took a while- this kid eats more than I do half the time!) I realized that I was going to have to get creative, and fast!

Thank goodness for Dutch Bros kid's cups and toothpicks! Once he got the hang of it, this silly little project kept him busy for nearly 20 minutes! A total savior! Throughout the rest of the week we broke out the stacking cups, his little recycling truck that you feed cards into while it counts, and some fun "tearing" time with the remnants of some of Rhythm's projects, but none were so popular as this cup and toothpicks!

Check out those monster paws of his!

So, needless to say I am feeling the urgency to get more on the ball with Tot School! Hopefully within the next few days I will be scouring the Tot School section of Carisa's blog and perusing the link-ups to get inspired and more on the ball. If not, I may soon be posting from Betty Ford- I'll let ya know!

Despite my lack of planning, Lion Cub did work in a little bit of Life school of his own this past week that was rather fun (and sometimes frightening- keep an eye out for Wednesday's post!) to watch!

Don't ya just love boxes?!

Maybe mama should look at the actual camera and not just her boys!

Sweet Smiles!

If you too are in need of some awesome ideas to keep your little one busy, then head over to Carisa's Tot School Link up on 1+1+1=1!

Preschool Corner- First Week of School!

2010-08-20T18:00:00.000-07:00

Wow- what a week! Much more difficult than I expected but I suppose it is a work in progress. We had our first "official" school day on Monday and for all intents and purposes we did accomplish pretty much everything I intended to and we did stick with our routine. HOWEVER, I would still pretty much classify it as nightmare! We tried to do all of our work at the kids table in our school room and Lion Cub screamed the ENTIRE time. It was horrible. Rhythm was trying to concentrate but it was near impossible for either of us and he kept asking when we would be done because he just wasn't used to it yet. I walked away from that morning actually seriously doubting (for the first time) if this was actually going to work.

Tuesday, though, I got up a little earlier, got a little bit more prepared, had my morning tea and my time with the Lord and vowed to not give up. Awwww... what a better way to start the day! I also changed a few things about how we did school! After our Calendar time (which I will be posting on in more detail soon) we grab our workbox and Raising Rockstars Preschool learning board and move out to the dining room table. This way I can strap Lion Cub into his seat and have Rhythm in his chair on the other side (key#1- keep them separated!). I was then able to keep Lion Cub busy with snacks and Tot School activities (key#2- plan things for the 14 month old to do! More on this soon!), thus allowing Rhythm (and myself) to be less distracted. Thank Jesus for how smooth this morning went-it completely restored my hope and confidence!

Each day has been different and I won't say that it has been a picnic since Tuesday, but we are starting to get into a rhythm. Both boys seem to be getting used to how our days are beginning to flow now and they kind of know what to expect. Every day I have learned a little bit more about how I should arrange our school schedule and our daily routine to better fit our needs, so every day it gets a little bit better. There is still some tweaking to do, but I already feel more confident and can see that after a few weeks our new routine will feel like old hat for all of us. Be sure to stop back by on Monday for more details of how I have set up our routine!

But now, on to the actual school work!! We started using Carisa's AMAZING Raising Rockstars Preschool curriculum this week and we LOVE it!! It composes the core of what we are working on and it is a terrific fit for us. Rhythm really enjoys all of the activities and I am amazed at how quickly he is picking up new (or in some cases remembering old) skills. I can really see his sense of pride and satisfaction when he finishes his work also, which I think will be key to his success and love of learning.

Here is what we did this week:

First day in the classroom...

Rhythm working on his Weekend Report (this printable coming soon!). He was really trying but....

it was difficult!

Day 2- our new set-up...

much better!

Saying his verse with hand motions that we added. By Thursday (we only do a 4-day week) he had his verse down pat! (me- beaming with pride!)

Cutting out his vocab cards. It took him a while but he didn't complain once!

He really enjoyed putting them all in their spots!

Just delighted with himself!

Of course, this is the picture he wanted me to take! Don't you love his little eyes peeking through?!

Here is a pic from his perspective! Obviously, this wasn't Day 1!!!

Working hard on writing his "L"s!

This boy isn't huge on coloring but he LOVES to paint (although markers are used more than crayons)! He keeps telling me that he is an artist!

Other things we did this week that weren't pictured were:

Clothes Pin Number Match from Confessions of a Homeschooler
Bastien Piano for Young Beginners
Nature Study (printable coming soon for this one too!)
Lots of reading about Farms! We are gearing up for our field trip to the fair so this week we were learning all about farm machines. I am going light on this unit though, so we are just doing the reading portion and no other activities. We are breaking in slow!
Finishing up Winnie the Pooh! I am still so surprised by how much Rhythm enjoys this book and look forward to wrapping it up and beginning Charlotte's Web next week.

We also LOVED the music we downloaded to go with our Raising Rockstars Curriculum! I downloaded 5 of the suggested songs that Carisa posted with the Letter L week on her site from iTunes and we not only listed to them to sing along to during the lesson, but we also played them quietly in the background while Rhythm did his other work and also various times throughout the day. We especially loved the song from the Seeds Family Worship CD and enjoyed the songs from Praise Baby as well. It was so nice to have God's word sung through our home all day, especially since we would get the songs stuck in our heads. The music also seemed to have a calming effect on both boys, helping things be a little less hectic, and promoted concentration.

Alright, I know this post was a little wordy, but it was honest and I hope some of you can relate! Like I mentioned above, keep your eyes open for some upcoming printables I am going to debut and a post about our routine and school schedule on Monday! Be sure you don't miss out on the giveaway I am having for The Hands on Bible too!!

Oh, and if you haven't checked out my main blog lately (The Mama Kenz Studio), I have lots of cool stuff going on over there with my new sponsor, Marmee's Bread Market, and I am going to have a big announcement about an upcoming raffle for a Bosch Universal Plus mixer AND a giveaway with multiple winners starting Monday! So, be sure to drop by and check it out!

OH!! AND!!

(I know, you're thinking, "More? Seriously?!") But this is my 100th post on this blog!! Happy dance! Sorry- I couldn't help myself!

To see other fun preschool posts take a look see over at Homeschool Creations for the latest Preschool Corner Link-up!

Hands on Bible Review & Giveaway!!

2010-08-18T12:30:00.000-07:00

What a great Bible- for not only kids but the whole family! Just to start off, I think this Bible does a really good job of personalizing the experience of reading God's word for kids and truly encourages them to get involved with it.

Each book features a great intro page that tells important facts, shows a timeline of the book's events and gives a synopsis that is written in a fun and engaging way- just to name a few. There are also great bios of the heroes of the Bible; fun facts that make the Biblical text relate-able; and, of course, hands-on activities sprinkled throughout that literally give kids the chance to experience the meaning of God's word and grasp it in a more tangible way.

Possibly one of my favorite aspects of this Bible are "The Jesus Connection" segments that explain how everything in the Bible relates back to Jesus. What a valuable and useful tool! In that way it reminds me a lot of the Jesus Storybook Bible, which we love!

The last thing I absolutely love about this Bible, and simply couldn't close my post without mentioning, is the website that accompanies it! You can check it out at MyHandsOnBible.com. This site is packed with great resources for learning about the Bible and even a wonderful, downloadable family study book.

I have been truly impressed with this Bible and am quite sure that we will be using it in our home devotions and homeschool for many years to come. It is a fantastic first Bible for Rhythm and will probably even purchase one for Lion Cub when he gets old enough!

Do you think this might be a Bible you would like for your children? If so, you can purchase one right here.

Or, if you want to try your hand at a little contest to win one first, here is how you can enter:

Mandatory Entry- Visit MyHandsOnBible.com and then come back here and tell me what feature you would find the most helpful or interesting!

Extra Entries (one separate comment per entry):

Follow or subscribe to The Mama Kenz Studio (my main blog- right sidebar)
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Add The Mama Kenz Studio button to your blog (Left sidebar- leave address where I can find it!)
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Tweet about this giveaway! (this can be done once daily) Feel free to copy and paste the following message:

@Chic_Mama is hosting a giveaway for The Hands on Bible- head on over to enter! http://tinyurl.com/28adz7c

Thanks for Entering! Best of Luck!

This contest will run from August 18- September 1, 2010 at 8:00PM PST. Please make sure that you enter your e-mail address so that I have a way of contacting you if you win. Winner will be drawn via random.org. Please go here to see additional rules and terms.

This book was provided by Tyndale House Publishers for honest review. All opinions are completely mine- I would tell you if I didn't like it!

Tiny Talk Tuesday- August 17, 2010

2010-08-17T07:00:00.000-07:00

Lion Cub has his first official addition to our Tiny Talk posts this week! Not so much from the words he is saying but his attempts at words! We are finding that he is very good at grunting syllables! He has very distinct grunt patterns that we clearly recognize as "Thank You," "Hear You Go," and "Roman." He says "Ny Ny" before bed now and refers to both Jer and I as "Mama" (okay- he occasionally says "Dada")! He even sneaks in a little "Nana" every once and a while to my mom! He says "Uh" sometimes for up and if he could just unstick his tongue from the roof of his mouth I think he could probably talk our ears off!

__________________________________

Rhythm: Mom, I'm very proud of you for just not spanking me. :-)
hmmmm.... then perhaps that's an indication that I should have!

__________________________________

The other day we began reading Winnie the Pooh, and of course I had to read it with an English accent! After a few sentences Rhythm turned to me with a silly and quizzical look on his face and said, "You are just making the voices." I asked him if he liked them, which of course he did, and now if I am not reading with an accent he just doesn't think it sounds quite right!

A few days after we started Winnie the Pooh we were at my parent's house and my mom started talking in an English accent to him, out of the blue, just for fun (a common occurrence in our family. What can I say- I grew up in the theatre!), and he said, "Hey! Mommy talks like that too!" Pretty cute and funny!

Check out other funny kid sayings at the Tiny Talk Tuesday linkup over at Not Before 7!

First Day of School!

2010-08-16T15:00:00.000-07:00

Today is the day! Our first day "back" to school! Rhythm went to bed last night with his special nice outfit all laid out and mounting anticipation in his brain from all the hype I have been placing on this first day of PK4!

So here he is- the back-to-homeschool boy himself! The thing he is the very most excited about is his piano lessons, so this seemed like an appropriate picture.

And of course, his little ~~bother~~ brother who is just along for the ride! I know, horrible picture, right? But in all honesty, this is what he spent most of the time doing!

Go snag this freebie!!

2010-08-09T11:09:00.000-07:00

Hey everybody!! I just wanted to share with you all that this week on Simple Schooling Classroom they are offering their last weekly freebie of the summer and it is an interactive unit study all about Fall!! This is one of the units we will be working on this year and I just wanted you all to know about it so you can snag it before it's gone!

Just head over to the site and look for the "Grab the Weekly Freebie" section to download this unit for FREE!

Our New School Room!

2010-08-09T10:47:00.000-07:00

So in reality this room is our School Room/Toy Room & Mama's Office/Studio. Maybe I should just call it multipurpose! Whatever we call it, it has been evolving for some time now and this last week or so I have been putting in the final push to get it done. There are still some things I would like to add to the walls and a few things I would like to tweak and possibly move around, but those things are going to have to come later. So here is my little tour (mind you it's small, and very full!)...

This is our main learning area. We have our calendar and calendar board, our Raising Rockstar's Board, one of our pocket charts with schedule/workbox cards & calendar elements, supply drawers, kid table, bin with all of the main components of our curriculum for this year, and Rhythm's Workbox. We will most likely start our day out right here with our calendar time and introductions to our RRSP lessons for the day and then move Rhythm's workbox out to the dining room table as I think it will be easier to keep Lion Cub occupied if we are all sitting out there together.

This little corner is all mine! I have my "desk" (yes, it is a sad little card table but someday it will be something fabulous!), my handy clipboards that I am still in the process of jazzing up (they hold my routines, immediate forms or bills that need my attention and other random information), my trusty computer (ok- it's not in the picture right now but it's usually there!) and that is really all.

On that same wall I have a bookshelf that houses all of my sheet music along with the books that we will be using with our units. Above that I also have more of our workbox cards since I plan to use the top of this shelf as a sort of filling-station.

This crazy side of the room houses our massive (but wonderful!) food dehydrator (hoping to get a better stand for this soon, rather than the box- eek!), our changing table turned diaper and toy storage, and of course the toy bins that I think just about every family in America has, but hey, they work (and they were free- thanks Grandma!)! My plan is to flip their car rug up over the toy bins during school time to help minimize the distractions.

Then, turning to the last wall, you will find our piano (which we are so excited to really start using this fall) as well as a cozy little reading corner tucked away in an otherwise unusable space.

The boys love any sort of fort or tiny place they can sneak into, so this corner just screamed of opportunity to play on that love theirs! I often times walk in to find a blanket suspended from the piano to the toys to just complete the fort-like feeling!

So that's it! Humble and small (thus why it was so difficult to capture more complete shots) but I am so thankful that we have a space at all to be able to set up our school stuff in!

To see take a little peak into the school rooms of other homeschoolers just head on over to The Heart of the Matter for the Not Back to School Blog Hop!

A little summer fun...

2010-08-08T13:43:00.000-07:00

I have a lot of catching up to do on the boy's blog to record all the fun and ~~not so fun~~ interesting things we have done this summer! If I don't start somewhere I will never get it done, so here goes with a little post about our water trampoline. Or, well, I guess I should say our former water trampoline. You see, my husband and I purchased it when we were newly married- 6 years ago- and only used it that summer. In light of our current business status (in between jobs but it's supposed to get better!) and the fact that the trampoline has actually increased in value since we purchased it, we thought it would be wise to sell this piece of water equipment that hasn't seen the light of day since that first summer.

Well, of course we had to get a picture of it to sell it on Craig's List. So, my husband pulled it out to the front yard and blew it up- thus causing a bit of frenzy with the kiddos. Of course we would decide to sell it right about the time that Rhythm is old enough to actually possibly use it and have a grand old time (if we ever got around to taking it to a lake!)!

We wrestled over the decision for bit but ultimately decided that we did, indeed, need to sell it, but not before both boys (and ok- I admit, even mama!) got to have a little bit of fun on it for the whole neighborhood to see!

Top 5 Favorite Homeschooling blogs

2010-08-03T15:20:00.000-07:00

This morning I got together with an old friend so that we could do nothing but let our kids play and talk about curriculum!! Our oldest kiddos are only about 6 months apart, so we are in close to the same stage of planning. She is one of my few friends who really "gets" how interesting and fun it is to talk about curriculum- and let's face it, the hubs is pretty "over" hearing about my latest and greatest homeschooling find! It was such a nice day, full of lots of sharing and learning as we got to peer into each other's plans in person, hands on!

One question she asked me, which of course spurred this post, was which are my five favorite homeschooling blogs. Wow- that is a task to narrow down! However, there are a few gems that I do end up spending most of my time gleaning from. Are you ready- you don't want to miss this- here they are:

This has been my most frequent stop as of late as I map out what our Kindergarten and First grade curricula will look like. I love her eclectic style that seems to emphasize true emersion into the subject matter.

Aaaaa- my old trusty standby! I have been following Carisa for years and just love everything she has to offer! And, of course, she is the creator of our preschool curriculum for the next year- Raising Rockstars.

Big family, great homeschooling perspective and lots of helpful advice from a mama who has lots to offer!

She just has lots of great ideas and I like the way she organizes!

A great hub of homeschooling happenings and link-ups! Plus, don't you just LOVE her blog title?!

There are a lot of other favorites and some homeschooling sites that aren't blogs that I will be posting about soon on my Favorite Homeschooling Sites page up top (but there aren't any there yet so don't bother looking!), but all in all, these are my favorites! Do you have any homeschooling blogs that you just can't get enough of?

Tiny Talk Tuesday- Summer so far edition!

2010-08-03T07:00:00.000-07:00

Mama: Let's go ask the girl if she will open the fitting room for us.
R-Man: That big girl over there who is having the baby?
She wasn't having a baby! Oh the humiliation- for all of us!

_____________________________________

R-Man: Oh Mom! Look at all those beautiful flowers! I just want to go pick some of those beautiful yellow flowers for you!
(they were weeds, but so sweet of him to think of me!)

_____________________________________

Lately Rhythm has been talking a lot about being a prayer warrior and the whole concept has really inspired him to pray more on his own, which is so sweet to see! The other night before bed he was saying his prayers and one of the things he prayed for was "all the babies," which means that he wants us to have another baby. However, right after he prayed, Lion Cub climbed up on his bed and whacked him on the head! He quickly changed his mind and said, "Oh! I don't want another baby!"

For more funny and sweet things kids say, check out Tiny Talk Tuesday at Not Before 7!

The Drums!

2010-07-28T11:07:00.000-07:00

Well, after many weeks of waiting, Rhythm finally received his birthday drums! The bummer- they were supposed to be blue (his favorite color) but the company accidentally sent red. Not wanting to wait another 7+ weeks, we managed to convince him that red drums were seriously cool and he could still, indeed, be a rockstar!

Everyone asks me "How do you deal with the noise?!" And honestly, when I first heard that my parents were buying these for him I was a bit concerned! However, he usually only goes and plays them for a few short periods during the day and he always asks first. To top it off, he is actually pretty good! He has a natural sense of rhythm (hence the new online name!) and has always been very musical. More than just banging on them, he actually tries to keep a beat and he sings a little song he has made up (which changes daily) while he drums. According to him, he is going to play his drums on American Idol someday!

It is pretty funny also because he usually bangs his sticks together and counts out the beat to get started! Ya know- "And 1, 2, 3, 4!" Then he launches into his song! Afterward he almost always says "Thank you! Thank you very much!" and then bows! He is such a ham!

And, of course, Lion Cub likes to get in on a little of the action as well! My mom insists that we are going to need two drum sets soon, but I think that is where I'll have to draw the line! Can't one of them take up the guitar?!

It's official!

2010-07-26T14:18:00.000-07:00

Alright- I think that I got everything changed over so that feeds will still be delivered and comments will still process! So, hence forth, this blog shall be located at:

theworldaccordingtothem.blogpspot.com

And here's a little button, just to spread the word and the love! Thanks!

Change is in the air!

2010-07-25T23:21:00.000-07:00

There are big changes coming to The World According to R-Man, not the least of which is the blog name (and address, but I'll let you know when that officially happens!)! From here forward this blog will be known as

The World According to Them

Why the change you ask? Well, now that Lion Cub has turned one and will be heading into a little bit of Tiny Tot School, I thought it would be a wise decision to move all of our homeschooling info onto one blog. Also, this blog will continue to be a family scrapbook of sorts (that I plan to publish into book-form via Blurb), so for simplicity's sake it will just be easier on me to only have to post once about what is happening in our lives instead of twice (once on both boys' blogs).

Another fairly big change is going to be R-Man's online name. I never have really liked it and finally think I have come up with something far more fitting:

Rhythm

Can you see why?

So, there will be lots of construction on the site for the next little bit as I get a new button made, snaz up the layout, fix all the links for subscriptions, comments, etc... but I will be sure to keep you all posted as that happens!

Full on planning mode!

2010-06-27T14:04:00.000-07:00

One thing you'll come to find out about me (if you haven't figured it out already) is that I'm a planner!  Hardcore!  Not always that good of an executor (not to be confused with executioner), but man oh man, I can plan with the best of 'em!

My hopes for this fall truly are, however, that I will have no choice but to follow through with all my plans because everything will be so well laid out for me!  So, I'm planning to plan on following through with the plan.  How's that for preparation?!

I'm off to a good start!  In reality, I have been working on next year's plan for nearly two months now, sporadically.  I plan (there's that word again) to be completely ready by August 16- when I ~~plan~~ intend to "officially" start our school year.  Now, as I share this "plan" with you, try not to laugh too hard and keep in mind that I feel I need to be as prepared as humanly possible to truly succeed.  So here goes:

We will be working our way through Carisa's (from 1+1+1=1) new core preschool curriculum called Raising Rockstars Preschool in combination with month long unit studies.  If you haven't checked out RRSP yet you should really go look at it!  It is an awesome curriculum with an entirely Biblical focus.  The majority of it is free but there is also a small (but growing) members only section that offers review units along with Powerpoint presentations to reinforce the units.  Membership is only $10 for a lifetime though, so the way I look at it, even if you just use it to get great ideas for teaching your preschooler, you really can't go wrong, plus you will be supporting an awesome family in their inner-city ministry!  Win-win!!!

As I mentioned we will also be doing some light unit studies to help round things out.  For the most part, we will be using the theme of our studies for our reading time, field trips and a few little science and math type activities.  I have also been working on compiling a lot of file folder games that go along with our themes so we can teach and reinforce skills while keeping things fun and not reusing the same tools to death!  I have also tried to choose themes that allow us to incorporate nature study as much as we can.  Most of the resources for our themes I have found on Homeschool Share, File Folder Fun, and Squidoo, along with my own printables and books from the library.  I plan (surprise, surprise!) to do in-depth posts on different aspects of our preschool and our themes as we go through/complete them. The themes we will be doing this fall are:

Farms

Squirrels

Fall & Harvest

Thanksgiving (with an emphasis on learning to be thankful)

Christmas & Winter

Wherever we have gaps in our week I will also be adding in some basic preschool printables activities from some of my favorite bloggers. These activities don't circulate around a theme but are rather just for concept reinforcement (letters, numbers, shapes, colors, etc...). My favorite sites for these printables are: 1+1+1=1, Homeschool Creations, and Confessions of a Homeschooler (Letter of the Week curriculum).

R-Man is very musically inclined and has great interest in it, so I plan to start teaching him some basic piano at home with these books by Bastien. I have a basic knowledge of music and piano to work from, so I am fairly confident that with the help of these books (which pretty much spell it all out for you) I will be able to get him rolling in his musical education. There will definitely come the day when he passes up my knowledge, but until then I think we will manage just fine. We also hope to find someone to start teaching him how to play the drums as well. He recently received a junior set of drums for his birthday and LOVES to play! This kid has rhythm and I really want to foster that interest.

Hmmm... let's see. What else? Oh- much as Carisa does, I plan to incorporate a few open ended activities each day that R-Man can choose from at the end of our lessons (thinks like play dough and any building type of activity) as well as a specific game that we will play each day of the week. Both of these will change weekly.

In order to keep everything organized and make sure we complete everything I want us to each day, I plan to incorporate a version of the Workbox System (by Sue Patrick) that was developed by Mama Jenn. It is actually a Workbag System and I think will lend itself well to our small space, plus help us to stay on track! If you haven't heard of the Workbox System I would really encourage you to look into it more. Mama Jenn has some wonderful posts on her blog, detailing how she sets up and operates everything (including how she writes out her lesson plans- which I am doing something similar to). You can also find a wide variety of different Workbox interpretations on this Squidoo Lense. Or, of course, you could just go to the original site of Sue Patrick's (she has a book and all sorts of other details on the system- I haven't read the book but I have heard great things about it). I will be doing a detailed post about how our system works after we have been using it for a few weeks, but I am incredibly excited about it and think it is going to be a really great fit for us.

We will also be continuing our family devotions times. Our plan is to pretty much incorporate some sort of devotions into all of our meals. During breakfast I will be continuing to read through Leading Little Ones to God and forging ahead on our Catechism for Young Children. During lunch we will be listening to worship music (such as Seeds Family Worship) or The Word of Promise and reviewing our memory verse for the week (from our RRSP curriculum). Right after dinner (or let's face it, while R-Man is still eating and the rest of us are done!) we will be reading through The One Year Bible for Kids (which I picked up at a used curriculum sale for 50 cents!!! The link is for the newer, Challenge Edition).

And to top off my planning spree (drumroll please!), I am working on mapping out our menu for the next couple of months- including breakfasts, lunches, dinners and snacks. I am trying to incorporate as much variety as possible so we don't get bored, plus getting my shopping lists planned out so far in advance allows me to buy more in bulk. I will be posting more about this on Mama Kenz Studio and you can get more info on how I plan in bulk on this page of my blog. I am also working on the layout for our routine/schedule and slowly trying to get us used to a more steady and repetitive stream to our day so that it won't be a shock to all of our systems come August 16! As I mentioned above, I am going to be working on more in-depth posts on all of these things as we begin in August and September, so be on the look out!

Alright! That pretty much sums it up! I would love ot hear what you all are doing for preschool this year! Leave your link and I will stop on by!

Oh, and by the way- I have linked this post up on Weird Unsocialized Homeschoolers in this week's weekly wrap-up about 2010-2011 Curriculum! This post is also linked to Heart of the Matter's (Not) Back To School blog party (featuring a whole month of start of the year blog parties!) & A Classic Housewife's Back to (home) school blog hop! Go on over there to check out everybody's links for some serious inspiration for the new year!!

Tiny Talk Tuesday- June 22, 2010

2010-06-22T23:44:00.000-07:00

Right back at 'cha mom! Incorprated with pointing his fingers at me gun-style and clicking his tongue! So funny!

_______________________________________

Mom, you are so beautiful! I just want to put a flower in your hair because you are so beautiful! (I think dad needs to take some lessons from our little charmer! He tells me I'm beautiful too, but this kid is suave!)

_______________________________________

A few weekends ago R-Man was spending the night with Nana and Papa when I received a call from my mom- "So, do you know what 'rock your body' is from?"

I about died laughing! I typically listen to a Christian radio station in my car but my husband had changed it one day while we took a drive. In that short time R-Man seems to have memorized the entire chorus of Rock Your Body (or as he would say, "Come on, come on! Rock your body! Uh! Uh! Rock your body right!")!

Lets go fly a kite!

2010-06-10T07:00:00.000-07:00

R-Man got a couple of kites for his birthday and we have been waiting for the perfect windy, but not rainy day, to try them out! That day finally came last week and we had so much fun!

We were all surprised by just how high they were able to get the kites! One of them R-Man and daddy were even able to let out the entire string! It was so fun and we can't wait to do it again!

Brothers!

2010-06-07T07:00:00.000-07:00

Even after a year I can't get over how cute they are together! Then again... I don't think I ever will!

Preschool Corner- May Review

2010-06-04T16:42:00.000-07:00

***Please Take Note- I began writing this post at the beginning of may and just never found the time to include my links and finish it! So, with that said, we are now technically done with school for the summer, but I will be posting soon about the light plans we have and all the work I am putting into planning for the fall!***

Preschool has been going well with R-Man! We have been incorporating a few new things into school time over the last month or so and for now it seems to be working.

Probably our favorite new aspect to school time has been Calendar Time! We got some fabulous ideas from Carisa over at 1+1+1 =1 and have tailored it down a bit for us. Calendar Time basically consists of singing some songs (about the date, months, days of the week), talking about the weather, finding the color & shape of the day throughout our schoolroom, doing a quick letter-sound drill (I will talk more about this in the fall), going over our memory verse, and a few other things. I plan to do a more thorough post on our calendar time with pictures in the fall, so stay tuned!

Another tool we have been using is the Kumon Tracing workbook. Although I am not a fan of workbooks in general, I really like the progression of the activities in this series. R-Man really enjoys working in this book which is also a huge deciding factor in using it! I let him do as much or as little as he wants, but he generally asks to do anywhere from 2-5 pages a day.

For his birthday we got R-Man this cool toy from Leap Frog called a Scribble & Write. The lights on the screen light up in a progression of how you would actually write the chosen letter or number. There are also pictures and games- R-Man loves it!

We were doing some reading and activities on Vikings since we saw "How to Train Your Dragon," but R-Man just couldn't seem to get into it. So, other than continuing our reading for fun, we have pretty much let that unit fall by the wayside. I don't want to wear him out trying to make him learn about things he is just completely uninterested in. I want him to have a love of learning and the Viking Unit just wasn't fitting into that plan.

As we head into summer R-Man is spending more time outside and less time doing "school." Although, as I watch him exploring the world outdoors I know that he is learning far more than he would be at a desk. He loves "working" with his dad and "doing jobs," and ya know what? He actually does work very hard at the jobs we give him! I have been amazed to see him verbalize his critical thinking to figure out how to accomplish what we have asked him to do also!

Our plan is to continue working on a few Kumon workbooks throughout the summer but mainly focus on experiencing the world outside our doors and answering the plethora of questions that always seem to be spilling out of him these days. More to come on our summer plans over the next week or so though!

Tiny Talk Tuesday- May 4, 2010

2010-05-04T07:00:00.000-07:00

R-Man has had a serious fascination with Iron Man for quite some time now, even insisting on being called Iron Man a lot of the time! So imagine our surprise when he announced the other day,

"Mom, I'm not Iron Man. I'm Chuck Bartowski!"

Yup, that's right, my son has elevated NBC's Chuck to superhero status and desperately wants to be him! He wants to fight the bad guys and be a spy! Somehow, I never saw this day coming!

For more amusing words from the littles in our lives, head on over to Not Before 7!

Happy Birthday R-Man!!!

2010-05-03T18:21:00.000-07:00

My little man isn't so little anymore! I remember the days when he was so tiny and I would look at moms with 4-year-olds and think, "Wow. Their kids are so old! They are like bon-a-fide moms!" So, I guess that now makes me a bon-a-fide mom!

R-Man's birthday (April 23) turned out to by really eventful and a lot of fun! He woke up to the house being decorated with streamers and lots of presents on the table. When he came up the stairs I surprised him with silly string and a big, loud "Happy Birthday"- which actually shocked the living daylights out of him because he wasn't quite awake yet. Poor guy screamed "NO!" and started crying! Once he woke up all the way and I explained to him a little better what was going on he was in a much more amiable mood though!

Since daddy was still out of town he only got to open up his special Viking birthday hat- the rest of the gifts had to wait for daddy to arrive later that day (after having been gone for 2 whole weeks!). He then gobbled down some special blue birthday pancakes and green eggs! These were a big hit and have been requested (and denied!) almost everyday since!

In the middle of breakfast we were shocked to get a knock on the door which turned out to be Spiderman, in the flesh (sent by Grammy and Pappy). He had gifts and balloons and I was expecting him to just wish R-Man Happy Birthday at the door and be on his way, but oh no, he welcomed himself right on in, told me to shut the door and carried on for the next 10 minutes with letters from the grandparents, cards and gifts. I would be lying if I said that having a masked man in my home wasn't a worrisome experience for me, and honestly, I still wonder just why I allowed him in the door- occasionally worrying that that decision could come back to haunt us- let's hope not!

R-Man wasn't entirely sure what to make of Spiderman either. When he came in he said, "Hi, I'm Spiderman!"

To which R-Man replied, "Well, I'm Iron Man!" So funny! He did seem to enjoy it overall, however, and especially had fun with the party horns and candy necklace!

He also was apparently not a fan of his red shoes! He said that he thought blue and white shoes would look better. He is very particular about shoes!

Lion Cub didn't know quite what to make of everything either but he tried his darndest to blow the party horn!

From that point on on Friday we pretty much went about our day as normal until daddy got home at about 7:00. We were so excited to see him because it had been so long! Almost right after he got home we drove up to a friend's house who we borrowed a crew-cab truck from (so that we could all fit), grabbed dinner on the run and drove the 1 1/2 hour drive back to the town daddy had been working in to pick up his tool trailer (he had pulled his 5th wheel trailer back when he came home the first time). R-Man got to watch a movie on his mini-DVD player and eventually fell asleep since we didn't actually roll into the town until midnight, and not back home until 1:45am! Yikes! R-Man was still thrilled to have been able to go!

The next day things got exciting again! We had told R-Man that he was having a party but hadn't been told where, so when we arrived at a local mega-jump house (basically a warehouse with 5 big bounce/slide/obstacle houses) he was in awe and soooo excited! We had a great turnout of about 13 kids and even the parents got in on the fun! Daddy and one of the other dads even raced through one of the obstacle houses- it was hilarious!

Eventually we did manage to get a group photo, although it did take a pretty concerted amount of effort!

After 1 hour & 15min of jumpin' fun we headed into the party room for cupcakes and gifts!

We were so blessed by the gifts that R-Man was given by his friends! Some of his favorites were a volume of Curious George Adventures, a kite, fake tattoos, Iron Man figurines, and a magnet set!

The celebrating didn't stop there though! This past Saturday we had our family party for both R-Man and me (since my birthday was April 29). We had dessert with my side of the family at my Grandma's house and it was especially fun since Lion Cub had just started walking a couple of days before!

Once again, R-Man was showered with gifts! He received a great CARS puzzle book (Mama's favorite- learning and fun combined!), an Iron Man with a car, and a remote control dump truck to name a few. The big gifts will be coming throughout the summer though, since my Grandma helped pay for R-Man's summer T-Ball program and Nana & Papa bought R-Man a (plug your ears!)... drum set!!! AHHHHHH!! I know he is going to love it but I very well might loose my mind in the process! Oh well!

R-Man w/ Cousin J

R-Man w/ Great Grandma K & Grandpa in the background!

It was a great birthday that he didn't want to end! He still insists that it is, in fact, still his birthday, but we keep reminding him that is will come again next year- for now he can just enjoy being 4!

Preschool Corner- Long overdue update...

2010-04-15T07:00:00.000-07:00

I have been meaning to post for weeks (okay, months) about how preschool is going but it is difficult enough to make preschool happen, let alone post about it! With that said, we are still plugging along!

February was a bit of a crazy month while I tried to get all of our business accounting in order to do our taxes, and March (and now early April) have been plagued with what seems to be a never-ending sickness! We had one good week and then it started all over again! We had many more trips to the doctor than I ever bargained for, but I think things are finally starting to look up! Plus, we found out that since last summer R-Man has grown 5 inches!!!! Crazy huh?! He is now 3'4" and 31 lbs (he gained 2 lbs in the time it took him to grow that much taller! Skinny mini!).

Here is a project we did in January where we put salt and food coloring on a block of ice and let it melt throughout the day. It turned out so cool! I was even surprised by just how cool it was! Very fun and R-Man loved it!

In addition to our Itty-Bitty Bookworm curriculum I have decided to supplement a bit with some more montessori-type activities for things like cutting and games for letter and number memory. A few weeks ago we were reading Mouse Paint and I made some simple cutting cards for R-Man to help the mouse get to the cheese. He did a much better job than I expected him to and at the end he even cut the mouse and the cheese off the cards so that they actually could get to each other!

He liberated them.

He's a clever one!

Here he is playing a letter memory game I made with puff paints. He really enjoys tracing these letters with his fingers too!

I have also started to add some more information to round out the themes of the books we are trying to incorporate lapbooking and tie things together into a bit more of a unit study that extends throughout the month. Don't get me wrong, I am really liking Itty-Bitty Bookworm, the lapbooking just seems to help us tie our learning together more from week to week and it is a great tool for R-Man to teach things back to me, helping him remember more. It is also good practice for me in writing curriculum/lesson plans since I am strongly considering using homemade unit studies with Charlotte Mason methods for our preschooling next year (taking some ideas from Heart of Wisdom too). Homeschool Share has been a regular stop for me lately as I continue to research and delve into all of our options!

In March we worked on a Weather unit with the books The Wind Blew and The Mushroom in the Rain. I borrowed Vicki Cobb's Science Play book Face the Wind from the library and we have been having so much fun with it (the most important part at this age!)! R-Man is really enjoying the different experiments with air and absorbing so much information it blows me away!

And yet, there's more! With our units we are trying to incorporate more nature study also, especially since the weather has been so nice off and on (low 60s in March!!)! R-Man is enjoying digging in the dirt and observing the birds and squirrels in our own backyard!

He likes working outside with dad- he calls it his job!

Cooking with mom is a fun job that he always likes to get in on too!

Music is still huge for R-Man! There is a rare moment in our house that isn't filled with song! He sings half of what he says and can often be found with a guitar or make-shift drumsticks in his hands (yes, that's a kayak!)!

And here he is drumming with his feet! What a guy! Multi-talented for sure! Haha!

Lately I have really been seeing him round that corner into being a 4 year old. He is responding better to discipline and trying so much harder to obey. He seems to be better comprehending my directions (when he is paying attention!) and is such a huge help to me! He is a little gem and I can't put into words how much I love this little almost-4-year-old!

Wordless Wednesday- Just having fun!

2010-04-14T07:00:00.000-07:00

I just found these from 5 or six months ago on my phone and they were too fun to pass up! Enjoy our weirdness!

Tiny Talk Tuesday- April 13, 2010

2010-04-13T15:39:00.000-07:00

This is the conversation we had one night before bed.

R-Man: "Mom, I just need to get all of the poop out of my heart so that Jesus can come into my heart."

Mama (trying not to laugh): "Do you think you have poop in your heart?"

R-Man: "Well, yeah. I just need to get it all out so that Jesus can come into my heart."

Mama: "Well, honey, if you pray for forgiveness Jesus will make your heart clean and come into it whenever you ask him. Do you want Jesus to be in your heart?"

R-Man: "Yeah!"

Mama: "Well go ahead and ask Him then."

R-Man: "Jesus, please come into my heart. Amen"

Upon conveying this little exchange to my husband he explained to me that earlier that evening he had checked in on R-Man while he was using the bathroom and told him to "Go ahead and poop your little heart out!" Apparently R-Man interpreted this very spiritually! Haha! I couldn't stop laughing!

As I was picking up R-Man and Lion Cub from my parent's house after the homeschooling conference I went to a couple of weeks ago, R-Man was less than thrilled to be going home. He ran from the door, fell to the floor and holding his fist in the air exclaimed, "Curse you Perry the Mommy!!"

Now, if you aren't familiar with Phineas and Ferb then I realize this probably just sounds downright disrespectful, but if you get the reference than it is just about too funny for words! He also frequently quotes them with, "Whatcha' doin'?" Same inflections and everything!

Want to add your little one's ramblings to the mix and see what other things children around the blogosphere had to say this week? Head over to Not Before 7 for all the details!

Easter 2010!

2010-04-06T14:29:00.000-07:00

Well, this year Easter was not as spectacular as we had intended since we were all sick. We did, however, manage to pull ourselves out of bed long enough to join my side of the family at my grandma's house. My mom and grandma put together a fun little hunt for the two oldest boys.

Probably the sweetest part of the day was when R-Man, unprompted, wanted to recite his latest memory verse for the family during brunch! He did such a good job and I of course was incredibly proud! In the end it was nice to spend time with the fam, even if we were all completely wiped!

At Work with Dad!

2010-03-04T07:00:00.000-08:00

About a month ago Jer had a big excavator on the job he was working on and he invited R-Man to come up an the d check it out! The first day we went up he just got to look and get inside but the second day he got to ride around with him for the whole afternoon! Trust me, that was this little boy's DREAM COME TRUE!! He L-O-V-E-S big machines and trucks, so having his dad make a special little seat for him right behind the driver's seat and get to ride around and "help" for hours on end was just about the best thing ever!

He is so funny because he is very specific in his speech- he always wants to call things by their proper names (trucks are to be called trucks, not EVER cars, etc...). Well, he knew most of it before, but now he can really name every different part of a trackhoe and tell you what it does! It is adorable! What a great learning experience!

Waiting in eager anticipation!

So excited... and a little goofy!

Snugglin' Lion Cub just trying to pass the time!

Soakin' up daddy loves!

And some pictures he took while waiting!

He also has a thing for forklifts and bobcats!

Lion Cub was clearly thrilled to be there! Someday buddy, someday!

Kisses!

Awww... he loves me!

Wordless Wednesday- What a Ham!

2010-03-03T07:00:00.000-08:00

"Take my picture mom!"

Tiny Talk Tuesday- March 2, 2010

2010-03-02T16:17:00.000-08:00

While we were praying the other night before bed...

Dear Jesus,

I'm, just so proud of you for makin' everyfing!

In Your Precious Name,

Amen!

Join in the Tiny Talk fun at Not Before 7!

Wordless Wednesday- Mr. Personality!

2010-02-24T07:00:00.000-08:00

Tiny Talk Tuesday- February 23, 2010

2010-02-23T07:00:00.000-08:00

"Mom, I just want a compartment like Nana & Papa's!" Meaning "apartment."

_____________________________________________________________________

Me: "It's a beautiful day today!"
R-Man: "You can say that again!"
Me: cracking up "It's a beautiful day today!"

R-Man: "You can say that again! You can say that again! Come on mom, say it again!"
Me: "Nevermind." (the moment's over!)

_____________________________________________________________________

Me: "R-Man, could you trace the word Mouse for me?"
R-Man: "Why yes my sweet dear!"
Alright- who are you and what have you done with my son?! Haha- too funny! The things he comes up with just kill me!

_____________________________________________________________________

We were coming out of an appointment and he noticed the flagpole by our car. I told him that it had an American flag on it, to which he replied, "No mom, that's an MMMMMbama flag."

To see what other funny things kids had to say this past week be sure to check out Not Before 7 and add your own!

R-Man Interview- 3 years, 10 months old

2010-02-22T10:40:00.000-08:00

How old are you? Held up 5 fingers. When I said "no" he held up 4. "No" again, so he said, "What is it?" I tell him 3, almost 4. He says, "Yeah that's right!"

When is your birthday? I don't... wait! I know! April 23rd!

What is mama's name? Ummmm... Jenny? (ummm... no, it's not) Well, just what is it? (It's MacKenzie, by the way!)

What is daddy's name? Jeremiah, and Jeff too! (first one is right, second one is not!)

What does your mama do? Preschool

What does your daddy do? He works.

What is your favorite color? Blue and Black (just like his daddy!)

What do you want to be when you grow up? Drum job... building houses and drumming

Where do you want to live when you grow up? I want to live to Hawaii!

What is your favorite food? Jelly sandwhich

What is your least favorite food? dinner

What does our family love most? Games

Where do you like to eat? From my home

Who is your best friend? Adin, Aubrey or Natanya (all cousins)

What's mama's name again? MacKenzie! (good boy!)

Tiny Talk Tuesday- February 16, 2010

2010-02-16T07:00:00.000-08:00

The other day I told R-Man that I preferred something. This was his responce,

"Mom, you don't have fur! You have hair!"

_____________________________________________________

"Mom, what are billans?"

"Well, honey, I have no idea. I have never heard that word before."

"Well, could daddy tell me?" (as if I just wasn't smart enough to give him a definition)

"Well, I don't think that Daddy would know what billans are either."

"Come on mom, you know, like billans and heroes?!" (this is where it clicked for me that he was referring to the newest season of Survivor- Villains vs. Heroes!)

_____________________________________________________

"What did you do this weekend?"

"I know! I made a mess of my toy room!"

To join in on the fun and add the goofy things your own kiddos have said, be sure to hop on over to Not Before 7!

Wordless Wednesday: Rocky Road Love!!

2010-01-27T15:38:00.000-08:00

Nice Mustache!

New Year, New Curriculum!

2010-01-23T07:00:00.000-08:00

I don't know if I mentioned over here on this blog that back in December I won an ENTIRE YEAR of Itty Botty Bookworm curriculum from Jolanthe @ Homeschol Creations (who also runs this meme- hop over and join in the fun!)! Well, obviously I couldn't have been more thrilled since I had toyed with the idea of purchasing this curriculum many times but just couldn't afford it! So, what a HUGE blessing to have received it for free!

We started the first week of the new year, had a bit of a snafoo (aka- R-Man got and abbreviated version of the flu and I lost my mind!) last week that allowed us only to get a few of the projects done, but we are back again this week with a vengeance!

First of all, I have to just say that we are genuinely LOVING this curriculum! It is so much better than I even dreamed it would be! Incredibly simple to follow and having everything laid out already really simplifies things and makes it much more doable.

Beyond the actual logistics of how well written the curriculum is, R-Man is getting sooooo much out of it! I have seriously been shocked! It may be partly because he is getting older also, but all of the sudden things are just clicking for him! He is really starting to get his letters down and beginning to acquire basic reading concepts.

Plus, he adores the projects! When he found out that he got to cover this icecream cone with frosting and marshmallows as a counting activity he about peed his pants! Of course, getting to lick the knife was pretty thrilling as well!

If any of you are looking for an amazing curriculum for preschool, you will not be wasting one dime of your money if you invest in Itty Bitty Bookworm! I have even heard rumors that they may be coming out with a Kindergarten curriculum- so keep your ears peeled! I am just hoping it will get finished int he next year and a half!

So yup- that's where we are! You can expect lots of Itty Bitty Bookworm related posts and progress throughout the rest of the year! Awww- how good it feels to finally have a curriculum that fits!

Our New Year's Marathon!

2010-01-22T07:00:00.000-08:00

As long as we are catching up on the holidays I figured I had better do your New Year's post too! New Years was more like a 3 day festival for our family this year! We started out on New Years Eve (our 6th Anniversary!) going over to our friend's Erik & Christa's house with plans of spending the night! In all their wonderful sweetness and thoughtfulness they had bought my husband and I a gift card for dinner, but without reservations we couldn't make it work out for our actual anniversary, so we postponed it for the next day and decided to just whoop it up with our two families for the night!

Erik & Christa have a son your age (E) who you have known since you were 4 months old and you have always been great friends! They also have a younger son (A-2yo) and the three of you had a ton of fun watching movies and making forts!

Here you guys are watching Dawn of the Dinosaurs- so cute!

While you guys were distracted, us adults had a blast playing Dancing with the Stars on Wii!

Christa- shakin' her groove thing!

Daddy- shakin' the maracas!

He said he didn't like it but that face doesn't lie!

Erik was the Dancing with the Stars master!

Maybe his score was so high because the console could somehow detect his ridiculous faces!

Or maybe he scored high because he and Christa would practice their moves when it wasn't even their turn! Haha- too funny!

As the 12 o'clock hour drew closer we broke out the pans...

Popped open the bubbly...

and prepared to wake up the whole neighborhood!

I still can't believe that you boys slept through all of the ruckus!

New Years Day you boys all stayed in your PJs, just playing and having fun! I felt like I hardly saw you for two days because you were always on the go- hangin' out with your pals! We couldn't believe how well the three of you got along!

Here I am getting ready for our belated Anniversary Dinner! Christa put my hair in rollers and the boys all thought I should just go like that! Haha!

Saturday morning we finally returned home (yes, two nights spent at our friends- we were all just having too much fun!). Literally minutes after we walked in the door, Uncle Jake (daddy's brother), Auntie Jenn and your cousins showed up for an abbreviated holiday celebration since we hadn't seen them yet! It was nice to see them and catch up- it had been far too long!

You and cousin A

Showing off your new swords!

Playing with your remote control car!

Your other cousin A with Lion Cub!

All in all, it was CRAZY three days but oh such a blast! There is nothing like ringing in the new year with friends, family and a ton of fun!

Christmas Morning!

2010-01-21T14:30:00.000-08:00

Alright, now on to part 2! Christmas morning was spent at home- just the 4 of us (that still sounds so weird to say!)!

Here you are patiently waiting at the bottom of the stairs! You couldn't wait to see what was under the tree!

Apparently you weren't sure what to make of the gifts! We had to prompt to you to go over and open them up! Once you started, however, you were on a roll and loved every minute of it!

You got the crane you had just been dying for!

You also got a little digital camera, but sadly it is more difficult to work than we had hoped. :-(

Mama helped you open some things (you got lots of games and such!)

But by far, you favorite gifts that you are still using the most, are your $3 pirate swords! You and your dad have more fun with these silly swords than I ever thought possible!

After we had breakfast and got around for the day we headed over to Grandma & Grandpa's house (Papa's parents- my grandparents).

It was fun to see Uncle Bob & Aunt Jeanna's family who we don't see very often. In fact, you and your brother had never met my cousin Kolton, so it was fun to introduce you to him for the first time! He couldn't believe how big you were and you LOVED listening to him play his guitar and sing Christmas songs to us!

You of course scored again with some more fun toys! Among other things, you received a fun race track for your matchbox cars and a new truck and trailer!

Here's Uncle Broth (Kaleb), just chillin'!

Here you are snackin' on Daddy's lap!

Grandma & Grandpa with their dog Casey

Nana & Aunt Jeanna just chattin' it up! (they were best friends in high school and then married brothers! Crazy, huh?!)

We were attempting to get a nice shot of your boys with Nana & Grandma, but you weren't to keen on the idea!

By the end of the day you were pretty tired and enjoyed a little snuggle time with Nana! You were trying to give the "I Love You" sign with your thumb still in your mouth- so sweet and cute!

We finished off the day at home with you and daddy attempting to assemble one of the new lego trucks you received. However, in the end it just produced more frustration than anything else and it was quickly disassembled! Oh well- we'll try again when you are a bit older!

So there it is- your fourth Christmas (at age 3 1/2) in pictures!