I opened an Etsy shop!

I opened an Etsy shop where I will sell custom burlap bubble wreaths.  Check it out!

https://www.etsy.com/listing/179642234/monogram-burlap-bubble-wreath-with?

Nine years old!

We celebrated Lillie's 9th birthday this weekend with a horse themed party and a trip to Build a Bear with two special friends ... so much fun!

                                               This is Mary Ann, our family's newest addition!

The kiddos painted real horseshoes, ate "horse" food (carrots, apples, and horse-shaped pizza), played Just Dance Kids 2014, twister and glow-stick tag.  They told jokes, drank lemon shake-ups, laughed a lot and a great time was had by all!

Hard to believe our little girl is so close to double digits!  She certainly gets sweeter every year!

An Awesome Day of Firsts!

Lillie had a WONDERFUL day yesterday!  Me, not so much!  As I was writing my blog post yesterday, I was feeling sick.  An hour later I was aching and feeling feverish :(  So I decided not to take her to CC and Instead, my sweet husband took her on his day off!  And .... she did awesome!  She even raised her hand and stated the endings for the First Conjugation Present Tense for Latin.  Proud daddy/mommy moment!  Her teacher lives on a farm and has TWELVE horses, so Lillie was endeared to her right away.

(At CC, listening to a story about MLK...why she still has her coat on, I have no idea!)


Then, after CC, we went to her horseback riding lesson.  She was such a pro ... not scared at all.  She DOES have a healthy respect for the horse, but she's not scared, which is important.  Unfortunately, the instructor forgot we were coming, so the class had 4 grown women in it, and then little Lillie, but it didn't seem to bother her!  She is going again Thursday when another homeschooled little boy, who is her age, is in the class.  Then we will make Thursday's at two our regular schedule.

                                                        (Lillie and Tuffy!)

                                                     (off on her own, for the very first time!)

                                                           (trotting .... her favorite thing!)

So there you have it!  A big day of "firsts"!  Feeling blessed!

Everyday is a chance for a new beginning, right?

I really, really want to be a regular blogger.  You know, one that actually....well, BLOGS! 

Soooo today, we shall begin anew!

In three short hours Lillie and I will arrive at her first day at a Classical Conversations community.  She has already nailed all of her memory work for Week 13, so she shouldn't have any problem with review work during class.  I'm super impressed with how easy it was for her to memorize all of that information!  Frankly, when I put it all up on her memory work board, I thought "there's nooooo way she'll memorize all of this!"  But memorize it she did!  Here's the week 13 work:

Math:  The Liquid Equivalents are:
8 fluid ounces = 1 cup
2 cups = 1 pint
2 pints = 1 quart
4 quarts = 1 gallon

Science:  What are the states of matter?
The states of matter are:  solid, liquid, gas and plasma  (hey, this plasma thing must be new since my day!)

Latin:
First Conjugation Endings - Present Tense
o
s
t
mus
tis
nt

English:
The Indefinite Pronouns are:
nobody, none, one, other, several, some, somebody, someone, such

History:
Watts steam engine, Cartwright's power loom, and Whitney's cotton gin spurred the Industrial Revolution that began in the 1760's.

Geography:
Denmark, Norway, Sweden, and Finland (she can locate all of these on a blank map)

Plus she memorized 7 events from the timeline.  Whew!  That's a LOT of work!  But after our homeschool mom's retreat this fall, I realized that a couple of the goals I had for Lillie were to:  1) help foster her independence and 2) strengthen her memory.  Classical Conversations (CC) met both of those goals perfectly!  So, here we go!

Lillie is also taking an art class and an U.S. Geography-type class called My Amazing America at Thursday Connection.  She is working on memorizing her states and capitals for the states/capitals challenge.  I couldn't be more proud of her for getting up and taking on the challenge in front of her class!  Makes this mommy smile!

Oh! and today she starts her first "real" riding lesson.  She's been taking lessons through equine therapy, but this will be the first time she actually gets on a horse without someone leading it and walking beside her.  She is soooo excited!  Her goal is to be a jumper one day and I have no doubt she'll do it!

Also, just so no one thinks he doesn't exist, Michael is doing well and is attending Rivers Edge Christian Academy, a 3-day homeschool co-op.  He goes Mon, Wed, and Thu.  You likely won't hear much about him, because being a teenager and all, I think he would frown upon his mom blogging about him!  So, let's just say this:  no news is good news :)

Blessings for a beautiful day!

Wow! What a crazy few days .... sorry for my absence! Last Thursday we had Thursday Connection co-op, of course. And this was the first time that I did not stay there all day. I have a Bible study now on Thursdays, which is awesome! Luckily Lillie knows exactly where to go and what to do, plus she has Riley Grace and Garrison in her classes, so they can help her in the event she has a problem. I'm still volunteering during her first hour class, which is Hands-on Science. She brought in an experiment this week, which we did together. We should the reactivity between vinegar and baking soda. We added yellow dye to one bowl and blue dye to another, so when it bubbled over the two colors mixed and created?????? GREEN of course! The kids knew that this was a miscible mixture! Which is what they've been learning about! Fun!

Friday was a crazy day. We were late getting started, then just as we got started, I got yet another call from Michael's school .... on of his braces had popped and was sticking him in the gum! So we made an emergency run to the orthodontist! Afterward, since we were right by the grocery, we stopped there. Then of course we had to eat lunch when we got home, and most of the day was gone! So, we worked on phonics and math and called it a day :)

Yesterday (Monday) wasn't much better, but that was because I was very sick. I have an ulcer and was in a great deal of pain. Ugh. So .... we played educational games and had a great time! We made silly sentences with a fun phonics game, used our Learning Pallette from Usborne (LOVE this thing!). We were going to work on art, but she got invited to a friend's house, so phonics and math again!

Today we're just getting started, so you'll have to check in later to get the scoop!

Is There Ever a "Typical" Homeschooling Day?

Started today with Hideaways in History. We read through our "spine" which is an exclusive written by Winter Promise. We learned about Adam and Eve and the earliest civilizations. Then we read from the Usborne Encyclopedia of World History. Gosh I love that book! The pictures are so beautiful! Lillie was thrilled to see a photo of the Sphinx in Giza in the Encyclopedia .... brought up lots of discussion about her study of Ancient Egypt last year We talked about the first farmers and Jericho, one of the oldest towns to be found. We also talked about Catal Huyuk (chatal hoo-yook), which was the largest of the early towns. While discussing that, we read that many people there had a shrine room where they prayed to their gods. "Gods??? There's only ONE GOD!", she quickly informed me! Sweet!

We then worked on Saxon Math which is not nearly as entertaining as Life of Fred. Today we had to cover shapes using pattern blocks. It's not as easy as it sounds! We also ran some errands, and while doing so began listening to Tchaikovsky Discovers America. I LOVE these stories! They're so well done.....they always entertain, but are so educational and in the background they play music from that composer. She is loving it!

When we got home we were ready to start on Bible and Phonics, but the phone rang and it was Michael's school letting us know that he had hurt his thumb playing volleyball. I called the dr's office and they were able to get him in at 2:45, so off we ran to pick him up and get to the dr's office. Of course, that took forever and a day. Finally, after returning home, we had our first Bible lesson using Grapevine Bible Studies, and we're going to LOVE this class! Today we started with Gen 1:1-16 and discussed the first 3 days of creation.

Afterward we worked on phonics blends, which is going well. I think we're ready to move on to the next step on the raceway!

Now, in preparation for Thursday Connection, we're getting ready to review Spanish and work on a science project involving mixtures of some sort. (guess I'd better figure that one out quickly since it's almost 8 pm!

Oh, by the way, Michael's thumb was only sprained!

What a great day! L was so cooperative today! I found this awesome class management system on Fairy Dust Teaching

So today we made our "Kangaroo pouch" and I presented her with her very own stuffed kangaroo named "Pancakes". The joey is appropriately named "Joey the Joe". They will remain on her desk most of the time. But, basically, she has to abide by the "star rules" which are attentiveness, diligence, obedience, patience, and thankfulness. When she is not exhibiting one of these behaviors, Pancakes and Joey the Joe will come to my desk, until she can gain self-control, then they will return to hers. So far? Working like a charm!

Then we did her most favorite subject: math! Life of Fred of course! Afterward we practiced phonics blends, which is not her favorite thing, but she seems to be happier doing phonics now that we're using SSR&W.

oh, and there's the teacher, wait, how did she get in here? and someone needs to empty that trash can!

And.....what we've ALL been waiting for: ART! We discussed what an artist is, what composition is and then she was asked to compose a drawing of her own. At first she wanted to draw me, but on second thought, she chose the TV cabinet. Wise choice.

Next was reading two chapters out of the human body book. One about cells, tissues and organs and the other about bones and muscles. Can I just say? The girl blew me away! Knew that the smartest component of our body is the cell....put together they become tissues.... and put together THEY become ORGANS. This was with no prompting from me! When I told her "L I think you're going to be a doctor!", she said "NO! I WANT TO BE A CHEF!" .... ok, sweetie. So, a chef it is!

But all chefs should know Spanish ... and the way things are going, we may all need to know Chinese too (right, Dad?). But for now, Spanish it is! We studied Los Lugares (places). This was homework from her co-op class.

History will be this evening because her friend called begging for her to come over. And you know what they say about all work and no play!

All in all ..... a 9 out of 10 kind of day! Hope yours was equally awesome!