Week 12: October 26-30

Really? Twelve weeks already? Wow.

I look a look at my weekly schedule (that I haven't looked at since week 8, I think) to see how we're doing. We have fallen into the *just do the next thing* kind of schedule and I like it, but I also like to see how we are doing vs the schedule I made up this summer.

So here is where we sit:

*We are behind about 2 weeks in history. I am more than ok with this! It has been hit and miss lately with all the activities so I am just happy to be where we are. We will definitely get caught up in the coming weeks.

*We are right on schedule in science which is shocking. I really thought we were behind. To be honest, we aren't doing any of the experiments in the book. We haven't had time and really it hasn't been necessary. They love astronomy and between the book and You Tube videos, they are learning so much.

*Kaleb is ahead in ETC. He is farther ahead in OPG than ETC so I just let him work as many pages as he wants in ETC. Somedays it is a lot and others its just a few. At this rate, he will be in Book 2 before Thanksgiving. I have learned, however, that he needs a more formal writing program so I will be looking into that soon.

*Nathan's R&S English is going much better than before and I am happy to report that we are not far behind the schedule. We are probably about two weeks behind. English is not something I want rush with Nathan so we will continue on at the same pace.

*Both boys are behind in math, but again it isn't something I want to rush. I will say that Saxon has been the best choice for our family though, and they are doing great. MEP fell to the side because of the teacher intensiveness. We just haven't had enough time in the day to fit it in anywhere these last few weeks. When Nathan passed through the section on fractions, I didn't feel he still had a firm grasp on them so I ordered the fractions sections of Math Mammoth. He is enjoying the worksheets and I think it will really firm up those fraction skills. Even though both are behind in my schedule, they will still finish their current books before summer and be back on track then.

*ABC I Believe has been put on hold until all these fall activities come to an end. It felt like we were just cramming it in to get it done and not enjoying it at all.

We are doing great on everything else. I didn't even have OPG when I made the schedule but we are back to doing a lesson a day, breaking up the longer lessons into two days. Kaleb is making great progress and FINALLY considers himself a *reader*. Time to break out those Pizza Hut incentives! Nathan is doing well with WW and Spelling. I'm not overly concerned with either of those subjects. He does well with both.

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As for this week:

We got in a few fall crafts. Fun! You can see pictures HERE. We also built a replica of the Temple of Rames III. It was a little weird but still fun. You can read about it and see pictures HERE.

Nathan has been reading The Golden Goblet and Robinson Crusoe this week along with his choices of library books. He is doing well in math and English. We had a long talk over the English books one day this week because his attitude wasn't the greatest. I understand he doesn't like it, but he needed to understand why we have to do it...and why this particular book. R&S is the best choice for him. He is learning! I think it's important for him to learn that not everything he needs to do will be fun. We talked about approaching those type situations with a determined positive attitude....so it can get done and put away for the day. It was really a hard day for him but he is coming to the table with a better attitude about it. As I said before, Math Mammoth has been wonderful! He loves the colors and the pie charts. He is a very visual person! I had considered adding Singapore as a supplement for him, but we'll stick with MM and see how it goes.

Kaleb is doing very well in phonics! He is tackling ending and beginning blends, and doing very well! He enjoys reading. He also loves his math! Saxon has been a huge hit all the way around. I think it does go a little slow for him, especially since a lot of what we are covering is stuff he already knows. He needs the writing practice though, and truthfully I don't want to get him further ahead than he already is. When we reach the halfway point in Saxon 1, we'll add Singapore as a supplement.

Our last co-op class is today and presentation is tonight. All three boys have LOVED co-op this year! It has been a lot of fun and a HUGE blessing! We all are looking forward to the spring co-op next year.

I'm looking forward to a bit more time for crafts and fun until then!!

Temple of Ramses III

This was a little difficult to build. The pieces didn't fit together exactly, and some of the holes didn't line up with the pegs. It was frustrating but the boys were determined to get it done. It took a pair of pliers and a hammer (that were not requested in the directions), but we did it!

Some fall crafts.

I think I shared the paper pumpkin lanterns. These were super easy and fun!




Today we made fall trees with paint and sponges. I think I saw the idea in the Family Fun magazine. I didn't take an individual picture of my own painting but you can see it at the bottom of this pic.
Nathan's painting.
Kaleb's painting.
Gabriel's painting.
A few days ago K and G helped me collect a few leaves from outside. We looked at them a bit and then imprinted them onto paper with crayons. Then I cut out the leaves. They asked to display them so we put them on our storm door for all to see!



I hope to squeeze in a few more fall crafts before we start our Thanksgiving crafts.

Weeks 9 to 11 update.

I am a little behind in blogging!!

We have been so busy with soccer x 2, golf x 2, co-op classes x 3, and everyday stuff that I just haven't had a lot of time to myself. One more week of co-op, two more weeks of soccer, and four more weeks of golf. We are ready for a break!

We have been doing pretty well with keeping up with schoolwork, mostly just the basics. We are a little behind in history and science, of course. Those two always seem to fall to the side. Once co-op and soccer are over, we will have a lot more time to devote to these two subjects.

Here are the highlights:

First of all, our family received TWO blessings!! Jackson and Lauren arrived on October 13th! Healthy, happy, and a great size for twins! Jackson weighed 6lb 2oz, and Lauren weighed 5lb 14oz. These two sweet and beautiful babies belong to my oldest stepson.

Here is a picture of dh holding the newest grandbabies!! This makes THREE total!!


We have managed to do a couple craft projects these past few weeks.



These are our apple stamps that didn't turn out so great. I just let them finger paint after that.


Kaleb is still doing very well with Saxon math!! We are still very much in love with Saxon!!


Nathan made a pop bottle rocket in his rocket co-op class. Then the whole class went to the park to set them off. Nathan said his didn't do so well. But they had a great time! They worked on some real wooden rockets last week and then set those off today. You are also looking at the backgammon tourney champ!! He won the tournament in his age group at co-op! He is very excited and can't wait until presentation night next Friday when he will be first to pick a backgammon set of his choice for winning!

We have LOVED all of our activities and really enjoyed ourselves. We plan to use our break time to do more art and crafts, bake a lot of Thanksgiving and Christmas goodies to share, and get caught up on history and science. I always hope to get in more activities with the little two boys. They have really not done much these past few weeks. I have some BIG plans for these guys!!

Overall I have been pleased with the work we have managed to do. The older boys are doing well and learning a lot. Nathan, especially, has been working hard on English and it is paying off nicely. Looking forward to some calmer weeks!

6-9 month baby boy brand name clothes.

I have a lot of baby boy brand name 6-9 month clothes that I would love to sell as a lot to someone. I planned on listing them on Ebay, but that is such a pain sometimes. These clothes are precious to me, but we don't have the room for me to hang on to clothes we won't be needed anymore.

If you would be interested, comment or email me and I'll post some pics later!

The Children's Place
Osh Kosh
Carter's (not the WM brand)
and more!!

Week 8: Sept 28-October 2

Adding Gabriel to the weekly report instead of doing a separate post. Just not enough time to do a preschool post with all the activities we have going on now.

Kaleb's Earth drawing and narration written by Mom.
Gabriel's Earth drawing and narration written by Mom.
Kaleb's Venus drawing and narration written by Mom.
Gabriel's Venus drawing and narration written by Mom.
Nathan's Venus drawing and narration. And again I forgot Mercury. I really want to share his because he did such a great job on it!
Nathan's Earth drawing and narration.
Gabriel really liked this picture and wanted me to share it.
Fun workbox game from Homeschool Share.
AT THE FAIR!!! (they look thrilled, don't they??) They didn't quite understand yet. Gabriel was down right upset for some reason.
Crazy fighting/playing squirrels in our yard!! Nathan took the pictures and couldn't decide whether they were playing or fighting.

Nathan's first golf lesson. They played golf/baseball.
Kaleb's first golf lesson. They played golf/baseball.
Kaleb's soccer game last night.

Another full week!

We started golf lessons this week. It is only once a week for both boys at the same time which helps. People who say that homeschool kids aren't socialized haven't seen my calendar. This fall is going to be so busy! I love that the boys are in so many fun activities, but I have a feeling I will be ready for a break by Thanksgiving....and then basketball will start after Christmas! It will work out perfectly though because we should have a nice break from the middle of February to the end of March before baseball and spring co-op start.

Monday-Our only easy day, and we definitely took it easy! Nathan and Kaleb completed all of their work for the day and then we watched a movie. Nathan went to the library for a fun after school activity time. The little boys and I played a few educational type games and relaxed until Daddy got home! Monday and Wednesday are our only two days a week without something scheduled....and we are KEEPING it that way! =)

Tuesday-Story time at the library, lunch at our favorite pizza place, golf practice for Nathan and Kaleb, and soccer practice for Nathan and Kaleb. It looks like Tuesdays and Fridays are going to be our busiest days. My goal for both days is to at least get math, English, and phonics done. Anything after that will be considered BONUS! Nathan did English before storytime, math at the library, and reading in the car on the way to practices!! I didn't get anything for Kaleb accomplished, though. We'll have to work on that next Tuesday.

Wednesday-FUN DAY!! I woke the boys up and everyone got ready for the day. We jumped in the car, and headed to town to *do errands*. As we got close enough to the fairgrounds for the boys to see some of the fair rides, they started talking about going to the fair. When I pulled into the fairgrounds parking, they started asking me what we were doing. When I got out and told them to follow me, they started to get excited. While we stood in line at the fairgrounds entrance, I finally told them that we were going to spend the morning at the FAIR!!! =) It was so fun to surprise them with that. The weather was perfect, the rides were discounted, and it wasn't too crowded. Great day!! After we had some fun there, we met Daddy in town for lunch and then cruised around the Halloween Store next to the restaurant. When we got home, Nathan surprised me by hitting the books!! He managed to complete the majority of his daily work!! Kaleb and I were inspired to get busy with his school work and he managed to complete the three R's, and we all did our science and history lessons!

Thursday-soccer practice for Nathan and Kaleb's first soccer game were canceled due to the weather. Kaleb was disappointed. He has been practicing hard for his first game. Drake and I woke up with colds probably because of allergies. We lounged around a lot. Kaleb and Gabriel played *police officer and his jail*, clubhouse (or cluvhouse as Gabriel says), storm chasers, and hideout....all with only two cardboard boxes and a storage tote! Love their imaginations. We caught up on our astronomy illustrations and talked more about the moon. Nathan is doing so well in English lately! He fixed chicken nuggets and carrots for lunch since I felt so bad, and then spent the most of his afternoon finishing up his school work. I'm really proud of him for working so hard. Kaleb did several pages of ETC, and is still loving his math lessons. He also did a half lesson of OPG. I break up most of the longer lessons into two separate lessons to help him out a bit.

Friday-Coop in the afternoon. We are meeting Daddy in town for lunch. This is becoming a pretty cool habit! Nathan is going to LOVE his rocket class today!! We made a pop bottle rocket (pic coming next week). His class is going to the park to shoot them off!! FUN!! More about today's coop later!!

Nathan:
math-up to lesson 53
English-finished Ch 2.
spelling-skipped this week.
WW-lesson 6

Kaleb:
math- lessons 6-10
ETC- several pages (can't remember exactly)
OPGTR- started section 4, lesson 41-42

Gabriel:
math-Can you believe he has been doing some of Kaleb's math too?? I just let him do whatever interest him and leave it at that.
He has enjoyed playing with some of the preschool activity bags this week. We weren't home enough to do too much, but he got a chance with almost every bag. He loves them!! We are going to start working on spelling his last name. He can easily spell his first name, and does for strangers.....often. =)

Together:
*Astronomy-we finished up the activities and notebooking/lapbooking activities for Ch 5 Earth, and started reading Ch 6 Moon.
*History-Caught up on our timeline, notebooking, flash cards, and other activities. Finished up week 7 and worked through most of week 8.

Circle time:
We have been seriously slacking in this area. We have so many other activities going on that I've just let it slide. There really is no good reason, though. Circle time is done in the morning and the earliest we have to be out of the house on any given day is 10:30 am. I just need to get in gear.
*Letter Gg.
*ACB I Believe lesson-Grasshoppers in the land of giants, the story of Moses and his people entering the Promised Land. Memory verse-I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me. Phil 4:13. I love this lesson!!
*In My Neighborhood book bag-My Home.