Day 334 - our prayer journal

We use this brown leather book as our prayer journal.   The girls write down their prayers and we make sure to read them during our prayer time.  I'm certain that this book will become a special keepsake one day.  Most importantly though it will help us notice the way God is working in our lives and how special our prayers are to Him.  

Day 333 - dutch baby

A favorite Sunday brunch.

Day 332 - the angel clock

The girls were so happy to be home.  It was nice seeing everyone but also nice to be home again.

The girls were eager to decorate for Christmas so Ken took the boxes down from the attic.  One of the first things we opened was the musical angel clock.  I'm not sure what we call it but that just describes it.  The funny thing about this clock is that Ken always wants to get rid of it.  Every year when we pack it up he asks if we really need this and the girls just go crazy.  They love it!  When we received it as a gift from his mom he immediately said, "nope, not keeping it".   I think she knew that it would become one of their favorite Christmas treasures.

Day 331 - big bed

I think the most exciting part of the trip for Courtney and Claire was sleeping together in a big bed.  My mom made them a big bed on the floor next to ours and they were ecstatic.  They were ready for bed as soon as we got there.  At home they are still in cribs (with one side off) so this was a big deal.  The down side is that it took them forever to fall asleep.  They stayed up until 10:30 talking both nights!

Day 330 - thanksgiving

We went to my brother's house for Thanksgiving this year.   We really like being home for holidays but thought this year we'd try it.  I enjoyed having time with my family and the kids had fun too.

Day 329 - finally, a haircut

Ken has been needing a haircut for weeks.  We all have actually!  We decided to wait until we saw my mom in Gilroy over Thanksgiving.  It was hard for Ken to wait.  I like his hair longer but it was even longer than what I usually liked.  He wanted to get it all shaved close to his head but the girls were just over the top upset about him doing it.   He didn't, obviously....how could he when they were all begging him not to.  Calista got some cute bangs, Caroline, Courtney and Claire a trim and I got some layers.

Day 328 - friends

We had a fun day with friends today.  First off, Caroline's friend Mariah came over to play.  They picked some lemons and we made yummy lemonade.  Later in the day we spent time with the Henrys.  Pastor Henry is on the missions trip to India so Keisha and the kids over for dinner and some play time.  

Day 327 - handprint turkeys

The girls made handprint turkeys today.

Turtle Week in Kindergarten

We completed our Turtle lessons in Kindergarten this week.  I am so grateful for this curriculum and how much the girls and I enjoy it.

I've been trying different methods to introduce the lessons and this week I tried using the pictorial input chart.  I just lightly drew the picture ahead of time so that as I taught the lesson I could draw over my pencil lines.  My girls were impressed with my drawing skills until they noticed I had already prepared it and was tracing.  I didn't go over the whole chart of facts in one sitting; maybe 10 minutes at a time.   We later highlighted key words as we reviewed it and added some additional facts off to the side.  They also had some fun coloring the turtle.

Caroline was eager to read the turtle poem this morning.  Calista was jumping for joy in the background with each word Caroline read without help.  She read most of it and was all smiles.  :)

The girls had a great time playing turtle and learning how turtles protect themselves from predators.  Claire was the raccoon.

Caroline is copying and illustrating her 'words to remember' each week.  I thought we could bind her pages into a book at the end of the year.  I'm not really sure but I would like to do something with them.

Both Courtney and Claire decided they could cut out their own picture cards from now on.  They actually cut most of their school type papers up this week.  :)  New skills are exciting!

She loves her little necklaces and wears them faithfully.

On Fridays we attend a Christian homeschool co-op.  Caroline learned about sea turtles in her class and made this cute turtle craft.  It worked out well since I realized by the end of the week that I hadn't prepared many crafts besides some of her lapbook elements.

We read some great books about turtles and perseverance.  I get most of my ideas for books from Erna at Maple Tree Academy and from the MFW message boards.

The Name of The Tree retold by Celia Barker Lottridge (we loved this one!)

The Hare and the Tortoise by Brian Wildsmith

Mike Mulligan and his Steam Shovel by Virginia Lee Burton
Box Turtle at Long Pond - William T. George
Splash by Ann Jonas
Turtle, Turtle, Watch Out! by April Pulley Sayne
Hi Harry by Martin Waddle
Turtle Splash! Countdown at the Pond by Cathryn Falwell
The Turtle by Cynthia Rylant
The Turtle and the Dove by Don Freedman

It was another fun week with My Father's World.  Next week will be light for us since we'll be focusing on Thanksgiving and the activities in the Adventures curriculum for only 2-3 days.  They will have some free time and I'll catch up on household tasks (and hopefully a little scrapbooking).

Happy Thanksgiving :)

For more Weekly Highlights go on over to Mishmash Maggie.

Day 326 - grandma's visit

Grandma came to visit this weekend.  We hadn't seen her in a while so it was fun to spend some time with her.  The girls loved going to her hotel for breakfast.  We suspect that Courtney and Claire think she actually lives there.  :)

Day 325 - family fun night

We haven't been as consistent with Family Fun Night as we used to be.  We started having our bible study group on Friday nights so that changed our routine.  Last night our group was cancelled so we brought it back.  It was so much fun to play a game together and it made us realize that we need to keep this going.  We can change it to another day of the week; it doesn't matter.  It was really fun to notice how much better the twins did at playing this game.  They were just like the big girls and so into it!  Courntey went wild when she got Zingo!

Day 324 - their travels

Courtney and Claire spend so much time playing with this little cart and pram.  They fill them with their things and travel all over the house pretending they are going to either Friday School, Capitola or recently, India.  They are filled with books, play food, pink and white baby, little purses filled with Polly Pocket dolls and their blankets.

Day 323 - planting corn

The girls are out back pulling weeds.  Calista planted some corn and wants to do all she can to see it grow.

Day 322 - a mission to india

The girls and I went to church this morning to pray for our friends going on a mission trip to India.   I can't believe the time is finally here.  My heart felt heavy saying goodbye to them although I know God is with them and will protect and provide for them.  Ken has been praying with them weekly for months now and Calista has written to the kids in the orphanage where they will be going.

Day 321 - sharing cheerios

They really make me laugh!  It was so cute to see Courtney share her Cheerios with Claire once hers were gone.

Day 320 - more on scissors

Claire can do it too now :)  Scissors are the greatest thing now.  Every piece of schoolwork needs to be cut into squares with a million tiny pieces all over the carpet.  Love it!

Nest Week in Kindergarten

We had such a great week learning about Nests and other animal homes.  We read so many good books and have a few that I've already had to renew from the library because the girls don't want to let them go.

We started with a KWL chart (what we Know, Want to know and Learned) about nests and animal homes.  We added to it as we gathered information throughout the week.  I hadn't started a week with a KWL chart before but I thought it would be a good place to list our facts.  I was also thinking ahead to the lapbook and knew she could pull her facts from the chart.  Caroline looked forward to adding her  learnings after each book we read.

We made nests out of clay.  Calista actually made the clay as an assignment in her Adventures curriculum so it worked out perfectly.  We tried to make the clay brown but figured gray was close enough.  All of the girls made nests and added the twigs and grass that we collected on our nature walk earlier in the week.

Caroline made a sweet little badge to wear.  I found a similar image on a quilting website and she loved the mommy and baby bird.  So we did our best to replicate it and she wore it everywhere.  She likes her badges more as necklaces so we always add the ribbon.

We moved calendar off of the wall and into a folder.  It is workbox #1 for her each day and she likes it better this way so far.

I am still trying to find ways to build more math into her curriculum.  I found this great domino math worksheet at Confessions of A Homeschooler.   We'll be doing these more often since it was a hit :)

Caroline painted a tree and then added torn paper leaves and some cotton clouds. She added a little bird in it's nest to the bottom branch.  I think the baby bird is just hatching.  She spent a long time on this project and was very proud of it.

Caroline worked with Courtney in matching her picture cards to the correct letter sound.  She and Calista each do at least one learning activity with one or both of the twins daily.

Each time we finish immersing ourselves in the week's topic I think I'm not going to like the next one as much.  I've been wrong every time.  The have all been wonderful so far.

These were our favorite books from the Nest week:

A Nest Full of Eggs by Pricilla Betz Jenkins
Silly Little Goose by Nancy Tufuri
Robin's Home by Jeannine Atkins
Best Nest by P.D. Eastman
Are You My Mother by P.D. Eastman
What's Inside Animal Homes - DK Books
Once Upon a Time, Upon a Nest by Jonathan Emmett
Is This a House for a Hermit Crab by Megan McDonald

More Weekly Homeschool highlights at Mishmash Maggie

Day 319 - special time with daddy

Apple Lapbook

I snapped some quick shots of Caroline's Apple Lapbook from two weeks (or three) ago.  She added an extra flap so she could include facts and her own drawings.  She was much more in charge of creating it this time.   She's becoming my little lapbook expert.  :)

The center flips up and has both the drawing of her apple worm house and then this tree with little sequencing tabs.  I still need to reprint the photos she chose on better photo paper and write the captions underneath for it to be complete.

 

Her cover makes me chuckle because of the way she positioned her apples.  She loves having her fingernails polished so this was the next best thing I suppose.

Day 318 - claire

She wants a big girl bike so badly.  She wears her sisters' helmets and climbs upon their bikes with all of the confidence in the world.  We may not be able to wait until their 5th birthday like we did with the other girls.  Sweet Calista still rides the little one she got back then and it's even smaller than Caroline's bike now.  She doesn't even complain.  It will be so much fun when all 6 of us have bikes one day and can ride around together.  I know that time will be here before we know it.

Day 317 - daddy day

Ken took the girls for a walk when he got home from work.  They love the time with daddy and I love having a few minutes to prepare dinner.

Day 316 - scissors

I've been making Courtney use her little plastic scissors (which hardly cut) for so long even though she kept asking for big girls ones.  Today I finally gave her some and boy do I feel silly.  She was so ready for them.  Now I'm afraid I held her back in her cutting skills.  I know, it's just scissors and she'll recover but I was just afraid she'd cut herself and I'm not good with that aspect of parenting.  Ken stays calm with blood and I panic.   I told her to be careful and watch her fingers so many times that she even laughed.

Adventures update

Keeping up with updates on schooling is tougher than I imagined.  I thought this would be a great way to document our year and have it printed like a yearbook later.  I'm not really sure where I'll go with this but I do think it's a great way to stay connected with other homeschooling moms for encouragement, ideas and support.  A lot of support!  Lately I've been so busy with homeschooling that I'm behind in all areas of my life.  I feel as if I'm running all the time and I've barely left the house.  Sounds crazy, I know.

So in Adventures we've covered weeks 5, 6 and 7.  In History we've studied the Mayflower and the Pilgrims, New Netherlands and the Pioneers from Holland and the Pioneers in Michigan.  American Pioneers and Patriots remains a favorite book but there were also a few other books that stand out.  We read The Courage of Sarah Noble in one sitting because the girls were absolutely enthralled.  They played 'Sarah Noble' for a few days both with dress up clothes and with their dollhouse people.  A few others that Calista loved were Sarah Morton's Day, Samuel Eaton's Day and On the Mayflower: Voyage of the Ship's Apprentice & a Passenger Girl.  

In Science she finished her focus on the stars and universe in week 5 and we moved into the kitchen with science.  She did a few yeast experiments which helped her to discover that yeast needs sugar to grow.  She made play-dough which was perfect because I needed it for the Nest activity that day in Kindergarten.   She also made bread, which was part of Bible and our study of Jesus as the Bread of Life.    I thought it was great for her to make it herself because she's really only seen me use the bread machine.  It was a good experience for us both.  It turned out delicious and the girls devoured most of it at lunch time.

In Math Calista is working on her multiplication facts.  She is eager to master them as we move on in her Singapore book.  I was so happy (and shocked) to hear say, "I love Math!"  I nearly fell off my chair because she hasn't said anything positive about math for so long and I was beginning to fear she never would.  What a blessing! 

I definitely haven't covered everything, I know.  The past few weeks of school have seemed busier and even a little harder to me so it's all a little fuzzy now.  We have potty training x 2, constant character training, chore training and my own daily homeschool-mommy training.  I learn so much from these girlies and this time together is just so precious to me.  It's a little overwhelming sometimes, yes,  but I wouldn't trade it for anything.  

Day 315 - potty training x 2

On some days it seems that potty issues are just all consuming.  We're in the final stretch of the training but since there are two of them it seems to take up so much time.  I have spent so much time sitting on the floor in that little guest bathroom that it's even funny.

Here Claire sits reading to Courtney while she takes her turn on the potty.  They usually keep each other company which I think, is pretty cute.  The little basket next to her is filled with clean underpants because I got tired of going back and forth when they needed new ones.  I don't always remember to put the basket away if guests come over so I wonder how many people thought it was dirty laundry!

The crazy thing is that in just a few weeks this phase will be over and I wont even remember how much time this took.  There will be something else they are trying to master and need my help (and patience) with.  The sticker charts will change and the baskets will be filled with new things to learn.  I may even miss even potty training one day.

Day 314 - the bread of life

In her Bible study time Calista is learning that Jesus is the bread of life.  She loved this assignment today... bake bread.  She made it from scratch and it was delicious.  

Day 313 - caroline's questions

Caroline earned this book from the treasure box for having her verses memorized for Awana on Sunday. It's about a sweet little penguin who wants to know how high the sky is.   It was perfect for Caroline because lately she has been asking me so many important spiritual questions.  She has stumped me a few times already and I've had to find some answers for her.  Thankfully, we have some very loving and wise people in our lives that can help.

Day 312 - favorite books

After jammies are on we gather in the schoolroom (living room) every night to read.  I'm reading The Chronicles of Narnia to the big girls and during that time Courtney and Claire just look at their books and read to their babies.  Theses books they are holding are their absolute favorites!  They belong to the library and I don't know how many more times I can renew them.

Day 311 - claire

She is one funny little girl.  She is so sensitive (like they all are) but she covers it so much with silliness that little hurts can easily be missed.  She laughs and act silly when I know she is about to cry.  At those moments all I have to do is hold her and tell her it's perfectly OK to cry.

Day 310 - blessings

It's House Blessing Day.  I don't remember where I found that term.  I'm pretty sure it was flylady but I'm not sure.  So (most) every Friday we spend time in the afternoon blessing our house.  The big girls each have their zones to clean and I just give Courtney and Claire a few little jobs.   We put some good music on and clean away.  Courtney usually asks for more jobs.  She loves to help!