When Daddy's away...

Troy went on his annual trip to Nebraska the second week in October.  This is always a tough week in our house, but we managed to stay very busy.

Lachlan and Poppy enjoyed a ride in this "boat."  I have a similar picture of Jonas and Reef when J was a baby.

 We made some fall leaves using shaving cream and paint.  The boys enjoyed it, but Poppy was sad she couldn't get in on the action.
Swirling.

 Dipping.

 Checking.

 The finished product.  They turned out more orange, less swirled than I hoped but still cool.  They're hanging on the mantle.

As soon as Troy got home on Friday, we loaded the van and headed out to Family Retreat.

Jonah and the Big Fish

Soccer was cancelled one Thursday, so we had some extra time for our Bible craft.  I'd been wanting to do more art, so this was the perfect time.  We looked over some fish paintings on DeepSpaceSparkle, and set to work.  Reef did a great job drawing the whole thing all by himself and spent most of the afternoon painting each scale.  I think it turned out great, and he was very proud!

Park Date

We had a fun park date at Brackenridge Park with our friends, Rachel and Larkin.  The boys think Larkin is the coolest person ever and love that he climbs all over the playsets with them.  This 4-person seesaw was mellow compared to all the playing they did!  We are so thankful for this new friendship!

This girl...

cracks me up all the time!

On this day, she had to sit with Reef while he did math.

Her interest in books has really grown.  She squeals in delight when she sees an animal in the pictures.  It's helped with our nighttime routine, too; she runs to her room when she hears the word "book".

She still loves shoes and dancing, though her new form of "dancing" involves spinning until she falls down.  She's not a fan of having her hair done but will tolerate it once it's done.
At 16 months, there are still no consistent words other than "mommy" and "no" (which could mean "no" or "yes").  She is working on "bird", "dog", "book", and "Poppy".
Sleeping is much improved after Operation Cry It Out.  Some nights she will still cry for 20 minutes, but sometimes there is no crying.  So glad we stuck it out!
The morning nap is pretty much a thing of the past, unless she got up before 6:30.  Naps are also much improved since the CIO.
Poppy is still weighing in at 20ish lbs (25th %) and 32 inches (90th %); she wears 18-24 month tops and mostly 12 month pants.  Size 4.5-5 shoes and size 3 diapers.
This is such a fun age as she starts expressing her own personality!  Let me tell you, this girl will keep us on our toes!  We love you Poppy-girl!

Car Wash

Troy wanted to wash the suburban a couple weeks ago.  The kids wanted to "help" so we set them up washing the Big Red Car.  They had a blast!

 Poppy also got washed!  Because why would you be outside the car if you could be in?

1st day of Preschool 2012-2013

Jonas and Lachlan are continuing at Northside Preschool this year.  It's hard to believe Jonas will "graduate" in May!  Time is just flying too fast!

Troy took them to their first day since I was with Reef at soccer.

Lachlan is displaying his homework.  That's cereal mohawk you see there.  And you can't tell from the picture, but the craft has Mr. Men stickers on the shirt, and Lachlan wore his Mr. Funny shirt to match.

Jonas isn't displaying his homework because he was still upset that "it wasn't finished".  I thought it was done, but apparently he thought he just needed to let the glue dry before adding more stuff.  Sorry, buddy!

 Lachlan is in Ms. Theresa's class.  I know he will have a blast because we all just love her so much!  I'm hoping she will be able to tone down his "terrible 3's" a bit.

 Jonas is in Ms. Berta's class (note, he is still not happy about his homework and actually cried when Troy left).  Luckily, the tears didn't last long and he's loving the 4's class.  He loves picking out items for the Letter of the Week.

 This is their hallway bulletin.  See that lion on the top row in the center?  The only one with a full mane?  It's Jonas's.  He sat longer than anyone else and was determined to give that lion a perfect 'do!

1st Grade so far

According to my calendar, we've done 19 days of school so far.  How many pictures are there?  Zero!  But I wanted to blog about it anyway, just so I remember these days.

We started school the Tuesday after Labor Day.  I planned to start the week before, but too much life got in the way :).  Reef didn't complain.

It's been a little hard finding our "groove" this year.  First grade is definitely requiring more commitment from us.  That probably comes from choosing more "real" curriculum instead of just winging it like last year.  Add to that LBC, soccer on Thursdays, Spanish on Tuesdays, and a very busy 16 month old, and you've definitely got a full plate!  Hence, the no pictures...

I do want to jot down our curriculum choices and thoughts so far...
Language Arts: McRuffy 1st grade.  I chose this one because it's an "all-in-one" kind of program.  It covers spelling, reading, phonics, some poetry, and some grammar.  I debated between going up to 2nd grade since Reef reads so well but am glad we stayed with 1st grade.  The review has been good; plus we have learned new things about grammar and spelling.  Reef likes it so far, especially the games and puppets.  I also like that it's pretty scripted and it offers a lot of variety for spelling word review.
We also finished up readingeggs.com.  He loved this program and it really helped jump start us on reading last year.  Jonas has actually started using it too, and I'm seeing good progress there too.  ReadingEggs also includes a new program, ReadingEggspress, but it seems just a bit too advanced for Reef.

Math: Horizons 1st grade.  Most of this has been review so far.  I went with Horizons after we struggled with Saxon last year.  I was hoping the shorter, more colorful lessons would catch Reef's attention better and bring less complaining.  He still says math is his least favorite :(  And he hates the review drills.  But there is less complaining so far.  And, most days if he looks ahead a lesson, he will tell me how excited he is for the next day.  So, I'm calling it a good choice so far!  Again, I like that it is scripted for the teacher.  We do like to jazz it up a bit with some fun games from pinterest.

Science: Apologia Zoology 1.  After receiving a catalog from Apologia before we even started homeschooling, I had their science curriculum picked out.  I didn't really even research other options.  I showed Reef the catalog and let him pick which course to do first.  He chose Zoology 1, which is about flying creatures.  Honestly, the first lesson was a struggle.  Because I didn't do much research, I was surprised (and possibly a bit unprepared) for the immersion approach.  We are now on lesson 2 and loving it a lot more.  He is especially excited to build feeders and start watching birds in the yard.

Bible:  Grapevine Studies Beginner Old Testament.  We are finishing this up from last year and then will move on to the New Testament.  We have really enjoyed it, though we do add a fun craft, maze, or crossword for each lesson.  I can't wait to show you the fish Reef created for the Jonah lesson!

Spanish: Risas y Sonrisas.  Let me tell you, I researched a TON of Spanish curriculums.  This one looked the most fun and fit our price range.  We are so blessed that Ms. Theresa is doing Spanish with Reef again this year.  He LOVES it and his time with her.  We ordered the student workbooks, student book w/ CD and DVD, and flashcards/dominoes.  So far, we are all very pleased, and the customer service is great!

Reef is also taking a soccer skills class with our FEAST, our local homeschool co-op.  It's for an hour and a half on Thursday mornings.  Poppy and I spend that time walking, as I gear up for the Chosen half marathon.  Reef is really enjoying it and improving his confidence and skills.

Whew!  Are you still with me?  Reef and Troy have tried out cub scouts too, but haven't loved the pack we chose.  We will try one other pack this week and then make a decision.  I hope to add in some other stuff too:  art (Reef has requested more crafts), typing, writing letters to our World Vision Kids, emails to grandparents.  I'll try to take some pictures this week too :)