It wasn't just a first for the kids....it was a first for me too! And for the most part it was fun BUT.......it was really really hot. I got totally fried in the 90 degree weather and left there LONGING for some cold, chilly fall, leave-changing weather. But hey, this is where we are, at least we get a little of the fall activities even if we miss out on the weather.
It was dusty, and scorching but we still managed to find some great pumpkins to carve later in the week, took a dusty bumpy hot hay ride....and ate shave ice!!! Yup we did. I have some photos somewhere....but I can't find my camera at the moment....really need to do that.
Well I finally got all of Jonah's MBT Academy figured out.....I think. I think I mentioned before I really think enrolling in this Charter school is going to be the best of both worlds for us! I have always loved school and Jonah has always shown an interest in going to an actual school, and this way we get a little of both. For the most part I get to implement our curriculum, including "Faith Based". We ordered a new curriculum from Sonlight (though we started with Lifepac from Alpha-Omega) and it seems to have a classical feel to it, which I am excited about. The online teacher then assigns one thing a week ( don't even think they are all required but we'll do them anyway) and along with the assignment comes a webclass and a Face to Face class. So twice a month (at least) Jonah will be able to go down to the Academy and take part in a traditinal classroom setting! The Academy also schedules 2 Fieldtrips a month for the kids to be included in and I can bring along ALL the kids with me! I'm pretty excited. It took me all of last week to get everything squared away and understand what was going on...but I think we are really going to love this. And if not.....we'll go back to doing in ourselves next year!
Friday was the first of 17 Furlough Days here in Hawaii. Although it'll be hard to make up for the lost wages, I really enjoyed having Dave home an extra day. This Friday and next are also Furlough Fridays....can't wait! It gives us an extra day for family time and just to get things done that we normally wouldn't have the time to! And I think it helped me relax a little more this weekend and face a new week with a better attitude!
It's taken me all the way until now to really feel like I have a handle on both the homeschooling and the house as well as the rest of what I am responsible for. I am still behind on sewing but I am working up to that slowly!
Can I just throw in here I totally don't feel pregnant? Other than crying at silly things here and there. I still have had no morning sickness, no cravings (except a little OJ), nothing....I didn't even bloat out like I normally do. In the back of my mind I get a little worried about this, only because the girls made me sick and tired....no pun intended......but Jonah's pregnancy was a breeze so maybe that's a sign........I'm 12 weeks along so Friday we should be able to pick up the baby's heartbeat on a dopler. Praying for healthy baby beats!
I recieved a Once-A-Month-Cooking Cookbook from a friend at church yesterday. I had heard of it, and wanted to give it a try when Gracia was born but never got around to it. But after spending some time today looking at this book I am so excited to start trying this out! Talk about simplifying one more thing in my life!!!!! I am going to get things prepped to try some cooking this Friday. I may not do an entire month, depending on how much freezer room we actually have!! But I am going try it!
Tonites trial recipe:
Nan's Indonesian Pork
1/2 cup soy sauce
1/2 cup creamy peanut butter
2 1/2 t chopped garlic
1/2 t crushed red pepper
pork loin
12 oz can of pineapple ice cream topping (gonna used crushed pineapple instead)
Mix soy sauce, PB, garlic and red pepper
bake the pork loin, 350 for 1 hour 20 minutes
Stir sauce, pineapple and 3/4 c of juices from roasting pan, heat to boiling, reduce heat simmer for 5 minutes pour over pork loin and serve.
I dunno....sound pretty yummy!!!
Tuesday, October 27, 2009
Monday, October 19, 2009
Crazy Lazy Monday
Okay so we did NO school today.
This past weekend wasn't particularly rough.....but yesterday I got up at 3:30 am and made it to the church by 4:30am to meet 13 other ladies and do the Race for the Cure in support of Breast Cancer Research. I've never done anything like that but I so enjoyed myself!!! It was so worth getting up so early and getting to fellowship with the other ladies from the church. We've got a great group there!
Before:
After:
It was a 5K...maybe next year I'll jog instead of walk! Though it was fun just to have an hour to gab!
SO today just never happened. I was productive though in getting all sorts of other curriculum ready and planned though. Found yet another great resource of homeschooling. It's a bit pricey at $99 for a year subscription BUT if you have kids in different grades, this site ranges from PreK-6th grade and it's everything from Evan-Moor publications. You can get Units premade, games, learning centers, activities, crafts.....seriously ANYTHING. I think it's well worth $99 a year. You can sign up for a FREE 3 day membership to check everything out too! Go to Teacherbox.com and check it out if you are looking for great additions to any curriculum. I just printed out some great units and centers on Spiders (for after we finish Charolett's Web) and an intro to history and Ancient History for our History lessons! I plan on laminating some of the components and letting the kids use dry erase markers instead of printing out multiple pages!
I got Jonah's new curriculum ordered for Kindergarten through MBTA, but I went ahead and ordered some 1st grade reading curriculum beause the poor kid is bored out of his mind. So hopefully we'll get him interested in ths new curriculum! I know it's a little late to switch but hey. We went with the Sonlight curriculum. I liked that it has a classical approach as well and it comes with tons of resources and a complete curriculum. SO manu Kindergarten curriculums only come with Language Arts and Math! But both of the kids really love learning sciene and Italian and other subjects. Those subjects end up being a reward for finishing OTHER work!
I also read through Sue Patrick's workbox System handbook over the weekend and really love the way she approaches organizing for homeschooling! It has excited the kids the few days we've used it. I can't wait to keep going!
Tomorrow is a new day.....and we'll start new then!
PS.....we did go on an hour long bike ride and located a crown flower tree WITH lots of caterpillars on it!!!
This past weekend wasn't particularly rough.....but yesterday I got up at 3:30 am and made it to the church by 4:30am to meet 13 other ladies and do the Race for the Cure in support of Breast Cancer Research. I've never done anything like that but I so enjoyed myself!!! It was so worth getting up so early and getting to fellowship with the other ladies from the church. We've got a great group there!
Before:
After:
It was a 5K...maybe next year I'll jog instead of walk! Though it was fun just to have an hour to gab!
SO today just never happened. I was productive though in getting all sorts of other curriculum ready and planned though. Found yet another great resource of homeschooling. It's a bit pricey at $99 for a year subscription BUT if you have kids in different grades, this site ranges from PreK-6th grade and it's everything from Evan-Moor publications. You can get Units premade, games, learning centers, activities, crafts.....seriously ANYTHING. I think it's well worth $99 a year. You can sign up for a FREE 3 day membership to check everything out too! Go to Teacherbox.com and check it out if you are looking for great additions to any curriculum. I just printed out some great units and centers on Spiders (for after we finish Charolett's Web) and an intro to history and Ancient History for our History lessons! I plan on laminating some of the components and letting the kids use dry erase markers instead of printing out multiple pages!
I got Jonah's new curriculum ordered for Kindergarten through MBTA, but I went ahead and ordered some 1st grade reading curriculum beause the poor kid is bored out of his mind. So hopefully we'll get him interested in ths new curriculum! I know it's a little late to switch but hey. We went with the Sonlight curriculum. I liked that it has a classical approach as well and it comes with tons of resources and a complete curriculum. SO manu Kindergarten curriculums only come with Language Arts and Math! But both of the kids really love learning sciene and Italian and other subjects. Those subjects end up being a reward for finishing OTHER work!
I also read through Sue Patrick's workbox System handbook over the weekend and really love the way she approaches organizing for homeschooling! It has excited the kids the few days we've used it. I can't wait to keep going!
Tomorrow is a new day.....and we'll start new then!
PS.....we did go on an hour long bike ride and located a crown flower tree WITH lots of caterpillars on it!!!
Friday, October 16, 2009
Reorganizing!
It seems like ever since Jonah came down with Cerebellitis life had turned into a face paced crazy tailspin and it hasn't slowed down. There have been so many changes, additions, beginnings......I can't seem to slow down or catch up....which ever would bring me to the present would be nice. I suppose life is that way perpetually. Dynamic and exciting even when you yearn for boring.....or at least a quite hour to lose yourself in a book. And though I wouldn't change things, I do feel like my life needed some major reorganizing lately. So that's what we've been up to.
I got a little tired searching for my homeschool supplies and book in four different places. It was a little stressful and frustrating at times. So Saturday we cleaned out all the kids toys (tossing and donating) in their rooms as well as the downstairs closet. Under the stairs is officially a toy-free homeschool haven. I go and sit under there just to have a peaceful place to go! It's wonderful. All curriculum, books, educational manipulatives, puzzles, games, craft supplies......EVERYTHING is now neatly stored, easily axcessable, and easy to find!!!!
I also bought a laminator, alright truth be told I bought 2...a cold one on a roll and a heat one that uses sheets...and YES I needed both! I make so many games and things for the kids it's nice to be able to preserve them and reuse them over and over without them getting ruined! SO I've had a little fun with that for a few days!
Part of my organizing is adding a workbox system to our homeschooling. I used to prep everything and lay everything out on the table and just shuffle through it. Not the greatest system! I was purusing a blog called Homeschool Creations and found this article on Workboxes, and even without reading the book on how to do it and why it works......I was sold. I made my own little system and can't wait to use it tomorrow! My baskets are already filled with goodies!!!
Numbered baskets filled with different activities for the kids
Basket #10...love those sticky velcro dots! I've seen other Moms make this into a workbooks system using folders instead. I love the baskets though because we do so many hands on activities, games, crafts etc. Jonahs curriculum has thick workbooks and teacher's manuals that we work with and they all fit right in there! Science experiments, art....whatever!
This is Jonah's schedule so he can see what we are working on that day, what's to come, and how much we have until we are finished with our day!
Under each tag is a number, directing the child to where they can find the work!
For Bible Jonah will find a devotional book, a Bible lesson and a craft!
A bunch on workbox tags for every thing you can think of! Laminated of course!!!! You can download ones from the blog linked above or make your own! I did both!
I haven't actually used the workboxes though I've filled them with the kids work for tomorrow! I whole heartedly believe this will make our day so much easier and smoother! Can't wait to update you on how it goes!
Well it's almost nine and the kids are still up runing around....I'm going to try and update my blog more often. I've missed blogging! I've missed having an online journal and scrapbook of what we are doing and learning and living! My little Gracia is growing up fast and not being photographed nearly enough! We've got some catching up to do folks!
Welcome back!
I got a little tired searching for my homeschool supplies and book in four different places. It was a little stressful and frustrating at times. So Saturday we cleaned out all the kids toys (tossing and donating) in their rooms as well as the downstairs closet. Under the stairs is officially a toy-free homeschool haven. I go and sit under there just to have a peaceful place to go! It's wonderful. All curriculum, books, educational manipulatives, puzzles, games, craft supplies......EVERYTHING is now neatly stored, easily axcessable, and easy to find!!!!
I also bought a laminator, alright truth be told I bought 2...a cold one on a roll and a heat one that uses sheets...and YES I needed both! I make so many games and things for the kids it's nice to be able to preserve them and reuse them over and over without them getting ruined! SO I've had a little fun with that for a few days!
Part of my organizing is adding a workbox system to our homeschooling. I used to prep everything and lay everything out on the table and just shuffle through it. Not the greatest system! I was purusing a blog called Homeschool Creations and found this article on Workboxes, and even without reading the book on how to do it and why it works......I was sold. I made my own little system and can't wait to use it tomorrow! My baskets are already filled with goodies!!!
Numbered baskets filled with different activities for the kids
Basket #10...love those sticky velcro dots! I've seen other Moms make this into a workbooks system using folders instead. I love the baskets though because we do so many hands on activities, games, crafts etc. Jonahs curriculum has thick workbooks and teacher's manuals that we work with and they all fit right in there! Science experiments, art....whatever!
This is Jonah's schedule so he can see what we are working on that day, what's to come, and how much we have until we are finished with our day!
Under each tag is a number, directing the child to where they can find the work!
For Bible Jonah will find a devotional book, a Bible lesson and a craft!
A bunch on workbox tags for every thing you can think of! Laminated of course!!!! You can download ones from the blog linked above or make your own! I did both!
I haven't actually used the workboxes though I've filled them with the kids work for tomorrow! I whole heartedly believe this will make our day so much easier and smoother! Can't wait to update you on how it goes!
Well it's almost nine and the kids are still up runing around....I'm going to try and update my blog more often. I've missed blogging! I've missed having an online journal and scrapbook of what we are doing and learning and living! My little Gracia is growing up fast and not being photographed nearly enough! We've got some catching up to do folks!
Welcome back!
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