Week 19 Review

Once again, I've disappeared for a few weeks!

We've been working at a bit slower pace the past few weeks, summer activities and gorgeous weather have taken over a lot of our time, but we're still at it!

Alyssa has now learned all of her lowercase letters up to f, and is quickly mastering letter sounds. We've finished patterns and are currently working on greater than-less than. She's turning out to be quite the math whiz!

Rylan has had a bit of trouble with the number 9, but seems to be grasping it now- we're hoping to move on to 10 next week! He has also been picking up a lot of letter sounds from hearing his sister, he especially loves "M says Mmmmmm!".

We finished a unit on the Ten Commandments, and since I FINALLY have my camera back, here are our tablets!

We also finished a unit on My Family and Me, we made mini books, and chose pictures from old catalogs to represent the members of our family in a collage.

And here's a few shots of our summer fun with Alyssa, Rylan, and one of their best friends.

And one of my baby girl, for good measure!

Week 16 Review

Actually, weeks 12-16 review! I've been so terrible at keeping up with this blog over the summer, I promise, I will try to do better!

We've still been working away and my children have really been impressing me with how much they've been learning, and how quick paced they have been over the last few weeks! Alyssa has mastered her uppercase alphabet (recognizing, and writing), and is now working on lowercase (we're currently working on d), and practicing her letter sounds. She also has learned to write and recognize her numbers to 20, and has mastered number order. We're currently working on patterns.

Rylan has mastered recognizing his numbers to 8, but is still lacking enough pencil control to write them legibly, although he sure tries!

We're finishing up the life of Moses next week, and we've completed all of our "Living Things" units. Now we've moved onto our unit about "Myself and my Family".

I wish I could share photos of what exactly we've been up to, but my camera has been in for repairs for the past few weeks (luckily, not until after Miss Sophia's first birthday!). I'm hoping to have it back next week!

Wordless Wednesday

Just look at that face!

Week 11 Review

This week was a slow one. With the nicer weather finally upon us, we opted to spend a little more time outdoors. We're still pushing through though, Alyssa has learned the letter T, and the number 15. Rylan has learned to write and recognize the number 5, and we're working through his Summer Bridge Activities work book (which he is loving!). We're still working on counting to 20, but we're almost there! We learned about Moses and the Burning Bush, and we're continuing our study on plants.

We started some seeds outdoors that we weren't able to plant in the garden yet:

I also made this file folder game for Rylan, I have the numbers up to twelve, but I'm just adding them as we go so he doesn't get overwhelmed by it.

Baby Shower Cake

I was asked to make a cake for a friend's baby shower, and I'm so proud of it, that I wanted to share it here!

Our announcement!

A couple of weeks ago we were sent for another ultrasound, and this time they were able to tell the gender! It was great because our entire family was there- hubby, myself (of course!), and all 3 kids. Rylan was telling the technician that he wants to call it a baby boy and the tech told him that might not be the best thing to call it. So here is a shot of our BABY GIRL!

Now begins the real trouble, naming this baby! We had our boy name all picked out and were so sure that we would be using it, girls names give us trouble though!

Review for weeks 7-10

Things have been a bit crazy here lately so I haven't been blogging, but I'm back!

Over the past few weeks Alyssa has really taken off with her alphabet, she's finished thru letter S and is doing amazing! She has also learned to write and recognize up to 14. Rylan has finished shapes and colours, and is currently learning the number 4. We're learning about the life of Moses, and have taken a break from our animal study to start a study about plants (we're working on our plots in the community garden, so it seemed fitting!).

I won't post everything we've been doing, but here is some of what's been happening here over the past few weeks:

Moses in the reeds craft. I got the idea from here but changed it up a little.

Accordion books about how plants grow. Next time I will enlarge the pictures though, my kids had a hard time colouring them because they were so small. 

Our new file folder game to practice numbers. Copied from Stick Your Neck Out File Folder Games series (Kindergarten).

Starting our plots at the community garden.

And one of baby girl, just because :)

Wordless Wednesday

Her new "surprised" look!

Such a happy girl!

Kids in the Kitchen/Try it Tuesday

I mentioned in my meal plan post that I intend to start a Try it Tuesday and also double this as my Kids in the Kitchen day. This a daring task for me, the kitchen is my space and I don't like people "messing" with things while I'm cooking!

For lunch we made homemade pizza, and of course I forgot to take pictures of the process and the end result, but here are the uncooked pizzas.

For supper we made baked potatoes, steamed mixed veggies, and mini meatloaves (I have honestly never made a meatloaf before!).

Rylan washed and "poked" the potatoes.

Alyssa helped me mix up the meatloaf.

The finished product, and boy were they good!

 

 

The recipe is one that I wrote down a long time ago from one of my Kraft "What's Cooking" magazines. It was something like this:
-1lb hamburger.
-1 pkg. stuffing mix.
-1/2c chopped onion.
-1 c. shredded marble cheese.
Combine and place in muffin tins.

Bake at 375 degrees for 20 minutes, brush with:
-1 c. barbeque sauce (I used Kraft Garlic Barbeque sauce)
-1 tbsp brown sugar.

Bake for an additional 10 minutes.

So good!

Meal Plan Monday May 14th-20th

This isn't really a typical week for us, hubby is working nights and we have a date night and a girls night thrown in there, but I'm going to try and stick as close to this as I can!

I also decided that Tuesdays will be "Try a New Recipe Tuesday" and also "Kids in the Kitchen". This is a big step for me, my kitchen is my space! But, I'm starting to realize how much I can teach them this way!

Monday- Broccoli stuffed chicken, rice, and corn.
Tuesday- Mini meatloaves, mashed potatoes, and mixed vegetables.
Wednesday- Pork chops (probably just homemade shake 'n bake), baked potatoes, and corn on the cob.
Thursday- Italian Sausage Penne, Caesar salad, garlic toast.
Friday- Date night!
Saturday- Hubby's on his own, this is my girl's day out and we'll be leaving early. He will probably get pizza!
Sunday- If hubby didn't have pizza, I will probably make homemade pizza. Otherwise we'll barbeque hotdogs and hamburgers with a Caesar salad.

Catch them in the Act!

I've heard this a dozen times, but it never really hit home with me before, I've never really taken it to heart. The other day something on television (Dr. Phil perhaps?) caught my attention.

We have to catch our children in the act.

Not in the act of misbehaving, something even more important, we have to catch them behaving! Catch them sharing, listening, or trying hard. Too often we let these chances to praise go by without taking advantage, or even noticing, them. Yet we snap at the chance to scold or punish.

If we had only praised the good behavior that they showed moments ago, we might not find our selves scolding them now. If our children feel that we only notice their negative behaviors, they will start to feel as though it's pointless for them to act appropriately because Mommy and Daddy don't notice anyway! But children love praise, and if we praise a behavior we like in our children, we are more likely to see that behavior again and again.

And this doesn't look the same for all children. My oldest daughter is generally calm and collected, so I have to try hard to find things to praise with her, because I've come to expect those behaviors from her. My son on the other hand is a wild child, he's bouncing off the walls most of the time, so simple things like sitting still at the dinner table provide opportunities of praise for him.

All in all, I've found that children respond to positive praise better than negative punishment (and believe me, I've tried it all!). Now that isn't to say that discipline is never in order, but I've found that we don't need it as often since implementing this new tactic.

Review Week 6

This past week we spent Monday-Wednesday learning the letter J, and Thursday and Friday reviewing all of our letters so far. We also learned the number 9, and practiced counting to 15. Rylan finished up all of his shapes and knows them perfectly, he's still having a little trouble with the difference between black and brown, but I believe that's normal.

Our health lesson was manners, and our weekly study was all about fish. We also learned about David and Goliath.

We talked about where fish live, what they eat, how they breath, and their body parts. The kids made this pictures after pointing out all of their parts:

As a bonus, they got to practice their cutting and gluing skills!

Then we made our manners mini-books, the kids loved the idea of creating their very own book and were so excited to show Daddy when he came home from work! I printed the pages from this blog that I found when I googled "manners mini book".

After reading and talking about David and Goliath all week, we went "stone picking" for 5 small, smooth stones. Then we cut circles from felt, mommy punched some holes around the edges and the kiddos were able to "sew" a pouch for their stones.

And for good measure, a shot of all three of my babies spending some time playing together, I love catching moments like this!

Wordless Wednesday

Get a load of this brave little girl!

Meal Plan Monday May 7th-13th

Most of my meal plan for last week went unused, we were all sick and didn't feel like cooking, or eating, very much. So I still have most of the meat from last week,meaning my meal plan will be very similar.

Monday- Beef stew.
Tuesday- Mushroom chicken and broccoli and rice casserole.
Wednesday- Leftover Beef stew, we love it as leftovers!
Thursday- Breakfast for supper (bacon, eggs, hashbrowns, toast).
Friday- Pork loin (not sure what spices I'll use yet), steamed broccoli and mashed potatoes.
Saturday- Barbeque (hot dogs and hamburgers, barbequed potatoes) and Caesar salad.
Sunday- Sausage penne and Caesar salad.

Week 6 Review

Well, there really isn't much to review this week! The sickies hit our house hard this week, all week! So there really wasn't much done, we're back at it again this week though!

Wordless Wednesday

The look on Rylan's face was priceless when he turned around and saw her there, she looked so proud!

Meal Plan Monday April 30th-May 6th

Hubby is working night shift this week, so most nights it will just be the kids and I for supper, so I'm trying to do things that will keep me out of the kitchen as much as possible. Things that are left in the oven, crockpot, or on the stove without much tending.

Monday- Shephard's Pie.
Tuesday- Teriyaki Tenderloin, mashed potatoes, and carrots.
Wednesday- Homemade pizza, and garden salad.
Thursday- Beef stew.
Friday- Spaghetti and homemade meatballs.
Saturday- Leftover stew- to me at least, it's always better than the first day we eat it!
Sunday- Baked spaghetti and garlic toast.

Week 5 Review

This week things are finally calmed down and our routine is back! We learned the letters H and I, the numbers 7 and 8, the colours black, white, and brown, and about ovals. Our Bible lesson was about Noah's Ark, we also learned about rainbows, and healthy eating.

We started the week with the kid's favourite breakfast, pancakes and strawberry-banana smoothies!

We made junk vs healthy food collages (and the kids spent 15 minutes trying to convince mommy that Smarties are healthy and they should be allowed to eat them for breakfast, very clever!)

We painted rainbows, and also made rainbow necklaces with fruit loops (although they were eaten before I got a picture!).

And we made Noah's Ark:

In other news, Sophia had her first play date this week!

And have a look at my fearless children! They were playing in the backyard and I came in to check on supper, I was greeted by this and my daughter yelling, "It's okay Mommy, we're being careful!"

Cleaning/Household Schedule

I'll be the first to admit that I am not as consistent as I would like with my cleaning schedule. Something (anything) happen and throws me off for a couple of days and I feel like I'm playing catch-up for a month! My plan was in definite need of some tweaking, so I sat down last week and just got it done.

I tried following those "pre-made" plans we see online, but they just didn't work for us. Here are some guidelines I used when creating my own:

*Start with a list of all the tasks that need to be completed (and I mean all!) daily, weekly, monthly, seasonally, and yearly.

*Then, next to each task, write how often you think it needs to be done. This varies for everyone- perhaps you only want to scrub weekly, but Ms. Suzie homemaker up the street does it everyday.

*With your daily chores, what time of day is most fitting for each task? I load the dishwasher 3 times/day (after every meal), make beds in the morning, sweep and tidy after lunch, and usually wash at least one load of laundry- I throw it in the wash after breakfast, throw it in the dryer after school, and fold it during quiet time.

*Decide if there are particular days that are the most practical for certain tasks- I like to clean out the fridge on Sundays because Monday is garbage day, I plan next week's meals on Thursday because that's when the fliers arrive, I plan next week's school week on Friday because that week is still fresh in my mind. Fill in the rest of the weekly tasks.

*Calculate at how many monthly, seasonally, and yearly tasks will need to be completed per week to finish it, and then fill them in.

*If you are designating chores for your children, now is a great time to decide what goes to whom.

Mine ended up something like this:

Daily
-Dishes.
-Sweep and shake out mats.
-Tidy.
-Laundry.
-Make beds.

Monday
-Take out trash.
-Diaper Laundry.
-Vacuum carpets and furniture.

Tuesday
-Wash bedding.
-Deep clean bathrooms.
-Scrub.

Wednesday
-Diaper laundry.
-Clean bedroom.
-Monthly task.
-Budget.

Thursday
-Vacuum carpets.
-Bi-weekly task.
-Dust.
-Meal plan.

Friday
-Diaper laundry.
-Touch-up bathroom.
-Scrub.
-Homeschool planning.

Saturday
-Seasonal task (once/month).
-Yearly task.

Sunday
-Clean out fridge.

Bi-weekly
*Week 1 and 3- Drop off recyclables.
*Week 2 and 4- Wash windows and mirrors.

Monthly
*Week 1- Clean coffee pot.
*Week 2- Deep clean kid's rooms.
*Week 3- Clean craft area.
*Week 4- Spot wash walls.

Seasonal
*Month 1 (Jan, April, July, Oct):
              -Wash curtains.
              -Take bottles to redemption center.
              -Wash cupboards.

*Month 2 (Feb, May, Aug, Nov):
             -Wash walls, doors, and trim.

*Month 3 (Mar, June, Sept, and Dec):
             -Sort kid's clothes and clean light fixtures.

Yearly
*Purge closets and storage areas.

(Note, there are a few things not on my list that may be on yours, such as yard work since hubby takes care of those for me.)


Without a schedule like this, I'm not sure my house would survive!

Meal Planning

I plan our meals on a weekly basis- I know many people create meal plans bi-weekly, or even monthly, but I like to plan by the sales. Our store flyers are delivered on Thursday, so I usually use that as my planning day. I sit down with my cup of coffee, meal planner, coupons, the flyers, and my cell phone (have I mentioned how much I love my allrecipes dinner spinner ap?!) and off I go! I'm a frugal shopper, so I really enjoy this time.

I start planning with the most expensive items, usually the meat, and jot down what is on sale. Then I decide what to make with each item. Sometimes the flyers help me with this as well (for instance, if stew meat, turnip, and carrots are all on sale- it's almost a guarantee that we will have stew at some point that week).

Then I plan side dishes, also usually based on what pastas, vegetables, sauces, etc are on sale, along with what I already have on hand.

I know a lot of people plan all 3 meals and snacks, but I generally only plan dinners and make sure that I have enough breakfasts, lunches, and snacks for the week without planning day by day. I'm a huge "leftovers for lunch" person, especially for myself.

Then I check to see what staples are on sale at stock-up prices (things like canned goods, spices, sauces, paper items, etc). If I have a coupon to match, all the better!

Before I put the flyers away, I always compare the toiletries sales with my coupons as well. I always try to stay ahead in shampoo, conditioner, soap, deoderant, etc so we never pay full price- and I've gotten awesome deals like Dove body wash for .27 cents by matching coupons and sales!

Organizing

I realized after my second child was born that I had to get more organized, and after out third came along it became even more obvious. Our decision to homeschool and our fourth child on the way just reinforced that fact. I'm naturally a planner, but I'm not an organizer. I know, it doesn't sound possible, but it is. Trust me. I always start out with big plans and lots of lists, but I'm not always as quick to organize a way to get it done. I need a system, or several smaller systems, in place to help me out.

The biggest help for me are:
Lesson plan sheets (I printed mine from here)
Meal Plans (here)
Cleaning Schedule
Goal pages
Weekly Journal
Pinterest! (and yes, I might be an addict!)

All of this is put into my homeschool planner (which is just a 3 ring binder with dividers), before I started homeschooling it was my household binder, but I didn't want to have to worry about keeping up with two separate binders! It also has pages for Unit Study ideas, craft ideas, library logs, reading lists, field trip ideas and logs, and monthly calendar pages.

I'm hoping that by keeping all of this in one place will make the end of the year portfolios much easier!

More on meal planning here.

Meal Plan Monday (April 23rd-29th)

Monday- Honey Glazed Pork Tenderloin, and mixed vegetables.
Tuesday- Broccoli and Rice Casserole shake and bake chicken.
Wednesday- Goulash and Caesar salad.
Thursday- Stuffed chicken, whipped potatoes, and steamed broccoli.
Friday- Pork fried rice and stir-fry.
Saturday- Hamburgers, hotdogs, and barbequed potatoes.
Sunday- Easy Cheesy Slow Cooker Chicken, rice, and broccoli.

Can you tell I found an awesome deal on broccoli this week?!

Field Trip Friday!

Hubby works shift work, which is really awful most of the time, but one of the perks is that every second weekend he gets 3 days off (although he only has one day off on the other weekend). We've decided that on most of those Fridays we will try and do some sort of field trip with the kids. Today, we had a picnic in the park, and then headed to a Science Museum- the kids loved it and we all had a great day!

Our healthy picnic :P

I thought this was very cool!

They each wanted a turn pushing baby sister.

Watching the ducks.

Feeling her heartbeat.

Chairs of nails!

Learning about muscles.

And an impromptu lesson on gravity!

The Kaleidoscope corner.

My little scientist.

The museum was in an old jail, and many of the furnishings are original. Rylan thought that was very cool!

A sign of things to come?! Let's hope not!

All tuckered out!