tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-29429725364455254952024-03-14T14:49:53.482-04:00The (un)Intentional HousewifeCarriehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17122729026438550593noreply@blogger.comBlogger672125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2942972536445525495.post-51112604419446079872014-08-04T16:17:00.001-04:002014-08-04T16:17:10.148-04:00First Day of School 2014<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
We started our 8th year of homeschooling today! I took some photos, but it is a big pain to rearrange them here so these are in NO particular order.</div>
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Katie begins 6th grade this year. I like to print out these fun workpages for them to do first thing to start out the year. I should've been keeping them each year in a folder all together, but they are just in with our end of the year box each time. Oh well.</div>
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Here is Katie's page.</div>
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And Noah working on his "newspaper" page.</div>
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The table was all set last night, with first day of school goodies...new double wall tumblers for Katie and Noah in an attempt to make it easier to stay well hydrated.</div>
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Ruby will be much easier this year...than last year anyway. She was having some fun with Noah in between things today.</div>
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Here is Noah's page. He didn't draw himself. It's actually a box for a photo.</div>
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Everyone busy on their pages. Ruby wanted to get measured too, so I printed one for her as well.</div>
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Up close of Katie's cup.</div>
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This was after the "first day" photo you will see later. She is into this whole posing thing right now.</div>
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Noah's other first day activity. SO all boy.</div>
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Tracing a map.</div>
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Up close of Noah's cup.</div>
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Ruby and I played a lot today while Katie and Noah worked on their assignments.</div>
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Katie's newspaper page.</div>
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Ruby and I did work on her "All About Ruby" book that she's supposed to be taking for her first day of her 3 yr old program. This is a page she was supposed to fill with her favorite colors.</div>
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Ruby's new cup and sticker book.</div>
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Okay, so at first I asked them if they wanted to get dressed for a first day of school photo. They, of course, said no. So I said come on then we are taking a photo. This is what I got.</div>
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Ruby's page.</div>
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I am in love with these cups, can you tell? </div>
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We had a good first day. I am already feeling tired from getting going pretty early. Can't wait for coffee season! haha!</div>
<br />Carriehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17122729026438550593noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2942972536445525495.post-47027756128003967702014-07-30T13:34:00.000-04:002014-07-30T17:00:17.389-04:00Back to School 2014! (picture heavy and long!)<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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Big changes this year for our homeschool! #1 is that Ruby will be attending a twice per week 3 year old program at Education Play Station. It's the same place that Katie and Noah have taken afternoon homeschool classes for years now, and only a five minute drive. This will open up our day twice per week to get a lot DONE! (Both the big kids AND Corey we hope!)<br />
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Secondly, I am giving Katie and Noah more responsibility! They are going to have their planners with the week's assignments and be in charge of making sure it all gets done. Of course there will be several things that I have to do with them, like science, and math lessons, introducing new language lessons, etc. But a lot of what they do daily, vocabulary, reading comprehension, etc. will be ready and available for them to start on first thing, and even work ahead as they like.<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgc-Jd5lyMP-3QNT6qmqwVxXx2gGVF0qUkZYdWTWNsadiNoEopf2kMFKQ0pvrlscbmtax4a5UjmRurQiPTiz6lV3RwW7FvIrQLwc9yNIRBz-3GxPXD5BJQTCVIeTR_z3R25o6AYwUibna4/s1600/photo+1+(10).JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgc-Jd5lyMP-3QNT6qmqwVxXx2gGVF0qUkZYdWTWNsadiNoEopf2kMFKQ0pvrlscbmtax4a5UjmRurQiPTiz6lV3RwW7FvIrQLwc9yNIRBz-3GxPXD5BJQTCVIeTR_z3R25o6AYwUibna4/s1600/photo+1+(10).JPG" height="240" width="320" /></a></div>
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I offered Noah several choices for cute covers, but he wanted one made plainly. ha.</div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEghjryOoRufrxqgV6G6CWEzaACiP3QbkOPOtVb5TZmrsynvtfBrVAdInOtRQYF6_xP7hlpmxONNx_A05BYyaWd1eHlBHzmXpKDpWegraRFT61ORqiM7zvhqbspcUOrOGbgy7xrL9_DQaQY/s1600/photo+2+(8).JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEghjryOoRufrxqgV6G6CWEzaACiP3QbkOPOtVb5TZmrsynvtfBrVAdInOtRQYF6_xP7hlpmxONNx_A05BYyaWd1eHlBHzmXpKDpWegraRFT61ORqiM7zvhqbspcUOrOGbgy7xrL9_DQaQY/s1600/photo+2+(8).JPG" height="320" width="240" /></a></div>
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Inside is their pencil pouch, weekly plan sheet, and dividers with pocket dividers for each subject. The pocket dividers have any worksheets and such that they will need.</div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiW9VJsYPgg_e8sAQszjmfUi1uUbdRJ9EReFCNUk0Pw74gWFAOa5ZZhXAWfya-Rn_kmkDA1RmnDo9v_VrCvePzpHs2LHTG2BrSFMVrpxVggmPRS9Iy9WWtRSMB_mnpUxP514Qgxezrfp_k/s1600/photo+4+(8).JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiW9VJsYPgg_e8sAQszjmfUi1uUbdRJ9EReFCNUk0Pw74gWFAOa5ZZhXAWfya-Rn_kmkDA1RmnDo9v_VrCvePzpHs2LHTG2BrSFMVrpxVggmPRS9Iy9WWtRSMB_mnpUxP514Qgxezrfp_k/s1600/photo+4+(8).JPG" height="400" width="300" /></a></div>
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And this is where it really gets exciting for me, as the busy wife, mom, and teacher.</div>
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I have the ENTIRE year's worth of their plans...DONE.</div>
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Yes, 36 weeks, 180 days, all written out.</div>
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I am considering getting a fireproof file cabinet for them, no joke, haha.</div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgznG11xuEFdBLxNT6CIOKz13zY0FRb8f5vi34-DRImlBP_iVkVxNuirWpL7cNvlzqgdBYNtQSvePjediwEIzk0lxAa2N28uCWRwhEfe5Rq91DZtjFFPUUMqQHl6aCCCTfFmf-czSIV578/s1600/photo+5+(7).JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgznG11xuEFdBLxNT6CIOKz13zY0FRb8f5vi34-DRImlBP_iVkVxNuirWpL7cNvlzqgdBYNtQSvePjediwEIzk0lxAa2N28uCWRwhEfe5Rq91DZtjFFPUUMqQHl6aCCCTfFmf-czSIV578/s1600/photo+5+(7).JPG" height="400" width="300" /></a></div>
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I was going to make copies of them, but I am relatively sure we won't lose them. And I am only putting one week at a time in their planner. I may make copies, but it's not on my have to get done list before next week.</div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiIxdOkMGV-EQHQ9nbB3VIXGs-r9D-kzrHGDw-Td8dVKgyukPoR9Dng89NXMuu0sp0wTnTVPd7LDnmrOn8W3om985XMLvZpSUXfBXEa_U6-f2WlTjQZsx4RZelfj2sdsFoOF7l5aMnr5ys/s1600/photo+3+(7).JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiIxdOkMGV-EQHQ9nbB3VIXGs-r9D-kzrHGDw-Td8dVKgyukPoR9Dng89NXMuu0sp0wTnTVPd7LDnmrOn8W3om985XMLvZpSUXfBXEa_U6-f2WlTjQZsx4RZelfj2sdsFoOF7l5aMnr5ys/s1600/photo+3+(7).JPG" height="240" width="320" /></a></div>
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Here are all their workbooks and textbooks divided up. The plan is to put these on their desks or somewhere more convenient for them to access daily, but we don't have their desk areas set up.</div>
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We are having to wait a bit in between getting loft beds to get this all set up, but I look forward to their having space and a school area that is not a centrally used area of the house. That proved to be quite a challenge last year. It's not just adding and subtracting and beginner chapter books anymore. They need quiet!</div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgI4XIKJydoJ1eROdJa55wrphPLrdP90MfH7bCiPOcWzRlpJyncOr1tgb0SJWNa7_1-1RLQPO_ssEnyC4ZIvYId-17jepcrKWjEPJRNyfOT_cHp7ic8sm2QnZWNMWElD6x1iTAzwO3YBtg/s1600/photo+3+(8).JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgI4XIKJydoJ1eROdJa55wrphPLrdP90MfH7bCiPOcWzRlpJyncOr1tgb0SJWNa7_1-1RLQPO_ssEnyC4ZIvYId-17jepcrKWjEPJRNyfOT_cHp7ic8sm2QnZWNMWElD6x1iTAzwO3YBtg/s1600/photo+3+(8).JPG" height="400" width="300" /></a></div>
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I also have a separate set of my own plans similar to their sheets, but I found I didn't need to write as much on it since they have such detailed directions. But I did have time, since I finished everything, to make this (above) overview of the year. I hope that this will help me stay on track with offering enrichment and beyond the page activities. I want to be more diligent with getting extra books from the library, so this list will help me stay on top of that. I have also been browsing and finding online resources, websites, youtube videos, etc to go along with what we are doing. These are things I've desired to add in the past, but got bogged down with the week to week and the micromanaging of the basics. As you can see we are focusing on a second year of American History, beginning with the post revolutionary war period.</div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjyMUVyMz6aC6_Ofyjsv4FdDfH8bTEltIR8Fhyphenhyphen0hxyRdcaQVJqEVIs9pxniZvThN5m4Ad_UX6VQNQd_dnIZzIUgAL4lli_3sCtlbl_xu63NJuWNMeTkKoCKDe1sWT-RGN4L_4ma16hNcFc/s1600/photo+(7).JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjyMUVyMz6aC6_Ofyjsv4FdDfH8bTEltIR8Fhyphenhyphen0hxyRdcaQVJqEVIs9pxniZvThN5m4Ad_UX6VQNQd_dnIZzIUgAL4lli_3sCtlbl_xu63NJuWNMeTkKoCKDe1sWT-RGN4L_4ma16hNcFc/s1600/photo+(7).JPG" height="320" width="240" /></a></div>
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I put all the maps, science notebooking, math work, literature studies divided up for the year in this file box. This is actually a bankers box because that's what I put our stuff in at the end of the year. So it will just go back in as they finish each week. They each have their own 36 folders.</div>
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Now, because I am a nerd, I will show exactly what all they are doing this year.</div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEifjvJb0Qf0fEFCecou513TdRq_1iVt9uQ57V2ghn_naBSxLvt7C7lu1R14pY4H2EYk15T7ku28HgOm8oalQys7CL8TCo9O7Vb9Ur4wxiueq2ACqOVkEbeR4yhAunu0Zipb0OtrCh1Tu34/s1600/daybook.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEifjvJb0Qf0fEFCecou513TdRq_1iVt9uQ57V2ghn_naBSxLvt7C7lu1R14pY4H2EYk15T7ku28HgOm8oalQys7CL8TCo9O7Vb9Ur4wxiueq2ACqOVkEbeR4yhAunu0Zipb0OtrCh1Tu34/s1600/daybook.jpg" height="320" width="239" /></a></div>
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I discovered these books from Rainbow Resources last year. We started some and I went ahead and ordered the next books for this year at the same time. These are more like a regular school reading textbook. It has excerpts from many different works and walks them through analyzing, connecting, looking at author's style and craft, etc and all that jazz and buzzwords. They will do these once or twice a week and independently. I just showed one of the books obviously. I will say just in case someone somewhere actually reads this post, that the above pictured book was listed for 5th grade and the 6th grade book moves up quite a bit in skill and is less colorful and appealing than this one. Just FYI. The subject matter is varied as well, everything from personal concentration camp stories to funny poems. I also have a poetry study worktext that I ordered from them that we will do once a week on Fridays together. Poetry is kind of difficult for this age, ready for beyond rhyming verse, yet some abstract things are more difficult to grasp. The book I got gives exposure to several different styles and walks through analyzing them.</div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjAmwOHDtSXu5QAI8sdX2VQKORqcRIjhyqcwwCbAvrGUDKmn41TqHv7as45A5-0BiCbgfcl-b62NqgefszE-NmiAz46lZwgFkpPg6prr2fdm3OEjPhRlDu2plv1UWF7kUblinJCvfLHyr0/s1600/180days.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjAmwOHDtSXu5QAI8sdX2VQKORqcRIjhyqcwwCbAvrGUDKmn41TqHv7as45A5-0BiCbgfcl-b62NqgefszE-NmiAz46lZwgFkpPg6prr2fdm3OEjPhRlDu2plv1UWF7kUblinJCvfLHyr0/s1600/180days.jpg" height="200" width="182" /></a></div>
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Another book from Rainbow Resource. This is a quick daily reading comprehension test skills type workbook. Can be done in less than ten minutes per day, or as Noah liked to do last year, do the week's worth in one sitting. It helps me remember to teach them certain things about this "type stuff" that I don't think of till they miss a question using the strategy, or whatnot.</div>
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We are sticking with Sequential Spelling. I did not order the workbooks this year, but I will just have them do the lists on notebook paper in their notebooks. I think I will alternate between doing the daily tests aloud and having them just copy one of the lists on their own, that way they are still being exposed to the words on a daily basis, even if we don't have time some days to sit and do all the words. I love this program!</div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEikBoGt-owUcSmSYVmdgAYmSsv-4yGItZqfRrDZER0kmKlOA6eaG82ZGRiyiepYnaE7rYjT2HLnl7ZY2tUqmhq0bSE48FyEJz0Jc3GQHrnn2m1i9BrE99ahQBlRWG_sTFsKApD_7AmA9zk/s1600/wordly+wise.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEikBoGt-owUcSmSYVmdgAYmSsv-4yGItZqfRrDZER0kmKlOA6eaG82ZGRiyiepYnaE7rYjT2HLnl7ZY2tUqmhq0bSE48FyEJz0Jc3GQHrnn2m1i9BrE99ahQBlRWG_sTFsKApD_7AmA9zk/s1600/wordly+wise.jpg" /></a></div>
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Also using Wordly Wise again. Love it. This will be independent work. Each book has 20 lists, so I have them take two weeks to complete the work for one list most weeks.</div>
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We are changing Language/Grammar programs this year. We had used First Language Lessons the past two years, but about 1/3 way through last year it just got SO tedious. The workbooks are really boring and extremely repetitive. I decided to go with an oldie but goody and use Abeka. </div>
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We aren't doing the Composition lessons included, but they are very heavy with the basic grammar and sentence structure/writing as well. A nice change, with some alternate terminology which I think will be useful for them to be exposed to for a while. This will alternate between being independent and something I do with them depending on how much they already have learned about whatever lesson they are doing.</div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEilawJoCxzhlJ6QP_1m6ed8AMLYyGdcxpOxqC7rTlkPKj4RcDVl4vTOIaNSqvwozd66lSFWI_VzQUK2sDHW5J32cu1GbjdjM2CLe9l2sISCqkNZHxkkkO1qe9sPpP3HcKsqv7bs8_BWoJE/s1600/writing.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEilawJoCxzhlJ6QP_1m6ed8AMLYyGdcxpOxqC7rTlkPKj4RcDVl4vTOIaNSqvwozd66lSFWI_VzQUK2sDHW5J32cu1GbjdjM2CLe9l2sISCqkNZHxkkkO1qe9sPpP3HcKsqv7bs8_BWoJE/s1600/writing.jpg" /></a></div>
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I actually lack plans for the second half of the year for Writing/Composition because this program will be finished at Christmas. But, it does have suggestions in the teacher book for what to do next if you don't want to purchase another level of their program yet. I've decided to wait and see how they are doing with their writing to decide what to do the second part of the year. I've sang the praises of this program on another post, still loving it.</div>
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And now, my favorite part of the curriculum choosing!</div>
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Literature studies!</div>
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I spent a lot of time looking at suggested readings lists, reading levels of various books, etc. </div>
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It can all be so subjective for the topics, etc of good literature.</div>
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So, I combined a lot of different suggestions, my own previous experiences, and what I could find online for free study resources to choose these books for the year.</div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgQJ3CjnSQT4fOUnpx6QmZDqBq47a0jJeRGqyHtzceCNl-vfRh56iqlaUHl1kbBXTYwNDdcJ3JcCwOpy589HmUbEpgJ6kdg9hFNw58xNMF-e7ezgfUw-4U0hGnZvHcUoxVXh2j_JGOeCSY/s1600/wrinkle.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgQJ3CjnSQT4fOUnpx6QmZDqBq47a0jJeRGqyHtzceCNl-vfRh56iqlaUHl1kbBXTYwNDdcJ3JcCwOpy589HmUbEpgJ6kdg9hFNw58xNMF-e7ezgfUw-4U0hGnZvHcUoxVXh2j_JGOeCSY/s1600/wrinkle.jpg" /></a><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiT7Pz9dH-JcsIURqKl4tEG8jbQ7WIcx9i0odOKvUFfREoH-RsaROwoIoalst-Pkq-nd9zJYxBIQJEXtCtpcBqO-xXYbO_8FezBO8zxjK84DRemRSwRcETo_d6RLyUfhRBYIDGHioU6zt4/s1600/shiloh.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiT7Pz9dH-JcsIURqKl4tEG8jbQ7WIcx9i0odOKvUFfREoH-RsaROwoIoalst-Pkq-nd9zJYxBIQJEXtCtpcBqO-xXYbO_8FezBO8zxjK84DRemRSwRcETo_d6RLyUfhRBYIDGHioU6zt4/s1600/shiloh.jpg" /></a></div>
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The first half of the year they will read the same books. I remember enjoying <u>A Wrinkle in Time</u>. I've never read <u>Shiloh</u>, but feel they should read it, from the synopsis I think they will enjoy it. I found some good study packets online for both of these books.</div>
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After they finish these around Thanksgiving, they are going to do a biography of their choice with a report. Yes, they could easily breeze through these books faster, but with the study packet that goes along chapter by chapter, it will take longer to complete. I think it's good for them to be forced to read at a slower pace and think more about each aspect of the story.</div>
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In January, Noah will read <u>Old Yeller</u>, while Katie begins <u>Little Women</u>.</div>
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Both of these books have free study questions I found online, and both even have a website with links for exploring different things in the book. Animals, rabies, etc for Old Yeller. And a Louisa May Alcott website with a virtual tour of the Orchard House, and many other fun things to do.</div>
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgPzVfaPMvuJzHqPvrnjWb0GRFTadDtNjJy0jgMHwQTg8dauvYAp7B_s4iLOlxBY3Lu3KYAeLclsztbgFDTCfnOAHc_teLHkb3cn8HA32fIvF9jNgJc-0JcFqKrEOYez0ixGE4jltOhanY/s1600/little+women.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgPzVfaPMvuJzHqPvrnjWb0GRFTadDtNjJy0jgMHwQTg8dauvYAp7B_s4iLOlxBY3Lu3KYAeLclsztbgFDTCfnOAHc_teLHkb3cn8HA32fIvF9jNgJc-0JcFqKrEOYez0ixGE4jltOhanY/s1600/little+women.jpg" /></a><br />
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I then plan to do the old "compare the book to the movie" idea. We've never really done this formally, so I think they will enjoy doing it with several of the books they are reading this year.</div>
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It will take Katie a good bit longer to "study" through Little Women, so Noah will move on to this one:</div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhsEGyphWfS-AiqbR8001aChUfTLO7h0ynWC8ZTPmj0_YyFNxh5_x3VHzPRsm01ile5bvO09W21t1GAz39eJ8wjFBCujSdrKC4WzOTXU7ph5XSHHSaAgsS2PYr8T2BOA_nBAvSgWER-arI/s1600/indian+in+the+cupboard.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhsEGyphWfS-AiqbR8001aChUfTLO7h0ynWC8ZTPmj0_YyFNxh5_x3VHzPRsm01ile5bvO09W21t1GAz39eJ8wjFBCujSdrKC4WzOTXU7ph5XSHHSaAgsS2PYr8T2BOA_nBAvSgWER-arI/s1600/indian+in+the+cupboard.jpg" height="320" width="212" /></a></div>
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Katie read this over the summer on her own, and I think Noah will enjoy it also. A free study guide was found online.</div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiu8SFCq359Kd7d6PHMIXhJwXfvh0sTeiYZLYu1whYIZ46c5fPat3PVMPz0r8PBFsTmKHbyttBFV8k9pRXZGo7YXrCPqgY81byVKDTsPD5aVUFOjbDFERZ438TP-DeR2PpT4cl8vfJ8BEo/s1600/frindle.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiu8SFCq359Kd7d6PHMIXhJwXfvh0sTeiYZLYu1whYIZ46c5fPat3PVMPz0r8PBFsTmKHbyttBFV8k9pRXZGo7YXrCPqgY81byVKDTsPD5aVUFOjbDFERZ438TP-DeR2PpT4cl8vfJ8BEo/s1600/frindle.jpg" /></a><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiOWUekWbLqMoDqRci4W3aWRv_ldU1zpuGFxqJrTEepF_Vk2WIqrUmAKiSGy5BASf4cCD0G9__TgvHCRD5kQp5HxvOUODlVaqxune219_HGlSgfUEzRhm4obsesHnE7XQxbywifnWK1S8E/s1600/tuck+everlasting.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiOWUekWbLqMoDqRci4W3aWRv_ldU1zpuGFxqJrTEepF_Vk2WIqrUmAKiSGy5BASf4cCD0G9__TgvHCRD5kQp5HxvOUODlVaqxune219_HGlSgfUEzRhm4obsesHnE7XQxbywifnWK1S8E/s1600/tuck+everlasting.jpg" /></a></div>
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By the last month of school, they will almost be on the same timeline again, so I chose some short easy reads to finish out the year. <u>Frindle</u> for Noah, and <u>Tuck Everlasting</u> for Katie. I found study guides for both of these online as well. I think they are going to have some good book reading and study done this year! Now, to plan a trip to McKay's to go ahead and get copies of all these books!<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhwjVCXSiZAxFC2PcI2GcglHl3vPl3UW2b7bOOeDnIqiXQ7Hx7xJN3n4vB43xpakNIhpSWROqb1y0V9GG_bkXWmRZjbRZlMZMTzRw6TjLHjfFwtrA4KWqjrDh1uoD7FOrElt7VVqFM5A84/s1600/health6.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhwjVCXSiZAxFC2PcI2GcglHl3vPl3UW2b7bOOeDnIqiXQ7Hx7xJN3n4vB43xpakNIhpSWROqb1y0V9GG_bkXWmRZjbRZlMZMTzRw6TjLHjfFwtrA4KWqjrDh1uoD7FOrElt7VVqFM5A84/s1600/health6.jpg" height="320" width="293" /></a></div>
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One 9 weeks for the year we will work through this health book for science time.</div>
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Health is going to be big this year. Several big milestones on the horizon for my preteens.</div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhnKwMNk4GSyJdY6XQddT-kDEHfcnX-aqiOHUkXfp01TvAudLVQP7n9lSG4T2hHIXQG87JTK_IjtFBIN4LHEmKFs4a1kYS_Zgu6o33H5FLv6RKsifqMQTY52EEc1a9cDhmoIOtWB4-SFXg/s1600/history.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhnKwMNk4GSyJdY6XQddT-kDEHfcnX-aqiOHUkXfp01TvAudLVQP7n9lSG4T2hHIXQG87JTK_IjtFBIN4LHEmKFs4a1kYS_Zgu6o33H5FLv6RKsifqMQTY52EEc1a9cDhmoIOtWB4-SFXg/s1600/history.jpg" height="320" width="257" /></a></div>
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Yes, they will be in 5th and 6th grade, but this will still be a resource for us this year as we study American History.</div>
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My favorite find is this book:</div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjtXRZRjebgExugKt_zOnDhu_S_PczoEMZGCg6iWdrahaKlbtwluD6MRyeMlDRw3aCOBVi4zDzz_sPiIUwTJuLs2Bx1zZ3hfQZqGaLc6mYO6dHxtYR5YWr385EmpAs8T0RyR0_9SsUaXgc/s1600/us+history.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjtXRZRjebgExugKt_zOnDhu_S_PczoEMZGCg6iWdrahaKlbtwluD6MRyeMlDRw3aCOBVi4zDzz_sPiIUwTJuLs2Bx1zZ3hfQZqGaLc6mYO6dHxtYR5YWr385EmpAs8T0RyR0_9SsUaXgc/s1600/us+history.jpg" /></a></div>
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$3 each at McKay's for two copies, so perfect! It has a chronological walk through of many interesting American History topics. Interesting drawings and photos. Nothing fancy, but it's a good resource.</div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhumoOGbwFS4am9-_gO7lWnNNSHzO633cMyVq2noIGfAREtwmzsLZTNIoDKswtqD2SJsvb2l9UdzG6q2E7IzwJf9oav9wEo2OiRzwJulApR_J2oinFOAnha1EZDUp4FaX4ddNmTF42QsNo/s1600/photo+1+(12).JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhumoOGbwFS4am9-_gO7lWnNNSHzO633cMyVq2noIGfAREtwmzsLZTNIoDKswtqD2SJsvb2l9UdzG6q2E7IzwJf9oav9wEo2OiRzwJulApR_J2oinFOAnha1EZDUp4FaX4ddNmTF42QsNo/s1600/photo+1+(12).JPG" height="240" width="320" /></a></div>
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We are also going to be using these books. I cannot remember where we found or acquired these. We bought a set of some kind of books from a friend's yardsale, I can't remember if it was these, or if we got these from a grandparent. But it is great for throwing in an in depth look at major historical milestones.</div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjn8ufWpJKKzOnekUA-MQFvlJxaF0hCUydMk61GZh_O8ZvII7z4yNoXQ9tOM2k1Y_-n_SsYvpS9KYtQF502bhvI87J8AAK28NrNidOE2s9AEoY8J0drqHoVxUv2hOiIl0RiOh3w0xjjAnY/s1600/photo+2+(10).JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjn8ufWpJKKzOnekUA-MQFvlJxaF0hCUydMk61GZh_O8ZvII7z4yNoXQ9tOM2k1Y_-n_SsYvpS9KYtQF502bhvI87J8AAK28NrNidOE2s9AEoY8J0drqHoVxUv2hOiIl0RiOh3w0xjjAnY/s1600/photo+2+(10).JPG" height="320" width="240" /></a></div>
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The publish date is 1977. I was able to plan to use one almost every week of our History study. In addition to those, we are doing US Geography, states and capitals mastery, and lapbooks to go along with the Civil War and Oregon trail (already printed and ready in our folders). I hope to add more, but I definitely had a great basic plan ready to do. At the end of the year we are going to do the Georgia State History notebook project that I had planned to do last year but didn't get to actually do.</div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEio9_hPkBpcIVsEdUJ54gmvbSXgtYiq5Er2miHhomhz8r30nQGmVopsNiqgUDA0XsEZ4mFRWBBHTQ1pSItIMhv8qx56X2tXt5d_cVBYXNjP2akjyB35jwOcK_6Vm0kvaWiZtylVXZUzwpc/s1600/math.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEio9_hPkBpcIVsEdUJ54gmvbSXgtYiq5Er2miHhomhz8r30nQGmVopsNiqgUDA0XsEZ4mFRWBBHTQ1pSItIMhv8qx56X2tXt5d_cVBYXNjP2akjyB35jwOcK_6Vm0kvaWiZtylVXZUzwpc/s1600/math.jpg" /></a></div>
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Abeka Math 5 and 6. I will be learning a lot as I work through the 6th grade program with Katie this year. Well, relearning. We will be delving into pi and areas of circles, compound interest, and tons of more complicated fractions concepts. Yay! I don't buy the teacher manuals anymore. These student books have boxes that walk through each new concept. I have found the Abeka teacher manuals just include more drills and repetition daily which honestly, as helpful as it might be to make them super robot math machines, I just don't have time. Some people may spend 8-4 doing school, but I just can't, we live in the real world, haha. I got things to do and places to go!</div>
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I didn't get a photo, but we will be returning to Home Science Adventures this year. Microscopic Exploration, Insects, and Light. I would love to do a more intensive science program, but maybe I can alternate a heavy history year and a heavy science year. I just don't have time for both! This program is mainly experiment based with some notebooking and the kit comes with everything down to the last cotton ball and rubber band. We plan to do a couple of lessons/experiments per week while Ruby is in class and also do a lot of our history reading and Writing curriculum those days. We will see how it goes in action and see what we have to adjust. The place that Ruby goes is a actually 5 minutes driveway to driveway. Seriously, leave any earlier and you are too early, haha. That's a big reason it will work for us. The time she's away will be completely usable time. And Katie and Noah are old enough to stay here and get started on work while I take and pick her up. Corey is usually home during those hours as well, so he will be able to work on his schoolwork some and save more of our weekends! </div>
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I really like this Bible study program I found recently. It's called Bible Study for all Ages.</div>
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You get these workpages that lead through a particular passage and the workpages are adapted for different age groups. Same Bible verses, different pages and pictures with different depths of activities to study it for different ages. So Ruby can follow along and do things on her level, while Katie and Noah learn more in depth about the topic. Have I been repetitive enough with this? haha.</div>
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Anyway, it can actually take a good amount of time to work through each one on the advanced pages, so we will plan to do one lesson of these per week throughout the week together as a family.</div>
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I feel that we have a very full year ahead of us. And I also feel it will be very productive and fulfilling! I look forward to seeing if planning out the entire year works well. I had thought of doing it several different times but never actually took the time needed to do it. I really hope it pays off!</div>
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We are continuing Noah with karate, he gets to go twice a week. And Katie has weekly violin lessons. Since her extracurricular is a solo activity we decided it would be beneficial for her to go to a class at EPS as well. So, she is going to take a geography class once a week. It uses Around the World in 180 days by Apologia and studies countries and mission work around the world. I think it will be a good fit for her, give her some extra geography study, and give her a chance for group interaction.</div>
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<b>Tentative Weekly Schedule:</b></div>
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<b>Monday:</b> School 8:30-1pm, breaks for snack and lunch. Katie at geography 1-2:30</div>
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<b>Tuesday:</b> School 8:30-1. Ruby at prek 9-12. Karate 5:30-6:15</div>
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<b>Wednesday:</b> School 8:30-1. Nothing else!</div>
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<b>Thursday</b>: School 8:30-1. Ruby at prek 9-12. Violin 1:45-2:15 </div>
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<b>Friday:</b> School 8:30-1. Nothing else! </div>
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<b>Saturday:</b> Karate 10:15-11am</div>
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I plan to do a library day either Tuesday or Thursday in "town" if I need things from the big library, or any other day at the local location. We've been fairly consistent this summer so I hope we can keep up the pattern!</div>
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We plan to start next week, which will be a week before Ruby's and Katie's classes begin. I am excited, yet not looking forward to earlier mornings!</div>
<br />Carriehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17122729026438550593noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2942972536445525495.post-90439023757156003492014-05-31T22:53:00.001-04:002014-05-31T22:53:15.814-04:00Next things nextTime keeps on slipping..into the future. ha.<br />
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After a very crazy time, we enter yet another crazy time. I haven't blogged in a while, simply because I've felt my life has been too personal to put out there. As if life could be more personal that it is at any given point in time. I don't really care to put everything in my life out there right now, but things are progressing and God is good. Always good. We eagerly await the next phase of following where God would have us minister, in what ways, and how. It's sure to be so very satisfying when we figure it out. I recently went through a Bible study and one of the points was "eat it before you tweet it." Meaning....the Word God gives you doesn't have to immediately go right back out. You need to get the full meaning, the full WORD before you spit it back out and lose grasp of what it means to you. Sometimes we step out too soon on faith because we get an inkling or because something is so good it has to be what's next. But then, if we wait, God will take us and lead us to that next place. When we are ready. After we had digested the word. Following the Lord, and not jumping out in front of Him excitedly. There is wisdom in waiting. And there is peace in that place. Sometimes doing something just to be doing something does more harm than good. If it's a distraction from the growth, absorbing the Word and praying for doors to be opened. It will be harder to see the right door when it opens if you are busy jumping in and out of others, dealing with the wasted time and energies thereof.<br />
It reminds me of kids (or adults) counting down to vacation. It's fun and exciting, mom and dad have told us we are going, but if we left right away we wouldn't have a place to stay. The place to stay will be ready when it's our time. And we will be ready, packed, prepared, and responsibilities taken care of.<br />
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We've had Christmas and birthdays. We've completed THE most difficult year of homeschooling to date. A two year old is extremely challenging and distracting. We made it though. We finished testing. I'm waiting for the results to come and then I can box up this year and put it out of sight and out of mind. Hoping and praying for a better year next school year. And looking forward to a BREAK. Corey will have a school break at the same time, so maybe our family can actually sit down together and have some time that is quality for the first time in a while. A time without thinking about the school projects that need done, or how behind we are in this or that.<br />
<br />
We finished 4th and 5th grade this year, which means I will be teaching a middle schooler next year! I am excited! What a blessing to spend these next few years becoming friends with my daughter, BLESSING and guiding her through this TIME. Any grown women will appreciate this sentiment to its fullest!<br />
And Noah, so close behind, will turn ten this summer. In just a few weeks.<br />
They are simply wonderful kids!<br />
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Ruby is three and going to a two day preschool this fall. Haha. It will be good for everyone, not the least of which is our daily heavier school schedules. We are excited for her!<br />
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I have a new laptop, which is blowing my mind. I can touch the screen and it has a completely different layout and I feel SO very old trying to use it!<br />
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Very late bedtime calls!<br />
I won't promise to blog soon, but maybe!<br />
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<br />Carriehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17122729026438550593noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2942972536445525495.post-45063567641715291722013-11-11T20:37:00.002-05:002013-11-11T20:37:35.943-05:00Toddler Days<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
Since Ruby has been about....eh..... 1 day old....she's been pretty high maintenance.</div>
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Beginning with a sensitivity to milk, putting me completely dairy free for about eight months, and suffering with some severe reflux, she's always kept us on our toes.</div>
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Napping and sleeping are no different. </div>
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Don't get me wrong, she slept well very early on, and hasn't ever really REFUSED to sleep, except that time I forgot to get my frappe DECAF when she was about 5-6 months old.</div>
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Her latest trend is to nap in the recliner.</div>
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I have sat behind her, rocking and reading history or science out loud to Katie and Noah while she watches a show or lullabye Pandora.</div>
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And within about five minutes, she is OUT.</div>
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Out COLD.</div>
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Even mid-cheerio. (yes, she loves these owl pajamas!)</div>
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So, this weekend, we put a recliner in her bedroom because even though she would nap for 1 1/2-2 hrs in the recliner, it was kind of a pain worrying that someone might ring the doorbell or not be able to unload the dishwasher, etc.</div>
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It took a little longer today, closer to twenty minutes of rocking, but eventually....</div>
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she was out....</div>
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COLD.</div>
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She slept about an hour and a half. </div>
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Her latest favorite sayings:</div>
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"Mommy, I WUB (fill in the blank, pretty much whatever you are talking about)"</div>
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"It's my favit (favorite)"</div>
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or many times "It's my favit dame" (favorite game)</div>
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"Mommy (or Tatie or Noah, or Daddy, or Nanna, etc) You my best fwen" (your're my best friend)</div>
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The other night she came up to me and swaying her hips back and forth said, </div>
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"Mommy, say, Whatchou do----in?" </div>
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(I think she got this from Isabella on Phineas and Ferb)</div>
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She loves to try to sing ABC's and the Diego and Dora songs.</div>
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Also, she will say "I don wike dat" randomly about stuff.</div>
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<br />Carriehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17122729026438550593noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2942972536445525495.post-23295080702019886122013-11-08T17:46:00.005-05:002013-11-08T18:18:13.188-05:00Institute for Excellence in Writing<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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<br />
Institute for Excellence in Writing. Wordy Title.<br />
Okay, so I've raved about it before, but I want to say again that I absolutely LOVE <a href="http://iew.com/">this writing program</a>. It is so academically rich with teaching how to write. The DVD lessons at times can be a little long, but Katie and Noah seem to stay interested and entertained by them. And they are acquiring great skills by following at outline for how to write certain methods. We are doing <a href="http://iew.com/shop/products/student-writing-intensive-level">Student Writing Intensive A</a> at the rate of completing a full lesson every 1-2 weeks. If you don't know anything about the program and have never been to one of the workshops, I HIGHLY recommend buying or borrowing (like I did) the <a href="http://iew.com/shop/products/teaching-writing-structure-style-dvd-seminar-seminar-workbook">Teaching Writing Seminar on DVD.</a> In all honesty, you COULD teach this method by just watching that seminar, quite easily in fact, but it would be difficult to use their writing intensives without having seen the DVD seminar. That's how good it is. I am a certified elementary school teacher, and what I learned from that seminar was crucial to our success with this program, it's not just a gimmick! Now, I love the "set" of lessons with the DVD lessons for the kids, because honestly it does a much more thorough job than I would do of teaching the material in an interesting way, and the kids get to listen to someone besides me, and I know they are getting a HIGH quality level of instruction in writing. <br />
Let's face it...being able to write (all genres, clearly, concisely, and with correct grammar) is the foundation for success in any higher education. In all subject areas, not just for English majors and professional writers. I am so thankful I found this program for 4/5th grade when they are really just beginning to be capable of understanding some higher level styles and information for writing and writing "about."<br />
<br />
We use a separate curriculum for Language and Grammar. Because as the teaching seminar points out, writing and grammar/spelling are two completely different things. Do NOT try to teach spelling while you are trying to get a child to write a story. Two totally different sides of the brain and slows down creativity and flow in an extreme way! (same thing goes for HANDwriting and Writing!) I could go on and on about all the wonderful things I learned from that DVD but I will stop! ha ha. Language/Grammar and Writing WILL all mesh together, but like learning to talk on a cell phone and drive, they can't be learned simultaneously.<br />
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At the beginning of the year they were creating a "key-word outline" by taking apart informational or other texts sentence by sentence. They would then test this outline by retelling the information or story by only using their outline. This helped them be sure they were choosing quality terms and words from the original text for their outline. They would then re-write the paragraph, using their keyword outline. What wonderful practice for essay, research papers, and public speaking! Along the way they were introduced to stylistic techniques (with mini lessons to show how to use and brainstorm lists to draw from) to include in their rewriting. Things like "use a "who or which" clause, or include a quality adverb. They also started a banned words list, so they are no longer allowed to use the word "said" but must choose a better and more interesting word to use instead. By making all of these things a requirement, although they are searching and putting them in that way, these techniques will become more of a habit and they will easily find ways to do it more independently. They both mostly are able to fit all the requirements in on their own, but sometimes I do give them some hints or help in suggesting where might be a good place to include them in their rough draft. <br />
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So the past couple of weeks they have been working on a re-write of the well-known story, "The Boy Who Cried Wolf" Another strategy that IEW uses, is allowing students to use other material to draw from for inspiration. I agreed when watching their teacher training sessions that it's really unfair to expect an elementary student to be able to completely come up with an idea to write about from absolutely nothing. In the grand scheme of life, they've only been reading less than five years (generally speaking) and don't have very much life experience to draw from. So teaching ways to enhance a story that is given to them, summarize, learn stylistic techniques and practice them on material that is given to them, will prepare them to be really good story-tellers, and THEN they can start making even mundane every day things into good stories. It's hard for a kid to make a trip to the store into anything more than a few sentences without tools in their possession to inspire them to make it good.<br />
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This story also included several paragraphs, stepping up from the shorter one paragraphs they've been doing. They had to do an outline, complete their checklist, and rough draft each part separately before being done. This is teaching them to not retell the story or tell any story for that manner, in just two sentences. ha ha.<br />
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So back to why I'm posting. I am SO happy with their stories they've written this week! I want to blog them here for you. I let them (for the first time) type up their final drafts so that I could just copy and paste them here. I am going to do a direct copy and paste, no editing!<br />
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Their checklist for this assignment:<br />
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"-ly" adverb<br />
who/which clause<br />
strong verb<br />
quality adjective<br />
because clause<br />
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banned words: said, see/saw, go/went, thought<br />
And they are required to come up with an interesting title based around the ending of the story (again I know this isn't a MUST for creative writing, but it makes them think harder at this point in time and see the story as a whole)<br />
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And for the grammar police out there, he had a whole entire segment on the teacher training about "who/which" clauses and how it helps them become better writers, addressing the nitty gritty of fitting them/not using them in professional writing later is another issue to address later!<br />
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<b>Noah's:</b><br />
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Noah Thompson</div>
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November 8, 2013</div>
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How the Chicken Nugget
Lost His Cap</div>
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Once upon
a time,there was a very foolish chicken nugget who was wearing a big
red cap and playing on the swing. Then he got really bored because he
had nobody to play with. </div>
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Then he remembered one day his dad exclaimed
“If you ever see a mouth be sure to quickly call to the other
chicken nuggets because they will scare it away.” So he eagerly
called “Mouth Mouth!” The other chicken nuggets rushed over but
they they discovered there was no mouth,which made them mad. They
blabbered “Don't ever do that again!”</div>
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Later, he got bored again
so, overwhelmed with boredom the chicken nugget cried “Mouth
Mouth!”</div>
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The other chicken nuggets rushed over, but they got furious
because there was no mouth! Then they violently screamed “Don't
EVER do that again!”</div>
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After they left the chicken nugget cried
“Mouth Mouth!” because he noticed a real mouth with razor sharp
teeth! But the other chicken nuggets ignored him! The chicken nugget
loudly screamed “Mouth Mou......." But then the other chicken
nuggets got worried and rushed over, but only found his cap.</div>
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<b>Katie's:</b></div>
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Katie Thompson</div>
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November 8, 2013</div>
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Don't
Lie</div>
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Once,
there was a bug,he was a ladybug and a school bug who was very
foolish. He lived on a leafy</div>
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treetop
in the woods. One day he was impatiently learning math, then he got
very bored because math is not very
fun! Then he remembered Mrs. Webber's warning when he first started
going to Redwood Elementary, ''Beware of the bird, if you see one,
call for help!'' He became very curious.
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He wanted
to make some excitement in his classroom so he screamed loudly,
''BIRD!'' </div>
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Mrs
Webber, the principal, the janitor, and even Marsha, who is the most tough class bully, ducked and screamed! But there was no bird. He had the whole building fooled! He laughed uncontrollably!
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The whole building was pretty upset with him! Marsha said ''don't <i>ever, ever,
EVER</i> do that again you little pest!''</div>
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For a
long time he did not, but one day he got SO bored, he knew he
shouldn't , but it just ''happened''
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to slip
from his lips. ''Oh no...
b-b-b-b-b-b-b-b-b-b-b-b-b-b-b-b-b-BIRD!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!”
There was panic all in Redwood Elementary. Then there was ANGER!!!!! Bugs knew he
was gonna be punished. He got some <i>severe</i> talking-to. </div>
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Then, a
couple hours later Bugs spotted a <i>real, beak-licking, sharp
beaked, eyes gleaming</i></div>
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''B-B-B-B-B-B-B-B-B-B-B-B-B-B-B-B-B-B-B-B-B-B-B-B-B-B-B-B-B-B-B-B-B-BIRD!!!!!!!!!!!''
screamed Bugs. he was ignored. ''BIRD!'' BIRD!!!'' he was still
ignored. ''BIR-------------<i>gulp!</i>''
At this the students and Mrs. Webber became startled! Before they
could duck, the bird swooped in and greedily ate them all up!</div>
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The
moral: Don't lie or other people might not believe you when you are
telling the truth.</div>
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<br />Carriehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17122729026438550593noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2942972536445525495.post-74893193791612859832013-11-01T16:07:00.002-04:002013-11-01T16:07:59.217-04:00Farewell to October<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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October is always a fun month for us!</div>
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Katie turned ELEVEN! </div>
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She got a pet for her birthday, neon tetra and some tetra that glow in this special tank that is really neat!</div>
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She has loved having a pet finally!</div>
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Katie requested coconut cake, so I had to post a picture of this delicious cake. I am quite proud of my first attempt at making coconut cake. Very yum!</div>
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Here she is all dressed up for her birthday dinner. She chose Provino's.</div>
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Our kids absolutely crack me up. After pointing out that it didn't really matter what she named the fish because it's not like they would ever come if she called them, Katie (after Noah coming up with this idea sort of), decided that a "wheel of fish names" was in order. So she spins it every day and gets to use all the names she came up with for her fish. One name means they all that same name for the day.</div>
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Katie and me before going out for her birthday dinner.</div>
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And of course, Halloween! Ruby's first time trick-or-treating! (last year we stayed in with friends)</div>
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I did NOT choose to buy or go all out for this child's costume. With her personality, going through any trouble for a costume would certainly guarantee her refusal to wear it. So we just raided the dress up box before going out. I DID buy her some $1 wings at the dollar tree since we didn't have any surviving wings at the moment.</div>
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Katie chose to be a "roman princess." Meme whipped up this toga/robe a couple of weeks ago and we used some silky fabric for the scarf thing. Some gold binding finished up the details.</div>
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Fancy hair and makeup were the finishing touches. She looked beautiful!</div>
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Noah was the first to really decide on his costume. After seeing this idea posted on Pinterest, all it took was some printer ink, gluestick, a box, and time. It was just printed out from a tutorial online and pasted on the box. Pretty easy!</div>
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Here they all are together before going out to Trick or Treat on Broad Street in Rome.</div>
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Ruby got used to the idea very quickly! She loved it, and even more I think loved seeing all the other kids in costumes.</div>
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Grandpa walked a block with us then cut out! When we were done (a WHILE later) she noticed he wasn't with us anymore and asked where "Papa" went.</div>
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Meme dressed up as a pumpkin, ha ha!</div>
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After we finished we went back to Meme's office (a block away) and Noah immediately sorted his candy to see what he got.</div>
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Our of order pic! A store had this set up in front.</div>
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Ruby was SO EXCITED about eating candy! She had a piece in each hand going back and forth licking and taking bites.</div>
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And to finish off the day of junk, we had "spooky face pancakes" for dinner. IHOP was supposedly giving out free spooky face pancakes for kids all day, but we decided to just pick up a couple of things and make our own. The one above is Noah's creation.</div>
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This one is Ruby's. I did the hair with apples to encourage her to eat SOMETHING good, ha ha.</div>
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Mine! That's some Orville Reddenbacher prepopped kettle corn. good stuff.</div>
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And Katie's pretty design.</div>
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It was threatening rain all afternoon but turned into a nice cool evening.</div>
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We finished up the night with handing out candy to trick or treaters. We actually ran out of two HUGE bags of candy and gave out some of Ruby's candy (oops! not like she was going to actually eat it all!). They LOVED LOVED handing out candy! Ruby squealed and could not have more enjoyed putting candy in the kids buckets, and loved seeing all the costumes.</div>
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It was a fun night!</div>
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26 days till Thanksgiving!</div>
<br />Carriehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17122729026438550593noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2942972536445525495.post-74850976781177253952013-10-23T18:34:00.000-04:002013-10-23T18:34:16.187-04:00Firsts<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh3gc5pXrqCmDUdUo5d1f7ZScl71x9Rjv9zVb7O3uHuiSCHUJf7U-1cW8DglbMRzxvqF0_ZvQ2HHA5Z0J09KJLbvM35LwhYNcZADJJ7z5lwd34KI9Szix4pHyZ4b7lmBWrgigA2UOePsNA/s1600/20131018_004200.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh3gc5pXrqCmDUdUo5d1f7ZScl71x9Rjv9zVb7O3uHuiSCHUJf7U-1cW8DglbMRzxvqF0_ZvQ2HHA5Z0J09KJLbvM35LwhYNcZADJJ7z5lwd34KI9Szix4pHyZ4b7lmBWrgigA2UOePsNA/s320/20131018_004200.jpg" width="180" /></a></div>
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Ruby had her first visit to the ER last week.</div>
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She was so pitiful! She started getting a bad cough suddenly over Wednesday night and then Thursday it got worse and she ran a fever all day. At around 11pm she woke up trembling and gasping with a tell tell "bark" to her cough. I wanted to go let someone listen to her to rule out anything too serious or to evaluate the severity of what I was sure it was: croup. No meds, but I was reassured with her lungs being clear, so we just have to wait it out.</div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjOBDxV23aSG5HHAXPVeAzfzoDu1Na4SXjBPLa7OaMA6A4qP_E_LEOY9nzp6ZxKt9Hr5gdnCyX-zNRMfwQEUY_OTwDYRY-S8SCcMPlM3govPrISQ78W7QztHKV9LYlWX42YQOTzdCjFlhg/s1600/IMG_9337.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjOBDxV23aSG5HHAXPVeAzfzoDu1Na4SXjBPLa7OaMA6A4qP_E_LEOY9nzp6ZxKt9Hr5gdnCyX-zNRMfwQEUY_OTwDYRY-S8SCcMPlM3govPrISQ78W7QztHKV9LYlWX42YQOTzdCjFlhg/s320/IMG_9337.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
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This picture was taken on Friday. She got in my lap and asked to be rocked with the blanket. She took a really good nap for a little while at least.</div>
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This was taken this past Tuesday. After she felt a little bit better she would just fall asleep whenever and wherever she would be able to get comfortable for a few minutes. </div>
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She was sleeping hard! Moved onto the floor completely!</div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj0zhWEb9U-qFWUpp-ieXzbdJNGzw4B_AvYQ1l9b6I6GqDsFgcuHtr00du0mWCm5-mb0xDZhOTOD2vlf6D950NeRp8T6GfenY1DB1NxCW4VlQnCmZtv2t4h9DM1NcZ3QQeWlbfKmMIHS9M/s1600/IMG_8564.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj0zhWEb9U-qFWUpp-ieXzbdJNGzw4B_AvYQ1l9b6I6GqDsFgcuHtr00du0mWCm5-mb0xDZhOTOD2vlf6D950NeRp8T6GfenY1DB1NxCW4VlQnCmZtv2t4h9DM1NcZ3QQeWlbfKmMIHS9M/s320/IMG_8564.jpg" width="240" /></a></div>
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This was taken last night. She has felt a TINY bit better every day, and she's finally off the pain meds for her sore throat today. I finally got brave enough to give her a bath after almost a week of waiting for the worst to pass. She wanted bows in her hair because she saw them under the sink.</div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjTMTNnwEkC4_kyrAcZ53AuQOTr8bWsPPskWakc8HGHDwQeqTGkcbSLJU7KVm8OXu7-XaRMODIqxVoHxIbuVtZHqHyCVgR__k7CESdQ0qTAKAv8gAJXjGC87VYgh1lFPWpW7uudJpuqSdo/s1600/IMG_0792.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjTMTNnwEkC4_kyrAcZ53AuQOTr8bWsPPskWakc8HGHDwQeqTGkcbSLJU7KVm8OXu7-XaRMODIqxVoHxIbuVtZHqHyCVgR__k7CESdQ0qTAKAv8gAJXjGC87VYgh1lFPWpW7uudJpuqSdo/s320/IMG_0792.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
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And after her bath....she got comfy on the bed. Took about an hour nap but it didn't keep her up TOO late afterward.</div>
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And today she had her best nap of the week in the recliner. Over two hours in this exact position!</div>
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She still has a really nasty sounding cough, but from the increase of stubbornness and mess, I can tell she's getting back to her usual self after a full week. Croup is ROUGH!</div>
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And another first....</div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg7VViN7OLa_FYGWagqGFcyhyphenhyphen57l8_HLYy4iZfuvQSR5U2N9qqcePM2Oloe4VCoCCpChHnnNSEYyJzmMy8tRNPbUmnsUJy6WOOsSIjjQ1MPv7mG4L3zHPFSOu2EMTzlEzljAiiwawaLAPU/s1600/20131023_171239.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg7VViN7OLa_FYGWagqGFcyhyphenhyphen57l8_HLYy4iZfuvQSR5U2N9qqcePM2Oloe4VCoCCpChHnnNSEYyJzmMy8tRNPbUmnsUJy6WOOsSIjjQ1MPv7mG4L3zHPFSOu2EMTzlEzljAiiwawaLAPU/s320/20131023_171239.jpg" width="180" /></a></div>
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Corey celebrated his first anniversary with Shaw this week and he got this really cool water bottle as a present. His official anniversary date was in September but since apparently a ton of people get hired in September they split them up over two months to celebrate.</div>
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He has come SO FAR with the company in such a short time, I am very VERY proud of him. And I am very pleased to see that they recognize hard work and see his potential for leadership. That awesome water bottle happens to be sitting on his very own desk. Who gets a desk upper level job less than a year after going to work for Shaw? My awesome husband that's who! God definitely placed him in the right place at the right time and we are very blessed! And patiently (attempting anyway!) waiting to see what will come our way for his future!</div>
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<br />Carriehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17122729026438550593noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2942972536445525495.post-34170160070678035812013-10-11T10:00:00.000-04:002013-10-11T10:00:04.193-04:00Organizing Our Homeschool Year!When this posts, we will be finishing the last day of our 9th week of the school year! I spent yesterday organizing and planning for the next nine weeks and decided to take some photos and share how I organize our school days!<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhizxEGaSWVvQcbjJvmdy0JWA26OULRP4k77S8beOWFy_b8_XMnbr6_gS3Me2m4rpyumYpdK0vvBcP6nxgJ4ZMQpd0j1BaELXFZ843i8fy_mH-rNxsGVbY1GGwYQoonQTiVAnLPRtQdHdQ/s1600/hs12.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhizxEGaSWVvQcbjJvmdy0JWA26OULRP4k77S8beOWFy_b8_XMnbr6_gS3Me2m4rpyumYpdK0vvBcP6nxgJ4ZMQpd0j1BaELXFZ843i8fy_mH-rNxsGVbY1GGwYQoonQTiVAnLPRtQdHdQ/s320/hs12.JPG" width="240" /></a></div>
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This was taken after I finished. Just some laundry and school planning!</div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiArYHlh3T1guUfGDqYSwJi3VC3xBNpqQ_MQ1hH1bHVW34TRIoEaZ1x1VHrULmq46cuR2DsWN1st8KAuwY_lR41vFM0RhTr77jlCq-Mf3-IUTj6tHw4Q3QCpmRB9UKM3lYBLn9kVJ2EKTA/s1600/hs11.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiArYHlh3T1guUfGDqYSwJi3VC3xBNpqQ_MQ1hH1bHVW34TRIoEaZ1x1VHrULmq46cuR2DsWN1st8KAuwY_lR41vFM0RhTr77jlCq-Mf3-IUTj6tHw4Q3QCpmRB9UKM3lYBLn9kVJ2EKTA/s320/hs11.JPG" width="240" /></a></div>
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Here's the front of my notebook. I keep a big binder every year and at the end just take everything out and put it with all their school papers in a blue banker's box and label it with the year. I put everything they do in there. It's only two kids work so the box is plenty big to keep everything. I also throw in their art, co-op papers and projects, and test scores.</div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjtnvWfvfD85C0rKoYPMjaKfcgWuzwqX7LpIUC8qxcWnliR1o4Uhny4ZizAmU57q4mSUHEsBbZPp6NAulTAwYqIhX0mbBB7b9K_o8Jrb6BzZQUjur1SxMgZwISEOrB80QgHjJ08OQCDN9o/s1600/hs2.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjtnvWfvfD85C0rKoYPMjaKfcgWuzwqX7LpIUC8qxcWnliR1o4Uhny4ZizAmU57q4mSUHEsBbZPp6NAulTAwYqIhX0mbBB7b9K_o8Jrb6BzZQUjur1SxMgZwISEOrB80QgHjJ08OQCDN9o/s320/hs2.JPG" width="240" /></a></div>
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The first page in the binder is a page listing our curriculum for the year. Our Math has been scratched out a few times for our issues picking something at the beginning of the year, ha ha.</div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhwg6IBwrzFpnhccq3LM_A3BvG5Z01zfp2_Zdd5PI5UYYvKA8b9BpQ7qII0fQlhzGQmTfInA2O4z8sXQ3NvHLTtXLoZv0pmGOrh854l9xVRfl5ODs5nCpJLfMDkMevweiVWL2BFfbWMXio/s1600/hs3-001.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhwg6IBwrzFpnhccq3LM_A3BvG5Z01zfp2_Zdd5PI5UYYvKA8b9BpQ7qII0fQlhzGQmTfInA2O4z8sXQ3NvHLTtXLoZv0pmGOrh854l9xVRfl5ODs5nCpJLfMDkMevweiVWL2BFfbWMXio/s320/hs3-001.JPG" width="240" /></a></div>
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I then have divided sections as you can see. The calendar I print from <a href="http://donnayoung.org/calendars/index.htm">Donna Young</a> and pencil in special events when I know about them. I also roughly plan out our semesters and breaks, then actually circle school days after we've completed them. That section also contains the printed confirmation of our declaration of intent which I have to keep a copy of for legality sake.</div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjgsEhos0bqPGSMseHYAtkvZ5b4QuGg5AbvUT7GrG_oCWvdlyveLanXH8jJM72Vw9sKPn9KD-gHVvyQTkhCMTTF6gMmhFY3-oC94KUYOWqrH61LaE7hhIXeTftScBLHx-ZCgkU77AEZ5Zg/s1600/hs10.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjgsEhos0bqPGSMseHYAtkvZ5b4QuGg5AbvUT7GrG_oCWvdlyveLanXH8jJM72Vw9sKPn9KD-gHVvyQTkhCMTTF6gMmhFY3-oC94KUYOWqrH61LaE7hhIXeTftScBLHx-ZCgkU77AEZ5Zg/s320/hs10.JPG" width="240" /></a></div>
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In my lesson plan section I have....lesson plans! ha ha.</div>
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Yep, I write out lesson plans. I do this for nine weeks at a time, ahead.</div>
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I started doing this the year that I was pregnant with Ruby, (although I didn't know I was pregnant when our year started). It was the single most important thing that kept us afloat while I was very very very sick with the pregnancy. And then, our year went SO well, that I decided to keep doing it!</div>
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I take each subject, and just go through writing down a very short lesson number or just a phrase to describe the topic for that day. </div>
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The top section of the lesson plan is just showing that we do spelling, vocabulary, and handwriting practice every day and gives an approximate time those take each day.</div>
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The next subject is Math, I write the lesson number and the skill/topic.</div>
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The next subject down is our rotating subject area. This is new for this year. </div>
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I decided that instead of doing a little bit of science, social studies, language, writing, and art every day, that we would block those subjects off by day. </div>
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So on Monday, after co-op, we do a week's worth of social studies along with the worksheets or activities. On Tuesdays we do First Language Lessons, again a week's worth (which is usually only 1-3 lessons), and I have scheduled Art that day as well because Language doesn't usually take as long. </div>
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On Wednesdays they do a lesson from Institute for Excellence in Writing, and complete the work that goes along with it. That's also a subject that only does one lesson per week. </div>
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On Thursdays I had originally planned on it being a light day because they had violin and karate spread out throughout the day, but Katie's violin got switched to the morning, so this has turned into finishing up the writing assignments and maybe doing Art if it wasn't done on Tuesday. </div>
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Then on Friday, we do science.</div>
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I looked into those subjects, the number of chapters or lessons, then figured out how many we needed to cover per nine weeks, then went from there breaking it down into each individual week.</div>
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This really helps me make sure that we will finish each curriculum by the end of the year. I have also allowed for most subjects to be "finished" before the last two weeks of school, to allow for review or delay, and to allow time for testing week.</div>
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Under that in the bottom section is Reading. We are doing Literature studies this year and they are reading the same books which is wonderful! </div>
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You can see we are going to be continuing our study of The Borrowers. </div>
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Now, some people may HATE being stuck to a lesson plan, but I LOVE it!</div>
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Honestly, if it were left up to me to go on our own pace....well....</div>
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let's just say that pace would reflect my serious deficit in attention and love of procrastination.</div>
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The next section is progress reports. The Georgia homeschool law states: "<span style="background-color: white; color: #2c3941; font-family: Verdana, Geneva, sans-serif; font-size: 14px;">Parent must write an annual progress report and retain it for three years."</span></div>
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<span style="background-color: white; color: #2c3941; font-size: 14px;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">The way I do this is to write a short little status for each subject area at the end of each nine weeks for each child.</span></span></div>
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<span style="background-color: white; color: #2c3941; font-size: 14px;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">I made a chart and printed it out similar to the lesson plans with each subject area, then put a box for each nine weeks. Then I just write a little update, list something they excelled with, or listing something they might have struggled with. Then at the end of the year I have a more detailed account for each nine weeks than if I'd just written something at the end.</span></span></div>
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<span style="background-color: white; color: #2c3941; font-size: 14px;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">And yes, my kids always do well on their progress reports? Why in the world wouldn't they?! ha ha.</span></span></div>
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<span style="background-color: white; color: #2c3941; font-size: 14px;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">They always get A's because why would a private tutor move on before their student learned the subject matter? ;)</span></span></div>
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They keep working till they've finished for the day, so there's no "unfinished work" or incomplete projects.</div>
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Yep, they have been doing math right before bed. But it doesn't happen often. But if it needs to, it does. There's no leaving because it's time for school to be "done" and therefore they just take a bad grade. </div>
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They finish. And if they get it wrong, we redo it together. Pretty good system.</div>
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Oh, and they don't have to go attempt independent work until we've done enough of it together that I know they understand what to do. Just another BIG advantage of individualized private schooling at home from a teacher who knows you. ;) </div>
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So, after my lesson plans section comes the WAY big help. All my lesson planning would be in vain if I didn't do this next part. I usually spend an evening or two planning out all the lessons then spend another afternoon or evening doing this.</div>
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I have a numbered divider for each nine weeks.</div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEigAxHTuBuJWaiCQ6LjLcEmMfr2yG50yIxJW7QJvoE_LccRdD_5YeZYb9M4gEi9CffnQoYOBwija6wcuhSx3roB_xhsbGTlOXaNgLj-DpZdFLkyMLRBNnZNCF9KPHRXf3Fw4FyGNH_c-aM/s1600/hs5.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEigAxHTuBuJWaiCQ6LjLcEmMfr2yG50yIxJW7QJvoE_LccRdD_5YeZYb9M4gEi9CffnQoYOBwija6wcuhSx3roB_xhsbGTlOXaNgLj-DpZdFLkyMLRBNnZNCF9KPHRXf3Fw4FyGNH_c-aM/s320/hs5.JPG" width="240" /></a></div>
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Behind each numbered nine weeks there are two heavy duty plastic page protectors. One for Katie and one for Noah.</div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjz0lrrKcQk_doW0pz30hIh3MqWznXPqMR7i3IhpvZAVYi8vlkIjYrgZ6cCcS8MNpRcYHZYqdyJhOqNgjqOD_5XkFu4HWpgiU5MsWJd6Dv2Y8Tbq-fSUiQTWJgT0R7kU8ZAZYfKnJEqPMI/s1600/hs4.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjz0lrrKcQk_doW0pz30hIh3MqWznXPqMR7i3IhpvZAVYi8vlkIjYrgZ6cCcS8MNpRcYHZYqdyJhOqNgjqOD_5XkFu4HWpgiU5MsWJd6Dv2Y8Tbq-fSUiQTWJgT0R7kU8ZAZYfKnJEqPMI/s320/hs4.JPG" width="240" /></a></div>
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Inside their labeled page protector is every single worksheet they will need for that week.</div>
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Spelling, Math, Vocabulary (pulled out of the Wordly Wise book, yes), Science, Social Studies, and even their Language Lessons. I pull everything out of its original workbook, divide it up and put it in these individual page protectors.</div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj-a0IhAEXAEVt9s_DnXXN9kwvefG915dEkM2_X9Gpnjvru5Y2N9wyK66ILHoWCcn-9Mk-7hVNdyG7aa1EaOdw_1oqTd_H5nO7_US8r2MCdEf3tqGfAPBWc7cNWHpGXRX_k3vNYMpvbZME/s1600/hs7.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj-a0IhAEXAEVt9s_DnXXN9kwvefG915dEkM2_X9Gpnjvru5Y2N9wyK66ILHoWCcn-9Mk-7hVNdyG7aa1EaOdw_1oqTd_H5nO7_US8r2MCdEf3tqGfAPBWc7cNWHpGXRX_k3vNYMpvbZME/s320/hs7.JPG" width="320" /></a></div>
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I cannot express how much this has helped me stay on track and COVER everything!</div>
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Even last year there were some things that I didn't pull out of the workbooks, like spelling and vocabulary, and guess what didn't get finished by the end of the year??</div>
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When dad is home in the mornings, there is a needy toddler *needing* to be given a new distraction every so often, or a juice cup refilled, or there are just various random *things* going on, every 2-3 minutes that it takes to find a workbook, find the page they need to do, show them where it is, and FIND it later or the next time you need to do some work, well that's just time we don't have! Add that on to every subject and you've got a BIG ole chunk of wasted time spread throughout the day.</div>
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Not to mention, I've got quite a few things on my mind.</div>
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Planning out when I need to start lunch (since that's our big meal of the day with Corey home), time getting Ruby down for her nap, and trying to get most everything done fairly early in the day so we aren't still working on school at 5pm (it happens!), well, this is just the thing to help us not waste time finding what we need.</div>
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And this year, I added another level of organization to it that is even better!</div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhY1hRZA2ZpLNXipena6ZROA22gx6UUgIIFbJjwQsBPgTLX2Rxks6casbSeheQNYT4jvn6tEa6GvXszgykJf8fBlBVG1hEj1sp0l7Q99l-U3vdKVCnPI63DaNB-dtaHMgPMKOGlXsvjE9Y/s1600/hs8.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhY1hRZA2ZpLNXipena6ZROA22gx6UUgIIFbJjwQsBPgTLX2Rxks6casbSeheQNYT4jvn6tEa6GvXszgykJf8fBlBVG1hEj1sp0l7Q99l-U3vdKVCnPI63DaNB-dtaHMgPMKOGlXsvjE9Y/s320/hs8.JPG" width="240" /></a></div>
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Katie and Noah each have a binder with five pocket dividers.</div>
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On Friday or over the weekend, I take all those worksheets out of the 9 week page protectors and further divide them by day into their own dividers. </div>
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This is where some more customization can come in. If we are behind, or if I know there's a change in the schedule that week, I can divide things out to accommodate those things.</div>
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When we are up and I'm getting breakfast or prepping for lunch, I can tell them to go get started on their Math or Vocabulary, or start on their reading for the day. It's so wonderful that it's already in their day's work so I don't have to go find it. It also gives them some responsibility, or at least gives them the opportunity to take ownership of their work a little more.</div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjI9yqTbSVXXO1jgvq00GX6NZ0nONql8YZuvZ69TQaN6Sp334NPBsamcvlgS7LUM8KKCDy2mmyYNDDAREwwHxkGdiTC9wppCLRD0oohlUhXiFJC46TLbFzGS68XFNs4Qde1FtD1CznQqZU/s1600/hs9.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjI9yqTbSVXXO1jgvq00GX6NZ0nONql8YZuvZ69TQaN6Sp334NPBsamcvlgS7LUM8KKCDy2mmyYNDDAREwwHxkGdiTC9wppCLRD0oohlUhXiFJC46TLbFzGS68XFNs4Qde1FtD1CznQqZU/s320/hs9.JPG" width="320" /></a></div>
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The back of each day has a pocket as well, so the idea is that they will put their completed work there when they are done...but that part hasn't work out quite as well, ha ha.</div>
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Their Literature studies are right now from things I've put together myself and printed. I put them in pocket folders and they are separate from all this. Their literature study is a weekly assignment (ex, by Friday read and finish all the pages chapters 1-5), so they are being given some responsibility in planning out what days and when they complete those assignments.</div>
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They also have a completely separate binder for Institute for Excellence in Writing. They came with that curriculum and it has to stay separate because they have sections with outlines, sources, word lists etc.</div>
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I love that I don't have to have ALL our workbooks and curriculum out all the time. We have enough just storing the binders, reading books, and textbooks for science and social studies. Everything else, teacher books, workbooks, etc, stay put away. Another good thing is that last year we were in transition a couple of times throughout the year and having nine weeks planned out at a time this way was WONDERFUL when we had to be out of sorts and I didn't have to lug boxes and boxes of school stuff just to stay on track. (as long as picking up and going never happens the 9th week! ha!)</div>
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Now, since I've gotten all this done DURING our 9th week, I can enjoy our fall break next week with no planning to get done! And I'm finished planning through the rest of 2013! I don't *have* to plan again until our Christmas break, though I will probably get it done before then.</div>
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Theoretically I could do this over the summer and have an entire year planned out at once. It would take more space to store the nine weeks materials, perhaps a hanging file system. It would also take some TIME and SPACE. I really want to give that a try next year. I bet it would be really nice! :-)</div>
<br />Carriehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17122729026438550593noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2942972536445525495.post-56106000275965263132013-10-10T12:09:00.004-04:002013-10-10T14:19:22.005-04:00October Busy-ness!<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
The sensory box for August stretched into September. When I made it "apple" themed I was still thinking about starting school in September. ANYWAY, she was way bored with that box for several weeks so we were long overdue in making a new sensory box for October.</div>
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We've been so busy that I haven't even had the chance to go to the dollar store to pick up little things for this month's box, but lucky for us, all of these items were scavenged from family members! ha ha! </div>
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Here's a view of the busy/sensory box for October!</div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEihoCyRONlsYBaMZ245AJWF2RilyjO0-KVqBJfPLgi36_Yb5tPREg3VYBh_mBPR4ZD_YmjIMBRHqkMc35tIIccSJk70ZRvgZv8pBK-s9VijbWH6WQyGKbLYY89ykpxj38q6hyphenhyphenuv1Ik2Xlw/s1600/busybox2.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEihoCyRONlsYBaMZ245AJWF2RilyjO0-KVqBJfPLgi36_Yb5tPREg3VYBh_mBPR4ZD_YmjIMBRHqkMc35tIIccSJk70ZRvgZv8pBK-s9VijbWH6WQyGKbLYY89ykpxj38q6hyphenhyphenuv1Ik2Xlw/s320/busybox2.JPG" width="320" /></a></div>
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Nanna had all the little play things...the two scarecrows, the little plastic spiders, and the fall color flower wreaths! I had thought in the back of my mind that I would do popcorn kernals or dried corn for the scooping play, but look what turned out!</div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiIGMSxqZVA2cTPcNvKaVCOqLYNw7zeaZYU78D_ADoWAW4VsaHw9SfwIkgYhA3Rj1zoc6oS6CaaaETDdC7Wss_Ll2-XPphkpuJCM2RquBOTUv4H5PMQ9jnxshKUOVOebeP5wpxQKvbFk8A/s1600/busybox3.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiIGMSxqZVA2cTPcNvKaVCOqLYNw7zeaZYU78D_ADoWAW4VsaHw9SfwIkgYhA3Rj1zoc6oS6CaaaETDdC7Wss_Ll2-XPphkpuJCM2RquBOTUv4H5PMQ9jnxshKUOVOebeP5wpxQKvbFk8A/s320/busybox3.JPG" width="240" /></a></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjiCwxv5iQyIKYH7g5wLmf8v1qizTJKCh3Q2kibx_N4G7Yv0S1cxY0oQbwBfwiXINi8dPXpvvyTF2K7llkVChajlDJVv2Xt97bFmHaxruQIWNjyk3r_SI7W-oIVsF96MlBQofPwhUB-c24/s1600/busybox4.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjiCwxv5iQyIKYH7g5wLmf8v1qizTJKCh3Q2kibx_N4G7Yv0S1cxY0oQbwBfwiXINi8dPXpvvyTF2K7llkVChajlDJVv2Xt97bFmHaxruQIWNjyk3r_SI7W-oIVsF96MlBQofPwhUB-c24/s320/busybox4.JPG" width="320" /></a></div>
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SHE LOVES this thing!</div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEisUDcsGjAbR6WSbcHO3xZkPCPAwMYMpBd3HIol7gaK5VnnkBsjNLLQPyKIFhCn98PPJ02-W-Yoz7LLFELB4LMLN-ia_TBlgqJbfqEAfapCDxbN88-EreVbPJyATqXATodxWyH4grZL4v0/s1600/busybox5.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEisUDcsGjAbR6WSbcHO3xZkPCPAwMYMpBd3HIol7gaK5VnnkBsjNLLQPyKIFhCn98PPJ02-W-Yoz7LLFELB4LMLN-ia_TBlgqJbfqEAfapCDxbN88-EreVbPJyATqXATodxWyH4grZL4v0/s320/busybox5.JPG" width="240" /></a></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh1mXEPLK86egVp9t3UmKJkeUlQWbsEhU5-0VWsiKlRgoXKr5ghGjpY1V6rV19cGePJd_3ln5MljpCTvx8_Js1I5UGgcoWUiyZrLkTa2mIXaxLU6Kb1joScSMP1MM9AAV_6yJ9WY2ujooQ/s1600/busybox6.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh1mXEPLK86egVp9t3UmKJkeUlQWbsEhU5-0VWsiKlRgoXKr5ghGjpY1V6rV19cGePJd_3ln5MljpCTvx8_Js1I5UGgcoWUiyZrLkTa2mIXaxLU6Kb1joScSMP1MM9AAV_6yJ9WY2ujooQ/s320/busybox6.JPG" width="240" /></a></div>
For scooping, for some crazy reason I had the thought to use bird seed. We were able to get an AMPLE supply from Memaw and Granddaddy, and it turned out to be even more perfect because it was all black sunflower seeds! Pretty cool to go with the "bone guys" and the scarecrows!<br />
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Now I can use another variety of birdseed another month for a different feel. She likes digging for the "te-shures" which are the little sticks and rocks/bark that are mixed into the birdseed.<br />
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The best part about the bird seed is that we will be able to throw it and toss it outside or put it in a bird-feeder when she is done playing with it! The lentils and split peas were more difficult with last month's box. She had (of course) dumped some larger portions of them out several times. So, in sweeping it up, various kitchen floor debris had gotten in the mix, so no good for eating. I didn't want to throw it in the trash, so I ended up putting it away in plastic baggies to use again later. I don't think it would be a good idea to just throw lentils outside would it? Would birds eat it? Would that even be safe?!</div>
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The green and tan colored lentils and peas will probably reappear in our March box.</div>
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I am so excited that she has another "new" thing to occupy her for a while!</div>
<br />Carriehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17122729026438550593noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2942972536445525495.post-28720741197043685642013-10-09T16:58:00.000-04:002013-10-09T16:58:05.069-04:00Life: randomnessSometimes I can't think of a title for my posts!<br />
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So, life is crazy. This past week I almost enrolled in a Master's Degree program through Liberty University. But then I thought better of it. HA! <br />
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Seriously though, I have made the decision that *one day*, I will go further with my own education. Pretty big thought since I never EVER considered it at all. I think because I have a bachelor's degree in education and don't ever plan to go back to teaching in that capacity, I never even thought of more college as an option for me. But, when I started considering the fact that a master's degree could be in any field whatsoever, I was really inspired! The program that I actually applied to (yes, I got as far as actually applying!), is a master's degree in Human Services, Marriage and Family Counseling. If I ever one day decided to "get a job" I could very honestly see myself doing something in that field. I would love to counsel, give classes, do premarital counseling, etc, etc. This would NOT be a clinical degree or end up with an actual therapy license. That's WAY too much work, ha ha. This would be a ministry/non-profit/service area of work.<br />
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I was really excited thinking about getting back into academics if it was in a field that was specific to my interest. But, the timing is definitely not right for me to do this at the moment. Toddler, homeschooling, husband full time student, money money money, etc. etc. But one day, I look forward to pursuing this. I like the idea of having something in mind for that *one day* when my current full-time job is finished. I can retire to a casual part time career, HA. <br />
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In other news, my frugal shopping this week was a pretty big success. I kept it right at $100 and stocked up on some non-perishables. I was again blessed by the mark-down area. Two things we really needed (some file folders for book studies and ink pens) were marked down super cheap!<br />
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Our church is doing *Humbug* this year for the Christmas musical. It's an original adaptation of A Christmas Carol. Corey is going to be Bob Cratchit, Noah is Tiny Tim, and Katie also has a line in the Christmas Past scene. Corey and Noah actually have a short duet together during one of their scenes, and Katie gets bopped on the head by a caveman! It's going to be awesome I'm sure!<br />
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We are finishing up our first nine weeks of school this week and plan on taking three days next week as a fall break. I can't believe it's already the middle of October! School is going very well, both kids are breezing right along. I love doing book studies! They've done Charlie and the Chocolate Factory and just started The Borrowers this week. The rest of the year is planned out also including A Christmas Carol (followed by a field trip performance to see the musical version in Atlanta) and The Best Christmas Pageant Ever. We are enjoying CHAT, our co-op this year. There will be a Night of the Stars (talent show), fall festival, and a Christmas craft fair coming up with that.<br />
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Last weekend we made a big pork picnic barbecue and I made homemade rolls to go with. I am very excited to say that I finally had SUCCESS making a FLUFFY yeast roll. I have a recipe that I've used recently that turns out pretty well, but they were always still a bit dense. I googled "How to make fluffy yeast rolls" and got some tips ha ha. I read that temperature is everything. So this time, I put out all the ingredients and let them get to room temperature before starting. The eggs and yeast most importantly I believe. I always keep my jar of yeast in the fridge. And eggs of course are always cold. When I went to add the flour, I had the foamiest yeast mixture I've ever had! And another change I made was buying actual bread flour. The rolls were SO YUMMY!!!!!! I had made them large like buns, but I plan to do them again as rolls!<br />
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Good news and bad news with weight loss progress. The bad news is, I've pretty much stopped losing weight. The good news is, I'm not gaining any weight either. Yet. And there's plenty good reason, did you see that last paragraph about making homemade rolls? ha ha. Between frugal cooking and trying homemade breads, it's been tough to stay under calorie or even at my calorie count the last couple of weeks. But at least I'm not gaining! I really gotta get back motivated! I've got at least ten more pounds to go to reach my goal, my pre-babies weight! ;)<br />
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I guess there's not much else to say. Life is just slipping on by. I love fall!<br />
<br />Carriehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17122729026438550593noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2942972536445525495.post-88039284023240267762013-10-01T19:46:00.001-04:002013-10-01T19:46:21.978-04:00Daybook: October 1<div style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', Trebuchet, Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 20.796875px;">
<span style="background-color: white; font-weight: bold;">I haven't done an overall check in post in a while, so here goes. I copied this format from a friend's blog. I think I did this one time a long time ago......</span></div>
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<span style="background-color: white;"><span style="font-weight: bold;">Outside my window... </span>It's starting to get dark slightly earlier in the evenings. I enjoy the cooler temperatures and the leaves will start changing colors soon, but I do not enjoy the bulkier layered clothing it brings to the still not potty trained or interested in potty training two year old. I do love fall. I do. It brings many memories. </span></div>
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<span style="background-color: white;"><span style="font-weight: bold;">I am thinking...</span> about needing to get Ruby some different busy box activities together and make her an October box. I have some skeletons to throw in, but in general I am going to do a fall box. Popcorn kernals or dried corn for scooping. Some mini pumpkins. Some pine cones, nuts, etc.<br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">I am wondering...</span>when my child will be interested in using the potty. I really wish she would. Only because we've cleaned up poop twice lately from where she tried on her own to empty her diaper into the potty. Seriously...that has to be a readiness sign right?<br /><span style="font-weight: bold;"><br /></span></span></div>
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<span style="background-color: white;"><b>I am praying...</b>for two families that we've pulled their Christmas card from our prayer bucket for October. For Corey's next/last two years of school to speed by but not the years of the kids to fly by in the meantime. For a special set of grandparents making their move to retirement housing. For our own housing situation. For our families' needs and health concerns. For our church commitments this fall and holiday season. </span></div>
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<span style="background-color: white;"><span style="font-weight: bold;">I am thankful...</span> for food in the pantry and a very comfortable bed at night. And for good sleep.</span></div>
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<span style="background-color: white;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-weight: bold;"><br /></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-weight: bold;">I am hearing... </span>Katie giving Ruby a bath. Laughing, talking, toddler speak, practicing parent/life skills. Can I add that I'm thankful to be able to pay my kids a little token to bathe Ruby in the evenings? I was able to clean up the kitchen in peace and now blog a bit because they take their time doing it which is fine by me! :)<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-weight: bold;"><br /></span></span></div>
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<span style="background-color: white;"><span style="font-weight: bold;">Learning at home... </span>is going very very well! After all our back and forth over choosing homeschool curriculum, and ending up with all parent led and hands on curriculum, we are doing VERY well so far! I have to credit most of it to planning out nine weeks at a time. I have done that the past few years and it has really kept us on track.<b> </b>Nine weeks worth of lesson plans, worksheets pulled and organized, and this year I added weekly folders for the kids. They each have a binder with a Monday-Friday divider that also has pockets. I divvy out their week's work by day, so they can get up and get right to work on what's in their folder that they can do independently. It's wonderful!</span></div>
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<span style="background-color: white;"><span style="font-weight: bold;">From the kitchen... </span>I've made homemade bread and some delicious diet cupcakes lately. The cupcakes are really yummy, though they aren't exactly "healthy" as far as *real food* goes. They are just low calorie yet sweet which sometimes really fits my needs if you know what I mean. It's a box of cake mix (funfetti) and 12oz of sprite zero. Frost with some fat free cook whip mixed with fat free vanilla pudding and it's a great sweet tooth killer with not a lot of effort or cost involved. Today, I've had Fiber One cereal twice because I am not feeling creative and really want to make it to my goal weight sooner than later.<span style="font-weight: bold;"><br /></span></span></div>
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<span style="background-color: white;"><span style="font-weight: bold;">I am reading... </span>LOTS of Jane Austen and Charlotte Bronte. Seriously. In the last month I've read Northanger Abbey, Mansfield Park, Lady Susan, Pride and Prejudice, Sense and Sensibility, Villette, Shirley, as well as The Great Gatsby, and about 5 random Christian fiction novels. I am 35% through The Professor, but got tired of Charlotte Bronte and moved to all those Austen novels. At the very moment I am on the last chapter of Sense and Sensibility. I was sure I had read it before, but I don't think I have! All the others were first time reads except of course, Pride and Prejudice which is an all time favorite of mine, and I'd read The Great Gatsby before as well. </span></div>
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<span style="background-color: white;"><span style="font-weight: bold;">One of my favorite things... </span>time spent with Corey. It's few and far between lately. He's been completely swamped with school work!<span style="font-weight: bold;"><br /></span></span></div>
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<span style="background-color: white;"><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">I am creating... </span>hmmmm..... I hope to be creating some homemade Christmas gifts this year so I've been collecting some random things to help with that. I guess I'm creating mental lists? ha ha.<br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">Around the house... </span>really need to clean out closets! And the school shelves. I feel that the school shelves are constantly cluttered!</span></div>
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<span style="background-color: white;"><span style="font-weight: bold;">A few plans for the rest of the week... </span>meeting some friends at the park. Noah has a test Thursday for his first Karate stripe. Katie has violin lessons. I hope that Corey and I will be able to use a groupon we have for Studio Movie Grill this weekend.<span style="font-weight: bold;"><br /></span></span></div>
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<span style="background-color: white; font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', Trebuchet, Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; font-weight: bold; line-height: 20.796875px;">A picture thought I am sharing..</span><span style="background-color: white; color: white; font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', Trebuchet, Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; font-weight: bold; line-height: 20.796875px;">.</span><br />
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So sweet. Big sister and little sister.</div>
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She had fallen asleep in the car and actually stayed asleep for me to hand her to Katie. I even got her back from her after I did what I had to do and she slept more. Rare moment!</div>
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<b>Words to Share: </b>This is another short little verse from Streams in the Desert. But so rich!</div>
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I walked a miles with Pleasure,</div>
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She chattered all the way;</div>
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But left me none the wiser</div>
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For all she had to say.</div>
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I walked a mile with Sorrow,</div>
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And ne'er a word said she;</div>
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But, oh the things I learned from her</div>
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When sorrow walked with me.</div>
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<span style="background-color: white; color: white; font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', Trebuchet, Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; font-weight: bold; line-height: 20.796875px;"><br /></span>Carriehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17122729026438550593noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2942972536445525495.post-63203109830784197412013-09-20T16:07:00.001-04:002013-09-20T16:07:54.681-04:00the quality of being economical with money or food; thriftiness.Frugality.<br />
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Through the wonderful rabbit trails of Pinterest, I ended up on a page reading many many many comments on a post in regards to CHEAP grocery shopping.<br />
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Some of the commenters proclaimed a food budget of $60-$150-$200. PER MONTH.<br />
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That floored me. The past couple of weeks our grocery trips had inched toward $200. For a week. Now, those were both really good weeks where we still had meals to make at the end of the week. (Rather than after 4 days we don't have anything else to make for dinners!)<br />
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So, I was inspired. Greatly. And motivated. It is truly unreasonable for us to be spending that much money on groceries. Granted, some of those items were diapers, toilet paper, and other non-food items, but the claims of the thrifty were that their budgets included ALL those items as well.<br />
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Today I scoured the sale ad. I loaded digital coupons. I went through my recipes and found the very thriftiest meals I could find while still giving us SOME variety, (not rice and beans EVERY day). I went to the store with high hopes. My meal plan:<br />
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Pintos, cornbread, potatoes, and greens<br />
Salmon, veggie, baked potato (salmon was from a couple of weeks ago in the freezer)<br />
Chicken and rice casserole, green beans<br />
Denver Bean Soup<br />
French Toast, bacon<br />
Tacos, guacamole, corn<br />
I already had made today's meal so I didn't plan anything (Cottage Pie)<br />
And I figure we will definitely have some leftovers.<br />
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I plan on baking some bread this week, homemaking the tortillas as well. My cart included only smoked sausage, a whole chicken, bacon, flavor meat for the beans, ground turkey, a few canned goods, a couple of frozen goods, milk, cheese, avocados, simple salad greens and some discount cucumbers, three pears, potatoes, onions, garlic, baby wipes, a couple yogurts, a can of broth, applesauce, peanut butter, a clearance stocking stuffer item, bananas, lunch meat, hmmmm can't remember what else but not much else.<br />
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And checked out with a $130 total.<br />
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sadness. :(<br />
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Okay, so there were SOME things I got that weren't on the list. But they were incredible markdowns that WILL serve to stock up and be used later. I could have had tacos without guacamole. We could have several items without cheese. I didn't have to buy the cheap markdowns. I also didn't have to get salad fixings, but I really want to attempt to stay low calorie with these cheap meals for myself so a small portion plus a salad will maybe help me do that.<br />
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I am hoping that because some of these are items that will last a long time (a big thing of peanut butter, a HUGE jar of minced garlic, big bag of pintos) that my total will be less next week. I really sincerely hope that I can get our weekly total at least down to $100. Sadly, it seems that might be as low as we could go. Maybe I can do better by bulk buying some meat at Aldi.<br />
<br />Carriehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17122729026438550593noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2942972536445525495.post-40623891614337703982013-09-19T16:26:00.000-04:002013-09-19T16:26:19.340-04:00TWO-OHI hit the twenty pound mark today! It is two days until I reach the two month mark, and I am SO VERY happy! This has not been an easy task, but it hasn't been impossible or TERRIBLY difficult either. Like any change, especially one that involves comfort and enjoyment being denied on a regular basis, it has taken an extreme amount of discipline and dedication.<br />
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After the 15 pound mark I have been quite a bit easier on myself. Using my calorie allotment for a treat every once in a while, instead of always eating the extremely low fat and healthy options. But, I will allow that because I really do enjoy my treats, and being used to having them sparingly makes them taste all the better!<br />
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Honestly, this past week has been rough. I was very discouraged. And even as of two days ago, the scale had been inching upward a pound or two. I was very very sad and didn't let myself weigh for a day. (Yes, I've been weighing every day because it has almost always been creeping down at least a little every day, and maybe just up a teeny bit every once in a while) The night before last I ate almost an entire bag of Terra chips. Followed by extra portions of my Fiber One bars. Yesterday, for lunch, I decided I was going to eat what I wanted. I made a delicious creamy pasta dish that I LOVE and didn't measure out the portion. And I made homemade yeast rolls to go with it. I could not have been more shocked when I got on the scale yesterday afternoon and had gone back down to past my 20 pound mark! Maybe my body was needing some carbs? Who knows?! I don't care!<br />
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Today I am celebrating my baking up some butterscotch pecan blondies. They've been calling my name ever since I saw them in my Food Network Magazine at the beginning of last week. They are baking now and I can't wait to indulge a little while celebrating this milestone!<br />
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I've got ten more pounds to go till I reach what I had originally thought would be my end goal weight. I guess I will just have to wait to see how I feel when I reach that mark. :)Carriehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17122729026438550593noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2942972536445525495.post-59175020580776481602013-09-04T16:40:00.000-04:002013-09-04T17:10:23.992-04:00RestRest is difficult to come by sometimes. Especially if you have young ones in the home! I've noticed that Corey has started asking me first thing in the morning, "How did you sleep last night?" The way we rest can completely influence the way we feel and what we accomplish the rest of the day.<br />
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I have been reading "Streams in the Desert" the past bit and today there was a beautiful poem about rest. It compared those who are able to rest, with those who have God within them. Such a simple idea, but easily observed in everyone around us. When I feel frenzied and panicked, or fearful, rest does not come easily. I sleep restlessly and with disturbances. I avoid sleep and fret myself constantly into a "tizzy." But after I've been with the Lord, my entire demeanor changes. I become relaxed and my worry dissipates. I am happy to say that my periods of panic and unrest are fewer and more far between than they were in earlier years, and I know it is because I more regularly find myself conversing and handing those problems over to Him. The more I live, the more I realize that I have so very little to do with my own life and plans. And that handing over complete control allows the right things to happen at the right time, so in the meantime, I rest. <br />
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"Straining, driving effort does not accomplish the work God gives man to do. Only God Himself, who always works without strain, and who never overworks, can do the work that He assigns to His children. When they restfully trust Him to do it, it will be well done and completely done. The way to let Him do His work through us is to partake of Christ so fully, by faith, that He more than fills our life." (from Streams in the Desert)<br />
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And here's my favorite line from the poem that was in today's reading:<br />
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<br />Carriehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17122729026438550593noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2942972536445525495.post-18543056950557508142013-08-23T20:17:00.001-04:002013-08-23T20:30:49.243-04:00Being a Responsible Parent<span style="font-size: large;">Well, at the end of the school week I decided to go ahead and restock the kids' pencil pouches with newly sharpened pencils. And go ahead and sharpen all the dull ones in our supply box as well. The biggest hurdle in any given school day CAN become the dilemma of finding a sharpened pencil, a situation which we have so far been able to avoid due to buying PRE-sharpened pencils in abundance, and maintaining a good electric sharpener. The way to maintain a good sharpener is to avoid using it for colored pencils and "novelty" pencils. Only good brand pencils allowed, and only mom is allowed to use the sharpener. I take this entire situation very seriously.</span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;">So...I'm just minding my own business, sharpening pencils. Ruby was brushing her teeth in the bathroom with her Nanna.</span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;">Then, Nanna comes out of the bathroom. Without Ruby.</span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;">*****trouble*****</span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;">"Is Ruby still in there with you?"</span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;">"No, I haven't seen her since she was brushing her teeth."</span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;">It doesn't take long for us to find her. She is SO VERY GOOD at being quiet.</span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;">I mean, I remember it wasn't that long ago, that quiet meant something completely adorable..like this:</span><br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh0ZqAs3vrtTr2gPrD0lF8Afrg_YV09NhVla722R1r6SWqjgGMfZVCAKJAHyB12te8t7OQJ2Gd44oPfveX_QWC_Dfkh3_tcoisYh1h6x3nS62iL9_WB4y3BTii8gfXgpd1jFFydBvDCgqM/s1600/_DSC0047.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="213" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh0ZqAs3vrtTr2gPrD0lF8Afrg_YV09NhVla722R1r6SWqjgGMfZVCAKJAHyB12te8t7OQJ2Gd44oPfveX_QWC_Dfkh3_tcoisYh1h6x3nS62iL9_WB4y3BTii8gfXgpd1jFFydBvDCgqM/s320/_DSC0047.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;">or this....</span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgoJmz3Ik9tN953ajl_xDvr-ttyXd_qCuNFp9fRP9alWLAjYBhvTR9nKA37uMG47-69a9TClkRQz91SQCjYSv3tXAxfJgPd3OL-gVe4vgeMbEv_cCRt-5OIfz4ftg08oPKHNh2PUj806vI/s1600/DSC_3693.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="212" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgoJmz3Ik9tN953ajl_xDvr-ttyXd_qCuNFp9fRP9alWLAjYBhvTR9nKA37uMG47-69a9TClkRQz91SQCjYSv3tXAxfJgPd3OL-gVe4vgeMbEv_cCRt-5OIfz4ftg08oPKHNh2PUj806vI/s320/DSC_3693.JPG" width="320" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;">Now, this time, the quiet meant some very different "busy-ness"</span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg661rU6lXLwgyr37ZPgskaww6etgxEweg-kQFxKwst5LwqrvsCsp9GesBnxZeVdnCJ8IR5_F-584LrLKyI8BKmrDVlIeMQYkJ5ys5z9xGxPxUqsb-pSAKOGbvB9myhscsZyeLZeU-lwwQ/s1600/nails3.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg661rU6lXLwgyr37ZPgskaww6etgxEweg-kQFxKwst5LwqrvsCsp9GesBnxZeVdnCJ8IR5_F-584LrLKyI8BKmrDVlIeMQYkJ5ys5z9xGxPxUqsb-pSAKOGbvB9myhscsZyeLZeU-lwwQ/s320/nails3.JPG" width="240" /></a></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg3ZgTZSBonIjkA2TpVa0G7ZxmZzhqk514mEhC7SAZR2n8L_5OUehMZV-DV2mCwtS7aw4iBM0ZAP46Ie-TPVuIfw_wVkSkRIMjLW1c8Pq5h-MiYGnJePOVkbLGg5W-VUuyhgdRwnSpP1J4/s1600/nails.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg3ZgTZSBonIjkA2TpVa0G7ZxmZzhqk514mEhC7SAZR2n8L_5OUehMZV-DV2mCwtS7aw4iBM0ZAP46Ie-TPVuIfw_wVkSkRIMjLW1c8Pq5h-MiYGnJePOVkbLGg5W-VUuyhgdRwnSpP1J4/s320/nails.JPG" width="240" /></a></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjDLJCivv8MKCQYAfSQ_vkjTTVpg6xwTNjax9MDndQfogMs4lRLjuBRatnMgcYjwCTH4csxl2W82YLKjcRrmlmIsMbEo-QAYhDoKk3hQNez3W8ql6LWdcOO6F4qvI8gUs6c7IYmMjfbwCI/s1600/nails2.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjDLJCivv8MKCQYAfSQ_vkjTTVpg6xwTNjax9MDndQfogMs4lRLjuBRatnMgcYjwCTH4csxl2W82YLKjcRrmlmIsMbEo-QAYhDoKk3hQNez3W8ql6LWdcOO6F4qvI8gUs6c7IYmMjfbwCI/s320/nails2.JPG" width="240" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;">" 'S PITTY SEE?!" -Ruby (it's pretty see?)</span></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;">And yes, my first reaction was to get a photo. Because it wasn't like I could quickly intervene and prevent a mess.</span></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;">At least it wasn't on carpet. Or a bedspread.</span></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;">Technically I guess I've never told her to NOT do that.</span></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;">But I have now.</span></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;">She got a good twice over with some nail polish remover, and a bath. It will take a while yet for the rest to wear off. And the floor came clean with remover as well.</span></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;">But I did get a bit woozy in the process.</span></div>
<span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span>Carriehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17122729026438550593noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2942972536445525495.post-64366919384154053202013-08-20T23:05:00.001-04:002013-08-20T23:05:28.905-04:00Challenge Results!I just realized today that I never posted the final results from my Advocare 24 Day Challenge!<br />
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Among many accomplishments throughout that time period, I took Katie and her friends to Cici's, and did not eat one single bite of pizza! Two plates of salad is all! And, to celebrate the first day of school, we made ooey gooey layered cake cookie bars, with sprinkles and white chocolate chips, and OH they smelled so good, but I did not even lick the bowl or have a bite! (though I DID put a piece in the freezer to have after my last day weigh in! ha!)<br />
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So....the final results were....<br />
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down 11.4 lbs, and 8 1/2"!<br />
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When I first started, the thought of ONLY losing around ten pounds made me feel sad. But as the days went on, I realized how hard it was to drop after that first five. So, to actually surpass ten lbs was good enough for me!<br />
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Although I have been cheating more with sauces, and I had taco bell this weekend, so that number has hovered right back up to the ten lbs mark! ACK! But I'm back on the wagon, and restocked with some meal replacement shakes and ready to get the next ten dropped!<br />
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<br />Carriehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17122729026438550593noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2942972536445525495.post-81913157591154552672013-08-14T10:00:00.000-04:002013-08-14T10:00:02.459-04:00Busy Boxes: August<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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I have an entire Pinterest board dedicated to "keep Ruby busy" ideas.</div>
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I got a few ready in time for our first full week of school.</div>
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The first is a modified "paint swatch match" game.</div>
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I thought that matching shades of the same color would be just entirely too difficult and frustrating for a toddler, so I had the idea to make the matching part of decorating a butterfly.</div>
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I cut the butterfly shape from cardboard, then cut various shapes from the paint swatches and matching pieces on the clothespins.</div>
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It didn't turn out to be quite as pretty as I wanted, ha ha.</div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiPcuIl-pkxcNd9Muz6E6ovjKJ51c5aA8Y0Uqw_kksxHY3XfcT0_hHMEKcZv97VYx2m5Vi-1y0QC2jSHxihti79TopJXmz_IdlmZI7yb0dQoi_wa3KM9J0BUp57bxxRveMbU79FuXFO5NY/s1600/photo2.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiPcuIl-pkxcNd9Muz6E6ovjKJ51c5aA8Y0Uqw_kksxHY3XfcT0_hHMEKcZv97VYx2m5Vi-1y0QC2jSHxihti79TopJXmz_IdlmZI7yb0dQoi_wa3KM9J0BUp57bxxRveMbU79FuXFO5NY/s320/photo2.JPG" width="240" /></a></div>
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And, the shapes are pretty fragile, especially one I did in the shape of a moon. I've already had to repair three clothespins. But it's an okay game.</div>
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I also did one on a circle. </div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjx4aiCX2rugu1pQXAJmM18AQY53Tu5tPLad0jjT7gYIZh5oWMPz8yTw5LSxMIkLmE2OVcjxhLj6z_w5Unecdb26uu_j8HXuQVpdJWKMcJpl-IGOHvyIhj0UcU2Aqd-4IV7uVhTumS-Dog/s1600/photo3.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjx4aiCX2rugu1pQXAJmM18AQY53Tu5tPLad0jjT7gYIZh5oWMPz8yTw5LSxMIkLmE2OVcjxhLj6z_w5Unecdb26uu_j8HXuQVpdJWKMcJpl-IGOHvyIhj0UcU2Aqd-4IV7uVhTumS-Dog/s320/photo3.JPG" width="240" /></a></div>
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I would have liked to cover the entire circle, but it turned out to be more complicated than I was willing to work with on a lazy Sunday afternoon. So, it turned in to a kind of smiley sunshine looking thing.</div>
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She likes it!</div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh3BPhYsqkpJY8cDpdNIn-1EPWsBrwH92D-B2fzT_OjSc-PX1L9tR9EAR8fHkFzh7fYxZKWdoEzylYqZ7DvFBcbG0S3JZfBt_MzaabSHDoows0nqAD1y28N3zMsYgvGAgQEGsNxwv_HeWU/s1600/photo4.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh3BPhYsqkpJY8cDpdNIn-1EPWsBrwH92D-B2fzT_OjSc-PX1L9tR9EAR8fHkFzh7fYxZKWdoEzylYqZ7DvFBcbG0S3JZfBt_MzaabSHDoows0nqAD1y28N3zMsYgvGAgQEGsNxwv_HeWU/s320/photo4.JPG" width="240" /></a></div>
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Here are all three color matching activities, and a smile photobombing me.</div>
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I do have to keep the clothespins separated into baggies because if they are all dumped out it's way hard for her to match them up.</div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj1icDsicys2qJ6hkpC76A1x4NTvm9DwfsvvLO75lswSEuxYGeP4LtYNZJ3KBrIoOsog58iE9s9335ngJW93FyUmVyVfetmPmCbd7gEQBGOF6EV0yRZu31RpD57irXgpjCkgWicGANglWQ/s1600/photo5.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj1icDsicys2qJ6hkpC76A1x4NTvm9DwfsvvLO75lswSEuxYGeP4LtYNZJ3KBrIoOsog58iE9s9335ngJW93FyUmVyVfetmPmCbd7gEQBGOF6EV0yRZu31RpD57irXgpjCkgWicGANglWQ/s320/photo5.JPG" width="320" /></a></div>
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This one is more like the original idea, but again, 5 shades of pink or green is just too hard, </div>
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so I modified it by cutting and pasting different colors on a small strip of cardboard.</div>
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I really think the color matching game is so cute, but she played with it for a while and hasn't asked to get it out again. :(</div>
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This is what she REALLY loves.....</div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjIFiCG01HnlRr81eQRmWLl23qPXn-UCycG-kdG89HwPUWfSoJ2LIjOfz9JLF6FX6Es6Cq53OXlX9DvgnR4-D5qYaYA53UNDL71N1f_l9uEaXi1fiUrHkheNHrp9KwWwjFx-qrtJGxdrHU/s1600/photo6.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjIFiCG01HnlRr81eQRmWLl23qPXn-UCycG-kdG89HwPUWfSoJ2LIjOfz9JLF6FX6Es6Cq53OXlX9DvgnR4-D5qYaYA53UNDL71N1f_l9uEaXi1fiUrHkheNHrp9KwWwjFx-qrtJGxdrHU/s320/photo6.JPG" width="240" /></a></div>
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GLUING!</div>
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The most simply put together activity. Magazines, safety scissors, and glue.</div>
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It only took about 3 minutes for me to realize that a two year old can't cut pictures out of magazines, ha ha.</div>
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So, I started cutting them out for her, and Katie and Noah helped as well.</div>
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We cut out pictures of kids from old sewing magazines, and then a bunch of food and household items from sales ads. So now she can "cut" them a little more if she likes, then she glues them on pieces of cardstock.</div>
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I cannot stress enough how much she loves this and will ask to do it over and over while I get things done with Katie and Noah!</div>
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And the number 2 favorite busy box:</div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh7B-rq7pqJ1arRy_Xgzj0G-QGdcSDL5jnv3flYTlqGKWj1iBzJRNmk7UA3dQmSOD8gT02wIGSx9rcm6WTsm7rSmV6GoxC5au5UKyLXu81TPw0TrpLLVaGft5rYJPbXqjwpDFAXtaRQcII/s1600/photo7.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh7B-rq7pqJ1arRy_Xgzj0G-QGdcSDL5jnv3flYTlqGKWj1iBzJRNmk7UA3dQmSOD8gT02wIGSx9rcm6WTsm7rSmV6GoxC5au5UKyLXu81TPw0TrpLLVaGft5rYJPbXqjwpDFAXtaRQcII/s320/photo7.JPG" width="240" /></a></div>
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OF COURSE! Can't go wrong with play-doh!</div>
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She has played with some of the tiny party favor ones during her potty training experiment, but I'd picked up this play set for half price at Target which had the play-doh scissors, cutters, and stamps along with it.</div>
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It was the first box she wanted down on Monday and she alternates between this and the glue box constantly.</div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjk8RR4wpIpv4cGABewHCRgzpsw9doaXijsw4m3F_X6MbbbGoSg9eAkrmIg0rQPRon-ccoPi2Od_3wg7GmfK-jbj29Vm2jmgDaqxstUzFsD3ab0no9Ac27LuBoL44B1VljN2GV8HIC-z1I/s1600/photo8.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjk8RR4wpIpv4cGABewHCRgzpsw9doaXijsw4m3F_X6MbbbGoSg9eAkrmIg0rQPRon-ccoPi2Od_3wg7GmfK-jbj29Vm2jmgDaqxstUzFsD3ab0no9Ac27LuBoL44B1VljN2GV8HIC-z1I/s320/photo8.JPG" width="240" /></a></div>
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Here's a shot of one of her photo collages.</div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhSj_XIY3HFy0XyXiYKSEhs9V6K2-W_TkRoT_X_yANECTBC3Q3o-1m3ZosCzI2FlIkAj_tde8i0EfnAqvthNvCnNlnlEi82dlDhu7WwhiFv3yBP_RPsOuDhhSI2TdQ3g6XQ_ZLt6EqNPD0/s1600/photo.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhSj_XIY3HFy0XyXiYKSEhs9V6K2-W_TkRoT_X_yANECTBC3Q3o-1m3ZosCzI2FlIkAj_tde8i0EfnAqvthNvCnNlnlEi82dlDhu7WwhiFv3yBP_RPsOuDhhSI2TdQ3g6XQ_ZLt6EqNPD0/s320/photo.JPG" width="240" /></a></div>
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And, I have been guilty of not getting together many of the other ideas (other than the apple theme box that was pictured on our first day of school post), so I haphazardly threw this stuff in a box for her. An ice tray, plastic tongs, and various tiny *things* for her to play around with.</div>
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I got it out once and she didn't even try it, ha ha. I guess the play doh and glue is just TOO fun!</div>
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My plan is to rotate out some different activities. I think the glue collage will stick around for a while as well as the play doh, but I guess this last one needs replacing pretty soon, ha ha.</div>
<br />Carriehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17122729026438550593noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2942972536445525495.post-12176953149825991972013-08-13T10:00:00.000-04:002013-08-13T10:00:01.709-04:00First Day of School (last Friday!)<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgwbrRH8GSxWVibLrCL4K04lRPWjelp2ZgdjQVqJRCE8SVoz75uJcam0OnTR4grle9aUsE80BD4uGbxvj8TfPzlDcsN3aGp21vzR-RUOgdnS7M2H0JYlRyGeuvs1ekztbKs93_jyGG_0_U/s1600/katie+and+noah+at+school%5B1%5D.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgwbrRH8GSxWVibLrCL4K04lRPWjelp2ZgdjQVqJRCE8SVoz75uJcam0OnTR4grle9aUsE80BD4uGbxvj8TfPzlDcsN3aGp21vzR-RUOgdnS7M2H0JYlRyGeuvs1ekztbKs93_jyGG_0_U/s320/katie+and+noah+at+school%5B1%5D.jpg" width="240" /></a></div>
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Here are Katie and Noah on our first day of homeschooling, sometime in September, 2007.</div>
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(2007 also happens to be the year I started blogging!)</div>
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They were dressed for tumbling class they would have later in the afternoon.</div>
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Noah was 3, and Katie was 4, almost 5.</div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiojQ8YDvuFEZ7n_k61OMuoRQwWte80wTblM9Oo0O2MScfifr9fMZeEk1-C1iySFT75rhJEHPotdv7UCtfIKwA0xu4jOt6eQK2_x2PDuQGBGBx38qAoy5F6fZ8vVakZX-tg1fVOPQ2om-Y/s1600/photo5.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiojQ8YDvuFEZ7n_k61OMuoRQwWte80wTblM9Oo0O2MScfifr9fMZeEk1-C1iySFT75rhJEHPotdv7UCtfIKwA0xu4jOt6eQK2_x2PDuQGBGBx38qAoy5F6fZ8vVakZX-tg1fVOPQ2om-Y/s320/photo5.JPG" width="240" /></a></div>
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And here they were on Friday, their first day of school, 2013.</div>
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Katie is almost 11, and starting fifth grade.</div>
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Noah is 9 and starting fourth grade.</div>
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At the risk of sounding redundant......</div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg_DtNurFbPi9gvZLDUC-ATOh76Rs-iKkRJtFIYvHu4i2NBhTFCYiazQ4PpbFbiInEj8dTAeAc_uguKlUCHCRD4O5aXjr58BCj5jk1PMNQStNedgiEE5V-KYB0cmzcP7hL8zmtSAbiRcoE/s1600/photo6.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg_DtNurFbPi9gvZLDUC-ATOh76Rs-iKkRJtFIYvHu4i2NBhTFCYiazQ4PpbFbiInEj8dTAeAc_uguKlUCHCRD4O5aXjr58BCj5jk1PMNQStNedgiEE5V-KYB0cmzcP7hL8zmtSAbiRcoE/s320/photo6.JPG" width="240" /></a></div>
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TIME FLIES!</div>
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And I am SO VERY THANKFUL that we decided to homeschool them!</div>
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First and foremost just because of all the time I have been able to spend with them every single day!</div>
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If my reasons for homeschooling were simply contained to that very reason, </div>
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it would be reason plenty and enough!</div>
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Here are some more photos from our "first day."</div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgqc4fCE1rV2X-f7jPtadWIG9SIBhpoQtHKWKPjaBKDn_Y6Ym76oSNhVOD65gAJfVuyhb84DtsfoFUwZd11mL31IyoIag9SFxvHIePJFy7okHsaVzvJac1kMgTuIUSX9gTV3Ue9cRR_GfY/s1600/photo3.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgqc4fCE1rV2X-f7jPtadWIG9SIBhpoQtHKWKPjaBKDn_Y6Ym76oSNhVOD65gAJfVuyhb84DtsfoFUwZd11mL31IyoIag9SFxvHIePJFy7okHsaVzvJac1kMgTuIUSX9gTV3Ue9cRR_GfY/s320/photo3.JPG" width="240" /></a></div>
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okay, so I took mostly pictures of Ruby playing with her new busy box! ha ha.</div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjmJWiICvtqkr9CNGtt7PNMy8kqhbywBPSViFh-itO5a6OqBgqyeAzdwD3sXyMxY5ZULs6_L1ombLI8zpu6uedPDQeN914gAhXb9O3CsWF9w3-py6IQ48BfS3NgXw_a_MwL9PM_LeCyfFY/s1600/photo4.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjmJWiICvtqkr9CNGtt7PNMy8kqhbywBPSViFh-itO5a6OqBgqyeAzdwD3sXyMxY5ZULs6_L1ombLI8zpu6uedPDQeN914gAhXb9O3CsWF9w3-py6IQ48BfS3NgXw_a_MwL9PM_LeCyfFY/s320/photo4.JPG" width="240" /></a></div>
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Art: drawing outlines of shapes</div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg6J4A-XVof1L-0UWfqoSBvagzfkErjowaQHPYRFwnI3Ja3bciU-oEA9HbhHkfqLblzYUjcuYtxplKs9l2aorCMSQ96kp95NnLvc5G9utfZa0m6pgU42bJ5iLFVcyuvtI1QHkRn6sYlmgM/s1600/photo8.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg6J4A-XVof1L-0UWfqoSBvagzfkErjowaQHPYRFwnI3Ja3bciU-oEA9HbhHkfqLblzYUjcuYtxplKs9l2aorCMSQ96kp95NnLvc5G9utfZa0m6pgU42bJ5iLFVcyuvtI1QHkRn6sYlmgM/s320/photo8.JPG" width="240" /></a></div>
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Some handwriting.</div>
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There was also some Math thrown in, but I didn't take more pics of paperwork going on.</div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj_VJJbaoM_i9hDlzyqKXRyVCrwoDcIGupy9xK5PGQkIuNulRAuS_dy29LW_qf85pVdIwWPO89gWTbMz7Reg891y7HfgApWtrV75AB8N9k1wLr7CoGvwwdlowzRCU5gPxJefAbQjChtJ8c/s1600/photo9.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj_VJJbaoM_i9hDlzyqKXRyVCrwoDcIGupy9xK5PGQkIuNulRAuS_dy29LW_qf85pVdIwWPO89gWTbMz7Reg891y7HfgApWtrV75AB8N9k1wLr7CoGvwwdlowzRCU5gPxJefAbQjChtJ8c/s320/photo9.JPG" width="240" /></a></div>
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The busy box before Ruby got hold of it.</div>
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It has lentils and split peas, red pom pom "apples", some actual craft/decorative apples, "trees" made from toilet paper holders, a cinnamon stick, some buckets, scoops,cups, and a spoon.</div>
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She LOVED it!</div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi-MpZeJ-EmY_fn3LVK8Lz-N6femwVp8-UbW-lvNiQtXE66_Byog65y-XnljGQn_R7s4zxRGb3i6GKB1axXTACKekyDvxilzhoEcNJ5zaiWLvFgq4m81Wsdsda_nwuzw3S6-HvgSeTwUCY/s1600/photo.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi-MpZeJ-EmY_fn3LVK8Lz-N6femwVp8-UbW-lvNiQtXE66_Byog65y-XnljGQn_R7s4zxRGb3i6GKB1axXTACKekyDvxilzhoEcNJ5zaiWLvFgq4m81Wsdsda_nwuzw3S6-HvgSeTwUCY/s320/photo.JPG" width="240" /></a></div>
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Katie and Noah honestly enjoyed this as much as she did! ha ha.</div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhQwv0Sopw7qizocheCFWL71e2R6oU-XhhoCVnFv5X75tutSKB084xjoed_YuMV4OYY8w4qd8WUbK1aDA3P4KqsCOdPKroY1RFDMGCYYItGMTYvthU0mw854Qp-M4J57HhsJqbdDwttw04/s1600/photo10.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhQwv0Sopw7qizocheCFWL71e2R6oU-XhhoCVnFv5X75tutSKB084xjoed_YuMV4OYY8w4qd8WUbK1aDA3P4KqsCOdPKroY1RFDMGCYYItGMTYvthU0mw854Qp-M4J57HhsJqbdDwttw04/s320/photo10.JPG" width="240" /></a></div>
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Working on an internet scavenger hunt about Mexico.</div>
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I prepared questions that I'd found the answers to on pre-selected websites made for kids (time for kids, national geographic kids, some classroom websites created by kids), they searched and had a blast. This is part of our history we are doing before starting our "official" curriculum for the year. They each picked a country. Katie picked Russia, but I didn't get in to get a photo of her working on hers.</div>
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Their favorite part of this was browsing the translating and listening website for their country.</div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgSgkpkpQLcjClrSW9tHdN0wVB0VusPWNVhsfLltHxTKkIC1p4OAXeC0IJB74hqeVh2e9tCywMQ_NbjXYInNJWk64ox2VTzqTtMfk-2LZ7LP2hGnYm7qmarRjZshlS2RCPXlEoCWTsJCyo/s1600/photo2.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgSgkpkpQLcjClrSW9tHdN0wVB0VusPWNVhsfLltHxTKkIC1p4OAXeC0IJB74hqeVh2e9tCywMQ_NbjXYInNJWk64ox2VTzqTtMfk-2LZ7LP2hGnYm7qmarRjZshlS2RCPXlEoCWTsJCyo/s320/photo2.JPG" width="240" /></a></div>
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More playing.</div>
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And yeah, that pretty much sums it up.</div>
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We will be working on our third day when this posts, and I wasn't sure how I would feel about just "reviewing" and making stuff up until our curriculum arrives, but I kind of like easing in to the year this way!</div>
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Get them back in the swing of having things to do before we get to the heavier new stuff.</div>
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<br />Carriehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17122729026438550593noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2942972536445525495.post-66224777482290779652013-08-12T16:04:00.000-04:002013-08-12T16:04:14.033-04:00Change in ProgrammingWell, of course as soon as I print several organizing sheets for my planning binder, something doesn't work out the way it was *printed.*<br />
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I was getting ready to order the Teaching Textbooks materials, when I decided to look at some reviews. WRONG.<br />
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Hmmm...I know every method and curriculum gets good AND bad reviews. But I was reading more and more comments about kids being "several years ahead" in this program, and then being behind what they should know.<br />
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NOT good for me, who is trying to CLOSE UP some gaps by switching math programs this year.<br />
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I decided to actually look closely at the placement tests I had printed for the kids to do this week, just to be sure we were going to order the right stuff. I remember actually printing the Math 6 placement test because I thought it might look like Katie could move on up to that level.<br />
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What I saw I wasn't pleased with. It very much looked like even Noah could almost breeze on up to Math 6. BOO! I was so looking forward to a hands-off completely automated Math program this year.<br />
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Instead, after much review of materials online, and reading reviews, and looking at all the scope and sequence materials for several math programs, I decided on Horizons.<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiyz_7210-d6Tg5ssX0isBg4IE_1OHeIlIK3VrcGaZdpgc4d8OjuCyo9CGhvW5uPgjJJGCbIqd_IkEfevzv717Dg8z5kgG6EphvopQWwJYt_t-lpahSHOneFNUdyZHhT9oyiUlh20wXcbw/s1600/horizons5.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="181" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiyz_7210-d6Tg5ssX0isBg4IE_1OHeIlIK3VrcGaZdpgc4d8OjuCyo9CGhvW5uPgjJJGCbIqd_IkEfevzv717Dg8z5kgG6EphvopQWwJYt_t-lpahSHOneFNUdyZHhT9oyiUlh20wXcbw/s320/horizons5.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgGy5fR2Zliek8nX_Uc47pCUWdJrojNIRzFTSU33jaRR4BSx0jKTd50vLEq2tocYy6iXQE5a7Ed0qpAEjTxPYwL5rrZ2AFM6LA3xgpbMRup32w6kmD1lx78RVw6Loas6j2u0YLAj2lnlFQ/s1600/horizons.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgGy5fR2Zliek8nX_Uc47pCUWdJrojNIRzFTSU33jaRR4BSx0jKTd50vLEq2tocYy6iXQE5a7Ed0qpAEjTxPYwL5rrZ2AFM6LA3xgpbMRup32w6kmD1lx78RVw6Loas6j2u0YLAj2lnlFQ/s1600/horizons.jpg" /></a></div>
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Both of these I ordered from Sonlight, (along with some timeline figures I wanted for our American History study this year). Yes, they look like they have a lot of repeated items in the kits, but yay they offered "fill in kits" for just ordering the things that were different between Math 4 and 5. I also priced out the items on Amazon thinking I could put together a set more cheaply since there are things like scissors and paper included that we already have, but even for just the "math-y" stuff we didn't have, it was way more expensive on Amazon.</div>
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So, where do I find myself this year but on the complete opposite side of the spectrum in every single subject!? ha ha! Not only are we not doing a dvd or computer program, but now we are doing a completely hands-on, lots of manipulatives, math curriculum!</div>
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I truly am excited though. I am mostly excited just to be finally expecting some school materials in the mail soon! We did already get some of the history and science so we will be going ahead and starting that (we did today!). And language has a lot to review already, some lessons on dictionary and thesaurus skills. And we started our first "key word outline" for writing today as well.</div>
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So far so good, and Ruby LOVES her busy boxes so far!</div>
<br />Carriehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17122729026438550593noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2942972536445525495.post-53212582761996254782013-08-07T11:11:00.000-04:002013-08-07T11:52:31.834-04:00Back to School!Well, it's August and I've decided we are going to go ahead and plunge into schooling for 2013/2014! As I looked at the calendar, the desire to have breaks throughout the school year and still finish in May won out over the desire for a few more weeks of summer break! I have not ordered all our curriculum yet, as the refund is still processing (BUT HAS been initiated yay for something done right!), but I have compiled the list of what we will order.<br />
For the first two weeks of school I will be doing some placement testing for their new math program, review, start new writing lessons, and basically use review to get a schedule somewhat worked out. <br />
As I always love to do, here is what we have chosen for this school year, for 4th and 5th grade! (I cannot believe I just typed that!)<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgmg1pWZQHcJt2_gOH93jfWR3A4TowYSXyttRg_FsTeH2ogPiHlZrMEpnvCb8OgYilJe_GPrknTDr225Jk1I-tVhhfzqClUKtgELQZHbaCiFiCGICbV2xnosVqWjJKOLGbnSv1haZp0KNY/s1600/art.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgmg1pWZQHcJt2_gOH93jfWR3A4TowYSXyttRg_FsTeH2ogPiHlZrMEpnvCb8OgYilJe_GPrknTDr225Jk1I-tVhhfzqClUKtgELQZHbaCiFiCGICbV2xnosVqWjJKOLGbnSv1haZp0KNY/s1600/art.jpg" /></a></div>
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I did not upload these pictures in any particular order. Here's something new I hope to accomplish using regularly! We used Artistic Pursuits in 1/2 grade I think. The 4/5 grade book has a very simple supply list so I plan on doing some FUN art with the kids this year!</div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiKlvuZ0Xh11jyNG6-BVOaITIW2pePo75yeq9JDDGDYs3dQy1NS54mh38s-S6zxG2vt_38GN5tsHLBxK4x25TUoG88_F7cB0T0q9k5A4BPyxqCwXCLLTgU3IlR4aTpL6J5WyGw1a6mGsDE/s1600/language.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="256" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiKlvuZ0Xh11jyNG6-BVOaITIW2pePo75yeq9JDDGDYs3dQy1NS54mh38s-S6zxG2vt_38GN5tsHLBxK4x25TUoG88_F7cB0T0q9k5A4BPyxqCwXCLLTgU3IlR4aTpL6J5WyGw1a6mGsDE/s320/language.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
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For grammar, we will still use First Language Lessons.</div>
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It's scripted, and LOTS of review after the basics, but it is really giving a good foundation in parts of speech and sentence structure. Can't argue with results!</div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjV843bF8VAqieqjXYMykgeQAVsY5HzjPJe1z01rBeuEgRgwfI_tQNNLfghmo4p18JJPMDYd-yWZvyNBAffKwzrI4qTk0YFUg3DonoI0WQr5OlBAL9EYwxpMnFVwB1SYkHwIjJTfYkl8Tg/s1600/cursive2.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="247" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjV843bF8VAqieqjXYMykgeQAVsY5HzjPJe1z01rBeuEgRgwfI_tQNNLfghmo4p18JJPMDYd-yWZvyNBAffKwzrI4qTk0YFUg3DonoI0WQr5OlBAL9EYwxpMnFVwB1SYkHwIjJTfYkl8Tg/s320/cursive2.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
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Isn't that a very practical looking method for writing cursive?</div>
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I want to encourage Katie and Noah to use more cursive writing this year, so we have another practice book to use. Plus, I think it's just good for their brains to do something like this and copywork!</div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjG6qdU1ty-dk0nVhqXZJqScpsDiVmwOLCDvBd0q_LxrT95NwpACZoPUYM13pv2ROrl9Hu4JD_lFjNW7-wruFPfXrZfajp8lluFxLnGQW48p3z2z8CiM4LAE2Wm79FUFXTeKpJqgav3N18/s1600/cursive.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjG6qdU1ty-dk0nVhqXZJqScpsDiVmwOLCDvBd0q_LxrT95NwpACZoPUYM13pv2ROrl9Hu4JD_lFjNW7-wruFPfXrZfajp8lluFxLnGQW48p3z2z8CiM4LAE2Wm79FUFXTeKpJqgav3N18/s1600/cursive.jpg" /></a></div>
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We are going back to Abeka for American History this year. They have a good year of it for their fourth grade so that's what they are both going to use.</div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgRK21NGykzmMqk5aOQ6FZn6ceqUxVrFJithG7EfehZySJ57FER24UqbPxClB2uld56F3Jp5ilEZHuI8IZpBirbJ0Zvyrc-SxsSVIvkFKhE09Dj6MDcrKPEIwtYS-g03z5dwFIrnrfEpD0/s1600/Hobbit+Study+Guide+TE.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgRK21NGykzmMqk5aOQ6FZn6ceqUxVrFJithG7EfehZySJ57FER24UqbPxClB2uld56F3Jp5ilEZHuI8IZpBirbJ0Zvyrc-SxsSVIvkFKhE09Dj6MDcrKPEIwtYS-g03z5dwFIrnrfEpD0/s320/Hobbit+Study+Guide+TE.jpg" width="240" /></a></div>
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For literature/reading this year we are going a very different route!</div>
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Memoria Press and Veritas Press have literature guides for various classic novels. I just gave Katie and Noah the choice of many of their titles ranging from 2nd grade to 6th grade and they chose two to start out the year. I made them choose at least one from the "recommended" titles for their grade level (which I believe are pretty advanced!). Katie chose <i>Little House in the Big Woods</i> and <i>The Hobbit</i>. Noah chose <i>The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe</i>, and a book called <i>Adam of the Road.</i></div>
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When they finish these we will order again for what they choose next.</div>
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The guides seem to be very thorough, taking them chapter by chapter through learning new vocabulary, "sayings" of the time period, plot, themes, and comprehension. I am very excited about this new approach and I think it will help them really understand what they are capable of reading.</div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjijoUEDvOxGHUgxXtjO3rXBmxgs0__qEuKGDo9qnM5Gaa319UIEW4O541P_IQIjNs_fKwAg6xr0PI_6lWrvj56YmHZwdK5oLC6fzQUnVt_yJ3yL52G0KSi7eh5EdUjOV6F0kyIg77p8Q8/s1600/lit+guide.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="122" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjijoUEDvOxGHUgxXtjO3rXBmxgs0__qEuKGDo9qnM5Gaa319UIEW4O541P_IQIjNs_fKwAg6xr0PI_6lWrvj56YmHZwdK5oLC6fzQUnVt_yJ3yL52G0KSi7eh5EdUjOV6F0kyIg77p8Q8/s400/lit+guide.jpg" width="400" /></a></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi1Nx8hCSAn3mSKZcotB7GmulFzy4m6FXf6Hp3DCWcXcHrK4GqNWtDzFFrKhcmtcVxr2ew22bSqA4a3-ezcJgnNF9LEAVTvePOSKGV-FgyF2jl7_Xcj7oO7HFrYESX-E0q4EVyKEwypUWw/s1600/math4.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi1Nx8hCSAn3mSKZcotB7GmulFzy4m6FXf6Hp3DCWcXcHrK4GqNWtDzFFrKhcmtcVxr2ew22bSqA4a3-ezcJgnNF9LEAVTvePOSKGV-FgyF2jl7_Xcj7oO7HFrYESX-E0q4EVyKEwypUWw/s320/math4.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
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MATH!</div>
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We are going a complete new direction with Math this year. Up until this point we have used Math-U-See.</div>
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And I have had no issues with it whatsoever!</div>
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But, I was thinking toward them being exposed to a little more each year at this point, and to be honest, I felt that they were getting a little bored with the same person on the DVD lessons all the time.</div>
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At the expo I went through a demo of teaching textbooks and think it will be wonderful!</div>
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The lessons are on computer disks and walk them through "teaching" the lessons and doing problems on the computer for each lesson. It also automatically keeps up with their grades and the parent can easily see how many times they attempted a problem, if they viewed the explanation when they DID miss one, and all sorts of interesting things. </div>
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I'm excited to switch things up a bit!</div>
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There's also the book which they can use to write in for a change of pace from the computer every once in a while.</div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj_27KaF6rXa54kEgrMt2VYvtEsJvs7Dea2K5C5Bajr8g4_v4VaikJ1xNA8MJMdu6EIG0qIkKZ2Bg_DHIl6YpNPUiYApIgo2uSd3Coql5g6mApdmd7QtxnTyTTdWGJ_BD-z2QgIX5b2N0c/s1600/math5.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj_27KaF6rXa54kEgrMt2VYvtEsJvs7Dea2K5C5Bajr8g4_v4VaikJ1xNA8MJMdu6EIG0qIkKZ2Bg_DHIl6YpNPUiYApIgo2uSd3Coql5g6mApdmd7QtxnTyTTdWGJ_BD-z2QgIX5b2N0c/s1600/math5.jpg" /></a></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhfv4ecBju0oRhvUiOVlFEoAux_EtsJB7d4oCvcKW4DNO_lq9MHS8R0SetK3fw-W5GdXoPmoCF0QdKf3Q8jt0799Y3Czwa4tY2DKxDmqveMEwaxjmTKxj2blJJDEm9Uqr2Ohi3K31MzQ5k/s1600/science.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhfv4ecBju0oRhvUiOVlFEoAux_EtsJB7d4oCvcKW4DNO_lq9MHS8R0SetK3fw-W5GdXoPmoCF0QdKf3Q8jt0799Y3Czwa4tY2DKxDmqveMEwaxjmTKxj2blJJDEm9Uqr2Ohi3K31MzQ5k/s1600/science.jpg" /></a></div>
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Science in back on my plate this year, so we are making it simple with a return to Abeka.</div>
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I know science is supposed to be interactive and fun, and this is more of a textbook approach, but oh well.</div>
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It was good enough for me in 4th/5th grade, ha ha.</div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj2i8_S2hxQSZgt3EtBeaoXilMfrW44k5cfTguplqKdEBMjjx1fo4hyEE2maToNnkbjI4QJrkE5YHqugmSPjZRAbHJXbdBwWc7J-lPJhyGovxU4E-9SZQJ6_iuvulYh2Ku0DT20o_2O0HM/s1600/spelling.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj2i8_S2hxQSZgt3EtBeaoXilMfrW44k5cfTguplqKdEBMjjx1fo4hyEE2maToNnkbjI4QJrkE5YHqugmSPjZRAbHJXbdBwWc7J-lPJhyGovxU4E-9SZQJ6_iuvulYh2Ku0DT20o_2O0HM/s1600/spelling.jpg" /></a></div>
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SPELLING!</div>
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I love this spelling program. I have to be honest, when I bought the workbooks last year and started going through just reading out lists for them to spell every single day it was pretty boring pretty fast. </div>
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But I have never seen so much improvement in their spelling skills over one year! I most definitely agree with this approach and that just memorizing a list every week is far inferior to this method! This year I am ordering the student workbooks as well (as opposed to just writing the lists on notebook paper every day).</div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj_h1P-FRsGXiBdsziIql_iopRhsKAU7bsNj9Svo0yYvW9lESY7XAV81oG6U5Hf-JT6TbJ0J543NnfJJdoOnti-qY3lzSzDuQk1xNrk21LWdmJRdFj_QiCBhc9hietBil4EZYY5nnKbgWk/s1600/statenotebook.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj_h1P-FRsGXiBdsziIql_iopRhsKAU7bsNj9Svo0yYvW9lESY7XAV81oG6U5Hf-JT6TbJ0J543NnfJJdoOnti-qY3lzSzDuQk1xNrk21LWdmJRdFj_QiCBhc9hietBil4EZYY5nnKbgWk/s1600/statenotebook.jpg" /></a></div>
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Abeka History for 4th grade includes working through a "State Notebook" project.</div>
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I know Katie and Noah will enjoy this, they LOVE to work on "projects."</div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi2Uh9MX6st_ejvz4Q7-LNs0srxmckZI9R-JU5DqRn4-4nycTGwOqZmTedVyS7ERTepO6_G6S3aAC5SXfJ0l72zlEIZKFy0HnLJFoThqnLmp0gvA-L9FCgjzdYzWOTSACiYz3WKTID3BMs/s1600/vocab.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="137" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi2Uh9MX6st_ejvz4Q7-LNs0srxmckZI9R-JU5DqRn4-4nycTGwOqZmTedVyS7ERTepO6_G6S3aAC5SXfJ0l72zlEIZKFy0HnLJFoThqnLmp0gvA-L9FCgjzdYzWOTSACiYz3WKTID3BMs/s320/vocab.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
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We used Wordly Wise last year and I think it's a great program for exposing them to new vocabulary! Higher level application and using it in a testing format are included in these workbooks too.</div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi1amAGFcLcFW6gtma45zlw2fuxCfYrKPd2hdrRbtQR9-tlQHBvyZIMsW5XZIVrMH1pnHSUzbpjP_SztecHFzUFv_E4xDN_krYb1CXZtufT-zERLH4KK2YC9iirBxY_MqnrXs5NhT2ISYM/s1600/writing.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="276" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi1amAGFcLcFW6gtma45zlw2fuxCfYrKPd2hdrRbtQR9-tlQHBvyZIMsW5XZIVrMH1pnHSUzbpjP_SztecHFzUFv_E4xDN_krYb1CXZtufT-zERLH4KK2YC9iirBxY_MqnrXs5NhT2ISYM/s320/writing.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
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And finally, my most favorite homeschool curriculum of all time. </div>
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This is because it takes something that I just could not wrap my head around how to teach and makes it SO ridiculously simple! I LOVE THIS!</div>
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I now understand why on any Q&A or forum, if a writing program was asking for, the overwhelming response was IEW.</div>
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Change to our schedule:</div>
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We are signing up with the local church co-op again this year called CHAT. We participated in it when the kids were preschool, kindergarten, and 1st grade-ish. We took a break for a while to do science classes at Education Play Station, but for many reasons it seems that this will be a better fit for us this year. I am looking forward to the mommy social time as well.</div>
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I am also going to try a daily theme schedule. Math and Reading, as well as vocabulary and spelling and handwriting every day, but taking one day per week to spend a couple of hours on each of Language, Writing, Art, Science, and Social Studies. Rather than do all of those every day I hope that taking one day to work solely on one of those areas will be productive and help us get more done. It's difficult to work through so many transitions and subjects every day and I truly hope this will solve that issue!</div>
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Math and Reading will be almost completely independent, as well as handwriting and vocabulary. This means my daily instructional time can be easily accomplished through spelling, and our daily "Theme" subject.</div>
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I am excited at the prospect of this resulting in more quality instructional time during Ruby's nap!</div>
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That's pretty much it! I'm looking forward to a productive year, Katie's last year as an elementary student, and Noah's fourth grade year!</div>
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Oh, and <a href="http://pinterest.com/creativecarriet/my-busy-little-girl/">HERE</a> is a link to my pinterest board with all the ideas for Ruby's busy boxes! I think she will have a fun year too!</div>
<br />Carriehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17122729026438550593noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2942972536445525495.post-76439127939324238582013-08-05T21:27:00.002-04:002013-08-05T21:27:29.089-04:00GUTSYou know, there have been <a href="http://thinkeditup.blogspot.com/2009/11/our-night-in-delaware.html">times in the past</a>, and even more that have not made the blog, where I learned to trust my gut. AKA, the Holy Spirit.<br />
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It seems last weekend, I ignored that gut panicky feeling, and it has caused some inconvenience again to our family.<br />
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You see, all the way home from the homeschool expo a couple of weekends ago, I had that panicky feeling. I attributed it to a combination of fear, pride, and some supplements I'd been taking that contained quite a bit of caffeine.<br />
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And on Saturday evening when I got the chance to look over the receipt and noticed the billing information was wrong, I considered it a fluke.<br />
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On Sunday when I read some reviews which suggested buying the pre-printed teacher resource materials, another $40 worth of stuff, I wasn't thrilled.<br />
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On Monday, when I talked to the representative and she pointed out a pricing error which resulted in an increase of our already over budget total by another $80, I sighed and went along.<br />
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Then, when the shipping address was wrong and UPS had to be intercepted with an address change, I was really starting to get annoyed.<br />
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And when I noticed, after the items had shipped, that the incorrect grade level of science was being sent, I was quite upset.<br />
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During my conversation with the customer service representative, when I was attempting to actually GET the address changed, and inquire about the incorrect science that was being sent, and the lady *so nicely* explained to me that it was "too late", "it's already on the truck" and "there's nothing I can do about it," well.... my mood was far from happy.<br />
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And the icing on the cake was that she was so kind as to explain to me how to weigh a box of materials so that I could call them with the figures (step on a bathroom scale with the box, then step on the scale without the box, then figure the difference to find the weight! in case you didn't know). <br />
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It took me about two hours after that last conversation (during which I priced out all the stuff I really wanted to get before going with this company and it turned out to be $500 cheaper!) to call them back and cancel the entire order, every single piece, and send a lovely feedback email to their customer service department.<br />
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And oh yeah, the garnish on top of the frosting on the cake: "It's our busy season, so it could be 4-6 weeks before a credit is issued back."<br />
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GREAT!<br />
Thanks!<br />
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School will be starting this week. I've got plenty of review material for starting out the year, plus some new Art lessons and handwriting practice, and of course our awesome Institute for Excellence in Writing program. We will keep busy until we can get our new supplies for this year, and it will not be with a DVD curriculum program!<br />
<br />Carriehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17122729026438550593noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2942972536445525495.post-54962856602071382932013-07-28T19:01:00.000-04:002013-07-29T18:51:48.086-04:00Tough Decisions (edited)Corey and I attended the <a href="http://www.southeasthomeschoolexpo.com/">Southeast Homeschool Expo</a> at Cobb Galleria yesterday. I went with a huge to-do list:<br />
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1. Find curriulum for our school year.<br />
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In previous years, we have always bought our curriculum early on in the year, because I've decided what we want to do, and we are all done before it's even time for the expo. But this past year, with all the changes going on, I didn't get it ordered. Then, Corey and I have been discussing the idea of a hybrid school option for the 2014/15 school year. I have just acknowledged the fact that it is very difficult to school Katie and Noah with a toddler around. And they are getting into more difficult subject matter that I just really want them to be sure to get a good survey of and it not depend on the day we are having if I can spend the time to do it. And as they get older, we are just entertaining the idea of a hybrid school because of all the other things it would offer like clubs, honor societies, sports, music, and an accredited diploma at the end.<br />
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With this prospect on the horizon I knew that I wanted to get something that would get them more prepared for a classroom type situation. I've always been very eclectic in choosing what we do, read aloud history from Sonlight, a separate math program, language, etc. So this year, I was going to look at everything.<br />
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I got the sales pitch from all the big companies, looked at the ones I had also used in the past, and after considering the time that each type would take (I really loved Sonlight, but I had to realize that we just don't have the time for all the reading aloud), I made an extremely unlike me and difficult decision.<br />
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We went with a <a href="http://www.bjupresshomeschool.com/content/about-distance-learning-dvd">DVD based curriculum</a>.<br />
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*GASP* I really think I was in shock the rest of the day. Truly.<br />
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I watched the sampler dvd they had playing for the specific grades and subjects that we were going to be getting, and also looked through the accompanying textbooks and workbooks.<br />
They looked thorough and on target with the content I wanted to be sure to cover with them this year.<br />
The dvds, honestly, are a bit dated, but they are tremendously better than the past experience I've had with a similar program.<br />
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The true test would be what Katie and Noah think. So before bed last night we went through the sampler dvd with them with the subjects we would be using. And they like it! Noah said, "It looks pretty good!" ha ha. Perhaps it will do them some good to hear from varying voices and personalities for different subjects. And honestly, it's neat for them to be able to watch many science experiments every day and learn things that way, because if it were left to us and our crazy schedule we probably would only get one done every other week at best.<br />
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We decided on Reading, History, Math, and Science. They are filmed to be directed directly toward one child at home, and not just a video of a classroom. And they are interesting, with plenty of interjected skits, animations, charts, real life photos, interviews, and virtual field trips.<br />
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My goal with homeschooling is to have school be just part of life, and for the education they receive to be customized for them, and for them to receive a quality (Christian) education without the restraints and influences of the public school system. This will still allow me to accomplish those goals. In actuality, I am really enjoying thinking about perhaps having time to plan AND EXECUTE some more creative ideas now that I won't be the sole instructor for the basics. If it isn't taking me an hour to read a 15 minute history selection, with interruptions every five minutes, perhaps I can actually gather resources to do some extra activities and projects. And get around to the "electives" like art and music more often. Also, we still have our writing curriculum that I will be doing with them (they have lessons on DVD but it's one every week or two), and also I will be doing First Language Lessons with them as well. So, it won't ALL be video based.<br />
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<span style="color: #0c343d;">As I've had time to think about this over the last 24 hours or so, I think I've put my finger on the *issue* that I've had with this decision. I've unfortunately always seen dvd homeschooling as something that would be chosen by someone who did not think they could do it on their own, who thought that the parent was not suited to teach their own children, or qualified, or for some people, (not all by any means), for those who didn't want to spend all that time with their children.</span><br />
<span style="color: #0c343d;"><br /></span>
<span style="color: #0c343d;">I thought that by making this choice I was putting those labels on myself, or thinking that is what others would think of me.</span><br />
<span style="color: #0c343d;"><br /></span>
<span style="color: #0c343d;">I absolutely do not believe that I am unqualified to teach my children. And I completely believe that I *could* do it. And I 1000% want to spend the time with my children. So I have proven my assumption to be completely false. Because if no one else is an exception to those assumptions, I definitely believe that I am one myself.</span><br />
<span style="color: #0c343d;"><br /></span>
<span style="color: #0c343d;">I know my limitations. I know that time management is a struggle for me right now with all the changes to our life and the space, time, and scheduling conflicts this presents. I do not want an entire year of schooling for my children to fall victim to the fact that I struggle with maintaining a routine at this point in our lives. And I acknowledge that using this system is a perfectly sound, potentially very fun, and one that provides a great deal of assurance for success for them this year, in being exposed to all the history, math, science, social studies, and reading material that might not all "get done" otherwise. I know that it doesn't really matter what they get exposed to or how much isn't a life or death issue, but there is such a thing in this world as high school coming and college for their future if they choose it, and I don't want it to be more difficult for them than it would have to be for my lack of consistency and putting the material in front of them. They are at a prime age for soaking up facts and knowledge. I want to give them as much as possible. So, some dvds with 180 days of learning included sounds like a good way to make sure we do it! ha ha!</span><br />
<span style="color: #0c343d;"><br /></span>
<span style="color: #0c343d;">I firmly believe that I have always done that for them in all these years so far. But, the end of our last year for getting anything done with all the unnamed (ahem) little distractions made it VERY difficult. And it definitely hindered relationships and patience for everyone involved. I am hoping that this will provide more time for fun and creativity from mom, and less time being distracted and reeling everyone back in afterward.</span><br />
<span style="color: #0c343d;"><br /></span>
<span style="color: #0c343d;">I have lots of plans in place for how to keep the little one entertained, and there will be plenty of time to use those techniques during our writing, spelling, and language instruction. But there's so much more that needs to be done including two different math lessons for two different grades, exposure to reading comprehension and vocabulary, science and social studies. There is content to be learned and not just over the screams of the toddler or between trips to the potty. And they aren't quite to the age of being able to completely school themselves (which will come the older they get).</span><br />
<span style="color: #0c343d;"><br /></span>
<span style="color: #0c343d;">And what of the toddler who actually needs to be played with and interacted with as well? I just feel there aren't enough hours in the day ha ha!</span><br />
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This is just where we are right now, and I think (hope) that it will be a good fit.<br />
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Of course there's the 30 day money back guarantee if it turns out it isn't, ha ha.Carriehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17122729026438550593noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2942972536445525495.post-5493852794591272232013-07-25T16:34:00.002-04:002013-07-25T16:34:30.658-04:00Challenge UpdateOkay! So I didn't get around to blogging yesterday, but I will just skip to today instead.<br />
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As of this morning, I am down 3.6lbs and 3 1/2 overall inches since Sunday! I know that anytime a new diet is started, those first pounds just drop away easily, but I am still encouraged! I HATE where I started, and I hope that once this cleanse phase is over I will feel more energized and able to do some exercise which I know will help even more!<br />
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The fiber drink yesterday was YUCK! Again! BUT, today I got a break for it until the last three days of the cleanse phase, so I am happy about that. Today I had two eggs and a piece of toast for breakfast, and we had pork chops for lunch. I made my pork chops separately just cooked in pineapple chunks with the juice and they were delicious. I had garlic oven roasted asparagus with it. Everyone else also had mashed potatoes and mac n cheese. I just had my afternoon Spark with some almonds for a snack. I really am feeling the lasting effects (ahem 2am) of the caffeine, but I SO look forward to the drink in the afternoon, so maybe my body will get used to it eventually. Late late last night I was starving and had a banana at 1am, so that's probably not great, ha ha. But oh well.<br />
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One plus I am noticing, and I did this when I was doing a strict paleo diet, is the energy I get after eating. I don't know if it's because my body is "feeling" deprived right now due to the drastic change in food amount, but regardless I am getting that "rush" after meals that I SO enjoyed when eating paleo. Much better than the draggy feeling I was having after eating junk and tons of carbs. I really feel that I need to help implement this more with the kids too because I know they would feel better without a carb at every meal. Everyone does!<br />
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AND potty training is still very hit or miss. She definitely understands, but she's just in the experimental phase I guess. It is looking like whether she's wearing panties or a diaper doesn't really make a difference. OFTEN she will just pee in the panties, and many times she will tell us she needs to go potty when she's wearing the diaper. She is just very two years old and if I can tell she needs to go and she doesn't want to, there is NO making her (without screaming and flailing away from the seat). This isn't a live or die issue yet, so I'm not going to make her with screaming. I'd rather reserve the seriousness for her more often tendency to draw on things that aren't paper.Carriehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17122729026438550593noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2942972536445525495.post-79711650932690658592013-07-24T00:29:00.002-04:002013-07-24T00:29:37.611-04:00Day TwoMy second day drinking my fiber drink went much better. Thanks to me thinking of perhaps mixing it with ICE WATER! Made such a difference! Gulped it right down, then had one egg and a piece of toast because I got up late.<br />
Lunch was chicken nachos for the family. So I cooked myself a chicken breast with some of the onions and peppers, with only a little bit of salt and cumin and chili powder added. I ate that with some black beans on the side and a generous amount of fresh cilantro sprinkled on top. Drank plenty of water.<br />
The afternoon slump hit severely, so I had a banana, and drank my Spark. The mandarin orange flavor was delicious!<br />
For dinner I had my Omegaplex, a huge salad with lots of turkey, also tomatoes, cucumber, carrots, pecans, and a tiny bit of olive oil and some balsamic vinegar.<br />
I had my awful post dinner shakes again and ate a Lara bar and an apple. <br />
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As for the other new thing of the week, (potty training) I care not to discuss it today. :(Carriehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17122729026438550593noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2942972536445525495.post-28179936724887642192013-07-23T00:07:00.002-04:002013-07-23T00:07:19.727-04:00The Longest DayToday may have been one of the longest days of my life! HA!<br />
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Two things: I started the Advocare 24 Day Challege, and decided also to begin potty training Ruby in earnest.<br />
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First up: the 24 Day Challenge. I've been wanting to do this for months, but since Ruby was still nursing I had to keep putting it off. So, finally, the time has arrived!<br />
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My eating has gotten utterly and completely out of control. I would blame stress and that might be a lot of it, but part of it is also just me being indulgent and careless. I haven't ballooned out of all my clothing, but it definitely is far above and beyond where I want to be. Corey and I both dropped tons of weight at the beginning of the year when we were strictly eating Paleo, and I LOVED how I felt. It's just been one thing after another getting in the way of being strict with it again. So, I wanted to do this challenge as a jump start back into healthy eating.<br />
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It starts with a 10 day cleanse phase, then followed by a two week supplement and diet regime.<br />
Today was day one.<br />
I had my fiber herbal cleanse drink first thing, and let me say it was DISGUSTING!<br />
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haha. Seriously, I was trying to chug it during our first potty session this morning (more on that later), and couldn't drink it fast enough so it started getting really thick, so I had to add more water and then it took even LONGER to get rid of! BUUUUUT I am sure it will be worth it! The idea is that you cleanse and clean out first to get ready for maximum absorption during the second phase. Makes sense. I have never done any type of cleanse before, so we will see how it goes. I only have two more days of this particular drink in the morning then I get a break for a few days before I do it again.<br />
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This cleanse includes just a very clean eating and portion controlled diet with it. So after my drink I had two eggs with a piece of toast and a banana. After all that, I was completely STUFFED. SO FULL!!!!! So by lunch I wasn't the least bit hungry. I drank a Spark (vitamin/energy drink with the plan) while everyone ate. then around 1:30 ate my lunch of a salad with greens, tomatoes, carrots, some turkey, and pecans sprinkled on top. I drizzled a tiny bit of olive oil and balsamic vinegar on for dressing.<br />
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I knew the afternoon would be my weak spot. I was suddenly starving! I had some banana chips, almonds, and frozen blueberries for a snack. And held out with a glass of water before dinner. I took my Omega plex supplements about 15 minutes before dinner.<br />
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Dinner was yummy! Pintos, sauteed kale, a baked sweet potato, and tomatoes with light olive oil and basil. Then about an hour and a half after dinner I was feeling the serious sugar and carb withdrawals. Shakiness and sweaty. The food change combined with the events of the day (potty training!) had me completely spent as far as energy! I thought I wasn't going to make it! ha ha!<br />
Around 9 I enjoyed a coconut Lara Bar. Mmmmmm........<br />
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So I think that puts me over on snacks today, but I know it will get easier after these cravings stop!<br />
A little bit ago I had a swallow of apple juice. Going cold turkey is just so hard! But I think I did pretty well!<br />
I am excited to see my results after the first two days. I think I will do a weight check on Wednesday morning. Later, right before bed I have a probiotic something or other to take, another part of the cleanse. I already dread that fiber drink the morning. But I LOVE eggs, so that will be my reward for making it through!<br />
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Now, for the other big thing going on all day which made my day seem never ending!<br />
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Ruby has been interested in the potty for a long time. She actually went a couple of days back in January or February and used a little potty several times. But then the fun wore off.<br />
To be honest, I wasn't looking forward to potty training AT ALL. I hate using public restrooms with toddlers, and also having to stop the car to find potties when out and about. So I put it off as long as I thought I could/should. On the other hand, I didn't want to wait TOO long, till the fascination with prizes and praise wore off. After a very busy week of VBS last week, I decided this week would be a good time to spend every day at home, rest, and give it a try.<br />
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I started by gathering a basket of "prizes." We have already been giving a tiny marshmallow over the past few months when she would randomly say "potty" and actually go, so I wanted something different. I got a pack of pipsqeak markers (opened so she could pick one at a time) because she LOVES drawing. Also got a pack of the party favor size play doh. She's never really played with play doh, so I thought that would be fun. Some teeny stamps from the $1 spot at Target, some bracelets, kazoos, and that's about it.<br />
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Put panties on her first thing and she wouldn't pee in the potty, and had two accidents back to back. Then I discover that I only have four of the six pair of training underwear I bought! So I'm already washing because I'm going to run out of them! Then I get the idea to start giving her a sticker every time she is DRY when the timer on my phone goes off. Either it worked or she just got the hang of it, but she then stayed dry for a LONG time. She would get a sticker, and we would go sit on the potty. Then it progressed to, she would use the potty, then I would set a timer for 6 minutes, give a sticker for being dry, set a timer for 5 minutes, get a sticker for being dry, then I would get her on the potty and she would go. If not, the timer would get shorter until she actually used the potty. And when she went on the potty she got a prize from the basket. She chose markers at first and loved drawing in between potty trips, but after that first play doh was opened, she was HOOKED! She LOVED it. So we basically played play doh ALL DAY LONG while checking and stickering and pottying EVERY THREE to SIX minutes all day long! Did I say this went on ALL DAY LONG? Our last timer went off sometime between 9 and 9:30 and we were in the bed at 10! I put that diaper on with a big sigh of relief at 9:45 ish!<br />
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And on a very Ruby hilarious note, she was very dramatic during those 15 minutes! She rolled around all over the floor and squirming around everywhere saying VERY loudly, "MY BUUUUUUUUP" (My butt!), "My BUP MYYYY BUUUUUP!" <br />
No idea what was the problem. I checked and made sure her diaper wasn't off kilter or too tight, I guess she just didn't like the way it felt after having on soft undies all day! ha ha.<br />
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But, right before nap time she told ME that she needed to potty and went! So I really think it's going to come along just fine! I have no interest in forcing her to do this, but I do think the time might be just right. She hasn't quite reached that "well, I've already GOT a prize to play with so I don't need any more" stage of not caring whether she goes anymore that day. I believe we hit that stride at one point with Katie, ha ha.<br />
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Let's hope day two goes easier for both scenarios tomorrow!Carriehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17122729026438550593noreply@blogger.com0