"O" is for Octopus

One of the most fun themes we've had in school so far is definitely the "O" is for octopus. Probably because the teacher learned as much as the student. I knew the basics...an octopus lives in water, it has 8 arms and no bones. But I guess I missed out on the marine biology lesson that taught about all the super cool other things that an octopus can do. So needless to say we watched A LOT of youtube videos about octopus camoflage!  (They were just so cool I couldn't stop!)

You must forgive my horrible photography skills here.  I have a point and shoot camera and kids who are trying to "help" me take pictures so I'm basically looking at them and aiming the camera somewhere at the table.  That being said even if they weren't there it probably wouldn't look any better.  But alas, I digress...I'll get back to the point.  This is a picture of a few of the things we did to help us learn more about the octopus as well as the letter "O".  Since you really can't see any of them up close I will try and explain them a bit.  Next time I will try and plan better and get some individual pictures up close to really show what he's learning.

We traced those cute little four year old hands to make an octopus and then found pictures of other sea creatures to make a collage.

The sheet with the letter O and picture of an octopus in the left corner is a sound discrimination worksheet.  Several pictures are given, some beginning with the "o" sound and some that don't. Circle the ones that do, x out the ones that don't.  I think this is incredibly boring, but this is always one of his favorite things to do each week.  He says the name of the picture and then "YES! it does!" and cirlces it.  Or, "NOOOOOO, it sure doesn't!" and x's it out with a big flourish!

One page is a math sheet where he chooses a number from a cup, writes it and then draws an object of his choosing that many times.  For example he picks the number 4:  He writes a 4 in the space provided and then draws 4 balloons.  During math we also do story problems.  I tell him a story and each time he hears a number he writes it down.  Then he solves the problem by drawing a picture.  (Seriously need pictures here instead of all these words!!)

The little yellow book you see there is the first book he read all by himself.  It's called "Pam", and has a total of five words.  He was SO proud! (And so was mom!)

We also made an octopus out of a paper plate and put an octopus fact on each arm, and did an octopus quiz.  I know I know, quizzes at only four years old?!  I'm quite the task master!  He loves it though.  He gets excited when I can't "trick" him.  If he gets an answer right I didn't trick him, he was too smart for me.  By the way the quiz was just YES/NO questions like:  An octopus lives on land.  YES   NO Then he circles the right answer.

I did get one photo up close, and yes another horrible picture.  Professional photography is not in my future!  Anyway...this worksheet is one of the begining reading activities in our curriculum.  He reads the words aloud without my help.  Each one he gets right on the first try he gets a sticker or a star.  (This week he couldn't decide if he wanted stickers or stars so we did both!)  He's doing so well with his reading.  He only missed one word, and that's because he read it doll-l-l (with the 2 "l" sounds separately at the end).  Then as soon as he finished he looked at me and said "That's not a word."  I told him the way he said it wasn't and that when two letters are together in a word you only say the sound once.  (We had never talked about double letters before that day.)  So he looked at it again and said "doll".  I should've given him a star, but since the rules of the game (we call it a game...pretty fun games we play at our house huh??) are you have to get it on the first try he didn't get the star this time. 

That's just a small look at our how school has been going so far this year.  It's been so much fun, and little brother likes to join in too.  He's learning a lot of his letters and numbers and likes to be a part of things as much as he can be.  As much as I loved (and sometimes didn't love so much) teaching as a career before I had my first son it can't even compare to teaching my own children.  I love watching them grow and learn.  I'm so thankful I have this opportunity to stay home with them so I don't miss a thing!

Another Birthday??!!

A couple of weeks ago my oldest turned four years old.  I know I say it over and over again, but I can't believe how quickly these four years have gone by.  Recently I was looking at pictures of the day he was born and now here he is far from that tiny bundle I held in my arms that day.

Here he sits with little brother anxiously awaiting the "singing" candle; a family tradition my mother began that my husband will never let die!  The only thing better about this photo would be if they were looking at the camera.  I love how they're sitting together sharing the same chair.  Brothers and best friends!

Even though he isn't the birthday boy this picture was just too cute not to share.  The cupcakes apparently passed the taste test!

For months my son told me he wanted a baseball hat cake for his birthday.  Two days before the party he tells me he decided he wants a sword birthday cake instead.  Too bad kiddo I already bought the stuff for a baseball theme this year and your "frugal" mama (we won't say cheap, although it's totally true!) isn't about to go out and buy whatever it might take to make a sword cake.  There's always next year!

So here is my attempt at making a baseball hat cake.  I love making birthday cakes for my kid's birthdays but I am far from artistic and cakes require a little of that to turn out just right.  So mine are personalized with imperfections but that's what makes them special right?  So far my attempts have included a police car, airplane, lion, and frog.  But this cake was by far the easiest one I've ever made. 

For the cake I put 1 1/2 cake mixes in a 3 quart round oven safe bowl and added extra time to cook it all the way through.  Mine ended up baking up nice and flat without the usual semi rounded top that usually occurs on cakes that you have to cut off to make flat for decorating.  Not sure how that happened, but won't complain about something that makes my cake making attempts easier.  Cake cooled and removed from bowl and ta da, the beginings of a hat.  I baked the remaining 1/2 of the cake mix in an 8in round cake pan and used that for brim of the hat.  This unfortunately did have a rounded top that had to be cut flat, oh well you can't win them all.  I cut about half of it away to form the shape of the brim and much to my surprise and delight it fit perfectly around the rest of the cap.  Cover with frosting and a hat begins to appear.  I used red Twizzlers pull and peel pieces to make the stripes and red M & M's for the center of the hat and the letter E.  Easy as pie, only it was a cake! 

The cupcakes were a little more labor intensive, but still super easy. After they were frosted with white frosting I used more of the pull and peel pieces to make the seams of the baseball.  Even though it probably took longer than just using red frosting it was less intimidating to me.  Frosting and I are not friends when it comes to drawing straight even lines.  They always end up looking like they were made by a kindergardener; all wavy and thick on one end, thin on the other.  No offense to kindergardeners out there, who are probably much better at decorating cakes than I! 

The best part of all though was when my son, who had wanted a sword cake, saw what I had made and said, "Wow!  That's really cool!"  And for that son, I will make you another cake next year.   Maybe even a sword!

"Because a Thankful Heart is a Happy Heart"

I've been thinking today about how thankful I am for the things I've been given in my life.  For those who know what kind of day this has actually been you may be surprised to read that.  But today my heart is not filled with sadness, but with joy.  I'm thankful for the opportunity I have to live in a country with heathcare that I can take advantage of.  I'm thankful for a husband who is employed and can care for our needs when so many families are without that.  I'm thankful for a God who sees me and hears my prayers.  I'm thankful for two healthy and wonderful children.  It's amazing to actually see them learning everyday.  Each day they discover something new, or master something they used to struggle with.  I see my almost 4 year old (only a few days left of being 3!!) sounding out words and starting to spell.  How did that happen so fast?   My nearly 2 year old (still have a couple months to go for that one at least!) putting together sentences and saying so many new words.  I watch him mimic everything his older brother does and love to see how they play and grow together.  How did I get blessed to have such awesome kids?  I  have a supportive and loving husband who cares for me more than I think I even realize sometimes.  He sacrifices his time, energy, and heart not only for our family but for others.  What better example could I have for my sons to look up to?  So today I say God is good.  I thank Him today for all He has given me.  And if I never have another thing, I have enough.  If I never have a bigger house, a newer car, more stuff, it will be enough.  I pray that in my heart I always know that the gift and sacrifice of Jesus and my relationship with him ins enough.

So many times we focus on the sadness we see in this world, and forget to look at the beauty that still remains.  This is a broken world, and will continue to be until Christ returns and makes it right again.  Until that day, I hold onto the knowledge that even though I may not see His face God is there.  He is a part of my life, and he cares for each of us idividually and knows us, even me.  So today I want to praise Him for He is worthy to be praised.  And as I do I hum this little Veggie Tales tune in my head and know the words are so very true...a thankful heart is a happy heart!    http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CvPmCaRhDWo&feature=related

The Origins of Grandma Salad

I mentioned today that I wanted to make some Grandma Salad, and had someone asked me if it was made with kleenex, peppermints and overpowering perfume.  I laughed.  Then I realized that Grandma Salad needs a little explaining.  Since getting too long winded on Facebook is frowned upon I figured I would use this handy dandy blog here to share my thoughts on Grandma Salad.

First of all let it be known that I am opposed to almost all forms of what I consider "midwestern jellowy-ish salads".  You know the type; the ones that use various combinations of jello, pudding, cool whip, cottage cheese, nuts, and various fruits and vegetables.  Oh and don't forget the marshmallows!  For all my midwestern friends who make or like these particular concoctions, and for those from anywhere else who also like these I know you are not alone.  I'm often in the minority when it comes to my opposition to such foods, although I honestly can't understand it.  FYI I have tried many of these salads over the years just to make sure I still don't like them...I don't.  But I don't want it to be said that I'm not giving food a chance.  Just for fun I looked up some jello salad recipes online and came up with such fabulous ones as these..."Cucumber Lime Salad" in which lime jello, mayonaise, and cucumbers are combined (gag!), or how about this delicious little number..."Green Olive and Lemon Jello Salad" where you put lemon jello, onions, green olives, mayo, and the all important cottage cheese all in the same bowl!! (seriously disgusting!)  These are the actual names of the recipes by the way...who would read those titles and think,  hmm that sounds good?  And what's with mixing mayonaise into everything?  I just don't get it.  I thought I should also add that I found these recipes under the title "POTLUCK FAVORITES".  What does that say about the other food being served at these potlucks if these things are favorite items?

But moving on to more important things like Grandma Salad.  Grandma Salad is one of those things that if I saw it at a potluck before I had tried it I wouldn't have touched it.  It looks like one of "those" salads, a salad a grandma would make.  Not my grandma of course, my grandma's culunary delights included Little Debbie's oatmeal cream pies and microwave mac 'n cheese.  My grandma wasn't a cook, but she was amazingly wonderful in many other ways.  Anyway, Grandma Salad as I began calling it, is actually a recipe from the old Church of Christ cookbook that my mom decided to try.  Which is surprising since I grew up in a house that remained mostly unscathed by such types of foods.  Anyway, she made it and I immediately told her something along the lines of..."Ick why did you make that?"  or something equally as kind.  She told me just to try it because it was really good.  After doing a thorough check to make sure no cottage cheese or vegetables were hiding anywhere (I draw the line and those two items mixed with pudding or jello) I decided to try it.  And to my surprise my mother was right.  Who knew that when you take vanilla pudding, cool whip, pineapple, fruit cocktail, mandarin oranges, buttermilk, and fudge stripe cookies and mix them together the result would be such deliciousness?!  I for one did not, but after one bite I was hooked.  And now it has become one of my "potluck favorites".  So now you know everything you ever wanted to know (and so much more!) about Grandma Salad.  Which I think is actually called Fudge Cookie Salad and was a recipe by Dianne Brockman.  I want to give credit where credit is due because it is seriously yummy and it's always gone at any of our church potlucks before the last person in line goes through!

School uniform: Not exactly...

As superintendant, principal, and teacher for my son's school I am lucky enough to choose our dress code.  I do not let him wear his pajamas, I want us to be dressed for school even if we are at home.  Although today I was in my sweats...not exactly professional, but we'll keep this between the three of us (the number of my readers and myself...hee hee) and hardly anyone will know.  But today this is what my son chose to wear.  Meet Robin Hood :)  No worries he still got all his work done in spite of his outfit!

Footie Pajamas

What is it about footie pajamas that is so adorable?  Is it the the fact that the entire outfit is one piece?  Is it that you can't see their feet, because those are actually quite adorable themselves?  I don't know what it is but every kid looks cute in footie pajamas.  Take an average looking kid, put them in a pair of footie pj's and instantly transformed into cuteness.  Put an already cute kid in them and the result is just downright irresistable.  I can't put my finger on it, but I love footie pajamas.  It's rarely ever cold enough to wear them here, but I still have to find one or two opportunites a year to bundle my baby up in a pair.  And there you go...adorable!  Am I right or am I right?

First Week of School!

We made the decision to homeschool awhile ago, but I never really thought about when we would officially start. I figured he would be in public school when he turned 5, so we would start sometime around then. I had decided that after he turned 4 we would probably start that year in August when the regular school year began for everyone else here. We have already worked on letters, numbers, colors, etc just for fun, but nothing intense or structured. I started looking into homeschool curriculums and felt completely overwhelmed with all the choices. I have many friends who homeschool their kids and they have different curriculums they use, but I didn't want to pick something just because someone else was using it. I wanted to get something that would match my teaching style, keep my son engaged, and cover the state standards for what a child should know in each grade of school. A tall order for someone who has zero experience with homeschool curriculum. As an elementary teacher for 5 years before staying home with my kids I'm familiar with curriculum choices, but still felt in over my head without having been to a curriculum fair where I could get my hands on materials. As I was considering all these things a good friend of mine, who also homeschools, offered me a couple of different kindergarten curriculums. This happened just as I had started my research, and was one of the ones I had been looking into. I happily (and gratefully) accepted it! I needed to order the student materials, but had the teacher guide and entire curriculum plan for a year. I still wasn't going to start it right away, but as I looked through it I thought...my son can do this. So, we began our journey into homeschool this week. And he LOVED it. We are taking it slow. If he doesn't feel like doing it one day, then we won't do it that day. Like I said he wouldn't even be starting kindergarten in pubilc school until he was almost 5 1/2 (2 years from now) because of where his birthday falls, so we don't need to be in a hurry. But I have a feeling we won't be taking many days off. He loves to learn, and hasn't complained once about anything we've done. He even gave me a huge hug when I told him he was going to start school and said, "Thank you mom! Thank you for doing school with me!" I know it's only been a week, and we just in the introduction stages but I'm having a great time too. It's nice to have a routine during the day, and get back to teaching. I guess I really have missed it since I've been home. Here are a few pictures of how we spent our week.

Getting ready to start our day of learning!

Here we played a game where I showed him capital and lower case letters. If he knew it, he got to keep the card. If he didn't, I got to keep it. That's his pile and my pile. Oh, you only see one pile there? That's because I didn't get any.

Each day we focused on a number that corresponded with a day in the creation story. For example on the 3rd day God made the trees and plants. After he learned about the number he would look for it in the grocery store ads and circle that day's number.

He wanted to cut out all of his numbers by himself. He does pretty well. Still needs a little help on some of the more detailed cutting, but overall not bad!

As part of the letter recognition the curriculum includes this ABC chart. I would tell him a letter and he would cover it with his coin. It's nice to start school out with activities he can be successful doing. He liked this game, especially when we found the first letters of the names of all his friends.

This is a game we played on the last day of school this week. He would pick a card out with a number on it. Then count out that many cheerios. He did great!

Goofy kid!

He counted all the numbers we learned this week. (We doubled up on numbers a couple days. He wanted to keep going, so we did!)

And for those of you wondering what baby brother has been doing while we're in school. Today I put him in his crib with some books and toys. When we went in to check on him this is what we found. Long week of school for all of us! :)

I'm so thankful I have this opportunity to stay home with my kids and teach them as well. I know it won't always be easy, but I look forward to watching my children learn and grow. I'm already so proud of both my boys. We'll all have lots to learn as we go; from choosing the right curriculum, to sticking with it and not giving up! But I know with God's help we can figure it all out!