Project Life Tuesday

See the full gallery on Posterous

Tuesday 18

No picture.

Wednesday 19

Jax and the stupid Old Navy dog.  I needed to run down there and look at some pants.  Jax tagged along so he could see the doggie.

Thursday 20

No picture.

Friday 21

Starting Deutronomy.

Saturday 22

Julie is one happy camper.  She loves, loves, loves, her princess couch.  And then she had her letter toy and the old iPod.  Seriously, can this girl get any happier?

Sunday 23

No picture.

Monday 24

Squirrel hunting at the park.  The kids had so much fun today.  But while we were on the "trail," the kids spotted a squirrel and tried to chase it.

Goals for this Week

Personal

Read Leviticus, Numbers, and Deuteronomy 23:11 by next Sunday on the Bible in 90 Days reading plan.

School

Letter Pp

Letter Qq

Home Management

Clean out fridge, oven, and microwave.

Personal

Read 1 Samuel, 2 Samuel, 1 Kings, and 2 Kings by next Sunday on the Bible in 90 Days reading plan.

Plan snack for Jax's pre-school class

Plan snacks for Book Club meeting this Tuesday

School

Letter Rr

Plan Letter Ss

Home Managment

Clean baseboards

I'm linking to Money Saving Mom!

Wii love bowling!

Jaxson has been introduced to a new rite of passage in our family.  The Nintendo Wii.  Justin thought it would be fun to teach him bowling.  And while I thought it was a good idea, I also knew that Jax hates to lose and whenever he loses on Angry Birds, he gets so mad.  I wasn't too optimistic that this would turn out like the vision in Justin's head.

But I was wrong. 

After a couple of tries, Jax got the hang of bowling.  And he loves it.  He does get frustrated when he gets a "Gutterball!", but when we remind him that games are fun and if he's not having fun, it gets put away, he straightens up pretty quick. 

Most times.

Jaxson gets a kick out of the Mii's too.  You basically design your own character.  The last time we designed Jaxson, he was a toddler.  But he must have requested sunglasses and a red shirt cause that is what Mii Jaxson was wearing. 

But when he realized that he could change his shirt and wear hats, mustaches, beards, etc. he was beyond excited.  Let me show you an example:

This is me.  (or Mii)  Pretty normal, and kinda resembles Mii.  (or me)

This is Jaxson:

Yes, this is my son.  The Beatnik Poet.  He decided to change his shirt to black.  So he was still looking normal. But when he found out he could have a beard...it was all over!  He thought that it was so cool.  When Justin tried to change it to blonde, he didn't like that.  He wanted it to stay black.  Jax is very proud of his Mii.  And really, who wouldn't be?

And Jax is pretty good too.  You have to consider that when he throws his ball, he either spins around and then rolls it, or runs and rolls it.  Accuaracy may not be his way of doing it, but he has fun.  He even broke a 100 at one game and come closes every time.

And as you can see in this picture I was very proud of my record.  Most times I tie with Jax.  Which means that either Jax is a bowling prodigy or I really stink at bowling. 

Yeah, I think Jaxson must be a bowling prodigy too.

Pre-School Letter Pp

Jax is 4 1/2 years old.

Bible

Our Bible verse this week was, "Praise the Lord for it is good to sing praises to the Lord."  Psalm 147:1.  We used RRSK  to cut out the Bible verse and taped put it together.  Also, we colored the picture, and then learned the song.

Math

We did lots of math this week!  Our theme was "pirates" and so we used 1+1+1=1 Kindergarten printables.  He loves the number lines and at first we used the provided token to cover up the number.  But then we start playing a game and to try and find the silliest thing to cover up the number.  I believe the sock was the silliest thing we came up with.

We used the number clip cards from 2 Teaching Mommies.

I had Jax work on the Listening and Color worksheet from RRSK.  He doesn't like that the worksheet tells him what to color, but he's learning.

And we used the Pirate Kindergarten Printables to count what money he had in his piggy bank.

Sight Words

We used 1+1+1=1's YCR #5.  His sight words this week were:  up, down, go, here.  He's been having a hard time drawing straight lines on this YCR shape worsheet so I dug out the ruler and he was loving it.  He is a pro at the word search too!  And lastly, I used the words from last week and had him write them out.  Lots of good practice for handwriting.

Art

We painted our canvases to make this Bible verse to hang in their room.  I had planned to let them dry and then we would do our footprint and handprints.  But Jax got a hold of them and him and Julie colored all over the painted canvas.  This project is on hold now.  We need to repaint.

Story

This week we read, Good Night Moon by Margaret.  He has loved this book since he was two, but still wanted to do for his weekly book.

Since we were also reading Goodnight Moon for the week, we used Homeschool Creation's Good Night Moon printables and sorted out pairs and singles of socks and mittens.  Great discussion for him to understand what a pair is.

I also printed out the Hey Diddle Diddle nursery rhyme from that same printable set and we highlighted the words that he knew.  And then I had him "read" it.  Now, he knows this rhyme by heart, but I made him slow down and we said each word together.  This just gave him so much confidence that he can start reading stuff!  He couldn't wait to "read" it to daddy that night. 

I'm linking up to Homeschool Creations!

Penny Ball and other random tidbits.

It's been a busy week.  And Julianne has decided that sleeping at night is the last thing on her to-do list.  Toddler parties from 2am-4am are not something I want to be invited to. 

It's funny.  Every once and while I will think that I miss having a cuddly baby around.  And then when Julianne pulls this prank, I remember:  babies do not sleep.  I like my sleep.  So we are back to Baby Bootcamp with her.  Which includes, learning how to fall asleep BY YOURSELF.  It's Day 2.  I'll let you know how it works out.

Jaxson has been saying some funny things lately.  I love how a mind of a four year old works.  One night when Julie was crying before she fell asleep, Jax said to me, "Poor Julie.  Her just want to get out of her crib." 

We've been playing Angry Birds Space before Jax goes to bed.  Jax does not like to lose, so he will play a level a couple of times, before handing it off to me to beat.  Everytime he does this, he says, "Come on, Mom, I know you can beat this!"  I enjoy the sideline cheer-leading for me.

Jaxson also recently discovered Yo Gabba Gabba.  I'm still not sure what this show is all about except for a basic theme and techno music, but he loves it.  And today, he came out singing a new song from them.  Here it is:

"Inside voice (whispering), OUTSIDE VOICE (yelling as loud as he can)."

It's quite enjoyable, really.

But Julianne is afraid of Yo Gabba Gabba.  When she sees the show, she starts pouting and crying.  I don't blame her.  So luckily, he can't watch it too much which saves me from more "energetic" songs for him to learn.

Jax has invented a new game.  One morning, he was busy running around throwing quarters everywhere, so I asked him what he was doing.  He said he was playing "Penny Ball." 

"What's Penny Ball?"  I asked.

He sighed and then said, "You throw the pennies (aka quarters) and then catch them."

Well, duh.

And lastly, I leave you with this video.  Little Julianne is quite the character.  And when we were all eating lunch, she decided to eat her chocolate chips this way.  Both Jax and I stared at her in amazement.  Where does she come up with this stuff?

IMG_2813.MOV Watch on Posterous

Let 'em run.

Today's goal was simple.  To wear the kids out.  Julianne had decided to have a party from 2am-4am last night.  Justin and I were not impressed.

We stopped by the lake.  It was a beautiful day today.  The high was only 77 degrees.  Amazing.

Jax and Julie threw rocks into the lake.  Jax was very careful about not getting wet, while Julianne had run out to the water and was wading before we knew it.  And of course, she tripped and ended up getting a little wet.  That's my wild one!

We then headed over to the playground area. 

Julianne loves the slide as long as someone is there to catch her.

Jaxson stood still long enough for me to take a picture.

Julie was running all over the place!

I hope our mission was sucessful.  Julie did fall asleep in the car while driving home, so we know she was tired.  As long as she doesn't pull an "am" party, I will be happy!

Pre-School Letter Oo

Bible

This week our verse was "Oh give thanks to the Lord for he is good." Psalm 118:1.  We cut out our Bible verse and taped the words in order and colored the pictures from RRSK.  And of course, learned the song as well!

Math

We did lots of math this week.  We used the RRSK worksheet to count to 100 by 5's.  I don't know why, but this kid is so interested in counting to 100.  We used a lot of the Jake and the Neverland Pirate Printables from 1+1+1=1.  Jax's favorite was the More Than/Less Than strips.  We played a game where he had to cover his eyes and it would be a surprise of which characters he had to count. He loved it.  And lastly, we colored fractions from the same pack as well.

Sight Words

We continued on our sight words this week.  We did a word search from Confessions of a Homeschooler and puzzles from YCR.

Geography

Jaxson made his own geography book this week.  I got the idea from Clutter-Free Classroom.

Science

We microwaved a bar of ivory soap.  Jax was afriad that the soap was going to explode, so I don't think he got into this "experiement" as much as the other ones.  You can find instructions for it here.

Art

We bubble painted!  Now this was a huge hit!  Directions for it are over at Art is Basic.

Story

We read Courduroy by Don Freeman this week.  And then added coins on the Piggy Bank Worsheet from Homeschool Creations. 

And that it's for this week!  Now on to to Letter Pp.

 

Project Life Tuesday

See the full gallery on Posterous

Tuesday 11

No picture

Wednesday 12

This is how Julie watches Barney...as close to the TV as possible!

Thursday 13

Julie loves to "push" Jaxson down the slide.

Friday 14

I can never get a good picture of these two nowadays.

Saturday 15

Jaxson using all the Photobooth props for Youth Group.

Sunday 16

While Justin was at the Youth Group Kick Off Dinner, we chose to have dinner at the tiny table in front of the TV.  Both kids that it was such a treat!

Monday 17

We went to Toys R Us today and the kids loved playing on the train table.

Goals for this Week

Wow.  I made all my goals this week.  I think that may be a first.

Personal

Read to all of Genesis and Exodus on the Bible in 90 Days reading plan.

School

Letter Oo

Letter Pp

Home Management

Dust

Personal

Read Leviticus, Numbers, and Deuteronomy 23:11 by next Sunday on the Bible in 90 Days reading plan.

School

Letter Pp

Letter Qq

Home Management

Clean out fridge, oven, and microwave.

I'm linking to Money Saving Mom!

Project Life Tuesday

See the full gallery on Posterous

Tuesday 4

No picture.

Wednesday 5

Julie eating corn on the cob.  I had cut the corn off for her, but she wanted to be like all of us.

Thursday 6

I wanted to take a picture of them in their tie-dye t-shirts, and they wanted to do funny faces.  Julie will copy anything that Jax does.

Friday 7

No picture.

Saturday 8

No picture.

Sunday 9

Taking an evening walk with the kids.

Monday 10

This was the first time I did braids in Julie's hair. 

The Slide

Again, we are having some gorgeous weather.  And I've been having fun with my flip video camera.  Enjoy!

 

VID00037 (The Slide) from Nicole Ross on Vimeo.

Pre-School Letter Nn (Nursery Rhymes)

Bible

This week we memorized "No one can serve two masters."  Matthew 6:24.  This is from 1+1+1=1's RRSK.  He cut out his Bible verse and taped it together, another day he glued it together, and also painted a picture about it.  While he painted the picture, we talked about what the verse meant.  Lastly, I had him trace the words to the verse.  He liked this the least and I probably won't do that again.

I did catch a video of him singing the song too!

Letter Nn Song from Nicole Ross on Vimeo.

 

Math

We worked on our RRSK calendar tracing.  One day we added building blocks (legos) to make Humpty Dumpty's wall.  And lastly, we colored different shapes using the color key on the worksheet. (Both were from Living Life Intentionally Nursery Rhyme printables.)

Sight Words

Our sight words this week were: at, mom, dad, and love.  I think he's got these down now!  We used the YCR print outs from 1+1+1=1 and he did a Bingo/Matching game one day and then the pre-writing practice.

Geography

Jaxson LOVES maps.  So what better way to start this off by giving him a map of the United States and talking about where different family members live.  The first time, he just colored in the states that we talked about.  But later in the week, I gave him a new map and put an M&M on the state and asked him what state had the M&M.  He got most of them right.  This kid has a great memory.  Of course, it didn't hurt that M&M's were motivating him.  (I got this idea here.)

Science

Our science project this week was all about mixing colors.  I used the Color Mixing Cards from Confessions of a Homeschooler.  Jax loved this.  He used measuring spoons and an eye dropper to mix all the colors together.  He quickly learned that if you mix all the colors together...you just get brown.

Art

I made some finger paint and let him have at it!

Story

We read the Runaway Bunny and then used the printables found on Homeschool Creations.  I had him tell me what the story was about for comprehension. 

We also talked about the various Nursery Rhymes each day.  I had him draw out the "Hey Diddle Diddle" one, so here he is drawing a dish and spoon.  He seemed to like that a lot.

I'm linking up with Homeschool Creations!

Goals for this Week

Personal

Start the Bible in 90 Days reading on Sunday

School

Letter Nn

Plan Letter Oo

Home Management

Dust  {nope}

And onto this week's goals:

Personal

Read to all of Genesis and Exodus on the Bible in 90 Days reading plan.

School

Letter Oo

Letter Pp

Home Management

Dust

I'm linking to Money Saving Mom!

 

Labor Day Weekend

Friday

We headed up to West Virginia on Friday to see our kids.  I was so excited and had missed them.

We got up early and arrived in the afternoon.  You should have seen Julianne when she first saw us.  Her little mouth dropped open wide as if this was the biggest surprise of her life!  And then she ran to us.  So stinkin' cute.  Once she gave me a hug, she went to Justin and hung out with him.  She's a daddy's girl.

Jaxson was happy we were there and did give us a hug (after some coaxing to get out of the pool!) but he jumped right back in and played.

We also decided to go swimming.  It was hot out and and it felt good to swim around after being in a car all day..

Afterwards, we ate dinner and hung out on the deck.  It was nice and relaxing.  I caught this tender moment of Julianne and Baxter.  Jaxson is a huge animal fan.  Julianne-not so much.  She doesn't like their fur and gets annoyed by animals easily.  For her to go up to Baxter and pet him several times was a huge step for her!

Saturday

We had planned meeting up with Ashley in Pennsylvannia for brunch.  We tried to meet halfway for both of us so we didn't have to drive as far.

This was my first time in Pennsylvannia!  I always take pictures of state signs.  Can I say that I am thanful to Instagram or making my pictures look a whole lot better than they really do?

This is what it would really look like:

Yay for Instagram.

We had a great brunch and had so much fun catching up on each other's lives. 

But I wish I would have gotten a picture of all three of us.  Darn.

We drove back to WV, just in time for Jaxson's party.  Jaxson had decided that they needed a party complete with cupcakes and a pinata.  (Thanks Dora the Explorer for introducing the pinata to my son.)  So, the kids swam, played on the trampoline,

He was pretty happy.

Julie was too.  Spaghetti is always a hit!

Sunday

We woke up to rain.  Boo.

Especially since we had planned on swimming and playing outside.  Plan B went into place and we went to Cracker Barrell. 

I think everyone else had the idea too.  It was crazy busy.  But the kids didn't mind.  They loved to color.

By the time we were done eating, the rain was letting up.  So the day looked promising.  The kids laid down for a nap.  And I proceeded to play with Baby and Chloee.

After naptime, we went out the pool.  It was actually  nice out now!

And played on the swing set.

And cuddled with furry friends.

Monday

Time to head home!  But first, Dad wanted to take Jax out to the pond to fish.  And boy was he excited!

And Jaxson did catch his first fish.  He didn't want to hold it up and take a picture though.  It flopped everywhere and he did not like that.  Julie was a little bored.  So we let her "drive" the four wheeler.  Julie and I ended up leaving early and that was fine by both of us girls.  But the boys had fun!

After they were all done, it was time to leave.  I said goodbye to the kitties....

and we were off!  And not five minutes into our car ride, Julie was sleeping.

What a fun weekend!