Back to School 2015-2016

September 1st was our first day back to school! This is our 3rd year homeschooling and we are still loving it. We hit a milestone this year with Skylar entering middle school! 

We use Classical Conversations for our curriculum and as a social homeschool group. We meet with our group every Tuesday from 9am to 3pm with other families and tutors. Every Tuesday we start our morning off with prayer, bible time, the Pledge of Allegiance to the Flag, and the Pledge of Allegiance to the Bible. Classical Conversations provides us with our History, Science, Geography, Grammar, Bible memory work, Latin, Art, and Music. For Math we use an online program called Easy Peasy, this program provides video instructions, worksheets, quizzes, and math games. Skylar and Maddox are also taking guitar and piano lessons from the music director at our church. Skylar will take up horseback riding lessons this year and Maddox will continue with wrestling.

Our Foundation Classical Conversations group grades kindergarten through 6th grade

Our Essentials Classical Conversations group grades 4th through 6th.

On Tuesdays while the big kids are working with their classmates on memory work, Mason and Josiah are just down the hall in their preschool class. At home Mason and Josiah are working on their ABCs, numbers, shapes, and colors.

First Dentist Visit

Cavity free! The boys did great on their first trip to the dentist. Everyone was complimenting them on how well behaved they were and how cooperative they were with the instruments.  

Skylar's First Big Haircut

My little girl who has always refused a trim, much less a haircut, the same girl who use to hold her hair in a ball in protest as we entered any salon asked me if she could get her hair cut off to her chin. I'm not sure where this idea came from, perhaps she has just grown tired of brushing so much hair. I must admit I was surprised and almost wanted to talk her out of it, because I too have grown attached to her long blonde hair. I made her an appointment, and we were both happy with the results! My little girl is growing up!

Potty Training Mason

Still months away from his 3rd birthday Mason is daytime potty trained! After already going through this potty training thing twice, I was kind of dreading it. I thought Mason would be my hardest child to train, but my big boy proved me wrong and has become my easiest so far!  I started training him the summer after his 2nd birthday. I didn't want the distraction of school in our way and I figured that summer was an acceptable time to allow your 2 year old to run around the house and backyard pantless. Just like my other 2, I simply put him in big kid undies and sat him on the toilet every 30 minutes, and declared "ut oh" when he peed on the floor. We started out using a toddler toilet, but now he uses the regular toilet just let the rest of us. The only set back we had was the short relapse he experienced during our move, but he is back on track now.  In recent weeks he has even gone potty without me! Mason wears his big boy underwear proud and we are proud of him. Our next step will be to get him night time potty trained, and then it won't be long before Jojo is ready for the potty too!

The Tooth Fairy's Last Tooth?

Probably not, but we're getting close. This past week Skylar lost what I think might be her 8th tooth. I've lost count and I didn't even take a picture...shameful! For this last tooth she left a note for the fairy, along with a bottle of fairy dust as a gift and asked the fairy to write her back. So not only did I have to retrieve a small tooth in the middle of the night from underneath her head, but a bottle and a note as well, and then I had to return the note back under her pillow...this tooth fairy job is getting complicated. I think she wanted the note to prove to her knowing friends that she does actually exist, and I'm feeding this fantasy even further while other parents are spilling the beans. I think I was her age when I found out, maybe younger, I'm pretty sure I was 7 when I decided to test the fairy by leaving my tooth under the pillow without telling my mom that I had even lost my tooth. It was the ultimate test, which the fairy failed. I remember feeling so grown up knowing the truth, knowing a secret that the little kids didn't know, not at all traumatized, and yet I'm worried about telling Skylar and at the same time I'm so ready for her to figure it out already lol.

I love her fantasy and imagination though. She has become such a good writer, she loves writing short stories. I'm so proud of her and I hope that her love of reading and writing stays with her.

Father's Day

This Father's day Mitch taught Maddox how to ride his bike without training wheels. He only needed two pushes and he was off, he took right to it. Good job daddy and good job Maddox!

Happy father's day to my amazing husband, Mitch! :)

Skylar Without Training Wheels

Our neighborhood's streets are nothing but heels. Great for sledding or for an experienced bike rider to zoom faster down a hill, but these hilly roads are not friendly to those learning to ride a bike. We loaded up the kids bikes and we all headed over to the local middle school's parking lot to teach Skylar how to ride her bike without training wheels. We were determined not to leave until Skylar was able to gain her balance and finally achieve this mile stone. My sweet little girl was quick to learn with her daddy holding on to the back of her bike before eventually letting go. My little girl is growing up and I am so proud of her!