Joyful Jajliardos' Christian Academy

First day back at it!

2011-08-22T11:02:00.000-07:00

The 2011-2012 school year has begun! Big D is again doing a virtual school online (so he’s got teachers he works with for all his classes, has online classes each week, etc.) The 2 other kids are changing things up this year and we’ll be using a free curriculum, Ambleside Online, for them. I miss being the one teaching them and I hated doing school merely to check off boxes. This curriculum involves LOTS of reading and lots of classic literature. I’m excited about it! My Girlie isn’t as excited as the boys are about starting school, as you can tell from her picture. She just wants to read her book! Heh heh!! Don’t know where she got that from!!!! ((rolling eyes)).

jump start

2011-08-12T10:33:00.000-07:00

Yesterday Girlie and I walked to the store and bought a bunch of spiral notebooks (10 cents ea! so we bought 18) When we got home Girlie immediately started decorating hers with stickers. Little D was eager to get going in his nature notebook and ended up starting along with the next door neighbor boy. Well, a little bit ago Girlie and Little D asked if they could make popcorn and then they "disappeared". I found them in my garden working in their nature notebooks. Pretty cool!!!

I think I won't tell them that school doesn't officially start for another week and a half!!!!!!!!!

it happened again!

2010-11-19T14:05:00.000-08:00

So, my youngest Boyo was kind of struggling through phonics, some days it seemed like he was forgetting more than he was learning. So this year, our K12 teacher suggested we sign him up for Reading Horizons program online. It's supposed to improve their reading level, sometimes as much as 2 grades. Well, he's been doing that and liking it BUT like his big brother before him, he found a book that was just too tempting to resist! The other day he got 5 DK Eyewitness books out from the library. The favorite so far has been a book about vikings. He was enjoying looking at all the pictures and kept saying how he wished he had this or that piece of equipment. Well, last night he plopped down on the kitchen floor while I was cooking dinner. He had the book, a pencil and paper. He'd say something like, "What is a 'shee-at'?" I asked him to spell it and he said, "S-h-e-a-t-h" so I told him it was a sheath. He was very excited about that and carefully copied down 'Leather sheath and knife' on his paper (oh yeah, also asked what was a 'kuh-niff-ee'...but I was expecting that and said, 'knife'. And he's so excited at what he's learning too....he just asked his sister if she knew what a 'conical helmet' was. Yay!! How exciting!!! He's got the reading bug now too!!!

something fishy

2010-07-27T13:22:00.000-07:00

Today Little D got to learn about fish for science. He wasn't so sure he wanted to as he was sure he already knew all about fish....how "they swim in the water using their hands and feet." Yeah, so now he knows the terminology and such! Heh heh! He's quite happy with his fish named Silver Speed.

Our "Pet" Bubble Rock

2010-06-07T18:03:00.000-07:00

My friend, Eleanor, came to visit us on Mother's Day weekend. She brought lots of fun things for everyone, including a spindle and book on how to spin yarn (for me) and a bag of all kinds of colorful stones, AND a bubble rock (sorry that link takes you to a spot to buy bubble rock....I couldn't find anything more specific about it). So we added white vinegar and then kids decided to add some food coloring too, so we could get colored "bubbles" (aragonite chrystals). Well, all of the vinegar has finally disappeared (and we covered the rock with it) and obviously my glass bowl has somehow got entangled in the process (yes, those are rock hard chrystals clinging to the bottom and on the sides of the bowl). But here is our fully "bloomed" rock (though wondering if it grows more if you give it more vinegar. Little D has now taken it and his magnifying glass around to everyone in the family and had them inspect the shiny chrystals (?? He was desperate to see chrystals, although I tried to explain that is what we're seeing, I think he was hoping for diamonds or something!)

Springy

2010-05-25T13:24:00.000-07:00

Well, of course, with summer school, we also will be doing LOTS outside. We've got our garden going already and have enjoyed doing school outdoors. We've even had some fun "field trips". A friend of mine from high school stopped for a visit on Mother's Day weekend. She came in time to attend the Utah Renaissance Festival and Fantasy Faire with us. We also did some hiking and checked out the local flora and fauna. Below is a yellow headed black bird....never even heard of such a thing before. He had the coolest song! :)

catching up

2010-05-25T13:16:00.000-07:00

Well, looks like we'll be doing school through the summer as we got a tad behind with being involved in Big D's play. Here's pics of that (which I realized haven't been posted yet). Big D was Ram Dass in the play A Little Princess.

Children working

2009-12-15T09:11:00.001-08:00

I've written (and linked) a blog post about children working. Couldn't decide if it should go on this blog or my own personal blog.....my own personal blog won out because this issue is just part of who I am. I would love for you to read it though, as it is as integral a part of who our family is as homeschooling is! So go to my other blog to check it out (and for a link to my friend, Karen's, post....she says it even better!)

Was it really a "down day"?

2009-11-20T15:46:00.000-08:00

Okay, so somehow today has gone by and not a whole lot of school has happened. Now, here it is 4:30, and only about an hour or so ago did I accept the fact that we are indeed just not doing school today....or are we??? Let me take you on a short tour through our home and describe to you the events taking place....

In the large family room, the younger 2/3rds of the children have been playing make-believe together ALL day long without a single fight....at all, none, and they have been having a great time. No movies, no Wii or anything like that, just the two of them in the midst of one huge, day-long story telling/acting adventure. I love it!!!

And that other 1/3rd of the student population in this home? Well, just a few minutes ago he excitedly brought me his latest "invention"...recently he purchased a Zune mp3 player with his own money. So, since he's obsessed with the thing anyway, he decided to rig it up to his electronics kit, and he has made his own speakers (though the electronics board). Not only that, but now his Zune is picking up FM radio stations better than it had been. He is quite pleased with himself and I am quietly laughing at the fact that he has created his own schooling for the day.

So there you have it....that's our day. Me, I haven't really done a whole lot either, which is nice AND the things that I have done sound like a big deal so it seems like I've accomplished stuff today too. 2 dozen English muffins and changed the sheets on the bed. Now I'm off to knit on Christmas gifts, cuz dinner is in the crockpot too!!

Love those lazy days!

testing

2009-11-20T10:10:00.000-08:00

We got the results back from last spring's CRT's and I must say I was pleasantly surprised. What a confirmation that we are indeed doing the right thing for our children. I had put Big D back a couple of grades because of his spelling and writing issues (I wanted him to be able to learn without the pressure to write copious amounts). Well, his tests results came back for testing at 2 grades above where I have him (he's finishing up 5th grade work) and he it says that he had mastered 7th grade language and math skills! Science skills were lacking, but I expected that. And the Pink Princess, who I had put a year behind where she should be, tested excellent in language and mastered in math! Wahoo!! What a huge praise!!! It is always a struggle for me not to compare my school with what I think is the "norm"....there really isn't a norm, every child is different, and I see now (again) that homeschooling is what is best for my children....they are able to learn in their own unique ways (and obviously, they are learning). Yay!!

summer vacation in CT

2009-10-15T10:14:00.001-07:00

Make a Smilebox photobook

Old Sturbridge Village (CT vacation)

2009-10-15T09:57:00.000-07:00

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Fieldtrip to Higgins Armory Museum (CT vacation)

2009-10-15T09:24:00.001-07:00

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carp fishing

2009-10-15T09:00:00.001-07:00

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Hampton Beach, NH (CT vacation)

2009-10-15T08:52:00.000-07:00

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Capen Hill Nature Center

2009-10-15T08:38:00.000-07:00

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Computer Dissection (CT adventures)

2009-10-15T07:34:00.000-07:00

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Our camping adventure

2009-05-26T06:42:00.001-07:00

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"read-and-hop" scotch

2009-04-07T13:02:00.000-07:00

Here's the game board (part of it). You have to read the word before you can hop into the block.

And here's Little D making his game winning move:

Spring fever

2009-04-07T12:18:00.001-07:00

We got it bad!! Here's school for yesterday and today:

You might be a homeschooler if....

2009-01-26T16:26:00.000-08:00

Walking around with an empty trash-bag box on your head makes you VERY cool, and time is spent improving the look! :)

Merry Christmas from us!

2008-12-18T11:49:00.001-08:00

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School is....

2008-12-15T09:41:00.000-08:00

Going pretty well. I am really loving K12 (in case I haven't mentioned that enough times!) We've been able to stay on track with the core subjects and are just a bit behind in art and science (which is fine, we'll catch up). My biggest challenge is working with Little D on learning his numbers and letters. I am determined not to push and misunderstand like I did with Big D, but at the same time we do need to work on it.....so I'm trying to maintain a healthy balance. The older two have taught me that no matter what, it WILL come. Just being patient and not giving in to peer pressure (doesn't help that Little D is also quite big for his age, and so I think often people simply expect more of him....thankfully he's such a joyful, loving guy, that people soon see that and nothing else seems to matter much). He is such a blessing to me....he sees life like I do, and I love it! It amazes me how each of these children are so very different in their personalities, and I know that God has carefully crafted each one of them for His great purpose. I'm just looking forward to seeing what that is in their lives.

Okay, just rambling. I noticed I hadn't posted in a while and wanted to add something!

Bird gullet

2008-10-21T08:41:00.001-07:00

Bird gullet
Originally uploaded by jjlrdomom

Yep, Pink Princess had to simulate a bird gullet. Ugh! So here it is, mid process. Inside there is: bread, popcorn, rice, dry oatmeal, 2 tootsie rolls (to simulate worms, we didn't have gummy worms, so I just rolled the tootsie rolls out a bit), pebbles, grapes. Yeah, pretty gross! (and my darling daughter then ATE the tootsie-roll-worms!!!!! Gack!!!!!!)

Little D's poem

2008-10-07T11:27:00.001-07:00

Okay, guess you can't read the words, so here they are:

Theme in Green

I like to crawl around and catch bugs in my mouth.

I am called Lizard!

I get wet with sprinklers and kids like to roll and play on me.

I am called Grass!

I can be climbed by monkey-kids and they can reach the sky.

I am called Tree!

Big D's Science Project

2008-08-26T19:47:00.000-07:00

Make a Smilebox postcard

Big D did a great job with this project. I was there to lend support, but he basically did the whole thing himself. We had to change a few things (we didn't have pea gravel and coarse gravel, but figured chunked up concrete could work for both....same thing with coarse and fine sand). But it worked! We were all very impressed!!

Self Portrait

2008-08-22T08:00:00.001-07:00

Artist at work 2
Originally uploaded by jjlrdomom

Today Little D learned about portraits and self-portraits. Then he got to make a self portrait. He was VERY eager to try out his new paints (that came free in our K12 stuff!). Note that he did the curly hair first.....priorities man! :) Click on the link to see more pictures of the artist at work, as well as his finished painting.

Science Project

2008-08-22T07:58:00.001-07:00

Science Project
Originally uploaded by jjlrdomom

This lovely "contraption" is supposed to measure the humidity. The "scientist" is quite proud of her work, but we can't seem to get it to actually work. The paper squares on the right side are supposed to absorb moisture and weigh the end of the straw down so that the pointer on the other end will rise up our scale (the green triangle on the left) So far, no luck, but this is VERY old paper and it's rather brittle, so we'll try it again and Mom won't try to be so thrifty with the paper. Pink Princess was still rather proud of it though!

K12 is here!

2008-08-15T18:14:00.001-07:00

K12 is here!
Originally uploaded by jjlrdomom

And this is less than half of the stuff! You'd think it was Christmas though!! Hee hee hee!!

Big D & his K12 stuff

2008-08-15T18:13:00.003-07:00

Big D & his K12 stuff
Originally uploaded by jjlrdomom

He's excited now, and let's just hope that continues. He got two boxes and should also be getting a bit more.

Little D & 1 box of K12 goodies

2008-08-15T18:13:00.001-07:00

Little D & 1 box of K12 goodies
Originally uploaded by jjlrdomom

Poor Little D only got one box today. But there's PLENTY more coming!! This box had his workbooks in it, with some pages he had already done online!

Pink Princess & some of her K12

2008-08-15T18:12:00.001-07:00

Pink Princess & some of her K12
Originally uploaded by jjlrdomom

She got two of her boxes of stuff. One box had reading books in it, and she's already read about 7 of them!!!!!

Here we go!!

2008-08-11T16:05:00.000-07:00

We're currently doing about 1/2 days of school (started last week) just to get us back into the habit (hopefully by the time the books get here, the grumbling will have tamed a little bit!) Anyway, I just had to share today's "fun". Big D is reading A Wrinkle in Time for literature (and I can do it now without the k12 books). Well, if you've read it, you know it talks about tesseracts. Big D had a printed off glossary of words for this book, so he, at least, had a better idea than I did when I first read it. He asked me if a tesseract was a real thing, so we were excited when we found a link in our online stuff for it. Well, I just have to say it was VERY cool!! We started just trying to figure out a 2D drawing of one, then Big D found a tesseract pendant, which, when we looked at it, reminded us an awful lot of some of M.C. Escher's stuff (you know, where some people are walking down stairs and then suddenly those stairs are going the other way,....look here. We had fun trying to figure it out (I don't know if you actually, truly can). But it was nice to see the eagerness in learning!! (okay, I was getting into it too!)

2008-07-28T07:48:00.000-07:00

Joyful Jajliardos' Christian Academy

August 2008

News Flash!

Another school year has begun! All 3 children are enrolled in an online school (K12) which they will do at home although it is considered a public school. The best part....all the materials are FREE!

Prayers & Praises

This Portion of the newsletter will be dedicated to brief prayer requests and praises.

Prayers for:

getting into a school schedule
getting all of our materials and getting set up
wisdom for Glenn as he is "finance guy" for the chapel on base
VBS (July 4-8, in the evenings). This is our church's first one!

Praising God for:

Glenn's involvment in our school decision this year
friends who will be attending VBS with us.....their first VBS too!
Daniel's mission trip!

School News

We have begun the process of signing the kids up for K12. As I mentioned in the sidebar, this is a public school online. We will actually be participating in a school several hours from here that has open registration for anybody living in Utah. We have heard really good reports about this school and the principle. She used to homeschool her own children! She was actually the principle in our county for a while, but was moved as Davis County didn't like the flexibility she allows.

So, for the first time ever, I had to get copies of shot records (and update any shots the kids needed, send out copies of their birth certificates, and have them take placement tests. Quite an eyeopener for me as the only thing we've ever had to do for homeschooling was to file a "letter of intent" with the school board.

There are several huge "pluses" that I see in using this curriculum. For one thing, it is all provided free! Including any extra manipulatives and such that you might need. The only thing I'll need to provide is paper, writing utensils, scissors, glue.....that kind of stuff. Another great thing is that it is all planned out ahead of time and you simply have to keep up with it. I am going to set up a bulletin board with their weekly assignments on it, so that they can see what they need to do and even go on ahead a bit if they want to. We will have a teacher checking in with us frequently, answering questions, keeping us on track and such. This had been a concern to me in previous years, but I really see it as a help to keep us on track, especially as Daniel gets older......I need to know what he needs to be learning. Glenn is excited about that as well, that there will be someone there to help us "maintain course".

A new thing for us will be the testing at the end of each year. We haven't done that before. As a matter of fact, the placement tests were their first taste of testing. 2 of the kids did pretty well with that and one of them was rather distracted and unfocused.....but, it's a learning thing, and I will talk to the teacher about that and what we can do to improve that.

So.....I have filed all the things that I need to in order to be enrolled, and now I'm waiting on a call from the teacher/consultant to discuss where we're at, how this all will work, and such. Then our order will be placed and we'll wait for the boxes to arrive. We've already been warned by several people that it is a LOT of boxes!!! It'll be like Christmas!!

Stay tuned, we'll keep you informed as we learn more about it!

Books We're Reading

Mom: One Anothering by Simon Schrock; Power of a Praying Parent by Stormy Omartian; Under the Lilacs by Louisa M. Alcott
Daniel: just finished The Golden Cord by Paul Genessee; has been reading The Red Rock Mysteries , a Christian mystery series by Jerry B. Jenkins and Chris Fabry
Alycia: Pride and Prejudice (a Children's Illustrated Classic) by Jane Austen; Archie comics
David: no current reads, but his latest favorite (another Children's Illustrated Classic.....he loves the pictures) is 20000 Leagues Under the Sea by Jules Verne. David isn't reading yet, but is a very gifted story teller, so he looks at the pictures and then spins some wonderful tales!

Around the Jajliardo "Ranch"

Our vegetable garden is doing fairly well; next year we are planning a bigger garden space.
Our sunflower house, in a corner of the vegetable garden, is amazing! Lots of different kinds of sunflowers that the children enjoy examining and measuring.
Suzi is doing well and keeping busy chasing balls and playing with the kids. And we're happy to report there's been no dog fights lately! Hee hee!
The weather has been rather hot, but playing in the sprinklers in the yard helps a lot. The kids and Dad have made up several fun games that can be played in the sprinklers!

Why I love homeschooling

2008-05-23T09:12:00.000-07:00

The boys were bothering the girl, and I was trying to work on Mom's birthday present (yes, *hanging head in shame* it was on her birthday), so I told Girl to come be with me. Our laundry room is kind of small when you have the ironing board out, so I told her she could sit on the dryer. She decided to get even more comfy. I love this!!!

Super Heroes!

2008-04-25T18:11:00.001-07:00

This morning our neighbors' son came over....in his Superman pajamas and cape......and he was greeted at the door by Little D in his Batman pajamas (and later a cape). They had a great time saving the world! Hee hee!!

Fun at the Zoo

2008-03-20T14:06:00.000-07:00

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A wonderful poem

2008-03-09T15:53:00.000-07:00

I was perusing some blogs and came across a BEAUTIFUL poem about children. I am going to permanently post it in the sidebar, so please be sure to check it out!!

They think they don't do school!

2008-02-29T15:10:00.000-08:00

Make a scrapbook - it's easy!

Tax Rebate Warning

2008-02-25T15:39:00.000-08:00

My friend K's husband is an accountant. He has posted some important information about a tax rebate being given this year for people with children. Please go to their blog, Matschstick Adventures to read about it, and then spread the word. Most people do not realize that this is kind of like a "loan" on next year's taxes!!

I am a WIFE and I am a MOM!!!

2008-02-19T07:30:00.000-08:00

To find out why I feel the need to shout that (and yes, it's a school issue), go to my other blog at Heart of a Handmaiden

Blessings!
A wife and a Mom and loving every minute of it!!

Overheard here at home.....

2008-02-13T14:29:00.000-08:00

"PEOPLE SHOULD NOT BE RUDE TO SUPERHEROES!!!!!!!!!"

Is that a life lesson, or what??

What we do in our spare time

2008-02-11T14:30:00.000-08:00

Flowers are Red

2008-02-04T08:27:00.000-08:00

This is why we homeschool!!
It makes me so disheartened when people live life in a box. Our children need to be challenged to look around them, to make decisions and opinions on their own, to see all the blessings God richly lavishes on us. I'm not pounding public school people, I'm simply saying that we need to be able to "see all the colors of the rainbow".

Snowman-a-Mania Contest!!

2008-02-03T09:58:00.000-08:00

Make a postcard - it's easy!

Well, we got snowed in again and couldn't go to church. To help cheer disappointed children, we hosted our first annual Snowman-a-Mania Contest!!

Comments more than welcome!!!

Snowy Sunday

2008-02-03T08:56:00.000-08:00

Well, we haven't made it to church for 2 Sundays (one week we were out of town and last week miserably sick) so we were really looking forward to going this morning.....and then we awoke to 8 inches of snow and it is still falling heavily!! Hubby went out and shoveled and cleared off the car, but 10 minutes later it was covered again! So he decided we'd have to skip church again (it's not the driving in the snow that concerns us, it's the other people driving that concerns us). Of course we were all pretty disappointed, but I believe I cheered spirits up a bit by declaring a snowman contest of our own. Winner will get a HUGE cookie and all contestants will get cookies. So, stay tuned, I will try to get pictures to send, as they are all busy beavers out there building their snowmen! Can't wait!!!

Found some old homeschool pictures

2008-01-30T19:44:00.001-08:00

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Another contest to enter

2008-01-27T16:09:00.001-08:00

Win an Insignia Bluetooth MP3 Player. Another contest from 5 Minutes for Moms. I don't know a whole lot about MP3 players (and am beginning to think I'm the only one left who doesn't!) but this is being donated by Best Buy.

So go check it out already!! :)

Pedal Car giveaway!!!!!

2008-01-27T16:00:00.000-08:00

5 Minutes for Mom is always holding great contests so be sure to check in there regularly for many more great contests!

Right now you can enter to win a Red ‘65 Mustang Pedal Car from their shop www.PedalCarsandRetro.com. Sound good? Well then hop on over their site: Click here to read more about it and enter the contest.

Snow Fun!!

2008-01-02T06:52:00.001-08:00

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Awesome guy!!

2008-01-02T06:46:00.001-08:00

Is there some silly, quirky thing about your guy that just doesn't seem to fit him? My hubby has this thing about building luges.....so I decide to tell you about it, thinking it such an odd thing. Well, I googled "luge" to give you links to see what I'm talking about, and I happened to find another family's blog about homemade luges! Wow!!

The first time my hubby ever did this, our now 5yo son was only 3 months old (no, he didn't get to try it out). We were visiting our parents in CT and happily, they had snow. We had been living in Louisiana for 5 years by then and were feeling very snow-deprived! My parents have a small farm and the pasture is mostly one big hill, wonderful for sledding (providing you miss the frozen horse plops!) Well, that hill was not enough for my beloved, so he spent 2 or 3 days out there shaping, shoveling, piling.....making this incredible sled run (luge!). After about 3 days of building and trying and building, my Dad finally had pity on him and drove out the tractor and plowed the snow up to the luge! There was hardly snow left at the top of the pasture, it was all incorporated in the luge. We have an awesome movie of it. It was awesome. My two sisters and their families were there from out of town too, and of course, hubby's family lives very close to my parents. So everybody showed up at some point to try out this thing. Yes, even my parents and Mother-in-Law braved it. It was amazing!!

Well, last year, we were blessed to move to Utah. And last winter, after the first good snow storm, there was hubby, out there building a smaller version of his luge in our back yard. There is a small slope in the middle of our yard, so he had to build up a starting ramp for them, but it worked! And the cool thing is, if you pack them good enough, they last for quite a while! (I always wondered how long that one lasted in my parents' pasture!). Well, we had a fairly decent snow a week or so ago and all the snow in the back yard got shaped into a luge (my only request is that they not touch the snow in the front yard as I love the look of it!). Since then, it's melted a bit and then earlier today it was RAINING and the luge was really looking beat. However, we are now having a wonderful snow storm. Currently it is 9:55pm and dh and my oldest son are still out there digging and shaping. Boy o boy is it gonna be fun!! And what the kiddos don't know (and never read this blog anyway) is that they are getting a bunch of cool snow stuff for Christmas: an inflatable snow fort, inflatable shields for snowball fights, and some inflatable sled things!! Woohoo!! And we're supposed to be getting even more snow before Christmas!!

For your viewing pleasure, a picture of the luge in use a week ago, and a darker picture taken at 9:15pm this evening of further construction.

Make a slideshow - it's easy!

Happy Thanksgiving!!

2007-11-25T18:03:00.001-08:00

Make a slide show, scrapbook, or ecard

5 Things MeMe

2007-11-13T20:58:00.000-08:00

in my room

CD player
Floor lamp
Small carpet from Kuwait
New quilt
One dresser

i have always wanted to do

Buy a house in Alaska
Take a cruise
Own a bed and breakfast
Buy a house out in the country
Lose weight and keep it off

found in my bag

Tumbling Pigs game, travel edition
several crayons
Honey lemon cough drops
a pad of post-it-notes
a pink pen with pink fluffy feathers on top (thank you Debbie!)

found in my wallet

A very expired license
my military ID card (to cover said expired license!)
my bank card
lots of discount cards for too many places
pictures of my kids

currently into

lots and lots of family time
playing Settlers of Catan
trying to learn to knit socks
learning to cook healthier
taking care of my self, healthwise

So there you go! If you read this, consider yourself tagged (or not....but these are kinda fun to do). Post a comment here and let me know if you answer this tag so that I can go check out your answers. Tagged by K who was tagged by Dani who was tagged by.....well, you get the point!

My Pumpkinheads

2007-10-13T14:40:00.001-07:00

Field Trip to Antelope Island, part 1

2007-09-24T19:00:00.000-07:00

Click to play | Make your own Smilebox

Busy bees

2007-09-13T09:30:00.000-07:00

Big D at his desk with his timer and radio, practicing cursive writing.

Pink Princess working hard at math from an old textbook.

Little D working on a color-and-cut project. And talking to himself in the mirror......sigh!

So see, we keep busy!!

Preschool Fun

2007-09-13T09:25:00.000-07:00

Here is what Little D has been working on each day. He doesn't yet write letters really well without following dotted lines, but that little guy cuts as well as his older brother and sister. So every day he cuts out and decorates a different letter of the alphabet! :)

Map Making

2007-09-10T15:30:00.000-07:00

Today we were reading about early maps. The Pink Princess was laughing at how funny the maps looked. We read that they used whatever materials they had on hand. So I challenged Big D and the Pink Princess to make maps of our back yard using only materials they found in our back yard. I participated in our challenge as well! :) Here's what we came up with:

Click to play Make your own Smilebox

Moving into a new blogspot

2007-09-10T15:10:00.000-07:00

This is a continuation of our old blog because I just find it easier and nicer to blog here. Hopefully with more picture space, I'll be able to blog more.

The curriculum we are using this year is My Father's World (specifically we are using Exploring Cultures and Countries). We began school last Tuesday and so far it's been good! :) Actually I'm very excited as the lesson plans are all laid out for me (other than math and spelling/English). I've been doing preschool with "Little D" and he's really enjoying it. So far, each day we are doing a letter of the alphabet....he cuts and glues and decorates the letters. He is an awesome cutter!!