HS: November

This month feels like a blur...and that includes school!

We definitely didn't accomplish nearly what I had planned but that's one of the great things I am learning about homeschooling.  There aren't any set rules and there isn't one good way of doing things.  It's amazing how much I have learned (and am sure I have much much more to learn!) just in the few short months we have been doing this.  

We mostly hit the pause button on a lot of things because I was just stretched pretty thin.  But here is what actually did happen this month.  

Jacob finished his kindergarten primer last week.  I am so glad we did that and really helped Jacob at a pace that worked for him.  He began blending words and he's gotten pretty solid on short and long vowel sounds.  He read his first little books and I actually got a little teary-eyed the first time.  I am so proud of him and know once all of the pieces get together for him that reading will be a great outlet.  We reviewed letters and their sounds for a couple of days and actually just started TODAY on his new Kindergarten Language Arts book.  This includes phonics and reading, spelling, grammar and punctuation, literature and art appreciation.  It adds a lot more to our day but I think Jacob is ready for it and he was really excited to move to the "green book".  

Handwriting is still going well.  I started picking my three favorite letters that he does on a page and that has upped his motivation which was starting to get a little sloppy.  

In math, we actually made another switch in our curriculum which I think means that I changed every single thing from my initial plan this year.  I was hoping to beat the odds that I had read from every other homeschool parent and it turns out I am just one and the same.  I really didn't dislike the math that we were using before but I think this new one fits more of the style that I teach the other subjects and will be better in the long haul.  Plus, Jacob thinks it's awesome, so there's that :)

For science, we finished up our arthropod unit and it was so much fun.  I think Jacob and I learned so much.  Our last lesson was on crustaceans and we learned what they were.  Seriously, so fun.  We loved it.  

We also started our new unit but have hardly done much with it...YET!  We started our meteorology unit and I am really excited for it.  I never went to a school that incorporated religious thinking into academics and never really thought much about it.  But I love that we get that opportunity to incorporate the two here at home.  To start off we talked about the creation of weather and read about the creation and then we started introducing the seasons and their different characteristics.  We are excited to dive more into all of this in December!

Jacob used some paint to draw what he thought things looked as they were being created, like "light in the firmament".  Pretty cool.  

The four different seasons.

Art was another subject that just got pushed to the side this month.  We only finished one project - the silly germ!

Our read alouds were another thing that just kind of hit the pause button.  We are still reading The Story of Doctor Dolittle by Hugh Lofting and still really enjoying it!  We will definitely finish that up soon!

Thanksgiving

Oh Thanksgiving...

I absolutely love Thanksgiving.  This year was great, as always, and definitely will stick out I think.  We've had a whole lot of craziness happening around here, but that deserves a post all it's own, which will come soon.  

Sarah and (especially) Benjamin had been sick the days leading up to Thanksgiving so we had lots of snuggles but everything all magically worked out just like it always does.  I love this time to be together and to be more focused on the many blessings that surround us.  

Some people definitely might call me Grinchy for saying this but I really don't like Christmas before Thanksgiving.  I am 100% in the day after, but I really like to focus on the Thanksgiving spirit too.  So this led me to really try and focus the kiddos in on it as well.  I found a great picture book that described the pilgrims and indians and the first thanksgiving and I really enjoyed it.  It took a couple times reading it with the kiddos but I think it helped them understand a little bit about why we celebrate and why it's still important today.  It was great to keep me focused as well.  

I loved listening to Jacob and Sarah explain what they were grateful for.  The first thing Jacob said was that he was grateful for school - which, as you can imagine, warmed my little teacher momma heart.  Sarah was grateful to "play with her friends" and also named probably every individual person she could think of.  This girl loves people.  

Mark expressed his appreciation for his job and the place that we get to live and I was just filled with love and gratitude for each and every one of our little family.  They are my world.  And our thoughts were also turned to our Father in Heaven, whom we know has a plan for each of us individually and as a family.

Believe it or not, this was the best picture we took!  Haha!  Also, more on why we are eating at the kitchen counter later ;)

It was a wonderful Thanksgiving!

Time Our for Women

The weekend before Thanksgiving I had the opportunity to go down to Salt Lake for a girls weekend with my Mom and sisters.  It was so fun to have some "adult" time and kind of recharge a bit.  It was great to do some shopping, spend some one-on-one time with my Mom, and have a nice visit with my Grandma Moldenhauer.  

The MAIN reason for the weekend was to enjoy Time Out for Women.  I have LOVED going to this for years and years.  I realized that this year marked ten years since the first time I went - when I was just a freshman in college!  Crazy how fast time goes.  

I needed this time even more than I thought I did.  I left wanting to make so many positive changes but not in a burdened down sort of way, just an uplifting one.  It was just what I needed.  The speakers were amazing and I felt so lifted up by each talk.  It was a great weekend and I am so grateful I got to spend it with some of my favorite women!

Stokes Nature Center

I am WAY behind in blogging.  UGGG!  This month has felt crazy and I mostly just feel behind in everything.  There is way too much going on but I am trying to get caught up.  Plus, I hate when I hit the new month in the blog date and writing about things from the previous month.  Weird and silly, I know, but right now that is motivating me - so here goes to my last night of the month catch up! ;)

Earlier this month, we took a little field trip down to the Stokes Nature Center in Logan Canyon.  It was a great, simple activity that we all really enjoyed.  It was a chilly, but beautiful day and we enjoyed the stroll down to the nature center.  

Inside was really neat.  They had lots of interactive stuff for the kiddos to do and we had the whole place to ourselves.  

It was a blast!

11 Months

I cannot believe that in one short month we will be celebrating this little man's first birthday!

Oh how we love our little Benjamin!  He grew a lot this month!  He is 29 inches in length (41%), 20 pounds 10 ounces (28%), and has a head circumference of 45.5 cm (34%).  He is still in nine month size clothes and has his one big nap in the afternoon.  

I am fairly certain that Benjamin gets kissed 800 times a day.  We are always loving on our little Benji.  And he loves it!  If you even make a kiss-y sound he is ALL smiles!  

He is quite the explorer.  He pulls himself on everything and everyone and walks along the furniture and is crawling in the "traditional" way now.  He is busy and always exploring new places.  He really wants to explore the stairs and we are anxious for the day when we can baby proof things more.  His favorite place is to crawl over (and sometimes attempts to go under - although the outcome isn't very good) the bottom bars of the bar stools.  

Nearing the end of his first year is making me think about those first couple months with our Benjamin - also with snow on the ground it is really bringing back those memories!  Those first couple of months were rough but Ben has turned into such a good-natured little guy.  He is so patient and as long as he is fed and gets a nap, he is pretty good to go!  

We love you, Benjamin.