Monday, August 26, 2013

Our First Day of School

After months of preparation the day finally came, our first day of school was today!


I lined them all up this morning and took their first day of school pictures. :-) (Aren't they adorable?!)

Here is Super Guy, all ready for his first day of 3rd Grade:


Here is Boogie Man, all ready for his first day of Kindergarten:


Here is Jelly Bean, all ready for her first day of Tot School:


The day was a great success and the time just flew by.

Here is what our schedule was like today:

8:00 - School starts; group time, calendars, & bible study.
8:30 - Math (We worked on reviewing today)
9:00 - Spelling
9:20 - Handwriting & Snack Time
9:30 - Literature (We are reading The Lion, The Witch & The Wardrobe)
10:00 - Reading/English
10:30 - Free 15 minutes of Reading
10:45 - Recess & Lunch Break
11:45 - P.E./Health
12:15 - History/Science
12:45 - Art (We are learning about Vincent Van Gogh)
1:20 - Spanish (We did colors, numbers 1-10, & Airplane, Bathroom & Car)
1:35 - Music (We are studying playing the piano)
1:50 - Geography (We learned about Connecticut today)
2:10 - School Ends, picked up school room.

The kids had a great time today and there was very little complaining, which is a big plus! :-)

It's also really nice to know exactly what they did/learned all day, when my oldest was in public school I would pick him up and ask him what he did/learned that day and I would always get in response "I don't remember" or "I don't know" or "Nothing".. Some days he would tell me things he did, but most days he wouldn't/couldn't. 

So far I'm feeling really good about homeschooling working out for us!

I hope everyone out there has a wonderful first day of school; whether it be public, private, online, or home school! :-)

Saturday, August 24, 2013

Meeting For The First Time

Lately I've really been interested in finding out as much as possible about who/where I come from, my ancestry. It all started out with wanting to know more about my Grandma (on my mom's side) who passed away when I was 16 years old. I had only met her a few times and I don't remember much about her. I asked my Mom a ton of questions and she answered what she could, but I still wanted to know more.

So I started searching on Ancestry for more information about her and then that led to great grandparents and great-great grandparents and so on and so on.. Then I thought it would be fun to find out as much as possible on my father's side next.

That led to a great discovery, My Great Grandfather (my father's mother's father) was buried in Reedsport Oregon, right off the Oregon Coast. Well, we were planning on going to the coast for our 10 year anniversary, so we decided while we were there we would stop by and pay our respects.

Here is the Welcome to Reedsport sign, when you first enter the town.



Here is the Cemetery.






This is what I found out online searching about my Great Grandfather:

1. He was born on August 14 1989 in Missouri
2. He was living in Idaho by the age of 22.
3. He married my Great Grandmother on October 3 1928 (he was 30 years old)
4. Sometime between 1933-1942 they got a divorce.
5. He joined the military on September 9 1942 in Oregon.
6. He married a woman by the name of Myrtle.
7. He lived along the Oregon Coast and worked as a Longshoreman (he was still working at the age of 58).
8. He died on September 14 1967 at the age of 69.

I still have so much more I want to know about him, but this is probably as much as I will ever know. He has been gone for 46 years & my great grandmother has been gone for almost 10 years (this October). And my grandma (his daughter) has been gone for 9 years. So there is nobody really left that would be able to fill me in on more info about him.

It was exciting being able to go and see his gravesite. I was getting more and more nervous the closer we got to the cemetery. In a weird way, it's like meeting him for the first time. It was a very special moment to me.


 Continue to rest in peace great grandpa, I'll make sure I come visit you again!

Wednesday, August 21, 2013

Our 10 Year Anniversary

On this day 10 years ago I married my best friend, my soul mate, my everything.

There are not enough words to tell you just how lucky I am to have found such a wonderful man! He is caring, hardworking, funny, smart, talented, strong, thoughtful and so much more!!!

This was us 10 years ago! Oh how young we were! :-)


We've been through so much together over the past 10 years; 3 kids, 1 miscarriage, starting a new business, 9 different addresses, 2 dogs, 10 puppies, and 1 turtle, Just to name a few. But no matter what we go through we always come out of everything stronger and more united!! I couldn't have a better partner!

I love you babe, Happy Anniversary!!!

Friday, August 16, 2013

Chances Are

For our wedding, we made a mix cd for each of our guests as a favor. Chances Are by Bob Seger & Martina McBride was one of the songs on that cd. I just absolutely love this song!

Thursday, August 15, 2013

Coupon Tips & Tricks #2

Hi Everyone! Here is my next coupon tip & tricks.

Coupon Tips & Tricks #2:

If a coupon is set to expire like a week or so after you've receive it, it's probably a really good coupon.

This is just my opinion, but over the years I have found that if you get a coupon and it is set to expire in a week or two, its a really good coupon.

Before there have been high value coupons (coupons worth $3-$7) for products like allergy medicine and they are only good for like 5 days.

So if you see those coupons that have short expiration dates its probably a safe bet that, that is a good coupon!

Happy Couponing!! :-)

Our Favorite School Supplies

Today I'm sharing with you all, my favorite school supplies. I love school/office supplies, I've been in love with them since I was very little. Pens, pencils, crayons, paper, whiteout, highlighters, etc. etc... I love them all!!

But no 2 crayons are created equally, same goes for pens and pencils.. So I thought I would share with you my favorites & why they are my favorites, seeing as I have lots of experience with buying & using different brands.

So here goes...

Crayons
Favorite - Crayola. These are my favorite for the variety of colors they come in, plus they show up very well on all kinds of paper.


We have tried Dollar Store crayons, Crazy-Art crayons and other store brand crayons, but none of them match up with Crayola. Their colors either come out dull or they smear.

Dry Erase Markers
Favorite - Expo. The variety of colors are great, low odor, fine tip and wide tip's available.


We have tried others, but a lot of the time once you erase them you can still see what was written.

Paint Markers
Favorite - Do A Dot Art. Love the different colors they come in, easy for a toddler to hold on to, and  not messy.


We haven't tried any other brands, not sure any other brands exist.

Pencils
Favorite - Dixon Ticonderoga. They write smooth, no smearing, and erase well.


We have tried store brands before, they smear and don't erase well.

Pens
Favorite - Bic Cristal Ball Pens Black or Blue. They don't clump, don't smear/smudge, and they write smooth. But whatever you do, do not buy the colorful ones, they clump & smudge really badly!!


We have tried lots of other brands of pens, they either clump or smudge.

Glue
Favorite - Elmer's. They hold strong and I love the convenient sticks.


Laminator
Favorite - Scotch Thermal. Fast, Easy and affordable (under $30)!


So those are some of our favorite products. I really love Crayola's other products too, like their colored pencils, markers, and paints. And If you are looking for a good highlighter I would absolutely recommend Sharpie Accent Smear Guard!

Best Mac-n-cheese EVER!

Hi Everyone!!

Today I thought I would share an absolutely wonderful mac-n-cheese recipe! If you love creamy mac-n-cheese this is the recipe for you! Here goes..

Ingredients
4 Cups Macaroni
1/4 Cup Butter
1/4 Cup All-Purpose Flour
2 1/2 Cups Milk
1 Pound Cheddar Cheese, grated
Seasoned Salt
Salt
Pepper

Directions

Cook macaroni as directed on package. (This will be the only time it gets cooked, so make sure you cook it to your liking; i.e. firm, soft, etc.)

Meanwhile in another large pot, melt butter and then sprinkle in flour. Whisk over medium-low heat. Cook for 5 minutes, whisking constantly, don't let burn.

Pour in milk and whisk until smooth. Cook for 5 minutes or until really thick. Reduce heat to low.

Add in Cheese and stir until melted. Then add in seasoned salt, salt and pepper to taste. About 1/2 teaspoon of each.

Pour in the drained macaroni and stir until combined.

Serve Immediately and Enjoy the creamy deliciousness!! :-)


I believe this recipe is perfect just like this, but if you wanted to, you could add extra things, like bacon (bacon makes everything better, right?!) or anything else that makes you happy.

In case you were wondering, this is a kid friendly recipe (what mac-n-cheese isn't though, right?!), my kiddos always ask for seconds!! :-)

Enjoy!

This recipe is adapted from Pioneer Woman's Macaroni & Cheese Recipe.





Monday, August 12, 2013

Our School Room

Hi Everyone!! Since I shared with you all our curriculum picks for the school year a few days ago, I thought today I would show you some pictures of our school room, where all the learning will be taking place.

The first picture is of our reading area. It has a bookshelf with lots of good books and just in case they need some motivation to read, I've put up some posters that have to do with reading!


Next is the kids work area. The boys share a table, while my baby girl has her own little table. They each have their own 10 drawer carts, where they have their supplies and all their work for that day.


Next is my desk area. To the left you can see where I have my own bookshelf which is filled with all the kids curriculum. Right in the middle of the wall is where we have the whiteboard. In my desk is where I keep my supplies; paper clips, correcting markers, tape, whiteout, index cards, stickers, etc.


Here is a picture of the entire room.


My next post will be about some of my favorite homeschool/school supplies! Stay tuned!

Saturday, August 10, 2013

Free Fall Pack Printables

If you know me or read my blog at all, then you know I absolutely LOVE Fall!!! So I can't even begin to tell you know excited I was when I stumbled upon 3 Dinosaurs Fall Pack. With Fall being just around the corner this is a great pack to have ready to go.

It's got everything; puzzles, pre-writing practice, color sorting, size sorting, etc. Best part of all, it's Free!!

Check it out here ---> Fall Pack


 
 
 

Our Family's 2013-2014 Curriculum Picks

Hi Everyone!! I shared a few weeks back some of our curriculum picks for the upcoming school year, but I still hadn't decided on a few courses. So I thought, now that I have everything picked out, I would share our complete curriculum picks with you all.

Boogie Man (Kindergarten):

K4 Curriculum (from Confessions of a Homeschooler)

Spelling - All About Spelling Level 1

Reading - All About Reading Level 1

Handwriting - A Reason For... Handwriting Level K

Literature - Classic Literature Units (from Confessions of a Homeschooler)

P.E. - Family Time Fitness

Art - World's Greatest Artists Vol. 1 (from Confessions of a Homeschooler)

Spanish - Online from 123Teachme.com

Piano - Alfred's Teach Yourself to Play Piano & Teaching little fingers to play

Geography - Road Trip USA (from Confessions of a Homeschooler)

And any other fun activities and things we come up with throughout the year!


Super Guy (3rd Grade):

Math - Math-U-See Level Gamma

Spelling - All About Spelling Level 1 (This is our first year so I didn't want to start him at the level he should actually be at and miss out on some of the basics needed, so I'm starting him at level 1 & we will move up as needed)

Reading - All About Reading Level 1 (Same as with the spelling, we will move up as needed)

Handwriting - A Reason For... Handwriting Level T

Literature - Classic Literature Units (from Confessions of a Homeschooler)

History - A Beka Book level 3 Our American Heritage

Science - A Beka Book level 3 Exploring God's World

Art - World's Greatest Artists vol. 1 (from Confessions of a Homeschooler)

Spanish - Online from 123Teachme.com

Piano - Alfred's Teach yourself to play piano & Teaching little fingers to play

Geography - Road Trip USA (from Confessions of a Homeschooler)

P.E. - Family Time Fitness

And any other fun activities and things we come up with throughout the year!

____________________________________________________________________________
So those are our picks for this year. Jelly Bean will be doing some activities along with us & she will be in what they are calling "Tot School", so I've printed out lots of fun stuff for her to do.

We are officially starting school on August 26th, so stay tuned for lots of school updates and pictures!! :-)