Paige Problems

This girl is now weighing in at 12.3 lbs and is not even 8 weeks old.   

She is FAT.   The rolls are never ending.

Unfortunately, just like her sisters, she is a crabby baby.   There goes my theory that fat babies are happy.  Why do my babies all come out hating life?   I am serious, if she is not eating or sleeping, she is fussing and screaming. 

Quick, she's awake and happy!  Get the camera! 

(This is her happy face)

This is also a common occurrence.

 We got her some gripe water and it seems to really help most of the time.  But sometimes, nothing helps and after so long of rocking, bouncing, walking, swaying, patting and shushing with no effect, we just have to put her in her swing and she screams and screams until she passes out or until it's time to eat again.

We love you little punk, but is this really necessary?

Our First Week of School

We had a very successful first week of school.  We tried to get a good "first day" picture

 But most of them turned out silly.

I am so glad and relieved that Claire LOVES school.   I realize that we have just finished 1 week and only have 520ish to go but wow,  I could not have asked for a better first week!

Reviewing letter blends in Sing Spell Read and Write.
 She can read them but not as fluently as I would like yet.

 We played lots of rounds of bingo with letter sounds.

Math was too easy for her as it is still introducing numbers and counting.   She complained that it was too easy and I promised it would get harder.  It did introduce left and right which we haven't really addressed before so that was good.

 Geography was our busy and fun subject this week.  We learned about the earth, the continents, oceans and maps.  I thought the girls would enjoy making a paper mache earth.

We used one of those huge punching balloons instead of a regular balloon because they are actually round.  The girls loved them because unlike regular balloons, they could blow them up by themselves.

Well, Claire could at least. 

 

We have never done paper mache before.

 

Claire didn't really like the goopy part but she worked until it was finished. I put it outside to dry where the heat popped the balloon prematurely and the whole thing imploded.   So, we started all over again and this time it dried inside.  The next day, we popped the balloon and painted it blue but then it started caving in on itself and we decided that paper mache was not for us. We talked about how we were glad God made the world and not us.

Later in the week we started to learn about maps; the different kinds and how to read them.  We played a game where she would hide a stuffed animal in the house and then draw a map to where I could find it.  At the end of the day she went on a treasure hunt I had prepared for her.

She found the X and dug up her prize - which was a necklace from her prize box.

All week we practiced the continents and oceans song I had found on youtube.  By the end of the week she could sing it and point to the appropriate areas on the map.

At the end, she started to repeat the ocean part again and realized she need to end it instead - which is why it sounds weird and explains her expression.

School Year, Here We Come!

We are ready to start school!  I reorganized the play room so it is now more of a school room.  I left out only the toys that they really play with and are somewhat educational. 

 

 I have found that when it comes to toys, less is more.  Ever since I removed over half the toys, they have played so much better with the ones they do have.  They both actually play with the toys rather than throw them around and cry when I tell them to clean up.

I have really enjoyed planning for the school year, looking at curriculum, planning lessons, spending way too much time on pinterest, and other various websites looking for interesting kindergarten activities.  It's so fun!

Growing up, we were textbook/test style homeschoolers.  I loved that.  I loved taking tests, I loved doing well on tests.  I liked doing the work, having a definite start and finish and I loved knowing that when you finish the book, you are done and you've learned all that you need to.  I have always planned on homeschooling my kids the same way but unfortunately I can tell already that Claire is not going to be a textbook homeschooler.  She is going to be a hands on, "how does this make you feel", experience-it-in-every-way-possible-before-you-understand-it, type learner.  The kind of learner that is going to require a curriculum like Konos. Ugh.  Don't get me wrong, I am a fan of Konos and I still vividly remember the Konos studies that my mom did with us when I was 3 and 4 years old, it is just A LOT more work than my preferred textbook route.   I looked into it extensively and decided that although I know she would love it, I am going to wait and start it when I have at least 2 kids able to benefit from it. 

That being said, I am extremely happy and excited about my alternative choices for Claire's kindergarten this year So, here it is, my 2013-2014 curriculum!

Reading/Phonics:

Sing, Spell Read and Write - We started this over a year ago so she is quite a bit ahead. We haven't done it since we've moved and she struggles still so we will do a review from the beginning and then keep forging on.

Science:

McRuffy Kindergarten Science. I really need science and social studies to be my fun hands-on subjects since math and reading just aren't and in my opinion never will be.  I have always been set on doing Abeka for science and history but abekas K science was so lame and boring. I stumbled on this curriculum by chance during some bunny trail google searches and immediately knew it was the one.   

 

It is simple enough for kindergarten but I can make units that interest Claire so much richer through extra curricular activities and crafts. So, with science, we are kind of going with a simple/pre-konos approach.  I also like that McRuffy aligns there material with the National Science Education Standards so I feel like she is learning what she needs to in this area. (There are sample pages on the website)

Math:

Horizons.  I always knew I would use Horizons, no surprises there

 

My younger brother was lucky enough to get to do Horizons instead of Saxon for math.  I vowed when I was in 5th grade that I would never make my kids do Saxon math - a vow I am very passionate about and plan to keep.  McRuffy actually has a kindergarten math book which I ordered to compare with Horizon.  Concepts being taught were identical, but Horizons' pictures and printing quality was better so I returned the McRuffy.

Social Studies:

Again, Abeka was a total bomb in this area and I found that there really isn't history curriculum out there for such a young age.  I decided I would like her to know the basics about the world.  Isn't it funny to think that little people need to be taught even the most simplistic concepts?  Like, the world is round, there are continents and countries, the world is a big, wonderful place and they are not the center of it?  Then I think how serious a responsibility and privilege it is to teach her these things accurately and that there is no way I would entrust that job to some stranger at a school who could  impress her young mind in anyway they wanted.

Anyway, so I decided to teach a very basic, hands-on geography. I cut out this enormous world map out of felt

 

and ordered a few books from Amazon; Beginning Geography, and two different A Trip Around The World books.  The library is also probably sick of me for putting so many books on hold. I plan to incorporate crafts, recipes and other activities into our entry level study of the world. 

Bible:

Claire will be a Sparky this year so I planned her Sparks book as her Bible curriculum.  We also were given this Bible on cassette tape that we will listen to each morning. 

Poor Joy is going to feel left out I think.  We plan for her to join us for the Bible story and any crafts and activities we do.  Hopefully she and Paige will behave themselves in the mornings.

We start on Monday!  We can't wait!

Good Times

Our evening outside:

Run

Swim

Shower

Chase

Stare

Plan

Swing

Fingerpainting

Aunt Marisol gave Joy a set of finger paints for her birthday and today we tried them out! Cause as you can see in the background the house wasn't messy enough already

 

....actually the rest of the house was quite clean and picked up, just not the play room and isn't that what a play room is for? 

 

Yet another reason I love our new house.

It was Joy's first time finger painting on purpose.  Naturally, she loved it. 

 

But creating a masterpiece is a serious business and takes all your concentration.

When we were done, Claire and I were washing dishes and Joy was unsupervised with the paints.  She was rubbing all of the colors around on her hands like it was lotion.   She came up to me, held her brown, slimy hands up and said "look!"  I pretended to be upset and said "oh no Joy!  Did you go poopoo on your hands?!?! Oh no! Naughty!"  Joy for a split second had this worried look on her face like she was thinking.  "wait, did I?", looked down at her hands and then broke into a huge smile.  "no!" she said "it paint!" (in her little Joy voice that only she can do.) She is a precious girl.

Aunt Marisol, you can expect a masterpiece to be in your mailbox in a couple of days!

Shiny....

Lights

are

 

mesmerizing.

  

My Meal Plan

This month we are so excited to start officially homeschooling Claire.  I can't wait.  We are planning to start the third week of August.  I have the entire year planned out in my handy, dandy planner but I am still waiting for our geography curriculum to come.  If that comes early and I have a chance to prepare and plan it, we may start sooner since Claire is SO anxious to start.  For weeks she has been watching me go through her books, cut out felt continents and collect fun supplies for science, games, and prizes.  (I will go into the curriculum I chose at a later time)

I am so excited to start too -I have planned on doing this all my life after all! But now I am just nervous about my schedule and having time for everything.  I also still have my part-time job at Big D and don't want to be up til midnight every night sorting and filing paperwork.  I am trying really hard to guard my schedule and I've already had to say no to a couple of people asking me to do things for church and I feel so badly!   I am terrible at saying "no".  Even if I don't want to do something, I usually do it because I'd rather hate doing it than tell someone no.  But now it is necessary - at least until we get started and I figure out how much free time I will have for extra things.  (So don't ask me to make any commitments right now or I will have to say no!)

One area I have become more efficient in after Paige was born is my cooking/meal planning.  Before, I rarely used to plan ahead which led to many trips to the grocery store each week and many days of staring into the fridge hoping for some last minute inspiration at 6pm. I decided that making a meal plan was now a necessity - not a luxury, since running to the store is a huge ordeal for us right now.

I made a list of all my regular, tried and true recipes, arranged them according to genre (Mexican, American, Chinese and Italian) and spaced them out so that there weren't any time where we were eating a certain genre of food 2 nights in a row and then did my best to mix up the chickens, beefs, pastas and porks so that we weren't eating chicken for 4 days straight.  Then I put a reasonable suggestion for a side dish next to each meal.  It was a little work at first but now that it is set up, I just look at the list, refer to my recipe book to write down what ingredients I will need for that week and go shopping ONCE.  Since I know what I am making ahead of time, I can let my meat thaw the correct way instead of in a hot water bath a half hour before we eat.   Why is such a simple, common sense thing like meal planning such a nemesis to us homemakers?  I don't know, but now that I have my system that works for me, I am sticking to it.  My life has been SO much better in the cooking department since I implemented it a month ago.

Here is my list in case anyone wants to see it.  Recipes available upon request.

Main Dish	side
Tortellini	salad
Chicken Fricasse	fruit
Arroz Con Pollo	salad
20 Minute Stir Fry	egg drop soup
Pulled pork Sandwiches	coleslaw
Pecos Pasta	salad
Patio Tuna Squares	salad
Carbonara	broccoli
Enchurritos	Mexican rice
BLT Pasta Salad	fruit
Chinese Chicken Coleslaw	Hawaiian rolls
Tacos/Tostadas	none
Beef Stroganoff Sandwich	salad
Parmesean chicken	peas
Carnitas	chips and salsa
Chicken Oriental	brown rice
Cheeseburger pie	coleslaw
Green Chile Lime Taquitos	Mexican rice
Chicken Pot Pie	salad
Lasagna	salad
Chilequiles	fruit
Tuna Casserole	peas
Orange Chicken and Rice	salad
Hamburgers	wedge fries/beans
Tamale Bites	salad
Grilled Chicken	brown rice/veggie
Baked Rigatoni	salad
Springtime Broccoli Salad	Hawaiian rolls
Chile chicken casserole	coleslaw
Homemade Pizza	salad
Deli Style Pasta Salad	fruit
Versatile Stir Fry	brown rice
Taco Pie	salad
Maple Oven Pancake	eggs
Spaghetti	salad
Tortilla Soup	quesadillas
Barbecue Beef on Corn Muffins	fruit
Chicken Tamale Casserole	fruit

There are 38 meals.  When we get to the bottom of the list, I just start back up at the top.  I don't make dinner on Sundays or Wednesdays so we have well over a month before repeating a dish.

And now, because I can't post a blog without some sort of picture, here is one of Claire smothering her sister.