Today we hosted a Gingerbread House party. It was cute and fun, even though a little messy. The kids all used graham crackers and icing, and then decorated them with candy. But it seems the icing wasn't very strong, or the candy was too heavy, because most of the houses fell. But it was a fun time. Afterwards, there were a handful of girls hanging out, and I snapped this picture because it was so cute. They were all enjoying being "proper" and acting out good manners. I am thankful that Ansley's friends are so sweet.
Go Back to Lifesong
This is what I do.
I take pictures. This blog is a way for me to capture the every day moments in this season of my life before it becomes too foggy in my memory for me to recall. This is a tangible reminder of what my life was like, what we did, what was important to us, how we spent our days. These are the every day matters, because to me, every day matters.
Homeschool
December 15, 2009
Today we hosted a Gingerbread House party. It was cute and fun, even though a little messy. The kids all used graham crackers and icing, and then decorated them with candy. But it seems the icing wasn't very strong, or the candy was too heavy, because most of the houses fell. But it was a fun time. Afterwards, there were a handful of girls hanging out, and I snapped this picture because it was so cute. They were all enjoying being "proper" and acting out good manners. I am thankful that Ansley's friends are so sweet.
December 7, 2009
I will say that Ansley doesn't LOVE First Grade as much as she did Kindergarten. I will also say that I don't LOVE First Grade as much as Kindergarten, because it's not as "fun." Kindergarten treated us well. It was fun and new and different and....short. Our days were done in an hour and a half, and we were free to move on to other things. First Grade is very time consuming. We don't have as flexible schedule as I would sometimes like, and it's work. There is a lot of phonics and handwriting and math. Ansley doesn't dislike it - she is a very eager and quick learner. She just doesn't wake up every day, like I thought she would, and shout "I can't WAIT to start my school day!"
Sometimes I think I should incorporate a little more fun into our days. Other times I think school isn't always about fun, and I don't want to produce a child who gets to college and tells her professors "Could you make up a little song about that, and then let's do a treasure hunt? Cuz that's what my Mom always did."
It's a hard balance sometimes.
Oh, but the point of this photo is that her handwriting has really exceptionally improved in the First Grade. Her cursive writing is actually ten times neater than her manuscript. She loves to write in cursive, and I think she does a great job with it.
November 13, 2009
Today we had Craft Day with my friend Rebecca (a fellow homeschooling Mama) and her children Rylee, Jake, Reese and baby Jacks. Well, baby Jacks wasn't really into crafts. I feel like so often, crafts are the things my children most want to do, and they are the thing that I continually push back in order to get other things done. So, we are going to try and do Craft Days once a month. The kids had a great time, they each did three crafts and we read the Thanksgiving story together. Plus some lunch and playtime, so it made for a fun day!
November 10, 2009
This is one of Christian's activities from his workbox. It's amazing the stuff I can find when I go through the bookshelves in the playroom - there is plenty of stuff to fill his workboxes! He loved doing this, and especially loved the chalk. It kept him so occupied, Ansley and I actually had a small window of quiet while we did math.
November 2, 2009
Part I
The battery was dead on my Canon, and I didn't think ahead to have it charged for today. Which irritated me. Why can't I be more of a planner? Anyway...today we had a Field Trip with our homeschool group to the Fire Station. The kids really enjoyed being able to sit in the fire truck with the lights going! We learned all about the fire house, as well as the typical fire stuff - coats, boots, masks.
Part II
All the kids on the front of a fire engine.
A fun field trip!
September 28, 2009
At the Apple Farm field trip. Christian and Hunter enjoying their apple cider, while Ansley gets started on the apples in the background! It was a fun day!
September 10, 2009
Ansley is doing really well in the first grade. And for her third week of cursive writing, I think she is doing really well!
September 3, 2009
We are learning about pennies and dimes in math, so today I decided to do something fun and set up a washing station. The kids loved putting the coins in a vinegar solution and watching the grime come off, then scrubbing them with a baking soda mix to get them shiny. They thought this was great! We even picked out coins from the years of their birth, and watched them get all shiny, too.
