Sunday, October 12, 2008

We made it!!

She's finally here!! On Friday, October 10th at 6:05 a.m. we welcomed 7 lb. 10 oz. Sofia Grace McLean into our family. Thankfully it was a fairly easy and uncomplicated delivery, much to the relief of Mommy and doctors.

She is a beautiful and healthy baby girl. The kids LOVE her and are already trying to smother her with love. They've even been caught singing to her when she's cried quite a few times. Sweet!!

We came home Saturday evening and are all happy to be back in our own enviroment. Life is definetly more of an adjustment right now for all of us but I know that the Lord will help us through.

Daddy will be home for the next week and I am very thankful for that because he has been a big help with the kiddos!!! And Sammy is going to need the extra attention as well!!

As soon as I can I'll get some pictures loaded so that you can see her! Sorry that the video is so dark but you can still hear that sweet newborn cry! :)

That's all for now!

We made it!!

She's finally here!! On Friday, October 10th at 6:05 a.m. we welcomed 7 lb. 10 oz. Sofia Grace McLean into our family. Thankfully it was a fairly easy and uncomplicated delivery, much to the relief of Mommy and doctors.

She is a beautiful and healthy baby girl. The kids LOVE her and are already trying to smother her with love. They've even been caught singing to her when she's cried quite a few times. Sweet!!

We came home Saturday evening and are all happy to be back in our own enviroment. Life is definetly more of an adjustment right now for all of us but I know that the Lord will help us through.

Daddy will be home for the next week and I am very thankful for that because he has been a big help with the kiddos!!! And Sammy is going to need the extra attention as well!!

As soon as I can I'll get some pictures loaded so that you can see her! Sorry that the video is so dark but you can still hear that sweet newborn cry! :)

That's all for now!

Saturday, August 23, 2008

Exercise

So for recess/P.E. this week we've been using a workout video for kids that we checked out from the library. The kids LOVED it!!! Check out the video. I hope you enjoy watching them as much as I did!!! It was hilarious!!!

Unfortunatley the video it kinda dark at it does shake at some points as I was laughing at them but hopefully it's not too poorly done!!!

Week 6 of school

So, we've made it through 6 weeks of school and have encountered many different emotions thus far!! Some are joy, excitement, happiness, contentment, others not so glamorous, frustrations, impatience, discouragement...and then there are the feelings the kids have! :)

It's actually been a good year so far and both of the girls are making wonderful progress. Biggeest Sister's reading skills are improving daily and she is tackling two vowel words with a little more confidence. She has thoroughly enjoyed math this year and has really gotten the hang of adding and subtracting...but I think that is because the math curriculum we are using is so hands on and she likes that!! It's more hands on than book work and that always makes her smile!! She hasn't complained much at all about her penmanship work (which is a huge improvement from last year!!) although we still are very relaxed about how much she has to write. Spelling is moving along well and we are mainly focusing on spelling one vowel words and some sight words.

Biggest Sister working on penmanship.
Big Sister is coming along well with her phonics although we are moving at a very slow pace so as not to burn her out and she is only 4 so we have plenty of time!!! It's
amazing though how well she catches on to math!!! So much of the time she doesn't seem to be very awake up there (if you know what I mean) but when it comes to math she catches on quickly!! She doesn't get that from me!!!

Big Sisterin the middle of her lesson on greater than/less than.


They both have enjoyed history. We are going through the Bible chronologically and they have loved hearing all about the stories straight from the Bible!! I've been surprised at how much they've enjoyed it but I am glad that they are!!

Here are the girls making their "golden calf" just like the children of Israel prompted Aaron to do in the book of Exodus. Although, unlike the children of Israel, the girls made theirs out of peanut butter playdough...which was pretty tasty!!!






Each week the girls memorize a Bible verse that goes along with the week's theme. This past week it was Matt. 22:37. I had been recording them onto a cassette tape to save but our cassette player doesn't work right now so I decided to record them and put it up on the blog. Here is a video clip of each of them.

Some days aren't so fun and some days are but all in all it's been a good year so far! I'm excited to see what the Lord has instore for us in the near future!!

Month 8...and counting!!!


So here we are at week 33. Boy am I ever ready to get to the magic week 40!!! I keep expecting the final surge of energy to come but it's no where in sight!! I'm pretty beat most of the time...and pretty huge too so that might have something to do with it!!!

At our last doctor's visit we found out that my iron levels are going up finally! Yay!! That's a good thing!! So all of what we are doing is beginning to pay off. Everything with the baby looks great so if we can keep the iron rising we will have much less to be concerned with come "game day!!"

As far as names are concerned we aren't any closer to deciding really. We've got a new one though Juliana Grace. Jerry actually likes that one!! So it's down to Sophia or Juliana but I'm just not sure if Juliana is too close to Ariana. It's a very pretty name though...and we are praying that the Lord show us what name so I'm sure the one we pick will fit her perfectly.

Well, I've another appointment this coming Thursday so I'll update if there is any new info!!!

Month 8...and counting!!!


So here we are at week 33. Boy am I ever ready to get to the magic week 40!!! I keep expecting the final surge of energy to come but it's no where in sight!! I'm pretty beat most of the time...and pretty huge too so that might have something to do with it!!!

At our last doctor's visit we found out that my iron levels are going up finally! Yay!! That's a good thing!! So all of what we are doing is beginning to pay off. Everything with the baby looks great so if we can keep the iron rising we will have much less to be concerned with come "game day!!"

As far as names are concerned we aren't any closer to deciding really. We've got a new one though Juliana Grace. Jerry actually likes that one!! So it's down to Sophia or Juliana but I'm just not sure if Juliana is too close to Ariana. It's a very pretty name though...and we are praying that the Lord show us what name so I'm sure the one we pick will fit her perfectly.

Well, I've another appointment this coming Thursday so I'll update if there is any new info!!!

Saturday, August 2, 2008

Samuel

Here is a little glimpse into the life of Samuel. Sammy gets tired of waiting for me to fix lunch so he decides to take matters into his own hands!

****

What a silly boy!

*****

Okay so he's in the midst of potty training and instead of put pictures up of him on his little seat I decided to show you some pictures of what he does AFTER he does his business.

Soap....

Rub....
Rinse!!!!

He's doing so well!!!!

I love this boy!!

Samuel

Here is a little glimpse into the life of Samuel. Sammy gets tired of waiting for me to fix lunch so he decides to take matters into his own hands!

****

What a silly boy!

*****

Okay so he's in the midst of potty training and instead of put pictures up of him on his little seat I decided to show you some pictures of what he does AFTER he does his business.

Soap....

Rub....
Rinse!!!!

He's doing so well!!!!

I love this boy!!

To discipline or not to discipline?!

Samuel has been in the habit lately of getting out of his bed after we've put him in there and turning on the light and playing. It's been an aggravation for his tired Mommy and Daddy but we've tried to be consistent in training him to obey.

Well, one night after they'd been in bed for about an hour, I got up to check on them. As I walked toward their rooms I saw that Sammy's light was on. I immediatley got out our "training rod" and began to think, "I can't believe that little rascal is up still!! Lord, how in the world are we going to get him to obey? I'm gonna let him know that this is not acceptable!"

I swung the door open so as to scare him and when I did, this is what I found...



He was dead asleep!!! I'm not sure if he'd been up playing or not but I just wanted to kiss his little face!!! And no, I didn't discipline him cause he taught me very quickly to not be so swift to jump to conclusions!!! He was asleep, just with the light on...and an indian headband on his head.

To discipline or not to discipline?!

Samuel has been in the habit lately of getting out of his bed after we've put him in there and turning on the light and playing. It's been an aggravation for his tired Mommy and Daddy but we've tried to be consistent in training him to obey.

Well, one night after they'd been in bed for about an hour, I got up to check on them. As I walked toward their rooms I saw that Sammy's light was on. I immediatley got out our "training rod" and began to think, "I can't believe that little rascal is up still!! Lord, how in the world are we going to get him to obey? I'm gonna let him know that this is not acceptable!"

I swung the door open so as to scare him and when I did, this is what I found...



He was dead asleep!!! I'm not sure if he'd been up playing or not but I just wanted to kiss his little face!!! And no, I didn't discipline him cause he taught me very quickly to not be so swift to jump to conclusions!!! He was asleep, just with the light on...and an indian headband on his head.

A new lapbook in progress



We are currently slowly working on a 5 senses lapbook. We only do it a couple times a week so it may take a little while to get the pictures of the lapbook up but here are some pictures of the kids doing a "scent" experiment.



I chose a few different scents (peanut butter, coffee, cinnamon and garlic to use for our experiment. I then put each in a seperate cup, covered them up and poked holes in the tops. I then set each item on a plate and had the children smell each and then smell the cups. They had to try and match the cups with one of the items on the plate using only their sense of smell. I was amazed that they all got them right!! Even Brother, although he had help from Biggest Sister.



Then we charted the results of what our favorite and least favorite sents were on a bar graph that they will put in their lapbooks. It was unanimous, they all liked the cinnamon smell and the girls hated the garlic...Brother said he liked it however.

We also worked on our sense of taste this week I just didn't take any pictures. The kids LOVED being blindfolded and having to taste four different tastes: bitter, (okay so they didn't like that one too well) sour, salty and sweet. Can you guess which taste they liked the most?!! We used cocoa powder, lemon, salt and sugar respectively. I wished I'd taken pictures cause they made some funny faces when it came to the lemons and cocoa. They were surprised that the chocolate wasn't sweet...and a little disappointed too.

This is a work in progress and I will be adding more to this blog as we go along so come back and check every now and then!!

7/28-8/1 Our week in school

Well, we've wrapped up another week and are looking forward to a week's break. We've been working hard since June 3 days a week so that we could get some extra time in before the baby comes but now it's time to begin a "full" schedule of 5 days a week. I've decided to give the kids one last break though...it's a treat for me too!! I've got some chores I want to finish up before little one arrives.






Anyway, we had a good week of school. One of the highlights was a math lesson we did this week. We made a "number line" on the kitchen floor using masking tape and marked the numbers with index cards. Then I had Biggest Sister work out her addition problems using her new webkinz (thanks Auntie Lisa) to jump to the answer. She really seemed to enjoy it and what a way to make math more...concrete!!



Big Sister and Brother just had to get in on the fun as well!! They were begging to "do math" as well. So they all were able to practice their math using the number line. We'll definetely be doing that again!!!





Another thing that we did that was SO much fun was fish!!! Okay, so not REALLY fish but the kids enjoyed it as much as the real thing...and it wasen't near as stinky!! To practice spelling words with Biggest Sister and phonics with Big Sister I used some laminated fish that I had on hand (and they were already prepared with magnets on the back...so nice!) to play "Go fish." They used a pencil with a magnet attatched to pick up the fish. They could keep the fish if they could read the word that was on the backside of the fish. What a SUPER EASY way to get them to practice their words! And they did well!!!






We've been going through the life of Moses for History, Science and Bible. We acted out Moses and the burning bush this week and the kids had a blast!! Here they are wrapped up in red streamer pretending to be the burning bush while I was Moses. I love that Heart of Dakota brings the Bible to life in a way such as this!! The kids are really enjoying this part of the curriculum!!



My little blessings!!!



So okay, things are kinda hard for me lately. What kind of things? Well...you know...the basic things like walking, standing, bending, waking up etc!!!! Some days I feel VERY overwhelmed and others it's not so difficult.



Well, a few times this week Alayna has just shown me what a sensitive heart she has and how much she wants to help. It was lunch time and she said, "Mommy, can I make lunch for us today?" My first thought was "Oh, the mess..." (typical right?!) But then I thought, "Hey, she WANTS to help, let her!!! She's a mighty 6 years old I think she can handle it!" So I said sure!! And what a blessing to my soul it was to sit back and watch her prepare our sandwiches, chips and carrots and dip...all the while smiling like only Alayna can. How thankful I am to have such a sweet little girl.



Well, it gets better!! A few days later the kids were playing Cinderella (yes, even Sammy but I think he was the Dad!!) Anyway, before I knew it they were "water mopping" the kitchen floor and wiping down the cabinets. Was it perfect? No, but again it was so sweet!! They kept saying things like, "We're helping you right Mommy?" and "We're gonna do this so you don't have to!"



How blessed I am!!!! Most days I feel exhausted and stretched to my limits and then the Lord sends me moments like this. Moments in which I can remember that He sees and knows just what I need, what kind of reminders I need to show me that not only does He see my needs, but He takes care of them. Only this time it was through my precious children!!

My little blessings!!!



So okay, things are kinda hard for me lately. What kind of things? Well...you know...the basic things like walking, standing, bending, waking up etc!!!! Some days I feel VERY overwhelmed and others it's not so difficult.



Well, a few times this week Alayna has just shown me what a sensitive heart she has and how much she wants to help. It was lunch time and she said, "Mommy, can I make lunch for us today?" My first thought was "Oh, the mess..." (typical right?!) But then I thought, "Hey, she WANTS to help, let her!!! She's a mighty 6 years old I think she can handle it!" So I said sure!! And what a blessing to my soul it was to sit back and watch her prepare our sandwiches, chips and carrots and dip...all the while smiling like only Alayna can. How thankful I am to have such a sweet little girl.



Well, it gets better!! A few days later the kids were playing Cinderella (yes, even Sammy but I think he was the Dad!!) Anyway, before I knew it they were "water mopping" the kitchen floor and wiping down the cabinets. Was it perfect? No, but again it was so sweet!! They kept saying things like, "We're helping you right Mommy?" and "We're gonna do this so you don't have to!"



How blessed I am!!!! Most days I feel exhausted and stretched to my limits and then the Lord sends me moments like this. Moments in which I can remember that He sees and knows just what I need, what kind of reminders I need to show me that not only does He see my needs, but He takes care of them. Only this time it was through my precious children!!

Friday, August 1, 2008

Update

So we've been to the doctor and all is well with this little one that we are expecting. The only problem is my anemia ( coupled with my habit to hemorrage it's not a good pair). I've been taking iron supplements since April but my iron level has actually fallen a little instead of increased. This is a concern according to my doctors because it puts me at greater risk of having a blood transfusion (again) after delivery. There's not much they can do and are really baffaled as to why the meds. haven't helped.
But as for me I am on an "Iron-rich foods" diet. Lots of legumes, red meat, dark green veggies and black strap molasses (it's a very good source of iron according to my midwife.) So, here I go to the grocery store to try to buy foods that are better as far as my iron is concerned. They are, however, planning on giving me a transfusion pre-delivery is my levels don't increase any at all. Remembering my delivery with Samuel I really don't want to have another transfuion!! It gave me a fever that I really didn't want at that time, I felt weak...very weak!!!
I know that the Lord is in control and as long as I am doing my part He will do the rest! So please pray that I continue on my diet and that my iron levels improve!! And Lord willing this time I won't have any hemorraging or transfusions!!
I'll keep you updated!

Update

So we've been to the doctor and all is well with this little one that we are expecting. The only problem is my anemia ( coupled with my habit to hemorrage it's not a good pair). I've been taking iron supplements since April but my iron level has actually fallen a little instead of increased. This is a concern according to my doctors because it puts me at greater risk of having a blood transfusion (again) after delivery. There's not much they can do and are really baffaled as to why the meds. haven't helped.
But as for me I am on an "Iron-rich foods" diet. Lots of legumes, red meat, dark green veggies and black strap molasses (it's a very good source of iron according to my midwife.) So, here I go to the grocery store to try to buy foods that are better as far as my iron is concerned. They are, however, planning on giving me a transfusion pre-delivery is my levels don't increase any at all. Remembering my delivery with Samuel I really don't want to have another transfuion!! It gave me a fever that I really didn't want at that time, I felt weak...very weak!!!
I know that the Lord is in control and as long as I am doing my part He will do the rest! So please pray that I continue on my diet and that my iron levels improve!! And Lord willing this time I won't have any hemorraging or transfusions!!
I'll keep you updated!

Thursday, July 24, 2008

Our expanding family!!


So here we are, expecting our 4th child (and 3rd girl). It was truly a surprise but this has been a fun pregnancy!! The kids are so excited and that makes everything a lot funner!!


I am now 29 weeks along and am growing every minute it seems like! This pregnancy has a lot more pain and discomfort though. I am looking forward to adding another child to our family!! We have no names set in stone yet but here are some of our thoughts:
Sophia Grace, Ashley Grace, Ashley Elizabeth, Hannah Grace, Lillian and Sally.
That last one is Sammy's favorite!!! :)
Well, I've got a doctor's appointment on Monday and I'll post more then. Have a great weekend!

Our expanding family!!


So here we are, expecting our 4th child (and 3rd girl). It was truly a surprise but this has been a fun pregnancy!! The kids are so excited and that makes everything a lot funner!!


I am now 29 weeks along and am growing every minute it seems like! This pregnancy has a lot more pain and discomfort though. I am looking forward to adding another child to our family!! We have no names set in stone yet but here are some of our thoughts:
Sophia Grace, Ashley Grace, Ashley Elizabeth, Hannah Grace, Lillian and Sally.
That last one is Sammy's favorite!!! :)
Well, I've got a doctor's appointment on Monday and I'll post more then. Have a great weekend!

Lapbooking

Lapbooking, ever heard of it? Well lapbooking caught my eye quite some time ago but we are just now getting around to the actual making of the lapbooks. We have thoroughly enjoyed them!!! They are a great way for the children to learn with a hands-on approach and what child doesn't like that? The children are also cementing the concepts in their minds every time they interact with the lapbooks. GREAT!!!! Learning while playing...gotta love that!!!
Here are some videos of some of the lapbooks we've done here at Ruby Slippers School.

Transportation Lapbook:


If you would like to do this lapbook look here: http://www.homeschoolshare.com/transportation_lapbook.php

Creation Lapbook:


Here's the link for this lapbook: http://christianpreschoolprintables.com/blog1/?p=128

Addition Families Lapbook:

Look here for this lapbook: http://www.homeschoolshare.com/addition_facts_lapbook.php

If you'd like more info. on lapbooking check out this website for more explination and links to other great sites!!

www.lapbooklessons.com/jamin/2008/01/11/how-to-begin-lapbooking/

Biggest Sister Graduation #1

I can't believe that we've graduated our first little one from homeschool Kindergarten!! How quickly the time goes!!!

Wednesday, July 23, 2008

A little portion of our day

Well, we've wrapped up another day here at Ruby Slippers and I'm glad to say that it's been a good one. We are using the Heart of Dakota curriculum this year and I am glad that we are!!! It's been a sweet four weeks and this curriculum has added such peace to our days. I will explain further in another blog so check it out! Here are some photos of what we did today!

Brother is keeping himself busy!!!!


For "recess" today we went on a "hunt" led by our resident detective Biggest Sister. (She drew a map and everything!!) A few days ago while on a walk with Daddy we found a little bird on the side of the road that didn't look like it could fly. The children were enamoured and wanted to bring it home however Daddy firmly said no. So the kids all wanted to go and see if it was still there.

Our little detective!!!

And a princess too!!!

Looking at an ant hill.

So there we went, a pregnant mom, a little boy pushing a stroller with his hippo "Chunky" in it, a princess and her baby and our detective. Armed with a magnifying glass, map and backpack (oh yeah, and a piece of rescue string "just in case some one falls or gets lost") we were off. It was a nice little stroll even though we didn't find the little bird. And Mom needed the exercise!! We returned home to complete most of our assignments and managed to stick lunch, 3 stories, clean the kitchen and the living room in there some how!! Now everyone is down...but not yet asleep...and I am talking to you all!!


Here are some pictures of our "homeschool" area. Our house has an open floor plan so everything is connected to everything else and that makes for a difficult task when it comes to "organizing the school area." (Can that ever really be accomplished?!) To help us out we purchased some stackable units from Target and have FILLED them up with all of our school items. As you can see from the pictures they are pretty packed. The lower drawers are for the kids to put their personal school books and supplies in. (Thankfully there are 4 drawers cause we are about to have our 4th!!)

Our homeschool closets.


We usually do our workbook assignments at the table (on which you can see Big Sister busily working on her Penmanship assignment) that is smack in the middle of a walkway but it's a thin table and hasn't been too much of a bother. Today Biggest Sister wanted to do her work in her room. I felt it would be fine because she tends to get frustrated with so much noise from Big Sister and Brother while she's trying to concentrate. In the photo you can see her working at a shelf which previously held their reading books but have since been packed away as we are trying to get their room repainted before the baby gets here. (Hopefully it'll happen). She was content to be working at her own little desk though!!



And as for Brother...well, you can see from the picture at the top he keeps himself occupied while the girls are working...normally!!!

It's been a good day and I am thankful for that!!! I love to homeschool!!!

School is now in session!!! Glad you came to join us!! So, why Ruby Slippers School? Well it's simple, our home is our school and there's "no place like home" right?!

This is my 3rd year of homeschooling and I am schooling a daughter in 1st grade and another who in Pre-K/Kindergarten work (at a leisurley pace of course). Tagging along with us is little brother whom I am trying to include regularly.

We have chosen to homeschool because we feel that it is the Lord's best for our children and our family. At first it was a very daunting and frightening task that I didn't feel I was up to but the Lord has allowed me to grow in many aspects and I am thoroughly enjoying it and continue to learn right along with the children. It is still scary at times however I know that "I can do all things through Christ which strengtheneth me."

So, read on and find out why there's no place like home for us here at Ruby Slippers School!!

My first entry!!!

Yay!! I've done it!! This is kinda exciting...my first blog!! I feel "tech savy" now. Although maybe I shouldn't cause in the terms and conditions it stated that I had to be AT LEAST 13...13!! The more I think about it the more I realize that I'm probably just behind the times and not "tech savy"...so, I'll stop thinking about it.

Anyway, welcome to our home!!! I plan on blogging whenever I get a chance but not so much that I neglect my home so it may not be too often. I'll mainly be blogging on this blog about our goings on as a family. If you are interested in our weekly adventures as a homeschooling family checkout my blog at www.rubyslippersschool.blogspot.com. There you will have a small taste of what life is like for our little ones and their schooling!!!
So, sit back, relax, read and come back and visit often!! Hope you enjoy yourself and thanks for coming home with us!!!

My first entry!!!

Yay!! I've done it!! This is kinda exciting...my first blog!! I feel "tech savy" now. Although maybe I shouldn't cause in the terms and conditions it stated that I had to be AT LEAST 13...13!! The more I think about it the more I realize that I'm probably just behind the times and not "tech savy"...so, I'll stop thinking about it.

Anyway, welcome to our home!!! I plan on blogging whenever I get a chance but not so much that I neglect my home so it may not be too often. I'll mainly be blogging on this blog about our goings on as a family. If you are interested in our weekly adventures as a homeschooling family checkout my blog at www.rubyslippersschool.blogspot.com. There you will have a small taste of what life is like for our little ones and their schooling!!!
So, sit back, relax, read and come back and visit often!! Hope you enjoy yourself and thanks for coming home with us!!!