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!!!

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!!

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!