Our Curriculum 2011-2012

My favorite time of year is getting ready for school! I just love everthing about it. We have most everthing organized, and planned out. I have to say, I CAN NOT wait to get started. I always end up starting a week earlier than planned. I have no doubt this year will be the same. *grin*

Okay! For preschool:
Brighton is still really young, so we will not be doing a "formal" curriculum.
Our school is extremely literature based.
*We are going to use a few Rod and Staff workbooks for writing, counting, and cutting practice. I like these because they are very simple and not expensive.

*I will also have some fun activites out for him daily.
cutting, playdough, stickers, puzzles, coloring, lacing etc

Then we will read a lot of our favorites and make little units out of them using Homeschool Share

Here are the ones we will be reading:


Okay, for 1st Grade:

*I'm really excited to try Contenders for the Faith this year for developing biblical boyhood skills. He will go at his own pace through the projects.

* Writing: we will continue on with Explode the Code this year. And, we will be doing copywork from the Bible.

*Reading: we are making this as simple for him a possible. No formal lessons as of right now. We will be reading Bob Books,McGuffey's, and many Early Readers to build his confidence. We also have a few games, like Word Memory and Word Bingo we will play. He is doing really well with this right now.

*Math: We are starting Singapore Math workbook 1B and will add more hands on, and games. Our goal this year is to master telling time, and start muliplication. He already does these pretty well, we'll just keep going at his pace and add more as we go.

*Science: we are using our free copy of Considering God's Creation, along with Answers in Genesis for Kids, and My Nature Journal for weekly Nature Study/Walks.





*History: Last year we used Story of The World. We really liked it. This year though I was really wanting to study American History. I put my own curriculum together using books from the library, online, and some I picked up at garage sales. I am so excited at the material we are going to cover. We will go in order of history and do many projects and read many great books.



Fine Arts Fridays and Extra Stuff
We will still learn one artist and composer monthly. We are starting a child introduction to Shakespeare, and we will have an actual art lesson this year.
We are also starting Greek. Simple decoding for now, and will build up next year.

The last thing we are doing is Geography and map skills. We are using a beginners Geography workbook, and will be making a cereal box city, and painting a map of our street. FUN!



This may seem like a lot, but we have it planned out to about 3-4 hours Mon-Thurs/ And Fridays are for Fine Arts and finishing up projects, and field trips etc.


Our schedule goes like this:
M-Thurs.
Bible/Memory Work
Writing
Reading Practice
Math

Modays & Wednesday:
Science/Nature
Geography

Tues. & Thurs:
History
Greek

Friday:
Bible
Art
Fine Arts
This year is going to be so much fun!

Today

Today I am happy. I am thinking about so much.

Starting about 7 years ago, we got on a health/organic kick. Our house had healthy food, snacks, and homemade goodies. Even our soap and shampoo had no harsh chemicals. About a 1 1/2 years ago, we decided to save money. I still bought healthy food but less and less. Now, as I look at our groceries I see sale items that (while helpful and easy) are not healthy.

Over the past 1 1/2 yearsI have gained weight, lost energy, and been sick more than I have in a long time.

I have felt a gentle push to get back to the healthy. Lastnight as I lay awake until 3AM, I watched a netflix movie on being vegan. Although, I'm not up for being completely vegan, I knew that I had to get back to healthy.

I know it's better for us in the long run, and I never feel more proud to feed my family than when I bless them with wholesome food with no chemicals.

So, I'm getting back on track. Starting today, with what I have.

Tonight is our family movie night. We always have a pizza (take out or frozen usually) and a treat. I could NOT stand the thought of grabbing a pizza, so I made our own whole wheat pizza and fresh baked chocolate chip cookies. Just like we used to. Not the healthiest foods, but I know every ingrediant in it, and that matters to me!
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The next thing that has really been on my mind is dressing feminine and modest. I need to revamp my clothes a bit. Not a complete overhaul, but a move toward feminine. I'm a pretty modest person, so no problem there, but I'm looking for budget friendly ways to dress while still being a stay at home mom. I love the thought of my husband coming home to a beautiful wife everyday. My problem is finding realistc clothes. For example: I love Shabby Apple and Anthropologie, but I can't see myself wearing that type of stuff daily. I would love to, but I have to be realistic. So, while I may have a few really wonderful pieces, I need some everyday/affordable pieces as well.
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I'm excited for tomorrow. Can't wait to spend the next two days with my wonderful husband. Pssst....I get to go on a date with him on Sunday. Yay! Oh and, I'm so very proud of him. He got a promotion at work, and starts a whole new job/training/schedule Monday. Congratulations handsome!
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My cell phone quit working a few weeks ago, and although I love hearing from my sweet friends, I have loved life without it. No mindless game playing or checking in with facebook. It's not holding me down and making me "available" whenever to whoever. I got my new phone in the mail today. I chose a Blackberry. I don't know how to use it really, but I do know there will be no facebook added to it. I just don't want it there.
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I have been really tired lately. I blame it on the endless heat. Last week I got really sick to my stomache on Monday. Then again on Thursday. Dan *joked* that maybe we were having a baby. I really hoped it was true, and come to find out Dan was hoping too (even though he has had surgery, we both hoped). After a few days, we knew I was not....I was really sad, but it's okay. It's a choice we made.

Those thoughts have been running through my head today. **I hope God blesses your socks off this weekend.** Can't wiat to show you our new rooms!!

What's Going On and What's Coming Up

How's that for a title? We have been picking out carpet, painting walls, furniture, and doors, picking out fabric, AND planning for the new school year!! Curriculum is here, school room will be done soon, and I have some posts coming up.

Upcoming posts starting hopefully by next week:
*Boys' room remodel...includes painted furniture, curtains, and more!
*School room update
*Curriculum for the year
*How our days work (our schedule)
*Also coming soon: how I budget clothes for 3 little boys. Goal...getting their clothes for the YEAR for around $100?! 3 boys. One year. $100.
* update: doors on a budget

Can't wait to post pictures!

New Years Goals Update

So looking back to the first of the year, I wanted to see the goals I wrote out and see if I've made progress.

My goals for the year:
Purge and organize our entire house.
**I have done this including the garage and I'm starting all over again tomorrow. I've heard that it can be addicting, well I think it may be. Here's to round 2!

Read the Bible.
**I have NOT read the whole Bible, but have read the Bible more than ever. I dig deep into the books I'm reading and meditate on what God would like me to know. I do however still want to read the whole thing. Did you know that 90% of Christians haven't read the whole Bible?

Limit my love for coca cola...to 1 a week.
**This has been off and on, but if I'm honest drink an average of 3 a week...

Spend more time with friends.
**I have spent much more time with friends this year, but would now like to invite them with their husbands over for dinners and such. Usually we meet at the park for a picnic or something which is good, but I'd like to do more family things.

Learn to sew.
**Nope. I've got nothing to say about this one....at least the year isn't over!

Have a garden..
**Did not do one this year, we got new grass and my husband may croak if I dug any of it up this year haha.

Fix the not so fun to fix stuff in our home. (fence, new carpet, doors etc)
**WELL! We got new grass. Carpet coming next week, and instead of new doors we are going to paint ours blcak I think.

Date my husband once a week.
**We are doing really well with this! Usually at home dates, but so much fun to have time with him!

Workout.
**Better this year than the past few years. I am working out at least 3 times a week. That's good for me.

Take more mini road trips and explore.
**So far we've been hiking in the Canyon, to the lake, to Austin, and are planning 3 little trips for the remainder of the year.

The updates look much better than normal years. My "motto" this year was to finish what I start. I'm really excited to see that things are getting done!! How are your yearly goals going?

A Nice and Slow Sunday

We try to prepare for Sunday early. Maybe on Thursday. I think of what we will wear. Is it clean? What will we eat?  Some Sundays we stop at a small local diner behind our house. A favorite of ours, they know us there.

Yesterday we wake to clean laid out clothes and showered the night before boys. We head to church to serve and then to worship. I feel absolutely blessed. After, we chose the diner and take it home to eat together and watch a family movie.

We then head out in the heat of the afternoon for our annual water fight. We slip on swim suits, load water guns, and fill a bucket full of water balloons. It's on!







After all that we head out to the park to meet up with others have praise and worship in the cool of a summer evening. We don't know the others there but soon meet most of them. We had a lovely time.









392.nothing but family time
393.praising with those we don't know. But HE does.
394.a beautiful summer evening
395.a shy boy who eagerly answered a question at church "because mom...no one seemed to know"
396.seeing him love his brother again. a prayerful plea from a mother who longs for a restored bond.
397.a line of swim trunks hanging to dry
398.a broken dryer...using a clothes line and seeing whites sheets blowing in the breeze
399.volleyball in the park

a Slipin' and a Slidin'

Yesterday we pulled out the ol' slip n' slide. Always a big hit around here, and gurantees an hour or so of uninterrupted water fun. Also guarantees sleepy boys.. :)

4th Of July: Memories and Traditions

We LOVE the Fourth around here. It's one of my all time favorite holidays! Every year we grab an unhealthy drive thru breakfast and head to the parade. We get there at least an hour early to set up our seats, eat our breakfast, and do some exploring, picture taking, and soccer.

Every year it's the same, but I know I'll look back over the years at the same pictures taken at the same place and see how they've grown each year.

For example these pictures were taken last few years:

2008




2009


2010


2011


And for the few years he did this was so precious to me. It took Jaiden several years to figure out this man was not real. He always said hi to him.





Okay, so back to this year!









Love this picture...even with our "sun in the eyes" boy.



 

The little pioneer house open and ready to explore.



We waited and waited for the parade to start. Tristin asked Dan how long until it started, when Dan said 10 minutes Tristin turned to me and said, "10 minutes?! Mom, lets count to 60 ten times." Haha.

The parade is starting!



Smokey the bear came since we've had so many fires.



Jaiden LOVED seeing Mickey Mouse there.





I loved this shot, since we will be studying Early American History this year.








Then we headed home for a cookout and homemade ice cream and cupcakes before heading to the City Park before the light show (since fireworks were banned this year) It was such a nice day!

Vacation Part 3

After the park in my last Vacation post, we headed to Hula Hut. Man was it gooood.



And then we headed back to our friends' house and enjoyed and afternoon and evening of playing in the creek.











After dinner, we headed the kiddos off to bed and my friend and I floated the evening away in the creek until dark. We met up with our husbands at the end of our float and saw a snake in the creek to which our husbands JUMPED out quickly leaving us behind....those scaredy cats ;)

Thankful For Freedom

382. This day, and what our country was truly founded on.
383. new niece welcomed to the world!
384. celebration with friends and family
385. RAIN!! 2 nights this week!!
386. a husband's planning for a change. God is stirring for our family.
387. summer evening walks
388. Jaiden going swimming with his friend every Saturday!
389. the coolness morning and evening
390.enjoying coffee on the patio
391. red, white, and blue

Have a blessed Fourth of July my friends!