Day two - figuring out how to make the world flat, and who God loves...

We had another fantastic day at school today. In geography, we're learning about the globe, maps and continents. We talked about how a flat map is different than a globe .  After, we drew the continents on an orange, then peeled it and laid it out flat.   It looked like this when we were done:

Later, we talked about how God loves the whole world, and read John 3:16.  We made collages to illustrate the verse:

You know, it's funny.  My first two kids have been so "by the book" when it comes to learning.  One excels in all areas, one struggles a bit, but both learn at pretty steady paces.  They learn things in order, and do just as they are told.  Two plus two is four, sentences end in periods, and zebras are black and white. Then there is my baby.  Now a first grader, and totally into thinking outside the box.  I love that about him.  This kid is gonna change the world...and being his teacher is going to be a blast.  Do you have a child that marches to the beat of their own drummer?  If so, I say embrace it.  Who says a squirrel needs to be gray?

Happy Homeschooling,

Stacy

Back to School!

We started school today - Bridgette is in fourth grade:

Alex is in third grade:

And Jacob is in first grade:

Aren't they an adorable trio?

They love eachother, too...what more could a parent want then that?

Okay, on to business.  This year, I am going to attempt (*ahem, notice the use of the word attempt here - it might not actually happen*) to have a theme for each week or month. Mostly, the themes will revolve around holidays or seasons. The first theme for us is going to be "apples".  Today we made an apple tree for our craft project, after talking about where apples come from, and how they are part of our ecosystem - which is what we're learning about this year in science.  Here are the steps:

1. Crumple up a lunch bag (or brown paper) that you have already drawn a tree shape on.

2. Flatten the paper, and then crumple it again - this will give the tree a "bark" look to it.

3. Flatten out the paper, and cut out the tree shape.

4. Glue the tree shape to another piece of paper.

5.  Cut out a big bushy green top - I had pretraced it for my kids, so they just had to cut it out.

6.  Write the words "apple tree" at the top.

7. Finger Paint red dots to be apples all over the tree.

The end results look like this:

Pretty cute!  I hope your first days back are fantastic, and that your kiddos have many stories to tell daddy when he gets home.

Happy Homeschooling!

Stacy

Life

Life has been busy.  We've had some of this:

Then there was some time with this precious guy in the green shorts:

With whom we did stuff like this:

and this:

and this:

and a bit of this:

Then we celbrated Steve's birthday by going here:

And eating this:

The rest of the month was

 a whole lotta this:

and a whole bunch of running around like crazy people.

We've had an awesome ending to our summer, and life is ready to start again with school on Monday morning. I'll be back to posting Bee's hair 'dos and the stuff we do in school each week.  I hope you are all having as much fun this summer as we are!

Love,

Stacy

Just for Fun

Bee and I are auditioning for Oliver in a few weeks at a local theater.  We were playing around with some ideas for our audition songs, and I was taking video of her - because what mother doesn't love listening to her baby sing a song over and over?   This is the song I picked for her. There are still a few sour notes, but it's a work in progress:



This is the song she'd like to sing (well, a small portion of it, she doesn't really have the words down at all, she just loves it).  She doesn't understand what the song is about, and why it isn't appropriate for a nine-year-old:



Then the stinker turned the tables on me.  We were singing together via "youtube karaoke" and I was trying out some songs.  She giggled through this one, and said I just "had" to do it.  She grabbed the camera and said it was only fair to video me, seeing as I video her so often.  This is for you, my dear girl:



I'll post you all on tryouts and how that goes. I just love that my little girl loves theater like I did at her age (and still do now!).  Praying we both get it - what an awesome experience to have together!
Have a great day, and hug your babies!
Stacy

p.s. I did a cool 'do today  on bee - it's been a while.  I'll post it tomorrow.

Weigh-in Wednesday...on Friday

Life has been busy, and children hoarding the computer because it's been hot and rainy...  I finally have a moment this morning to write.
This week I lost another 1.6lbs, for a total loss of 54.8lbs.

This week at Tops, we talked about our attitudes reguarding out weight loss (or lack there of in some cases) and how it all boils down to our internal dialouge.  How often do we convince ourselves that because of a bad day, or naughty children, or frustrating life circumstances that we might as well consume whatever we feel like?  How often do we decide that we aren't really worth the effort?  We say things to ourselves like "I might as well give up", or "tomorrow, I'll start again tomorrow", or "this is too hard, and chocolate tastes too good", or "I hate how some women can never gain an ounce, it's unfair!".

This week, try to think of a few catch phrases that you can tell yourself again and again with that quiet voice inside your head.  When I first started dieting, mine was, "I don't know if I can do this forever, but I know I can do it today".  Then I switched to, "It's just food, and you are in charge of it, not the other way around".   Others that I say include:

Nothing tastes as good as being thin feels.
You are worth the effort you are putting in.
You deserve to be as good at this (dieting and losing weight) as you are at everything you do for your family.
One day, you won't be fat.  I say that one a lot lately, but the ending is always different.  One day, you will run three miles without stopping to walk.  One day, you will compete in a 5K and place. One day, you will hand in your Lane Bryant card and tell the cashier that you'll no longer be shopping in their store (looking forward to that one).

It might sound a little weird to talk to yourself like that, but it really does work.  Each time you start to think something negative thoughts about giving up, hating your body, or thinking it's just too tough, start to think a positive thought.   Then another. Then another.  Pretty soon, the positive with outweigh the negative.

Think positive this week.  You can do it!!
Stacy

Triple braid

When your girlie has shorter hair, you can look up "toddler styles" on other moms' hair blogs - or you can look up "down do" or "half up half down".  Usually 'dos with these labels can be adapted for shorter hair...just a tiny tip.  :)
I found this style here: http://cute2tryhairdos.blogspot.com/2010/01/down-do.html  Granted, this little girl has much longer hair than Bridgette, but with simply taking out the last step, the hair style still works, and if I do say so myself, looked adorable!

And here it is, in action, just before (then just after) an outdoor performance promoting an upcoming theatrical perfomance Bee is going to be part of in a few weeks.

Enjoy!

Stacy