this moment- together

{this moment} - A Friday ritual. A single photo - no words - capturing a moment from the week. A simple, special, extraordinary moment. Inspired by SouleMama

I did it!!

I really did it!
I started in January and today I finished reading the ENTIRE BIBLE in 90 days!
I used the Reading Schedule I got off of Moms Toolbox.
This has been such a rewarding experience and I have learned so much and answered loads of questions I had.
She is starting up another study of the gospels so I think I will study along as well!

Confessions- What a Day

My mind is racing. Things are not falling into place as I hoped they would. Questions go unanswered....still.
My head is not in the magic of the day but the chores, the "list"of self-imposed items I must check off before I lay my head down.
I stifle back the tears as I recall the moments already this morning I was not my best, speaking harshly, expecting more than I should, and jumping to inaccurate conclusions.
The phone rings, my mother calls. I want to talk, need to talk but my mind tells me, "You have too much to do."
I turn around and peanut butter is being eaten by the butter-knife fulls over the pretense of making sandwiches.
Instead of admiring the silly craftiness of my 4 year old I scold and take away her supplies.
Finally I have prepared my lunch. Sit and eat. Read a little and eagerly await that special time after the meal where I have imposed quiet time.
It's too much to hope for a nap these days, she is getting too big.
I sigh while reading my book and think about the list on the refrigerator, waiting... always waiting.
And then, with immaculate timing the little wiggle worm I have unsuccessfully kept at the dinner table looks at me in all sincerity with crumbs of bread hanging on to the peanut butter in her hair and exclaims,
"Sally the Camel Has Three Humps!"
And with that, she flashes her sweetest smile, washes her hands and puts herself to bed, with only a request for a hug.
How can anything compete with that.

Total Health Tuesday- Speed, I am Speed...

Occasionally the Disney movie Cars makes it to the DVD player.
Whenever that happens I immediately think of a certain Nascar obsessed little boy I once knew.....
Anyways! Today I want to talk about speed. About putting a little more "umph" into the workout.
Since I have been doing my Bible in 90 Days Challenge, I have mainly been walking my miles while reading my daily requirements. This is because I usually get behind on the reading on the weekends when our schedule is a little different and I'm not getting up so early.
Now that I have gotten a little ahead and almost completed the challenge (YAY!) it has freed me up for a little running time.
On Saturday I walked and ran a Budget 5k. When I logged my time and speed into my Lose It! app on my ipod I noticed something.... the calories burned.
For the part I walked (about 20 minutes) was at a speed of 4.5 mph and according to Lose It! I burned about 200 calories.
Now the day before I walked and walked at a reading pace and walked with some speed. For the 40 minutes I walked at 3 mph (to me it seems like a regular walking pace) I burned only 174!
REALLY!?!
I think we would all agree that our time is precious and that we do not want to spend more time on one thing that is needed, so SPEED! I am SPEED!
I have upped my speed on my workouts and try to push myself a little harder, this saves me almost 15 minutes on my workout (I stop at 3 miles).
Do you know what you can do with 15 MINUTES!!
By pushing yourself just a little more you can accomplish so much in a short amount of time.
I plan to incorporate this push at least 3 workouts a week, to really give it my all and see what I can do.
And because I haven't posted a video in a while... enjoy.

"Float Like a Butterfly Sting like a Beamer!" ;)

Menu Monday

As we are trying to eat more within the seasons I have come to recognize those "in between" times where the stores of last years harvest are all but depleted as are the ideas on how to revamp them. Warm soups are comforting but their constant appearance leaves even the most supportive eagerly eyeing the delivery man and secretly wishing he would just make a mistake one time and deliver here instead.
It doesn't help that our little seedlings are sprouting so quickly, teasing us with the ideas of fresh salads, juicy tomatoes, and mouth watering melons....

These were my thoughts while compiling my family's menu this week. As I browse the grocery store and see the prices of produce continue to climb it is VERY tempting to just "buy the box". But I have made a promise to my family to do all I can to keep us healthy. So I again search and search for new (and hopefully loved) or less used recipes to nourish my family for another week.
Here is what I have come up with.

Breakfasts:
Muffins, Pancakes, Oatmeal, French Toast

Lunch: Leftovers, Sandwiches, Salad, Tuna

Dinner:
Ham and Spinach Calzone
Macaroni Minestrone Soup (a la' Jakob)
Quinoa with Balsamic Roasted Mushrooms
Black Bean and Rice Burgers
Split Pea Soup
Broccoli Cheese and Rice Casserole
Indian Lentil Pilaf

Freezer Meals:
I added Butternut Squash Soup to the freezer this week. I have no clue what to add this week, and am sure that will all depend on the veggie deals I find at the store on Friday.

Don't forget to head over to Org Junkie to see what everyone else is eatin'!

Weekly Wrapup- March 21-25

This week was awesome! Not because there were loads of activities, but because I *think* we FINALLY hit upon a rythm to our day that works both for me and the kids. Even Jakob commented, "This week has been a really good week!" YESSSS!
Math: We continued our exploration of numbers and Roman numerals. Jakob has really enjoyed the riddles suggested in the curriculum. He loves jokes and joke books these days, so a riddle really appeals to him.
He is progressing along very well in becoming comfortable with and memorizing his times tables.
He has mastered skip counting by 7s and we clap them out and hop them out to increase concentration. I can't wait to get outside and play hopscotch with the times tables. There was work on identifying shapes and their prefixes which give clues to the meaning of other words.

Music: Jakob has volunteered to perform for his Scouts troop to earn an arrow and a belt loop, so we've been working on some songs so that he has them down pat. This is such a test of patience on both our parts as he learns the music and teaches his fingers how to make the notes.
Writing: Last week I started to formally instruct Jakob on cursive writing. I held off for so long mainly because I was scared. Images of how cursive assignments from school tormented him kept flashing through my mind, but after finding a very simple program on this site, I felt confident that we could overcome this task. The past two weeks have been awesome! He has taken to writing on his small slate and as we learned new letters we have had so much fun coming up with words to write. Handwriting and spelling all at once! Success!

Handwork: Jakob has been working on his knitting diligently and experimenting with knitting with his eyes closed. Silly Boy. We also had a modeling day where we just sat and made different forms out of playdough. He created a jellyfish, a scoropion, a frying pan for the pancake Hazel made, and an alien ship. Fun times by all.

This week a favorite book was "Cockadoodle-moo!" After reading all the mixed up animals we took a few minutes and drew up some mixed up animals of our own. Jakob even designed special "signs" to represent each animal creation. The symbols looked a lot like the forms we had been working on so I was excited to see them in use.

We have instilled a Gardening Day for our weekly rhythm which can range anywhere from planting and weeding to just watering our seeds. This week we planted grass seed for our easter baskets and started our own fairy garden. I'm hoping to get a few little surprises together to live there with the fairies and gnomes.

Friday evening Daddy came home from school and we went to pick him up at the airport. Originally he was supposed to be in really late so I told the kids we were gona dress up in our pjs and pick up Daddy and go out to eat. Jakob was very skeptical and afraid people would laugh. When the flight was changed to much earlier in the day I opted not to dress out but Hazel would have nothing of it and promptly put on her kitty cat pjs. Jakob played it safe by putting his pjs on OVER his clothes... just in case. In the end he said, "Nobody even cares! This is COOL!"

For You Anglea- Budget 5k

My buddy down in Florida scheduled a budget 5k for today. To be honest, I had completely let the date slip my mind until I saw her reminder Friday morning.
My first thought was, "I'm just gonna have to pass, I haven't prepared".
Plus I had already walked/ran everyday this week, so I didn't think I had anymore left in me.
But as they say, "There's no time like the present."
And the kids had wrangled Daddy in front of the TV.....AND we enjoyed ourselves a LITTLE too much
going out to eat last night.
So, here it is. My first timed race of the year......

I didn't have any real goals when I hoped on the treadmill, but then as I started I realized I wanted to finish before 40 minutes. And I did...barely.

I think that's pretty good for not officially "training" for the 5k.
Thanks Ang!

Project Simplify Hotspot #3- The Kids STUFF

This week's hot spot could not have come at a better week. Daddy was gone to school for the week and this project definitely required extra hands.

Specifically kid hands.
Our task was to go through toys and clothes of our kids and evaluate, sort, and clean.
The kids were to help decide what goes and what stays as a little life lesson on "stuff".
We worked hard all week long but finally finished today. It's not perfect but its done and we are all breathing easier with more room in our lives.

So first up Jakob's Room:
Before:




Disastrous. This child is his Momma's Boy holding on to all manner of clutter simply because he just didn't know where to put it and didn't want to offend anyone if he let it go.
The week was filled with "Oh I remember that!"'s and quiet reflections over the people that have passed through his life. There were lots of clothes and a few toys that was sent to the "sell" pile and a whole trash bag full of just...... trash.
And the finished product?



The room still needs a few finishing touches like vacuuming and hanging some art that we found, but other than that, MUCH BETTER!!

Now to Hazel's Room.
Here are some before pics....
I was uncertain how the "teamwork" part of this was actually going to happen. I admit some things I just tucked away without her knowledge but she really helped me with the most of the work. She washed all her dishes and dried them and then we went through and decided what could go and what could stay.
The clothes I did while she and her brother were playing with a friend. I knew she had clothes but MAN!! I just kept the items whose colors are "in season" as I'm sure she won't be the same size in 6 months. Other articles like corduroy pants I let go simply because she wont wear them and it defeats the purpose of me requiring her to dress herself if I insist she wear things she doesn't like.
My favorite part of the week came to sorting the dress up clothes. She tried on everything to make sure it fit and she still like it. Those that didn't went in the box.
And of course you always need someone to play dress up with right?

Here is her closet all nice and clean! I must have forgotten to take pictures of the rest of her room, but trust me it looks AMAZING. Best of all we both know where everything goes and have learned a few lessons on "Stuff".


But wait ! There's more! Here are the previous spaces that we have worked on and I am proud to say they are still clean!




Check out Simple Mom and Project Simplify to see how others have tackled this project!

this moment-dressup

{this moment} - A Friday ritual. A single photo - no words - capturing a moment from the week. A simple, special, extraordinary moment. A moment I want to pause, savor and remember. If you're inspired to do the same, leave a link to your 'moment' in the comments for all to find and see. Inspired by Soulemama

Total Health Tuesday- Be a Balanced Hobbit

Sooo I went to see the Nutritionist last week. Honestly I wasn't expecting much more information than I had already found, but I figured it was worth a shot.
After looking at my food and exercise log she was really impressed with the kinds of food I have been eating and the workouts I have been doing.
We talked about where I thought my weaknesses were and she helped me not to beat myself up for them so much.
For example Fast food: If I'm out I will eat it. I fully expected her to lecture me about being prepared and packing a cooler but instead she gave me a little cheat book with all the restaurants in it and pointed out to me the stuff I COULD have. And not just the yogurt.
There are some things that are actually within calorie range... just not in a meal form. She said if I want a meal I have to have a Happy Meal. I thought that was funny.
She also pointed out to me that although I am eating healthier than the average American, I am not eating a balance of all the food groups. I may hit them by the end of the week but not daily like I should.
She suggested that I eat from 3 food groups at each meal and or accompanying snack.
She even gave me a cute little illustration of the food groups. Awe how nice.

The final area she wanted me to focus on was my balance of calories throughout the day. Not equally though. She wanted me to eat heavy in the morning, lighter for lunch, and very light for dinner.
"Eat like a King for Breakfast, a Prince for Lunch, and a Pauper for dinner."~Unknown

She also asked what my day looked like and decided that there was way too much time from the moment I get up to the time I eat with the kids. "So in all reality you need to eat TWO Breakfasts."
Great. So now I'm a Hobbit.
Shall we have Elevensies and Onesies to?

.....Well she thought it was funny.
So in the end my "homework" for her is to be Balanced Hobbit. Eat all my food groups everyday and have two breakfasts the first one being no later than 30 minutes after my morning workout. I am to keep this up and see her again in a month to track my progress.

Menu Planning Monday.

Since I started posting my menus for the week I have noticed the areas in which I was just not doing what I should. Like snacks. I know my kids (and I) need snacks but I never plan for them which often times leads to poor choices or whining over lack of choice. I'm trying to get better. It's hard with so much else going on to add one more thing to my plate. But, I like this being prepared and somewhat organized momma here lately, so I will work through this until it becomes second nature. And with that here's our week.

Breakfast:
Granola and Yogurt
Pancakes
Oatmeal
Egg-wiches
Cornmeal muffins
(Jakob has found a recipe book he likes at the library so we are in the process of deciding on those recipes for the remaining days)

Lunch:
Leftovers
Sandwiches
Soup and Salad

Dinner:
Hummus and Veggies with Ciabatta (sp?) bread
Black Bean enchiladas
Barley and Mushrooms with white beans
Greek spinach and Feta Pie
Indian Lentil pilaf
Black Beans and Rice Burgers
Ham and veggies

I am still working on freezer meals which will cut down my cooking during the move. My aim is to just work one in a week from now until the move so that I have at least a week's worth ready to go. So far I have
Chickpea Pot Pie
Potato Soup
Pinto Beans for burritos
Black Beans for soup or enchiladas
(we use dry beans so having them cooked an in the freezer still counts as preparation)

Snacks:Fruit, popcorn, veggie sticks, and hopefully granola bars

What are YOU eating this week? And don't forget to head over to Org Junkie to see what everyone else is up to.

Weekly Wrapup-March 14th-18th

Even though the days are definitely getting longer it seems as though time is flying by!
This week began our final Math Block for the year. We will work with Math from now until our stop date which will be the middle of May when we move. (Not to say that moving isn't FULL of lessons, but alas no formal lessons during this time)
Back when I first purchased the Waldorf Curriculum we are using, I was a little confused about "Waldorf Math". Certain concepts are taught on a different time line than a grade school are so there were certain things in each previous grade that we had not covered, and others we were ahead in. During my conference with Melissa (the author of the curriculum) she suggested I start from the beginning in grade one, coupling lessons where they are needed and work our way up. When we had this conference I was already halfway through my first week in Grade 3 Math and wasn't willing to break up the block. But now we are taking her suggestion and going back through the grades and learning and relearning it all.
It sounds a bit redundant but Jakob is really enjoying the way its presented with riddles and stories, and he is still working on his multiplication tables and reviewing other math skills learned throughout the year. I write a few problems each day in his math notebook for him to solve along with his times table practice.
This mainly takes the place of me feeling the need to formally assess him at the end of the year because we are going through it all now.

The rest of the week shaped up nicely as well. We started our seeds. Hopefully they will grow and all of the materials came from the recycling bin. I love it! This week Jakob and I will work with some of the scrap wood in the wood pile to begin piecing together frames for our beds at the new house. So prayers now that no one loses a fingernail or a thumb in the process would be greatly appreciated.

Earlier in the week I saw where someone was using a Root Viewer as a little Science experiment with their kids. It looked pretty simple so I made my own version with some glass jars and eggshells at the bottom to drain the water. Of course you could do this with plastic cups as well but I didn't have any.
We will see if we can find any roots.

Thursday was St. Patrick's Day and we celebrated with a day of eating all things green. Starting with Leprechaun Scones. (The Leprechaun flakes are pieces of spinach).

With the help of Pandora we listened to Celtic Music all day, talked about St. Patrick and Ireland, and read a few stories. After lunch we went to an annual celebration to hear some music and see the dancers. The kids were "river dancing" for the rest of the day.
We were all exhausted!

Jakob also started to knit again this week. He is making a pouch for his penny whistle and is knitting about 2-3 rows a day. We are using a variegated yarn that I already had so that he can easily see the difference in the working yarn and his stitches which can sometimes be difficult when all the colors are the same.

Reading wise he is still reading about 3-5 books a week. The most favorite series right now are Geronimo Stilton, Magic Tree House, Magic School Bus, and anything to do with the Solar System.
That was the week. Hope yours was awesome!

Project Simplify- Hot Spot #2 Paper Clutter

Project Simplify: 5 weeks of Cleaning
Oh this week's Hotspot was hard. I have such difficulty with surface clutter. I've never been one to be able to stick with a system or even find a system that works for our needs.
I'm sure the pictures speak for themselves...

The desk is horrible isn't it? The desk became the cath all since we fixed our wireless internet and the computer is rarely there anymore. Sad part is that's right down where we do most of our homeschooling. Pitiful.
I laborered and stressed over this all week, trying to get a little done here and a little done there, and it just seemed nothing worked and the clutter just continued to multiply.
Until Today.
All week long I have been reading along with my Bible in 90 days program and the readings have been in the New Testament, the Gospels and something kept hitting me each book I read.
Ask, Seek, Knock.
Ask and you will receive, Seek and you will find, knock and the door will be opened...
I hear ya Lord.
Seems what I needed to do was ask for help. Mike saw me huffin' and puffin' around the house mad at myself and mad at the mess so he asked me what was wrong. I told him what I was trying to do and that I just didn't know which way to turn I had been working on this all week and hadn't been able to make any real progress for the stops and starts of handling the kids and all.
So like the awesome hubby he is, he started to help. After putting things where I directed for a while the kids were up from their rest times and he took them outside to play so I could complete my work.
He IS the most awesome man ever!
Because of the lack of interruption I was able to complete my task! YAY!!
Look!! Isn't it beautiful?!

Everything is cleared off and put in its proper place or discarded. The only thing I still need to do is label my folders in my folder box (that I already had and discovered while cleaning!) so that I can continue to keep things nice and neat.
But I am so excited, its done. And all I needed to do all along was ask for a little help.

this moment- meditating during science

{this moment} - A Friday ritual. A single photo - no words - capturing a moment from the week. A simple, special, extraordinary moment. A moment I want to pause, savor and remember. If you're inspired to do the same, leave a link to your 'moment' in the comments for all to find and see. Inspired by Soule Mama

What I have learned our First New England Winter

This season has taught me so much. Many have had a laugh at my expense over my naivety concerning the weather. Now that Spring is well on its way I feel safe that my education of winter is over for the moment. So for prosperity's sake here's a recap of my Winter Weather Lessons.... (I should also note that the day I scheduled this post to go out, a mere 6 days before Spring, it snowed.)


When the guy at Home Depot looks at you and says, "You're just gona pay a lot for heat, get over it." Believe him.

The old rule of waiting to play in the snow until it stops falling goes right out the window when its been snowing for 24 hours

Once people know you are new to New England they wait everyday for you to complain about the snow since you annoyed them 2 days into winter whining about the lack of snow.

Once it snows.... it stays....all winter long.

If you admit to loving all the snow because, "Yes its our first Winter up here." You will be blamed and/or cursed by everyone else that "This is ALL YOUR FAULT!!!"

Do not shake your head at the people driving past your house swerving down the street. There will be at least one day that you are caught unprepared and must join in the madness.

It doesn't matter if its North Carolina where they get snow once every 5 years or Rhode Island where you get snow every 5 days everyone rushes out for Milk and Bread.

You will wear layers inside... some days even mittens

Baking is the new excuse for heating up the kitchen. Note: the freezer can only hold *so* much bread.

You shovel all the driveways and walkways thoroughly..... once. After that it's only the necessities that get the treatment.

Mailmen have no problem looking at your mailbox and the 3 feet of snow in front of it that the snowplow left and telling your kids, "Tell you mom when she shovels the driveway, I'll bring back the mail."

The Snow is beautiful and you love it. Until someone reminds you that when it melts it floods. And you have a basement with windows. Oh boy.

They don't really have any secrets up here about keeping the roads clearer than the South when it snows. They stay nasty. You just get use to it or stay home.

One pair of gloves per person is SO not enough.

Layering in lieu of snowsuits is silly. Buy the flippin snow suit. It will save you no less than 10 loads of laundry a day.

When its cold outside you realize you have critters living in your garage. Because now they want in to get warm.

It stays daylight for about 10 minutes a day. Get outside or suffer the consequences.

Salt... You need it. Or you're not going anywhere on the day you need to most.

Total Health Tuesday- Celebration Time

So, It's been exactly one month since I posted any stats. I finally have an appointment with the Nutritionist tomorrow but I wanted to share here my successes that I have had on my own.

Since Feb 15 I have lost 5 pounds! YAY!!
I have also surpassed the 100 mile mark on my trek to run and walk 500 miles in the year 2011. I'm actually ahead of the curve! Double YAY!!
After some really tough months of not even wanting to look at myself in the mirror, my face is FINALLY starting to clear up!

I really think the medicine is helping, but is definitely not a cure all. I also learned this past week that I cannot just depend on the meds to handle everything and that I have to remain diligent in my healthy eating habits. I ate horribly Tuesday and paid for it the next two days. While I am learning that I can indulge a little and not berate myself too bad, being conscious of not having a total blowout DAY is very important.

So for all my successes I am rewarding myself with a new pair of running shoes! Seriously though after going from sometimes 10 miles a week to more like 15 miles a week my shoes and my feet are worn out. Momma needs some cushion for her feet. I will also get a "free' day tomorrow as Mike has taken the day off for my appt. and told me to "go and have a day to yourself". Have I mentioned lately how much I love this man?

Have you had any successes lately? How are you rewarding yourself?

Menu Planning Monday- The week of St. Paddy's

There's a Holiday this week so of course I feel compelled to cook especially for it. I will get to the rest of the week's menu in a Moment, but first here is what I have planned for Thursday:
Breakfast: Green Scones- The green will come from a little blended spinach and they will be filled with jam.
Am Snack- Celery Sticks with P-nut Butter
Lunch- Broccoli Casserole
PM Snack- Food from local St. Paddy Fair
Dinner- Corned Beef and Cabbage
Yay! So yummy and so good for you.. well I'm sure we won't choose too terribly at the Fair and the Corned Beef does have a lot of Salt, but I am really excited to celebrate all things green!

Now for the rest of the week-
Breakfast-
Oatmeal, pancakes, Zucchini Muffins, Eggs, English Muffins and Jam, Bagels with Cream Cheese
Lunch- Sandwiches, Tomato Soup, Leftovers, Spinach Pizza
Dinner- Sweet Potato Risotto, French Toast (By request), Stuffed Bell Peppers, Moroccan Tangine (sans chicken), Mushroom Stroganoff, Black Bean Enchiladas.

I am trying to find some easy and healthy doubling recipes so that I can stock my freezer and eat from that during out moving out period. Anyone have any suggestions?
For other ideas on what to feed your family this week visit Org Junkie for her Monday Menu link up!

Weekly Wrapup- March 7-11

So much has happened this week its hard to believe that it all happened in one week! Its all been good though and I feel like we are continuing to move forward in the right direction with so many aspects of our life. I could write for DAYS on the revelations and "ah-ha" moments we have all had but no one has that much time. So here's the week in a nutshell.

Monday- Daddy unexpectedly had the day off, but we REALLY need to keep on schedule as we are approaching the end of the year so we opted for a light schedule. We did a little form drawing review by drawing the forms in flour. The kids first did this with their finger and then with a Popsicle stick. This week was our last week on Native Americans so there was a little review there and an intro to the Seminole Nation. We found their location on Jakob's globe and talked about the differences in the living conditions of the Natives we had been studying and the Seminoles. There was also a little basket weaving...very tough project. We BOTH had to work on it.

After that we packed up the kids and took a ride for the afternoon to look at houses, since we are planning to move after our lease is up into something that is a bit more accommodating to our needs. Thankfully we found one that will seem to work for us!

Tuesday- The worms came! Big excitement in the house. There were lessons and stories as usual. Tuesday was also Fat Tuesday or Shrove Tuesday. Since St. Patrick's Day is next week we focused our attentions on Ireland and looked at how they celebrate this holiday. We learned that their day was mainly celebrated by mass consumption of pancakes, but that their pancakes were more like crepes than the pancakes we usually think of. It was also said that a maid could prove herself to be a good wife by how well she could flip the pancakes. So we tried it. Only one hit the floor, but I'm glad Mike didn't base his decision to marry me on my pancake flipping abilities. :)
Jakob did the best out of all of us.
Look at my handsome hubby flip them pancakes ;)

As a spur of the moment activity a friend of mine posted on Facebook that this was also Doughnut Day. So, why not? We made doughnuts. I mean it is FAT Tuesday right?

Wednesday- Business as usual. Stories, music lessons, reading activities and the like. That afternoon we took advantage of the weather and played outside for a bit. Jakob and I also started talking about the celebration on Lent and what it means. I am not doing any formal lessons on Lent this year but we did talk about things that we really wanted to work on specifically for the next 40 days. He decided he wanted to concentrate more on his work so that he could get it done in a more timely manner and go outside and play as the weather warms up. I love this kid.

Thursday- This is SUPPOSED to be our free day. I am constantly amazed at how much *work* and learning is accomplished on our free day. Jakob woke up with the idea that he wanted to make a paper hot air balloon and send it to a grandparent. He spent most of the day and many attempts trying to make it work. In the end we ran out of matches, but he successfully learned how to fold a paper balloon origami style by memory. He has taken great pride in making them for everyone in the house.
The first attempt...Conclusion: The toilet paper tube is too heavy


The second attempt: Enter Origami
Conclusion: Too close to the flame OOPPS!
Third Attempt: The plastic Bag
Conclusion: This expanded the most but still never flew.
"At least it makes a pretty lantern right Mom?"


Friday- This was one of my biggest "ah-ha" days. We do get a lot done in the week and for that I am grateful, but sometimes it feels as though I am constantly pulling both of the kids to the next part of our day. One of the members of the yahoo homeschooling group I am a member of posted about how much better her day with her kiddos when she wrote the the day's activities down for them. Not too elaborate, just a basic breakdown of the day. So I took a small dry erase board and wrote down what they were to expect of our day. Jakob seemed to REALLY enjoy this and worked very diligently on each aspect of the day. We were able to get to so much more and even had a little extra time. I have Monday's board ready to go and once we nail down this routine I will try my hand a writing the week's basic routine down so I don't have to write it everyday. I am enjoying this as well as it keeps me on track so that I don't get too lost in one activity or another and lose sight of the day.

What we didn't do this week- We did not do our normal before breakfast activity. Hazel has been hit or miss on the whole getting dressed easily deal so Jakob basically just finished his morning chores while I stood over her to dress.
We did not do any yoga this week. We his upon our first dud of a yoga video and the kids just did not like it, so there was lots of freeplay in the mornings.
We did not color with our block crayons or paint, and it was sorely missed. I am hoping to get back to those this week.

So that's us, how was your week?