Workin' At the Car Wash

Today was a beautiful day for a car wash.  We are still fundraising for Camie's trip to Australia, and this was a really fun way to do it.

Even Boo helped out.  They all did a great job and we raised over $100.  We plan to do this one more time before the trip.

Spring Break

The weather outside feels more like summer vacation, but we are indeed on spring break.  Ironically it has been much busier than our "school" schedule.  The girls had play practice from 9-12 today.  The King was working on a project at the church, so Buster and I went to my Mom's to visit for the morning.  Tomorrow I am going to visit a friend in a neighboring city and the rest of the week doens't really slow down.  I am loving these longer days, I just wish they came with longer nights!

A Room Makeover for Buster

For his birthday Buster got a room makeover. We weren't quite sure when we were going to move him from the crib into his new bed, but today we bit the bullet. Much to our surprise he fell right to sleep. I think he has yet to realize that he can actually get up. The room is child proofed, so no real worries, I just don't want him to cry.

After we got done decorating, he danced around and played. He climbed on the bed and snuggled in all smiles. I think he likes it. Little by little, we are purging all of the "baby" from our house.

Good Days

We have had so many good days lately. Definitely more good than bad. Today was so beautiful outside. There is just something about nice, sunny, warm days after a long winter. I know there are so many places that have warm weather much more often than we do, but I really think we appreciate it more. Spring in Colorado is amazing. Watching the barren trees and landscape bloom right before your eyes is pretty awesome!

Unfortunately I spent the day inside cleaning. That's okay though, I love a clean house. While I was scrubbing away inside the King sprayed the house down and worked on the yard. The kids ran in the water and had a great time. I was glad they were busy so I could work uninterrupted. Then tonight we went to a spaghetti dinner fundraiser for my little sister who is going to Australia this summer. Chiggie worked as a waitress and had an absolute blast. Afterwards we took the kids for ice cream. It was a great day.

Two More Days

We only have two more days of school left this week and then we will be officially on spring break! We're all excited and I'm hoping the break will give me a chance to catch up on some house stuff. I've already gone through all of our many tubs of clothing and found the spring and summer stuff, I just need to put away all of the winter stuff. It's tedious and I'm dreading it. I'm thankful for all of the clothes the kids do have though.

We don't really have any big spring break plans. The girls have a couple of musical practices, but that's about it. I am hopeful that we will have nice weather and be able to grill out. Our yard is such a nice place to play and that seems to entertain them. After our break we will have 9 weeks until summer vacation. It has gone very fast!

Brrrrr

Compared to last week, this week has been freezing. The kids have still been playing out, but it's been too cold for me to enjoy being out there much at all.

The older girls started playing a new math computer game today. It will help them with their math facts. It really helps with speed. I was really surprised at how much they liked it. In the end I had to force them to take turns.

My birthday present came a little early! I was so excited to finally have a nice place to sit and have a cold drink while the kids play. This table won't seat all of us, but the kids will sit at the picnic table if we have company. Now we just need some warm weather so I can enjoy being out there!

Monday Again

The weeks just keep coming faster and faster. We slept in a little this morning which was very nice. I was the first one up and the eggs were almost ready by the time everyone else started coming out. The morning went by quickly with chores and getting ready for the day. Then school began. Tea took a math test today and got %100. She tends to complain the most about math, but she is very gifted in this area. I think the pages just look long to her and she wants to be done.


I started a new series with Boo today. We will be covering all of the letters of the alphabet, both capital and lowercase, and their sounds. This is just a basic overview to get her prepared for her next year's curriculum. She is very excited to be doing her own thing and she is definitely ready to move forward. At first I had some concerns that the new curriculum I plan to use next might be too intense, but the more I look at it the more I like it. It is very thorough. If there is ever too much seat work on any given day I can always tweak that. We already use the same series for math and have loved it. It is advanced and fast paced but it keeps them from getting bored and I feel it covers more too.

We are taking advantage of a free Netflix trial and the girls are watching a movie this afternoon. It is way too cold to play outside. Not to mention all the branches that need to be cleaned up from last night's storm. Tonight they have play practice so I'm sure they won't be too bored!

Finishing Strong

I am pleased to report that I did not let my laziness get the best of me today! After resting a good bit of the afternoon, I got busy this evening. I was able to get 4 loads of laundry washed and put away, made a nice dinner, and cleaned up the house afterwards. It's a good feeling tonight. Chiggie even helped out by sweeping the back patio while roller blading.

The kids played outside even though it really wasn't that warm at all. Buster found a pack a gum on the counter and put several pieces in his mouth. He was pretty proud!

Boo loves to ride Midge's scooter. She will play out back even when she is alone. She is pretty good at entertaining herself.

Lazy Days

Today has felt very lazy. We got up early and went to church, but that's about it for me. The King went and helped a neighbor install a bathroom fan while the kids and I just lounged around. I have been really tired lately. I think it's a combination of not getting enough sleep, allergies, and a super busy weekday schedule. I look forward to the weekends so much but once they get here I'm too tired to do much at all. I also find the house chores usually pile up and the weekends are really the only time we have to do them. Hopefully I will find a better balance this week. I want to try and get to bed sooner, but I do so enjoy my late evenings so we'll see.

St.Patrick's Day

No pinches for these guys!

Exciting!

A couple of days ago I got an e-mail about a multi-family used book sale. At the time I wasn't sure if we would have time or even what we would be looking for if we went. The night before I just happened to remember and decided to go the next morning. I am so very glad that I did! I was shocked at the great deals I found. All of the books pictured above were $1 a piece. The are all in mint condition. I was also able to find a K phonics curriculum for Boo that retails at $150 for $5. It has NEVER been opened. The girls love the new books and have been flipping through them since we brought them home. It makes me even more excited for next year!

Happy 2nd Birthday Buster!

I can't believe my sweet baby boy turned 2 years old today! We had such a wonderful day and I am so very thankful for that. We took the day off from school and celebrated most of the day. For lunch Buster chose McDonald's.

Tonight we had family over for dinner and enjoyed homemade pizza, cake, ice cream, and some presents. Buster was very happy with all of his gifts.

He loves his new Mater power wheel. He caught on very quickly. He was chasing the girls after just a few minutes behind the wheel.

He even blew out his own candles. The cars on the cake are just hot wheels for him to play with on his new car rug.

All the crazy kids hopped up on sugar and caffeine. They had such a great time!

Another Belt Test

Boo enjoys karate very much. She gets so excited for belt testing. She practices quite a bit at home. I'm surprised she hasn't gotten tired of it, but she hasn't.

Midge take it very seriously as well. She has really improved in the last year. She is a lot more flexible and her kicks are getting higher and higher.

Congratulations Midge and Boo. They are now Red and Green belts!

Bedtime

Bedtime around here gets pretty interesting. Buster is the only one who sleeps solo and he's usually trying to convince us to let him bunk with the little girls.

"See Mom, I'll just lay here really quiet and won't bother anyone." Right Buster, right.

It's been even more interesting with all of the teeth little Midge has been losing. It seems she's keeping the Tooth Fairy quite busy these days. Poor Boo is really anxious to start losing teeth too. She wants the money so she can save up too.

In the Clouds

When we first started homeschooling science was a subject I was not quite sure about. We went with Apologia. I really can't say why. It didn't look the most exciting and I really hadn't heard all that much about it. It just "felt" right. I have not been disappointed. While I had worried that we might get bored studying one science topic all year long, we haven't at all. In fact I think the further we did into Astronomy the more inquisitive the girls have gotten.

Today we made a cloud. Using a glass jar of hot water, a match, and a bag of ice we recreated the process as it takes place on the gas giant planets. It was neat to watch and even I have a better understanding of how the atmospheres on these planets work. I know I have learned more this year than I ever did even in high school. Next year we will be doing anatomy. I am so glad this program "found' me!

The Worm

The nice weather has made our days so much more bearable around here. The kids spend much of their free time between subjects outside. Today Buster saw a big, fat, worm crawling around in the grass.

At first I don't think he knew exactly what it was. I don't think he remembers using them last summer for bait while fishing. He just watched it excitedly without even messing with it.

Once he got comfortable with it he recruited Tea to help him pick it up. Lucky for him she didnt' mind at all. I'm not much of a worm person.

Here he is showing it off. I can't imagine all of the little "treasures" he will find this summer!

Monday

Mondays are usually very busy school days around here. Today was no different. In fact we were able to get even more done when the King took Boo and Buster over to my Mom's house to help cut up some wood. We were able to get everything except for history and math facts done before they even got back. Midge is really coming along in math. She can work almost entirely independently on her worksheets and is moving away from the number line.

Chiggie is finishing up an essay on her room. Her writing has evolved so much this year. It's fun to go back and read pieces from the beginning of the year and compare them to now.The mechanics of it all aren't always her favorite but she does like to write.

Another thing I noticed today is how well Midge is writing her name. I should go back and find something from a few months ago to show the difference!

Tea took a second to show off her glow stick earrings in between her math and language arts. She is such a goofball!

All Done

Today after church the King finished up the picnic table project. It looks so nice with a clean coat of paint. The umbrella will keep the kids shaded and the lights will be nice on summer evenings. While he was busy working away, I went a did a little birthday shopping for Buster. I cannot believe he will be 2 years old this Friday! I think he will LOVE his presents. We had a really good weekend and got more accomplished than we had even planned. The weather forecast this week is great so we should be able to get even more pre-spring yard work done!

Projects

For many, many reasons it has been wonderful to have the King home. Just one of those many reasons is all of the projects that have gotten done. Today was the picnic table. It was in rough shape. We've had it for years and never sanded or re-painted it. Today he did both. He also drilled a hole and put in an umbrella. It will make a wonderful place for the kids lunches this summer!

Full Speed Ahead

I realized that while I decided to discontinue my week in review posts, I neglected to ever post anything saying that. The truth is, it was just too much. I record what we're doing and how we're doing it in too many other places. Trying to remember to do it once a week on here was just overwhelming. I'm sure I will still post pictures and updates, just not on a specific schedule.

That being said things are still going great. We have 2 weeks left and then we will be moving on to our 4th quarter! We haven't lost steam at all in fact we might have even gained some this week. We are nearly finished with our bible curriculum, Tea is halfway through her 2nd grade math book, and we will finish Science early as well. Instead of starting a new science unit (we did astronomy this year and will do anatomy next) we will studying life cycles. We will be watching frogs grow from tadpoles! This should be a fun spring activity. With everything else, we are right on schedule. History will be pushing it though. It's just so hard to turn down great books. We have read more than 30 novels just this year. The girls LOVE this time of the day. We are reading Amos Fortune Free Man right now and I think we will all be sorry when it's over.

Chiggie has read the entire Series of Unfortunate Events, all 13 books, and she started them around the holidays. Speaking of reading Midge has made the jump to the bridge books. It has been such a joy to watch her grow in the department. She likes being able to check out books a the library, bring them home, and read them herself. Chiggie's technical writing has grown exponentially over the course of the first 3 quarters and I expect she'll grow a lot more before summer. I am so glad I chose to do a specific writing curriculum as an add on this year. It has been well worth the money.

Speaking of curriculum, I have already chosen and ordered ours for next year. It's such a good feeling. We stayed with everything we used this year. In addition we will be doing an art curriculum and extra spelling curriculum next year. It should be crazy with all 4 kids, but the good kind of crazy.

Camera Shy

"Come on Buster, just one shot. Say cheese."
"Hold still, I want to get you in your new pajamas!"

Busted! Got this one by pretending to put the camera away. Little stinker!

Spring!

I don't think I have ever been this happy to have itchy, watery eyes. Spring is officially on its way. Yes, it's supposed to snow this week, but it will be short lived. We have had temps in the upper 60's low 70's for days now. During school the little kids are able to just play on the patio, ride their bikes, and jump on the trampoline. They are all sleeping much better at night with an outlet to burn off the energy!

This has been a very busy season for us, but hey what's new? All 4 girls are doing the musical "Charlotte's Web." Chiggie and Tea both have speaking parts and the little girls will be singing in the chorus. They have rehearsals several times a week and the performances are scheduled for late April. They also still go to youth group Wednesday nights and karate on Tuesdays and Thursdays. For the last six weeks we have also been attending a small "life group" on Friday nights. It's busy, but fun, and everyone seems to be doing very well.

We have also been spending a great deal of time on the house. With the King finally home, my ideas are taking true shape. It's really coming along. The goal would be to have the inside done by the time summer is here. I know we will be spending most of our time by then outside and I don't want to have left-over inside projects. We've also spruced up the back patio to make a nice play area for the kids and I might *wink *wink, be getting a new patio set for my birthday this year. I can't wait to be sipping ice tea at dusk while the kids run around the yard! I love summer and it's just getting closer.