SKILLS--Candle making

     In an attempt at being thrifty this year I decided to make some Christmas presents. One of these ventures involved making candles. It was seriously much easier than I expected. Melt some wax.....

     Stir in some heavenly aromas, yada, yada, yada, YOU HAVE HOMEMADE CANDLES!

     Only two problems with this scenario.

     Problem one: My pregnant stomach was disgusted by all of the festive fragrances flying around for days afterwards. I still can't stand the smell of any of the four kinds I made.

     Problem two: The second problem was not discovered until the next day when we had to CALL THE LANDLORD because our sink was clogged. After a lot of trips in and out and banging around he discovered a "bar of soap" stuck in the pipe. Yes, a bar of soap. Definitely not a wad of wax from some idiot making these candles you see everywhere.

    

SKILLS--Looking Old

This was my Halloween costume for a fall festival this year. My husband did not enjoy it.

 

Christmas 2012

     Uhhhhhhhh.....forgot I had a blog I guess? I've been so busy! Homeschooling, babysitting, and my own classes have sucked up every spare moment of time that I'm not cooking, cleaning, or collapsing from exhaustion. That's right--I've got a fourteen week old fetus who's only mission in life at this point is to make me fall asleep when I sit down.

     Anyways. Christmas!

     Christmas Eve Eve was spent driving around looking at Christmas lights and drinking hot chocolate. We saw some amazing houses!! My favorite featured just about every Christmas character from classic holiday movies--it was nuts! Here's part of it:

Only had to go through seventy blurry photos to find that one....

     Then my husband prepared an amazing dinner on Christmas Eve after which we read stories by the fire and watched a movie. Everyone also got to open one present. I mistakenly opened socks and the girls opened matching pajamas. They had only asked to get my husband one thing: footie pajamas. After searching everywhere (even online) and not finding anything satisfactory, I'd told them we'd have to wait to get them for his birthday. Then, on a last second Target trip, we spotted some!! He wore them most of the evening and peeled them off after the girls went to bed.

     I'm not sure if it was my compressed bladder protesting or my excitement for the kids reactions but I woke up at 4am, 5:30am, and finally at 6am and then patiently waited for the kids to wake up. They chose Christmas morning to sleep in until 7:00.

     Aubree only asked for one thing this year: a Barbie that looked like a queen. Santa delivered.

    
     Raulee only asked for "a snow globe that played a song" and recieved one from her grandparents. After all of the presents were opened we discovered a note in the tree:

Weird.

 

So we all ran outside and you'll never guess what was on the roof!

Well played, Santa.

 

Pure joy:

     The rest of our Christmas was spent just like any other:  crashing bikes into the house, beating eachother up with the girls' new boxing gloves, and eating way, way too many meatballs. (Or maybe that was just me.)

Kindergarten Today--Living Things Journal

      Today started per usual with Calendar Time and review. Before we really got going I gave Aubree a little "spelling pre-test" and she spelled "the, "a," and "of" correctly--it's important to me to monitor what they're actually absorbing to determine a pace.
      We played a game for math that they LOVED which consisted of me holding up a number (we're doing one to ten recognition) and them doing that number of an activity. I started with things like jumping jacks and somersaults and progressed to touching your nose, touching your partner's nose, etc. It dissolved into giggles pretty quickly after that.
      Eventually, we got to science and I got to introduce something I've been excited about since I thought of it: Living Things Journals.

      In my overactive imagination, I pictured these being a fun and interesting way to include art, hand writing, and animal and plant classification in science and it turns out--it worked perfectly!! I got these little composition books at Walmart for a dollar apiece. They're hard-backed because I plan on them encountering quite a bit of wear and tear. Being in and around the Arizona terrain on almost a weekly basis gives us oppurtunities see all kinds of wildlife so I'd like the girls to document what we come across. Since we are still talking about pets, I asked them to draw a picture of our dog.

Raulee's:



      Then, without even explaining the concept of the Living Things Journals, Aubree asked to go outside and look for more animals to draw! It's like this kid can read my mind... She rushed outside and found a few birds and a butterfly and began comparing and contrasting them. It seriously could not have gone more perfectly.

      If you can't tell-I'm nerdily excited about these... I am also impressed, on a daily basis, how much more my girls WANT to learn. This is something I read about, but I thought it was too good to be true. I am allowing them to dictate a little more in our activities if they are interested in doing so. So far, I'm having a very good experience and couldn't be happier.

Kindergarten Today

      We started today after I laid the little man I babysit down. (He's about four months old and gets a solid nap in the morning and afternoon.)  We've been beginning with Calendar Time which consists of adding the new day, counting all of the days previously put on the calendar, and checking the weather. Then we review our sight words of the week. This week is "the," "a," and "of." Last week I got the book "Th" at the library which shows an array of "th" words (including "the") in sentences on each page so I read it and allowed Aubree to read each instance of "the."

      In math we're learning to identify the numerals one through ten and the actual words one through ten, so we started by writing our numbers (again) on our dry erase boards.

      Last week, I taught them how to play "War" with dominoes. The only dominoes I have are cardboard, so we switched to the actual game of War with playing cards and they loved it. Today we played again after they finished their numbers.

      Science this week is about pets. I began talking about our dog, but they were interested in hearing about other kinds of pets. When fish was mentioned, Aubree expressed that she'd like to cut a fish open to look inside. I found this link after a search on google:
http://library.thinkquest.org/05aug/00548/DissectionGame.html
which takes you to a great interactive dissection of a salmon. You first identify it's fins and jaw, then slice open the bottom with a scapel. Once inside you remove each organ, scoop out eggs, and even blow up the swim bladder to later remove. I think it was simple yet very interesting.

      At this time, the baby woke up so I quickly drew pictures of the fish for the kids to color. I drew a whole salmon with eyes, fins, etc for Raulee and then drew the dissected fish with labels for Aubree to color. She requested that I use dotted lines to outline each organ. While she colored I explained what each organ did and what role the organ played in human bodies (if applicable.) That wrapped up our morning session.

      After I pick up their friend from half-day preschool we eat lunch and lay down for an hour. Today I let them all go outside when they got up. Their friend does a new letter each week so I've been able to focus on that during the week with my girls, too. I prepared a "Butterfly with Buttons " snack (because the letter this week is "B") while they were playing. It really looked super lame but they liked it enough to eat it. I used graham crackers for wings, a piece of apple for the bodies and antenna, and stuck raisins on with a dab of frosting for eyes, buttons, and to decorate the end of each wing. After they ate they each did their "B" alphabet page where they trace the letter and circle all of the right letters in a line. When they finished we made butterflies with a piece of cardstock and two pipe cleaners each. I cut out three little butterfly bodies while they were snacking and taped on the wings of one while the others colored. Very simple.

      While they were finishing up coloring, I read them our Bible story for today which was Genesis 1:1-25. It covers creation up to the sixth day. Convenient for me because last week their friend chose a movie called "The Reef" and today we have time to watch it. When I finished reading, I reviewed which days what was created and segueyed into the fish movie--ha. Everything can be tied together if you're determined enough...!

        As you can see, Raulee generally tags along in our activites at her level.

"Mom! How do you spell 'puke?' I already got the 'P!'" Encouraging Reading

      While sitting on my couch the other day I got this question shouted from the other room: "Mom! How do you spell 'puke?' I already got the 'P!'" While some may have pondered the query I didn't even flinch. Both of my children (ages 3 and 4) have begun hurling words at me from all corners of the house. Both of my children spend a great deal of time writing nonsense babble and delight in my jarbled attempts at "reading" their creations. Both of my children love books.
      I think, in part, I am blessed with curious, intellegent little children, but I have strategically done a few things to ensure that they view books (and learning from them) as a fun AND necessary part of everyday life.

1. MAKE SURE THEY CAN'T GET AWAY FROM THEM.

      Make sure they can't get away from books. In my perfect world there would be cute little bookshelves lining every room of my house with enticing stories carefully placed on book stands so that the attention of every little passing person would be captured instantly by vibrant pictures on every cover. I seriously think I would be okay with this scenario, but since this is not the definition of my husband's perfect world we have come up with some compromises. Even if you do not own a single bookshelf you can find places to keep books accessible to your young children. An easy one for me is on the ledge of the bay window in our "office."

      We do have a bookshelf in their playroom, but I have serious issues with only being able to see the spine of the books. (They can't see by the tiny words on the spine--that they can't yet read--whether they'd be interested in picking it up or not.) Any sort of shelf or ledge where you can perch even one book is beneficial. In order to trick your children into picking up books, however, a little more creativity goes a long way. You can line books up against a wall on the floor, next to their bed, and yes, even in the restroom. Little people go "number two" just like the rest of us. Generally when we are going anywhere in the car I'll also allow them to pick a book to take. The more you expose them to books the more success you will have in perking their interest.

2. MAKE THEM "READ" BEFORE THEY CAN READ.

     What is the point of looking at all of these books when you can't read them? Aside from the obvious (allowing them to create stories uses their imagination and increases sequencing skills) it simply makes them WANT to learn how to read. I read books to Raulee. Raulee 'reads' books to me. Aubree 'reads' books to Raulee. Everybody reads or 'reads' to everyone else. While I am reading with Aubree I will pick one word that occurs several times and allow her to read that word every time it comes up. At this point she knows about twenty words by sight and I make sure she is allowed to read those if they arise. When we see common signs (Stop, etc.) I ask them to read them. While reading recipes or other pertinent information I ask them to 'read' the ingredients. They spell the words to me and I sound them out with them. Another tactic we've used recently is allowing them time to 'read' after I read them their bedtime story. We give them fifteen minutes at the end of the night to 'read' whatever they wish. Both girls sit on their beds and tell stories that correspond to whatever pictures they're seeing.

3. MAKE THEM UNDERSTAND THAT BOOKS ARE USEFUL.

      Being exposed to a variety of books is crucial, in my opinion, to creating a love of learning. Allow your children to watch you utilize books. Do you use a recipe book in the kitchen? Do you enjoy fictional novels that help you relax? Do you or your significant other subscribe to a magazine that you actually find useful? The internet has all but killed the necessity for actual paper books these days, but I encourage you to find and use books while your children watch in order to show them that books are important to you.
      Books are useful in other ways for young children. I have found countless books at the library that I know will make my children think about themselves and their surroundings. We have read many books on manners, soccer, fathers, relationships with siblings and parents, and where we live or have lived. Giving them stories or factual books that they can relate to really opens their eyes as to what they can gain from a book. It opens up the oppurtunities to have serious talks about issues they may be facing. Silly stories that make no sense are also great, but I like to get at least three or four books a week that they can apply to their own lives.

4. PRAISE ANYTHING THEY WRITE. EVEN IF IT'S "FPVX2R."

      As previously mentioned, my kids love to write random letters together and have me read them. They have begun to understand that what they are writing has an actual meaning. Aside from these writing exercises (which they obviously don't see as work) I encourage them to write what they are drawing. I patiently spell any word they want whenever they want me to. Even if it's 'puke' on a picture of a monster puking. At their age, sitting down at a table and writing A, a, B, b on dotted lines is not valuable in my opinion. Raulee still writes the same twelve letters over and over. And I let her. She's learning. She's progressing at her own pace.


      Aside from these things we do other games like naming something that starts with each letter of the alphabet or they name which letter I draw. etc. And I allow them to read anywhere they feel like reading even if it's the kitchen floor.

      There is no perfect formula for teaching your child to read, but enthusiam about books and encouragement no matter how fast they're progressing can spark a child's interest and open the door to a world of books.

Chore Chart

      I broke down and created a chore chart today. Next week my schedule will kick into hyper-drive and I'm feeling the pressure now to get everything planned and "perfect" before it begins. Of course, I don't plan to actually achieve perfection, but a little organization does wonders for my motivation. The tasks on this chart reflect what my children have already been doing for months, but I hoped to allow a little more room for responsibility and personal growth and a little less of me nagging them to get things done.

      I sat down with the girls and discussed what we'd be doing. We talked about being responsible and ways they could help out around the house. While I drew the chart and cut out the little velcro pieces that are crucial to the plan, the girls came up with their "chores" and drew corresponding pictures.

      I also took this time to COMPLETELY sugar-coat the word "chores." I told them that chores help them learn about responsibilty and help the family to operate. I gave them examples of chores that we adults do and gave examples of what would happen if no one contributed. For example, if no one took out the trash we couldn't have friends over because our house would smell too bad. The sillier the example the more they liked the idea.

      Being master manipulator Mom, creating a positive vibe around chores was my first tactic, and creating space for me to throw in my own "special" chores was my second. They have a list of Every Day Chores on one side (which, again, they are already doing) and the other side houses the Special Chores. Every Day Chores are currently making their bed, brushing their teeth, dressing themselves, picking up toys, and watering the plants. Right now, "special" chores include picking up dog doo-doo and taking out the bathroom trash. These will be placed next to their name only when the need arises. I am planning on taking full advantage of the extra spaces under Special Chores and adding my own little pictures as I see fit.

      When they complete a task they move the chore from the "To do" to the "Done" column. Right now I have expressed that we will have a morning chore time and an afternoon chore time and these are their oppurtunities to finish their responsibilites. I am in no way awarding or punishing for the completion or incompletion of their duties. I think it's important that they understand working together as a family is simply a duty that must be done daily.

       Aubree chose a daily chore to pick up shoes at the end of the day. I was very surprised and impressed when she came up with this all on her own. Children love to help, and encouragement and enthusiam is really all they need for a reward in my opinion. Raulee insisted that I make a space for "Ants" on her chore chart. I have no idea what she intends to do with "Ants" but if it is important for her to accomplish regularly then it's important for me to remind her to do it.

      At this point, I see no problem implementing this technique because they are used to doing these helpful tasks. It will just be easier for me to say, "Check your chore chart," than, "Why haven't you made your bed yet?! Why are you still in pajamas?! Why are these toys everywhere?!" or, "Why haven't you taken care of your ants today?!"

SKILLS--Multitasking

I asked her to bring me a brush.

Nothing gets in her way when she's eating candy.

DIY Story Boards

      While perusing the craft aisle in Walmart yesterday (never a good idea--I always find something I 'have' to have) I saw some felt rectangles for 27 cents apiece. I have always admired the library's story boards made of felt so I figured I'd get a few and try to make my own. A few days ago I purchased a hot glue gun (for a different project we're working on) and I knew the girls would love a few googly eyes here and there for the characters so I dug those out of my craft supplies box.

      I sat down with the girls and asked them what story they'd like to "make pictures for." They immediately thought of The Three Little Pigs. We have a story book of The Three Little Pigs so I used that for inspiration. I wanted to keep it very simple. I drew the characters with a permanent marker on the felt and cut them out. Glued on some eyes, and maybe a hat, and voila: an interactive story board.

      I spent just under an hour to create three pigs, a wolf, and three houses. The girls LOVE it. They use bits and pieces of the story to start their own stories. I love the creativity it allows them.

      This morning I sat down and made another one in about half an hour. I'm guessing I'll do at least a few more--it will be a great activity I can pull out when they need something to do. (Like for Raulee while I'm teaching Aubree) I'm planning on keeping each story in a separate  labeled ziplock bag. When I asked this morning they requested Jack and the Beanstalk:

      It was much more simple the second time around for some reason. In the future, I'd like to expand the idea by letting them draw their own settings and characters and come up with a story entirely on their own.

      P.s. The hot glue gun was only about seven bucks and the glue sticks were about five. Definitely an investment I don't regret. I'm sort of beyond frugal so I don't like buying things unless absolutely necessary, but this was worth it. I would eventually like to buy a big piece of felt and staple it to a board so they can play together on a large backdrop. The aforementioned frugal-ness may prevent that from happening for awhile, though. :)
     

Conquistadors at Coronado Cave

      After the girls soccer game today we packed up a lunch and lots of water and headed to nearby Coronado National Memorial. At  http://www.stateparks.com/coronado_national _memorial.html  it says, "The cave has been called by several names including Montezuma's Treasure Vault and Geronimo's Cave. Legends claim that it was used by the Apaches as a hide-out when being pursued by the U.S. Army and in the late 1800's it was not uncommon to find arrowheads in the cave." It's a half mile hike up steep and rocky terrain.

  We encouraged the girls by telling them we'd get to go inside a cave at the end of the trail. They did great. About half way up we stopped for a light lunch.

  
      After about another twenty minutes we spotted a tiny waterfall and arrived at the cave. Part of the trail featured rock stairs. This is the last few steps before the cave.

      I wasn't quite prepared for what we were about to encounter--the opening was steep and difficult to navigate. We each chose a "partner" and slowly made our way down. The pictures taken obviously don't do justice to what we were actually experiencing.

Aubree peering down the opening:

Aubree and Travis are almost to the bottom:

My partner about halfway down, yelling, "I'm in a CAVE!"

Vast and dusty:

We discussed Native Americans, early explorers, stalactites, and stalagmites. The girls loved "exploring" on their own.

 A little dirty...

They had a great time.

      They also, under close supervision, both climbed out of the cave by themselves! I'm very proud of them. It was a tough hike that was well worth the experience.

Pinterest Project: 3D Hands

      Today we took my sister, who has been staying with us, to the bus station. She's been here since we moved to Arizona to help me with the kids. After working for awhile, we decided I can stay at home so she is on her way back to Illinois. She was a great help! We waited an extra forty-five minutes for the bus to arrive and the girls bawled for a good twenty minutes on our way back home. I figured we needed some cheering up.

      A few days ago I saw a cute idea on Pinterest so we tried it out when we got home.

      This was the original idea:

http://pinterest.com/pin/176203404141565292/
    
      The project is to trace your hand with pencil on a piece of paper, draw a straight line to the pencil lines, add a 'bump,' then draw another straight line to the other edge of the paper. Then you continue on the entire paper. The result is an optical illusion that looks like a 3-D hand.

      I must say it was much harder than I anticipated. Right off the bat I realized it would be impossible with Raulee (age 3) and very difficult for Aubree (age 4). The first step was tracing their hands. I used graph paper (you can use a ruler) to help with straight lines. This didn't help much, though.

    

     For Raulee I just drew the lines and let her color it.

Her finished product:

      Aubree attempted a few of the lines herself, but I ended up drawing dots for her to follow. She was very disappointed she couldn't do it by herself at first, but then finished the project quickly when I assisted her and she saw it taking shape. She was SO excited when we finished and made me take this picture so "people would think her hand was really on the paper."

Her finished project:

      Final verdict: this activity is much better suited for older children--even I had difficulty! Ha. In the beginning they were arguing over who's hand I was going to trace first so I chose the dog to show them how it was done. I'm sure she was pleased to be a part of the fun:

      Afterwards we spent some time looking at optical illusions on the internet. Aubree marveled at how her eyes "tricked" her.

      Now they're eating ice cream and watching one of their favorite shows. Our crafts are on the fridge and my sister is half way across the state. I'm very thankful for the time we had with her and can't wait to see her again.

But....How Do I Get Anything Done?!

      I love my kids. You love your kids. This is no mystery. However, when my kids got old enough to start eating every piece of lint on the floor I ran into a real problem... How was I supposed to get anything done?! I can't ensure that my three year old isn't eating out of the trash and clean the entire house at the same time. I can't answer my four year old's NEVER-ending questions and read more than one sentence in a book about homeschooling at the same time. Children can be annoying and bothersome no matter how much you love them. I've approached this problem by embracing the chaos and allowing myself necessary time away from them.
      For the first few years of their lives I insisted (to myself) that I needed complete quiet to accomplish anything. "I need to wait until they're asleep." "They need to be laying down watching a movie if I'm EVER going to get ANYTHING done." Not only is this impossible, but it also creates another problem. If they're "bothering" me I then blame them if I don't accomplish what I set out to do. Very unfair of me, but it's true.
      Cleaning is an easy one--have them help. Sometimes when I can't think of anything for them to do (while I'm vacuuming, for instance) I give them a wet wipe and set them loose. For some reason, they love getting to clean whatever they want. (Get them to clean up spots on the floor!) When they were much younger I just strapped them to me in a carrier and went about my business. Reading or accomplishing any work is a bit harder, but still possible.
     I have begun to set goals for my homeschooling endeavor this year. Deadlines, if you will. At the libary we go to you get a book for three weeks. I'm determined to finish each book I get by the time it's due. Of course, I could always renew it, but I'm finding it more motivating to finish books this way. I have two books due tomorrow. And I'm only halfway through one of them. It's crunchtime.
     This morning I realized I had a lot of work to do today. (And yes--it is WORK.) Right after breakfast I set up my work station in the dining room and started planning things for the kids to do. Aubree is currently engrossed in her abcmouse.com account (VERY worth the $7.95 a month--I will be doing a blog on that later) so I set up the laptop across the table from me. Raulee is a bit more challenging. She has to wear an eyepatch on her "good" eye and it's honestly hard to come up with things that she will do while wearing it.
      Raulee began by playing her DS. Here, she's pouting because she lost her game. (Probably due to her poor sight.)

   Since that didn't last long, I chose to let her play with beads. The first activity was very simple--move all of the beads from one bowl to another with a spoon. When she started complaining that she couldn't see I thought she may enjoy sorting the beads so I grabbed an old egg carton.

     Aubree just chugged away on the computer. Eventually Raulee decided she needed to spread out the beads to see them better and they got dumped everywhere. Not a huge problem since picking up beads is great for her eye and small motor skills.

     Meanwhile, I read my book and took notes. I have a few 97 cent notebooks for taking notes and I've found that doing this not only provides an easy to look at list to review when needed but it also ensures that I'm actually getting something out of the book. A big part of setting up together like this is that I'm not always 100% focused on what I'm doing. I try to acknowledge most of what the kids say. I throw in "mmm-hmms" and "yeahs" while I'm deep in thought, but, more importantly, help them when they need it and praise them when necessary. Without taking notes, I would not retain much of what I get done. When I reeeeally need to work on something for longer than this scenario provides I take the time after they go to bed to do so. Taking time away from my husband is not ideal, though, so I try to incorporate what I'm doing during the day with the children. After about an hour and a half, the kids have run off to play together in the playroom. And I have some quiet time to write this blog and throw dinner in the crockpot. (Bbq chicken-yum)

      The other important part of "embracing the chaos" is realizing that you simply cannot be Supermom 100% of the time. You will wear yourself out. Your children will be sick of you and you will be sick of them. I have read repeatedly (and believe whole-heartedly) that you need to give yourself time DAILY to just be you. To engage in an activity you enjoy doing. To be a person outside of your mom role. For me, this time manifests itself just after lunchtime. I've done most of the cleaning by then, the kids have been fed, and I've spent most of the morning breaking up squabbles and answering the bazillion "why" questions they've come up with. Just after lunch, they are allowed to do whatever they want so long as they don't interupt me. I usually play the guitar or read. After a half hour to an hour I'm recharged and ready to play a game or read a story or go shopping or whatever else needs done. Without this brief intermission from mommyhood I truly believe I wouldn't be as productive the rest of the day. You know what will motivate you. Take some time to take care of yourself. It is important to not get carried away, obviously. A pedicure a day may cause some financial issues. But, seriously, take care of yourself so that you can take care of your family with a renewed spirit.

Morning Walk Mishap

      Yesterday was my husband's birthday so I decided to let him sleep in by taking the dog and the kids on a long walk. They took turns pulling the wagon,

walking the dog,

and smelling the flowers.

Raulee really liked climbing up the landscaping rocks and the girls asked me to take a picture while they were at the top.

I was enjoying their great commentary on their rock climbing skills when Raulee ran into a bit of trouble....

Seeing she was in no immediate danger, I just laughed and took pictures while big sis rescued her.

We're out a skirt, but she learned a valuable rock climbing lesson.