American Girls Everywhere!!!

Our girls have always loved all things American Girl. We do not live anywhere near the American Girl store and it has been their lifelong dream to go there someday! They both saved up their hard earned money to buy dolls for themselves, which is no easy feat, considering the price tag! But unfortunately, all the accessories, etc... are just too much for our budget. Our younger daughter received the gift of a lifetime yesterday, when the FedEx man delivered 2 large boxes. And what, might you ask was in these boxes???

Three American Girl dolls, along with a TON of accessories and clothes! Being a younger cousin definitely has advantages! Do you see that smile on her face? That stayed there all day long.

Allow me to introduce you to Felicity, Elizabeth #2, and the "no name" doll- now known as Maria.

For our little girl, it was as if she had won the lottery or something. There was lots of joyful screaming and excitement- so much so that we did not get much school work done! Even our little boy was thrilled!

All 3 kids immediately got to work, setting up an American Girl mall. This above was the shoe store. And below, Kanani is selling accessories.

Our daughter spent the entire day, sorting clothes, trying on all the different outfits, etc...

This makes for a very exhausting day, if you are an American Girl doll. Good night Elizabeth, Elizabeth 2, Kanani, Felicity, and Maria.

We hope you like your new home! One thing for sure- you will be loved and played with every day! Thank you E and J- you have made a little girl happier than she has ever been. And by the way- you will both be happy to know that they arrived with their hair-do's still lovely as ever! And now you can sleep peacefully, knowing they are no longer "watching" you!



Wow! Homeschooling is Busy!

People always ask me what we do at home all day long, now that we homeschool. I have to try not to laugh at them because most of you who homeschool know that it is lots of work, lots of play, and never ever NOT busy!

Our children are involved in many different activities. This fall, both our girls are playing soccer, which takes up 2 evenings per week and 1 game day per week. All 3 take weekly piano lessons as well as do folk dancing. Our girls are in the Keepers at Home club each week. We also have monthly H.E.A.R.T. Homeschool group meetings and all sorts of different  field trips.

We recently had a party for our oldest, to celebrate the publication of her book, Tampa Bay From A to Z. Over $4000 has been raised from the sales of the book, to benefit two local children's hospitals in our area!

Our local grocery store bakery did a fantastic job on the cake! They made the top piece look exactly like her book, and then stacked it on top of a history "book", also made entirely of cake. I do have to say too that it was delicious!

Our little guy has been really busy doing all sorts of fun fall school activities. These leaf numbers were perfect for playing several games with him. He loves it when I take one leaf away and he has to guess which number is missing. He is proud of the fact that he can count to 100 and is now counting by 10's and 5's. We are still working on the 2's.

He also spent some time with me placing all these apple letters in ABC order, and then matching various apple related words to their correct spot. He is getting pretty good at placing words in alphabetical order now.

His  most recent poetry basket involved a poem about Five Little Pumpkins. He enjoyed this poem and loved matching the correct pumpkin face to the description given in the poem.

Meanwhile, our little girl has been learning about different types of poetry, and she was given the task of creating a cinquain poem about apples.

We have all been enjoying the variety of Thanksgiving and fall books in our reading corner.

At our Keepers Club, the girls had fun creating these Christian pumpkins. You can find the printables for this activity at 1 + 1 + 1 blog.

The sweet sounds of Christmas music have been filling the air lately. With all 3 children taking piano lessons, there is often a traffic jam at the piano! Occasionally, there are arguments over who gets to practice next, and I think to myself how nice it is that THAT is what they are squabbling over!

Our two youngest spent a few days at our local international folk festival, stamping the passports of children from various schools. Over 8000 students attended this year! More than 40 countries are represented at this annual festival, and our kids also dance in the Portuguese folk dancing group.

So, that is a little peek at what has been going on. So, when people ask what we do all day as homeschoolers, I can confidently say that we do more than just school work. Life is going on, and what a blessing it is to spend these days with our children.

Bread Baking

Fall is such a wonderful time of year! There are so many things I love to do in the fall, and one of them is baking delicious, yummy comfort foods. I think I love baking during the fall, even more than during Christmas time! It isn't as rushed and I can just enjoy the moments with my kids.

Earlier this week, we decided to bake some banana bread. It is one of our favorite breads to bake because first of all, it tastes so good and second, it is very easy to make!

My little ones have gotten pretty good at baking and only need me to supervise as they mix and add all the ingredients. Everyone loved the final product!



Barbie's New Friend

Yesterday, my daughter's Barbie met a new friend. Let me introduce you to Paul -

Actually, it's Paul D. Coughlin. This is what his identification card states. Paul is a member of the Navy. When I saw Paul, I ever so excitedly told my son how cool it was for him to have a man barbie. Unfortunately, that term "man barbie" did not go over so well. I was quickly informed that Paul is NOT a man barbie- he is a True Hero Action Figure.

Ok, so what ever you wish to call him, Barbie has a new and brave husband named Paul who serves in the military. Great job, Paul! So much better than that other guy Ken...

Wow, It's Hot!

It has been really hot everywhere this summer. Where we live, it is usually hot most of the year. We really enjoy heading out to our local pool for some cool fun! The pool near our home has several slides, as well as diving boards and a rock climbing wall that is in the water!

The kids enjoy all those things, but I think they like the ice cream they get at the pool just as much!

Summer is such a fun time for our family!

There's A New Sheriff In Town!

Our little boy is obsessed with anything related to police, hunting, and guns. Now, I will be the first one to admit this: before I had a little boy, I was one of those moms who said I would NEVER ever allow any child of mine to play with any sort of gun- period.  I remember sitting at the park, gawking at "those moms" who had little boys running around with sticks playing guns and swords and as sad as it is to confess this, I would say aloud how they must be terrible moms to allow such horrible behavior! My my- how things change.

This little boy of ours, at the age of two, before he ever had a toy gun, saw a gun, or heard of a gun chewed a piece of toast into the shape of you guessed it- a gun! I remember just sitting there staring at him and wondering how in the world did he know how to do that? Of course, he couldn't call it the correct word, but he called it "that shooty thing".

Anytime he saw a police officer, he wanted to know exactly what their gun was used for. He almost died of excitement, the day he received the book pictured above Police Patrol.  He will sit there for an hour and just look at all the pictures, and I must have read it to him over a thousand times by now.

I think though that the highlight of his short life has been getting a nerf gun. He loves shooting those little foam darts out onto anything they will stick to. And he "patrols" our backyard daily, looking for anything he can hunt. Daddy has been really good at teaching him some basic rules about guns- real or not: never ever point them at any person or animal that is a pet. We have been extra diligent about that and even when he has mistakenly pointed at someone, the nerf gun is taken away for the entire day.

So, we've got a new little sheriff in town, although as you can see from the picture, sometimes its fun to be the criminal too!

5 Minutes of Fame

This morning, our daughter had an exciting experience! She was the guest at one of our local TV stations, promoting her new book, Tampa Bay From A to Z. We got to see the book for the first time today. It was such a neat moment for me as a mom, to see her name on the cover and to know she is a published author!

Here she is with the PR representative from Blue Cross & Blue Shield of Florida (the book sponsor) discussing some of the possible questions she may be asked during the TV interview.

Here they are, being fitted for microphones and Lissette Campos, the news anchor going over her questions and information regarding the book.

Places everyone! It was so interesting to see what goes into making a news segment. Our daughter did awesome and although she told me after it was over that she was very nervous, you couldn't tell!

After the taping was complete, Lisette Campos was so kind and took us on a little tour of the TV station. This was such a fantastic day for us and I know our daughter will remember this for the rest of her life! Words can not describe how proud we are of her...

To Be Little Again...

Certain moments in my childhood stand out more than others. One memory I have is that of playing in the rain on a hot summer day. The rain splashing on my face, the wonderful puddles all around, just waiting to be jumped into...

It is so fantastic that now, my own children are creating those same memories. When their little faces look at me with wide eyes and giant smiles on their faces and ask "Mommy, can we PLEASE play out in the rain? It's not thundering or lightning!" What else can I say but yes???

We all know how quickly our children grow up. Our oldest child no longer delights in these rainy summer days and it makes me sad that she has other things on her mind now. Good things, more mature things. But I want to hold her and tell her to just run out there and be free! Run in the grass, jump in the puddles, dance in the rain just once more...

Rest In Peach...

We recently took a trip to a cemetery. While this was not the first time our little guy has been to a cemetery, it was the first time he was able to remember details about it and ask lots of questions. I have finally figured out that when he starts to ask a lot of questions about a particular topic, it will not be long before he is attempting to re-create that same object, location, etc...  So, it should come as no surprise when I found him in the back yard today, creating his own cemetery! At first, I panicked thinking, "Oh dear God, I hope he has not actually harmed some little creature!" Well thank goodness, that is not the case. He has never been one to hurt animals. He's actually a bit fearful of most creatures.

My little guy called me out to the yard and was so proud of his final product. I was impressed with the fact that he included a headstone with a name on it and a heart, as well as some decorative rocks and such on the grave site. Not only that, he invented this fantastic story to tell me about our "dearly departed" friend. His name was "Topolini" and he was a scientist. He died last night and he was 123 years old. When I asked him why he died, my little man's response was "He was very old and was ready to go to Heaven to see Jesus. He can now rest in peach". Yep- peach, not peace. I had to bite my tongue not to laugh at the cuteness of it all.  What a great answer!

So, what may seem really weird and a bit creepy to some is quite fascinating and creative to me! And I have learned as the years fly by that boys really are VERY different than girls...

It's Almost Here!

As I mentioned in a previous post, our oldest daughter entered the Florida Blue Young Authors Contest and won! The winner of the contest has their story actually made into a book, which is published by the Books By Kids Foundation.

This week, I received an e-mail with an attachment of the "rough final copy" of the book. It took my breath away when I saw it! There on the pages of the book were my daughter's beautiful words along with darling illustrations created by the patients of two local children's hospitals. I just can't even put into words, what it felt like to see the cover of the book with my daughter's name and photograph on it!

So, I just wanted to spread the word for everyone to get ready because Tampa Bay From A to Z is coming! For more information on the Books by Kids Foundation, go to http://www.booksbykids.com/ They are doing an entire series of books, so be on the lookout for a book about your home town!

Kindergarten Fun: Part 2

Our 2 girls attended Kindergarten at our local public school. Although I feel they received a great education and had fun, I see Kindergarten in a whole new way, now that my little guy is in it. Boys are, well, different! While my girls thrived in that school setting with academics being the main focus, that just is not the case for my little guy. I am pleased with our day if I can complete up to one hour of academic work with him. The rest of his day is spent playing, exploring, building, digging, and just living life!

It is quite the challenge on most days, getting him to just even start his school work. He wakes up pretty early, and gets right to "work", building something with his Lincoln Logs, Legos, or Trio Blocks. He then will move to the outside world where he will dig and dig, ride his bike, or come up with some really neat imaginary game to play. When I call him to come to the school table, I am not met with enthusiasm, to say the very least.Who likes to stop playing??? But the funny thing is, once I get him past his calendar time activities, he is pretty cooperative and completes all the academics I have for him.

The key is keeping things moving, interesting, and quick. And it's not that he's not smart- quite the opposite. When he WANTS to, he can write me things and read words I have never taught him. And he will impress me with his math skills and other things I have never officially taught him, but he somehow knows. It's just that he is always thinking about what he could be doing instead of school work. I often see a look in his beautiful blue eyes that tells me "C'mon Mom- I have things to discover and things to build!"

I think most moms with little boys will agree that boys just want to have fun and get their feet wet, so to say. Having to stop and do school work is just getting in the way!

But he's quite the little trooper and HE has taught ME so much about slowing down and just enjoying life. I know that too soon, he will grow up and not be my "little guy" anymore. But for now he is my little guy, and he is only in Kindergarten. He has the rest of his life to "do school". For now, I am happy with him "doing life".

Kindergarten Fun

Many people who don't homeschool their children have been asking me- "Exactly WHAT does your little guy do all day for Kindergarten?" Well, after I thought about it a bit, I decided to write a little post regarding this subject.

I do Kindergarten with him before moving on to my girls' school work because he really needs that one on one attention from me. We start out with "calendar time". He counts all the numbers on the calendar and then tells me what the date is today, as well as what color the number should be, based on the pattern already in place. We discuss what day of the week it was yesterday, what day it is today, what day it will be tomorrow, etc... We sing the "Days of the Week" song and "What's the Weather?" song. He gives me a weather report every morning.

Then we move onto his Starfall work. Starfall is a complete Kindergarten curriculum- very thorough and I really love how many different activities they provide for you and your child each day! My little guy has been using his Starfall Writing Journal for most of his writing topics, but every so often, I like to do it a bit differently. The picture above is of a little story he wrote in his journal, which I copied onto chart paper. I then prompted him to do another drawing and then tell me more!

He was able to add two more sentences at the bottom of the chart. I am very encouraged by his writing and have seen progress as the year moves forward!

After writing, I usually give him a little break and he goes off to play one of his Kindergarten computer games such as Reader Rabbit or Starfall.

One of the best things I have incorporated into his day is his "Reading Club". I picked up this cute little bin at Target and made a little tag for the outside which says "Little guy's Reading Club Books". I select specific books each day for his basket- books that he can read all on his own, books that are very familiar to him but that he can't read alone yet, and books for him to just look at and try to find words he knows. In his reading club bin, there is also a timer and a "phonics phone". When it is time for his "Reading Club", he goes and gets his bin and sets the timer. He then sits alone and reads! At the beginning of the year, it was hard for him to sit for 5 minutes and read to himself. Now, he is up to 15 minutes! I am very happy with his reading progress and he seems to enjoy this time. He gets a sticker for each book and then when he reads a specific amount of books, he gets to go to the store and pick something small out.

My little guy has fun with Tub Time Tuesday each week. He enjoys all the different sensory tubs and especially loves the water or dirt play ones!

Well, this is just a small peek into my little guy's day. I will post more regarding his Kindergarten activities another time. In closing, I thought I would share something funny I overheard him talking about with one of his sisters. One of his sisters said to him that she wished she could climb to the top of a mountain, but that we don't have any mountains near us. He paused for a minute, and then said "well there's a HUGE mountain in mommy and daddy's room!" This is what he was referring to:

Yes folks, he was referring to my lovely mountain of laundry that just never seems to disappear! Aren't little ones just precious???