Museum Time

As we speak (type, well me, not you, lol) Nick is making dinner and the children are upstairs playing quietly.

Something is going on around here.  Weird, wild stuff I tell ya!

So I thought I would take the time to write in the quiet moments about the craziness in our lives.  Which in and of itself is just called, the everyday.

 This week was our first week back into school after a week break.  I think we did pretty good.  Two weeks ago we snagged a two-kid sized tent at a garage sale for $5.  This thing has been in the blue room for play, outside for dreaming, and in Cal's room for a reading den.  Emma read to Calvin Monday afternoon after school..

 The kids playing outside on Monday consisted of them finding their lawn chairs and pretend fishing with sticks.  So cute!

 Tuesday we went with Emma's Girl Scout troop to the Indianapolis Children's museum.  It was so much fun.  All of the girls in the troop are homeschooled so we all are around during the year.  So families were invited to tag along.

 It was also a really nice fieldtrip for school as there were lots of exhibits about school topics.  Here's Cal putting together an ancient statue.

 Here are Girl Scouts digging for artifacts.

 Scuba Steve with his dive pack on.  We were learning about shipwrecks :)

 This time at the museum the children weren't scared of the dino exhibit, thank goodness!

 I love their different expressions with the t-rex.  Cal growling, Emma smiling sweetly.  Totally their personalities.

 Our little dino moving Eggs out of his nest

 And out little artist sketching a  fossil

 Cal loved this!!!  He would have spent all day with this thing if he could have!

Cal and his girl scout friend Kat and Nick using the pulleys for moving water.

At the very end of our day we all went into the Planetarium for a star show which is exactly what we are studying in Science right now. So happy with that as it got the kids really excited about space and star gazing!

After the museum we went to Trader Joe's and then went to two educational stores, Lakeshore Learning and United Art and Education. I got a lot of the supplies I need for next year so that helped me feel prepared for getting underway in September.  It's going to be here before we know it!

Back to School After Graduation

Cal graduated last week.  I know, I know I am late in getting the pictures on here.

Check out Mr. Graduation...

Isn't he adorable?  This little man has grown so much in the past two years.  I mean he had JUST started talking when he started preschool.  He's come so far in such a little amount of time!!!  

And I gotta be honest, it was really hard to watch him graduate.  I literally had a really hard time leaving the church he went to preschool at because I kept thinking, I leave here and I no longer am a mom of a preschooler.  All of my kids will be in grade school.  Sad, sad stuff for a Mom.  Baby steps out the door :(  

During the graduation our leading lady was busy taking care of Baby Grace.  Emma is so beautiful.  Love this girl so much!!! 

 Here I am with my little babies.  Who had to be tickled because we couldn't get smiles out of them!

And then I get these faces.

I think in this picture he's saying "what do you mean I have to start Kindergarten next week?"

That's right folks, this kid started homeschool Kindergarten on Monday.  He did great.  We are basically just working on writing and getting improving his reading skills.  Not too hard.  He did pretty great.  I'm hopeful at this point for the rest of the schoolyear.

So that's how we are doing this week back to school.  I am really pushing Emma in 2nd grade.  I want to get done and go to the beach, yo!

Graudation, break, and breakdown, oh my!

You will all have to forgive me for ducking out of the blogging world this past week.  I've been a busy Mama!

This year we are doing school year round which sounded like the best idea ever...no summer brain drain to contend with and taking longer breaks throughout the year.  What's not to love?  But now that all of our homeschooling friends (and non homeschooling friends!) are breaking for the summer we are having a hard time staying on task and I find myself wondering why on earth I thought this was a good idea!

So this past week I was just done. So I declared a week's vacation o the children could run and play and just have fun, and so I could get things in order, reorganize, re prioritize and get things planned for the last leg of this year's homeschooling journey.

In other fun news, our little guy graduated from Preschool this week!  So proud of him and all that he has accomplished in the past two years.  Nick and I were reminiscing that when we sent him to Preschool he had JUST started talking.  And now here we are.  It's just amazing how far he's come.  He had amazing teachers who have been in our lives for the past four years, first as Emma's teachers and then as Cal's.  I had a really hard time this week just trying to wrap my head around the fact that we no longer have "preschool" aged kids in the house.  They are growing so quickly which is just so sad sometimes.  

But in other news we are officially homeschooling Cal...I keep telling Nick I'm going to need a box of wine on hand at all times to get me through this, lol!  I joke but really I am quite nervous about this venture.  Hoping I haven't bit off more than I can chew with this decision!

Cal is reading and seems pretty ready.  In our state Kindergarten is just basically getting them reading and knowing everything there is to do.  Plus he keeps asking me to study things that our First Grade Curriculum studies...things like animals, and Egypt.  I am so excited for his desire to learn and study things!

So here's our plan... I am starting homeschooling back up next week and this time around I will have a Kindergartner joining our class!  I plan on having him in Kindergarten while Emma finishes up the second grade and then hopefully when we start back up in the fall Cal will be ready for first and Emma will be in third grade...so both kiddos will be a year ahead.  That's my goal right now.  If it doesn't happen it doesn't happen but that is what we are shooting for.

In other news, after 6 long and harrowing months of dealing with my sewing machine, it has finally been fixed!!  I am so happy and Emma is over the moon thrilled! I think we are going to try to tackle a dress for her baby grace today.

Hopefully  when we get back into the swing of things next week I will have a little more time to blog (that sure does sound backwards, doesn't it?) hope you all are doing well out there!

Rainbow Birthday Party

This blog could also be titled "Decorating with Rainbow for $6.00"  

Say what???  That's right folks.  I made the following decorations.  See?  

This backdrop for our present opening area...

This table cloth...

This buffet table decor...

And these ceiling decorations...

How did I do it you ask?  Well all  you need is plastic tablecloths from Walmart!  They are only 97 cents apiece!  Wowzers you say!!!!

It really all stemmed from the buffet table.  I had seen that done with fabric on Pinterest.  But seeing as a) my sewing machine is in the shop and b) I was trying to do this the NIGHT before the party, I knew sewing layers and layers of fabric could not be an option.  Plus it seemed like it would be really expensive.

So here's what I did...I cut each tablecloth into 4 equal portions longwise (1 piece for each project), which was super easy because the plastic was folded in half long ways and then in half again...so basically I just followed the fold lines and cut away.  Once I did that I made the rainbow buffet table surround by draping a bed sheet over and taping it all on.  I'm telling you, it's fancy doin's around here ;)  But I was really happy with the end result and everyone oohed and aahed over it.  Plus it was all so dirt cheap I didn't feel bad throwing it all away at the end of the night.

For treats I went with candy, candy, candy...jawbreakers, gumballs, and M&M's.

Rainbowy twizzlers and colorful forks.

Party favors for guests to take home.  Thanks for coming to my RainbLow party.  And yes I know, I am dork!

As we always do, after we eat, then we open gifts.  I was so proud of this girl that she took the time to read the cards.

Then we decided to have some cake!  I made it with a lot of love :)  It might not be the fanciest thing but Emma loved it and to me, that is all that matters.  I decorated it with "happy Birthday" candles from the dollar store.  The candies along the bottom are gumballs

Look at how excited she is :)

I should have taken a picture of it right when it was cut in but I was serving cake so didn't quite have  time.  Here's what it looked like about half way through.

A very happy girl being very silly for the camera with her rainbow cake.

So there you go, that was my rainbow party.  Very casual and relaxed.  It was fun.  And it was all when Emma wanted.  Game point.

The Way I Changed This Week...

Take yourself back to a far away land where it is Sunday.  Last Sunday to be exact.  Oh yes, what a nice carpet ride that was, yes?

Well Sunday night I came home from celebrating my Sister's graduation and may as well have been smacked in the face with the planner you see above.

Pretty, right?  Ha...pretty blank!  

Sunday night at about 9:30 and no lesson plans in sight.

Crickets chirping folks!

So I did what any respectable citizen would do...

 I grabbed a hair tie...

 Put my hair up, kissed the hubs good-night..

And said how do you do? to my old friend, iced coffee.

By the way, I may or may not sing Vanilla Ice's song while preparing:
Iced, Iced Coffee
Too cold, too cold...

It's crap like this that makes you click the x, I know.  Anyway....

So it was about 10:00 and I just hit it.  Hard.  Third floor party me and the coffee and my pony.  Well, my ponytail :)

The good news is that I got the week's lessons prepared, straightened up the attic and the craft room and the school rooms...which are all located on the same floor but I have them seperated as much as possible.

I was determined to get this week started off on the right foot because the sad truth is that the last two weeks I really have gone ahead and started the week off with a completely blank lesson plan.

Not good bro.

I must say, taking the time to just get everything laid out and done feels so good in the long run; throughout the week I have the plans to refer to and to know what else we have to accomplish for the day, which I love!

I know most of us are winding down for the school year and I know for me personally that means I am getting super lax with school.  I hope this encourages you as a homeschool Momma to take some time to get everything in order at the beginning of your week to make sure you are ready to go no matter what the week throws at you.

And now I must get going...we are having our annual health screening for the insurance company at Nick's work...a lot of poking and prodding under the watchful eye of the hubs' co-workers.   How fun!

Everyday You Astound Me...

The title is what I found myself telling Calvin on vacation.

I told him this while he smashed on my laptop keyboard.

I told him this late at night.  After just brushing his teeth and then proceeding to shove a piece of cake in his mouth. And for the record this happened in our hotel room while on vacation celebrating Emma's birthday...we don't usually make it a habit to have cake hanging out around our bedrooms :)

Anyway, after eating the cake I said " you goof!  You just brushed your teeth and then you ate cake.  You are going to have to brush your teeth again!!!"

And what do you think his response was?  "Um, maybe we could just keep this a secret?"  What a little stinker.  Every day he astounds me.

A lot of the time it is a matter of astounding me because I didn't think he could misbehave anymore but here he is surprising me.  But usually it is a matter of astounding me because he has proven to be smarter or kinder or more loving than I ever thought possible before.

Those are the moments that astound me.  That let me know that God didn't mess up when making me this kid's Mama.  That we are going to be a-okay.

On vacation this boy of mine picked me flowers.  Beautiful sunny dandelions.  He was so proud.  And I was too.

Everyday sweet boy, you astound me...

I'm a Lucky Girl

My Grandmother called today.  She had had her under cabinet light fall and this past weekend Nick went over to fix it for her.  Emma had been a little under the weather so us girls had stayed home.  So my Grandma called to tell me how it went.  She gushed on and on about him.

I guess he had ended up having to put the light in from inside the cabinet rather than below it.  She said he took everything out of her cupboard so nicely.  He then had to take her shelf paper off.  The thing she was raving about was that when he was done he asked her for more shelf paper and then he proceeded to cut it and stick it in.  I think she was amazed.  And it's a pretty darn good feeling when your Grandma calls to tell you how lucky you are to have your husband.

I agree...I'm one lucky girl.

This year has been kind of tricky for us.  It kind of feels like it just hasn't stuck right or something.  Nick received a new job/promotion in November but we are still in a kind of limbo waiting for the transfer to take place.  We bought a new car and are still trying to sell our old one.  We are ending Cal's therapies and starting new ones.  I guess all in all it seems like we are juggling and have a lot of things up in the air right now.

And yet this man has been my rock this year.  He holds me together when I go crazy with the unknown.  He assures me and reassures me.  He's my glue in this crazy messed up world.

In the above picture Nick is helping Cal with legos.  The back story of this picture is that this is Easter day and this was a set Cal had received from my mom and dad, his Gigi and Papa.  Everyone else was in the living room talking and Cal was alone putting together the set.  Nick's the one who steals away from crowds to have guy time with his bud.  He knows he needs to be away from the crowd but doesn't like him being alone. I love that about him.

And so yes, I am one lucky girl.  It makes me feel even luckier when my Grandma and lego session's remind me of that. :)

Our Kazoo is 7!

Today our little Emma Kazoo is turning 7!  I just can't believe it.  I am astounded that time has gone by this quickly.  

 I took these pictures last week when Emma was giving her Bitty Baby, Baby Grace, some loving.  She's about gone and ripped her entire arm off (Baby Grace's not Emma's!) so she had her in a long sleeved pajama outfit to love on her before she gets shipped off to the doll hospital to be repaired.

 I had Emma smile like this so I could remember her toothy smile.  I want to remember everything about this stage.  She's growing up so quickly and I want to remember everything about this.

 Isn't she just adorable?  She is so sweet and kind and loving and funny and smart and nice.

You is smart.  You is kind...

I feel so blessed that God chose me to be this girls Momma.  I am so enamored by her.  It is such a joy to watch her grow up and to see what a bright spot she is in everyone's life.

Happy Birthday Baby Girl!  We are so proud of you and we love you so much!