August School

Here are some of our school activities for this month., We have had a busy month. The boys and Gracie are learning so much, but I think I am learning the most being their teacher!

This is our continent and oceans project for the year. It is an idea I have adapted from a great resource, a book by Barbara Curtis called, Mommy, Teach Me! We have made a folder for each continent and one for all the oceans. As we read different books and learn about different countries, cultures, animals, and foods, we look it up on our globe and figure out which folder the item belongs in. We have a reading list inside each folder that keeps track of our books.
Then Mommy sometimes prints out pictures of animals we read about for us to place in the folder as well. That way, at the end of the year we will be able to look back and see how many different parts of God's World we have studied!


The boys also enjoy hands on math. They love counting backwards because Mommy sometimes lets them knock down things like these counting bears! :)


We have discovered a really fun way to work on handwriting our letters and numbers. Mommy fills a bag 3/4 full with paint. Then we draw with Q-tips. We squish the paint to erase and start over again. This has been a favorite this month!




Another way we practice our writing is by painting with water on the sidewalks. Beware if you try this at home! After awhile we discovered splatter painting with the paintbrushes which quickly turned into a paint brush water fight! :)





This is one of the morning activities we made for fun. We have been collecting water bottle tops to make this Capital/lowercase letter matching game.



As part of our math this month we have been working on patterns. As a fun activity we made pasta necklaces, working on making patterns. To make the colored pasta you just put a few teaspoons of vinegar with some colored dye in a Ziplock back and squish (but be careful, cause our bags were cheap and we got dye everywhere! :( Then just place the pasta on a cookie sheet with paper towels to dry. I put a bread tie at the end of the yarn to make it easier for the kids to string the pasta. We also used the Neon colored dye which made the pasta much brighter and more fun. We tried Rigatoni and Ziti this time, but the Rigatoni worked the best! The Ziti was a little too thin to string easily.







Our big news of the month is......Luke is starting to read!!!! Yeah, Luke! Here he is after he read his first two books!



We have actually not even started our formal reading and language arts program for the year, so this is so exciting! (We introduced Math, Bible and some handwriting and letter review, along with lots of library books, and planned to add in the language arts and our Sonlight curriculum after we took a week off for Ben's tonsillectomy.) We have been just spending some time each day playing games with letter sounds, alphabet magnets and flashcards, etc.

Luke has known all his letter sounds for well over a year, but reading just has never "CLICKED". He would guess, or add sounds and get frustrated, and so would I! So we took a break for a bit and just "played" reading games.

I absolutely LOVE the book, Mommy Teach Me to Read, by Barbara Curtis. Several of our reading games I got from her book. We had looked at several other "Teach your child to read..." type books that I checked out from the library, but none of them seemed to really fit Luke. I knew the minute I read Barbara Curtis' book that her ideas would work with our Luke and give him the confidence to read!

One day this month he surprised me by reading a page out of a book, and I knew it was not from memory. I looked at him and he had a twinkle in his eye and I knew it had clicked. Today I asked him if he wanted to try to read one of his early reader books and he jumped at the chance. I had found the boxed sets of Bob books at Costco a few weeks back and was excited to find them cheap! Earlier they had frustrated him like crazy, but now he is begging to read more. He is walking around the house telling everything, animate and inanimate that he can read, it is so cute. Ben is quite upset that he can not yet, but he is only a few steps behind. His time will come.

We have a long way to go, but to see him so PASSIONATE about learning to read now has been such an encouragement to me! I had promised both boys that this year when they learned to read Mommy was going to buy them each a bean bag reading chair of their own....so now I need to start researching bean bag chairs!

Gracie is 21 months!

It is hard to believe our baby girl will be two in just three short months! Gracie is pure delight. She continues to be a ham and a bit sassy at times. She is stretching her almost-twos independence and keeps us on our toes.



She is a great sleeper. We have even had Jacob sharing a room with her all this week and she has done great, not even skipped a beat! Although sometimes I can hear her "chatting" with him at night on the monitor in their room before she falls asleep.

She finally had all four of her canines pop through last week. Jacob got his first two teeth last week as well, so we had a bit of a cranky sore tooth mood around the Morgan house.

Gracie sometimes is a great eater, sometimes she is really picky. She won't touch blueberries or strawberries, but LOVES cherries, broccoli, cucumbers, and celery. She also apparently loves chili. I made some last week and she licked her bowl clean. Funny girl.

She wants to do absolutely EVERYTHING her brothers do. If she sees the boys putting shoes on to go somewhere she runs to the door and puts her shoes on. Nine times out of ten she can get the shoes on the correct foot too! She doesn't want to be left behind! Sometimes she just steals the boys shoes/socks out of their room to put on.



It is a good thing we are homeschooling, or else Luke might have had a shadow in kindergarten. After I work on math with the boys for school, Gracie wants me to do flashcards and numbers with her. She tries to count and sing ABC with the boys. She adores reading and sorting (as mentioned in previous posts). Her all time favorite books are "Caps for Sale" and "Jamberry".

Gracie is a puzzle-holic if there is such a thing. The girl loves puzzles and is good at them too! There is no "try each piece and find what fits" method. Gracie finds the match the first time on most puzzles without even trying. My Mom tells me I was just like her as a little girl It is fun to watch!



Her language ability is absolutely phenomenal. Her vocabulary and articulation blow us away every day. When she wakes up in the morning I sometimes hear this, perfectly clear, "Mommy, Mommy, hungee, bekfast, diaper stinks, please diaper, bekfast!!" The other day Jeff was getting ready for work and Gracie said "Daddy, hold you, hold you." He told her that he needed to go and could not stay to cuddle. She said "Daddy work?" Yes, Daddy has to go to work. To which Gracie replied, "Daddy work, bills" :) Some of the most unique words in her vocab include: killer whales, delicious, careful, bathroom, sunscreen/swimming, and policeman.

The other day I had Gracie with me running errands. We were in line to checkout at a store and the lady behind us kept smiling and trying to play with Gracie. Gracie, although not shy in the least, likes to play that she is shy. She tried to hide, then she put her hand on her head in true Scarlet fashion and said "Good grief!"

Another cute "gracie-ism" is she combines Luke and Ben to be one name. When she wants them it becomes lukeandben. She also calls Jacob boy, brother or chunky fellow (Jeff's nickname for Jacob! :))

Watch out Emily Post, Gracie has also become Miss Manners-etiquette. She says please, thank you, bless you, yes ma'am, yes sir, and excuse me better than a lot of adults I know. And if you forget your manners? Watch out, our little Miss Manners will correct you and remind you to say excuse me! :)

Thank you Lord for a little girl who is so full of life and spunk!

Update- Ben's Surgery

Just a quick update. Ben's surgery this morning went well. He will have a rough next 7-10 days, so please continue to pray for his recovery! Thanks.

Here is Ben showing me his tonsils before he goes off to surgery.



Here Ben is giving his killer whale a bit of anesthesia before surgery!



He has done so great, what a brave little boy!

Ben's Surgery on Friday

Please pray for our #2- Ben on Friday. He will be having surgery to remove his tonsils and adenoids at 0830 our time. Please pray that all would go well and that he would have a quick recovery. Thanks!

No turning back

Last week I found myself a bit overwhelmed with the immense responsibility of educating our children. I knew it was a big job, and I know a lot of people look at us like we are nuts, but we felt very clearly that it was God's call for our family this year. Even knowing that though, when things were rough last week, I immediately looked at the calendar and only half jokingly told Jeff, "Public school starts next week....it's not too late to change our minds!"

My sister recommend a book to me called "Homeschooling with a Meek and Quiet Spirit" by Teri Maxwell. I have not finished it yet, but so far it is excellent. I just started to read the book last week, and it was so time appropriate for me! Here is a quote from the book that really it home for me this week: "Keep in mind that the Lord uses difficulties in what we are doing to refine and grow us. Seldom are those struggles a signal to undo what He has called us to do! The problems should be pulling us to a greater level of seeking the Lord and depending on Him. They should not be causing us to consider returning to where we were before He directed us to homeschool."

So true, and just the reminder I needed this week!

So, on a lighter note, and to remind myself when the going gets rough, I thought I would occasionally post a few "joy of homeschooling" moments. A friend of mine is posting benefits of homeschooling on her blog that I have really enjoyed reading and relating with her comments.

So here are a few of our joy of homeschooling moments for this week:

1. Luke asked me for MORE Bible verses to memorize. (We have been doing one a week, but he is soaking it up and asking for more). I also came down in the morning as he was working on his activity, and he was making up his own songs to go with Bible verses we have been learning. Later in the day I heard Ben trying to entice Luke to disobey a house rule and I heard Luke say "No Ben, I am guarding my heart and not sinning against God." Yeah for hiding God's Word in our hearts and applying it!!!!!! That goes along with my friend's number one benefit to homeschooling our children....teaching them TRUTH!!

2. Luke was drawing on paper and I asked him what he was drawing. He told me "I drew a venomous box jelly fish from Australia" and it actually looked like a venomous box jelly fish! This goes along with my friend's number two benefit, Mommy and Daddy get to learn new things. Did you know what a venomous box jelly fish, tapir, or capybara are? And where in the World they are found? I didn't but we all do now!

3. We read a story about Koala Bears from the library and both boys ran to get our globe to show me where Australia was and explained that it is both a country and a continent. Yes, we are learning math, and reading, and handwriting....but we have the time to explore our son's interests as well and they LOVE animals.

4. Several times last week when I was listening in on the boys playing they were acting out or using quotes from books we have read together this summer. One time I had the boys playing in their room with Jacob while I bathed Gracie and I heard them giggling like crazy. The reason? Ben had told Luke "Let the Rumpus begin!" (From Where the Wild Things Are) I love that my children can enjoy books together and even share inside jokes as a family about quotes from books.

Playdough of the Month!

A while ago I found a recipe online for Homemade Play-dough with the idea of a "Play-dough of the month" club. Well, for fun we started this month making our own play dough and it turned out fantastic, better than any store bought stuff! Here is the recipe I found, along with ideas for our play dough of the month. A few weeks ago I had a several coupons for my favorite store, A.C. Moore (LOVE IT!). I bought a collection of 101 cookie cutters for less than $6! We are in play dough land around here! This month we made yellow dough with gold glitter and used a sun and stars cutter. The glitter really adds a lot to the play dough experience, so cool!



Homemade Playdough Recipe

1 c. flour
1/2 cup salt
1 T. cooking oil
1 T. cream of tartar
1 c. water
Food coloring of your choice
Add-ins of your choice (i.e. spices, extracts, glitter, etc.)

Stir ingredients together well. Just measure them into the saucepan you will be using to cook the dough, but mix them well before heating up the pan. Over medium heat, cook the dough, stirring constantly until it forms a ball. (NOTE: When it starts to pull away from the sides somewhat and clump together, and most of the "wet-looking" parts look dry, it's ready to remove from the pan.) Turn dough onto a board (or the countertop) and knead until very smooth. (NOTE: It will be pretty warm to the touch, but try to knead it until it becomes a nice, smooth ball. If it feels sticky, you can work a little more flour into it and it will be fine.) Cool. Store in a covered plastic container OR in a sealed ziploc bag.

Here are the ideas for the play dough of the month:

January--white dough with white glitter OR "snow dough" and a snowman or snowflake cutter; February--pink dough with red glitter and a heart cutter; March--green dough with gold glitter and a shamrock cutter; April--purple dough scented with lavender oil and an egg cutter; May--yellow dough with lemon extract and a flower cutter; June--blue dough with a boat cutter; July--small balls of red, white and blue dough with a star cutter; August--yellow dough with gold glitter and a sun cutter; September--plain dough (no coloring) with apple pie spices and an apple cutter (or red dough with apple pie spices); October--orange dough with pumpkin pie spices and a pumpkin cutter; November--orange or brown dough with pumpkin pie spices and a turkey cutter; December--gingerbread dough (use lots of cinnamon, allspice, ground cloves) with a gingerbread cutter OR green dough with peppermint extract and gold glitter and a tree cutter OR red dough with peppermint extract and gold glitter and a candy cane cutter.




Do you want to join our play dough of the month club? Let us know if you do!!

Box Fun

Last week we had great fun with a huge box! There are so many ways to play with a box! Mommy has posted before about our love of boxes. Here are a few new ways we enjoyed a box this week! :)

When Mommy came home from running errands, she couldn't find Daddy and the boys because they were hiding QUIETLY in the box! :)




I would love to own a kid size play kitchen, but alas our square footage just won't allow it. Instead, we improvised and made a kitchen from our box. Mommy is going crazy because it takes up so much room, but that is okay. We are having fun!

This is our oven and stove top.


The boys love making Mommy muffins for breakfast!


Here is our fridge....."Hmmm. What to eat? So many choices!"



After the box kitchen got a bit smashed we turned our box into a store. After shopping the aisles we checked out at the register. (We took out the leaf in the table to make a checkout aisle! :)




Then we turned our box into a boat.



Now our box is broken down and set to be recycled this week. It was fun while it lasted!

Jacob is Five Months!

Our Sweet boy is five months old! He is such a gentle, sweet baby, we can hardly stand it! I think the whole family just loves to cuddle and squish those cheeks more than anything! Right after his 4 month mark, Jacob started rolling over both ways. He does not have teeth yet, but is drooling and putting EVERYTHING in his mouth, with a favorite being his toes! No appointment this month, so we will have to wait until next month for his stats. His growth seems to have slowed down a bit, so we are still in 6 month clothes and size 2 diapers. He is super eager to try real food, and watches us like a hawk during meal times, licking his lips....but Mommy is going to hold off one more month for real food!
Our goal for this month is to have him sleeping in his room with Gracie. He and Gracie are both great sleepers, so we have been hesitant to rock the boat. He is starting to outgrow his bassinet in Mommy and Daddy's room, so we are going to have to make the switch eventually. It will just mean some long days and nights for a bit until they (especially Gracie) get used to the idea.
Jacob is just a source of smiles and joy to our entire family. Luke, Ben, and Gracie are just head over heals in love with him. Thank you Lord for another month with our precious son!

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Weekend in Virginia- Last One....(Airplanes)

On the way home from our vacation, Jeff's parents had planned for a visit to a Flying Circus Airshow. WWI and WWII planes doing stunts and acrobatics were the main attractions. Jeff's Dad also wanted to let us have a plane ride in a WWII biplane. Unfortunately it was over 100 degrees that day with not a whole lot of shade which made for a pretty miserable Jacob and Gracie. Luke and Ben enjoyed it, but enjoyed running around with their cousins in the fields the most!

This picture cracks me up. I have no idea why Luke was making this face, but it kind of fits the mood for the afternoon, at least for me, hot, tired and cranky! :)


Some guy at the show gave Ben this Marine hat. He loves it, and likes to wear it to do his pushups! Watch out Camp Lajune!


Gretchen did not want to fly, and I did not want to leave Gracie and Jacob in the midst of meltdowns....so it was decided that Jeff and Tim would go up in a two seat biplane.

Here are the kids waiting to watch Daddy and Uncle Tim fly.


Here is Gracie waving bye-bye to Daddy. (Notice the clouds rolling in......)


Jacob finally collapsed in Grandma's arms.

Here is Uncle Tim and Daddy getting into the plane....


and take off......

Unfortunately less than 5 minutes into the trip the clouds let loose and they were forced to land while the rest of us ran for cover and were all soaked from head to toe. Thankfully they got a full refund for the flight!

I think this is part of the vacation that we will look back on later and laugh, but right now it doesn't seem so funny to wait over two hours for a flight that barely happened with miserable kids......oh well, that is what makes family vacations special right? Memories.

Weekend in Virginia- Part Three (Traditions)

For the last four years, whenever we get together with Jeff's family we have had a "themed" meal together. The last three years have been a Luau, Mexican, and Italian theme complete with attire and decorations. This summer was no different. Jeff's Mom is amazing in her ability to plan these meals and make them so much fun! This year we had a Cowboy/Cowgirl Theme with steaks, potatoes, and beans. We also had "cowpie" brownie cookies with ice cream sundaes, and hats and bandanas for all!



The Bed and Breakfast went along well with the theme as they had a riding horse for kids to play on!




Ben loved being a cowboy, but was not willing to give up the swim goggles!!!


The older grandkids all got to stay up and watch a movie with Grandma and Grandpa. Grandma even taught them all some songs like "Home on the Range".


Thankfully Grandma and Grandpa let the kids each pick a hat to take home. (Good thing because the boys LOVED their hats!!!!) Don't we have the cutest cowboys and cowgirl?? :):)

Weekend in Virginia- Part 2 (Time Together)

Our Family stayed in a lovely, spacious Bed and Breakfast that was rented out to our family alone for the weekend. George and Rhoda, the inn keepers, were wonderful and took great care of our family. The Breakfast was one of the best I have ever had, and we have been to several B&Bs!



The Bed and Breakfast we stayed at also had a pool!!! Here is our family trying out their water skills. (Jacob was napping while we swam, so he did not get to participate this time)





Even though it has been such a warm summer, Saturday a storm was on its way so it was a bit overcast. Gracie loved swimming at first, but was then content to sit out of the pool with snacks!


Uncle Tim's back flip!


Grandma brought some sand art craft projects to do with the kids.



There was a pool table for us to enjoy as well.


Jeff had made a Corn hole Game for us to enjoy. If you are not familiar with cornhole, it is essentially a bean bag toss, and pretty popular around here. Daddy did a great job making the game, but unfortunately the weather did not cooperate for us to play it all that much.



Mom and Dad Morgan had requested that each adult bring a snack "from their childhood" to share. I decided to bring cheese in a can with crackers. I remember my Mom buying this for us on vacation as a special treat. The kids loved it!!!




Gracie kept eating the cheese off and asking for more. :)



Overall the weekend was just a great time to spend time with and reconnect as a family.






Thanks Mom and Dad for sharing your anniversary with all of us!!