Field trips and outdoor play

We took the kids to a new place for them called The Incredible Pizza Company. They had so much fun. Shoot us adults did as well. They really liked the idea of eating, then playing, then eating ice cream, then more playing and then having a frozen drink. They thought that was the neatest thing ever!! I'm glad we are still fortunate enough that with them being young, they still love all the little things in life :-) We had so much fun we spent 3 hours there!!!

The first game the kids played was duckpin bowling. They have been wanting to go bowling for a long time. Ever since they played bowling on the Wii, they love the idea!! This type of bowling was prefect for them!!!


Today is a gorgeous day outside. The kids have already spent 2 hours outside and it is not even 2pm!! They talked daddy into setting up the Wall-E bubble blower and were chasing bubbles around on the deck. They enjoyed having Bailey (our black Lab) out there as well. Any time Bailey knows the kids are outside, she barks until someone lets her outside to run around with them. She truly is their best friend. They are 3 peas in a pod!!!!


And here is a picture of our beautiful girl Bailey:

Sensory trays and water fun

I made a rice and an oatmeal sensory tray for the kids and they LOVED them. I bought a bunch of rice and liquid water colors and colored the rice one evening. I mixed all the rice together once it was dry and it made such beautiful rice (who knew rice could be so pretty). I went to a local dollar store and purchased letters and hid them in both the rice and oatmeal. I also purchased measuring cups/spoons, colanders, wooden spoons, salad tongs and several other kitchen tools which the kids played in the sensory boxes with. They searched for their hidden letters and built castles out of the rice and oatmeal!!! They actually played with these for over an hour. It was so much fun to watch them having a great time.



This is a picture of the rice right after it was dry and I put it into the tray. It was so pretty all sorted out!!



Next I put water in our no spill paint cups. I then added a bit of yellow food coloring to turn the water yellow. I asked the kids which color I should add to the yellow to make orange. Jelly Belly guessed green and Lifesaver guessed blue. Once I added the red color, they both thought it was amazing!! It really is the small things which make the kids happy ;)

I set out ice cube trays and medicine droppers and let the kids transfer the colored water from the containers to the ice cube trays. They enjoyed this activity more than I thought they would. I figured they would be bored fast and they weren't. I was pleased :-) Lifesaver said her fingers were getting tired after about 20 minutes!!!


We are practicing with our letters and one day we made a necklace with beads and spelled out our names with the beads. The kids loved it!!! They love making crafts with everything.

Pictures of our classroom

We have turned our morning room into our classroom. It has a lot of natural lighting and that helps sooo much. My dad installed the cabinets for us while we were on a Disney vacation. Gotta love that!!! At first I had all my scrapbooking stuff in their as well, but we quickly outgrew the classroom cabinets and I moved all the scrapbooking stuff out!!!

Our adventures in homeschooling

Our little monkey and our diva rule the house! We let them think so at least :)

We are not the typical family. We do not have structured anything, YET. The kids do not have set bedtimes, but they do pretty much go to bed at the same time every night, around 11pm. They typically sleep an average of 10 or so hours a night. It really depends on how active they were during the day.

We take our time waking up and getting ready for the day. Breakfast is a time to relax before starting our school time. We usually start school around noon. This year is more about preparing for school. Next year both kiddos will be in Kindergarten. Diva is only going to be 5, but she has done so well this year that we are going to see how well she does. Monkey will be more than ready to begin Kindergarten.

We do follow a curriculum (Sonlight) and I love it and the kids seem to enjoy it. This is really the only structure to our school day. Some days we do lots of activities, others not so many. This year I let the kids determine how many extras we do. If I can tell they've had too much, we stop. I want their first year of schooling to be fun. I believe this will lead to many years of a laid back style of teaching. A fun style.

I have learned that what works for one family may not work for another. I am slowly learning to ignore what outsiders say in regards to homeschooling. I have found those who have nothing but negative things to say, really don't have any idea what homeschooling is really all about. I really wish people would educate themselves before speaking. Maybe some year. I have also learned to do what is best for OUR family and enjoy the kiddos. They certainly grow up way too fast.

I hope to use this blog to journal our life in our homeschooling endeavors.