Owls, Bears and Bunnies (oh my!)

So, I’d been gabbing about the little owl from Think Geek that' I’d been eyeing. I finally got one. I’m trying to upload the video of it on Facebook, but Facebook is being silly so we’ll see.

I love hooking it up to my laptop. It’s the cutest little thing, and it keeps me company as I work on the computer. :-)

 
(I got the white one. *smiles*)

I’ve been working on crocheting Brooke’s pink bear from the Planet June pattern I told you about recently. It’s turning out really well. I’ve been brushing the pieces as I make them, and having ‘real’ stuffed animal eyes and noses makes it so much more fun to make it! :-)

 
I can’t wait to work on Jaycen’s. His will be yellow.

As for homeschooling, it’s going better and better. Brooke is paying attention, she still gets distracted sometimes depending on what we’re reading about, but she was able to recount two stories we read last week just as well as she did right after reading them. She also sat down and taught Jaycen some math this morning…and picked out a Beethoven song on the Classical Music station this morning, comparing it to ‘Eroica’.

(Brooke’s last pencil study of ‘A Young Hare’ by Albrecht Durer) 

In case you’re wondering, we went without the schedule today. I’m getting a sore throat and have been really ‘heady’ today. It’s hard to teach, or have patience to teach, when your head feels like it’s under water. I hope I feel better tomorrow! :-)

I hope you’re all doing well with fall in full swing. It’s starting to feel nippy here…winter is on its way! I hope it snows this year. :-)

(hugs to you)

Some Crafty Fun :-)

I sat down and made some ‘Nice Cards’ that I printed off from Operation Nice. I wrote some little messages on them. I haven’t put them in my purse yet…I’m not sure where I’m going to leave them, but we’ll see! I hope to use them soon. :-)

 
Speaking of Operation Nice, she has an assignment to give thanks to someone this week! Check out her post, she has a printable Gratitude card if you don’t have one to send. :-)

A little update in homeschooling…it has been going really well. Brooke’s handwriting is improving and so is her reading. Her narration is improving, too!

Along with reading and writing, some of our favorite activities are art and music. Here is Brooke’s and my art study from Friday…Albrecht Durer’s ‘A Young Hare’.

Brooke’s drawing:

 
She got a bit distracted, but had fun. She’s been waiting to draw the bunny ever since she saw me print the picture out!

Here’s my drawing:

 
I went a little nuts, I love drawing animals. :-)

Talk to you all again soon!

Teddy Bears, Art & Playmobil

Okay, I just can’t resist teddy bears. I really love the plush, soft, floppy ones that say ‘hug me’!

Yesterday at Blockbuster, Brooke and I spotted a sweet little movie-star bear with eyelashes, a dress, a beauty mark and sunglasses. I got it for her – it was just too adorable. Brooke hasn’t set her down since!

(Of course Jaycen loves his puppy as much as Brooke loves her new bear!)

Today I hope to start crocheting a teddy bear pattern I bought the other day from Planet June. I ordered some eyes and noses from her store too, and I can’t WAIT for those to come in the mail.

(Here’s a picture from her site of the pattern I purchased…)

 
It’s amazing how such simple things can make me smile! Yarn, stuffing and bits of plastic can make the CUTEST things.

The kids have been doing lots of art lately. I got them some fun Crayola kits a week or so ago, and they taped a bunch of their Halloween crafts on the door!

 
(A Vampire bear with a bat friend!)

…and of course, with my stamp designing I do every day, Brooke loves sitting down and using one of mommy’s older Micron pens to do her own designs. :-)

(Little witchy cat with a spider on her hat)

…but some of the most fun we’ve had so far this week is a re-enactment of the story of Julius Caesar and his ventures against the Britons. I pulled out the kids’ Roman & barbarian Playmobil toys and built the white cliffs and beaches.

Check out this little army of Britons…Rome doesn’t stand a chance!

   
(Brooke had to throw in the lion and tiger, lol)

That’s it for now…I hope you’re all having a lovely mid-week!

(hugs)

Time flies!

There aren’t enough hours in the day! My mother used to say that and now I believe her. I’ve been doing so many things…I am trying to set up a few places on the web to further share my stamp designs, I have been getting into crocheting/knitting again, and homeschool is in full swing.

 
I feel homeschool is sort of so-so. Maybe it’s fine, but it’s hard to tell. We all tend to watch movies and stuff in free-time, but Brooke is improving in Narration (depending on the theme of the story) and copywork. I am determined…I’m not going to give up!

Back to the crochet thing, I have this big itch to make cute teddy bears and scarves and sell them on Etsy (check out PlanetJune to see what critters I’m thinking of making!). I just love the idea of having my own shop again there. I’ve never tried to sell stuff that I crochet, so I don’t know how well it will do. I also focus so intently on my artwork in every venue, that I am not sure where I would talk about my crochet! But I suppose I could share some here as I make things. We’ll see. :-)

Anyway, here are some cute pictures…

I taught the kids how to sew a week or so ago. I think Brooke is pulling the box of supplies out again as I type this!

  
Jaycen made ‘sleeping bags’ and pillows for his two favorite stuffed animals!

Rex being irresistibly cute…

 
He’s taken over the kitty bed that we got for Bolita. Took him some time, but this is just too darn cute for words!!

As much as Rex gives Bolita a hard time, I think they do love eachother. Cats are funny like that…

Bolita is such a lovely little girl. She’s becoming ‘plushy’!

Now for some more pictures…Halloween fun and homeschooling!

Brooke’s glittery picture of a House Sparrow!
 
 
Making some fun Halloween decorations…

 
…and of course, I’ve been working on my stamp designs.

I’m really grateful that I have this as a hobby-turned-business. It’s a huge blessing.

 
Sorry I’ve been behind on posting – I hope to get in the swing someday soon before the world ends! Lol, sheesh.

Perfectionism

I drive myself nuts. I drive hubby nuts, too. And the cats. And the kids. Poor things, they all have to listen to mommy being so hard on herself about the cleaning, not doing enough for the family, messing up with cooking recipes, forgetting things, and so on.

I need to not be so hard on myself. I know I need to focus on the things that are making us all happy – even if our house isn’t up-to-snuff and we aren’t doing everything perfectly!

Here are some awesome things we’ve done together…some new and some old. These are just things that pop into my mind (and things I can find pictures for on the fly! lol)

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We gave a home to a homeless, hungry kitty, and he’s been with us for a year so far. We love you Rex!

 
We gave a home to ‘Bolita’ – a young kitty who was a mommy on the streets. She is such a sweetheart!

 
(yes, she loves to lay under my computer desk as I work!)

I have been finally teaching the kids about temperature in homeschooling… (I wanted to do this last year!)

 
Brooke has been doing animal study – something else I also wanted to do last year!

 
The kids have been spending HOURS outside nearly every day, playing with the neighbor kids…

 
(Brooke is on the left)

Brooke has been learning how to use a scooter – it belongs to her best friend (who lives upstairs) and she loves using it!

 
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The kids playing outside is a BIG DEAL. I am horribly reclusive sometimes…I often prefer the quiet of our home. I could spend days indoors and be fine. So I kept the kids bound to that for years. This year, however, starting in summer – I decided to change that. The kids played outside ALL day every day in July!

Also, digging in whole-heartedly with homeschooling this year is also a big deal. After bombing last year with dad being in the hospital in Sept through November…and then his passing…I totally locked up over the concept of trying again. But we’re happily into our 3rd week and having fun!

I can do this. :-) And if I can pump myself up, then you can too!

(hugs to all)

Night Owl (and the CUTEST Thing!)

I am a night owl.

So much so, in fact, that I cannot seem to find enough hours in the day and so I stay up so incredibly late that it’s invigorating until I have to wake up in the morning…at which point, I feel like a grumpy bear waking from hibernation.

My brain doesn’t even TURN ON until the evening, folks.

I envy cats for their cat naps and owls for their daytime slumber fests.

Mr. Owl, can I join you in your tree?

Now, for some unbelievable cuteness. I found this when I googled for owls. Beware, if you are a compulsive buyer of things that are adorable, then call the shop-a-holics hotline, because this is SO cute that it should be banned.

(…at least in my opinion)

I actually found myself looking for spare USB ports on my laptop, and thinking of ways to make the cats go without cat litter so that I could afford this little guy.

*sigh*

Oh little owl. You tempt me so.

(…as for today’s homeschooling – icky symptoms kicked in from my usual night-owl-ism, so we listened to Beethoven, did some practice reading, and did our normal temperature chart for the day. I should show that to you sometime. *smiles*)

Art and Nature Study

 
Cute kitty-cat! Okay, okay. I couldn’t resist, sorry. Rex is just so fluffy and so cute. :-) We actually studied ‘cats’ last week – Rex received LOTS of attention!

The kids and I are studying Albrecht Durer this term. Here is one of his works (a wood carving, if you can believe it!), called ‘The Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse’…

 
I’ve always been fascinated with themes like this (yeah I know, a little macabre, but ‘tis the truth!), so this has been by far one of my favorite pieces we’ve studied.

Last Friday, the kids and I sat down and sketched it in pencil.

Here’s Jaycen’s drawing…the dots are all of the people, and he drew a cloud at the top. I think the little design at the bottom was his version of the artist’s signature.

 
Here’s Brooke’s drawing:

 
She focused on the thin horse on the left. She also drew the angel and the clouds. She was discouraged, but I told her that it looked amazing! She spent time drawing the shadows and everything. I think that’s neat. :-)

Here’s my drawing:

 
I don’t really like drawing people. I focused on the center horse, with the horseman carrying scales.

I really love this work of art, and I can’t wait to study it again this Friday!

Here’s a leaf Brooke drew from last Friday’s nature walk:

 
She really bucked drawing this, saying that she doesn’t know how to draw a leaf (she was discouraged by her horseman drawing) – and I kept reminding her that all she needs to do is look at the leaf that we brought home, and draw what she sees. It doesn’t have to be perfect. It just needs to be from the heart.

So, after a while she sat down with the leaf and drew it.

:-)

Oh…and poor Rex isn’t too fond of homeschooling. The kids went crazy with reading this morning and were laughing, and Rex thought they were laughing at him.

He didn’t like that.

 
I’ll be uploading some videos today on Facebook. If you’re on my friend list, you’ll be able to see them. :-)

Until next time! Love you all!

Week 1 of homeschooling…

This is a breakdown of what we learned last week. I have some pictures that the kids drew from our nature walk and our art study – I will do my best to remember to upload those for you to see!

Because Monday was a day off, we pushed literature to Tuesday and combined History & Geography on Wednesday.

Monday: (labor day)

Tuesday: (literature + math)
* Parables from Nature: A Lesson in Faith
* Aesop’s Fables: ‘The Wolf and the Kid’, ‘Tortoise and the Ducks’
* Just So Stories: Whale
* Math Introduction from Make Math Meaningful

**I love the ‘Just So Stories’, they are by Rudyard Kipling – the author of the Jungle Book.

Wednesday: (geography + history + phonics + math)
* Phonics Sounds Book
* Our Island Story: Albion and Brutus
* Fifty Famous Stories Retold: Sword of Damocles
* Paddle to the Sea: chapter 1
* Continued Math Introduction

Thursday: (science + copywork)
* Handbook of Nature Study: Cats
* Copywork: ‘Never let anything turn you from your purpose.’

**This term is ‘mammals’ and since we have two indoor cats, we spent the day observing them and trying to understand their ‘language’.

Friday: (art + composer / folk song / nature walk + drawing)
* ’Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse’ by Albrecht Durer – study in pencil while listening to Beethoven’s ‘Pathetique’.
* Played musical instruments along with ‘Waltzing Matilda’
* Nature walk, looked for birds and mammals, brought home a leaf and drew it in pencil.

**When daddy came home, we ended up looking up more music online for ‘Waltzing Matilda’, learned about the song’s origin, and discovered that it is tied into the ‘Man From Snowy River’ movie in the theme song at the end (we picked it out together as we watched it tonight). How neat! Now the kids sing the song every day.

Daily Practice:

* Listen to Beethoven’s symphonies and piano sonatas while doing schoolwork
* Bible reading (Old testament – Genesis, the Creation)
* Hymn: I am a Child of God
* Phonics: post two new word cards on the wall and sight read throughout the day
* Spanish: practice one new word each week (this week: ‘Gato’)

Phew! :-) How exciting!

Now, wouldn’t you believe it? I forgot to purchase printer ink *again*, so I am writing this week’s schedule once more in my notebook. I think I might use this technique each week, even after I print out the lists and whatnot – it helps keep me organized when I can see the week’s selected work jotted down in one place!

Hopefully I will remember to divide this coming week’s adventures into a daily post, so I don’t bombard you with one long post like this. *wink*

See you again soon!

Homeschooling

I’ve mentioned homeschooling in the past, but I’ve never added much detail to explain what we’re doing.

We use what’s called the ‘Charlotte Mason’ method. I could go on and on about her teachings and what my beliefs are…I’m sure I can share those over time. But for now, I’ll link you to AmblesideOnline. That is a phenomenal website where the curriculum and booklists are all laid out, and there are several free resources online for accessing the reading material.

This year, I chose to purchase the books in hard-copy and on our new ‘Kindle’ reader. That is just my personal preference. I love having books in my hand, and for the ones we couldn’t find, the Kindle was the closest thing to it. :-)

Anyhow, we started homeschooling on Tuesday after Labor Day. We were going to begin last week, but after I bombed on homeschooling last year I had been holding myself off on planning to the point that it was almost paralyzing. Thankfully I re-gained my confidence and started fresh this week. It has been a lot of fun, and more successful than last year – but I will admit, being a teacher AND a parent (over the same children!) doesn’t go without fault.

I will make a second post (soon) and hopefully a fresh post each school day so that we can share what / how we’re teaching our children. :-) I’ll keep sharing family experiences and my little musings too as I can. I sometimes wish my camera was easier to upload pictures from, but I suppose we always want something easier, even when things are already so instant!

Talk to you again soon. :-)

Still Here…

I know you’ve heard that before elsewhere, if you followed our last blog, but it’s true this time. Just catching up with myself. Hard to do sometimes!

The week has been a bit crazy. I’ve been overwhelmed with house-keeping and trying to keep my head. Good thing is I’m looking forward to homeschooling this year. I got Brooke excited by showing her one of the art pieces we’ll be studying (we use the Charlotte Mason method for homeschooling). I can’t wait. :-)

I’m listening to KIXI am online right now. It’s all the old classics, like old rock and roll, doo-wop music, things like that. I love it.

I have pictures to share. I just need to upload them. I will keep in touch as I can! I’m sure I’ll have MUCH more to share as the homeschool year kicks in starting September 1st.

Have a lovely Friday/weekend everyone! (hugs)