LHFHG - Unit 5

This curriculum just keeps getting better!  Yes it has been almost a month since we started back in Unit 4 of LHFHG, but we've definitely been enjoying our journey!  In late August/early September we ventured into potty training for Sophia (which was very successful I might add), camping and the beginning of our extracurricular activities.  But, we're still weird!  Not unsocialized, but definitely still weird!  ;)

Annabelle has ballet on Mondays, Community Bible Study (for ALL of us) on Wednesdays, choir on Wednesdays (at night) and an art class on Friday.  While Annabelle attends choir on Wednesday evenings and Sophia gets to play with Ms. Becky and Ms. Eva (she LOVES them), I get the privilege of making our very own Jesse Tree (to help us celebrate advent this year) through a workshop at the church.

Annabelle is truly enjoying everything, though I am convinced that the Community Bible Study is by far her favorite!  And even Sophia is enjoying herself as she sings her Bible verse right along with me and her big sister.  Sophia talks constantly about her teachers, "Miss Manda and Miss Awison (aka Ms. Amanda and Ms. Allison).

Annabelle was coloring with colored pencils while I read the Bible Story of Pharaoh chasing the Israelites and God parting the Red Sea (Exodus 14:5-8, 21-31).  And when the story said, "Then the pillar of cloud went behind them and stood between the Egyptians and the Israelites," I grabbed the colored pencils and used them as props.  The white colored pencil is the pillar of cloud that went before the Israelites after God parted the Red Sea (blue colored pencils).  The brown colored pencil is the path of dry land.  The silver mechanical pencil is the Israelites.  The gray colored pencil is the dark pillar of cloud in front of the Egyptians.  And, the Hello Kitty pencil in the very back represents the Egyptians.  She really enjoyed the props, and the story lines regarding the pillars of cloud made a lot more sense to me when I illustrated the story using these props!

During this unit we made our own golden calves using edible peanut butter play dough that we made from scratch!  And, yes, we even ate them!  This was the artistic expression activity to go along with the people making idols out of gold while Moses was on Mt. Sinai (Exodus 32:1-4, 19-20, 30-34).  So since Moses melted the gold and made them drink the gold, we ate ours too.  Though our golden calves did not taste bitter.  As we were making the golden calves, Annabelle asked if we were going to put them in water and drink them (just as Moses made them do).

Katydid

I LOVE the great outdoors!  Though it is often very difficult for me to enjoy the beauty of nature with all of life's distractions.  But when we let loose, and we are released from the pressures of our everyday, God makes Himself known to us!  And it even feels good to get a little dirty and stay a little dirty for 5 days straight.  It makes you appreciate a hot shower with plenty of soap and shampoo! 

"To meet a Katydid in person is to experience an amazing event, definitely on par with sighting an elusive lizard or small exquisite bird."  http://www.drycreekgarden.com/science/entomology/katydid.cfm

While camping for four nights, we spotted a black bear, a coyote, many beautiful caterpillars, wild turkeys, a yellow necklaced snake, inchworms, and a Katydid (which I originally thought was a grasshopper until my friend just recently posted on Facebook that they had also just sighted one at their house)!  And Andy also had a brown snake swim through his legs in the river!  I'm glad I missed out on that one!  We spotted the coyote approximately 20 feet from our campfire one late evening around 11 p.m.  I am pretty sure he smelled my pound cake smothered in chocolate, marshmallows and butterscotch.

And our Katydid that we found in the evening actually hung around until morning as well!  So both girls got to enjoy the beauty of the Katydid!  I am pretty sure he was attracted to our lantern in the evening.  I am not sure why he didn't leave before dawn though.

Sophia was excited to see the black bear in the tree until he moved his head!  Then she clung to me and said, "I don't like him!"  She told everyone she knew later that when the bear moved his head she didn't like him and she held onto mommy.  I am guessing she expected the bear that everyone in the campsite was running to see was a big stuffed bear.  Bless her little heart!  She was definitely a trooper!

LHFHG - Unit 4

We kicked off Unit 4 today.  We studied Joseph being sold into slavery in Egypt by his brothers.  The girls used paper plates and paint to design their very own Egyptian collars.  Here they are sporting their Egyptian collars for Daddy when he arrived home!

These girls sure do love each other!



Annabelle adorned hers with jewels.

I can see after today's math lesson that I am going to have to be very patient with my type A personality child.  As we worked on today's lesson in math, she lined up dry erase markers to write the corresponding number on a marker board to coincide with an action performed (touching toes, jumping jacks, sit ups, etc.).  I didn't notice she was using the markers in a "pattern" until we were almost finished with the lesson.  As a result, I grabbed the "wrong" marker to assist her, and we both became very frustrated with the lesson.  I definitely have to find that balance of extending grace as her mom but yet exerting authority as her teacher.

During our storytime lesson in The Adventures of Reddy Fox today, she was quick to note which animals in the picture were able to swim.  This may not sound like much of an accomplishment, but I myself could not figure out what type of animals were pictured when I looked through the lesson last night.  It took me a good 5-10 minutes to realize that the otter and mink pictured could swim (even though I didn't know they were an otter and a mink) simply because they were standing on a rock in the middle of the water.  As for my 5 year old, she figured it out immediately this afternoon, and that was her very same reasoning!  Isn't it amazing the things a 5 year old can figure out through logic?

And I've also introduced a new method of teaching reading.  I decided to follow Charlotte Mason's method of teaching reading, so I have switched to a whole language method versus completely phonics.  Charlotte Mason does use a little phonics, but her method mainly focuses on the words as symbols.  And, so far, after only a few days of lessons, she knows how to read and spell rain, eagle and brain.  Those are the ones I have drilled her on at least.  I did introduce drain and train as well.  This method seems to be holding her interest a little more than The Reading Lesson.  I am seeing that Annabelle needs a more hands on approach to learning to read.  Here is a blog entry by Barefoot Voyage describing a child's first reading lessons using Charlotte Mason.  This method just makes so much sense to me.  Though every child is different so we will see!

Birthday Palooza

Okay, so maybe my birthday celebration did not exactly meet the definition of a "palooza," but I'm running out of snazzy titles.  What do you expect from a CPA turned full-time mom?

I celebrated my birthday with almost all of my favorite people.  Someone has to work to fund my extravagant outings!  My parents treated me and the girls to lunch at Journey's End in Loganville.  This is definitely one of my favorite places to eat because I absolutely love good 'ol country cookin' for a reasonable price that includes all the sweet tea you can drink, all the fried chicken and greasy veggies you can eat AND all the dessert you need and can eat to pad a little extra to those thighs!  I can taste the peach cobbler and ice cream now!  Yummy!

My parents will drive for miles if they find a restaurant they love.  They are notorious for this!  As a child, we would often drive across town from Gwinnett County to Cobb County simply to eat at Spaghetti Warehouse off of Powers Ferry Road.  Unfortunately, Spaghetti Warehouse closed a few years ago.  So, since I had to drive to Duluth to pick my parents up and then to Loganville to eat, they even gave me extra birthday money for "gasoline."

At first I sensed that my birthday luncheon was going to be a disaster as my sweet Sophia tossed her paci aside, and it was nowhere to be found!  We were creeping up on naptime when we left my parents' house around 12:45 p.m., and the restaurant is 45 minutes from their house.  When I realized the paci was missing just as we exited the neighborhood entrance, I decided to turn around to go back to their house and look for the paci.  We left their house the second time at 1:15 p.m. with no paci in hand!  And these particular pacis cannot be purchased everywhere!  After listening to the whining, "I want my paci" one too many times, I pulled over and searched the floor of the backseat again.  I found it attached to the floor of the car by an old piece of gum.  Hmmm...I wonder who dropped that piece of gum?  I promptly gave Sophia her paci and moved on to our destination.  Yuck, I know!  But what's a few germs between sisters?  And our crisis was diverted!

We arrived at the restaurant at 2:00 p.m., and we dined for 2 hours!  Yes, 2 hours!  It usually takes us that long to serve ourselves, potty several times after several cups of lemonade (Annabelle) or sweet tea (Mommy) and treat ourselves to several helpings of dessert.  You have to get your money's worth at an all-you-can-eat buffet!  It dawned on me when we got back into the car how great my children really were to dine for 2 hours.  This is not typical!  It has something to do with the atmosphere and the withholding of dessert until Mommy was also ready for dessert.  Of course, Annabelle also brought along her handmade cards and presents that we had to open in the restaurant as this has become a Journey's End birthday tradition for her.  I am surprised she hasn't asked yet to eat at Journey's End on her birthday!  And, her dolls, Adie and Big Girl (aka Charlotte just recently) ALWAYS have to attend the birthday celebrations at Journey's End! 

Of course we spent 30 minutes taking pictures on the restaurant's porch.  And then Annabelle spotted a bench in the distance for another great picture taking opportunity.  She wanted to take her own family picture with her daughters.  I absolutely love this next picture of my parents with the girls.  They all just look so genuine in this picture!  It is truly one of my favorites of all of them.  Sophia being the silly girl she is insisted on putting her finger in her mouth to smile for these pictures. 

And here is the young mommy herself.  Annabelle pictured with her two daughters, Adie and Charlotte.  Are the pigtails just not precious?  They remind me so much of that 2 and 3 year old I used to know.  The one who grew up to be a beautiful but very sassy 5 year old!

We headed back to my parent's house after a late lunch.  I played inside with Annabelle while Sophia got a short nap in the car with my mom on standby with her.  Before we left, I asked Annabelle to take a picture of me with my parents.  Of course she also wanted to take a picture of me with my grand babies.  She took this next picture (though I edited it quite a bit).  Too bad I don't know how to remove wrinkles and fat rolls in Photoshop!  But here I am with my grand babies!  Apparently I know nothing about holding infants' heads as I was instructed on how to hold Adie's head properly.  I think she was afraid that it might fall off (and rightfully so)!

And we finally drove home around 6:15 p.m. to meet hubby for the evening.  And he surprised me with this!

A Pandora charm bracelet!!!  With two "birthday" charms...each with the girls' birthstones!!! 

He is so sneaky!  After meeting with a good college friend this weekend and admiring her beautiful Pandora charm bracelet, I went home and told hubby first thing Sunday morning on our 12th wedding anniversary that I knew what he could buy me for our anniversary.  He hasn't bought me jewelry in years because I just don't wear it!  He used to buy it, but like I said, I just didn't wear it.  I'm not a big jewelry girl.  I wear my wedding rings every single day, and I feel naked without them, but that is all I ever wear.  But I fell in love with the Pandora charm bracelet as soon as I saw it!

Being the sneaky and very thoughtful husband he is, he contacted my friend who works at a jewelry store on Monday, ordered the bracelet from her on Wednesday, and my sweet friend delivered it priority mail so that it actually arrived on Friday!  Thank you hubby!  You are the best!!!  And thank you sweet friend too!

The girls then treated me to a special hair up-do for my birthday.  They brushed, "dried," "flat-ironed," and styled my hair while I relaxed in the recliner.  Here is a picture of me, my up-do and my beautiful hair stylists!

And no birthday is complete without birthday wishes from my sweet family and friends!  I especially love the sweet young voices singing me birthday blessings.  My sweet friend Kelley's little girl, Adie (age 4), sang happy birthday to me on my voice mail.  As I listened to it, I realized that one day I will not have sweet young voices singing happy birthday to me.  That makes me a bit sad!  It made me think that it would be really neat to take our girls to nursing homes to sing happy birthday to some of the residents on their birthdays just to make them smile!

And, of course, my sweet girls serenaded me at the restaurant!  I love those precious voices!

Thank you all for a wonderful thirty something birthday!!!  I love you all, and I am truly blessed to have such wonderful family and friends!

Swim Lessons

Annabelle started swim lessons this week through our county's parks and recreation system.  The lessons are supposed to be three days per week for three consecutive weeks.  Unfortunately, we will have to miss next week as I have signed Annabelle up for a music camp through our church.  But she has already made great progress considering the girl could not stand to get her face wet in the shower.

I had originally signed her up for the Level I class, but after she attended that class on Monday and I talked to another mom in the class with a young girl just a little bit older than Annabelle, we both decided to move our girls into the Preschool class.  I am so glad I made that decision!  She was dunking her entire head underwater by the second day and blowing bubbles!  And the Level I class almost doubled by the second day!  On the first day there were 7 children to the one instructor, but by Thursday (the last day) there were 10 children in the class.  There would have been 12 if our two girls hadn't moved down to the Preschool class.  I would not have been too thrilled that there was only 1 instructor to 12 children!  When I signed up for this class, I was told that there would be an instructor for every 5 children.  Obviously, you pay for what you get!  I think next year I will sign her up for private lessons.  But this has already served its purpose for this year since she is not scared to dunk her entire head underwater.

Here she is practicing her kicking with her face planted in the water blowing bubbles.

Annabelle working on her floating technique.

Annabelle blowing more bubbles again!

I am so proud of my big girl!  She has already learned more about swimming than her own mommy!  She is so eager to teach me how to blow bubbles underwater.  And she has made a new friend, Sienna, during this journey as well!

Kindergarten Favorites

We are only a few weeks into our Kindergarten curriculum with Heart of Dakota, but I asked Annabelle this evening what she enjoys most.  She actually surprised me with her first choice as I didn't think she was a huge fan of history at first!  These are her selections in order from her most favorite to her least favorite.

1.  History (because she gets to read the Bible)
2.  Reddy Fox (aka Storytime)
3.  Devotionals, particularly Little Visits with God ("because it is like reading the Bible.")
4.  The Reading Lesson
5.  Math
6.  Handwriting

She studies science too, but I think she is lumping that in with the history lesson.  Annabelle loves reading her Bible.  She would read her Bible all day long if I didn't encourage her to read other books for pleasure.  Her love for the Bible began with The Beginner's Bible.  We bought her that first Bible for Easter 2011.  I personally think the characters are a little funny looking, but it is definitely one of her favorites!  Fortunately, the Easter Bunny brought her The Jesus Storybook Bible for Easter this year.  And that is also a new favorite for her!

P.R.A.Y.

This mommy blogger of six beautiful children at Our Family for His Glory is changing my life and my children's lives more than I have the words to even describe it.  She introduced me to this wonderful prayer acronym to help me and my children pray just as Jesus taught us to pray in the Lord's Prayer.

Even little Sophia is somewhat getting it though when prompted "Please forgive me for...", she usually responds with "Mommy and Daddy and Ambelle [Annabelle]."  Perhaps she is actually asking forgiveness for our sins for us!

This evening when prompted "Thank you for...", Sophia responded with "Mommy, Daddy, Annabelle."  And then there was a long pause, so I ended it for her with "Amen."  This was the conversation that followed.

Sophia:  We forgot someting!

Mommy:  Oh, okay.  What did we forget?

Sophia:  Adam

Mommy:  Adam?

Sophia:  and Eve!

Daddy:  Who is Eve?  [Daddy was being silly with her!]

Sophia:  [insert giggle]  Daddy!  You know!  At da Bible!


That silly goose was thanking God for Adam and Eve!  I think she loves reading the Bible as much as her big sister!