Play

The girls made a bed, then had a sleepover with their bears.

Love it!

Little Artist

 Reason #1 for home educating my children:

I get to see them learn, every single second.

I'm not saying I always feel stunningly creative, or that I'll be the most patient or the most inventive.

But I love to see learning.

So when my 3.5-year-old sits down with a pencil and paper, and writes her name,

and writes an "L" for Lucy,

 and draws faces,

 happiness bubbles up within me at the ability and creativity she has.

This beautiful, precious girl is amazing!

Snow Angels

The girls were so excited to go play in the snow!

Then they made snow angels. 

Daddy demonstrated, and after that Ava made angel after angel!

Hooray for a beautiful day to enjoy the snow!

38 weeks

Here ya go, now that I'm almost 39 weeks!

At least the picture was taken on time...

Why I Love My Chalkboard

 Welcome to a post I've been meaning to do for a while.

 

It started when I got a can of chalboard paint for Christmas 2010.

That can sat around for a while, and finally in July of 2010 we made something.

 

It was a fairly simple project:

 

1: Paint a smooth board with the paint

 2: Make a frame out of trim board

 3. Glue the frame onto the blackboard

 4. Put hangers on the back and put it on the wall

 It was seriously that simple.

One of my favorite things about this board is that it is so easy to change.

(You can ask my husband; I change the decor pretty frequently, so easy equals fabulous.)

I've used it for seasonal and non-seasonal things.

Quotes, verses, words, thoughts.

It is versatile and fun.

 

Now I'm going to let you in on my favorite writing-with-chalk trick.

Wipe the board down, and use damp chalk.

It will write faintly, and dry to perfection. 

I use standard cheap chalk, and it writes smoothly using this method.

(I only wish I would have known this sooner.)

 

This year's Christmas board:

 

A quote from Proverbs I love:

(I use thumbtacks on the back of the frame when I hang anything over the board.)

This year's Valentine look:

 Here's the current board.

(I love the mini pennants.)

I can officially recommend having a chalkboard (blackboard?) of some sort. 

Mostly because it is fun.

And cute.

(I think it will be a great memory verse resource when the kiddos can read.)

In One Year

Out of curiousity (and maybe a little nostalgia) I looked at pictures from one year ago.

I was blown away by how much the girls have changed in one year!

Here is February 2012:

 ......................................................................................

One year ago,

Lucy didn't even have teeth,

could only crawl,

and had barely enough hair in front for a tiny barrette.

Now she runs,

dresses up,

wears hair bows and pigtails,

and has lots of teeth in her cute little grin.

 One year ago,

Ava was just learning her alphabet,

her hair fit into a clip,

the most complicated thing to learn was potty training,

and she was obsessed with Thomas the Train.

Now she is learning basic phonics and writing letters and numbers,

her hair falls to her waist,

she loves to tell big, expounded stories,

we answer questions like, "are there night monsters?",

and she still loves Thomas, but Strawberry Shortcake too.

 

It is amazing what changes in one year.

It has been a good year.

Now they are sisters that have tea parties and are princesses and play silly with bears

and learn verses together and wake up and go crazy together.

They are growing up, and I wouldn't miss this life for anything.

Life, Normal

Our "normal" days around here really aren't. 

Sometimes a child wakes up grumpy and sometimes Mommy wakes up grumpy.

I don't hold a mantra over Mondays, because sometimes Thursday is the roughest day of the week.

So, "Life, Normal" is really the thought that normal entails what the day brings.

Ava has new chores.

This one I actually had to get some photo proof of; she is so good at sorting all the clean silverware.

And she will ask to put away the silverware!

I am so glad. 

I want my children to realize that there is value and enjoyment in work.

 

 (Chores not pictured: picking up the living room every day, vacuuming under the kitchen table as needed. She also helps switch and sort laundry.)

This funny child keeps me on my toes!

Lucy is busy, and the one who thinks up all the naughty things to do.

She loves to pick out random clothing to wear; here is a recent favorite:

Lucy's creativity never ceases to surprise me.

A couple days ago she had put her rocking horse on the block container and was giving it a ride.

Lucy has learned "NO" very emphatically. (Like in the store, when she doesn't want to ride in the cart.)

Lucy has learned other new words, too.

Please.

Thank you.

Yes, Dad. Yes, Mom.

 One of the things we stress with our kiddos is that part of being a big girl is using good manners.

(Because really, who wants to be around rude children?)

This is what happens when I say, "Hey, girls, can you smile for a picture?" 

This was the best out of 5.

Silly girls.

I am 36 weeks pregnant, and feeling very ready to have baby!

Everything has been perfect so far, and I have found some exercises to help relieve back and hip pain.

Not much longer, and I'm so glad.

So many friends are having their babies; I really want to hold mine, too!