Finding Joy - Week 5

The joys:

*pyramid building

* morgan's gym hosted a meet this past weekend so we spent friday morning having "home ec"... lots of baking.  scotcheroos, chocolate chip cookies, cinnamon rolls, revel bars, puppy chow, and caramel corn

 * i love that my kids love to be in the kitchen and bake with me.  they also did a great job of packaging all our baked goods to sell

* mauryn did her job... she was our entertainment. singing and dancing her little heart out

* my kids have great friends who have great families

* the parents on morgan's gymnastics team who love my little ones and treat them as their own

 * turning on my camera and finding these attempts at self portraits

 * landon and mauryn asked the other morning if they could make a fort and it took everything in me to say yes... and it was worth it. it kept them busy and brought them so much joy.

* a phone call from denise which always comes at the right time

 * finding a beloved stuffed animal tucked in on the couch

 * mauryn creating a bed and snuggling up with her stuffed animals to share a story

 * after fighting a cold all week and a busy weekend, i woke up sunday morning feeling awful.  i had a quiet morning at home resting and reading.  i snuggled up with mauryn for a much needed afternoon nap.  i love naps so that was a joy to get a nap.  i woke up from my nap to find that lance brought me a fountain soda... yeah!

* watching the super bowl in my pajamas

* mauryn rocking and mothering her baby

 * watching Landon watching the super bowl and seeing him understand the game

* my iphone arrived in the mail... big yeah!

what were your joys this week?

Curriculum/Timeline

One of the challenges {and advantages} to homeschooling is picking curriculum for my kids.

There are a variety of programs using a variety of methods to choose from in each curriculum area.  When families find something that works for them they become quite passionate about their curriculum choices.

 But what works for one family might not work for another family and what works for one child might not work for another child.

It can become a game of hit and miss while searching for curriculum. Thankfully I haven't had too many misses with curriculum.

The one area where I have struggled to find the right match is for history.  For the last four years we used a curriculum the covered history, science, and geography.  It was a good curriculum but very time consuming in prep time for me as well as the large blocks of school time needed for doing activities which wasn't feasible for our family with Morgan's gymnastics schedule.

This fall I ordered separate science and history curriculums.  We immediately fell in love with the science curriculum. The kids have been soaking it up.

The history curriculum that I started using was not a good match for my kids.  So over Christmas break I started looking for a new curriculum.  In the new semester we started using the Mystery of History series.  My kids { and I} are loving it.  It allows me to do the reading portion of the lesson with both kids and then give activities based on their ages.

One piece of the curriculum is creating a timeline.  The book suggested something portable but since I don't have very much storage space I didn't want to create one more thing that needed to be stored.

Instead, I decided to use a large open wall in our school room.  I used some painter's tape and made three rows as a start to the timeline.  I just eyeballed so they are not very straight.

As we work through our lessons the kids add people 

and notes about specific events to our timeline.

I like that it is large, removable {if needed}, and is visible for reference as we do our lessons.

In case someone asks, our curriculum choices:

Language Arts - Learning Language Arts Through Literature

Handwriting - Italic Handwriting

Math - Making Math Meaningful {Landon}

Teaching Textbooks {Morgan}

Science - Apologia

History- Mystery of History

Finding Joy - Week 4

The joys:

* girls giggling

* a little ballerina twirling

* gymnasts flipping

*sun shining

* games of rock, paper, scissors

* kids running, playing, jumping

* dogs sleeping

* 4 year old song creations

* family movie night

* my boy snuggling with harley the wonder dog 

* time gained when lance picked morgan up from gymnastics

* morgan having fun at her competition and showing more confidence

* mauryn's outfit choice and constant pulling up of tights.  she is quite the lady

* a skype session with some dear friends who moved recently.  it was so great to see their faces.  in a little over a week i get to hug their necks... yeah!

* celebrating our 100th day of school

* chocolate chip cookies

* a morning at the indoor inflatable place.  fun and playing for kids, visiting for the moms

* catch up email from a friend

* my ww accountability partner... sharing recipes, snacks, challenges and sucesses

* bedtime stories

* dress up day at our homeschool co op... the theme nerd day 

* a gift certificate that allowed me a facial and pedicure

* sharing popcorn with a friend

* a clean car

* watching american idol

* getting to the gym for the first time in months

* discovering movies with subtitles.  a perfect thing to watch while working out at home. the need to focus on the words helps to pass the time.

what were your joys this week?

A Whole Bunch of Random

* since having her tonsils and adenoids out, mauryn has returned to sleeping in her favorite spot.

* i saw these button earrings ... so cute.  i made a few stops to find earring posts and put together a pair one morning.  so easy and fun.  they may become the new "go to" gift for morgan's friends.

* i tried cutting vinyl for the first time with my cricut.  i didn't use the transfer tape this time but i will use it next time, especially if i do a bigger project.

 * when lance and i were first married, i would take our christmas card pictures and cut them out to create a collage on our refrigerator.  {i had way too much time on my hands} then we had kids and i became more anal about having a clean refrigerator door and i stopped saving the pictures.  i always felt bad not keeping them but i also didn't want to make photo albums or find a place to store an album for each year.  this year when i saw an simple idea for keeping christmas cards i was totally on board.  i added ribbon to the metal ring and made a tag for the year.  

* landon and mauryn spent last week building their pinewood derby cars.  here is a little glimpse of their cars... details of the grand prix coming!

* lance took mauryn up to the mountain skiing on saturday. she wasn't too sure she wanted to go but once she got skiing she loved it.  when they got home she come up to landon and said "landon we have to go skiing together. i need to show you how to go fast!" 

 * i had my very first facial on saturday.  i had a gift certificate to use and i am not a massage kind of gal so this seemed like a better option. i ended up loving it. it was so relaxing i almost fell asleep.

* i have been working out at home since the new year, but hit the gym for the first time in forever on saturday. i was sure some type of alarm would go off since i hadn't been there in so long but i made it through the door without a problem. phew!  i met up with my favorite machine the step mill and then hit the track for a little run.  my muscles are revolting from my 6 month exercise hiatus.  i am SOO sore.

* morgan had a gymnastics meet on friday.  it was the first time in a year or two that i noticed all the girls having FUN.  they were happy, confident, and just enjoying the competition.  their team took 4th place and all the girls had a solid meet.  morgan, mauryn, and i had planned to stay for the next session to watch some of morgan's friends and ended up staying for the next two sessions to watch some of the upper level gymnasts.  mauryn was a trooper hanging in their for 10 hours of gymnastics.  

* i am setting my alarm for the middle of the night {actually early morning} on thursday so i can get online to order my iphone.  i can NOT wait. i have been saving up for one and just waiting for verizon to release their iphone.... i may just do a happy dance when it comes in the mail.

* i dread lunch time every day. the end. 

Celebrating the 100th Day of School

As Landon looked at our calendar and noticed we were almost to the 100th day of school he exclaimed "yes we are almost to the 100th day and school will be over!"

I guess he doesn't remember from last year that even though we celebrate our 100th day we still have about 70 days of school left.

Needless to say on day 101 I had a very disappointed boy.

The kids started the day by using their cute little selves to make the number 100.

We spent our morning focusing on activities around the number 100.

* making 100 day crowns and used 100 items to decorate them

* spent 100 seconds doing push ups {morgan - 80, landon - 73} and jumping jacks {morgan -125, landon - 120}

*writing their names with 100 dots

* read a 100 days poem with 100 words

* drawing pictures of what they would look like when they were 100 years old
* pick a spot and take 100 steps 

* writing what they would buy if they had $100 {mauryn - american girl doll, landon - "mote" control helicopter, morgan - cell phone and cell phone service}

* researching who our president was 100 years ago {william taft} and notable news stories of 100 years ago {new york public library opened}

* used a 100 charts and dice to play a math game

* we met friends at an indoor play center and played for 100 minutes

* their favorite .... 100 day snack.  there are 10 items and take 10 of each item

Finding Joy - Week 3

The joys:

* kids working together on a history project

 * valentine bark {similar to peppermint bark.... oreos, pretzel, and m&m's covered with pink candy melts}

 * sunshine and 50 degree days

* kids biking and playing outside

* mauryn taking an interest {finally} in learning to write her name

 * a rainy afternoon spent at the dollar movie theater

* changing our history curriculum to something that is a better fit for our family

* miss mauryn blowing on dinner

 * two unexpected lazy days at home

* an afternoon spent coloring

 * blog friends back to blogging

* a new cowboy statue for our living room given to us by our pastor's wife.  her father passed away in november and this was part of his collection. such a special gift

 * chocolate chip pie with Schwan's french vanilla ice cream

* journaling my joys each week. i realized i don't always remember from the beginning of a week to the end.  a journal is a great tool to keep me accountable and focused

 * i started reading One Thousand Gifts by Ann Voskamp... amazing. go out and get it now.  

* a four year old tea party with her very favorite doll

 * mauryn hiding under the desk getting warm on the vent

 * a full moon that lit up the sky

* dinner with new friends

* introducing our new friends to Just Dance 2

* phone call with a friend...always joyful and refreshing for my soul

Chocolate Chip Pie

If you know me or have read my blog you know that i have a slight addiction to I LOVE LOVE LOVE chocolate chip cookies.


The only thing I love more than a warm chocolate chip cookie is having a bowl of ice cream with chocolate chip cookies chopped up in it.  YUM!


When I saw a recipe for chocolate chip pie, I knew I had to try it.  The perfect dessert for a chocolate chip loving girl like me.


This pie is super easy to make and delicious, especially topped with vanilla ice cream.  It won't replace the chocolate chip cookie but it could be a close second.

1 unbaked pie crust {i used this recipe}
3/4 c softened butter
2 large eggs
1 c chocolate chips
1/2 c flour
1/2 c sugar
1/2 c packed brown sugar
1 tsp vanilla


Preheat oven 325.  Beat eggs in large mixing bowl on high until foamy.  Beat in flour, sugars, and butter.  Stir in chocolate chips.  Spoon into a pie shell.  Bake 55-60 minutes or until knife comes out clean.  Topped with whipped cream or ice cream.