Happy Valentine's Day

Yes, I have been at it with the crochet hooks again!  I saw this pattern & thought it was a cute little decoration for the house.  Not to mention alot less calories!  There is a caramel, a few chocolate covered pretzels, jordan almonds and other yummy looking creme filled.  It was alot of fun to make.

100 Days!

Today is the 100th day of school.  The state says we should have a progress level of 52% to 61%, and have logged 510 hours by the end of January to keep on track to finish school by the end of the year on June 3, 2011.  As of the end of today......

• Alex has logged 535 hours, 35 minutes & has a progress level of 64%.  He is on track to finish up in early May.  He is farther ahead because he does so well in Spelling and has gone through 2 units per week!
• Sarah has logged 519 hours, 37 minutes & has a progress level of 52%.  She should finish up mid-May unless she decides to double up on some lessons between now & then.  I'm not holding my breath.
• Jake continues to want to do whatever they are doing and have absolutely nothing to do with the Preschool books I try to have him work through.  He does LOVE flashcards, he asks to do them during class time as well as with daddy at night.

Another veteran OHVA Mom suggested we do 3 of the 4 required novel units over the summer months, 1 each month.  The last one to be done some time during the school months.  This way they never really get out of the habit of learning, but are not in "school" year round and it frees up some time next year in case of more difficult subjects. 

Sarah has chosen the novels:

1. The Lion, The Witch, and The Wardrobe by C.S. Lewis
2. The Hound of the Baskervilles By Arthur Conan Doyle
3. The Door in the Wall by Marguerite de Angeli
4. Catherine, Called Birdy by Karen Kushman

Alex has chosen the novels:

1. Shiloh By Phyllis Reynolds Naylor
2. Little House on the Prairie by Laura Ingalls Wilder
3. The Lion, The Witch, and The Wardrobe by C.S. Lewis
4. The Bronze Bow by Elizabeth George Speare

I have all the books Alex has chosen except for the Bronze Bow but only The Lion, The Witch & The Wardrobe for Sarah.  This is just part of the small costs we have to incur as a homeschooling family.  This being our first year we have more to buy, though alot less overall than if they were in a traditional public school.  I imagine by the time Jake gets to 3rd Grade I should have all the books he will need.  I found a great website www.thriftbooks.com that always has free shipping & I can usually find the hardcover version of the books we need for about $4.00 each.  I have put all those I need in my wishlist and as the summer draws closer I will be moving them to my "cart" to anxiously await that box of books in the mail!

Cardinal on the Birdfeeder

This is a horrible picture because it was dusk but the most beautiful red cardinal was on the feeder on Saturday.  He was plump and iridescent red.  If I had opened the door to get a better shot he would have flown away.  The feeder has been great, we see so many birds all the time.  There is alot of Junco and Chickadees every day.

Happy 12th Birthday Sarah

My little girl turned 12 on Saturday!  It is all going so fast, too fast really.  She picked out the color bands that went around her cake & helped me decorate it.  The little cake was for a friend that has the same birthday as hers & turned 19 this year.  Sarah decorated it for her & did a really great job for her first try with cake decorating.

 

Goodbye 2010

The weather was unseasonably warm this New Years Eve so we had an impromptu wiener roast, complete with marshmallows!



Jake cooks hot dogs for himself and Mom




Sarah roasts some marshmallows




Alex on his second go round of hot dogs.

We had a very nice week with Kevin off.  He got lots of little things done around the house that had been put aside since we moved in 6 months ago!  Monday is back to work for Kevin and back to school for the rest of us.

Christmas 2010

Christmas Eve was spend at Kevin's parents house, as always.  This year, however, no one was sick so we all really had a good time.  The kids even sat quietly long enough to watch a movie together!  After that we came home and hope the kids would go to sleep soon.  They did pretty good, considering what was to await them in the morning.  About 7:30 a.m. I rolled over to realize no one came to get us & the sun was nearly up.  I thought maybe they just started without us, but no, they were all still asleep.  We got them up since we had company coming at 10:00 a.m.



Sarah with her new "real" digital camera



Alex gets a metal play gun

OOH, Jake gets one too!



Jake is thrilled to get a Chuck the Dump Truck Stunt Park



Alex gets his very own air hockey table

And Daddy gets the WWI rifle Mommy has been busting to give him!

I think it was a great Christmas for all!

Family Reunion

 In December we were able to get all of my Mom's side of the family together for a little reunion.  We got everyone except one of the kids.  Pretty amazing considering how busy we all are, especially this time of year.  Here is a picture of all the kids, wow what a crew!

The cake I made, the first in the big square pan.