Sunday School Post #11

*warning: picture heavy post*

Happy Second Sunday of Advent! How is advent treating you? I cannot believe how quickly the week went by. I truly feel as though we are rushing through too much too quickly!! Today my youngest makes his first Reconciliation this morning, please pray for him.

As I mentioned earlier in the week, we get 1 new book a day to countdown to Christmas, READ about it HERE! Fitting for today was our Saint Nicholas coloring book that is also a storybook! It was fun reading through each page as the kids took turns coloring and listening.

These 6 books are our daily advent books this year and we are using them together as a family in different way. We absolutely love hands on things where we are not just reading but living out our holiday season. (click each title for more information on each book)

1. Daybreaks Daily Reflections

2. Advent Family Prayers

3. Live Advent at Home

4. Coloring Book About Advent

5. Every Day of Advent and Christmas

6. Advent All Along the Way

Our Jesse Tree is doing well, the children alternate things to do with the tree each day. One child will pick the ornament of the day and read the bible verse. Child #2 will color the ornament as we read the context from the bible and then child #3 will hang it on our Jesse tree! I discussed our ornaments in particular HERE for more information.

Our Advent Calendar had different verses on each day and each door we open holds surprises from candy to crosses and rosaries to random other goodies. These just remain on the ring as opposed to try and fold them up into the calendar, that way we can keep them on a yearly basis.

Our Advent Calendar and ring of readings!

As I get my final child through Reconciliation and First Communion nostalgia begins to hit me. I cannot believe how quickly he has grown up and how I feel like I am missing so much and yet I see them all day and every day...how is it possible to feel that way? Well here are the 5 books we used to prepare for Reconciliation, as well as a binder of activities I would print from throughout the internet. We worked on everything together and had so much fun doing it. We used a Brother Frances DVD as well and he is more than ready to go! We have a different round of books for First Communion prep and I will share those as well when the time comes. Even though a couple of these are story books, we would still read them daily to help him retain the information. We also practiced going into the confessional (minus the sins) and then he took turns reciting his prayers to everyone he would encounter from our family, to ensure he was able to speak to not just me but to anyone! What fun we have had preparing for such an important sacrament!

We are working on our Rosary skills once again this month and our Rosary box is quite full of fun stuff! I talked about our color as your pray Rosary Page HERE. We also have a sheet of Prayers of the Rosary and laminated oversized pages with the mysteries of the Rosary on them. Both of those sheets we found online and just printed them out. A book on how kids can pray the rosary as well as a ring with the mysteries on the rosary on it that has the description of each mystery on the back. The pill bottles each contain 2 rosaries and are so cute!! To feel better, pray 1 rosary a day!

A few smaller books and pamphlets round out our rosary box and offer us a variety when we pray our rosary. This way the prayers are not always the same and the kids learn different things as we go along. We also use a fabulous app every now and then called The Rosario. It has the songs as well as the rosary itself all read aloud. This is good to listen to when I am driving and the kids just want to listen and not read.

I only wish our coloring book would fit in the box, because this coloring book has been colored in by all 3 kids at different stages in their life. It is full and worn but I love it and we love to thumb through it for basic information.

How is it that I save the oddest things and yet always have a need for them? This brown bag is full of toilet tubes and paper towel tubes of all sizes.We ended up needing them for our Little Flowers Catholic Girl Club of Rockford this past week. The girls each made a 16 piece nativity set and they came out so beautiful!

This is our completed Nativity out of toilet tubes! I love how it turned out! We thank Catholic Icing for the printable!

 

These are the last pieces we will be doing with the toilet paper tubes. I printed them out from a Google Search and then cut each one out. Each child will paint their tube any color they would like and as they dry the Angels will be colored and then glued onto the tube. Hmm...I wonder which Angel Gabriel will pick?! Each child will then research each Angel and give me 5 facts about each one. I love when they can learn through hands on activities! I will be sure to share the finished project in the future!!

Enjoy every minute my friends!

FIND ALL OUR SUNDAY SCHOOL POSTS HERE!

   Follow Me On Facebook!
   Follow Me On Pinterest!

The Scoop on Saturday!

Saturday has come and gone far too quickly! I can gladly say that we spent it busily and with much laughter! An early run with cross country had us up and out of bed far too early, but good for getting a jump on the day.

4H projects were looked over and goals were set, after a quick Starbucks stop of course! 3 kids with 2 projects each, means very busy children on top of all their activities!

Our oldest has a deep seeded desire to work for the government, the NSA to be exact. She hopes that she can form the perfect cover by being a fashion designeer, so of course she has chosen textiles for one of her 4H projects. With this project, she now finagled the purchase of a sewing machine, that she has been asking for for quite awhile. We walked in just to look at machines and of course ended up with one! We made her take it out of the box and hold it in front of the store, needless to say we are the type of parents that drive children crazy! 

After our princess took off for a sleepover with friends, it was a day of mom and all boys! They were eager to spend time with mom and dad and do several fun things throughout the day as well.

Lunch time took us to a new restaurant that had delightful food and great service! The boys loved having us all to themselves and had plenty to talk about as well.

BOWLING! I did terribly as always, but we all had so much fun that we made it through 3 games before we were ready to head out. It was a league day, which the boys loved watching and cheering them on.

We still had some time before our next appointment, so we stopped at Michael's and found this AWESOME castle, perfect for their peg dolls collection. We are thinking it would be a fun project to paint it first, but not sure yet. I love the Waldorf style of natural wood, but they love the thought of being able to go crazy with paints!

They also had these phenomenal journals! I couldn't decide which I wanted and regret not seeing them at the beginning of the year. The travel one would be awesome for documenting all of our weekend getaways and longer!

Next, it was time for Laser QUEST! This place was beyond insane in volume and price but it was so much fun. How on earth have we lived in this city 10 years and only been here twice, it's definitely time to put this one back in rotation!

Enjoy every minute my friends, we certainly are!

   Follow Me On Facebook!
   Follow Me On Pinterest!

MagiQuest - A Review & Tips

I've been wanting to do a review of this place for years, ever since we first became addicted, but of course other things kept getting in the way and before I knew it months would pass before i would have time. Magiquest has locations all over the USA and Japan too! It's an awesome place for families, not just kids. We go year round and once you invest in the wands, it becomes a great deal, since you will easily spend all day there. 

TIP: Call ahead and double check the hours, get there at opening and you will find you have the entire place (along with the employee and all their knowledge) all to yourself!!

TIP: Wear comfortable shoes or socks, since they let you run around barefoot (remember they are attached to a water park!) You will be up and down stairs non stop and the elevator only goes to the 2nd floor, not floors 3 & 4.

First things first, get the wands! You will be tempted to save money and have the whole family use 1 wand and then let the kids wander off while you sit and enjoy some coffee and conversation...don't! Make it a fun family outing that is worth the investment, because with so many locations, you never know when you will be at another one! We have been over 7 times already and cannot wait to do more!
TIP: Don't waste money on the toppers! You will notice that we have a few, although super cool, they weigh down your wand too much and often unscrew the cap, which makes your wand not work properly or effectively. It's a MAJOR disappointment and I wish it is something Magiquest would fix, but so far it's been a no-go.

TIP: Wear something with pockets or have some kind of a small bag (that won't get annoying). They hand you a booklet that you will need for completing your quests and they charge you if you lose it! Be sure to save them every time you complete the quest and bring them next time you come back, in case you do lose it, then you know you have extras!

My daughter even made her own cape, that's how into this we all are! If you stay in the attached Great Wolf Lodge, you will add more fun as there are Magiquest stations throughout  the resort as well, they bring many things to life and turn on lights or other fun things that always make people turn and look at what you are doing. You will be asked upon arrival to Magiquest if you want to play both ShadowQuest & MAGIQuest or just 1, go with just 1, you WILL NOT have enough time to play both games and you will just be out the additional money. 

TIP: This is a long day and you most likely won't be able to drag your kids away, pack a lunch or have something delivered. The one in Wisconsin Dells has a tucked away eating area with soda machines but nothing else. Having food in a cooler bag for the kids to graze as they play works great and then we go out for dinner after we play!

TIP: Once you have bought your wands and activated them, next time you go back you can still open treasure chests and activate things, you just cannot play the game without paying again. Sometimes my kids just like to go to play with all the net slimbers and slides, they bring their wands to open the chests and play with some of the things but have no interest in the games themselves. On these days my husband and I only activate our wands and challenge each other....I'm a level 7 magi you know ;)

Have fun with your family by eliciting a challenge before you begin, we like to say that the winner at the end of the day gets to pick where we eat or what movie we see or whatever we plan on doing that evening. You WILL work up an appetite with all the running up and down the stairs, using the net climbers and flying down the slides. It's an activity palace! Our kids are all old enough to venture off on their own, they know where the cooler bag of food is, where the bathrooms are and know to never leave the area, this makes playing to much more fun for all of us. 

TIP: USE THE EMPLOYEES!! Stuck on a challenge or battle? Run in and ask them for help, that's what they are there for! We learned many a trick while in there with them. 

TIP: As you solve riddles and find parts of your quests, be sure to wave your wand at everything! Stars in the sky, suits of armor, shields and pictures on the walls...they all add up coins, gold and points to your score and you only increase your levels by adding up more gold and points! Many people just solve the riddles and wonder why they don't make the high scores for the day and this is why! It's so easy to do and adds more fun to the game!

This place is 4 floors of pure adventure! You will find many parents sitting on the sidelines, but I fully believe it's because they have never tried it themselves! Get involved, and have fun with it, it's the only way to be when you are on vacation!!

TIP: DO NOT take your wands on the slides, the static electricity sometimes deactivates them. It's no big deal, as they only have to restart them and  you don't lose any information but it is a pain if you have to wait in a long line! We usually go up to the slides in pairs and 1 person goes down while the other takes the wands and just switch off doing that.

At 30.00 a person, it adds up fast your first time but please believe me that it is so worth it! This is one of those times that the money is well spent and if you are dead set on never going back, sell them to people as they walk in! We took friends with us one time and bought them wands, which they gave back as they don't live near a magiquest and this last time we were there, we were able to sell both 17.00 wands for 25.00, not too bad!

TIP: Still not sure about the cost? Check out Ebay and try and win wands there, they can delete the information on them when you arrive to a new Magiquest and then you are free to start from the beginning!

Hope this convinces you to try it out! Enjoy every minute my friends!

   Follow Me On Facebook!
   Follow Me On Pinterest!

Wordless on Wednesday...

Disney obsession is something we just can't quit!

Get creative with your snacks! Green twizzler grass, pretzel stick tree trunk, mandarin orange palm tree...

Playing Charades as a family

Enjoy every minute my friends!

   Follow Me On Facebook!
   Follow Me On Pinterest!

About Last Week...

What a busy week of field trips and  classes and fun! I am sorry that I have been away but I will share some fun we have been having. Our favorite books are the Pigeon books by Mo Willems. They make us laugh so much that we read them over and over again! Here is a fun Pigeon craft that is completely edible!
What You Need:
1. (1)Graham cracker
2.(3)mini oreos
3. Vanilla frosting tinted blue & yellow
4. (1)Orange starburst cut in tiny strip
5. (1) chocolate chip
6. (3) check mix squares
What to Do:
1. Spread your graham cracker with yellow frosting
2. Add 3 check mix squares as windows
3. Add 2 mini oreos as tires
4. Add blue frosting on one mini oreo
5. add chocolate chip to the top of the blue mini oreo to look like an eye
6. Add starburst sliver to blue mini orea as beak
Now you have the Pigeon Driving the Bus!! OH NO!!!

My young engineers had a bridge challenge in their LEGO class this week and their group won! They were able to withstand weight and work together to build it! 

Enjoy every minute my friends!

   Follow Me On Facebook!
   Follow Me On Pinterest!

Goodbye 2014!

As we close out a year and I reflect back on what was 2014, I am just left a muddled mess. This was a year of love, loss, togetherness, family, distance, travel and so much more. We lost loved ones, welcomed new ones and did so much. We took a large paycut to have more family time and this year saw us lose family members, not to death, but by choice. Sometimes it is necessary to just cut the stress out of your life.

Homeschooling reached a stride where I no longer felt the need to compete with other schools but to challenge my children in new and creative ways, where they learned more than they ever could about topics that interest them and still kept up with their book studies as well.

2014 became the year of our family, we decided it was time to make a difference in our surrounding world by helping out and to strengthen our bonds as parents, lovers and people. It was also time to become a true family unit that shares, plays and talks. We had dinner together every single night in 2014. This sometimes meant eating a very early dinner or a very late one, but we always ate together. This is now our priority. If my husband and I had a date night, we still 'ate' with the kids before we headed out, by sitting and chatting with them at the table.

The year taught us a lot about people and places and things. It made us realize how so much in life is unnecessary and just a waste of time. As our kids grew older and wiser, we learned more about them and they about us. They seemed to really grow into their personalities this year.

Our travels took us out of state 10 times this year and to 7 different states. We made each opportunity a learning one and in doing that we all had fun learning new things. This was a year of blessings and triumphs as well as troubles and scares. We had a happy 2014 but only hope that 2015 brings us an even better year. 

Thank you all for sticking by me this year and for your comments and messages. I truly appreciate each and every one of you and wish nothing but the best for your 2015. As our children grow older, let me remind you once again to take the time to enjoy every minute.

   Follow Me On Facebook!
   Follow Me On Pinterest!