Daily Moments...

My kids have been spending time reading to service dogs, during this time I am left to my own devices and though I have this time to myself, I often find myself peeking in on them and watching.
It's often in these moments that I think of:
~how big they are getting
~how old I am getting
~how life moves far too quickly
~how much my life has taken a path I never expected it to take.

During these moments alone, I am often faced with fears and questions
~When will they push me away to let them grow up
~Will they always need me, like I still need my parents
~Will they move far and not be afraid to live their dreams
~Will they be happy and love themselves as much as I love them 

Though these days may fly by, I love capturing them in photos as I can look back at these days and remember that I was always there for them and for that brief moment that I look in at the photo, I can see my children as little ones lost in a moment.

Did you know that the base of a celery bunch can be used as a stamp for a rose? It's perfect! Add a green stem using marker or crayon and you are all set with an easy and perfect project! 

Enjoy every minute my friends!

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Sometimes I'm Scared...

Yesterday as I sat in a valium haze at the dentist, I realized that i'm still a kid when it comes to going there. I have no cavities and in fact have only had 2 in my entire life but yet I still get scared enough that they have to prescribe me something. At that moment as I waited anxiously for it all to be over with, my mind began to wander at just how much fear plays a dominant role in my life.

~I fear that my children are not getting enough of anything, have I failed them in some way? Their state tests and kind manners along with compliments I get on them do nothing to ease that fear, is it just something all parents have?

~I fear that my husband will get burned out, he works so hard for us to have the life that we do and he manages to do it all starting at 5 in the morning. (The earlier he goes in, the earlier he can be home!). He comes home in a great mood and is always ready to chip in around the home and then play with the kids and still spend time chatting with me about the day.

~3 friends the same age as myself recently lost their fathers, my mother just lost her best friend (all of these people the same ages as my parents) and all of this within the same week. I fear that my parents will die too soon, I'm not ready to say goodbye and I don't think I ever will be.

~I fear that our old school van will up and die on us. We are far overdue for a new car, but just not willing to bite the bullet and get another one yet. We took a huge hit to our savings when we bought the house 2 years ago and have been building it back up. We have the luxury of no mortgage but worry that after we buy a car, something may happen...

~I fear that I fear too much and spend too much of my day letting those worries creep into my thoughts and they definitely don't have me getting 8 hours, 6 hours or even 5 hours of a sleep a night.

~I worry that my Faith is not strong enough to just had HIM all my worries and know that everything will work out just as it is supposed to.

Enjoy every minute my friends, sorry to get so personal on a Thursday when we should be celebrating that tomorrow is FRIDAY!

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WordlessWednesday...

March for Life, chilly but awesome... 

Just learned how to crochet and now it goes everywhere with her! 

Absolutely loving this from church and will definitely have to make my own! 

We went out of town this weekend for Monster Trucks! What fun!!

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Christmas & Birthdays & School...Oh My!

WOW, it came and it went all so quickly didn't it?! We managed to celebrate the Christmas holiday with friends and family, rush in a birthday celebration for a very special 9 year old and even did some school work! Just because your friends are off of school, does not mean that we have to be! I am one of those parents and it drives my kids insane. Even while out of town for a few weeks, we are still doing school. Oh woe is me..I mean them! How was your Christmas? I am NOT looking forward to finally getting home and having to clean out toys to fit in new ones...oh and my kids all got tablets from my father...so I need to look into filtering them and doing something with those as well.

While getting ready for friends to join us in an evening of games and exchanging gifts, I needed the kids occupied and didn't have time to put anything together. I handed them scissors, tape and coffee filters and told them to create a table runner for me! The result was this snowflake runner and I LOVED IT!!

Being out of town results in a lot of eating out and sometimes even that loses its luster for children and I am so glad my purse is always full of entertainment! (No cute clutch over here) Games, cards, dice, cars, figures, tape...you name it, I have a variety in there. I like to use brain games as much as possible or even just hand them a few things and tell them to create their own games. Keeping them thinking is key.

School on the road needs to be quick and handy as well as not take up too much space so these Folders are perfect for flashcard learning! We made these folders out of cardstock and are perfect for the flashcard kids in your life. The folder closes up and stays closed with a rubberband. This makes them portable for a quick run through on the go! It's also a great visual reminder on what your child/student needs to work on. Visual enticements keep the kids eager to keep going, because they see how much they know and want to add to it! My boys are visual and tactile learners and this works so well for anything they are doing. They are always eager to fill in that KNOW column. I tell them that the know column is their brain and the more they put in that slot, the more they are filling their brain with awesome information.

With a new year on its way, I remind you to enjoy every minute my friends!

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Review It: Spectrum Workbooks

 

Hello friends, it's Finally Friday! Early last month I posted about our great mail day arrival, where our Spectrum Workbooks for review arrived! I decided to truly bring these into our curriculum, which as many of you know is a box curriculum. It took some work to get them to fit in, but I wanted to give a proper review. After once month of using them,  I am happy to say that we will continue using the rest of these books as a supplement for what we already use.

Using Spectrum was a great idea, as new books are like new toys and right away everyone wants to check them out! The kids absolutely loved the titles I chose for them to work on and so did I! My 6th grade got Writing & Science, 4th grader got Writing & Language Arts and my 2nd grader received Math.  We did not go right in row through the book, instead I poked through and picked and pulled what lined up with what they are working on or what they needed a little additional help with.

I absolutely loved that their pages were perforated and allowed me to pull out the pages needed, staple them and stick them in one of our decorated folders to take on the go with us. I have mentioned before how portability is very important to us and these fit the bill!

Spectrum workbooks have very clear and concise explanations for all of their sections and that is VERY important for those that wish to use them as more than a supplement. My 2nd grader was able to look at the examples and figure it out on his own. That is great when I have 2 other children that need my attention every now and then as well. Thanks so much Spectrum for this wonderful opportunity! Be sure to follow THEM ON FACEBOOK, where they share great ideas and awesome free activities as well!

Enjoy every minute my friends!

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**I was compensated for this review but all opinions are my own!**

Holiday Festivities, Teaching Tools and Yay it's Thursday!

Ohhh what fun we had last year making up these snow filled ornaments! The children put their fingerprint on each one so that the 3 snowmen were each a different child. We used a funnel to fill it with salt and then added on a hat and buttons and a face with a sharpie and we were done! Simple and sooo cute! Now I am trying to think of what we will do this year! 

As I am preparing for our neighborhood Gingerbread House party, I have lists all over the place and stuff everywhere. My children seem oblivious to it all as they sit with a puzzle and helping the youngest learn his 50 states. No wonder they never hear me calling them, they are oblivious to chaos. 

I have been lucky to have found a group on Facebook that allows me to sell my older manipulatives as my youngest moves up and on. As I find them to photograph them, I realize just how much fun we have learning around here. These frogs are a dime a dozen and usually just end up in the trash, but pair them with some sight word flashcards and you have a serious game of learning on your hands! Do this with math flashcards, or anything that needs to be learned! I will have to update this post with where the Elf on the Shelf is today as my children have not found him yet and they are getting quite impatient! 

Enjoy every minute my friends and remember to aim high!

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Learning with Dominoes!

Happy Tuesday my friends! How is it that these days are just flying by? Oh yes, the old adage that when you are having fun time flies! I wanted to share some more learning fun that I made up for the kids as they were learning to count. This could easily be adjusted to adding and subtracting as well as multiplying and the like!

Step one is to cut out each domino, unless you want to preserve this game, then print out and laminate before cutting. You can get your dominoes HERE! Once you have cut out each individual domino, you are ready for step 2. Keep in mind you can use these dominoes alone as teaching tools. Have your child count each dot on each domino and you have a simple counting game.

For example -

In counting from L-R: 1,2,3,4,5,6,7.
When using as an adding game: 1 + 6 = 7
Rotate for Subtracting: 6 - 1 = 5
Multiplication: 1 x 6 = 6
Rotate for Division: 6/1 = 6
You can also use real dominoes if you so choose, they even have them at the dollar store!

This domino parking lot is perfect for your beginning counters, have them count up the dots and park them in the correct spots. After printing, you could easily white out the numbers and then fill in with the numbers that fit whatever way you are teaching. 

Make sure you remember to enjoy every minute my friends! It's so easy to want to complain or get down on ourselves, spouses, children, significant other, but if we took the time to remember that this could be the last day we had with our loved ones...well we might just rethink our attitudes.

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