School Clothes

It's not that I never buy clothes for myself, it's just that ...I never buy clothes for myself!! :) I usually just buy a few new things in the Fall and then sparadically here and there. Well...a few weeks ago at Target I found my new favorite shirt!! You know how when something just fits really well and makes you feel super cute...even on a Monday?! 


That's the shirt (above). Yes, it's kind of casual...actually it's in the "menswear" section in the Women's Clothing on Target.com. Why would there be a "menswear" section in Women's clothing? Whatever...

My everyday style is totally comfy jeans, casual skirts, t-shirts, sweaters...you know, comfy but not too shabby :) I want to look halfway decent for the Mr. when he comes home from the bank!

So, while I was at it...I grabbed a pair of these cuties.  They'll be accompanying me with some jeans and sweaters and an occasional dress or skirt when I'm feeling extra ambitious.

So to finish up my back to school shopping, I think I need to round out my wardrobe with one of these (in every color)....

...one of these...

...and a few of these.  I love cardigans.  I think it's because I watched a lot of Mr. Rogers when I was young. :)

The Royal Diaries

Just posted a review on The Curriculum Choice on The Royal Diary series I've been obsessed with all summer! Go check it out here. :)

28 Things

Yesterday was my birthday. My 28th. In honor of my birthday, I'm ripping off an idea from sweet lil Bonnie from Going Home to Roost. She just celebrated her 24th bday and shared 24 random things about herself.

So, here's 28 random things about me that you may or may not know already...or you may not want to know (just skip those).

1. I'm 28...oh, you probably knew that one by now.

2. I loved Rainbow Bright when I was little.

3. Like Bonnie, I call myself a runner but sometimes I can't remember the last time I ran.

4. Two words I cannot stand are ooze and pus. They're just gross. Don't ever say them again.

5. I love books.

6. And the way they smell.

7. Sometimes I smell them when I'm in B&N and the workers catch me and I feel silly.

8. Right now I'm reading (and smelling) Eat Pray Love.

9. I'm looking forward to seeing the movie.

10. I love movies.

11. I like to rearrange the furniture.

12. One chore I do not like is making the boys' bunkbeds...it's too much of a workout.

13. One chore I do like is vacuuming.

14. I grew up in a small town...small like 700 peeps...tops.

15. I went antiquing with friends to celebrate my birthday.

16. My favorite places to buy clothes are Target and Gap.

17. I write the newsletter for my local homeschool group.

18. Oh ya, I homeschool.

19. I really like doing that.

20. Sometimes I feel anxious.

21. Then I remember God tells us not to be anxious about anything.

22. I'm a Martha wannabe (minus the prison part).

23. I'm ready for Fall.

24. I'll probably regret saying that since Fall turns into freezing winter.

25. Fall is my favorite.

26. I have a super support system.

27. I'm not terribly excited about turning the big 3-0.

28. But I think I'm over it :)

See you back here soon.

I'll be taking you on a garden walk around my yard..

...just in case you were wondering how all my flora was looking.

Family Rules

I ran across this project a while ago at the Pleated Poppy and I've finally gotten around to completing it. It was one of those love/hate projects, where you love the finished project, but not so much love during the project. It involved a lot of measuring and straightening, but it turned out great!
Basically you start out with a blank canvas from the craft store...I think mine is about 18" x 24". Paint the canvas a neutral color. Gather coordinating scrapbook paper and come up with your RULES. You can either write your own rules free-hand, use rub-one letters, or run your paper through the printer, using your cutest fonts. (that's what I did)
You have to piece your papers together, since scrap paper is only 12" wide.
Use mod podge to stick on your strips.

You can get the full instructions at the Pleated Poppy. I love this site by the way...tons of great project ideas and inspiration! PS: She also homeschools, which makes me like her site ever more:)

Our Curriculum 2010-2011

This is such a great time for moms...homeschooling or non-homeschooling. It's a great time because going back to school means one HUGE thing...routine! I love routine...I crave routine! I have to have it....need to have it!! I do love the "carefree" days of summer, but they quickly turn into the "running ragged" days of summer. Between camps, sports, vacations, and other obligations it seems like summer can get old fast....but I do love it. :)
The anticipation of a new school year is also very exciting. Making plans for a great year of teaching and learning is so much fun. I usually have to share my plans with someone so I share them with Jarrod, and I have already. Not that he's not super excited for school like I am, but somehow I think you {homeschool moms} will be a bit more enlightened :)
So, here's what we're going to be doing this coming year:

{Jack}
Since he just turned 5, I would not be sending him to school even if I sent my kids to school. So we're going to be doing some preschool stuff this year.

Teach Your Child to Read in 100 Easy Lessons
This will be a book we'll start with and see how it goes. He can recognize numbers and letters, but I can't decide if he's ready to start reading yet. So we'll start with this book and see how it goes.

{Peak with Books}
I love using literature to teach and this looks like a great book. It's also new to me this year, but I'm excited to use it!

{Explode the Code Series}
I really like these phonics books. I've used them every year and still really like using them. They're simple and easy, but do a great job!

{Subjects everyone will do together}

For Nature Study, we'll be using NaturExplorer units from Shining Dawn Books. We'll have a different focus each month, like owls or hibernation.

History- Middle Ages- We're covering a lot this year in history, but I'm super excited! We'll be using The Story of the World as our spine and lots and lots of living books and projects. We're using a ton of activity books, but I'll tell ya what those are as we use them.

Artist Study-We've studied famous artist for the past two years and this year we're trying something different. Using the book Storybook Art, we're going to be studying a different children's book illustrator every month. I think this will be a great way to study art in a new way.

Science-This year we're doing a whole year of physical science. We'll be alternating history and science units. I tried to do history and science at the same time last year and I think it was really hard, so we're changing it up...because I can do that :) So...we're covering Simple Machines, Inventors, and we're doing a unit on Flight.

{Noah-3rd Grade}

Math- Saxon 3....love this curriculum!

Language Arts:

Learning Language Arts through Literature...new to me this year, but it looks like it'll be a good fit for us.

Spelling Power....not so sure on this one yet...we'll see!

Easy Grammar

Wordly Wise vocabulary

We'll be busy, but I've got lots of fun things planned and I'm excited to get started!

Pool Party Fun!

I'm pretty much "Johnny on the spot" with my bday party post today, but my kids are still sleeping after swimming yesterday for about 5 hours!

Party plans were in limbo for a while...the forecast predicting strong storms and hail and sure enough, as soon as I postponed the party the forecast changed and the sun started to shine! Party was back on and I was running around like crazy.
If you've read my blog for long, you know I love birthday parties!! We've had tea parties, space parties, cowboy parties, sledding parties...just to name a few :) The only bad part is that my kids have grown to expect a big blowout each year and it can get a little exhausting, but I'll enjoy it while I can since I'm sure they won't want cowboy parties when they're 16!

A few guests deep in convo...I'd tried going for a nice beach-y theme. Kind of Cape Cod-ish...just wishing I was there maybe?? :)


Ok...I know I'm her momma, but who would not want to just squeeze that little thing! She looks really sweet here, but don't be fooled...we've been on a discipline rampage with my little bug. She's been showing her strong will with a vengance! (But I still want to squeeze her.)

Here's my attempt at seaside cupcakes. Swedish fish swimming over waves of frosting...mini donuts turned lifesavers...and most challenging, Twinkies turned sharks! These were very cute to start, but as the day wore on they got a little top heavy and some of them toppled over. Oops!

Are you laughing at my sharks??! Come on, now that's just rude! :)

Birthday boy! I'd say I hope he had fun, but the birthday "hangover" he's currently experiencing proves it, right?

Jack-o is 5!!

How can someone so small get so big in such a short amount of time??!!

Happy Birthday, Sweet Jack! You are such a blessing to everyone!

{Jack's 2nd Birthday @ DisneyLand}

{Jack's 3rd Birthday}

{Jack's 4th Birthday}

{earlier this year}

I love you, I love you, I love you, Jack!
Have the Happiest Birthday you've ever had!!

Love, mama
xoxo

Books!

I sight like this makes this hs mom's heart go pitter-patter!

Yes! All my books are here. I think almost every day last week I had a knock at my door from my friendly mailman, bringing me more beautiful Books!

I'll be sharing later this week exactly what we're using this year. I think I may have gone a little overboard on my history books, but is that even possible? Going overboard on books?!

I have to admit though....a few of these I'm a little overwhelmed with. I'm integrating several new items into our curriculum and I have a lot of reading to do so I know what the heck is going on the first day of school!

Example: Spelling Power...I was told this was a great program and I loved the idea of never buying another spelling workbook. But when I got it, I was a little shocked at how technical it is. Like the intro say that it takes approximately 12 HOURS to read through the Teacher's Guide! What?! As if I have time for that!! If any readers out there have a simplified explanation for using this book, that would be much appreciated!! :)

PS: I have a review on The Curriculum Choice today about some of my favorite nature study books, NaturExplorers. These are terrific guides...easy to use and I promise it will not take you 12 hours to figure out how to use them!

Carla's Sandwich

Carla's Sandwich is one of those books we've checked out TONS of times from the library. It's about a little girl that makes gross looking sandwiches that gross out all the other kids at school.

My kids looove her concoctions and always want to make a gross sandwich, so we decided after reading Carla's Sandwich for th 1,000th time that we'd make our own sandwiches.

This was a good fridge-cleaning activity for me. We pulled out onions, baked beans, cheese, jalepenos, olives, peppers, mustard....

...pickles.

And made away!

They came up with "Noah's Monster," "Jack's Crazy Sandwich," and "Sophie's Slammer."

If you check this book out from the library, you may never get to take it back....just warning ya!