Angels Of Heart

Snow Day

2012-01-27T12:15:00.001-08:00

Last weekend we had some snow. When we got home from
church services we I convinced everyone to come out to play.
The boys had created the day before a scary path down our hill.
The made a ramp to make it even more heart stopping for mom.

Princess wanted to see Sweet pea in the snow so
she grabbed her coat to come and see her. I took a
photos teasing her about being in her shorts and holding
her android. I think its perminately attached to her.

Princess did go in and change. She pulled sweet pea around
in the snow on a sled. She love it!!

We ended with a family snow fight and then came
in for some warm hot chocolate. A good day.

Blessings,

Nikki

January Winter Fun

2012-01-23T10:49:00.000-08:00

My little one looks so cold to me in the toddler time photo. :)
It was taken in the summer but for this time of year she looks cold.

We are back on track. "Sweet pea" is back to toddler time and not to
soon either. We did a few days of school without it and she was
very distractive. I realized the time without it planning wasn't worth
the frustrations during school time. I'm so glad we are back into things.
I can see her changing and I'm preparing for some things for when shes
three. I know she will be ready to start using a pencil and she already
tries to use a scissors on occastion.

This was our concept basket this week:

It doesn't look like much. "Sweet pea" got into it before I
got the photo. It was all arranged sweet for grand surprise.
In it is a small plastic flower pot for a cave, cotton for snow,
clear rocks for ice, regular rocks for fun, some snow flake sequins,
pine cone for a tree, 2 moose , a mountian goat, and a white bear.

She has been really enjoying it. Instead of the pretend play
Spirit would do she got to sorting out the pieces.
She was very fascinated with the clear rocks. I later got
out an egg carton for her to sort things into. The little red
bag in the photo is full of her doll stuff. Not sure what
she had in mind with those. Spirit stopped in and made
snow cones with the flower pot. At least thats what they
looked like.

"Sweet pea " wanted me to show you all of her rocks. They
were all special to her. To save you from that I am only showing
one rock with her.

Saturday we got the real SNOW!!!

Art: We created snowman pictures.
Of course she needed help with drawing some things
but my girl loves to glue. If I need to get something important done.
I give her small things to glue or stickers and I can get my work done.

Finger plays:

I'm a little snowman

I'm a little snowman short and fat
Here is my nose, my eyes and my hat
When the sun starts shining- oops , watch out
I will melt- without a doubt.

No more snowmen

Five little snowment
(hold up 5 fingers)

Riding on a sled
(wiggle fingers pretending to sled)

one fell down and bumped his head
(use hand to bump head)

Frosty called the Doctor
(pretend to dial)

And the Dr. said No more snowmen
(shake forefinger)

Riding on the sled
(repeat)

Snow
(sung to farmer and the dell)

The snow is on the roof
(point over head)
The snow is on the ground
(Point to the ground)
The snow is on the window
(make window with hands)
The snow is all around
make circles with hands

Story Time:

Many of our toddler books are still in storage from
the move. So I opted to do a little u-tube. "Sweet pea"
Loves these and wantes to watch and watch but
I only allow a few. These are some we watched . A few are
like little finger plays.

This is my favorite. I'll have to read her the story when I
Find the books. She will associate more I think.

We also watched a few readers but they got lost in u tube. :)

Please remember to view videos before children.

Blessings,
Nikki

Faith

2012-01-22T14:39:00.000-08:00

Week 1 Ephesians Bible Study.

I learned so much this week with the Good morning Girls Bible

study. I read my passages each day but there was more. God spoke to
me in a number of ways. I kept hearing this voice on the side in
little and big ways saying Have Faith. Be faithful. Believe.

Faithful in Christ, He blessed us
For He chose us in Him, Predestined
He has freely given to us, ReDemption
Lavished on us with wisdom and Understanding
According to His plan, Purpose of His will
Word of TRUTH, Having Believed, Marked with
a seal, Guarenteeing our inheritance
Chosen by Him,Having Faith

FAITHFULLY HIS...God has chosen me. I have strength in Him. He has blesssed me with
spiritual, heavenly life. My life is His. (He has chosen you too)
No matter how small I feel or how small my life seems. I know it is
BIG. He has Redeemed it for Me for You.

My calling is worthy of all He has given. He calls me to
disciple to my family and to the children of our church. I hear Him.
I know I am worthy. I know the job is worthy. God gives the greatest
gift of redemption just because I Believe.

I came to FAITH later in the week when
I came across this sermon from Pathway church.
http://www.pathwaycc.org/resources/sermons.php (Click the Faith Sermon)
It wasn't really by accident. God knew I needed to hear Aiden again.
I had heard him minister several years ago and was so excited to
see his sermons on the web. I clicked that current weeks right away.

Each little thing I do and say to my family is for Jesus. Jesus
always comes for you. "You need to take what he has to give"
Take his redemption, Take salvation, Take Jesus hand and He
will lift you up.

I felt him again ...During our bible memory time with the children
Here at home Listen to my instruction and be wise ; do not ignore it
Psalms 8:33

Time to listen to Gods word. Know that if nothing else
If I can't give nothing else but my Faith God will love me.
To dig into his word for my salvation and my faith. It was
all done for Me for US.

Then again later this day during Sunday school. My turn this
week for story. Our story was of faithful trusting Noah. Courageous
and full of Love for the Lord. I could feel his Faith shining through
that little picture book for the children to feel and see.
Everything I do is because of Him and for him.

Let his light Shine in.

Blessings,
Nikki

Good Morning Girls

2012-01-17T04:30:00.000-08:00

What you say? You don't have time to go to a bible study but you would
if you could do it in your home. Well, imagine that, that is how it is for me.
I don't have the time to run out from my family for a bible study but seek his
word out and traditional study time.

I first learned of the study at http://www.confessionsofahomeschooler.com/
The Study on Ephesians started yesterday but you can still jump in.
Confessions has a study groups started if you'd like to
join in on the discussion. Just visit her site for details.

Go check out http://www.goodmorninggirls.com/ for all the information.

You will want to click here to download the study guide GMG Ephesians Study Download. I love this idea of studying

my bible at home when I have time for it.

Hope you join in.

Blessings,

Nikki

Creating Lists

2012-01-12T01:31:00.000-08:00

I feel like I am floundering around . I have so much to do , which when I think of it I really don't
have a time restraint with it. If I don't finish something today it will still be there tomorrow. So
why do I find I have so much anxiety over it. I just can't stand messes. It makes me feel heavy and
annoyed I guess. Obviously if you move you are going to have messes. Especially if you
move into an old house like we have done, which brings me to creating lists. I know
it sounds silly but If I have it on a list then I worry about it less. I'm not going to forget
anything if I write it done and the anxiety goes down. I don't have to think about it at night
or during the day . I can just come to the list when I have time. I also know if its on a list that
I will do it. It's something about it being offically on paper despite the fact that I
can change it at anytime. So here is the offical list.

Appointments~~- Meeting this afternoon at 2:00~~-
~~Spirits dental appointment tomorrow~~
~~- Schedule new appointments for Spirit and Superboy~~
-Make appointments for Princess for Dentist and eye Dr.

School-~~Hook up printer~~
-find box which contains paper
-~~Print Spirits school work~~ and Barton pages
-~~Create lessons for next week~~
-Find digital camera to document

Church-~~create nursery activity~~
-~~Prepare this weeks Sunday school lesson for 15~~
(its my turn)

Chores-~~Clean up downstairs/vac~~
-~~Sweep downstairs bathroom~~
-wash kitchen floor
~~-Clean upstair bathroom/place shower curtain~~
-Hang decorations in both bathrooms and my bedroom
-order boxes in playroom /storage area for school items
-~~Break boxes down for recycle~~
-sort out boxes in summer house and put away (big project)
-Sort boxes in attic- Yard sale, keep, and holiday (big project)
-~~Give everyone in the house a hair cut~~
-lay carpet in bathroom

In the Spring-paint just about everything
-clean up yard

What chores are you holding on to? Create a list and let it go.

Warm blessings,
Nikki

Caps for Sale

2012-01-11T05:08:00.000-08:00

I just love doing book studies. It's just something so fun about

adding some art or adding some math to a story to really make it

come alive for a while. Recently we read the story Caps for Sale.

Its a silly tale of a man selling caps. After a hard morning he

decides to take a rest by a tree. When he awakes his caps are missing.

He looks up and sees monkeys wearing each little cap and some

silly monkeys they are. Wait till you read just how the man gets

the monkeys to return the caps.

The really awesome things about this lesson was that it was done

for me already. Many teachers have read caps for sale and have

worksheets prepared for you.

HomeSchool Creations has this set of worksheets available for

download. Click the link to visit her Site. We used the cap sort

worksheet. Words ending in -ap and -at . Spirit read the words

and then lined them up under the correct word ending. Just right

for where he is in his reading. We also used the worksheet where

you look at the picture and decide what letter the picture begins with.

We haven't started learning about money yet so we may revisit this

story when we get to that particular math lesson.

Delightful Learning Has a great unit on Caps for sale.

I just love the finger print Monkey tree. We didn't get to making one of

those yet but I think we will try that one today. I"ll load a picture later.

I'm still unpacking and unsure where the camera is. :) Love the Love

the monkey snacks. What a fun way to snuggle up and read together.

1plus1plus1equals1- 5 Little Monkeys Tot pack

We did the 5 little monkey song where the monkey swing in the

tree teasing Mr. Alligator Don't catch me. Along comes Mr.

Alligator hungary as can be Snap. One goes away each time.

Sweet pea loves snatching the picture monkey cards each time.

The Authors Website. You may also want to take a peek at

the authers website. You student can learn more about who

the person is behind the story.

We also used this pack from Home School Share
I love the cap counting book. Stop over to download the pack
For use.

We used pictures of the caps and glued them to the monkeys
head to create a math journal page. Spirit has been working
on adding numbers. So we added up the different colors on
our math page. The Monkeys and hats came from
homeschool creations pack. ( Photo to come will search
for that camera this afternoon)

We also created our own hats also from homeschool creations.

Warm blessings,
Nikki

December's Toddler Time

2012-01-09T09:05:00.000-08:00

Well, I really didn't expect all that came our way in December
when I planned out our toddler time. That is the great thing
about home education. You can hop back on the school wagon
when you are ready. We took the entire month of December off
of toddler time for our move. We still have a lot of work here to
do and one day I hope to share photos of the house as the work
is completed. For those of you that did continue with Toddler time
I'd like to share with you the lesson plans I had in mind for that time
and for those that come by in later years to peek at it.

Concept Basket:

Week 1- Hats, mittens, match mittens, cotton ball in mittens
Week 2 - Container play- cups, paper towel tubes, plastic tubs,
superballs, bingo chips and clothes pins
Week 3- X-mas week - Baby blanket, baby doll, Tony nativity,
bottle, X-mas bows in sensory tub
Week 4- Enjoy new Christmas toys. :)

Art Activities:

Week 1- Decoate paper mitten with foam shapes
Week 2- Handprint a Christmas tree and decoate it with
Christmas stickers, glitter, puff balls etc...
Week 3- Decorate a large glitter star
Week 4- No school

Finger Plays:

We did find time for some finger plays. This was a favorite.
I have found that Sweet pea enjoys U tube. I think because
I have been able to find things that are short and spoken to her.
This morning she sang along to a praise and worship song ment
for mommy but she tried too.

And we played this. We had piles of boxes and I was exhausted.
The kids were on the bed giggling. I suggested playing gingerbread
man. It really lightened the atomosphere and helped us to move
on with the packing.

Thanks to I can teach my child for the great ideas.

Reading Time:

Typically I allow Sweet pea to choose from our library and
a few I choose. Since most of our books were packed we stuck
to our beginner Bible.

I have noticed a change in Sweet pea this month. She has
gone through a lot with the move. She is doing very well with that and
she also had some oral surgery which turned out to be more scary for mom
than for her. Her speech is coming along nicely. The funny thing is that
she will often spout out a large word and have it in the correct tense. I
really think it's in there and with more song and stories I think she will
be jabbering easily in no time. She has also started potty training, which
absolutely makes me nuts. She is such a clean freak which is a good thing
but very very time consuming. We can't just wash our hands we have to
wash our hands, go potty, clean up potty, wash our hands, and beg to
brush our teeth. As I type this she is sweeping the kitchen floor.

As a start back to school today her and Spirit painted. She had to
wash the brush, dry the brush, wash the brush again, dry the brush again,
get a little paint, paint, dry her hands, wash her brush, get new water...
Oh my. It was funny to watch her.

Anyway glad to be back. Hope you had a Merry Christmas.

Warm blessings,

Nikki

Why I don't like School.

2012-01-09T08:58:00.000-08:00

Today ,on one of my favorite blogspots ,Teacher Tom wrote a wonderful post on
Why children hate school? His survey comes from a tweet on twitter or something
like that. I'm not on twitter so not sure about it.

It is a must read for those of you that are wondering why or for those Home educators
like myself who already know why but want to refresh your memory.

We know the system is failing our children but we seem to be at a lose as
to how to change it. When change seems like it may occur politics typically gets
in the way . We are then left with what we have. The results are
unhappy children and a insignifcant education Something must be done to change it.
The how is the big question. I am not generalizing here I am aware there are
some amazing teachers out there but its ashame they are few are far between.
I also am aware that families are deterorating and that doesn't help the situation.
Americans/people need to heal in many way.

I am also not going to sit here and tell you that my kids never complain
about school at home. There are times they don't like what I'm teaching
or how I'm teaching it. Generally when that occurs I notice I am modeling
the system I grew up with but the grand scheme of it is that I can
stop and change what we are doing or how we are doing it at anytime.
We have a larger feedom of choice. The freedom most public school
children are wishing for. Stop and take a look Double thumbs up Great
read

Teacher Tom - Reasons Why I hate School.

Warm Blessings,
Nikki

Moved In!!!

2012-01-05T11:07:00.000-08:00

Yeah everyone we are moved in!! It has been a tiresome effort but it has
come to pass. We still are uploading boxes but we are able to cook and
have school now. Today marks our back on the net day, phone and TV. Little
by little we are setting up house. I will be a few more days but plan
to see you more on Monday. :) So come back for the new reads.

Moving date.

2011-12-12T08:40:00.000-08:00

Thanks to my blog friends for hanging in there with us.
Our plan is to move this weekend if all the things that need
fixed goes well. Today the plumber is to come and fix
the pipes. It was thought orginally that the upstairs bathroom
was leaking but it seems now it may be the upstairs kitchen.
(update its the sink and the tub will be fixed this morning)

Just hoping they find what needs done and they do it.
It seems like they keep coming out and not doing anything.
That is frustrating. Just fix it already. I am packing boxes
today and packing more boxes. Trying to get the attic stuff
out and the kitchen things in boxes. It is a tiresome effort.

Once the weekend comes I may be off the net for a week or
two to get organized/ Get things hooked up.
Keep us in your thoughts.

Nikki

First sentences read!!

2011-12-06T12:07:00.000-08:00

Had to stop in just to tell you today Spirit read his first few sentences.
It was so exciting and he is beginning to write three letter words and
sounding them out. We tried it a few days ago and it was very
difficult for him but today he knew right what to do and sounded
the words out he didn't know. Yeah!!!

Off to pack more boxes and make dinner.

Blessings
Nikki

Prepare...

2011-12-06T03:17:00.000-08:00

Christmas is right around the corner. There is so much to
prepare. It is a time to get our hearts ready for Jesus. We have
much baking , decorating , crafting , shopping and wrapping to do.

... But we are moving so these things have been placed to the back
so I thought. Our new home is in the works of repair and painting.
All in the prepartion of our families arrival. We have taken our
decorations to the new home and pulled them from the boxes in
hopes of having somewhat of a christmas. I think much of the
spirit of the holiday will be lost in our shuffle to move.
We have begun to move some of our belongs to the house. Each
Day we fill the car and take a new load out. I spend my days
as my last post states Schooling, feeding and boxing. Yesterday
we slipped in a dental appointment. Sweet pea sat watching
Spirit and put her little hands together in prayer. She doesn't
speak well but said "Jesus" and smiled.

Perhaps we don't have the spirit of Christmas as readily in
our home but just prehaps we have him settled in our hearts.

Warm blessings,
Nikki

PS. blogging has to take a back seat during this move but
I will stop in on occation and update you until we are settled.

update

2011-11-30T12:21:00.000-08:00

Hi everyone. So sorry I haven't been on my little blog.
I never did get my toddler time post out last week. I
did find a new design that I'd like to use for awhile. The
background reminds me of a blanket I had as a little girl
except the color was rust instead of brown.

It has been so crazy around here that I don't think I can
do more at the moment than stop in this week. I have
some Toddler time posts and Kindergarten posts in the works
but have little time to get them up and going. It takes
a lot to move a home over the holiday. Well,
anytime really. I find myself running in all directions. One minute
I'm packing a box the next I'm wrapping a gift. It is organized chaos.

The Thanksgiving break was a big smash with the family. I avoided
packing and ran around visiting but now I am faced with it on
a huge scale. The kids have been able to keep up with their
school lessons. Early in the morning I wake and pack something
in my room till the others are up. Then we work on lessons.
Then at lunch while baby sleeps I work in the attic
to sort and rid. Why carry stuff I don't use. Might as well
clear out in the process. This weekend the hope is to get
much done at the new place. We are trying to be in before
Christmas. So I may be passing through this December.

Tomorrows list:
School
Grocery shopping
flu shot for Sweet pea

Fridays list:
Co-op Christmas party
School
Pack more boxes.

Warm blessings all.
My thoughts are with you.

Nikki

Breathe it in, God knows

2011-11-21T03:57:00.000-08:00

We are waaay off Center to begin our week.

*If you are looking for Toddler Time come back tomorrow
You'll see why when you read below.

The trouble sprinkled with good started out with a strong
urge to connect with God. I pulled out an old devotional
book and flipped through it. I came upon a lesson on being
involved in centering your life around yourself. How you
could not change your circumstances and should find the
joy in everything you do. This kept needling me. I prayed
over it for three days. Then the news came...
God knew and held me up.

We are being evicted from our apartment. The home we
rent has been sold at sheriff sale. We sort of knew it was
coming. We have a home to move into and have slowly
been doing some repairs and painting. However I didn't
know it was going to happen that suddenly. We have a
lot of work ahead and only about 45 days to do it. My
thought right away was you can't change your circumstances
you have to think of the good. We will be moving into
a larger home. My girls will have their own rooms and
it will be a bit closer to my church family. I will put aside
my worry of heating the larger home for now. We will have
a roof over our head.

After this news I was going to take daddy to work because
I had to set up for our church bazaar. The woes of having
one car. As we pulled out... Our one car broke down.
So now we have a car to fix and are supposed to move.
Two whammys in one day. Did you ever see that game
show where you have to pick the right spot or you
get a whammy. Three whammys and you are done. It's
a matter of whatever happens happens. These are my
whammys. As I sit to ponder all of this and take it in
my kitchen chair broke, whammy 3. Minor insult to injury.

I can't change my circumstance I repeat.

It gets worse. We receive a call that Dads Cousin
passed on, a very young man who took his own life. A
man who worked with trouble teens and made such a
huge difference in this world. The why is enormous and
heavy on my heart. But again I can't change this.

Sprinkled among this were little blessings. They come
as huge joys of Gods light. At the church bazaar a friend
came to my white elephant table. Her friend is ill and she is
watching her children. I take the price off one of the packages and
pass it to the little girls to give to her mom. Later I hear
the mom collects the cloth pumpkins hidden in the package.
That small token, that small sense of joy. The news of this
comes at a time when I need it. God knows.

Our children dressed in their armor at our church. Presenting
the armor of God. Our hard work at children's ministry
realized. The smiles of all is contagious. I need this I breathe
it in. God knows

My step daughter brings the new baby to visit. Daddy and
her husband push away old arguments for the baby.
Daddy for me and the baby. Push this anger aside and
he invites them for Thanksgiving dinner. I smell the
new baby smell. I need this. God knows.

And so today I begin organizing myself for Thanksgiving
and our future endeavors.I know all to soon the house will
be filled with boxes and I will say good bye and hello to new
chapters in life. I can't change my circumstances but God can.
I can only hope to what is ahead. I breathe it in , God knows.

Ask me if I'm this calm in a few weeks.

Warm Blessings,

Nikki

Artistic Hands

2011-11-18T01:05:00.000-08:00

Artistic Emotions is our place to share our Art. Art
is an important component in our lives. Enjoy.

One day this week the kids were sitting at the table drawing
and "Sweet pea" wanted me to trace her hand. I took a pencil
and traced her hands and feet. Then I went over it with
sharpie since she wanted to try her hand at markers.
After both of the children were finished coloring we wrote
on the paper things about themselves.

This was a fun relaxing activity. PS Sweet pea was covered in
marker. Love the washables.

I love "Spirits" Spiderman foot.

Spirit also created this drawing of some of a Kings
court. Love the trancing eyes and big hands.

Art by Spirit Age 5

Superboy has been working on a weaving project. We used
Multicolored yarn for a colorful effect. Not quite complete
as of yet.

Superboy Age 11

Warm Blessings,

Nikki

Show Emotion

2011-11-17T09:16:00.001-08:00

I have noticed lately a huge upswing in moods with my Middle
school son. I suppose just as I am thinking and pondering
his boyhood to manhood he may inadvertently be thinking
on it himself. We often look at the way society sees women
but forget what role a young man may have to face.

We expect men to be strong, to not show emotion, to
respect women but be open to their needs and emotions.
We expect protection, leadership, and faithfully caring for
their family. All of the things that I wrote about last week
plus some. There is a heavy burden on these young men.

This week my heart is saddened. We received a phone
call last night that our step nephew committed Suicide.
The burden of life must have been to great. I wonder
with my whole heart what went wrong. This was a boy
who always was so cheerful to everyone. What filled this
young male with such grief. He was just beginning adult
life at the young age of 20. This news has been very
devastating to the family as you can imagine. As a mother
my thoughts go to my boys. The fear of that situation
Is heart wrenching.

So yet again I think on what I can do to help elevate
this stress in my son/ sons and yet still lead them to
a leadership position in life that isn't scary or to difficult.

My first thought is not to push to early for Independence.
To allow him to move forward at his pace. I really feel
as if I have been doing a lot of pushing. There is a nice
middle there of getting things done and not over extending.

Always always give affection just as you would your
daughters. This one is difficult at times as boys become
embarrassed by the attention at a certain age from their
mothers. Yet I think it is important to express anyway you
can your love for your child.

Let him know that real boys do cry. When I first found out
I had a son I wanted him to be sensitive. I heard that
if you allowed your small son to play with dolls they would
learn a heart for caring for others. Superboy has a huge heart.
I have not idea if it came from dolls but I want him to also
know that he can tell me how he feels. There is no embarrassment
of putting yourself out there. Communication communication.

I want him to learn that it is ok to be weak and show

weakness and Fear. We all do. None are perfect.

When my son does open up to talk. I will make sure I

am there ready to listen. I will tell you time and again
Listening and communicating is the key to getting
through these years with a happy smile.

I also am aware that my son does not respond to our
talks as quickly as his sisters might. He likes to think
about it for awhile before he chooses what he thinks. I have
noticed this with other males in our church congregation. They
ponder first. I pledge to allow this leadership quality
to grow.

This boyhood to man thing is a huge undertaking. One
I won't take lightly.

Warm Blessings,
Nikki

Newest Baby

2011-11-15T04:45:00.000-08:00

We welcome to our family our newest Grandbaby.
Our Newest baby boy is the sweetest.

Congratulations to Jess and Alan.

And me . Babies are the nicest smelling people I know.

Warm Blessings,

Nikki

Fall Leaves

2011-11-14T03:55:00.000-08:00

"Sweet Pea" is still recuperating from her hand, foot and mouth
during her leaf week. She is well but you can tell she tires more
quickly. So we kept our play time at a minimum. After laying
around for much of the day she got up and wanted to play.
I pulled out our concept basket filled with leaves.

It is very interesting how different children can be.
When Spirit had this activity when he was younger
he threw the leaves in the air and practically swam
in the leaves. Then he'd rake them up with his hands.
"Sweet pea" would daintily toss them over the basket.
If any fell out she scoop them back in before doing it
again. I tried to show her she could get them out of
The container but she'd put them back in anyway.
She did line them up on the floor and then pick
them up again.

I also had some plastic gourds and flowers. I wish
I had left more of a stem on the flowers. She kept
wanting to put them in her hair.

Toward the end of the week. When she was feeling much
better. I took her out to explore the leaves. She loved
the crunch under her feet.

When Spirit threw the leaves though she was less
than thrilled.

Finger plays were great fun while laying down on the
sofa. We did many more than I can list here but here
are a few favorites.

Counting apples

Five red apples
Hanging in the tree ( hold up fingers)
The juiciest apples you ever did see!!
The wind came past
and gave an angry frown (shake head and look angry)
and the little apple came tumbling down
Four red apples (etc..)

Falling leaves

Pretty little falling leave (both hands high)
Falling , falling down (hands fall down)
Tumbling over each other (roll hands)
Until they reach the ground
(place hands and body on floor)

Since Sweet pea was resting much of her time
Her favorite book and art this week were activity books.
We have several of them but this is her favorite. She has
since moved on to a states and capital book that the older
boys have. She likes drawing over the pictures.
Wipe Clean Animal Activity book

Warm blessings,
Nikki

The College Choice Question

2011-11-12T03:33:00.000-08:00

My daughter is in her freshman year in college. She is doing
pretty well there. It has been an exciting time for her and
a difficult time for mom letting her go. I remember way
back when she was in college trying to make those touchy
college choices. It was all really overwhelming. Each step
was a process. First she had to decide if she wanted to
go to college. Heart wasn't sure at all what she wanted.
She took a year off to work. It was a little scary. I surely
didn't want her working at a pizza restaurant her entire life.
So I gently moved her along to the next steps in trying
to find the right college. I found this great article
How we helped with College. I decided it would be
fun to answer the questions from the magazine article
myself, plus you can go and read the answers other
parents gave.

Again as I said Heart was a little hesitant to decide

where she wanted to go to school. I had to gently nudge
her along. Family and friends began helping by suggesting
colleges that were good for their family. Location was a
huge deal to Heart. She didn't want to go far from home.
She said she couldn't be far from her mom. However at
this point she is so busy I barely see her anyway. We are
reduced to text messages even when we are in the same
house. I have to make sure when she is home to just
hone in on her. It has been a challenge with schooling
the other children but it's working. After much talk
about school but no action. I prayed and prayed and then
signed her up for some college visits. This was the
turning point that got her more excited about attending.
At the college she ended up choosing she actually found
friends there she knew. This really helped in the process
of choice. Plus the college was small like the high school
she was used to. It really was the right choice for her.
I'd suggest writing a few wants down before you go.
Then see if this college fits you. Take money along
because if the school is a hit. You gotta come home
with the shirt that says so.

We all tried to give her other suggestions but she
was really set on this choice. I wanted her to make sure

this was what she wanted and not just because it was
close and she knew people. It is really helpful to give
guidance but most importantly to listen. If they don't
like where they are they won't stay in the long run.
I have seen several teens do just that. Be careful you
aren't pushing them to far in a direction that doesn't
feel comfortable to them.

Choosing the college really was the easy part. The
difficult process of financial aid and paper work is the
scary part. You keep thinking we are really doing this
and it's such a huge expense. We better be sure. The
college made things simpler for us by sending us reminders
and steps of completion. It was scary looking at than
it was actually doing it when it was said and done.

I find myself again at this junction. I have a freshman
in high school at the moment. We have been throwing
around ideas of what she wants to do in her future. It
begins now. The process of talking and looking at
careers and so we will soon begin taking a peek at some
school options again. Princess has some learning disabilities
so we are leaning more towards a trade school. Hopefully
not all to different than college searching.

I will post more about college as Princess moves
through the process and Heart starts her next semester.

Blessings,
Nikki

Book Report Part 3

2011-11-12T03:10:00.000-08:00

At this point your child should have....

1. Chosen a book of their choice and interest
2. Read the book
3. Brain stormed word ideas.
4. Set up an outline.

Now its time to begin to write a rough draft. Your
child should use the outline that they created to help
them get writing. The Letters in the outline will represent
a new paragraph. Each individual number under each
will represent a new sentence. Other sentences and
paragraphs may be added. Your outline is a guide to
you/ your child so they know where to begin.

Next step Revisions... Give yourself time to write a
revision children shouldn't be in a hurry for it to be
complete. You can put it aside for a few days and come
back to it if you need to. Try several lessons to improve
it. You could do a lesson on imagery by adding more
descriptive words to your writing. You could add words
that make sounds. You should also at this time create
a introductory sentence that grabs your readers attention
and a concluding sentence that rounds up what you want
to say along with your opinion of the book.

Now it's time to get some criticism. If possible allow another
child to read the book report as it is or a family member.
Be open to their advice to improve and go back and
try adding a few more things. Once you are satisfied it is
time to Edit your work. Here are a few questions to ask
yourself.

Do you have complete sentences?
Did you use proper punctuation?
Are your words spelled properly?
(use your dictionary to correct mistakes)
Did all of your sentences make sense?
Did you use imagery to spark the readers attention?
Do you have a gripping opening sentence?
Do you have a final closing sentence?
Does your book report tell about the book but not
give away to much information/

Last of all publish your book report. Type or write
it in your best handwriting, blog or glog about it.
Add your own drawings to it and then share it with
another or your local library. Our library has a book
review page for Children to submit their favorite books.

Happy Writing,

Nikki

Qualities

2011-11-09T03:52:00.001-08:00

What type of qualities would you like for your son to have
after they leave the nest? (or while they are home)

Many of the character traits I'd like to see in my son
are already there, some need more work and Some are well
defined. I don't want my son to go out into the world and
become a burden to his wife one day. Do others think
about this? I think the thought is more in the forefront with
the way things are today. It seems more and more men
leave their families or are lazy about taking care of their
families. Of course I am not generalizing there are many
women that make a mess of things too. Just the thought
is on my son in this post. So it got me to thinking what
qualities do I want him to possess. Here are the top 10
I am sure there are more. What would be your 10
wish list of things of importance for you to pass to your
son. Sometimes I think it's harder because we are the
mom to relate to our boys. We have to find ways to
do that and still make men.

Top 10 Qualities ...

1. Christan Character- My hope is that he will
first reflect the character and qualities of Christ in
his life.

"...Be conformed to the image of [God's] Son." (Romans 8:29)

2. Determination- Accomplishing his goals in God's time.
Being all that God intends him to become.

"I have fought the good fight, I have finished the course,
I have kept the faith; in the future there is laid up for me
the crown of righteousness." (2 Timothy 4:7,8)

3. Patience- Accepting what comes to him. Being patient
with Women and children . Understanding their feelings
and really listening to them.

"Be glad for all God is planning for you. Be patient in trouble, and
always be prayerful." (Romans 12:12 NLT)

4. Wisdom- Desiring God and knowing how to apply that
To his life. Being able to discern what is important to
him and his family.

"Oh, how I love your law! I think about it all day long.
Your commands make me wiser than my enemies, for your commands
are my constant guide." (Psalm 119:97-98)

5. Attentiveness- Acknowledging the worth of other
people. Paying attention to the words and ideas of
others.

"...We must listen very carefully to the truth we have heard,
or we may drift away from it." (Hebrews 2:1 NLT)

6. Cautiousness but boldness at the same time.
knowing when to act and when to wait. All in Gods
timing.

"Zeal without knowledge is not good; a person who
moves too quickly may go the wrong way." (Proverbs 19:2 NLT)

7. Commitment- Committing self to Christ and to
others .

"Guard that which is committed to thy trust." (1 Timothy 6:20)

8. Compassion- Willing to help others and lend a hand w
when it is needed.

"And Jesus, moved with compassion, put forth his hand,
and touched him." (Mark 1:41)

9. Dependability- Others being able to rely on him
when he is needed. Knowing that he will do what he
says and mean it.

"Moreover it is required in stewards, that a man be
found faithful." (1 Corinthians 4:2)

10. Endurance- In this world we need to be able move
forward in life no matter what comes our way.

"And let us not lose heart in doing good, for in due
time we shall reap if we do not grow weary." (Galatians 6:9)

When I started this list I thought it would be difficult to
complete but honestly I could have written several more
once I got started
.
Add you thoughts in the comments section. What
qualities would you want your son to possess or daugher?

Blessings
Nikki

Turkey Time Games

2011-11-08T03:49:00.002-08:00

It's Turkey Time!! Thanksgiving here in the States is
one of my favorite Holidays. I love watching the Macys
parade Live from New York City while a turkey is baking in
the oven and the house is warm with lovely smells. The children
become excited as Santa makes his way to Macy's at the end
of the parade. Waving in the Christmas season. It means being
Thankful for the year, being thankful to God, Shopping, baking
and most importantly Family Time. It was only fitting to create
and search for some fun Thanksgiving Games.

I created this game to practice Spirits Site words. It is taking
him some time to get the hang of learning them. He absolutely
loved playing over and over. There are more cards and words
in the set. These are the words he is working on right now.
I printed off 3 of each word and layed them on the table. You
could easily put this in a pocket chart. Behind two of the
words I placed a Thanksgiving ticket. If he finds both he
wins the game. He chooses a card and reads it first. Then
he can search for the Thanksgiving Ticket. You can print the
game from my file for share the file is called Thanksgiving
or you can go here Thanksgiving Turkey Site word game .

Spirit Created his own game after we played. We layed the
cards face down. He choose a site word to find such as is.
Then he had three incorrect chances to find all the is words.
He often creates his own games after we play a game. He
seems to have other visions for our learning tools. This one
was a keeper.

This game I created from another activity I already had.
I had the Turkey number cards with triangle feathers from
last year. I as gifted the turkey game but you could create
one simply by tracing your childs shoe for the body. Cut out
10 bodies 11 if you'd like 0. Number them from 0-10. Add
eyes and beaks. Then cut different colored feathers.

To play have your child pick two turkeys from the pile.
(I only pictured one) Allow them to choose from the feather
pile/triangles any colors of their choice. This turkey has a 5
on him so he gets 5 feathers. Then from the turkeys count up
each number of feathers and marke it on the chart. I put ours
under a plastice pocket sleeve so we can use it again. After
we collect our data I asked questions such as...
Which is the most color feather used?
Which is the least color feather used?
Which are equal?
How many more red are there than blue?

You can print my turkey feather chart here

Color Feather Chart

This game I am sharing because I absolutely love it!!
It comes from a new learning site I came across yesterday.
You can learn more about the More or less game by
visiting Kindergarten Crayons and print it out to use
in your school room.

Warm Blessings,

Nikki

Toddler time Cancelled

2011-11-07T07:37:00.000-08:00

Toddler time this week was cancelled. My little Sweet Pea
was a very sick little pea. She contracted Hand, foot and mouth
viral. Some of my older children have had this before but not
to this extent. Sweet pea had blisters in her mouth, around her
mouth, a rash that looked a little like pimples that would open
and scab. This rash was on her hands, arms, legs, feet, head
and other places. It was a long long couple of days. She
has been very fussy, so last week we did no Toddler time.

This morning she is feeling better. Many of her scabs have
turned to small little sores. The blisters in her mouth
are mostly gone except for one that was huge in her right
cheek. This week we will begin Toddler time again and will
have photos for you next Monday.

Blessings all,

Nikki

Quiet Defiance

2011-11-01T04:17:00.000-07:00

For a long time now I did not have a name for what I some
times see in my son. From the time he was small he was
very quiet. He would sit in his car seat and play intently
by himself. I took it as him being settled with himself and
he was a boy which was different than my other two
previous children. At that time that may just have been what it
was contentment. But as he became older his behavior didn't
change much he continued to be less vocal than most
children sitting with his drawing paper much of the afternoon.
As he has settled into the preteen age I have noticed a
pattern of quiet defiance. I'll ask him to pick up something
and will see him visually picking it up but then find it laying
on the stairs instead of putting it away. I'll ask him to do an
assignment but later find it laying in a mess on his bedroom
floor or I'll ask him to clean his room and come to find him
half cleaning it and continuing on his day as if he had cleaned
it already. It can be tiring as a parent to watch. Now I am
not talking about the occasional forgetfulness. I am talking
about a constant apparent lack of forgetfulness. I have
come to realize that this is his way of "handling the situation",
which turns out isn't exactly passive or being lazy as one
might think. He is staking his control over .... well.... Me.

It has taken me sometime to realize this. I had given up
somewhat on keeping up with his eccentrics which is what
I told myself it was. He did hit genius levels on some testing
which I often told myself and used as an excuse....
and was allowing the behavior . Lots of ands and excuses in that
sentence. I was left scratching my head and wondering why
he wasn't motivated. I even got a book at the library about
unmotivated boys . I never did finish reading it because it
had no concrete end result. I decided it was time to
demand a change from him . As I push the boundries and
help him recognize what he is doing in my own quiet way.
I am seeing results. I thought I'd share with you today
Incase you find yourself in the same situation with your
middle School boy.

Here is how Quite Defiance as I call it works:

I asked Superboy a few days ago to put away his laundry.
A day later I found a tash bag and wanted to know what
was in it . It turned out it was his laundry. I asked
him again to put the laundry away by the end of that day.
That day the laundry was still in the bag and I added more.
Now he has laundry in a bag and in his bed. Did he that
day complete the task. Not at all. Now normally I would
get upset/possibly yell at him but that only means that he Won.
Instead I will go up and walk him through step by step
to make sure it gets done. It is taking a lot of work
to make sure things are accomplished but I am seeing
him doing work on his own at times too.

Take for example yesterday. He decided to go grocery
shopping with me. He helped with the baby. He unloaded
the shopping cart. Helped load the goceries to the car and
then to the house. Way way more than he normally would do.

His Quiet defiance is covering up his anger in
something. Now I don't think that Superboy is in an extreme
state of anger but I think it could lead to that If I don't stop
it now. If not caught now it could really lead to problems
later in his life and isn't that what I am here to do. Keep
watch over my children. Basically he has trouble
communicating his feeling about the things I am asking him
to do, which them creates resentment and the I'm going
to ignore this instead of dealing with my feelings.

Here is what has worked for us:

If I see him dragging his feet then I need to sit
down and talk to him. Questioning and allowing him
to talk it out helps. Most of the time he talks himself
into what I am asking.

When we talk about what is going on it often comes
up that the task seems to challenging for him. So I

break it up into pieces so he doesn't have all the work at
once. Or for Assignments fold the page in half and work
on the top half and then come back to do the bottom half.
I Ask questions to get him over the first challenge then
he often becomes secure and tackles the rest of the
assignment.

Helping him be organized or teaching him to be organized
is a something we are continuing to work on. Organizing
myself is something I am really good at but when I think
back to my teen years I certainly was not in the least
organized. I learned by trial and error. I now teach my son
organizational skills to help him along. It is giving him
confidence and security in what he is doing. Right down
to the steps to getting that laundry away.

If he still does not complete a task I am asking then
I need to stand firm and watch over him until it is complete.
There have to be consequences and rewards too. With this
sort of passiveness it can be tiring to make sure it gets
done each and everytime. I just want to assume he did it
and then later I realize he didn't. Then he won again because
I didn't follow through. It is so important to keep on your toes
and keep a vigil. Biggest Biggest thing is to talk talk talk.
Don't allow communication to break down. You will really
really need it in the teen years.

Warm blessings,
Nikki

Miss Spiders Tea Party

2011-11-01T04:01:00.000-07:00

We created another fun Math Journal from Kim's Jazzy Journals.
Spirit Created his spider and then counted the number
of legs, eyes etc...He really enjoys these. I hope to create
more for him. The idea is awesome! Thanks Kim. I love it!

We read Miss Spiders Tea Party. It sort of
Fits in with the Halloween week. Miss Spider keeps
inviting the bugs to tea but none of them want to come
because they are Afriad of Miss Spider. They don't
want to be eaten. A really cute Story. Spirit picked
up the treasury of Miss spider at the library and enjoyed
other stories as well.

Along with our reading of Miss Spider I went with the word
family Bug. Spirit is beginning to put word sounds together
more easily now and is just starting to glaze the surface
of beginning reading. It is so exciting to see.

We then made a journal entry about our story. Spirit filled
in the words he knew and we read it together. Then
He drew his own Miss Spider.

Warm Blessings,

Nikki

5 Minutes for Moms

2011-11-01T03:23:00.000-07:00

Good day to all of you!! I wanted to stop in and tell you about a
really neat website that I have enjoyed since I began blogging.
5 Minutes for Moms is an informative site created Just for moms.
Each Year 5 Minutes for moms gives gifts to those in need.
There was a time , 2 years ago to be exact that Daddy
had just come out of the hospital with Congestive Heart
failure and diabetes. It was a tough time and instantly he was
unable to work. It was a struggle to keep ourselves afloat
until I was able to secure work. 5 Minutes for moms came to
our aid during the holiday Season. They sent us an awesome
printer, train from playskol that plays music and balls are
inserted inside, Spirit got his Fireman outfit that he still puts
on whenever he can, gift cards for the teen girls and an
abc magnet set. They were so kind and this is my way of
Thanking them. If you know of anyone that is in need this
holiday Season please put in their name. It will be a
great blessing to them and help take the burden from their
hearts. If you'd like to nominate someone visit
http://www.5minutesformoms.com/ for details.

While you are there visiting make sure you enter yourself
in the Annual Christmas giveaway. In the past I have won
a Crockpot, clothing, Jewelery and a toy. So don't think
You can't win. It is possible. Stop in for rules and details.

Warm Blessings,
Nikki

The leaves are Falling.

2011-10-31T04:30:00.000-07:00

Concept Basket:

This week the basket was full
of fall leaves. This was a completely
new activity for Princess. She loved throwing
the leaves and swimming in them on the carpet.

Art:
Princess played with Crayola Modeling clay.
We read the story of the Tower of Babel from our
Beginners bible and then created these dough towers.
(Sorry for the blurry photo)

Songs and Fingers plays:

2 Little Blackbirds

Two little Blackbirds (Hold up two fingers)
Sitting on a wall.
One named Peter(hold up one finger)
one named Paul (hold up two fingers)

Fly away Peter (finger behind back)
Fly away paul (finger behind back)
Come back Peter (Finger out)
Come back Paul (Finger Out)

Pumpkin Faces:

Here is a Pumpkin who is happy
Here is a pumpkin who cries
Here is a pumpkin who is sleepy
Here is a pumpkin who sighs
Here is a pumpkin who is angry
Here is a pumpkin who is noisy
Here is a pumkin whos Glad

(Frame face in hands and it becomes a pumpkin smile)

Favorite Book this week:

Her Beginner Bible. I thought she might be to young
for it just yet but she loved looking at the pictures.

Beginner Bible

Warm Blessings,
Nikki

Power Outages

2011-10-30T16:19:00.000-07:00

We are dealing with power outages here in our area.
We have had an unusual snow storm. For our area we
don't normally have snow yet. In fact we hit a record.
The autumn leaves usually fall before we have snow.
It's strange to see the leaves caked in it.

We lost power on Saturday evening at 5:00 pm. It came
back on at 3:30 am. Just as we were all beginning to
celebrate the warmth. The power went back off at 7:30 am.
We did not attend church as no one could take showers.
We did by 10 did the ice off the car and headed out for
some breakfast. The restaurant was so packed we had to
wait in line to eat at a little diner. We came back home
to still no power. At 2 I reached mom and dad again
we had gone to breakfast with them and went to their
house for showers and to warm up. By 4 Dad said the
power was on and we could come home. I am so exhausted
I am going to be early. I am hoping this isn't and
indication of what our winter is going to be like.

Stay Warm,

Nikki

Letting Go

2011-10-29T04:27:00.000-07:00

Today I just want to talk.
It can be so difficult raising children. On the day
of their birth you are suddenly full of joy, fear and love.
Emotions I can't even describe in words. You follow
them as they grow . Worrying over their every move.
Worrying about each situation and how it will affect them.
Then one day you blink and they are grown up and fighting
for their Independence. I know this is how it is supposed to
be but it doesn't make it any easier to see/ be a part of.
You know that they have earned this and you have
earned the joy of seeing them fly.

It doesn't make it easier to deal with. I have always
been a mom involved. One who knew where her kids
were at all times. They surrounded me. I enjoyed every
second of it. Now Heart is ready to grow and move on.
It's what all my work was for but I'll miss it, Miss her
so terrible. I know she will still be here but much less
and that makes it difficult. I have four more children to
go through this with. I doubt it will get easier as they
leave the nest. I have talked about this before I know.
It is heavy on my heart at times. It's strange to have this
feeling and have a toddler. I busy myself with that and
hopes for all of them right down to the smallest.

I know this is why God put me here which makes
me wonder all the more if I am choosing successfully
for them. I suppose we all question ourselves and
this feeling will pass over tomorrow and return on
occasion. It is time to find my new role as a mom.
of an adult child. New territory indeed.

Warm Blessings,
Nikki

Halloween Book Look

2011-10-28T04:36:00.001-07:00

As I am creating this post. It is snowing outside like crazy.
I really don't remember a time that we had snow this early.
I remember snow on Thanksgiving but not the end of Oct.
Our power seems to go in and out. Luckily it has come back
on so far. I'd like to share a list of some of the Halloween
books that we read this year. Some have become a tradition.

Big Pumpkin is a story of a witch who grows a pumpkin
in the hopes of making pumpkin pie but the pumpkin
grows to big for her to move. In her struggles her friends
come along and try to help her move the pumpkin.
None of them are successful. Smallest and last of all comes
the bat. You will have to see for yourself if the bat can help to get
the pumpkin inside to make pumpkin pie.

You can peek at Big Pumpkin By Erica Silverman
at Amazon or try looking searching U tube.

Bat Jamboree is a musical style rhyming/counting book.
Each year the bats gather together for a special musical.
The book is not Halloween related but the kids tend to
pull it off the shelf at this time of year.
Bat-Jamboree-Kathi-Appelt

Corduroy's Halloween is a cute story for the young preschool.
Lift the flap books are always fun. It's a surprise to see what

Is underneath the pumpkin or under the halloween costumes.
I love that the characters trick or treat for unicef.

Corduroys Halloween Lift a Flap book

This book I found at our local Library. It is a cute book
of children who's imagination runs wild. A little boy and
girl are to go get milk from town and something in the tree
frightens them. See if you can guess what it is.

Ghost Eye Tree

I love Gail Gibbons books and this one is no different.
It illustrates all the Halloween is and talks about how
some traditions came to be. Good for an introduction
of what Halloween is to a elementary child.

Halloween is by Gail Gibbons

I have check this book out of our local library several times.
It is a group of 13 newberry award writers telling short stories
all in one book. Makes for a fun read aloud.

Pumpkin Hill is a fun story about a farmer who
plants pumpkins and no one picks them. They
grow and grow till they take over the town. What
will they do with so many pumpkins.

Pumpkin Hill

Charlie likes School. His teacher uses a pumpkin
to teach his class about math. Gave this mom
some ideas when we open our pumpkin.

How many Pumpkin seeds

Happy Hallow Reading.
Nikki

Monsters, Comics and Things that Move.

2011-10-27T04:34:00.000-07:00

* I finally got around to creating a picture top for my middle
School boys posts. Not sure I like the lettering . I may change it
somewhat. For now its there.

Do you know that I have tried and tried to find something
to motivate my son to read and to write. It is something
that he doesn't enjoy, which is words I have heard from
many a home school mom with a boy this age. I can not
remember a time that he liked reading and writing. I
still don't think he will be rushing to write but I did find
something that he enjoys. When the boy enjoys something
then it becomes worthy of working upon. Boys are Left
or right you know. They either like it or they don't and if
they don't you will have to force the effort from them.
It seems there is no middle in a middle school boy.

This day however we came upon a lesson on poetry.
Thinking I'd hear a huge groan but did not. Perhaps
I am thinking its because the reading is less intense.
Although the understanding can be more intense depending
on what you are reading but we won't tell him that.

This day our assignment was to create a poem that had
alliteration and onomatopoeia. Alliteration is to create
words with music or rhyme. Now tell me what middler
does not like music at this age. Perfect . Onomatopoeia is
a word that imitates sound. Now this is a wonderfully
fun thing for a boy to use words that make sound.
Boom, Ching, Squack, ding, peep etc..

Of course as the boy writes this his mind is on monsters
and mayhem. Perhaps you know that my "Superboy" is
of the comic book family. His actions are motivated by
them. At times I think he came from toon parents. We
frequent the local comic store as comics are the
only material he will read on his own. He is also somehow
able to find a comic book in our local library each
time we go. I'd say even more than one a stack. Well he is
reading so I do not complain. Recently he went to a
special art class on how to draw cartoons at our new
favorite comic store Planet X Comics. This store is awesome
and has a real way with kids. So know that creating
monsters or writing and drawing silly characters is right
up his alley. I was able to let my Boy be himself without
giving him that Oh brother this is strange look. He could
be as strange as he liked and came out the best in
his class. I'm not saying that because I'm his mom. Not
at all . Really. Anyway here is the poem he came up
with . Course we had to create the art to go with it
or it wouldn't be Superboys.

In case you can't read it.

At the dead of night
A mummy comes to fright (Yeah rhyming words)
In the mummy tomb.

Something happens to you
over Halloween night
The growling of Gross (Alliteration and onomatopoeia)
Roar comes!!

Not Shakespere but good just the same. I love
The Growling of Gross
Roar comes.
That phrase could go anywhere.
More comics and writing to come. I think I'm
on to something. Perhaps I can make this new
found love stick and perhaps not.

Warm Blessings,
Nikki

Stellaluna

2011-10-26T04:34:00.000-07:00

Last Year in Pre School we did a few activities with Bats
and the Story Stellaluna. Spirit loved the story but was
ready for a different level of learning. Here is what
we did last year Stelluna Batty Cup.

We made these brown paper bag Bats and acted out the story.
They were more fun to just fly around the room.

We worked on our rhyming words by using the word family at.
He did wonderfully with writing and reading the word list.
He was proud to read it to every member of the family.

For his reading journal we created this writing
assignment. He filled in the site words and his
bat word. We also created a diagram of things
that are different about bats and birds and things
that are alike. He easily gave ideas. Some I hadn't
thought of.

We Created some fun toilet tube bats to hang in our
kitchen for the upcoming Halloween holiday.

Happy Halloween,
Nikki

Fall Fun

2011-10-25T04:39:00.000-07:00

Concept Basket:

This weeks concept basket was a fall felt board.
Sweet pea enjoyed this activity . I plan to leave it
for next week along with some fall leaves.

Here are some Scenes we created. We counted leaves,
Squrrels and pumpkins . We practiced saying their names.

Art:
I have found that Art works best along with her brother. At times
I have to modify things but her part worked great.

I put together her face, hat and shirt. She added the straw
and loved every second of the gluing experience.
Can you tell which is hers. He is almost glowing.

Word plays and songs:

Instead of our normal finger play songs I pulled out a
old Cassette I had called bean bag activities and
coordination skills. Both Her and Spirit enjoyed
playing the games with the bean bags. Spirit
enjoyed the fast paced passing games and Sweet
pea liked the tossing the bean bag up song.

You can find the Bean bag Activities at Amazon.

Favorite book this week:

Is the Pumpkin Book by Gail Gibbons.
Sweet pea enjoyed the pictures and naming the pumpkins
Really a wonderful book full of color. Great attention
pictures for a toddler.

Warm Fall Blessings,
Nikki

Preparation

2011-10-23T16:16:00.001-07:00

I feel rather stretched to the limit. There are things going on
that I can't talk about yet but it is for the better. It is just

taking a lot of time and energy to prepare. Beside that my
mind is constantly on teaching my children and teaching the
bible to other peoples children. Our Sunday school lesson has
been so neat. It has been a big project and the kids are loving
every second of it. I'll share when they are through.

I feel as a women I am in constant preparation mode. I am
always pre.. paring for the next thing. In doing so I find
myself always looking forward. It's often hard to settle into
the now but God is great at reminding me. For me the
preparation is just as fun as seeing their excitement over the

activity I have given. Sometimes I think I should have been
some sort of party planner or event coordinator. The only big
problem with this for me is I find I am often in my own
thoughts and have to jiggle myself out of it. How my brain
holds it all is so awesome.

--------------------------------------

I'm feeling rather nostalgic this evening. Our refrigerator
went out and my grandma had one for us to use that she
no longer needed. While there she showed us some things
grandpa had cut out of wood before he passed. Still sitting
on the table how many years now. She showed

Us the stash of canes he carved and a replica of their home
he created. I always feel like he is right there with her when
I go there. It is hard to be in that space. Even that space in
the basement brings back so many memories from when
my brother and I were kids. We spent many summers in
the cool of that room playing and talking. I wish my children
could experience the closeness that we all seemed to have
then. Time and business do away with that childhood activity.

Blessings,
Nikki

Writing a book report Part 2

2011-10-22T04:03:00.000-07:00

The next step of writing a book report is to create an outline.
Writing an outline helps you to organize your thoughts and
helps your reader to understand what is happening in an
organized way. Below is an example of the outline that could
be used. You could change it around or add some of you own
ideas to it. Each topic is noted with a letter A. Each number is
an idea or thought. It doesn't need to be written in a complete
sentence. Just some notes or ideas for when you begin writing.
Try for at least 3-4 sentences per paragraph.

Title of Book

A. Opening Sentence

B. About the Arthor
1.
2.
3.
4.

C. Summary of the Story
1.
2.
3.
4.

D. About Main Character 1
1.
2.
3.
4.

E. Second Character
1.
2.
3.
4.

F. Your opinion of the book

G. Concluding Sentence

You may want to organize your outline differently
depending on the book you read. You may consider
adding an object description, a Quote, or the setting.
You might want your about the author at the end of
your report. It is really entirely up to you depending
on your teacher/moms guidelines.

Warm blessings,

Nikki

Middle School boys brains

2011-10-20T04:14:00.000-07:00

Girls process information by Stimuli. Boys by compartmentalizing
Girls are better at interpreting facial features. Boys
Take more risks and are attracted to violence.

Boys account for a large amount of a learning
disabilities.

Boys represent 90% of discipline referrals

I found this guy in my sons room. He is towering tall. His claw
reaches for you as you walk by. His brain is visible from the
outside and his eyes are menacing and watching.

As I ponder his education which I think about often. I realize
how different he learns compared the the girls.
As a side thought to myself as I am a Girl which might
make my teaching style more for a girl. It is already
difficult to understand the male species. How then am
I to teach someone who runs on compartmentalizing
when I myself run on emotion. It's a big question that I
think many mothers wonder about. Especially it seems when
they hit the middle grades. The difference suddenly jump
out at you (me)

Type in your search engine and you will find several good
articles on the difference of teaching boys. Try it just
type in teaching boys and see what you get. I found many
informative articles and this is what I learned.

1. Use good visuals if you are verbally giving information.
Something that they can hold during a story or lesson that
goes along with that activity.

2. Pause to provide time for thinking

3.Provide physical maniplatives. Things they can hold
and move to create an end result so they can see how it
works and feel how it is.

4.Allow for movement. This is a huge one for my young

son. He often takes many minute breaks. Why not for my
older son too. Send them on a mini errand to come back
and work again. Superboy often stands while we school.
Spirit wiggles so much at times he is half rolling in my lap.
(It is exhausting to me to watch and deal with but I allow
it and he learns.)

5. Do not take away physical play for a punishment, which
I never do so not one for me. Thought I'd share anyway .

6. Boys need extra time to complete a task. I hear don't rush
him . This is something I have done. I have to be careful
In my choice of wording.

7. Use vibrant colors in instruction to wake up the mind.

8. Greatest motivator!!! Teach in their interest area.

9. Color code files and materials to help them organize.

10. Boys like to shout so shout out those answers.

Warm Blessings,

Nikki

Fall Math

2011-10-18T01:52:00.000-07:00

I had these Squirrel cut out to use for math in the past.
We counted out that many cereal to feed the squirrel or
nuts. This week I had Spirit pick a squirrel then add that
many dots (seeds) to a pumpkin .
He then he could play a matching game with with the cards.
Lay them all face down. Squirrel on one side and pumpkins
on the other. Play just like momory. For less difficult
play leave face up and match.

Warm blessings to
your Family,

Nikki

Circle Week

2011-10-17T01:13:00.000-07:00

This week in "Sweet Peas" Concept Basket-
Exploring Circles "Sweet Pea" found several Balls,
her favorite bracelets and her stacking buckets.
She wasn't as into this basket as some of the others.
At first she enjoyed tossing the balls around but the
basket took second to some of her other toys.

Art:
Art was the big hit. I precut circles and while cooking
dinner her and Spirit worked on glueing a circle collage.
"Sweet Pea" learned this day how to use the glue bottle.
She squeezed it onto the circle and pasted it to her paper.
She used a bit much glue but loved every second of it.

She also matched up the shapes on her paper. Under each
circle is most likely another just like it.

Spirit enjoyed the art as well but he was more into
trying to make it look like something. He has a wild
imagination.

Rhymes and Songs:

Circle Rhyme

Circle, a circle,
Draw it round and fat.
(Use finger to draw circle in the air.)
A circle, a circle, Draw it for a hat.
(Draw a circle in the air over the head.)
A circle, a circle, Draw it just for me.
(Draw a circle in the air.)
A circle, a circle,
Now jump and count the three:
One! Two! Three!

Favorite Book of the Week:

Mouse Shapes

Wishing you Warm
Blessings,

Nikki

Keeping Up...

2011-10-16T09:55:00.000-07:00

Well I haven't been very good at keeping up with my
little blogspot lately. The rest of my life is organized
and together as much as it can be. Not to worry though
this week will be a week full of posts. :)

I was able to clean our attic out and organize the boxes
into areas of interest to our family. Books, holiday,
Toys to rotate and saved clothing for future use. I have
gathered a pile of clothes for donation and will escort those
out of the house a little at a time. While working I wasn't
very good at keeping our home together . Little
by little I see and feel a little more like I'm home. I
suppose I am still sitting on the edge of my seat wondering
when it will happen again but God is leading me to
sit and enjoy today. Which is hard for me sometimes.

I feel like my days are so full but they whiz right by me.
Sometimes as I lay my head down at night I think I
was just here wasn't I? The day spins by. I keep getting
older and older. There is so much I want to do yet in
my life. (Can you tell my birthday is on its way making me
39 years old. Another year and I'll be ugh 40)

The other day Spirit and I were discussing Halloween.
He was trying to decide what he'd like to be.
He said he'd like to be Jesus and hand out Swedish fish
and rolls. I'm not sure about that child sometimes.

Well off to my family have a happy weekend.

Blessings
Nikki

Writing a Book Report Part 1 Choosing a book, Read and Play with Words

2011-10-13T10:47:00.000-07:00

How to write a good book report.

Step 1- Choose a book that you enjoy. It is easiest to write
about a story you like. If you are writing a book review then it
doesn't matter if you like it or not. When your writing a book
report it makes things easier if you enjoyed the story. Do
some research before choosing your book. Try finding something
that interests you. Once you have the book do the 5 finger test
to make sure it isn't to hard for you. Open to any
page in the story and begin reading. When you come across a
word you don't know put up your finger. If you get to the bottom
and have 5 fingers up then you probably need to choose something
else. For our purposes Superboy choose to read Freckle Juice
by Judy Blume

Step 2 - Take your time and enjoy the story. Look at any pictures
to help you along and READ.

Step 3- Play with Words- This is something fun to do
before you begin writing. It helps you become creative and
have fun with your writing. All you do is think of one character
or one part of the story and brain storm words that would
explain this character or item. Such as:

Freckle Juice- Watery slime, Icky mess, Goey Juice,
frothy mixture

freckles- sprinked face, Spots of brown

You get the idea. It's fun to keep a play with words in
a special word book. You can create a topic for each word.
Later when writing you can look back on it and use it in
other material .

Blessings,
Nikki

Our Body... Them Bones Them bones

2011-10-12T04:57:00.000-07:00

This week we learned about out bodies and in particular
our bones. Spirit felt his bones through his skin. We
talked about his spine, his skull and ribs. How the
skull and ribs are used to protect inside organs. I thought
It would be fun to create these Q-tip Skeletons to go with
the lesson. Spirit got his head a little low so it looks as
if he is jumping. A great time to talk about joints and how
they work.

We read several books on the body. Our favorite is a
book called A look into your Body. The book is Interactive
with flaps and see through pages. Plus a skeleton puzzle
in the front to put together.

The lessons we did were ment as an overview we will
add to this each year as Spirit gets older.

Blessings,

Nikki

Magnet Play

2011-10-10T08:23:00.000-07:00

Concept Basket:

One Chicka boom boom can palm tree, I later
added a baking sheet, baggie of magnets and magnet
baby playset.

This was hours of enjoyment. She wasn't as excited about putting
magnets on the tree. She tried that once . The rest of the
time she was playing with them on her cookie sheet. She
also put letters in her cooking pot. Picked them out one at
a time and said them with me. Then put them back in
stirred them up and did it again.

Art:

Bathtub coloring (no photos)
Loves playing with these in the tub.
You can get yours at the Crayola Online Store
or your local walmart. (PS I am able to have
time to clean most of my bathroom while art is
happening )

Rhyme Favorite this week:

Gray Squirrel

Gray Squirrel Gray Squirrel (hop like a squirrel)
Swish your bushy tail ( Shake your behind)
Gray Squirrel Gray Squirrel (hop like a squirrel)
Swish your bushy tail (shake your behind)
Wrinkle up your funny nose (wrinkle nose)
Hold an acorn in your toes (bend and touch your toes)

Favorite book this week:

You will find Squirrels at Amazon.
The text is a little much for a toddler but she loved
looking at the pictures of Squirrels and trying to say
their name.

Blessings
Nikki

Phonics hopscotch

2011-10-04T03:35:00.000-07:00

Awhile ago I came across this great idea for learning letter
recognition at Jamin's Blog . I am not sure where exactly in her blog
I found it anymore but I know it's there somewhere.

All you need is some craft foam, scissors and
markers. Trace your childs shoe onto the craft foam and
cut 26 for the number of ABC's. Write the letters with
sharpie onto each foot. Your child can then hop around
to the different letters as you call them out or you can
call them out for them. I have also used them for a fun
way to practice spelling with older children.

Recently I thought of a new use for the feet. I layed
the letters on the floor that Spirit is working on to
learn them phoneticly. I placed them to look like a Hopscotch.
We used our ABC cards turning them upside down on the
table. Spirit then choose a card from the pile. Named the letter.
Found the letter on the floor and laid his card on top of it.
As he hopped through the hopscotch he hoped the phonetic
sound of that letter. Great fun and easy too.

After Spirit had the idea to hide the feet around the room.
So the older kids and I took turns hiding them . Spirit then
found them and named the letter and sound. It worked so
well I had to share it.

Blessings,
Nikki

Dramatic Play - House

2011-10-03T02:57:00.000-07:00

Concept basket:

This week instead of our regular concept basket a friend at our
church gave us a new baby center. (well new to us) For our
activity this week Princess pulled out all of her old doll things
for Sweet pea and some new kitchen things for her to play with
as well. I love how much dramatic play can teach a toddler. She
is able to mimic everyday life as a mommy. Practice speaking
words she is familar with and learn a few new.

She can learn how to feed, and love something other than herself.
She is working on learning how to velcro and snap her dolls
clothing. Another big challenge has been opening and closing
the little bottles and containers.

Art:
We were unable to get new done in the art area this week.
She did much coloring and drawing on paper. Our
family has been doing a lot of cleaning out ,that was our
main goal. We will get to some fun art in this coming week.

Story Time:
The favorite book of the week :

Sweet pea loved reading Where's Spot by Eric Hill. This is an old
favorite flip book. Spot is late for dinner. As you read
you flip and try to find him. She was able to practice
her favorite word as we fliped and saw NO spot.

Rhymes/ Songs and Finger plays

The favorite this week Itsy Bitsy Spider

The itsy , bitsy spider went up the water spout.
(make spider movements with fingers)

Down came the rain and washed the spider out.
(twinkle fingers like rain)

Out came the sun and dried up all the rain.
(put arms over the head forming a circle)

And the itsy Bitsy spider went up the spout again.
(Make spider movements with fingers)

I can hardly believe that that completes the Month
of september. Our first week of Toddler time.
Our lesson plans for the month were:

Concept baskets:
1- matching photo mat, washclothes, doll baby
2- cheerios, scooping materials and cheerios book
3-Balance and foam shapes
4-Telephones of differnt shapes, sizes and styles
5- Baby doll, kitchen dramatic play

Art:
1- shaving cream - Crown
2- cheerios necklace and bracelets
3-Apple pies
4- Paper pizzas
5- Coloring time

Songs / fingers plays as we went and stories
at her choosing. If you'd like to see our planning sheets

and why I decided to plan this way look Here

Blessings

Nikki

Moms Journal Autumn

2011-10-02T04:07:00.000-07:00

Cleaning Out

We have been having a wonderful time here. Well I have been
more than the kids. I have gotten in the mood to clean things
out and throw things away. I feel like all of this stuff is just
coming in at me and I can't take that. It stresses me out. I'm
not sure how they collected so much but it is finding a new home.
We are donating and giving to our church rummage sale. To me
it's freeing. To my oldest son its painful, but he survived yesterday
and now his room looks fabulous. My parents surprised the kids
with new mattresses for their beds. They were really needed.
It was nice to know that they were all snug in their beds last
night and comfortable. Now I need to get the boys new comforter
sets.

Ceremony

It has been an active week. We also attended a ceremony at the
college for Heart. She received a certificate of recognition for
receiving the Deans Scholarship. It was a lovely ceremony and
after they had a little breakfast and gave away some nice
thermal mugs. Who doesn't enjoy something free.

Driving

I have other exciting news. Heart got her drivers license.
I am excited that I don't have to drive so much but worried
every second of the day. Then the call came last night that
she was in a car accident. She wasn't driving but her boyfriend
was. His car is a mess. Thanksfully both of them are fine.
Someone hit and then ran. She said she was so scared because
she had never been in an accident before. Possibly she will be more
careful now when she is driving. God can only protect her and
I rely on that thought.

Illness and Rain

It is raining here and rather cold. I love the cooler weather.
Autumn is my favoite season. I am anticipating the color
change of the leaves and wearing jackets. The dampness isn't
helping my cough much. I was sick last week but the cough
is just hanging on. It gets so bad that I can't stop sometimes.
I may just have to visit the dr. office this week to get something
for it.

We are heading out for church services today. Then
moving some furniture for my parents. Then grocery shopping.
Then cleaning putting somethings in storage. Then bring down
the fall decorations. Then going to youth. Umm we might eat
in there somewhere too. I hate to work on Sunday but if
I don't things won't get done.

Blessings
Nikki

Talking About God

2011-10-01T03:43:00.000-07:00

Being a teenager can be very difficult. Especially when bombarded
by so many worldly activities. Finding God is sometimes the last
thing on these teens’ minds. So how do we help them have a
close relationship with God? Teen ages are the time when most
children begin to question everything. They question if God
exists. They question who they want to become and who they
are now. Everything about them is questioning. Some teens are
easy to talk to and open to new and old ideas, others not so much.

First before anything else, Pray. Prayer is often the neglected
activity when raising children and teens. Before anything
put yourself and your child before God. Pray for the knowledge
of God, Salvation, for yourself as a parent, patience, recognition
of your child's mistakes by your child, for love, spiritual stability,
to help bear burdens, for spiritual and emotional growth,
protection, faith in time of difficulty, contentment, unselfishness,
wisdom, confession, humility, gratitude, convictions, courage,
free from materialism, Peace, hope, justice... You get the idea.
You can find some good verses at Praying Scriptures

As parents I cannot stress enough the importance of good
communication . You have to be willing to listen first and
give advice where needed without sounding like
you are lecturing. It can be a hard puzzle to complete. Discussing
religion can also close a person off even if you have your best
intentions. I began teaching recently a teen class on Defending
your faith. It has been eye opening for me as well, I hope as
it has been for the teens. (some are more enthusiastic than others)
I highly recommend Art of Eloquence's Say what you mean
defending the Faith. I also recommend if you have a teen
who is unsure about their faith that you (the parent) take the
course too. It's also a good course for the teen that is
grounded in their faith and preparing to head off to college
or out into the world. This curriculum for teens will
also help you as a parent learn how to effectively
communicate your faith with your teens.

If your teens are willing you may also have them
do a little research on their own. Two great places
to go for answers is Answers in Genesis and Christian Answers.

Most of all don't give up. Don't stop praying. Don't stop
talking. Don't stop trying. Your child is worth saving.

Blessings,
Nikki

Art in Paint

2011-09-30T02:25:00.000-07:00

This art was created by Superboy in our computers
Paint program. I keep saying to myself how did he do that
in paint?

Police Chase by Superboy age 11

Blessings
Nikki

Walking the line

2011-09-30T01:10:00.000-07:00

It has been raining and raining here. So for some fun
exercise in the house we walked the line. I cut some
yarn and layed it on the floor. That was all I needed to do.

The boys practiced walking on the line one foot in
front of the other. They tried hopping , going backwards
and other fun ways of walking the line.

They played this for quite sometime and there was no mess.

Blessings

Nikki

Modeling Poetry

2011-09-29T10:59:00.000-07:00

This week Spirit and I have been reading lots of poetry.
We read a poem about different colors and decided to create
one ourselves.

First we choose a color. Spirit choose black.

Then we created a list of everything we could think of that
is black. Cat, night sky, trucks, wheels, licorice, computers,
telephones, radios, chalk boards, screwdrivers, walls, dark,
and rocks.

Here is how it went:

I have tires.
I am a truck

I am hard and big.
I am a rock.

I am chewy.
I am called licorice.

I am Black.

The poem we read is called Theme in Yellow by
Carl Sanburg. This is from a read aloud program
from K12. The poem theme is yellow is about
pumkins in autumn and the face of a pumpkin. Spirit
also created this drawing. Little early for Fall but
we will save it for decorationing later in October.

Blessings,

Nikki

The book of Virtues

2011-09-29T01:43:00.000-07:00

I just started reading The Book of Virtues to my boys and I
am loving it already. Some of the stories and poems are a
little complex for the Kindergartener but it is working out
just fine anyway. This book is a treasury of Great Moral
Stories. Inside you will find Self Discipline, Compassion,
Responsibility, Friendship, work, courage, perseverence,
honesty, loyalty, and Faith.

We started out by reading the story of Please by Alicia
Aspinwall. Spirit thought this was silly. We ended with a
family contest to see who could say please the most.
It was a tough battle but the Spirit won the race. Probably
because he isn't able to get things as easily as the others
so had lots of oppurtunities to ask. It wasn't long before
the baby was saying please too. Peass.

You can find a copy of the Book of Virtues on
Amazon.

Blessings,

Nikki

Middle school boys

2011-09-28T01:27:00.000-07:00

Are you having trouble getting your Middle school boy to
the table for school? Try some fun Silly days. Just this
week our cyber school had the kids do something silly
each day and post their photos. It was such a hit with
Superboy that I may do some more. He was ready early
and came with a smile on his face.

This was Crazy hair day.

Backwards day!

And

Pajama day.

Hmm what other silly days can I think of...

specific color, rainbow, silly hat, funny sock, sweats day,
wacky clothing day, dress up day, silly tie day,
sports day, scarf day...

Any ideas?

Blessings
Nikki

Kindergarten Jazzy Journals

2011-09-27T01:05:00.000-07:00

We have been working this week on patterns and the
AB, ABB, ABC, etc... There are so many great ways to
work on patterning. I picked this fun idea up from
Jazzy Journals Here is the page I found the Pizza patterns.
Spirit loved this activity and as you saw in Toddler time so did
Sweet pea. I precut ahead of time the dough, sauce and toppings.
It was fun to display it in a sorting try. We have the cheese,
green peppers, pepporonis in red, brown mushrooms,
yellow pineapples, pink ham, and blue sushi.

I used fun scissors to cut the dough. Spirit added the
sauce and cheese then he decided on a pattern.
Below he choose ABB with a sushi, ham pattern.

Then he tried an ABC pattern . We weren't able
to glue on another set but he layed them out for me to
see that he knew what the next set was.

The AB pattern worked great. It fit right on. The
older kids were ohh and ahhing and wanting to make
pizzas too.

Hope over to her site there are a lot of great activities
for Kindergarten!!

Blessings
Nikki

Hello- Telephone Time

2011-09-26T01:26:00.000-07:00

This week I filled "Sweet peas" Concept basket with her
favorite toy. (Good thing to since it was a sick week for mom)
Not picured below were two old Cell phones. Those she nabbed
right away. Every night my dear little one fell asleep holding
a different phone. I wish I had felt well enough to take a
photo of each day it happened.

As some added fun. Brother blew up some balloons and tied
them up in the hall way. This is great fun for a toddler and keeps
it safer than allowing them to hold and chew on them.
The kids kicked and hit them all the day through.

Art this week was not what I intended but it worked just fine
anyway. Sweet pea created several of these paper pizza pies.
The activity came about when we were doing pizzas with
Spirits math journal. (which you will see tomorrow) I was
surprised how much she liked making these. The girl loves glue.

Finger plays this week:

Under my Umbrella (seems fitting with the rain we keep having)

Under my Umbrella, I am dry
(Cup hand above index finger.)

When it's raining , my oh my.
(Fingers wiggle like rain coming down)

I wait until the raindrops stop
(clap hands together on the word stop)

Now no umbrella on my top!
(Just hold up index finger)

Plus many of the old favoites.

Story time this week Peek in my Pocket was the big
favorite. We read it over and over again. Review coming.

If you would like to learn how I plan toddler time please
stop Here for planning pages and the concepts behind my plans.

Blessings

Nikki

What should I pray about, Mom?

2011-09-25T05:35:00.000-07:00

I don't know what to pray about , Mom. Or What
should I say. Teach your children the five fingers to help
them know what to pray. Start by having your child put
their hands together in prayer.

Thumb- Your thumb is the closet to you so when you
begin to pray, pray first for you family and friends.

Pointer finger- Your pointer finger is always leading people
Use your pointer finger to remind you to pray for community
workers that are a help to you. Examples: Doctors, Dentists,
fire fighters, police etc..

Middle finger- Your middle finger is right in the middle of
everythigng just as our President is in the thick of things.
Pray for your president and representatives.

Ring finger- Your Ring finger is the weakest. Pray for those
that are sick, hungry , or weak in spirit.

Pinky finger- This is your smallest finger and last. Pray for
yourself last. Ask for his forgiveness.

Another fun thing to do surrounding prayer is to create a prayer
container. Many people like to use a box. I used a simple fall
kitchen container. Each week we pull the prayer container
out during our Co-op bible time. Children write their prayers
onto index cards and date them. We pray through the cards.
Then the following week we pull them out and see if any are
answered. It is fun to see the results that God has done for
us. It is a wonderful thing to do at home as well.

Blessings
Nikki

Teen Talk Stepping up when Mom needs help.

2011-09-24T04:13:00.000-07:00

You may have noticed I was missing from my blog for a few days.
It started with Spirit. He was sick first with a stuffy head and
a croupy cough. He was really only down for a day. Then
Sweet pea got it next. Again hers was at its worst for a day.
Superboy got a little stuffy but nothing to keep him down.
When the kids get sick it is almost inevitable that I get it too.
It has really been a long time since I was down in that way.
Usually I can plow right through. This time was different. It
knocked me down. One night I actually woke up thinking someone
was talking to me. In reality it was the wheezing of my lungs.
Really not good. When I'd stand up I could barely see out of
my eyes everything was a blur. Today finally I feel better.
I am a little stuffy and still have somewhat of a cough but not
as bad as before. Being sick isn't fun but the great thing
was that my house didn't fall apart. My teens jumped
in and kept things going. I am so proud of their hard work.

Superboy who is not quite a teen yet but a preteen,
worked hard on his school lessons and made me breakfast
on a few of the days. Princess helped with Sweet pea and Spirit.
She played with them while I rested. She picked up the living areas
She gave them bathes in the evening with little help from
me. Just some supervising eyes. Yesterday she made dinner for all
of us. She made meat loaf, fried potatoes and candied
carrots. Pretty awesome too with some help from dad.
Heart kept Sweet pea in her room and played with her for an entire
afternoon while I slept. She kept the dishes done and still
managed her job and college studies.

I feel so blessed to have these children who are capable of
managing without me. It is good to know that they can do
all the things needed. That they can step up to the plate and
complete the necessary tasks without prompting or complaint.
That when they need to they can shine. It also makes me
realize that they can do so much more than they let on.
The secret is out of the bag guys. Now I know. Don't worry
I won't use it against you everyday. :P

P.S. Next week we will talk about Questions Teens
may have about the Bible and how to handle them.

Blessings
Nikki

Middle School Boys- Responsibility

2011-09-21T01:57:00.000-07:00

Middle School boys and Responsibility doesn't always match
at least not in our house. I have to prod and push and push
harder to get results. It can be very difficult to motivate
some young men. But my son will someday be a legacy.
He will be important to this world and to his family. It is
imperative I don't raise another grown up child.
When I look around this world I see so many men not taking
responsibility for anything. One day I don't want to look
back and wish I had done something to make the lives
of others better. So many young men trample everyone
in their sight for their own selfish gain.

A few years ago I swore I would work hard to keep my son on
track. It hasn't been easy. He is not a self motivative type.
If I want his room clean I have to follow up with him
several times . I sometimes have to sit and supervise him.
Using rewards has helped some. I have to work hard to get him
to work hard. This ethic seems to be lost today in many
youth. If I don't push forward it will be his future. I won't
give up.

Perhaps taking care of something else would help.
My dad bought these birds for Superboy to care for.
He cares for them everytime he goes to
visit them. My dad says they are Silkies. They are so cute.
Superboy has taken on the responsiblity of something other than
himself. He also has a turtle here in our home to care for and he has
done very well with it. My hope is that the responsiblity will
trigger mass cleaniness in his room. Well I can hope right?

Blessings
Nikki

Right and Left Activities

2011-09-20T01:39:00.000-07:00

Here are some activities to help learn left and right:

Each morning shake your right hand in the air.
Touch your right foot, your right leg etc..

Put a sticker or stamp on your right hand for the day.

Put different colored shoe laces on your right foot.

Play simon says using right and left.

Dance to the Hokey Pokey.

Divide the room with yarn and point out items
on the right and then left. Jump from left to right
in the room.

Wear yarn or colored bracelet on your right hand.

Always distinguish the right. The left will follow.
If you make and L shape with your hands. Left is L
in the right direction.

PS. Here is a fun photo of Spirit. He was soo
into his math.

Blessings,

Nikki

Toddler Time- Blocks and Pouring

2011-09-19T01:40:00.000-07:00

Toddler time this week was so much fun. "Sweet
Pea didn't use the tools as I thought she would but she had a
wonderful time learning . This weeks concept Basket was filled
with Foam blocks I bought at the dollar store and our balance.

She began by filling the balance containers. I tried to
show her how it moves up and down as it fills up .

But she was more interested in pouring them into each
other and out again into the basket.

Our concept basket has been working wonderfully. It is
doing just what I wanted it to do. It is providing Sweet pea with
guided learning play and something to keep her busy. I'm
not sure why Mondays are so hard for her but they are. She
wants every ones attention and everyone is busy.

Art- We usually only do one art project during Toddler time.
On occasion she might play with materials the others are using .
I don't want to stress myself out with this this is why I
created it just this way.

This week we made pretend apples pies. We painted them
brown, added paper apples and then sprinkled Cinnamon
on them. They smelled lovely.

Songs and Finger plays:

I sat "Sweet pea" on my knee and bounced her
as I said this rhyme. I bounce her differently
for each part of the rhyme. She loves this.

This is the way the ladies ride:
Tri, tre, tre, tree, Tri, tre, tre, tree!
This is the way the ladies ride:
Tri, tre, tre, tree, tri-tre-tre-tree!

This is the way the gentlemen ride:
Gallop-a-trot, Gallop-a-trot!
This is the way the gentlemen ride:
Gallop-a-gallop-a-trot!

This is the way the farmers ride:
Hobbledy-hoy, Hobbledy-hoy!
This is the way the farmers ride:
Hobbledy hobbledy-hoy!

We also listened to a CD song of Farmer and the Dell.
The kids picked up stuffed animals for each of the
people/animals the farmer picked.

The farmer in the dell
The farmer in the dell
Hi-ho,The derry-o
The farmer in the dell

The farmer takes a wife
The farmer takes a wife
Hi-ho,The derry-o
The farmer takes a wife

The wife takes a child
The wife takes a child
Hi-ho,The derry-o
The wife takes a child

The child takes a nurse
The child takes a nurse
Hi-ho,The derry-o
The child takes a nurse

The nurse takes a cow
The nurse takes a cow
Hi-ho,The derry-o
The nurse takes a cow

The cow takes a dog
The cow takes a dog
Hi-ho,The derry-o
The cow takes a dog

The dog takes a cat
The dog takes a cat
Hi-ho,The derry-o
The dog takes a cat

The cat takes a rat
The cat takes a rat
Hi-ho,The derry-o
The cat takes a rat

The rat takes the cheese
The rat takes the cheese
Hi-ho,The derry-o
The rat takes the cheese

The cheese stands alone
The cheese stands alone
Hi-ho,The derry-o
The cheese stands alone

The older kids got involved too. It became a challenge to
run around the room collecting animals.

Reading Time- We are still reading lots of board books.
To many to name them all. The time is quiet. I name
pictures in the book and she points to them. Sometimes
she points to them and I name them. We have gotten
to the point of trying to repeat the words I am saying.
Her speech is progressing nicely.

If you'd like to learn more about how I set up our
Toddler time you can find my planning sheets and organization.
Here

Blessings

Nikki

Water Play

2011-09-18T03:10:00.000-07:00

I can't believe that Summer time is coming to an end. I feel
like we barely had time for play. Our family met at a nearby
park to spend some relaxing time together. I have been
wanting to take a day there all summer. Cousins, uncles,
aunts, grandparents, nieces and nephews came to play.

The kids loved playing in the water. From early morning
to later in the afternoon the boys stayed in the water.
Sweet pea was less aggressive about it but enjoyed the waters
edge just as much. They each had cups to search for treasures in
the cool water.

Here are some of Sweet peas Treasures. The boys had fish
and crayfish. Spirit had a collection of water bugs. I put
Heart on the task of taking photos. I got home to only
photos of Sweet pea. The family has sent a few to me
but I didn't want to post their families on without their
permission. So you only get Sweet pea. :)

Adults spent time grilling, talking , joking together and
watching the children.

A little dirt won't hurt.

Testing out the water.

This is Hearts favorite because she caught some of the splash.

Blessings
Nikki

Teen Talk Rules of Facebook

2011-09-17T13:12:00.000-07:00

Awhile ago my daughter had made a few phone calls that I
didn't recognize. When I questioned her about it she said
it was a boy she had met on facebook. That he was a friend
of another friend and she figured it was safe to talk to him.
She had called this boy on the phone several times. When
she mentioned his name my older daughter knew who he was.
He was much older than my 14 year old child. I had talked to
her about being safe on the Internet but I suppose the line
seemed so gray in this case that she wasn't sure. Nothing
terrible happened but it did seem rather odd that a 20 something
would want to befriend a 14 year old. I did ask her to delete this
boy from her facebook and to no longer call him on the phone.

Parents be vigilant. Be your childs "friend". Know your childs
password and check their page often. This isn't an invasion
of privacy this is their safety we are talking about. It is their
privilege to be on it and their privilege to have mom as a friend.

Think about what rules you want to have for facebook or other
social networks before they open the account. Think about
who they can be friends with. What photos can they post etc..

Here are are rules:

1. Your friends may only be people you know.
(now added no friends of friends)

2. No talking about others online. Remember that
it will always be in print if you type it. Think about what
you write that you really want others to read it.

3. No photos may be posted without permission.

4. Do not post your phone number or where you live
just to be on the safe side.

These are for my 14 year old. I am still working on the
list as I think of them. If you have one to share please
do so .

Blessings
Nikki

Line Drawings and Monochromatic Shapes

2011-09-16T01:11:00.000-07:00

This week Spirit (5) and I talked about different kinds of lines.
He created a house using different lines. Notice the rain
added to the drawing just like it was raining here.

Superboy (11) and I talked about color. He is well aware of
what color you get when you mix what color. We reviewed
primary colors, secondary, complementary (colors opposite
the color wheel) and Monochromatic colors (colors of various
shades and tones) I gave him a choice to create any shape
and then he was to use one of the color sets we learned
about. He choose monochromatic in Cool colors. (blues)
Warm colors are bright orange, reds, yellows.

Blessings

Nikki

Book Review Cheerios

2011-09-15T04:53:00.000-07:00

I really enjoy books for Toddlers that get them really
involoved with the book. The interaction that a book
like this can provide goes a long way in keeping a
toddlers attention. As a parent I am looking for things
that can keep my toddler busy and can teach her a
new skill. I found this jem Cheerios playbook at a
yard sale for 5 cents. The man selling them had a
box of board books that looked like no one had touched
them all for 5 cents each. I pretty much bought the entire
box. The books have been a joy to my daughter
ever since.
The Cheerios Play book can be found at Amazon. "Sweet
pea" played with this book this week during our Toddler time.
It was a part of her concept basket. The pages are set up
with places to place real cheerios into the pages. You can
Put wheels on a car and other fun activities . Great
fine moter practice. At the bottom of the amazon page
I was excited to see that there is also a Halloween
cheerios book, a counting book with cheerios and
a sun maid raisins. I'd love to take a peek at the
raisin book. I'll be looking for that one.

Blessings
Nikki

Wordless Wed.

2011-09-14T02:04:00.000-07:00

ABC Mat

2011-09-13T01:51:00.000-07:00

This was sooo simple to create. All I did
was write the ABC's on a piece of paper and
then slip it into a protective pocket. Spirit was
then able to do a number of activities with it.

-Practice saying his ABC's with a paper guide

-Use a pointer to say the ABC's

-Trace over the letters for writing practice

-Use the eraser to practice writing after it is written
with your finger in a tissue.

- I say a letter he finds it and circles it with a dry
erase marker.

-Child circles a letter and names it.

-Make a sound and child finds the letter that
is with that sound.

-Child makes a letter sound and finds the matching
letter.

-Say a word and ask the child to find its beginning letter sound.

Blessings
Nikki

Cereal Week

2011-09-12T01:09:00.000-07:00

This week we had a simple Cereal week.

Sweet pea loved her concept basket this week.
It included a interactive Cheerios book
a large container of cheerios and fruit loops
A large spoon and a Small container for pouring.
This kept her busy for quite awhile. Spirit wanted
to play to and it was funny that Sweet pea poured
things better and more precise than he did.
I

I saw her sneak a few bites and it didn't matter one bit.

Art : We created cereal bracelets out of pipe cleaners.
(sorry no picture) I had to hold the pipe cleaner for her
but she was able to string on the cereal. I learned awhile
ago that she was able to do this task. She wore and ate
her art.

Books We read:

If you give a mouse a cookie by Laura Numeroff
( I was surprised she sat through this book. This is her
real first story. She typically sits through board books
and pointing at objects. Usually not long enough to actually
read the story)

I'm a little tea pot board book

Corky a story of a little dog and his ball.
(We read this several times. Its actually a beginner
reader but she enjoys the simplicity of it. She also can
say dog and ball.)

Mary had a little lamb board book

Songs and Rhymes:

I'm a little Teapot

I'm a little teapot short and stout
Here is my handle (hand on hip so arm look like
a handle)
Here is my spout (other hand out to side)
When I get all steam up hear me shout
just tip me over and pour me out (child tips to the side)
(Or in our case I tip her to the side and she giggles. )

Round and Round the Garden

Round and Round the Garden
(rub fingers around childs palm)
Like a teddy bear
one step , two steps (creep up childs arm and tickle
under chin or arm)
Tickle "Sweet Pea" there.

This is her favorite one.

If you'd like to learn how I plan for toddler time
you can go Here for my planning sheets.

Blessings

Nikki

PA flood of 2011

2011-09-11T01:45:00.000-07:00

It was raining pretty hard for the morning. Heart was
at college and I had to go pick her up. I was so concerned about
the creek going over the banks. When I passed by I could see
it was getting up there pretty high. It was starting to rise
into the yards of the people who lived by it. When the creek
goes over I have a very hard time getting home. I am
virtually surrounded by water. In town outside of the college
there was a huge puddle to drive through. After getting
Heart the puddle was a raging river. Ok maybe just a trickle.
I was able to pass through it but it was pretty scary.
I will never do that again. I did make it home and
it was not long before the water followed me up the street.

This second photo is from our yard.

You are able to stand on the top of the bridge in our town.
So the kids and I took a walk to see the damage. This is what
it looked like. It was much worse in the back fields and
lower lying areas.

Spirit dressed in his fire fighter suit. He puts it on whenever
there is any disturbance around here. He stands on the porch
and waves pretending to wave the traffic around. It is pretty
action packed.

The water is low now but our little bridge is condemned.
We have to take a long route to go anywhere. I hope it doesn't
take to long to fix as winter will be nipping at our doors soon.

Blessings
Nikki

Juggling

2011-09-10T11:44:00.000-07:00

Most of you that read my blog know that my girl Heart
has started College and works a part time job.

She is juggling.

I am really proud at how dedicated she is with
everything she chooses to do. Her part time job
is working at a pizza resturant but she has learned how
to do all the areas in the resturant. So much so that they
wanted her to become an assistant manager at one point.

Recently our area was hit with major flooding. All she
did was worry about who was going to cover her because
we were flooded in. My parents decided to come down to
see how bad things were. The bridge to get to our house
has been condemned but dad was able to walk across it.
Heart packed her bags and walked with dad across the
bridge just to be able to work and attend school. The
local fire department actually helped her carry them across.
Now that is dedication and she is a juggling.

As a parent how can I help her.

-First I have to know this is her time to handle things.
I can step in when she needs it but its really her time
to shine. If I did my job I'll now be able to sit back
and watch from a spectators position, Which isn't always
easy. I am so used to being up to my elbows in it that
it is hard to step back and let her do things her way.

- Making sure she is eating properly. This is often neglected
when working at a pizza shop. I try to keep around baskets

of fruit and veggies. Many days I see her grabbing something
and running with it. I smile because this is my secret plan
to keep her healthy. :)

-Is she getting enough rest. Sometimes teens still need
moms reminder that they need some sleep. Usually their
bodies will tell them but keep your eyes peeled and remind
them to rest. Even adults need that reminder some times.

-Hours of studying can keep you teen tied up for awhile.
make sure they have a quiet place to do so .

-keep that communication going. Text them often but
Not so often that you make them nuts. Write them letters.
I am a firm believer in the mighty pen.

Do you have a tip to share in helping your teens?
Leave them in the comments section. I'd love to know
what else I can do.

Blessings
Nikki

Messy Art

2011-09-09T01:45:00.000-07:00

Work in progress:
This is a work in progress. The boys decided they wanted
to paper mache. We used one part water and one part
flour. Superboy wants to create a Garfield. We found
later that paper maching each piece for the first step
worked best. We will work in the coming weeks to put
him back together.

For Spirit we set up a mini lesson on the world and
decided to create a Globe to go with his Geography lesson.

His is a work in progress also. It has some weak
areas so we will have to do it again.

One thing I knew but didn't know how much, was what
a mess it would be but it is worth it.

I put paper under the project and then found I had to
put paper under Spirit too. Below is how he turned out.

Each year the kids create a Self portraits. It is fun looking back
and seeing how their drawing skills have changed.

Spirit Age 5

Superboy Age 11

Superboy Created this art of all the pets he has had
and all the pets he wants in the future. I see a turtle
which we have. A bunny, hermit crab, and chicken.

Blessings,

Nikki

ABC Animal Race

2011-09-07T01:36:00.000-07:00

This is a fun animal race. I got the idea from our K12
curriculum . They called it Animal Antics. Animal Antics is
running around to cones and acting like an animal until
you reach the next cone. It was so much fun and so
fun watching. "Superboy joined in too. AFter the race We took it a
bit farther. I taped ABC animals to blocks. The animal picture
cards came from this site.Billybear4Kids
I printed out one for each letter of the alphabet except
for X since there didn't seemed to be one. Superboy later
thought of an X-ray fish.

When they tired of that game I had Spirit go around
and find each animal starting with a certain letter of the
alphabet. Since it was spaced over a wide area of the yard
this was much exercise in itself.

Then we put it in ABC order on the porch. I was
pleased with how dedicated he was at finding them and
putting them in order.

I wish I had thought to tape them to the Letter block that
they matched with but maybe next time. I'm not even
sure that I have all of the letters.

Blessings
Nikki

Build it , Tell It

2011-09-07T01:19:00.000-07:00

I read to Spirit a few words about boats and Creating boats
in play. There was a wonderful poem in our Rhyme time book
about Creating a boat with pillows , which of course we did. It
was a lot of fun singing these type of songs and to begin
building words to his vocabulary.

Row, Row, Row Your Boat
Row, row, row your boat,
gently down the stream,
Merrily, merrily, merrily, merrily,
Life is but a dream.

Tugboat
Chug, chug, chug,
I'm a little tug.
I pull a big boat,
Chug, chug, chug.

Practicing to speak out loud in complete sentences is
a beginning step to one day writing skills. Spirit after
listening to some poetry created this boat out of blocks.

Once he created the blocks. I had him tell me in complete
sentences all about his boat. To help things feel a little
more formal and fun you can create a pretend speaker
or talk into a recorder. I was so please to hear him tell
how the boat had ramps for those in wheel chairs. :)

You can elaborate on this by writing a few of the
sentences down for your child. This helps to Model how
the writing process starts. How your thought process works and
how to create ideas for writing.

Blessings
Nikki

Letter Sounds M and T

2011-09-06T01:20:00.000-07:00

We began this week trying to put the ABC's in order
and then singing the ABC song. I don't know why but Spirit
Always get J, K and M, N confused. He either skips them
or reverses them. We used some plastic spoons to put them
in order. One day we typed them on the computer but he
was frustrated with finding them on the keyboard so I left
him move on. See our gym game later this week for
More ABC fun.

Listening to sounds in words is a completely new concept to my
kindergartener. We started out with the M and T sounds. At
first it was difficult for him to find sounds in words but it
soon became a game for the entire family. Before I knew it
everyone was looking for M and T sounds. To review them
later in the week I set up a cookie monster and a Truck. I
found some letter sound picture cards in a book I got for
free called Alphabet soup. If a word started with M we put it
In the Monsters Mouth. Cookies mouth moves so each time
he was correct cookie munched his cards as I made munching
sound. If the word started with a T we put the word in the
back of his Titanic Truck. If the card was correct Spirit got
to zoom it around the room once . Spirits last name begins
with M so at the end of the lessons cookie tried to eat him.

It was a fun way to practice our letter sounds.

Later since "Sweet pea" did not like the shaving
cream. I had 'Spirit" practice writing M and Ts in shaving cream.

It was a great first week of school

Blessings
Nikki

Toddler Time Week -1

2011-09-05T04:02:00.000-07:00

Our first week of Toddler Time went smashingly. "Sweet
Pea" Loved her Concept basket. I introduced it to her on
Monday and then it was left out for her own exploration.
This weeks basket was filled with a family theme
in mind.She had a baby doll wrapped in a blanket, 2 wash
clothes, baby bottle, and a family matching mat.

The Family matching mat was the biggest hit. She
enjoyed matching them over and over. Sometimes she just
carried the cards around in her hands. Since "Sweet peas"
speech is going rather slowly we practiced naming all the
members of the family too.

Princess played with her one day and said where
is " said child" Instead of pointing to the appropriate photo
she ran to the person. :)

I tried to show "Sweet pea" how to fold the wash clothes
but she was more interested in washing off things. They
became more like dust clothes for her. Our TV is dust
free this week.

First though she choose to pretend to wash herself. It
was funny to see how everyone got involved in her basket.
It really was a family basket. Each one of my children at
some point played with her with something from it. The
concept basket really worked beyond my expectations. Not
only did it allow her to explore different things but she
was able to interact with family members with it as well.

I don't have any photos of Reading Time. It's a little
difficult to hold her, read and take a photo. Our reading
time is broken down into 4 20 minute slots of time. We
don't always read the full 20 minutes at a time but break
it up through out the day. This week we read many of her
board books. We read a small picture book called To Many
toys and Puppy's Ball. She also enjoyed pointing out pictures
in Spirits Read aloud.

I point to objects and ask her to repeat them. Sometimes
she does the reverse.

My great Art this week was to explore shaving cream. I thought
to put it on paper by adding some glue. It makes some great puffy
paint. I thought I'd let her explore it before I added some
glue and we put it to paper. I sprayed some on the table and...
(see photo above.)

She did not like it one bit. She did enjoy wiping it up
with wet wipes and towels. She kept saying eww. So needless
To say it never got on paper.

We did however make a crown. She absolutely loved gluing
and stickers. In fact most of the kids created one. I have
a container with dividers in it and use this to display sequins,
stickers, and foam shapes. It works great. There is less over
use because I fill it as needed and "Sweet pea is thrilled with
the display. I'll have to post a photo the next time we use it.

Finger Songs We sang this week:

Family

This is the father, kind and true ( hold up fingers one by one)
This is the mother who cares for you.
This is the brother so big and tall.
This is the sister who pays with her ball.
This is the baby, pet of them all.
See the whole family , big and small.

Grandmothers Glasses

These are grandmothers glasses, (put hands around eyes
like glasses)
And this is grandmas cap (put hands together over head)
And this is the way she folds her hands (fold hands)
and puts them in her lap.

This is grandfathers glasses ( hands around eyes bigger)
and this is grandfathers cap ( make shape bigger hat)
and this is the way he folds his arms (cross arms lean back)
and sits like that.

Roll you hands

Roll your hands so slowly (roll hands)
as slowly as can be
Roll your hands so slowly,
Then fold them just like me.

Roll you hands so quickly,
As quickly as can be
Roll your hands so quickly.
Then fold them just like me.

Clap your hands so softly (clap hands)
Softly as can be
Cap you hands so softly
Then fold them just like me.

Clap you hands so loudly
Loudly as can be.
Clap you hands so loudly
Then fold them just like me.

If you are interested in how I do Toddler time/Tot school then
you can find my planning sheets Here.

Blessings
Nikki

Readers Question

2011-09-03T01:06:00.000-07:00

One of my long time friends and blogger asked me this
Question this week. Its a good one. So I thought I'd
share it on Teen talk today.

I would love to have my teen learn all things, but what do
you do when they don't want to learn ANYTHING? My 14 year
old doesn't want to learn to cook, sew, clean, etc.
She doesn't want to learn electives. She doesn't even want
to do school work. How do you make them or change their
minds about stuff that's important? I'm at a loss as to
what to do with her.

I want you to know that you are not alone. My
oldest daughter is a joiner but the next one down will
fight me about every aspect of life and has I think since
she was born. My son is just in the preteen stage and
sends out signals of a difficult teen stage. I think the hardest
part for parents with teens is to not take it personally. This is
such a difficult stage for them. They are trying to find out who
They are and we seem to be standing in their way, which is a
good thing when they don't make wise choices. To them their
emotions are the most important thing at the moment.
It is reining that in that can be difficult.

I have an assignment for you this week. Work on building a
bond with your child. Sure you probably already have one but
really think about your relationship with them. Pray about it
long and hard. Do you spend much of your time talking at
your child? Are you hearing their feelings? Each day at least
3 times ask you child how they are feeling today. What
they are afraid off what they enjoy? If they come to you to
talk put down what you are doing and listen. Don't judge
and don't give advice just listen. Try starting a notebook

with your child. Write a short message with instructions
to pass it back when they are ready. Send only encouraging
words. Try not to pass frustrations You want the lines
of communication open, As WIDE open as you can get it.
It might seem slight at first but don't give up keep working
on it day in and day out. One day the teen years will
be over and that door will open wide again as when they
were small because you took the steps to listen.

I would suggest weekly family meetings. Involve everyone
in them. This will be the place where you sit with your child
and figure out house rules. Start with the rules of the house.
Allow her to create some of her own about her own personal
space. I know not all can be allowed to be decided by the
child but listen and decide together. Don't talk over one
another take you time. Then move to the consequences if your
teen doesn't complete the tasks assigned. What will happen?
Ask her what she thinks should happen if she doesn't
do what she is asked. Decide on Chores allow her to choose
from a selection. The idea is to make her feel like
she has control over herself. This is important because
most teens don't feel much control going on at this time.
That is way they fight for things that we think are unimportant.
The biggest part is then to stick to the plan. Stick to it
so she knows you will do what you say.

Keep things to a minimal for now. Stick to basic chores
and basic school lessons. School must be done. There is
no way around it. Allow her to set her due dates. She
may stick to them if she can set when she can complete it.
If it is work not completed then take something away.
Such as TV, Computer time, I pods, or Cell phones. Allow
for special reward days for hard work. Possibly if you sit
and create schedules with her you can show her that if
she completes this work by this day she will then have
this day or this day off to do what she wants to do or Perhaps
an afternoon off. Make sure she knows what will happen if
she does not complete assignments on time.

It is possible you are already doing all of this. Sometimes
Some teens are just really difficult to live with. In these
cases don't give up. Keep praying, keep listening and
get some support from a local foundation or create one
on your own. We need to stick together for them and
because of our love for them. Eventually they will have to
find out and learn on their own. Making their own mistakes .
When that happens we can't be there holding the I told
you so sign. We need to pick up listen, guide and be present.

Blessings,
Nikki

P.S. I am no expert on the topic. If things get to far
out for you at home consult your Physician or Psycologist.

Book Review

2011-09-02T01:16:00.000-07:00

If you are looking for some fun read alouds to read to
your young children then take a look at this book.
Read Me a Story Please. This book is filled with 50
fun stories. They are written in Fairy tale style but these
are no fairy tales that you have heard before or that
your children have heard, which makes for great
read aloud time. They are short enough to keep the
attention of your 5 year old.

One such story is called Tool Trouble at Smallbills Garage.
Mike makes a terrible mess while working on his cars
find out the clever way he cleans it all up. Hmm might
be an idea for clean up here at home.

Another fun one is called Huffing and Puffing by Vivian
French. This story is a series of letters written to
a mother wolf by her son who is learning how to blow
the house down in school.

Or perhaps you'd like to read How the animals got their
tails? by Anne English. I can't wait to find out how?

Snuggle up with your young ones and have some fun
reading some silly tales.

Blessings
Nikki

Drink Plenty of Water

2011-09-01T03:41:00.000-07:00

You would think with being a stay at home mom that drinking
Plenty of water wouldn't be an issue. It is recommended that
an adult receive 6-8 cups of water a day. That would be 4
water bottles full. It doesn't sound like to much. On several
occasions I have woke up at night with terrible stomach pain.
I couldn't figure out what was going on. Someone mentioned to
me that perhaps I was dehydrated. I hadn't thought of
that possiblity.

When I started paying attention to it I was surprised at how
little I did drink. Reality was that some days I didn't drink a
thing till noon. I'd wake up get busy and stay busy till lunch
time. Who says stay at home moms sit around and eat bon
bons because they are so wrong. Another pattern I noticed was
in the evenings I would drink a lot all at once. Causing a bloating
feeling and perhaps the stomach aches too. Not to mention
the frequent trips to the bathroom every night. In my internet
research most adults get this amount of fluid through other
drinks and at meals. Somehow I was missing the mark.

It made me wonder about my children and if they were
getting enough. I was running around right next to them
perhaps they were not drinking enough water either. Children
8 years and up are to have as much as an adult if not more
when they are being active. Younger children should have
about the same but perhaps a little less.

What should they drink?

WATER!

Milk- nonfat or lowfat, 2 cups for younger children under
8 and 3 for children over 8. Wow thats a lot of milk with
5 children. So that where it goes.

Juice- 4-6 oz for children 6 and under 8-12 oz
for older children. 100% Fruit juice is best.

Sports Drink- Avoid unless exercising and they wont
drink water. 4-6 oz every 15 min. for a 90lb child.

Soda and sugar drinks- avoid. (I better work on this one
the kids are always into the kool aid packs)

Blessings
Nikki

Wordless Wed.

2011-08-31T03:38:00.000-07:00

First Day of School

2011-08-30T04:44:00.000-07:00

Yesterday was Spirits VERY first Day of School. It was
pretty exciting for him. He was so excited to hear that today
was the day. I'm not sure what he expected but I think some
things weren't as he thought they would be but we had a great
time just as it was. For some reason he thought he'd be playing
lots of games on the computer. I'm not sure why he thought that.
I think I may just have to set him up with Starfall for awhile today.

Being part of the cyber school ment some choas with the
school. I read my announcements for the day. Filled in some of
my schedule and then just sat back and spent time teaching my
children. It's best sometimes to disconnect and be with your family.

We started out with a fun game just to get our brains working
and to get Superboy to review on his grammar skills. Something
He tends to struggle with. I took the time to include Spirit.

I had created this game sometime back. It is made with
ABC stickers creating a path from start to finish. Spirit
rolled the dice and then named the letter he landed on.
Superboy had to think of a word that was either a verb,
adjective or noun. He got to pick which is was but was not
allowed to use noun everytime. (that was the easiest for him)

This is just a sampling of what we did that day. It was a
wonderful beginning to his educational career.

Next week I will share more of what we did this week.

Blessings
Nikki

What is Toddler Time?

2011-08-29T01:40:00.000-07:00

My little sweet girl “Sweet Pea “is two. She has
grown entirely to fast already. I know too well how
fast children move from each step of childhood.
“Sweet Pea’s” development has gone pretty much on
target. She started walking when she should be walking
and her fine motor skills are astonishing. She has been
beading small beads for quite some time now. However
her speech is a bit delayed. She is possibly saying 10
words or less but has proven time again that she
understands what we are saying to her. She has created
almost her own type of sign language. ( should have taught her
the real thing) It is almost comical watching her explain
when she doesn’t like something. Odd noises come
out as she acts out the scenario. Our pediatrician is
not concerned about this lack of language. She feels
that any day she will just begin talking. There are times
that oddly enough entire sentences come out only
to not be heard again.

Naturally when I started planning for our upcoming school
year I wondered what I could do with “Sweet Pea” while
the others are having their lessons. I will need much
constant time with a beginner reader (Spirit). I wanted to
make sure I had the time to hone in on some of her
language issues besides the usual talking to her and
repetition. Plus I wanted to make sure that I had time
for her each and every day in some way with her being
the 5th and smallest child. So, with her in mind I created
Toddler Time.

How Toddler time works:

Toddler time is broken into week long activities.
There are seven different activities that are to
be completed within that week time. It doesn't
matter if I do one per day or more than one as
long as we work together those 7 times that week.

The weeks are set up that Some overlap into the
following month but are generally a big part of that
particular month. I thought I may write the date
above the week just for my own information in planning.
Another words part of the days in August might be
added to september to create full weeks. The lesson
plan sheets are set up this way. In case you seem
confused by the charts. You can get your own
Toddler time Activity sheets and planning pages
in my file for share. It is expained more in there.

Toddler Time Activity and Planning pages

When she completes all 7 activities each week
my child will receive a sticker for that week.

If we are on vacation a particular
week then we will mark that on the week but I think
toddler time is simple enough that we can continue
through. It doesn't matter what day of the week
the activities are completed or in which order.

Below are the activities broken down for you.

Reading 20 minutes- Reading with a toddler
can be difficult but there are fun ways to do this with
your child. Create a space for your little one that is
relaxing and without distraction. Read throughout the
day don’t try 20 minutes at once. Choose short books
that will build vocabulary. Reading doesn’t always mean
reading. Engaging in the book by pointing out pictures
is vocabulary building as well. There are 4 reading blocks
per week for reading time. However with "Sweet Pea" we
will probably read everyday.

On the back of the monthly activity page is the planning page.
(you can print it that way or have it seperate.) On the planning
page you will find a book list area.
This is a place you can write books you want to read
to your toddler or the books you did read. I plan to use
ours as a record of the stories we read together.

Sharing Rhymes and songs-
Choose rhymes and songs your toddler can
participate in and along with you. Repeat the same few
for the entire month. Little ones enjoy the repetition
even if parents do not. I created a list of a few
simple rhymes that we may use this year.
Many will be added as we go.
Finger plays and songs

Art- You can choose what your
little one can do. You know your toddler the best and
know his or her abilities. Some ideas might be play dough,
finger painting with pudding, gluing shapes, sticking
stickers, coloring, and stamping. Try not to give young
ones a set example let them create and have fun with
an open ended result. On the planning page you will
find an area to plan your art. This way you can be sure
to have the supplies on hand.

*Note: I also took a post it note and attached it to each
month with the supplies I need or any preparations.
This will help when I am busy with older children.

Concept Basket- This is how I plan
to set up my concept basket.You can do yours to fit
your needs. My older children have workboxes but I
think for my toddler a free for all basket might be
best. I hope to put in a few new toys or activities for
her to play with. Things she can do alone after
possibly some guidance from mom. That mom
time is important too but then a self exploration
is needed as well. See what happens. We will play in
the concept basket on Monday and then I will leave
it out for the week for her to play in it alone.
It will be put away on Saturday
evening so I can prepare it for the surprise on the
following Monday. (Planning pages for your concept
basket are on the back page along with the book list
and art activities.)

Basket ideas to get you started:
Items for tactile sensation, large wooden beads, and
cards with animal pictures, family photo book, blocks,
animals, clothes pins and jar. Anything my tiny tot
can do alone.

This is a view of the planning pages. I left my book Lists
blank as I plan to fill them in as we read to see what
we complete and how our reading changes as the year goes.
I also wrote in pencil so that I could erase or change it
if I find other ideas we'd like to try instead. Sometimes
the blogs are full of great ideas.

Filling in the chart- For my child’s
chart I plan to check off the activities we complete.
On the back worksheet of the Toddler time guide is
the planning page for mom. By the end of the year
I will have a fun record of all that my child did. The
milestone box at the bottom of the page is to
mark those things that she exceeded in. Such as
words she now says or a gross motor activity she
can now complete. It is to keep me motivated and
a record for my little one as a memory. My intentions
are to post Toddler time activities on Monday along
with Tot school. You may use our activities or create
your own. Just remember don’t make the activities
to hard for your little one or to school like. This is
meant as some fun time with mom.

PLAY IS LEARNING!

Nikki

Bible Links

2011-08-28T01:57:00.000-07:00

This year I will be teaching lots of bible.
In our co-op I will teach 3 bible classes
Elementary, Middle and high school. In
our home we will have devotionals and family
bible night. At our church I will be helping
a friend lead and organize activities for children
prek-5th and supervising the nursery. Sheww Sounds
like a lot but really it's all a blessing and I enjoy
every moment of it. In my research I came across
some neat bible links.

Cartoons- This is a super fun way to start a bible
lesson. How about a funny cartoon to get you started.
Some would be great for discussion.

Bible Printables- Coloring pages, stickers, certificates,
Calendars and Bible verse card Generator.

Preschool Bible Crafts- Bible Crafts arranged in ABC
order. Many fun ideas to inspire young art.

Children's Ministry- Lots of great ideas for teaching
children, managing your sunday school programs,
and nursery . (lessons could be used for home use)

Effective Childrens Ministry- Similar to the above
link but with many different ideas.

Mini books- Mini bible storys/books to print

Christain Preschool Printables- large resource
of colorful printables.

Hands on Bible- Free lessons by logging in
with a private password to hands on bible lessons.

Genesis Bible Study- 11 week bible study on
Genesis

Bible Study Planet- 325 bible studies for kids that
covers the entire bible.

Bible Class books- Free activity books for bible class

Home School bible- 8 weeks of bible. Lessons look
interesting but the lessons end there. Looks like
an incomplete bible plan but a good start.

This is the beginning of a list. Hopefully it
will grow over the year.

Blessings

Nikki

High school and Beyond

2011-08-27T01:05:00.000-07:00

Before School starts each year we begin
to prepare our hearts and our children . We pray.
We shop for supplies, we set up areas for study,
and we select curriculum. Much of this is done for
young children but what about our teens. How
can we prepare them for School.

First pray. Pray for guidance for yourself this year
for patience, understanding and wisdom . This may
just be the year your child knows more than you.
Pray over your child. Pray for his or her future
choices. This is a time of independance and change.
It can be a confusing time for parents and teens.
Encourage your teen to pray for his/her needs as well
and if you are not sure they prayed then pray
over them some more.

Allow them to set up and personalize an area
of study. Allow them the freedom to study where
they are most comfortable. Set up ground rules about
what is to be done in that area. Such as no TV, no
Cell phone, no facebook or perhaps no music. I allow music.
As long as it is not a distraction to them then it is allowed
in our home. You choose you know your child. You can
always allow it on a trial basis and if it doesn't work
then move on. You could also be very specific such

as only during math will you allow music or facebook
over lunch etc...

Let your student choose their supplies. I bought
the bulk of the items for my children when they
weren't along but did take Princess to pick out her
own planner. Over the years I have worked very
hard to get her to the point of greater independance.
School is no different. She chooses her courses and
will now schedule her days.

Independance should
be moving into other areas of life as well. As you
are organizing your household make sure you have
your teen beside you. This can be an everyday activity
it doesn't need to be set up as a lesson but you will
feel more confident in them as adults one day if you
teach it to them now. One day soon your child will be
on their own. Teens should know by now basic care of
the home, Cooking, laundry, etc.. Begin to walk them
through other situations that may come up
such as a plumbing problem. Who would you call and
why. These are the things you don't think of to show
them. When they were young you did these things

without a thought . Now is the time to talk them
through these tasks so one day when
you are no longer here they can take care of
themselves and their families.

Blessings,
Nikki

Keep and Store You Childs Art

2011-08-26T01:16:00.000-07:00

I love my Children. I love everything they do and say, even
when it really isn't something to love. With all the
school papers around it can become a paper nightmare.
Especially when it is something a child has drawn on and
would like you to keep. You might hang it somewhere
for a bit but then what. If you throw it away yourself
you might get some complaints if it is found later in
the exit pile. You will be met with a big pouty frown.

As a Mom I don't want to be discouraging. So what
are we to do with all that creative work.

Display It- First and foremost Display it. Art is meant to
be seen. Create an area or a special place for art to
be presented. It could be as simple as your refrigerator,
or a clothesline in your school room. You could also
find a special area for framed work , an empty hallway
perhaps. The framed work can change when other
special pieces are presented. Try these
Store and Display Cabinets. They hold up to 50
pieces.

Mail it- Suggest to your child to mail their work.
You can mail it to grandparents or other family
members who may want to keep it as their own
special keep sake from your child. You could also
write a thank you on the back and mail it to local
business that your child enjoys. My son often
hands out his art to his church family friends.

File it- Each year of school my children decorate
a folder created from a piece of poster board.
We fold it in half and staple the sides shut. For
larger pieces you can use the entire board and
tape the sides with some box tape.

Purge and Clean- If a child completes
some art they'd like to keep but not display or mail
then we put it in the folder . We keep this folder
the entire year and then at the end of the
year we go through our art keeping only those
that are the most special to them. Sometimes
they are willing to throw something out that
they perhaps made at the beginning of the year.
You can also create a limit on the keep pile.

Display it again- After this purge and
clean stage have an art open house or a co-op open
House to display their art creations from the year.

Scrapbook it- Once your keep pieces are determined
decide which ones fit into your scrapbook. Mom
you don't need to complete this yourself. Enlist
your creative ones to help put it together.

Take a photo- If the piece is to large to keep or
awkward like a sculpture then take a photo of
it ,put it in your scrapbook and throw the item out.

Chest or trunk- Store the scrapbook, large pieces and
sculptures you just can't throw away. Wrap in tissue
paper . Keep in a room temperature environment.
Garages, basements, and attics often fluctuate
in temperature and may ruin all of your hard work.

Blessings,
Nikki

Book List for Boys

2011-08-25T01:52:00.000-07:00

Today I want to share a book list that was composed
from some friends on the yahoo groups. This list is
created with boys in mind. Good reads that boys ages
9-12 may enjoy. Some are also good for children
that completed book 5 in Barton Reading and spelling
program. If a book is to challenging for your child then
break it into sections to help to make it less threatening.
Use your finger 5 to find out if a book is to challenging.
Open the book to any page. If you don't know a word
hold up one finger. If you get to the bottom of the
page and you have 5 fingers held then this book is
to challenging for you. Put it down for a later time
or ask mom to use it as a read aloud.

(PS I have not reviewed all of these book suggestions
always use your descretion when choosing books)

Series of unfortunate events by Lemony Snicket

Hank Zipzer series by Henry Winkler

Joey Pigza books by Jack Gantos

Author Christopher Paul Curtis

Author Roald Dahl Percy Jackson

Star Wars

Diary of A Whimpy Kid Series

Gary Paulsen Wayside

Peter and the Starcatchers39 Clues

FableHaven Series

Kane Chronicles series

Rangers Apprentice series

Dragonology(or any of the Ologies)

Wishbone mysteries

Warriors series

Chroniles of Vladimir Tod

13th Reality series

Magic Tree House series

Heroes of Olympus series

Pagan Chronicles (based on medieval times...so not
what you think when you read the title)

Three investigators series

Little House on the Prairie

The Dark Cyrstal

Enchanted Forest Chronicles

Charlie Bone series

The Tapestry Series

Septimus Heap book series

Eragon book series

Ink Heart Series

The Secrets of the Immortal Nicholas Flamel series

Percy Jackson series

Jeremy Thatcher, Dragon Hatcher

Qrail Quest series

Journey to the Center of the Earth

Harry Potter Series

Animorphs series

Dragon Slayers academy series

Beast Quest series

Dragon Keepers series

Guardians of Ga'Hool series

Secrets of Nihm series

Dragon Riders of Pern

Children of the Lamp series

The Ruby Key

The Keys to the Kingdom

Skeleton Creek series

Trackers series

The Well between worlds

Deltora Quest series

The Key to Rondo

Captain Under Pants series

Diary of a Wimpy Kid series

The Indian in the Cupboard

The Black Stallion series

Seekers series, Warrior series is similar I think - same author

The Great Brain

Septimus Heap series

anything by Rick Riordian (The Lightning Thief)

How to Train Your Dragon

If you'd like to add something feel free.

Blessings
Nikki

Wordless Wed.

2011-08-24T01:43:00.000-07:00

Kindergarten Recognition

2011-08-23T01:36:00.000-07:00

Before we start Kindergarten next week I wanted a way to
keep track of what Spirit knows as far as his language
skills go. I want to make sure that he is understanding
a concept well before we move on. I am just that type of
orderly personalitly. I like to see things all together plus
I think it would be fun for him to see this later on.

Before we begin phonics the most important thing is for
him to know all of his capital letters. Lower case are
part of our curriculum and the letter sounds. As you can see
he knows most of the letter names but is missing a few
we will work on those first. I tried to show him the lower
case but I noticed he was referring to the upper case
chart so I stopped. I'll have to create flash cards
seperate before we test on those.

Learning the letter sounds is so important and this is
why I want to keep close watch on them. I can also
at a later time reprint the sheets and try again as a
review to make sure he has them down really well
before we move on.

I created one as well for our basic site words. I
printed this one three times . One for tallys and one for
able to read, and one for able to spell. The tallys will represent the
number of times that he read and viewed the letter.
This will occur 5 times within 5 different days before we
will move ahead to the next word. We will work on
three words at a time.

If you would like the worksheets above for your own
records you can download them Letters, sounds, sight
The file itself is called letters and is also accessable
in my side bar in file for share.

Blessings,
Nikki

Toddler Time

2011-08-22T01:56:00.000-07:00

Young Toddlers are so amazing. They are growing
and learning each and every minute of the day.
They can be silly, cranky,demanding, giggly, lovable, and
teary all within a few minutes time. It's so much
fun watching them grow and exciting to watch
when they finally understand something new.

The toddler age for me is the age I love the most.
I love showing little ones things they have never noticed
before. Each new object or activity can keep them
engaged for hours or seconds. You just never know.

Not knowing is part of the reason I created Toddler time.
With 5 children and "Sweet Pea" being the youngest
it is often hard to enjoy time with her that isn't
rushed from one activity to another. I wanted to
make sure that I made the time for her because
she is well worth it.

I am sure you are wondering what Toddler time is
all about and you will find out...

Next week and each Monday after I will share our Toddler
time activities with you. It's also a great excuse
to take lots of photos of my little tot. You can follow
our program with us or you can create your own plan,
using my planning guide sheets.

Our activities will be geared toward a 2 year old
inquisitive little girl.

So Don't forget Stop back to find out all about
Toddler Time!!

Blessings Nikki

Where to Start...

2011-08-21T01:41:00.000-07:00

It has been a somewhat emotional week. It was the
end of a time and the beginning of the old and new.
I spent the last few days at work just enjoying the wonderful
group of ladies I work for and the children that attend. I
am going to miss them so much. There is a possibility that
I will be back there one day. It has been left open for me to
do so which is extremely nice of them. It has been
a wonderful place to work. At times I hesitate to leave
completely. God will show me what to do.

It is funny because I wanted to be home again so much
but now it feels bittersweet. Sweet because I can
be with my children again all day. Bitter because I have
made a lot of really great friends. Who I hope to keep.

"The beginning of the old and new" Might not make
sense to you. I guess what I mean is that I know
this experience of staying home so it is something
"old hat" to me. New too because there is so many
things different, such as Daddy's health risks,
job insecurity (although he is back I am still unsure),
heart starting college and sweet pea starting toddler
hood. So many wonderful experiences to try and
some that are scary but are probably in our future.
No one knows what the future will hold and there
is no sense in trying to guess. We will take the
days as they come.

and so it begins again.

Blessings

Nikki

To Much or To Little

2011-08-20T01:41:00.000-07:00

Much of the time I hear parents talking about teens
that are not supervised. You know the ones I am
talking about . They can be rather rude , roaming
your neighborhood, and ruining property. With these
teens it is obvious that they are probably not receiving
the attention they require or the parent is possibly
being to harsh and they are acting out in reaction to
the strict discipline. There are mountains of reasons
for this type of behavior we could analyze it all day.

Lately however I have noticed a large amount of moms
that are well... to involved. They are still out there
trying to fix their child's problems and I am talking
every problem. It has surpassed them that
their children have grown up. You know you have
met one of these parents when you suddenly feel as
if you are the one in school again. Completely involved
in that social drama of who said what and who did what.
It is especially difficult if your child is pulled in the
situation. Suddenly instead of the teens handling
things you have this parent who is super imposing
on their child. (which will also cause rebellion)
Sure there are times when it is necessary to jump in and help .
They are still learning and developing as to what is safe and sure.
But if you are getting involved in the he said she did drama
then probably its time to give your child some
resources as to handling these type of situations. It is
time for mom to sit out. Communication is a skill we
all need to work on at times.

1- Avoid gossip it is not impolite to excuse yourself
and walk away. If someone is talking about someone
else more than likely they are talking about you too.

2- Reverse the theory- If you are talking about someone
to a friend they will feel you are not trust worthy. That
you are probably talking about them. Hold you tongue.

3- Don't put it in writing. (advice from grandma)
Don't write anything to personal on paper or it may
be used against you. Do not write everything
you feel on Facebook.

4- Pray- if something is bothering your child
encourage them to pray.

If a parent needs to get involved just remember
that your child probably made some mistakes in this
situation as well. Make sure you give your child and the other
children a chance to work it out first. This is the last resort for a
parent to get involved. Listen first before you react because
no one wants to hear bad things about their child.
Right away you hit the defense. My child doesn't lie.
Or my child doesn't talk about others. Just hang on and
remember we are all human. More than likely both sides
are adding to the fire. If talking doesn't work then
separation from a friend for a time might be the way
to go. Just please make sure the problem is worthy of
a parent involvement. To often we are quick to jump in.
We are not able to fix every hurt as our children grow.
oh , I know we'd like to . It is hard to see your child
hurting. Think back on your life and you will know that
hurting sometimes helps you grow.

God bless,

Nikki

Legacy of Home education...

2011-08-19T01:37:00.000-07:00

On a walk from the post office my son says that one day
he will have a great big pool, a big swing set and
a sand pit. Oh and a really big house.

“Wow”, I say “you will need a really good job for all of that.
You will have to work hard.

“My son replies, “If my wife works too we will have a lot
of money. Oh wait though what about homeschooling. We
can’t both work if we school our kids at home.

“and so it continues…

Book Review - Little Boy Jesus- Toddler Book

2011-08-18T04:53:00.000-07:00

I had the most difficult time finding these board books online.
I have to admit that I got ours for free from our church.
The children recieve tickets for Sunday school attendance.
Then they are able to pick out a few prizes or one prize.
"Sweet pea has been able to retrieve several of the baby
blessing books by Alice Joyce Abel and she just loves them.
Her Favorite is called Little Boy Jesus.

The edges of this book are soft for little ones. Each page
including the cover has something to feel and touch so
baby can interact with the story. On each page you
are looking for little boy Jesus because he is hiding.
You will peek under a table cloth in his mothers kitchen
and see him playing with blocks. You will
find him under A cloth barn door, a soft sail in a boat,
and behind a wagon on a Donkey.

This book is extremely durable and has gone through
many grocery store trips, meetings and sunday services.
I eventually found this book at Finders Cheapers used
for $4.-$5. dollars. Possibly you may find it somewhere
else. I hope to purchase a few more of her books in
the future.

(About the book Nook- I created the graphic for the book nook
to look like a carnival because that is where I found the love
of books with my dad. He is a book collector and I have become
one as well. When I was young our hospital had a carnival to
raise money. They still have this today. One area of the fair
grounds was a entire room of used books. I loved picking out
something new to read and so I created book nook to share
my book finds. You may leave a comment to share your book
find if you like. Books are contagious. :)

Blessings
Nikki

Wordless Wed. Vacation Bible School

2011-08-17T06:30:00.000-07:00

Getting Ready for Kindergarten...

2011-08-16T01:12:00.000-07:00

It is that time of year when you see all of the back to
school sales. Pencils, back packs and new school clothes.
The magazine isle at the grocery store flashes articles
of back to school ideas, clothing styles and getting your
child ready for Kindergarten. They discuss what to bring the first
day, how to pack your lunch , and how to deal with
anxiety. Todays post is to share how public school children
might get ready for Kindergarten and then how us as Home
educators get ready. What are the differences?

School: Shop for back to school paper, pencils
backpacks, clothes, and the Latest fashions, While
they are on sale. You want to create a good
first impression.

Home: Shop back to school sales and stock up while
you can on all of the deals to make it last through
the year. You can skip the clothing until later when
they go on bigger drop down sales because you don't
need brand new clothes when you probably will be
In your PJs anyway.

School: Check on line for time of your bus route
and make sure your back pack is filled the night before.

Home: Excitedly wait for your packages to arrive in the mail.
Its like Christmas to get all your new school books and supplies.
The UPS man is your friend.

School: Get to bed early so you are rested for the big day.

Home: Have a late night back to school picnic.
Stay up , enjoy the fireflies and your barefeet in the
grass. Your school work is ready for you on your desk.
You don't need to prepare anything.

School: Wake up early

Home: Sleep in until you are ready. You
have all day for your lessons.

School : Eat a quick breakfast before running out
the door. Make it simple so your child isn't anxious about
being late.

Home: Make breakfast as a family, You Kindergartener
can make the toast and help set out the plates for
breakfast. Have a leisurely breakfast and talk take
time to talk with your children.

School: Child meets his teacher at school and is
worried about the new day but soon is listening
on a carpet, a story that is new to him. He isn't sure
of his new place or friends just yet but will learn in time.

Home: School begins snuggled under a warm blanket
reading your favorite rendition of the Three bears.
While your Kindergartener giggles and talks out about
the parts he or she likes best.

School: The day ends with an exhausted child. Your
child jumps up and down to tell you the many
tales of the day.

Home: Your school day ends with Daddy coming home.
Your child jumps up and down telling dad all the things
you did today as you smile because you were there to see it.

School: Now its time to go through the piles of papers
to fill out and homework to do. Bathes to prepare and beds to
get into.

Home: Now it is time for family time and relaxing
before baths and bedtime. Maybe we could even stay
up again and watch the stars and look at them
through a telescope because learning never stops.

Blessing
Nikki

(If you have one to add feel free. It was a fun list to make.)

Mom's Journal- Staying Put

2011-08-15T06:54:00.000-07:00

As of Today this is my last week of work. I know
how important it is to be at home with my children.
It can be difficult to have a relationship with them.
It is more difficult when you aren't there
most of the day. I remember to well how it felt for
my parents to always be working. I love them both so much
and wanted to spend time with them even if it didn't
always seem that way.

Memories:

For a time mom was home with me when
I was young. I remember the smells, the house and the
well being I felt. We had fun dancing to records,
baking cookies , making shrinky dinks and I even
remember us gardening. I had a little shovel to dig in the
dirt with, I imagine it was more to keep me busy so
mom could get something done . I remember these
small things more than the big. I know there
were big beach trips and camping activities. Yet
I remember the little moments with them the most.
I think those little moments matter. They shouldn't
be under estimated.

and so I won't.On Aug. 19th I will be home again.
I still want to find away to help someway with the
income but I hope to station myself right here where
I belong and where they belong. One day to soon
they will fly away. I want to sit in each moment
and make it last.

God Bless,

Nikki