Random Stuff

The girls are often dressed like this for school.

My almost 4 year old!!!!

Our little soccer player

We have had a million things going on here so this post is going to be totally random.

1. Norah is playing Upward soccer again this year and I am coaching. It has been fun so far. We have a sweet group of girls with a good mix of ability. All but one played last year, so they all know a little about what is going on. We had a first game today and the girls did great!!

2. I am teaching the homeschool class that meets on Wednesday mornings at our church during the women's Bible study. I teach the Bible class and my friend, Jenny, is teaching an art class. Norah's art projects have been great! They have done everything from watercolor to oil pastel to clay. She is loving art!! After 10 weeks of art, Norah now says she wants to be an artist/art teacher!!

3. Max and Denise were here for about a week and the girls had a blast playing with Alex and Contessa. Then they were back again for the weekend. The girls spent HOURS dressing up and pretending!!

4. Kevin and I went to the St. Louis Homeschool Expo. It is a great convention. If you are contemplating homeschooling and you are somewhere near St. Louis, you should totally go next year!!

5. Trying to make decisions about our curriculum for school next year. I am doing Sonlight Core 1 and LA (supplementing with First Language Lessons), Singapore Math 1B, Christian Kids Explore Biology, and Rod and Staff Penmanship Grade 2. Hopefully, the girls will be attending this school in the fall for art and Spanish. I still need to decide on our Bible curriculum - I am considering using Raising Rockstars curriculum created by Carissa from 1+1+1=1. I am really excited about our school year next year. The further we get into homeschooling the more I love it. Sure, we have our bad days, but it is such the right fit for our family and I am so thankful to have listened to God's call to teach the girls from home. The individualized attention is great and moving at Norah's pace (as opposed to the pace of the average of a classroom full of kids) has been so beneficial to her learning.

(By the way, if you have considered homeschooling, but don't think you are cut out for it - talk to me. I was a HUGE public school advocate before having kids and always said I would NEVER homeschool. However, through the experience of a friend and her girls, God changed my heart and then changed Kevin's and I have no doubts that this is what God wants for our girls right now. If I can do it, you can do it.)

6. Kevin is getting our garden going again this year. He built 3 garden boxes - and the girls helped him plant our tomato and pepper plants and seeds for various vegetables.

7. Daphne is 15 months - so I need to work on a 15 month post. She is changing and growing at record pace!!

8. I am working on a project for Lucy's birthday. I am making some alphabet bean bags similar to the ones in this post. I have less than a week until her birthday and I still have a lot to do!! I have all the letters ironed on, but I am outlining them in fabric paint and then I have to sew them and stuff them.

9. Several of the children on the Reece's Rainbow website we have been praying for have families who have committed to adopting them!! The girls are so excited!! They still pray regularly for the children and are constantly wanting to look on the website to find more children to pray for. Norah wants to have a lemonade stand to try and raise some money to donate. We are planning on a day in May - more on that later.

10. We are making a big change with our homeschool schedule this week. Now that Daphne is not napping in the morning, school has been incredibly chaotic!! I am so distracted by Daphne as she goes through the girls workboxes and steals stuff or gets into other things she shouldn't. She begs for attention while we are trying to read - leaving our reading time really disrupted!! Starting tomorrow we are going to do school right after lunch while Daphne takes her afternoon nap. I don't love the idea of giving up the girls rest time, but I just don't think I have a choice. We'll see how it goes!! Lucy will be zapped at the end of the day - but rest time is such a struggle for her anyway. I am going to try to have the big girls have some independent play time maybe while I am working on dinner. They usually need a break from each other at the end of the day anyway.

11. Lucy's birthday is Saturday! What!?! She is going to 4!!! Oh my!!