A Day in the Life. . .

of Daphne. This is really what she does ALL day long. She is on things, under things, climbing up things, etc. It is sometimes exhausting.

Tot School

19 months old

As a former preschool teacher, my mind tends to plan in themes so Daphne's first theme is All About Me. We sang the songs Head, Shoulders, Knees and Toes and If You're Happy and You Know It. We read The Foot Book and Hand, Hand, Fingers, Thumb.

This week she played with the Linking People. She basically dumped them out and then put them in and out of the bowl.

Daphne tried spooning the pom pom balls from one bowl to the next. She was really concentrating on this one.

We played with Mr. Potato Head. Daphne could play with this forever! She takes the pieces out and puts them back in - over and over. She is getting pretty good at identifying her body parts - so we practiced with Mr. Potato Head (ears, eyes, mouth, arms, nose).

Check out more Tot School ideas at 1+1+1=1.

Pictures

We are trying to get into a routine here - which has been . . .interesting. School with Norah takes longer than it did last year (obviously) and now adding Lucy into the mix - all while keeping Daphne entertained - making my day seem crazier than I expected. School is going well, I am just not getting much else done each day. (I should add here that we also had a major house project going on here - think carpeting torn up for about week and wood floors going in).

Anyway, my mom was asking for pictures and since I don't really have time for any lengthy blog posts - this is just going to be pictures!

As we were tearing apart the main floor - we had all our furniture in the kitchen. Daphne decided to hide under the piano.

Lucy - at the Little Gym

Norah - watching Lucy at the Little Gym

Our first week of school we were studying Creation so the girls were using playdoh to make something from each day of Creation.

Lucy working hard.

Norah's horse and Lucy's reindeer and giraffe.

Norah's cardinal and flamingo.

Daphne coloring - she is really concentrating!

First Day of School

We started school today - I can hardly believe summer is over. I had so many things I wanted to accomplish - most of which I never got around to doing!!

We started out with breakfast at Cracker Barrel. All three girls were up early - and Daphne really like to eat as soon as she is awake so we were at the restaurant by about 7:30!

Kevin drove separately so he could head to work right after breakfast and the girls and I headed home. Norah and Lucy made their beds, did a couple of little chores, and were anxious to get started on school work.

Here are some pics for today:

We started talking about being attentive (we are learning about a different character trait each week) today so the girls made animal ear headbands. We talked a lot about how you show someone that you are being attentive.

Daphne needed in on the action this morning. She sat with us a lot! She also pulled out her own books to look at and tried very hard to get the markers for herself!!

As a whole the day went really well - we will need to tweak things as we go but I am so thankful that this is what God wants for our family right now. I love the excitement on their faces as we do something new/fun and I love watching the light bulb click on as the girls learn something new!!

Check This Out!

Check out this website called Teaching Mommies for mom's of tots!! I totally love it and can't wait to use some of the lessons and printables with Daphne and Baby C! I love it!!

First Day of School Tradition

The theme for The Homeschool Village is "celebrating back to school." For the last 2 years we have gone out to breakfast on our first day of school - all of us, including Kevin (he just goes in a little late to work).

Two years ago we went to a local bakery for donuts. Last year we went to IHOP. Norah is still trying to decide where she wants to go this year. We start Monday, so she only has a few days left to decide!!

Oksana is Home!

I had a button on my side bar that said "Bring Oksana Home" - so I just wanted to update and tell you that Oksana is home. She has a family - a wonderful family! The journey has been amazing. Read all about it here.

Toothless Grin

After weeks of wiggling, Norah finally lost her front tooth - and at Grandma Jackie and Grandpa Steve's house!! She looks so grown up!! Norah was so glad to lose it here because Grandma said that the tooth fairy pays more here than in O'fallon. She was right! The tooth fairy paid $2 here!! Norah was so excited!!

When Lucy woke up this morning, she said she saw the tooth fairy in the middle of the night. She said the tooth fairy first looked under her pillow and just before she flew away, she realized there was another girl in the room. That is when she looked under Norah's pillow and saw the tooth. Lucy said the tooth fairy looks a little like Tinkerbell.