Week 1- Letter A

Having finished our year working through the alphabet, I have spent a good portion of time working on what's coming up next for Hannah, Ethan, and I.  I think I've just about worked out the kinks.  Here is a quick look at our A week even though I hardly took any pictures, as well as a greater explanation of what we are up to now.

Language Arts- We are working through the lessons in All About Reading Level Per-1.  It broken into three sections uppercase letters, lowercase letters, and finally the sounds each letter makes. In addition to this we have been doing various activities, crafts, and books to go with the letter that we are working.  This may seem a little redundant since we did this last year (a letter matched with various activities) but its for Ethan's benefit as much as its review for Hannah.  

                                         

Checking out our new alphabet chart.

A-Aluminum Foil Art

Reading-We are reading through many of the B4FIAR books in addition to many other great picture books we have at the house and from the library. Our first week we read "The Yellow Ball" by Molly Bang.  

Finding a fun place to read.

Math-This is not math as you typically think.  We are not doing worksheets and things like that.  It is simply games we play that have a focus on numbers  and math concepts.  These games are real and meaningful.  Hannah and Ethan have really enjoyed these activities so far and they don't really know they are learning some math skills.

Counting.

Faith Lessons-This year we are going to spend time each week learning about who God is, who we are as children of God.  We are using (I Am Special-Preschool Age 3) as our framework.  We read lots of bible stories and sing songs all the time so this is nothing new.  But it is my desire to see Hannah and Ethan increase their appreciation and celebration of God's love, and goodness through scripture, song, and prayer.  We talked about how God created us, God loves us, and God knows us by name.

Science-I call it science for lack of a better title.  Its really learning about nature (and as a result learning about our creator).  Taking in the changing world around asking the why questions and exploring.  I loved this article; 8 Reasons To Do Nature Study.

We made sun prints by leaving toys, rocks, sticks, and leaves on some black construction paper for a couple of hours.

Hannah was waiting for me to give her the go to take off all the items.

Our sun prints.

We put a piece of new construction paper underneath 

to compare and see how the paper faded in the sun.

Hair Cuts and Mail Stations

If there is something that bugs both Andrew and I, it is how we sort incoming papers and mail.  I hate them all over the counter and Andrew hates it when I stuff them into my paper holder.  He says he can't find anything, and truth be told it can be difficult to find the things. This is our situation before:

 I have been searching for a system that might work for both of us and I think I have found it.  I came across this mail station and loved that it takes up very little room on the counter and is easily to do. We got our filing box at Staples and then added in some folders.

Staples Hanging File Racks

Now it looks so neat and tidy that it makes me smile every time I walk past.

I don't know why I didn't do this sooner.  It would have saved the aggravation from the old system.

As a bonus, here is a picture of Ethan's new hair cut.

From this!!

To this!!

New Beds

I didn't get a chance to share, but a week and a bit ago was momentous for us.  Hannah traded in her toddler bed for bunk beds and Ethan traded his crib in for a toddler bed.  They both love their new beds.  Hannah cried at first say she want to keep her little bed and be a little girl, but she soon came around. Ethan has been enjoying his new foundfreedom.

Ethan seeing if he likes his new bed.  Clearly, he's not sure.

Hannah's new bed.

Perched on top.

Hannah can't quite get up on her own,

 so she pushed up her little pink stool and made quick work of getting on her bed.

 and they slept.............

Things According to My Kids

 I interview Hannah a few months ago, just before her baby cousin was born.  She thought it was a lot of fun answering the questions for mommy, so I thought I would do it again.  This time I included Ethan and asked them generic questions about the things they enjoy. Click on the photo to enlarge, if it seems too small.

School Pictures

I couldn't resist, I love pictures of my kids.  Here are their "school" pictures for the 2012-2013 school year.

Here are some of the funny ones that we took.

At first, Ethan would only let me take his picture sitting in a chair.  So of course Hannah had to join him.

Here is Ethan's opinion of the photo. Kidding, although it does look like he doing looser fingers.

Chaos ensued quickly.

Why?????

Why do my children act like this:

While other times, they act like this:

Closet Cleaning

I don't really "enjoy" cleaning (unless of course I'm stress cleaning, then I embrace it fully).  I do however abhor clutter.  It bugs, nags, and speaks to me from down the hall.  So this morning I went through Ethan's closet and cleaned it out a little.  There is a bin that we keep in their that has some of Andrew seminary stuff (don't worry Andrew I didn't get rid it).  Surprisingly, I found some of my own things at the bottom, including a CD labeled; "Pictures of Hannah".  I didn't recognize it (or the handwriting) and popped it into the computer.  I found a CD full of pictures taken of Hannah right she was born by one of the BEST photographers I know (these were pictures she took when visiting, very casual).  It has been so long since I've looked at these pictures.  So I thought I would share some of the pictures of my sweet bundle of joy with you.

I included this last one in because still I can't believe how prominent her birth mark was when she was so little.

If you look carefully in this picture (taken on the weekend) its is barely noticeable.