Dh and our DS were having a little "chat" today.  LOL it was so cute!

• Comments (4) • Post A Comment! • Permanent Link

The night before our Thanksgiving in early October our oven died.  The dial that sets the temperature broke.  It would turn on but you couldn't tell what setting it was at.  Eventually we figured out were to set it for most baking.  But then a few weeks before Christmas it started surging temps.  cold one min to hot the next.  We have already had the thermostat, 2 oven elements and many burners replaced on this thing...We decided not to try and have it fixed again.  There must be something wrong with it that causes the burners and thermostat to keep burning out.  We searched every were looking for used stoves.  We finally found one place.  They must be in high demand right now!  Dh looked and they had this very old yellow stove.  The store thinks it's from the 60's.  But I tell you it cooks better then any stove I've ever had!!  They sure made things to last back then.  It also has an extra broiler oven on top.  I LOVE it!!

This pic is just after dh brought it in the house.

First batch of cookies as a "test".  Bakes great!  My other stove was alway burning everything or under cooking.

• Comments (0) • Post A Comment! • Permanent Link

Our youngest dd is having a blast with the jingle bells her Aunt gave them for Christmas!

• Comments (1) • Post A Comment! • Permanent Link

Our Christmas morning.  The girls were very excited with there new goodies.  Each got a crochet shawl I made in their favorite colors.  Some new craft stuff, stuffies, and books.  But one of their favorite surprises was each got a set of binoculars.

• Comments (2) • Post A Comment! • Permanent Link

Ok I'm REALLY late in getting these up.  LOL  Baby boy has been keeping me very busy, so I haven't been online very much.

These were taken earlier this month with dh and the kids putting up the tree.  Dh did the lights and garland the girls decorated it themselves.   

• Comments (0) • Post A Comment! • Permanent Link

Here is our sweet little fella.  He's 3 days in this pic.

• Comments (6) • Post A Comment! • Permanent Link

Our sweet baby was born Fri evening.  "Little" boy weighed 9 pounds 4 oz  and 22 inches long.  He's a happy little chubb lol.  His big sisters are so excited over their little brother!
Pics soon :-)

• Comments (12) • Post A Comment! • Permanent Link

WOW I can not believe it's been 2 months since I've had a chance to post.    I've only have a few days left to go before our newest baby arrives!!  I've been sick a lot in the last few months between normal lack of sleep and the kids sharing colds. 

We have most of our garden harvested, potatoes were the main thing we planted this year.  So far we've harvested about 1000 pounds and still have at least another 400 pounds to get up this week.

Last week we had our first real snow that stuck on the ground.  The kids just loved it!!  Me, well I'm not so ready for winter yet LOL.  Once our potatoes are all in and the woods all been cut and stacked then I don't care.  I'll be able to snuggle by the fire with our sweet new baby all winter. 

I've been busy making new cloth diapers and fleece/wool soaker's to.  Each of my little seem to have out gown what I have!  And dd1 who has lots of diapers that fit her seems to have developed an sensitivity to the suade cloth inners (sigh).  She gets rashes from the pretty quickly now.  So I'm going to try and go back to flannel with her.  I'm hoping I can get all this sewing done before the wee one comes!

• Comments (2) • Post A Comment! • Permanent Link

Joyous Home is having an incredible holiday special starting Nov. 14.  From sewing projects to recipes there will be something for everyone.  Make sure to stop by and check out the goodies!

• Comments (2) • Post A Comment! • Permanent Link

Memory Verse:  Psalms 55:22 - Cast thy burden upon the Lord, and He shall sustain thee; He shall never suffer the righteous to be moved.

Assignment: This would be a good week to tell about your worst struggles with a lifestyle of homeschooling.  Tell about something you’ve struggled with and how God’s mercies gave us the strength to get past it.  Also, share any curriculum/homeschool methods that have been a relief to you, i.e., a particular Teacher’s Manual or Homeschooling method that’s been easier for your family.  Talk about how you felt when the burden was lifted and Oh, What a Relief it is!

Hmm...If I really stop and think about it my worst struggles aren't major problems.   My biggest challenges are homeschooling with toddlers and wee babies in the mix.  Also getting rid of the pressure to get it "all" done.  I've learned to work around the littlest nap schedules for the more one on one topics like math.  After coming close to a burn out for both the little ones and myself I realized that I needed to cut back.  I've always said I felt the biggest problem in homeschooling is the HUGE wealth of good books and topics to cover!  But when you try to do to much at once, even if its fun, you burn out.

Last year I was trying to do FIAR every day, math, phonics, reading, grammar, copy work and then have world history (SOTW)  3 days a week and science 2 days a week.  It was just to much with pregnancy/new baby, and two toddlers and major renovations LOL.  This year we have relaxed and although we have added MORE topics to cover we are having fun doing it a simpler way.

First I'm using FIAR as our main curriculum.   Putting the focus back on this allows us to truly enjoy the program.  We also do math, and language arts everyday.  Then we do ONE extra.  So one day a week for each wold history, Canadian social studies, nature study, science, artist/composer study.

I find this works sooo much better for us!  And of course we do lots of reading together and cover many "extras" that way also.

• Comments (6) • Post A Comment! • Permanent Link

 Assignment: Take time this week to write about YOU and your feelings of trials and triumphs with homeschooling.  Touch on when you first heard about the concept of home schooling and whether you tip-toed into the idea or just jumped in and never looked back.  Share your schooling as a child and how you compare it to what your goals are for your children.

I was a public school child.  I loved to learn and always had my noise in a book.  However it did not take me long to figure out the kids that like learning are on the "outs" in school.  The teachers might like you but know one else does.   Being in a room of 30 other children that mock and pick on you all day does nothing to encourage a good learning environment! 

There was a homeschooling family on our street and I always envied them.  They got to really learn things and we not stuck at a desk all day.  I remember being so surprised at some of the topics they learned about, that we later didn't touch on until high school! 

When I was in my  mid teens I removed myself from school and finished with a mixture of homeschooling and correspondence.  I LOVED it!  Once again I could actually LEARN. 

I always knew that if I had children I would homeschool them.  My husband also had very little he liked about his public education and was all for my choice in this.

My goals for our children are to love the Lord with all their harts, develop a true love of learning and good work habits and not to be afraid to be themselves.

• Comments (0) • Post A Comment! • Permanent Link

Last year I had a lot of fun participating in the Blogger Friend school, I'm a little late this year but joining in the fun anyway.   

The are also kicking off the new school year with a give a way.  Stop by and check it out!

• Comments (0) • Post A Comment! • Permanent Link

Oh it's been so cool and damp lately with all the rain.  Last night it got down to at least 5C burrr!!  One of dh jobs this weekend is cutting fire wood.  He's been bring home lots of skids from work and we almost have enough for the winter.

The leaves have started turning and we even have lots of green ones falling to.  The girls are so excited about fall, if only the rain would stop for a while!  They are calling for rain again every day this week, except tomorrow.  We need a good dry spell to start getting our potatoes in.  Going by what we've dug up as new potatoes we are getting a good yield this year. 

• Comments (0) • Post A Comment! • Permanent Link

This weeks theme is to share something new we are using this year.  To see what others are sharing click here.

We are doing a few new things this year.  Some of what we have started already others have not yet been worked into our schedule.

Last year I started using Five in a Row.  But I found it to much to do it and all the other add ons I wanted.  So we did 4 or 5 units from FIAR.  But oh how we missed it!  So this year FIAR is our main focus as it was made to be  It is such a rich program yet so laid back and easy to use!  Any extras we want to do are done once a week for fun.

Another change this year is our spelling program.  Last year we used Spelling Work Out A for dd6 (5 at the time) and she was so board by it!  This year we are using Christian Liberty Press Building Spelling Skills .  So far it's working much better for us.  There is less busy work and dd likes that a lot.

One other thing we are doing this year is adding in nature, art and composer studies.  But these are laid back and done using mostly materials I already have around the house or free on the internet. 

• Comments (4) • Post A Comment! • Permanent Link

This weeks theme is to share out homeschool routines.  To read about others routines and schedules click here.

While I love schedules and order a strict and fixed schedule just will not work in this house.  LOL  I need to be flexible to work around dh shifts, a 2 year old and a baby and soon to be another newborn.  I do try to keep a flow to our work though.

We typically start our lessons after breakfast.  We start with our Bible lessons then phonics for dd4.  After that we do our Five in a Row story and activities.  I like to do this in the morning because I can easily included dd2 in it. 

Then we take a break until lunch time after lunch when dd2 and baby girl are napping we try to do math, spelling and our weekly "extras" such as world history, Canadian social studies etc.

Fridays are our lighter day.  We do our artist and composer studies in the morning and shopping in the afternoon.  Often we stop at different conservation parks for nature walks before shopping.

• Comments (1) • Post A Comment! • Permanent Link

This week we are working at finishing up our Peter Rabbit unit and combining it with a unit on farming.   The International Plowing Match will be in our area in a few weeks and we are all looking forward to that!

I found this DVD at the library and the kids just love it!  I think I'll have to pick up a copy for them some time. LOL  The first part of the DVD is a farm tour for kids, the second part is an ABC of horses. 

We are also watching these DVD's on Ferguson tractors.  They are set in England so tie in a little with Peter Rabbit.  Dh also has a Ferguson tractor.  I gave him this DVD set a few years ago and we all love watching them!

You can read more about video 1 here.

And video 2 here.

We are also watching this one on draft horses.

We are also reading the following books.

Vegetable Friends, Animals on the Farm, Milk, Butter and Cheese, The story of Dairy Products, Prairie Boy's summer and Tell About The cow Barn Daddy.

We are also going to be doing some crafts and activities from these sites.

KidzClub

ABCTeach

Easy Fun School

• Comments (0) • Post A Comment! • Permanent Link

We had to go out this evening for a little bit and decided to take a quick walk at the park.  Unfortunately after about 20 minutes or so a storm started to roll in.

This little bunny was in the dear/turkey pen area.  He was definitely a pet at one time!  I hope know one dumped him there...He came right up to the girls and loved to be petted.

Then the turkeys wanted to say hello to.

Then we heard some thunder and it started getting dark.

We pulled over on the way home to take this.  The sun was shining on a rain band and the whole field shone like gold!

• Comments (4) • Post A Comment! • Permanent Link

Last week the weather was really nice, so the girls and I have been trying to spend lots of time out side!  They loving exploring and can always find something "new" and interesting around the yard to look at.  These are a few photos of them playing with the outside kitties.

This is our "barn" cat who spends more time up on the deck with the kids.  LOL He is a sweetie and a good hunter though.  We kept him from our Manx's first litter.

These two little ones just went to a good home with our good friends.  We are so glad to hear they are settling in great!  They loved "playing" on the kids teeter-toter (sp???).  LOL

And my little sweeties. 

• Comments (4) • Post A Comment! • Permanent Link

The girls got a surprise this past week.  Dh put up a tire swing for them.  At first they were a little unsure of how to use it, but that didn't last long!  Now they are up and down like little monkeys.  LOL

Here are some pics from just after they discovered it.  Even Dh got in on the fun. 

• Comments (2) • Post A Comment! • Permanent Link

I've been crazy busy around here not leaving as much time to post as I'd like. 

Last week we all came down with some virus that knocked the little ones and I out.  Then as they were just getting better dh hurt his back.   Poor guy woke up Fri. morning with a "kink" in his back and it got worse as the weekend went on.  He had planned to finish the strapping on the house but there was no way he could be up a latter!!  Sunday he needed a cane to help him get around.  Thankfully he's doing much better now!

So this week has been playing catch up on dishes, laundry and everything else that gets behind when your sick.  Yesterday I started tackling out book cases in the living room.  I moved all the gardening and homesteading type books to the case in our bedroom.  So now there is just enough room down stairs for our curriculum and reference books.  But really I need more book cases LOL.

I've also cleared off and cleaned 2 "hot" spots in the living room, the top of the TV and printer.  My desk is about half done to!  Yippee! LOL 

I'v been working at setting up new school "centers"  put up and ABC chart, daily weather chart and a new world map.  I still need to resort the storage drawers but that shouldn't take TO long since I just did them a few weeks ago.

• Comments (1) • Post A Comment! • Permanent Link