~Interesting~

Famous Homeschoolers

Sleeping arrangements...

We have new sleeping arrangements here!  The boys no longer sleep in their cribs and our little peanut is now in a crib!  She had been in a co sleeper up until about a week ago.  We had moved her out of our room quite awhile ago, but she was still in the co sleeper.  The boys now sleep on their twin mattress's on the floor.  We did this so they could get used to sleeping with no boundaries, without having to fall a long distance to the floor!  The first night was good for all of them (which meant good for mom and dad too!).  The boys rolled off and would come get us so we could tuck them back in, but they never just got out of bed just because they could!  Our little peanut woke up a few times, but with a little talking to and lots of hugs (without taking her out of bed) she did fine!  Last night was by far the best night!  Our little peanut went to bed at 7 p.m. and didn't wake up until 6:30 a.m.!  Yippee!!  Brother S slept through the night (rolled off his bed, but it didn't phase him), brother J woke up around 3 a.m., I guess (daddy gets up with the boys) and came in our room to lay with us around 6 a.m..  Overall a FANTASTIC nights sleep.  Best one I've had in...geesh, I can't remember when :)  Good thing, huh?  Eight months of good nights sleep should have me well rested for a newborn feeding every 1 1/2 - 2 hours!  Perfect :)

Talk to ya soon...

Many ask "Why?"...

I've shared with you the comments I've heard about having *7* children :)  Some have even asked "Why?" and then made their comments.  I don't think anyone is being rude when they ask, I just don't think they understand.  Well, here is why...

Snowday...

Today we got lots of snow!!

Talk to ya soon...

Snow...

A little over a week ago, I spent an entire Wednesday planning a "theme" for this months activities for the boys!  It was actually a lot of fun.  Then a week ago today I went to the library and filled an entire overnight type bag full of books (along with a stack I had to carry!) pertaining to our theme!
Our theme for the month of January is SNOW (snowmen, snowflakes, sledding, ice ~ you get the idea!:)
What I had started doing before was just setting up 'trays' or 'baskets', with books and activities/crafts relating to the books, out and about on tables throughout the house.  If one of the boys showed interest I would let them explore/play with whatever was out and about.  If they looked as if they weren't quite sure what to do, I would show them, and we would play together.  My favorite place to put activities is on the kitchen table at every seat.  Then they can just climb up whenever they choose and "play".
We also read the library books in the evenings (sometimes they will just bring me the book during the day to read).
Here are some pictures of a few of the activities they enjoyed last week:


Brother S with the tongs ~ transferring the "snowballs" into the ice tray.  Then he decided to transfer his tractor with the tongs!  Ha Ha Ha!  Using the tongs prepares the muscles of the hands for cutting, writing, etc.  In one of the green pitchers is milk (to go along with our color this month :).  They pour it from one to the other.  Also prepares the muscles for cutting, writing, etc.

Brother J with the tongs and "snowballs".  Putting them in...

...and taking them out!

Our little peanut even wanted to join in!  Here she is taking out the "snowballs"...

...and putting them in!!

Talk to ya soon...

Music...

Friday when Sister K and Sister E were home, they stayed up later into the night to make these:

Really cool guitars, out of gift boxes, for their brother's and sister.  It has been so much fun watching them play along with the Transiberian Orchestra CD!

Christmas Montage...

Talk to ya soon...

Catch up...

We had a great holiday (pictures are uploading as we speak!).  Hope you did too!  A little bit of catch up news:

Sissy retook her ACT exam in December and ended up with a 27 this time!  She improved her scores by 2.  The real kicker is that when she got ready to take the math part and turned on her computer ~ she realized the screen didn't work!  So she completed the math section without a calculator!  All by hand, pencil and paper ~ and she received a 27 on the math alone.  Great job Sissy!

Bubby has decided on a college he wants to go to (he thinks:).  So this weekend he is in Chicago with a buddy checking things out!  How FUN!!  He is coming home on the Amtrak on Monday night!  Right before his winter break started he bought himself a new car!


I tried to get him to let me take a picture of him by it, but he wouldn't go for it :(

Prior to Sister E's winter break, she played "hooky" from school and stayed with me for the day!  It was lots of fun!  She made an awesome Spongebob cake.  Check it out:

She had a great time, and hopefully she decides to play "hooky" again with me real soon!

Everybody else is doing great!  All healthy and busy!  Have a great day!
Talk to ya soon...