Ballerina Update!

I'm sure no one else has been on pins and needles all week wondering if dd6 would actually participate in ballet/tap class this week. (With the exception of maybe Angel! lol) Anyhoo...I thought I'd share. My little ballerina actually did join in her class this week (it only took four weeks, but hey...what's a little stress?)

We have of course been chatting about it almost daily...and last week even though she only tapped her toes, she did say she enjoyed it. This week, however, she gave herself a little pep talk outdoors on the swing. She told me about it later, in the car, on the way to class. She said "when I was outside swinging, I told myself 'today could be my day to dance'" I replied, yes, it could, and told her it was up to her. I would love for her to participate. In fact I went so far as to "almost" bribe her. Okay, I did bribe her...sort of. I said if she did decide to participate, then I would have a little surprise for her. I'm not sure if this is really the correct way to handle the situation...but I figured it couldn't hurt.

My future lawyer or politician basically asked me to define participation! lol What a hoot! She is really too much. I said she needed to obey the teacher, move her arms the way the teacher asked, move her legs the way the teacher asked...but then I added that if she didn't feel comfortable doing it in the middle of the class, with all the other kids, she could do it at the back of the room, or off to the side. She was okay with that.



When it came down to it, I was pleasantly surprised to find that only one teacher was present, and only about half the kids, and the room was empty when we got there (usually a private lesson is in session) this meant she could have time to acclimate herself to the room - God is SO good! She joined the group, a bit hesitantly at first...and stayed in the circle for attendance. When the kids all lined up for the start of class, she went back to her wall...but she was doing arm movements and pliées with all the other kids! Yay! What a proud moment for me! Then the kids moved to another area of the room, and she joined them...and that was that...she stuck with the group through the rest of the class! And on top of that, my dgd was SO very supportive of her! She was giving her little hugs and high-fives throughout the lesson. Wow! God truly has done amazing things here this week!





Oh, and in case you were wondering, her surprise was a set of Hello Kitty hair rings, necklace & bracelet, as well as a little chapter book by Janette Oke.

*Ü* Blessings,

Our Westward Expansion

We've studied the Revolutionary time period, and now we've moved on to Thomas Jefferson, Lewis & Clark and Sacajawea. What fun we had this past Thursday! I bet you get tired of hearing how much I love Heart of Dakota! We're still finishing up with Little Hearts for His Glory, but we are really enjoying it!

While we learned about Lewis & Clark's expedition to find a western route to the Pacific Ocean, we cut paper bags into Native American vests, and decorated them. The kids LOVED this activity...see how great the vests turned out:


G drew a tee-pee, a campfire and a buffalo (I think) on the back of her vest.


B put a tee-pee, campfire, trees and a snake on the back of her's.


And ds put mountains, a buffalo and of course bows & arrow on his! Too funny!

While they were busy decorating their vests, I read to them about Lewis & Clark's westward journey. Then while they continued drawing, I set up an obstacle course to re-enact that journey...this was so much fun!

I took a video of the kids "journey", then they had to wait at the "Pacific Ocean" like the original travelers did...no ship came so they had to turn around and follow their route back to St. Louis, the photos are actually backwards because I took the video first...here is the video:


Silly me, I had the camera tipped sideways! I found a program that will rotate it for viewing on the pc, but I guess it is not a permanent fix, cuz here it is, rotated back :o( Oh well!

And the return journey...


Trekking the Columbia River!


Crossing the mountains - I think this was their most favorite part!


Traveling the Missouri River (sit and scooch, scooch, scooch).

This coming week, we've got the American Girl Addy class and bowling again on Monday because of the holiday...ballet on Tuesday (in the evening for me is our TEACH meeting)...and an apple picking field trip on Wednesday (so much fun!) We will be busy little beavers, that's for sure! I can't wait to blog about the apple picking trip...we went last year, and it was great fun!

*Ü* Blessings,

New Look

After I published today's post, I realized our family photo was WAY outdated! I knew we had a newer one...so I opted to change up our look for this school year. I love this kit by Golden Girls called "Where the Heart Grows" - the colors are so me!
Hope you like the new look!
*Ü* Blessings,

One Month Done

I can't believe the first month of school has already gone by! We have had alot of fun, and met some new friends, too! In looking over some of the photos I've taken between then and now, I realized there are so many I did not share.

Here's one from the first day of school:


This one is of the school table, and cabinet; you can also see the workboxes in the corner. I did the same thing as last year, stacking new school supplies with a special welcome note on top...the kids really like this! The workboxes are set up, but we haven't implemented them yet...oops! You can also see our schedule on the door. I tried to plan an hour of work, then a 20 minute break...the kids get to run and enjoy the weather, I get a few minutes to clean or check email. This schedule has worked really well for us so far. Behind the door are three shelves, one for each kiddo...each shelf has a labeled "cubbie" where they can keep their books neatly. The two open shelves and drawers below are for my teacher supplies. The tackle box is where we keep our Math-U-See blocks...I learned this trick on another website! Fantastic idea!

One week we were studying the Revolution, and we learned about Betsy Ross...the girls thoroughly enjoyed "stitching" their own stars:









And while ballet continues to be a struggle, bowling is going quite well. Our little guy is enjoying this activity, and the kids all get to spend time with other homeschoolers. Here's a few shots of ds:





Later I will upload some pictures of the fun activites we did this week...it was great!

*Ü* Blessings,

The "Secret" School

Funny...I think my kiddos must LOVE school...they have to...I find they do it even when I'm not prompting and prodding. They do it in secret! *gasp*

Look at this picture of ds...



in his bedroom doing school (phonics workbook) while mom and dad chat in the livingroom! It was too funny...we thought, now, hmmm...he is awful quiet, wonder what he's up to! lol He was up to school. His big sis was too, but she heard the camera and effectively hid behind the door before we could get a photo of her.



I have one more picture to share...the 3 Amigos is the name of ds5's bowling team. This photo explains it all:



(note: ds had a haircut within days of this photo being taken...it is rather long isn't it? Well...now I can see his beautiful blue eyes! lol)

*Ü* Blessings,