Friday, March 27, 2015
Goats!
BJ took the kids over the meet the neighbor's kids today. :) :) Ahh the cuteness of new baby goats!!!
Friday, March 20, 2015
Little Explorers
This week we took advantage of another warm (70 degree!) spring day. One of our favorite things to do with the kids is to take them exploring outside. So we headed out last Monday for a little adventure. I brought along some things to help engage the kids and help them to really SEE. Dollar store magnifying glasses, reused egg cartons to collect treasures, and an old point-and-shoot camera for Canaan.
A little news! We have unexpectedly found ourselves entering the world of homeschooling! I have thought a lot about maybe homeschooling the kids later on - around grade 4 or 5 - but here we find ourselves - jumping in to this awesome new adventure - something I'm sure God had planned for us and I didn't even see it coming (this soon, anyway). We have been so blessed for Canaan to also get to be a part of a new Christian school in our area - he'll go a couple of days a week starting this fall on the days that I am working.
Meanwhile, I have been obsessively soaking up all I can learn about curriculum, organizing, homeschool methods/philosophies, teaching styles, learning styles, hands-on activities, state standards - all of it. I'm learning a ton and working through what I think might work for us. I am pretty pumped in an extremely dorky way about school. When I'm up too late -- you'll find me now reading homeschool blogs, diving into teacher manuals or organizing binders.
My dream is for many of our homeschool days to look a lot like this day - for the kids to soak up traditional subjects as they explore and have hands-on adventures.
As we start this new chapter I know there will be tough days ahead. I know a day of being burned out will come and we'll have to power through. I know it's not going to be easy to homeschool with two little ones. But I am still overwhelmed with joy, excited, and so thankful! :)
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| Lainey is getting SO tall - she's a year younger than Ezra but you wouldn't know it by looking at her! |
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| { what Canaan captured } |
A little news! We have unexpectedly found ourselves entering the world of homeschooling! I have thought a lot about maybe homeschooling the kids later on - around grade 4 or 5 - but here we find ourselves - jumping in to this awesome new adventure - something I'm sure God had planned for us and I didn't even see it coming (this soon, anyway). We have been so blessed for Canaan to also get to be a part of a new Christian school in our area - he'll go a couple of days a week starting this fall on the days that I am working.
Meanwhile, I have been obsessively soaking up all I can learn about curriculum, organizing, homeschool methods/philosophies, teaching styles, learning styles, hands-on activities, state standards - all of it. I'm learning a ton and working through what I think might work for us. I am pretty pumped in an extremely dorky way about school. When I'm up too late -- you'll find me now reading homeschool blogs, diving into teacher manuals or organizing binders.
My dream is for many of our homeschool days to look a lot like this day - for the kids to soak up traditional subjects as they explore and have hands-on adventures.
As we start this new chapter I know there will be tough days ahead. I know a day of being burned out will come and we'll have to power through. I know it's not going to be easy to homeschool with two little ones. But I am still overwhelmed with joy, excited, and so thankful! :)
Thursday, March 12, 2015
Finally Free
We have emerged from winter! Out kids have needed so badly to get out of the house, and so we're soaking up this first taste of spring. This is my FAVORITE season - I love being just at the very beginning of a nice long stretch of NOT-winter. :) My heart is full and so happy!
Thursday, February 19, 2015
Haircut
It's been almost a month now, but Miss Lainey got her first real haircut at the end of January. She's had it trimmed with clippers before we met her, but this was the first time for her to have a real style.
In our house we aren't usually fancy with haircuts. I get mine cut maybe once a year, BJ shaves his head, and I take care of the boys. But for our girl, and for her FIRST haircut, so we did this thing all proper and took her to a salon. :)
I have to admit, I was nervous about this. The girl does not like strangers (this is a good thing). Or, more importantly, she doesn't like being touched by strangers. (seriously, who does??) We learned this to be an absolute fact over Christmas.
But sweet Miss Reagan was so awesome that Lainey was relaxed, happy, and did SO good! I could not have been more proud of her!
I don't have many pics of the actual haircut, since Lainey was on my lap, but here's after!
In our house we aren't usually fancy with haircuts. I get mine cut maybe once a year, BJ shaves his head, and I take care of the boys. But for our girl, and for her FIRST haircut, so we did this thing all proper and took her to a salon. :)
I have to admit, I was nervous about this. The girl does not like strangers (this is a good thing). Or, more importantly, she doesn't like being touched by strangers. (seriously, who does??) We learned this to be an absolute fact over Christmas.
But sweet Miss Reagan was so awesome that Lainey was relaxed, happy, and did SO good! I could not have been more proud of her!
I don't have many pics of the actual haircut, since Lainey was on my lap, but here's after!
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| Mom, are you STILL taking pictures of me? |
Chinese New Year!
Tonight we celebrated Chinese New Year! It's the year of the goat (or sheep / ram)!
This is all new to us, and it's been so fun to learn together and create some new family traditions. I am not all that skilled in Chinese cuisine, so we ordered from the experts! We also made some Chinese cookies (aka red sugar cookies... I tried), made paper dragons, lit firecrackers (Daddy did while we watched from the warm indoors!), listened to Chinese tunes, gave the kids money in little red envelopes, tried our best at chopsticks, and dressed in the traditional Chinese outfits we bought at the market in Guangzhou.
Gong Xi Fa Cai! Gongxi! (恭喜)
Just for fun... our Chinese animals by birth year...
BJ - the Rooster
Jessie - the Monkey
Canaan - the Ox
Ezra - the Rabbit (our ox and rabbit should totally be reversed)
Lainey (the coolest of all) - the Dragon
We are a diverse bunch! :)
This is all new to us, and it's been so fun to learn together and create some new family traditions. I am not all that skilled in Chinese cuisine, so we ordered from the experts! We also made some Chinese cookies (aka red sugar cookies... I tried), made paper dragons, lit firecrackers (Daddy did while we watched from the warm indoors!), listened to Chinese tunes, gave the kids money in little red envelopes, tried our best at chopsticks, and dressed in the traditional Chinese outfits we bought at the market in Guangzhou.
Gong Xi Fa Cai! Gongxi! (恭喜)
Just for fun... our Chinese animals by birth year...
BJ - the Rooster
Jessie - the Monkey
Canaan - the Ox
Ezra - the Rabbit (our ox and rabbit should totally be reversed)
Lainey (the coolest of all) - the Dragon
We are a diverse bunch! :)
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