Tuesday, April 9, 2013

Miss Scarlett is really impressed with how well Cait has done abandoning her fears in the pool since we have gotten back from FL.





We finished an Earth day book far quicker than I expected. But the kids LOVE the "Ready Freddy!" series.
Because T4L is no longer a good fit for Jayden, we have been on the hunt for a math curriculum for him. I gave him an assessment test to figure out where he is. I will say T4L has done a great job teaching him the basics in math. The worksheets we have been doing to supplement have also really helped.

I gave him the placement test for Saxon Math and he scored into the 3rd grade! I felt like the test may have been a bit too easy and sure enough I found reviews saying Saxon math is a little behind what they say each grade level is. So I decided to retest him using  Math U See. This curriculum does not have defined grade levels. Instead it focuses on particular mathematical skills. Jayden scored really well in the Beta book, but I purchased it anyway because he needs to brush up on a few things that this book focuses on. We will be using it until he completes the workbook. In the meantime I will either look for a new curriculum for next year or we will continue with MUS and move on to the next book. It all depends on what works best for Jayden. 
 
 Caitlin has been loving the T4L and begs to do it all the time.
She continues to work on the sounds of letters because she is desperate to read her new Justin Bieber book.
  
T4L Math worksheet

Worksheet courtesy of Education Creations- a fabulous website with TONS of worksheets
 
She dozed off for 5 minutes.

Sunday, April 7, 2013



Last week we took a trip to the library. It has been a while since we've been there and we had some overdue books. 

Jayden is really into figuring out how things work and wanting to know why things work the way they do. So we checked out a book called Cool Stuff 2.0 and How It Works, among several other books, including one about Earth Day.
 On our way home we stopped at a park.















We weren't there for too long before they decided they were ready to go home. We are looking forward to the warmer weather!

Saturday, April 6, 2013



Transitioning back to our normal routine- after being away from home for so long + having Juan with us and now having to return to work- proved difficult. Luckily we had titi Isha to help! She came to visit us for a week!



 Cait completed her preschool class.
 She decorated a graduation cap,

 and got her little diploma!
 Jayden's karate class had an Easter egg hunt. 
Then we had our own hunt at home. Each kid had 17 eggs filled with at least one chocolate in every egg, although most had more.



 Jayden ate every single piece! "What mom?! It tasted so good!"



Friday, April 5, 2013

Last day of vacation/ Jayden's 7th birthday!




In our family we do not just celebrate birthdays. No, we celebrate our birthweek. This means that for a full week leading up to the day we were born, we celebrate. We reminisce. We make plans for the big day. We make it a big deal. Why? Because it IS a big deal! And we love to celebrate big deals!

Our vacation to FL was specifically set up on Jayden's birthweek as a celebration for him. As you can see, we definitely had lots of fun.

Our last day of vacation was also Jayden's 7th birthday. Time really has gone by so fast. It doesn't seem possible that this was already 7 years ago!
My boy woke up on his 7th birthday and put on his miner hat. He was still groggy and half asleep as I snapped pictures of him. As you can see, he was not pleased.


 We went to Ihop for breakfast, another birthday tradition in our family.

By this point my camera was still dead since I couldn't find my charger, and my phone battery was quickly dying as well. So titi Des came to the rescue and took pictures for me. *She was kind enough to take pictures of her pictures since she is having computer issues, so these are the best shots I can post right now of my boy's birthday!

 He ordered a chocolate milkshake.

While he was drinking, someone dipped his face into the whipped cream... Messy birthday faces? Another family tradition!
After breakfast the waitresses at Ihop sang to him and gave him some ice cream, which he immediately told his sister to come enjoy with him! <3
 Ice cream? He definitely didn't have to tell her twice!
After breakfast we went back to the house and got ready for swimming. We had been dying to get into the pool!



 *I charged my cell phone a bit as we got ready so I was able to get some pictures!


We swam for a couple of hours, shooting each other with water guns, having a grand old time!

Then we headed off to the Wow Factory. This place was a LOT of fun!!! The kids went on a "ropes course" with tio JC, played in a ginormous ball pit, played games in the arcade, and last but not least, we played laser tag. Laser tag was all Jayden truly wanted to do for his birthday, so I am glad his wish came true.
By this point we were all pretty tired and overstimulated so we headed back to the house. An excellent cure for being tired? Sugar. Lots of it. In the form of a magnificent, decadent, amazing, Coldstone cookie dough ice cream cake. Which we topped off with a new Ninja Turtle toy.
 *Somehow between taking a picture of the cake and singing to my prince my camera lens got smudged. So the next couple of pics are quite crappy.


 
We had such an amazing time in FL. I am so thankful to my husband, who worked his behind off to make this possible. I am also thankful to my sisters Des & Nayida and my brother in law JC for showing us such a great time. 

I am especially grateful for my little boy who said "Best birthweek ever, mom!"