History

We are using SOTW- The Middle Ages (Volume 2) as our history curriculum. A couple of weeks ago we started learning about the Roman Empire, including events at the Coliseum, the division of Rome, and Pax Romana (Roman Peace).

We created pillars out of play doh and broke them apart, to symbolize the destruction of Rome by the barbarians.

In our more recent studies, Caitlin learned about a man named Nicholas, nicknamed St. Nick, currently known as Santa Claus. One of the activities in the activity guide suggests doing a (secret) good deed for someone in your neighborhood.

Although Jayden is not participating in this history curriculum, he decided to join in on the activity. Both kids used some of their own money and each bought a food bag for local families in need. <3

A Month of Milestones!

Somehow this last month flew by! We have been incredibly busy, celebrating milestones, Thanksgiving, and enjoying the company of family and friends.

This incredible girl turned 9 this month. Nine whole years of knowing this spunky hilarious girl makes my heart full! She insisted on a spectacular sleepover filled with lots of slime. The girls spent hours with shaving cream, borax, and glue.

She requested a three layer green and white cake. I decided to make a five layer cake instead, and she was thrilled! "I wish we still had that cake. It was so good!" is what she just said as I write.

Jayden joined a robotics team very late in the season. Being about a month out from competition we weren't sure the school would allow him to join, but they did. He had a blast working on coding and programming! Unfortunately neither Juan nor I were able to attend the competition.

I had to drop Jayden off at the school on my way to work. I sat in that parking lot holding back tears while we waited for the robotics mentor to arrive. I had barely slept from anxiety. It was his first time on a school bus, the first time I sent him off on such a long trip alone with no way to contact him, and his first event that neither Juan nor I could go to to cheer him on. All for him to barely look back when he got on that school bus! "Bye mom!" he said with a quick kiss, before running off with his new friends. I had to laugh at myself. I still spent the whole day feeling a tremendous amount of anxiety and guilt, but when I picked him up (yes I was the first to arrive, yes I got there 20 minutes before he even got back!), he was so excited to tell me all about his day. It's amazing seeing this boy grow up!

Our littlest nugget, Joel, celebrated a milestone as well! He turned one! We are so blessed to have him in our lives. One of my favorite parts of this last year is seeing just how much everyone loves and enjoys him. He is just like his sister, little person, BIG personality!

Another milestone: he took his first steps on 11/2. He takes steps everyday but still uses his adorable scoot as his main mode of transport.

Juan and I celebrated our 17th anniversary (11 of them married)! We left the kids with close friends of ours (another milestone- our first time leaving Joel!). We saw a movie and had a nice, quiet, romantic dinner. No one to interrupt us with youtube stories or throwing food across the table.

A few days later we celebrated Thanksgiving. I am so incredibly thankful for our family! <3

The latest milestone this month, Joel now has his own room! We are slowly working on setting it up Montessori style. 

I'm sensing there will be a lot of trial and error for us! LOL!

New School Year!

I haven't updated this blog in just over a year. Oops! 😯 Since my last post our family has grown by two little feet! We are all so in love with our little Pookie!

I think we've finally found our groove with homeschooling this year. It's taken us a bit but I am hoping our newly laid plans work out.

Here are a few pics of our last almost two months!

Math lessons

Spanish tests

Welcome back to dance team, 2017!

We've been to several library events, from cooking to tween advisory groups.

 We went on a farm tour and picked lots of apples.

 This little lady and I made an apple crisp with our freshly picked apples.

 We also went to a corn maze. For some reason I don't have a lot of pics of this.

Jayden joined robotics club.

We've joined in several of the Halloween festivities! We went to our dojo's annual Halloween party, trick or treating (minus the sick baby), Cait went to her dance team Halloween party, and we went on a spooky "haunted" walk.

Phew! That's just a quick peek into our lives since September!

Karate Belt Test

Both kids took their belt test (a nearly 3 hour physical exam!!) over the weekend and both kids earned their new belts!

Both kids got to spar. (Caitlin had no gear because she wasn't supposed to spar but they threw her in at her request-- they both did great!)

Both kids are now part of Junior Black Belt Club. They head to their first meeting at the end of this month.

"This program is for children 6 to 12 years old. The student will move through ten belt levels (White to Black Belt). Each student receives three stripes per belt. The student must have parent approval in order to receive a stripe. This program is broken into three phases so that students are always challenged and motivated to learn new skills. The student will learn 30 character development and life skills,  65 karate techniques, 45 self-defense maneuvers, 9 kata’s (traditional forms), and a full study of the art of goal setting. This program is full of flexibility skills, endurance drills, and most of all fun! The ultimate goal is 1st degree junior Black Belt in Shotokan Karate."