Homeschool Week 33 in Review

Another week done...check! Here's how this week went:

Beginnings: Our theme for the week was It's Summer. We talked a lot about summer and summer weather. Caleb learned the long "i", "o", and "u" sounds. We added "-ide", "-ike", "-ine", "-ire", "-one", "-ose", and "-une" to our word families. We also added "you" to our list of service words. Our story for the week was Like the Snow, Caleb did an awesome job reading it.

Math: We finished up our chapter on money. Caleb identified the quarter and learned it's value. We also reviewed the penny, nickel and dime.

Bible: We added questions 36 and 37 to our First Catechism study. Our Bible verse for the week was John 3:16a.

Art: We worked with paint this week, and Caleb created a summer tree print. He also created a summer weather page. I hope to get pictures of these and some other homeschool things up soon. So, stay tuned.

Extra Stuff: We spent some time with our friends at the Museum of Arts & Sciences in Macon. Caleb had fun looking at all of the art, digging for dinosaur bones and just being a kid. We also registered for the spring session of co-op. Caleb will be taking three classes: Insects: Going Buggy, Literature Pockets, and Spanish Fabuluso. He'll also eat lunch and have recess. So, he'll get a little time with other homeschoolers starting next week.

Join us next time as we learn about the fall.

Say It Forward Meme -- Loyal Commenter

5 Minutes for Moms has this cool meme. You honor you loyal commenter(s) for the week. I always save my comment emails, and I check to see who commented the most during the week. So, if you want to be the "Loyal Commenter", then you must comment. :)

Okay, so I didn't get around to this the past couple of weeks, but I'm on top of it this week. So, here's my loyal commenter for the week:

KRISTIE R. -- My Crazy Life

Kristie and I actually grew up together. Her folks lived right down the road from us on one of the many (well not anymore) dirt roads in our small town. In fact, she still lives on that same road (which is now paved), and so do my parents.

Kristie has two beautiful girls, and she's also a Tastefully Simple Consultant. She's a very loyal and trustworthy person, and you would definitely be blessed to have her in your life.

So, Kristie, enjoy the award and feel free to pass it on to YOUR loyal commenters.

So, who is your loyal commenter this week? Be sure to reward them for being faithful to your blog. It's worth it! :)

Silly Micah

Photo Sharing - Video Sharing - Photo Printing

Micah Still in the Spotlight

Photo Sharing - Video Sharing - Photo Printing

Micah and the Muffin

I think this is a preview of what we get to expect next weekend when he has his birthday cake. He'll be in HEAVEN! LOL! I cannot believe my baby is almost a year old...WAH!!!!! :( Where has the time gone?!!?

Lent...What are YOU Giving Up???

So, it's that time of year again when many people I know "give up" something for Lent. I've never really done much with this or thought much about it. One, we aren't Catholic, and two...it was never instilled in me by my family or my husband. But -- Brian and I have decided to join in this year.

So, we're giving up alcohol (with the exception of Couples Bunco this Sat, the 28th), and I'm giving up chocolate. No, we aren't alcoholics or chocoholics, but we do enjoy having a beer (Smirnoff for me please), and I love me some chocolate! I usually want NEED it around that lovely time of the month. But -- we shall give it up for the next 40 days. It shouldn't be that big of a deal since we're on a health and exercise kick now. We're beach bound for the 4th of July, so it's time to kick it up a notch in that area anyway!

So, share...what did you give up for Lent?

I'm It...You're Next

Sandee over at Sew Much Detail (she's the lovely gal that contributed the key fob to my 200th post giveaway) tagged me last week. I'm sorry I'm just now getting to this. Anyway, here's the tag:

O.k. here are the rules:
1. Link to the person who tagged you.
2. Post these rules in your blog.
3. Write 5 Random things about yourself.
4. Tag Random people at the end of the post and link to them.
5. Let each person know they've been tagged.

Okay, so here are 5 random things about me:

1) I'm already making plans for Caleb's First Grade lessons in homeschool. I know, we're not even done with Kindergarten, but since we school year-round...well, I only get one week between K and 1st grade. So, I'm working on 1st grade plans now. LOL!

2) I hate drinking water...DESPISE it! I will drink it b/c I know it's good for me, but I'd much rather just drink sweet tea, lemonade or a Coke Zero. I don't drink nearly enough water.

3) I'm now sporting a saucy red hair color. You see...Brian would so love for me to have the red that Sharon Osbourne wears, but nope...can't do that I don't think. I don't think I've got the coloring for that color at all. But -- my hairdresser rocks, and now I've got a natural looking red with a few blonde highlights...LOVE it!

4) No, I will not post a picture...not yet. You see, I don't like what I look like in pictures at the moment, so I will not post them...don't ask...it won't change my mind. LOL!

5) I've been totally negligent on keeping up with my favorite blogs. I don't know what it is, but I just don't find myself getting on the PC as much. I do try to read them...just not as often as I would like. Maybe it's b/c I'm so busy chasing my little walking Micah now...I swear, he's walking ALL over the place...no stopping him now!

Okay, so as far as tagging people...well, I'm going to tag my last 5 commenters:
1) Cascia
2) Kristie R
3) Tara
4) Mom
5) Devri

I look forward to reading all about your randomness. :)

He's Walking...

So, while I was gone...not only did my husband manage to clean my entire house. But -- little Micah Monkey decided he would work on his walking. He'd been taking steps for a little bit, but I guess he figured he would try to "perfect the art." So, here he is...there's no stopping him now! Oh, how I love that little boo-boo!

Florida Fun

We left for Florida around 9am on Saturday morning (Valentine's Day). The trip down there was loud and lots of fun. I had both boys with me, and man...they had a good ol' time. Tina rode with Laura, and I'm sure her car was much quieter! We got there around 4:30, and the kids wanted to check out the beach. So, we obliged. It was nice and warm, but we had to cut the fun short because we needed to make a Walmart run. I tell ya...what is a vacation without a Walmart run? Don't you always manage to run to Walmart while on vacation? I would think something was wrong if I didn't. LOL!

Well, before heading to Walmart, we stopped at Burger King to grab some supper. And -- let me tell you...I had never felt soooo weird in my life. It was 7pm on a Saturday night, and NO ONE was there. We were the only patrons, and they workers were a bit too eager. Then, some weird young guys came in, and another group of young guys just sat in the parking lot waiting for us to leave until they entered. It's almost like it was a drug joint or something. Who knows?!!?

We managed to grab what we needed at Walmart and headed back to TLF (temporary living facility). Adam, Laura's husband, is a pilot, and they are being stationed at Patrick AFB in Melbourne, FL. Hence the TLF.

Sunday we woke up, and I watched the boys while Laura and Tina ran to the commissary to grab some groceries. Once they returned, we headed to the Brevard Zoo. It was lots of fun. It turned out to be a nice day (minus a few showers), and the kids had a blast.

Best buddies...Hunter and Caleb Hunter, Tina, and Caleb Caleb feeding the lories (they all had sooo much fun doing this).
Laura, Hunter, and Tina...Laura was quite the lorie attraction. LOL!
Notice that mouth...he was a bit nervous.
Hunter managed to get one to land on him, too.
They are just mesmerized.
Bald Eagle...beautiful bird.
I'm gonna miss seeing these two boys together...they are such good buds.
Laura and Tina
Caleb wanted to stick his whole head thru the hole. LOL!

Tina, Laura, and Hunter...we're gonna miss you guys.

This was the Paws Zone...lots of hands-on stuff for kiddos. This section let them experiment making animal homes.

Look at the sea turtle. He looks an awful lot like Caleb.

Looks like the sea turtle is laying some eggs.

Caleb petting the turtles...looks like the turtles are busy doing "other" things. LOL!

Caleb petting the armadillo.

After we got back from the zoo, we let the kids play at the beach. They had sooo much fun.

Tina picking up sea shells.

Hunter and Caleb running on the beach...the beach was private for Patrick AFB, and no one was around. The kids could run like the wind.Caleb looking for sea shells.

Laura helping Hunter make a sand castle.

There were so many dismembered crabs. Caleb managed to find a whole one...it's dead. LOL!

Feeding the sea gulls...Look at all those greedy little birds...LOL!

On Monday, Caleb and I hung out while Laura took Hunter and Tina to pick up their new school uniforms. When they returned, we headed back out to the beach. It was soooo darn windy. The sand was just blowing all over the place, but it didn't stop the kids. They had a blast just throwing wet sand into the ocean. It was a sight to see for sure.

Tuesday, Hunter and Tina had to start school at their new school. Hunter was done at noon, so we picked him up, had lunch, and then took the boys to a park in the neighborhood where the Neils will live. They had a blast. Then, we grabbed some Icees from 7-Eleven and picked Tina up from school. We went back to the TLF and let the kids make foam visors by decorating them with foam stickers. They had fun. Then, we all headed to Smokey Bones for dinner. It was Laura's treat for us since we were leaving the next morning.

We said our good-byes on Wednesday, and Caleb and I headed home. We had a good time, and we are truly going to miss our friends. But -- we know we will see them often. Besides, who doesn't like going to the beach?!!? Now, we have a reason and a place to stay. LOL!

Homeschool Week 32 In Review

We actually finished up week 32 before we left for the beach, but I didn't get around to posting our info. So, here's how that week went:

Beginnings: Our theme for the week was Weathering the Seasons. We talked about weather, weather forecasting, and seasons. Caleb learned the long "a" and long "i" sounds. We added "-ave", "-ate", "-ame", "-ake", and "-ale" to our word families.
"Purple" was added to our list of service words. Our book for the week was Jake the Clown. I thought that the long vowel sounds would prove to be a bit difficult for Caleb, and they were. But -- he is slowly grasping the idea, and I think he'll get it soon.

Math: We talked more about money. Caleb learned how to count sets of nickels and pennies and sets of dimes and pennies. He reviewed the value of all pennies, nickels, and dimes as well. He's really doing well with this, and he seems to be "all about money" now. LOL!

Bible: We added questions 33-35 to our First Catechism study. Our Bible verse for the week was Jeremiah 42:6b.

Thanks for keeping up with our homeschooling adventures. Join us next week as we warm up by talking about SUMMER!

Back To Life, Back To Reality...

Remember that song? Well, that's my theme for now. LOL! Caleb and I returned from our mini-vacation to FL yesterday. All in all, it was a GREAT trip, and we had a good time. Granted, there were those few times when I needed to have a good you're going to get a HUGE spanking" "Come to Jesus" meeting with him. But -- when you get 3 wild and crazy kiddos together, that's bound to happen.

And -- can I just say I have THE BEST husband ever?!!? You see, while I was off visiting and saying goodbye see you soon to my friend, he was here with the baby. And -- you know what?!!? He managed to make the house sooo sparkling clean. I came home to a house cleaner than when I left. That was sooo nice. He was sooo funny about it. He would send me texts and pics of the progress he was making. He even cleaned the bathrooms, and well, he does NOT do bathrooms. It's just not his thing, but he did it...just because. And why did he do it? Well, that's just his way of saying "I love you." He took the time to make it all clean so I wouldn't have to come home and do it myself. How sweet?!!? No, he's not available for your cleaning...sorry...he's all mine!

I will post more about our trip and our many fun adventures later. We spent the day visiting with some of our friends at a local museum, eating a nice Southern lunch, and going to speech. Now, I'm trying to tackle some laundry and catch up on other stuff.

MIA...Sorry my faithful readers

I know, I know...it almost seems like I've fallen off the blogosphere. But -- I promise...I'm still here. I think I just let the PC consume me for a bit, and I needed a break. So, I've been trying to avoid getting on it as much. And -- I guess it's working. LOL! I've even stopped being a faithful Entrecard dropper. Now, if I haven't dropped on you, it doesn't mean I'm not checking in on your blog if you're on my blog roll (or I follow you). It just means I have taken a break from the whole drop, drop, drop ordeal. After reading Lin's post, it made me do some thinking myself. So, I've cut back on that (maybe a little too much). Oh well...I'm sure I'll be in the dropping phase again soon.

And -- I'm sorry to admit, but my MIA status will continue until sometime next week. You see...I'm leaving tomorrow for a trip to FL. One of my closest friends here in town is being stationed in Melbourne. Well, she and her kiddos are driving out tomorrow, and she invited me to tag along. So, I'm packing up myself and Caleb (he's a lot easier to travel with than Micah), and we're going to enjoy a few days away from this place. It will be some good mommy/son bonding time, and we'll have a few more memories with our friends. Her kiddos are Caleb's best friends, and I know he'll miss them as much as I'm going to miss Laura. But -- the good news...we've got a place to stay when we want to visit the beach down there. LOL...so that's not too shabby. And -- we'll be their hurricane central location. So, it'll all work out just fine!

So, since we won't have Internet at the beach TLF location, I probably won't be doing much blogging or checking in. The only Internet I'll have is on my new Blackberry, and I'm still trying to get used to working the darn thing, so my Internet usage is limited. LOL!

Anyway, Happy Valentine's to all of you and be sure to hug and kiss your spouse or significant other, and kiddos!

I'll catch you all sometime next week!

YKDWHAT?!? NEEDS YOUR STORIES

Once again, Your Kid Did What is featuring a story on our sweet Caleb. She's really in need of some stories, so PLEASE email her your silly stories on your children. I know you all have them...so share with the group please. :) Thanks and be sure to go read Caleb's silly story on SEASONS. Thanks!

Menu Plan Monday -- Week of February 9th, 2009

It's that time again. Here's what is on our menu for this week. And -- be sure to check out this site to find more menus. There's usually over 350+ menus to look through. Enjoy!

Monday -- Baked Ham, Green Bean Casserole, Mashed Potatoes
Tuesday -- Meatloaf, Steamed Carrots, Brown Rice
Wednesday -- Leftovers
Thursday -- Teriyaki Chicken Stir-fry w/rice
Friday -- Lemon Pepper Pork Chops, Steamed Cauliflower, Roasted Red Potatoes w/Green Beans
Saturday -- Valentine's Day (Sherrie & Caleb heading to FL)
Sunday -- Brian is on his own as Caleb & I are vacationing in FL

As always, I'm more than happy to share any and all recipes. Just ask! Happy cooking!

Friends...

Laura, Tina, and Hunter came over today so that the kiddos could play on Caleb's new swings. We revamped his swingset by buying some new swings. His older ones were getting nasty, and we figured it was time to upgrade a bit. So, the kids had fun being kids. Tina kept Micah entertained, and I managed to snap a few shots of them together. She's also a thumb-sucker, and I tried to get a pic of the two of them sucking their thumbs, but it didn't happen. Oh well...they're still cute.

Homeschool Week 31 In Review

We've been busy, busy, busy trying to get all of Caleb's work done and caught up. I told him that we need to be caught up by this upcoming Friday in order for us to take a little excursion to the beach. So, we're working really hard. Here's how this week went:

Beginnings -- We took a break from our reading book. So, we were able to talk about winter. We read lots of books about winter, and we even listened to two Winter books on CD. These books were sent to Caleb by Omi and Opa from their trip to London. So, it was really neat listening to someone with an English accent reading the story. Caleb enjoyed them, so THANK YOU Omi and Opa for sending them to him. By reading the winter books, we were able to talk about rhyming words and syllables.

Math -- Caleb finished up the chapter on geometry, and he finally mastered counting to 100 by 5s. He's been working hard with that, and I'm so glad that he's got it down.

Bible -- We reviewed questions 29-32 from the First Catechism, and the Bible verse for the week was John 3:36.

Art -- Since we were talking about winter, I thought it would be neat to do some "winter" painting. So, Caleb used white paint to paint a picture on black paper. It looked really neat. He also blotted white paint on blue paper, then folded it in half and opened it up to see what type of creation he had made. I've got pictures of these, but I'm stuck with Micah next to me, and the camera is in the other room. So, I'll get them posted soon.

Extra Stuff -- I'd been wanting to organize an "After School Playgroup" with the group of moms that I play Bunco with. Most of their kids are in public/private school, so Caleb doesn't get to see them often. So, we all met up to take the kids bowling after school on Thursday. It was really good for Caleb to be able to socialize and hang out with some of his friends. Plus, it gave us moms some social time, too, and that's always a plus! We are hoping to do this twice a month.

Join us next week as we return to our reading book to begin our study of "long vowel" sounds. It should be interesting...:)

Help Support the March of Dimes

Kati-Sue over at Backwoods Homemaker Barbie commented and asked me to spread the word for her. She's helping raise money for the March of Dimes. So, I'd like to ask you all to go and check out her post. It's a worthy cause, and there's also a giveaway as well. So, go check it out! Thanks and good luck!

Say It Forward Meme -- Loyal Commenter Week 1

I have decided to participate in the Say it Forward Meme at 5 Minutes for Moms. Here's what it is all about:

Say It Forward – Carnival of Loyal Commenters

Say it Forward is a new weekly carnival where bloggers feature their loyal commenters!
Each blogger will write a post featuring one, two or three of their loyal commenters and then add that link to the carnival Mr. Linky at 5 Minutes for Mom.

In the posts, bloggers can include photos, bios, interview questions or even quotes from their comments – whatever works best to turn the spotlight on commenters and show them how much we appreciate them taking the time to read and comment on our blogs.

What if the commenter we want to thank isn’t a blogger? No worries! Shine that spotlight anyway! Share their comment(s), their name – anything you can to say THANKS!

So, I've been keeping track of all my lovely comments this week, and I'd like to give one of my loyal commenters the spotlight. This week's Loyal Commenter is:

KRISTEN @ Something about Nothin. Kristen found my blog through Blog Stalkers United (I think), and she has been a faithful commenter since finding me. I enjoy reading her blog as well because she's always cooking something. :) The way she invites you into her freezer/kitchen is just awesome, and she's a wonderful writer. So, go check her out, and be sure to tell her that I sent you!

And Kristen, you get to come and claim this button and post it on your sidebar with PRIDE! Congrats girl, and I look forward to reading more about you on your blog. Thank you for being a faithful and loyal commenter!