Update

Ok, I'm sorry I haven't updated in a while things have been a little crazy around here! Spring Break kind of bled into this week....I know, I know, bad Mommy! I did actually make it to the end of the month with homeschooling, it just became more and more relaxed the further we got into it. We are more of a hands on family than sit-down-and-read-this family! I think it will get easier once I have the kindergarten curriculum!

I'm still praying for God's guidance as the decision time is quickly approaching for school or homeschool. Please, pray for me!

Pictures

I think I may have figured out how to post pictures. I will try to add them to my future posts, since I can't go back and edit my old ones!

Here is a picture of the kids acting like firefighters. Yes, the dress up is pretty shotty (hats, coats and boots), but the kids had a ball!

The next one is of the kids acting out the Good Samaritan story.

I'm still figuring this picture thing out, so bear with me!

Our First Fieldtrip!

1 stroller + 1 wagon + 2 parents + 3 kids x beautiful weather = 1 Awesome day at the Zoo! Our first official fieldtrip was a blast! The weather was great, it wasn't very crowded and I was pleasantly surprised by the exhibits at the zoo. I was lucky enough to have my sweet husband take a day of vacation from work to join us! It's going to be tricky if I go back without him, since all 3 of the kids like to ride and not walk....but, that's ok, we'll cross that bridge when we get there!

I even learned something new on this trip: Ava is afraid of butterflies. Yes, you read that right....afraid of BUTTERFLIES! They had a neat exhibit, where you go inside a greenhouse full of butterflies, some of which will land on you, which she was not so crazy about. We had trouble convincing her just to go inside of the greenhouse! But, I'm not too worried about it, because there was another little girl in there who seemed to be scared as well. The thought that the kids would be afraid of butterflies never crossed my mind! I'm sure she will grow out of it. Lydia loved it! She wanted one to land on her so badly. Surprisingly, Matthew is the one who had the most land on him. He probably had a little extra food left over from lunch on him!

We didn't have time to do school today, but we are really looking forward to doing our lesson tomorrow. The next two days are zoo lessons, so we get to make our own zoo using play dough and toy animals. The kids can't wait! We are having so much fun with our school! Our days finally have a purpose! Learning about Jesus, the world and life as a family. I love it!

Our Homeschooling Adventure

Well, we started our trial run of homeschooling yesterday and it was so fun! I forgot how much fun preschool can be! No cares or worries, just construction paper and smiles. It's so nice to be able to pick and choose what I want the girls to learn about. The curriculum I have is all Catholic, so we are learning about stories from the Bible and the different lessons that Jesus taught us.

This week's theme is "Love Thy Neighbor." Yesterday we made prayer roses to show someone how much we love them and that we are always praying for them. Ava made hers for Daddy and Lydia made hers for Gamma. Then, we talked about the story of the Good Samaritan and the girls got to act it out. Ava laid on the floor and pretended to be hurt and Lydia came by with band aids to "doctor" her up. When it came time for them to switch, Lydia said she was too shy and didn't want to act it out...typical. For our final art project, we made some crowns (which the girls loved decorating with glitter and stickers) and they each got special jewels to glue on their crowns when they do something nice for some one else. I love this lesson, because the point of it is to teach them that God has special rewards for us in heaven when we are kind and loving to others.

Today's lesson carries on with loving our neighbors. We haven't gotten to do school yet because we went to daily mass in San Antonio with several other homeschooling families, then came nap time and then off to Good Shepherd (preschool Sunday school). Luckily the lessons only take an hour max!

I guess I should explain that we are going to try homeschooling for the entire month of March to see if it is a good fit for our family. To be honest, I didn't want to fully commit to doing it in the fall without knowing how it would go to keep up with my youngest little monkey, and the house and everything else us mothers do. So, this will give us a little taste of how it will go!

Homemade Lunchables

I don't know about your kids, but mine love Lunchables. Yes, the store-bought-probably-not-that-nutritious Lunchables. So, when they were begging and begging for them for lunch today, and none were to be found in the fridge, I thought to myself, "Why not make some homemade lunchables?"

So, I got out the Mickey Mouse shaped cheese, the deli meat and proceeded to the pantry to look for the crackers that I just knew were on the shelf waiting. Uh oh. No crackers. Great, now I have to be quick on my feet and somehow make this lunch desirable. Lunch meat and cheese on a plate weren't looking to good to me. So, I grabbed the bread and a heart shaped cookie cutter and created mini hearts out of bread for their homemade lunchables. Of course, they were a hit! They are in there as we speak creating more hearts out of the "butts" of the bread, which are normally not eaten in our house. Wasteful, I know.

But, that's not all, I took it one step further and used the kitchen shears to cut the lunch meat into hearts as well. Why didn't you just use the cookie cutter, you ask? Didn't think of that until after the fact. But, probably would have turned out much better than my hearts. As I was cleaning up my mess, I overheard the girls pick up their lunch meat "hearts" and ask, "What's this?" So, needless to say, I did not take any pictures of this fantastic fiasco.

Anyway, I thought I would share to give any of you moms an idea for those lunches that become so very boring after a while.

Valentine's Cookies

We got some yummy valentine's cookies from our sweet neighbors, which inspired me to make some in return. Because it's so cold and nasty outside, and venturing to the grocery store with three kids in tow is not an easy task, I decided to try to make them from scratch. So, I cracked open my Betty Crocker cookbook and was so surprised at how easy it was to throw together a few ingredients (of course with three little helpers). Well, that went so well that I decided to make some frosting, too. I cannot believe how easy it was to make frosting! There were four ingredients: Confectioner's sugar, salt, milk and vanilla. Whip it all together in my mixer and voila!

Now....I think that the recipes need a little tweaking, but that's okay. Now, I feel more empowered to try that again! Who knew what a little laziness would reveal! I would post pictures, but I still haven't figured out how to post a picture on here yet...

Matthew

So, lately when I tell Matthew not to do something or to stop doing something (i.e. discipline...), he says in the sweetest little voice that I can barely imitate in person, so on the computer will not have the same effect, "Whhhhyyyy?" But, imagine it said in a soft, sweet little voice.