I'm so excited to start homeschooling Peter.  We start on Monday.  I took him out of kindergarten last year and started  homeschooling then.  But then this year I put him back in for 1st grade.  I was so worried thinking he might be behind in reading because I wasn't the most consistent sit down everyday and do 4 or more hours of study kind of homeschooling mom. It wasn't until I put him back in elem. school that I realized that I don't have to be an expert to do  home school.  To my astonishment Peter was well above his grade level in reading, writing, and math.  WOW!  Really?  Pinch me please.   I CAN do it!   All that time I spent on self doubt and thinking I wasn't doing it good enough... it was all wasted time.  I don't have to have a perfect schedule and perfect organizational skills.  And I don't have be perfectly consistent.  My kids can learn in home with piles of laundry around them.  And they can learn when I interupt their studies to ask for help in doing some dishes.  And I can just drop everything we're doing to spontaneously go to take a drive to the mountains.  And If I'm having a really bad super grumpy day.... my kids can still learn.  They can learn that life sometimes sux, and things aren't hunky dory, but that we can start a brand new day tomorrow and things will surely get better.  Things don't have to be perfect.  And kids can still learn.  And excel at their studies while wrapped in their mother's love.   

Fall Fun

 After days of endless laundry, cleaning, and organizing the house, I thought a fun get away would be fun.  So I packed the twins in the car and we headed to the Black Island Farms Harvest Festival.  It was so much fun!  The twins loved getting away for a little fun with mommy!

 They got to meet real live DONKEYS! Wow!  They were amazed that they got to meet an animal that carried Mary and Baby Jesus.  They also saw some baby calves, some huge turkeys, and some llama's too.  I love watching little kids around animals.  It puts such a bright sparkle in their eyes.  

We also got to walk through a corn maze.  I made the twins be the leaders and they had to help mommy find the way out.  A couple times they got a little confused, but we finally made our way through.

   What a fun field trip *with a happy meal on the way home and everything!  The twins were very happy and told me that this was the best day EVER.  I love hearing my kids tell me this. 

        

We are having lots of fun while the good weather is still here.

 We made a really cute Fall scarecrow to sit by our front door.  Zach loves to kiss him good morning everyday as he's walking out the door to get on his bus.

The twins and I are taking lots of trips to the park while the weather is still nice.  There aren't too many more warm sunny days ahead.  Where soaking it up while we can.

 We all love Yoshi so much. He has really become a member of our family.  Zach loves to hold him close and kiss him against his will.  Yoshi sits and takes it like a man.  Good boy - Yoshi.

Doug and I are celebrating finally getting our basement finished. It was a long drawn out project.  And we're so glad it's done.  Now we're having fun decorating it and moving all the kids around into their new bedrooms.

 The field is white, all ready to harvest....  I've loved all the fields of wheat and corn and pumkins and onions around where we live.  I just love having farm land all around us!  And most of it is church farms... that makes it even better!

Most of all I love my kids. And they love me.  We are one big happy family...

Summer 2010 has come and gone. It was fun. And long.  And hot.  We finished the basement.  And now there's more room. Cousins came to play. That was the best. 




And school began.  It was a fun beginning.  I put everyone back in school.  Except for the twins.  I don't want to pay double the money for two preschoolers.  So I'm their Preschool teacher, Miss Fancy Nancy.  During our preschool time together I make them call me Miss Fancy Nancy - they laugh every time they say it. 

Now it's Fall.  I love Fall.  And I've been contemplating since school began weather or not to sign Peter and Elisabeth out of school and enroll them back into home school.  What to do..... what to do!

I'm still thinking.  Thinking hard.  I love home school. I can't stand some of the infirmities of public school.  Hmmm.

I'm still thinking.  The benefit of home school outweighs public school in so many ways,  but I have to be sure of my decision.  I don't want to be a flimsy like last year. 

This is me. Never caught up. Someone's always crying. House is a mess no matter how much I try and clean, time is running out - always, kid stuff everywhere....

And at the same time I'm.... I'm..... happy.

Early Geometry

I got these great things called Geoboards. They're these little peg boards you use to stretch rubber bands on to make shapes. It's a great dip into geometry skills. You can also use it to practice multiplication drills and measuring. Peter had fun making a super cool design with his.

The twins loved it and worked on it for a good 30 minutes. For two 4 years olds I think that's great concentration use! It's awesome! I love great hands on math!

Jacob and Mary turning 4

I can't believe my babeis are 4. It seem like yesterday and they were my little babies!

They're so grown up now! And still the best of buds!

Check out Mary's new ride! It even has a barbie bike for Mary's barbie's on the handle. I'm so jealous! I wish I had a bike just like this... except I would ride my kids on my handle. LOL

This is Jacob's new Spiderman - Skateboard - Scooter! He's the coolest kid on the block now!

The b-day party was so fun ! Pam braught Sara and so they were there!

Make a wish and blow out the candles!

Mary changed her mind about wanting a Barbie-Ariel-Tinker Bell birthday cake when she saw this baby!

And Jacob didn't care about getting a Buzz Lightyear cake when he layed his eyes on this!

There's nothing better than a CANDY cake!

Fancy Nancy Shmancy Candy Land Birthday creation!

I almost ate it all by myself!

Happy Birthday, Twins!

Picnic at the Park

Today we had a picnic at the park. It was so much fun... a little breezy, but no one seemd to care.

We walked all around the park and had lots of fun by the baseball and tennis sections.


Wooooh - Nelly! Now that's climbing high!
Be carefull, kids, before you give me a heart attack! Relaaaaaaaaay!
Racing in the tennis court area was a blast!
P.E. was time well spent today!
I can't believe the twins are turning 4 in two days!

The kids and I got together and brain stormed together as to what to make for dinner on St. Patrick's Day. This is what we came up with. Green beans, green rice, green slushy dink, greet jell-o w/ green peeps on top (the green whip cream was Peter's idea), and green cookies. Oh yeah - and green mustard to go w/ our corn dogs. It was super yummy. Zach didn't like all the green stuff - but other than him everyone loved our St. Patty's meal!

Daddy's out of town and so we're dinning ... gourmet style. Bagel Pizza's with everything from sausage and pizza sauce to eggs, cheese and hot dogs on top. The kids loved it. Oh yeah, I'm Fancy Nancy - the gourmet super chef!