Tuesday, May 31, 2011

Wordless Wednesday Week 36

This is our first week back from break, so I am going to share random pictures for the last 3 weeks.

Alexis with Daisy in her pocket!


Myself and my niece Mattie! Isn't she the cutest!

Kyle cookin' hamburgers at a friends.

Lexi's tiny frog caught at my dads pond.


Zac given some good ole lovin to Midnight the barn cat!

Photobucket

Educational Insights Shopping Spree!

A few weeks ago I won a fantastic giveaway from Confessions of a Homeschooler for a $100.00 gift certificate for Educational Insights. The most wonderful thing about this giveaway was that we had just came back from our wonderful beach trip and one of the first things I read was "Winner Educational Insights". It was a wonderful welcome home surprise! So this week I spent some time looking threw all the wonderful items they have for a school/teacher to use. Since there is no actual curriculum from this site it was fun to know everything was just going to be supplemental. I tried to think of my overall want/need for our school year for the following year.

There was so many wonderful items, however below is what my final choice was:

My kiddo's love to do experiments, so this was a perfect choice! We have never had anything to experiment with electrical. This should be a blast!

<br><i>Solve puzzles to catch zoo animals on the loose!</i><br><br>
This is a logic game, which Kyle will love.
The other's will enjoy it also however this was actually bought with him in mind to play!


With Kyle's MUS level mainly focused on Fractions this year. I thought this was a great game to get to play to reinforce what we will be learning. Kyle learns much better threw play. Actually all of mine do!

<br><i>Fast-paced strategy game keeps the mental math momentum going.</i><br><br>

I decided on this to help boost mental math skills. I had an idea this would be perfect for all 3 kids. I think Lexi may benefit most from this game. She is actually wonderful at mental/verbal math. She has issues once you have to have a pencil and paper! She is wonderfully different. So this should be perfect for her!

I can't wait to get these. They should arrive next week! The kids are thinking the Zookeeper's Nightmare is going to be the coolest! We shall see!

Erica is wonderful over at Confessions of a homeschooler so be sure to go over and say hello! I love her site and have used so many of her printables for our homeschool! I am actually preparing to buy her Road Trip USA to use as our state and geography for the next year.

RoadTripCover

I think at $18.00 its a wonderful steal! She always puts such thought and grace in her work. If you have never used any of her items rest assured  there wonderful!! 5 ***** all the way!

Photobucket

Friday, May 27, 2011

The Power of a Positive Mom Chapters 1-3

I bought a new book as my new reader so that I could feel uplifted and positive for my children and husband.

The name of it is "The Power of a Positive Mom." This is something that I feel so many mothers need, a positive spirit within them to help them get threw the days of motherhood. We all know and understand how hard being a mother is. However I wouldn't give this job up for nothing! I love being a mother. 

I just want to share with you some of the main points and my thoughts as I read threw threw the book this week. 

Chapter 1 Influence beyond measure.
Never underestimate the Power of a Mother! That was the first sentence after the chapter title. That hit me hard simply because as a mother we are ALWAYS going to influence our children, whether it be good or bad... Don't underestimate the reflection you give. Mommas have one of the most powerful jobs in the world, with God's help we will raise them, love them and complete them! I loved this saying from Chapter 1. "God can't be everywhere at once, so he created mothers." Then the book follows with this... Not true! God can be everywhere at once. God meets all the needs and we are there to help! If you have children you have the most important job in the world. My role in my children's life is an investment in time and energy and I'm committed to them 100%.

Chapter 2 The Secret to your Success.
Love this saying that started the chapter: Of course I'd like to be the ideal mother... But I'm too busy raising children! I find that hilarious, simply because as your day goes all the ideas and good thoughts you have sometimes gets lost along your way! At least that's how it is in my house! I have wonderful intentions however any little melt down causes a re-configuration. The best thing to do in my mind is to just take ONE DAY AT A TIME. Wake up feeling refreshed and talk to the Lord then start your day. Don't worry about the things you didn't complete or start yesterday. Start fresh today! Time is something that as a mother is going to make you or break you so to speak. You have to have a good mind when it comes to what really deserves your time. God gives me strength every day many times a day.

Chapter 3 Apples of Gold (The Positive Impact of a Good Word)
Sadly our children don't have an empty gauge that I can tell needs refilled. That would be a wonderful thing to be able to see. What problems that would eliminate!! There's no greater investment than giving our kids encouragement. They need it daily. I will be honest, I have to strive to do this daily. This is an area I have been making a special point to make a habit even before reading this book. Chapter 3 asks you to make a goal of saying 3 encouraging words to your children each day. A great time to check to see if you did is when you are tucking them in to bed nightly. If you do a mental check and haven't said 3 things, do so then. Its said that to overcome ONE negative comment/word it needs to be replaced by TEN!! We have to constantly make sure they understand who they are and their self worth. God has given us the responsibility to give strength and courage to our children daily to be able to cope with life's challenges. We have to make sure our kids understand how important they are. I love this verse " If God is for us, who can be against us? " I try to make sure the kids understand this. We have had this as a memory verse and one of our favorite songs has this lyric in it as well. Its so much easier to find the mistakes our kids make, we have to make sure we are tuned in so we can see the good they do as easily!

I think to be positive mommas we have to spend QUALITY time with our kids every day, make a special moment with them threw out our days. Hope some of this has helped you. It's helping me tons. Sometimes we get so caught up in daily routines and life, its nice to take a few minutes and sit back to reflect exactly what's going on.

I will be updating again when I get to chapter 6. I will post every 3 chapters. Thanks for stopping by! Challenge yourself to make a new habit of telling your kids 3 positive things daily!! That way I want be doing it alone ♥.  
Photobucket

Thursday, May 26, 2011

Scholastic Teacher Dollar Sale

Every couple months or so often the Scholastic Teacher store offers this killer deal. Dollar Deal Days!!! WOOHOO ITS BACK!! Its for 2 weeks!!  Go on over here and check them out. In previous sales I have really gotten some wonderful deals and e books for our homeschool. We have completed so many of them in our workbox system.
Dollar Deals

A few of the items I have gotten in previous sales:

26 Mini Alphabet Books
100 Words Kids Need to Know (series)
Analogies(different grade levels)
Follow the Directions
Grammar Cop
Instant Habit Dioramas
Our Country Read and Write Books
Science Journal
Smart Pads
Word Study Learning Pack

Out of the almost 40 books I have from them I can say we have used almost all of them. I can reuse them with my children over and over as the ages meet. I love the ability to buy wonderful books for a wonderful deal!

At first I thought maybe the books weren't complete because they are after all just $1. However I was totally wrong and happily so!! Don't wait ~ Head on over to get you some wonderful new books for your new school year. If you don't have the extra money right now place the item in your wish list and keep a check, because they normally will run this sale again in a few months!

Photobucket

Wednesday, May 25, 2011

Our Vacation & Wordless Wednesday In One

We planned for over 2 months to go to the Beach and we had wonderful thoughts of everything that we was going to do... NOTHING!!! We had planned to leave Monday around 9am so we could be there the evening to enjoy our selves. However we changed our mind about Friday and we actually left Monday 1am. It was early enough that the kids slept the entire way! The drive to the beach took us almost 7 hours.

Monday we arrived at the hotel around 8am, we couldn't check in just yet. So we made our way to Fort Macon where there is a State Park to explore. We have been there many times! Kids was more than ready to see some ocean and feel some sand!!

First time on Beach this year!!

Soon we was able to check in! We arranged our room, because I have to have everything put up for me to really start relaxing. We was on the beach for our first day around 10am. We stayed on it until around 4. Then back again after a little rest and eating to hunt crabs! We have a blast doing this every beach trip! Every day I packed a picnic lunch for us to have on the beach along with some water and snacks.


Tuesday was spent most the same. Hit the beach around 9am and didn't come off until after 5. Then hit the pool and then just relaxed more!!


Wednesday was our "road trip" day! We started at 430am getting everyone awake and dressed. We had to board the Ferry from the Island by 730am and it was a little over an hour drive. We got on the ferry to go to Ockracoke. The ride was wonderful. Last time we didn't really see any wild life. However this time was blessed for sure! We seen over 600 jellyfish easily!! It was breathe taking!! We seen some Dolphins when we was almost to port. We then headed to the Lighthouse at Ocracoke then off to Hatteras. We actually was able to climb to the top this time!! It was a huge battle for me. I am afraid of heights, however it was something we had talked about for 2 years. I wasn't going to let the kids see I was scared either... But they knew! I kinda had a melt down half way up and had to talk myself into going on. I didn't go half way to turn around! I was scared though! Kids loved it!



Lexi wanted to see wild horses again like last trip and look what she found...


These horses were shipwrecked from the Spaniards over a 100 years.

Hatteras 

Getting started up!

At the top!!! I did it :)

Next to Bodie Island...

Kyle said this Lighthouse looks the same as Hatteras and Lexi said "Kyle no! The lines are straight!" I get so tickled at her perfection!

Husband and I having a blast!

We stopped at a wonderful shop that actually has been featured on Food Network! It had fantastic fudge! Kevin is a huge fan of the stuff so when I seen the banner I made him turn around!


Of course he didn't have a problem turning around!!

Next to Kitty Hawk/Kill Devil Hills for the Wright Brothers Memorial.


This was a wonderful museum to visit. Our first time ever being here and it was really filled full of such interesting history.

It was a long walk to get to the monument. Once we got there it was very worth it. It was gorgeous!


Kevin having a little to much fun with the seagulls and other birds.

We reserved the first ferry out that morning and the last one in, We barely made it back!! The ferry from Hatteras to Ocracoke is about 30 mins then you have to catch another from Ocracoke back to Cedar Island and its over 2 hours long... So needless to say its a good thing we made it on the last one back!


It was a pretty ride.

Thursday was another day of playing all day on the beach! Resting and Playing is what a vacation is for after all...
Thursday while Kevin and Lexi was walking down the beach they found a whole conch shell. Last trip he found a greenish one, this time it was a peachy color! She was thrilled.

Friday was the day our fun came to an end. The last day is always the worse day. The am was spent packing everything up. Check out was at noon, however we felt it was good to get on the road early to miss a lot of the rush hour traffic since its such a long trip. We took a little walk down the beach and then headed out for home. We arrived home around 6pm. The kids helped unpack the van then off to play with the animals.

This was a wonderful trip. We had so much fun. Laughed a ton. Hugged, kissed and cuddled tons!! Just what each of us needed. 
Photobucket

Tuesday, May 24, 2011

Your Child's Talents

As I was looking around for some new printable for our slight move toward a Montessori style, I found a very interesting item on MontessoriMom.com...
A Quiz to take for your children's hidden talents that God may have blessed them with. I took the time to take it for each of my children. I thought this would be very interesting. It was very enlightening for me!
I'm very glad I took the time to take it. It has given me some much needed insight{in a different thought process}.

First up was Lexi.
I answered the questions as I felt it was related to just her. Her results said the following:

Language (no shocker)
Your child has exceptional linguistic ability. Your child could be the next president. Also, your child may be the next Dale Carnegie, Dr. Suess, or JK Rowland. (she loves dr suess)

Your child can hear things and remember them easily. They are often advanced readers(very true for her) and learn to talk quickly. They enjoy telling stories. They learn other languages easily. They can generalize how their language is put together in written and spoken form readily.

Some good activities for your child are as follows:
Word games such as scrabble, crossword puzzles, anagrams, spelling games and most of all, reading.
Your child will probably start writing at a young age, so have plenty of pencils, crayons, and paper handy.

This truly fits her to a T. Wonderful test!!
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

So to try this with Zachary.
Here is what it said for him:

Creative
Your child has strong spatial ability. Your may be living with the next famous astronomer such as Carl Sagin or the next cutting edge artist such as Picasso or Frida Kahlo.

These children can spot everything, including candy hidden behind your back. They know where everything is located in the house(very true for him). They are great at finding lost items for other family members(he loves to help and normal can find what we are looking for). They think in pictures and forms.
These children enjoy jigsaw puzzles, mazes(goes threw a maze book often, one of his favorite things to do), and art activities. They draw proportions very accurately, and like to design using paper and pencil, clay, and visual art activities. They love illustrations in picture books, video games, movies, and photographs.

This is very close to what I think of Zachary as well. Wonderful results so far. Moving on to Kyle.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Here is what the test said about Kyle:

Logic (finding this one very interesting for several different reasons)
Your child has a great analytical ability. You may be living with the next Einstein, Marie Curie, or Bill Gates. Your child likes to categorize things(true), places, and looks for interrelationships between ideas, things and activities(true again). They like computers(he doesn't really understand how to operate them very good yet however this is something that will improve over the next year), science and math(these 2 subjects are his favorite).
Here are some activities that will appeal to your child.
Puzzles(he can't stand puzzles), logic games(however he is getting very into some logic learning games I just got), chess and checkers(loves checkers), chemistry sets, and science kits(very true, he is actually getting 2 new ones for this next school year).

Over all I think this test was wonderful at helping me see what talents my kids may have. I think the Quiz was right on! I'm very happy with the results I see from it. I helps me look at them in a different way. I am going to make a note card for them all with this information on it for them to keep and maybe it will help them feel more positive about who God has made them to be!

If you want to take the quiz for your children HERE
Photobucket

Saturday, May 21, 2011

Back from Vacation Pics

Here are some pictures that show our wonderful trip! God really allowed us to have a blast! Weather was wonderful. Family time was just amazing. We really had a blessed trip!! Can't wait to go back around October hopefully.




















Photobucket