Homeschooling Update

It has been a few weeks since my last update on our homeschooling journey.  The more school work we do, the easier it gets!  We are still loving our "school room" but we have recently moved all of our core materials upstairs to the closet in the living room.  Now that Ellie is getting close to walking she was constantly into EVERYTHING making our school time downstairs really difficult.  Now that we have our basic materials upstairs, we can sit around the table and get school done quickly and use our basement for arts and crafts, puzzles, and all the fun (aka messy...) activities.

One question I have had from a LOT of people when they find out we're homeschoolers is, "How do you test your child?".  I haven't really worried much about it because at this point we don't move on from a concept until Olivia masters it.  If that means we spend 3 days on a math lesson, the we just do!  We have worked ahead at a pretty steady pace so far, so while kids in our area schools are just starting school we already have 5 weeks worth of curriculum finished.  Anyway, back to the testing question.  Although I know we won't be moving on to new material until Olivia has mastered our current material I DO think it is a good idea to quiz her frequently just so we know without a doubt she is retaining information as she should.  I created a test with 30 different questions and my mom came over to give her the test.  She did great!  Out of 30 questions, she got 28 right!  That was reassuring that she is comprehending the material.  I think we will continue to do a little test every four weeks, just to record her progress.  She is starting to sound out more and more words and it is so awesome to see her growth.

Here are some photos from the last few days.  We got her dad involved in one of her science projects and she really enjoyed that!

I am so thankful that Nathan is willing to be involved!  Not too many dads out there would be ready to jump in on a science lesson! :)

 Okay, this gross-looking jar is actually pretty cool.  We've been learning all about soil and plants.  To see what your soil is made up of, take one cup of soil and place in an airtight jar.  Add two cups of water and shake.  Let it sit for 4 hours and the shake again (MAKE SURE THE LID IS ALL THE WAY ON! lol)  Then let it sit still overnight.  The soil will separate, small pebbles on the bottom, sand next, followed by clay, water, and humus (dead plant matter) will be floating on top.  Olivia loves it and will not let me pour it out.  I thought it was neat, too!

 Felt Board Fun!!!

Showing off the cans she painted to make a windchime!

That's it for our update for now!  We are loving homeschooling in this phase.  I have no idea what the future holds for us, but I am very thankful that we listened to God's calling to keep our girls home.  As long as we can safeguard their hearts and keep them little, WE WILL!  Thank you to each one of our family members and friends who have been so supportive of our decision to homeschool.  It means more than you know!

Love, Maegan

Caroline Turns Two (Part 1)

I have been in serious denial.  My babies are getting bigger and it is so hard to admit it!  Caroline has a birthday next week.  Our sweet girl will be two years old!  I have been snapping pictures like crazy because it seems like my kiddos are changing every week.  I took these in our front yard a few days ago and they TOTALLY captured all the sweet things I want to remember about Caroline in the last few days of being a one-year-old.

 The same serious face she gives me EVERY time she sees my camera.

 And then I started cracking jokes!

 I never want to forget how precious this little dirty hand is.

 Little curls!

 Is there anything more precious than a baby's laugh?!

She is accessorizing!  

Looking out big sister's window

And of course, I had to get some pictures of big sister, Olivia!  Baby sister, Ellie was sleeping.

I will have an update soon!  We are in the process of recovering a sick household, putting away summer clothes and organizing fall stuff, AND planning the babies' birthday parties.  I think I mentioned this in a previous post but we are having one big party for Caroline and Ellie.  Their birthdays are just shy of a month apart so it just made more sense this year to have them together.  Their theme is LADYBUGS!  :)  Caroline is all of sudden REALLY into Elmo, though so we are celebrating her actual birthday with an Elmo cake and a few gifts at home.  I know she will love it this year and I cannot wait to see her reaction to her gifts!  I will post more pictures and details when I am not so sleep-deprived.  Thanks for reading! 

Love, Maegan

Soccer Fun!

I mentioned in my last post that Olivia was starting soccer with Upward Sports at Fruitland Community Church.  She was hilarious!  She actually did a great job kicking and stopping the ball.  She also did a great job picking me flowers and looking for worms.  She definitely gets her coordination skills (or lack of coordination skills) from me.  She had a great time running around with her friends though, and that was the goal!  They teach just the basic skills and since it is a Christian organization they also teach the kids a bible verse and open and close with prayer.  I love that there is an alternative to competitive sports for their age group.  It should be all about having fun at their age!  You can tell she was having a blast!

This was definitely my favorite picture of the day!  Caroline reached over to give her friend, Rylee a big kiss!

  

How precious is this?!  (I know this is a volleyball, but Olivia doesn't so don't tell her!)

We have been setting aside one night a month to have family night with the girls.  We pick a movie, have popcorn and chocolate, and just enjoy our time together.  With Nathan's busy schedule I think this is really important.  We always eat dinner together as a family and we share in bath and bedtime routines, but it is really nice to just set aside an evening to just "BE together".  This week, we watched The Lorax, which was really cute!  I love Caroline's reactions to movies.  If something shocking happens she shouts out, "Oh, NO!!!"  The girl is saying everything!  I try to make a effort to spend one on one time with each of my big girls as much as possible.  Caroline got hers this weekend when Olivia was at VBS.  She spent the day with Daddy!  They had a lunch date and did some errands.  It doesn't take much to make her happy.  :)  Olivia and I played a game of Candyland the other night when the babies were already in bed.  She won TWICE and I won once.  She was so proud of herself that she beat her mom fair and square.  

 The face of a Candyland Champion

It truly is an amazing blessing to be a mother.  These girls are just my whole world!  I am always thankful but it is so easy to get caught up in the stresses of day-to-day life.  It has been weighing so heavy on my heart lately that I do need to take more time and see the blessings God has granted us.  He has given us three happy, healthy daughters and I am so grateful that He chose me to be their mother!  

I love these moments more than anything else!  I am so thankful that I can be at home with these babies while they're still babies.  It goes by so quickly.  These are the moments that I want to remember forever.  

-Maegan

Enjoying the Small Things

We have been a very busy family lately!  Nathan and I finally got to have a date night out last weekend and it was like reaching a MAJOR milestone for us.  My mom came over to our house and babysat the girls.  She got all three girls sleeping in their own beds at their normal bedtimes, which is a huge accomplishment.  It definitely feels like life is getting a little easier.  We had such a great time and I am really looking forward to having more date nights out the older our kids get.

We have been so busy with lately with summer activities.  Olivia is starting soccer with Upward Sports this weekend!  I have heard so many great things about Upward Sports from fellow homeschooling families in our community and I am really excited to get involved.  I can't say that I'm really much of a soccer fan, but Olivia is excited about it and I know she will enjoy spending time with little friends her age.  We participated in VBS a couple of weeks ago with Olivia's friend, Jaycee and starting tonight Olivia and Caroline both will be joining in on another local church for their VBS.  They are both looking forward to it and I am looking forward to having a little big-kid free time!  As we settle in to our homeschooling routine, we will be adding fun activities throughout the year.  Some local moms have invited us to join in on their Friday field trips and after looking over the list of activities, I just can't wait!  The girls are going to have a blast this year!  It seems like our activities will be picking up more in September so I have been intentional in enjoying all the slow days left in the summer.  We have spent more time just hanging out at home and visiting with friends and family.  We are still making great pace with Sonlight and the more Olivia learns, the more she loves it!  She has been sounding out words like crazy!  She read a title on a movie to Nathan the other day and he was shocked!  She is really expanding her vocabulary also.  It is so exciting to watch all the changes that she is making.  Here are some pictures of us from the last couple of weeks!

 These were taken out at my parents house!  The ride-on tractor was Papaw's when he was little boy, so this is a picture that will definitely be saved over the years!

 These girls are the sweetest!

Poor Caroline got her first bad boo-boo a few days before these pictures were taken.  She had a fall at a friend's house and it looked SO terrible.  It is finally starting to heal up!

It is so hard to believe that in 2 months this baby girl will be a year old!  So bittersweet!

Love, Maegan