Apple Week!

  We just had our first ever "Apple Week" and had a blast! I'm trying to include our 4-year-old in "school" more, which was my main reason for all the extra activities, but even my big kids had a fun time.

I am really thankful that I already had this book, because I could not find ANY apple books at 2 different county libraries. Note to self: Do not wait until the week before apple week to check out books! I'll be much better prepared next year!

 Writing Skills

 Matching

 Marshmallows are important. Always.

 Working hard.

We made caramel apples, it was messy and they loved it!

 Scissor Skills

 Applesauce Cake with Caramel Sauce

  After my kids turned about 3-years-old, they all quit eating applesauce. They just don't like it....and I can't blame them. I think it has a gross consistency.  So, instead of making homemade applesauce, we made applesauce cake. It was a hit!

We did an apple tasting with 9 varieties of apples. Granny Smith, Pink Lady, Fuji, Gala, Jazz,   Golden Delicious, HoneyCrisp, Braeburn, and Red Delicious. They HoneyCrisp won hands down! It's a favorite in our house, we wait all summer for them to come into season.

 Making apple prints

This was such a fun time for me and the kids. Now I need a little break before we start pumpkin week!

Back to school!

Today was our first day back to school. There was wailing and gnashing of teeth. And then, the kids.....they argued and bickered with one another....fought over who gets what color of notebook. It was really, really special. I  do wish I'd had a day that was rosy and perfect. A day that was filled with joyful learning, helpful children, and a cooperative printer and disc drive..but I didn't. 

I had planned on fixing a show-stopping first day of school breakfast, but instead I whopped open a can of cinnamon rolls and called it good! 

 Clearly, Rachel did not like my good morning song and I'll admit, that look on her face had me a bit worried about the direction our day was heading.

Yes. Yes I did. Milk and potato chips.

I bet you can guess which 2 are my morning kids and which 2 aren't. 

 We made it through math, language, world history, grammar, phonics and vocabulary today.

  After school ice cream. I just noticed M is eating with a fork...but that's how we roll around here.

 

I'm back!

I don't really have any reasons for going this long between posts. Lots of excuses, but no reasons, really. Does that even make sense? Probably not. 

A lot has happened in 3 months! We found out we are expecting baby #5 in December! We started a kitchen remodel, which started great and became a disaster very quickly. We are still trying to put our kitchen back together. I'll share more on that another time. 

We did not go on vacation this summer, we had planned on going on vacation in December........but then came the baby news....so no trip in December! We have done nothing this summer, really. It has been wonderful. The kids have spent time with grandparents, we have become a permanent fixture at our neighborhood pool,  had a great week of VBS, Matthew and Andrew had birthdays.....nothing out of this world....but it has been great. We are gearing up to start school on Aug 10, until then we are frequenting the snow cone stands, playing UNO when it's too hot to go to the pool, watching movies, especially westerns (my fav)....and just enjoying the slower pace before we get back into the swing of a new school year. 

I read a blog yesterday and the topic was "summer confessions." You know....the stuff you let slide in the summer because...well, its summer. Here are a few of mine.

• This week, I have washed the same load of laundry 3 times because I kept forgetting to put it in the dryer and it got that disgusting mildew smell. Yep, 3 times.
•  I fed my kids cheez-its and grapes for lunch twice this week.
• On Monday we were home all day (pool closed for cleaning) and I let Andrew take 3 showers, just to keep him entertained.
•  I'm pretty sure I was more excited about seeing Despicable 2 than my kids were. Seriously...I couldn't wait.   

 

Ordinary Day

This is our 3rd year to homeschool. Every year in late April/early May I am ready for a break. I am ready for sunshine, afternoons at the pool, trips to the snow cone stand, long walks in the neighborhood with kids and dog in tow, cooking out every night....I could go on. But, we aren't quite there yet and some days it is tough to stay the course. We have had an unusually wet and cold spring and this family cannot wait for the sun and warmer temps to return so we can spend more time outside.

We managed to get through reading, math and vocabulary this morning. This afternoon we took some time to do important stuff like....play dough.

I remember these hands being much smaller.

This is Henry Bob. This is what he does when the kids are working. I'm pretty sure he is tired of being cooped up in the house due to all the rain lately. I wuv him.

This is Henry's "Icy Stare." If you watch Duck Dynasty, you know all about Uncle Si's icy stare.....well, Henry Bob has one, too. This is what he looks like when he wants to play, needs to go potty outside, has been digging in the trash and wants you to know about it, and anytime anyone is eating anything. I'm pretty sure he could stare down Uncle Si. 

After Henry's impromptu photo shoot, they are still playing with play dough.

M loves to draw.

And he loves to laugh!

I love him!

Then they decided to get out the piece of crap toy that one of our kids begged for at Christmas....it broke after a week, but they still play with it. I've tried to throw it away a few times, but it keeps reappearing. 

I'm not sure what the deal was here, but I promise you, nothing terrible happened. I really don't know.

I just love her chippy pink polish. Sweetest lil' hands ever!

We had a fun day today. I am learning to find joy in the little things.....even play dough!

Garage Sale Season Kickoff!

Last Saturday was "opening day." My parents were in town, so I got to kickoff the 2013 season with my mom and my daughter. Here are a few "treasures" I picked up.

Pretty vintage linens. They remind me of the linens my mother-in-law brought me from her trip to Belgium. I have no idea where these are from.....probably not even vintage....probably made in China! I really do not know, but I like to tuck these under teapots, or under dishes inside my china cabinet, so I bought them.

This is my favorite find from last weekend. It's a children's book published in 1933. I don't buy things at sales so that I can re-sell them, but I do like to research what I find. I paid 0.75 for this book and it looks like it is valued between $60 and $85!

I remember this story as "The Little Red Hen." Maybe the "small" was dropped later? It is kinda redundant.

I'm always drawn to anything made in the U.S.A.

I think the illustrations are great. Every other page is in color, I'm guessing because it was expensive to publish entirely in color??

I found this at an estate sale, she was a Dutch lady and she had several of these around her home. I am guessing this means "Welcome" in Dutch.

Now, I got really excited about this dustpan....is that strange? You just can't find these heavy-duty "mom tools" anymore! It is HEAVY and who knows how old and I was happy to pay 0.25 for it! I told my hub that, "Someday, our kids will fight over this dustpan," he just rolled his eyes. He doesn't get it.

I have been looking for an end table for one of our boys' rooms and this little typing table fit the bill! 

And lastly, I couldn't pass up this vintage Fisher-Price ferris wheel! It was a big hit with my little guy, it's true what they say, "They just don't make 'em like this anymore!"