Fridays on the Farm are Beautiful {Simple Woman’s Daybook 20}

by Meghan // February 19, 2016 // Comments off

Walking through the woods; jumping in the dry part of the creek

Outside my Window …
The sun is just coming up over the trees in the front of the house. The calves have full bellies and are resting in the barn, Thora is laying on the front porch being protector of all things, and it is SO beautiful and nice we will be reading on the front porch today. We don’t usually do much school on Fridays, just because we don’t have to, but I always try to read lots of books and maybe throw in science or art- both which can be done outdoors!

I am thinking…
Oh, I hope we don’t lose the other two calves. Yesterday we lost one; the biggest one, and healthiest LOOKING when we got them last Saturday. However, he was the most sickly acting the last 5 days. For two days he had some light scours we were treating as directed, and before running to the vet yesterday I went out to check him one more time, and he was gone. =(

I am thankful…
That the kids weren’t devastated. They were very supportive of their sad mama. Lexie wanted to know if we could just turn it into beef. =) I cried; not so much because the calf was dead, but because I felt defeated, helpless, despite all our efforts and hard work. Part of it, I know. But I don’t like defeat….

In the kitchen…
Oh gosh! It is a mess. There are dishes from J.Tom breakfast, a pot that needs to be washed, and a skillet on the stove for me to cook our eggs this mornings.

I am wearing…
Pajama pants and a maternity shirt; I am running out of clothes that fit well.

I am creating…
Nothing. I was crocheting, but with it being so warm I got out of the mood. And I have started the girls some dresses, I should really finish those 😉

I am going…
To never take advantage of my computer again. My hard drive died last week; and I was one saddened girl. I can’t think on a teeny tiny screen (my phone) to pay bills, write blogs, and look up recipes. I always go to my computer …

I am wondering…
What else I need to add to my list for the store today.

I am reading…
A new book, but can’t think of the title … I will come back and add it later. *edit- The Liars’ Club: A Memoir*

I am hoping…
These calves survive!

I am looking forward to…
The weekend- in the 70’s and sunny. I am starting on my tan!

I am learning…
Although my life is pretty nice, life is hard. Losing calves is hard. Losing baby chicks is hard (not as hard as losing a calf…), getting up at 5:30 am is not as hard as getting up at 6:30am …

Around the house…
I need to vacuum. Just ew! (since the weather has been like spring, we have been tracking in LOTS of dirt.)

A favorite quote for today…

Something my Dad would say. =)

One of my favorite things…
baby cow noses, watching the kids play in the dirt while the chickens free range, Ila’s BIG, ginormis, baby hugs, the sound of her saying, “Yes ma’am,” our new friendships with a beautiful family that lives very close by, watching the sun come up on the front porch.

A few plans for the rest of the week:
It’s Friday Y’all!

A peek into my day…
This past week: plying in the dirt and loving on the chickens

Our Newest Addition: 3 Bottle Fed Cows {on the farm}

by Meghan // February 16, 2016 // Comments off

Last week my husband came across an ad for bottle fed calves (meaning they are never nursed on their mama-also meaning we would become baby cows’ mama!). We discussed the pros and cons of starting cows right now, and here are a few things we came up with:

We are most definitely NOT professional farmers/cattle raisers. So starting with babies that are less expensive than our “dream” cow/calf combo is probably best
In July I will have a 4th human baby to nurse- it is probably best that we (translated to I) am only nursing one species at a time … so to speak. So starting calves now, while I am in my 2nd trimester, feeling good, and have less to do would be a pro; waiting until our 4th human baby is a year+ old to get cows would be a con. Plus, by the time human baby comes, baby cows will be old enough to go out to pasture.
Soon we will be out of our side of beef we bought last year, which means that when it is time to butcher these guys, our freezer should be nice and empty for them.
Butchering bottle fed calves that we (the kids and I) have raised will kinda suck … but we can always do it again, starting with more fluffy little calves.
Our own meat in the freezer will ROCK!
Selling the beef once it is ready for butcher shouldn’t be too hard; we know lots of people looking for farm raised, antibiotic free, grassfed beef
Does adding beef cattle make us official farmers? =)

Well the answer to the last question is no. I think successfully raising beef the way God intended will make us official homesteaders/farmers … so we will see how this goes!

After the above discussion, we decided that we would give it a go!

J.Tom promptly started re-building the stalls he just tore out of the barn, and moving some equipment out of the barn to make room for the baby cows (yes, we just call them baby cows around here). We also had to check the pasture was safe and secure and J.Tom bought two Cattle Guards to go at either end of the pasture.

We made our list of necessities based upon hours and hours of reading and youtube-watching which consisted of:

soy-free milk replacer
bottles
bottle holders (for when I don’t have time to feed them myself)
calf starter pellets
straw for bedding
a trough for their stall until we are ready to turn them onto the small pond pasture
a halter

We quickly realized J.Tom’s knot and rope tying skills could make us a much nicer halter than the ones at the stores; so that will be returned. The reason for halter training them is so they’re easier to bring in from pasture if you have to, return to pasture if they get out, and put onto the trailer on their big day.

When the farmer delivered the cows, he commented on what a nice set up we had for them, and how that was one of the first things in keeping them healthy; basically, if you can keep them alive the first 3 weeks or so, you should be fine, he said. Also, he offered for us to call him with any and all questions, because he gets really upset when people lose a calf. He feels like there really isn’t any reason to lose a calf; just call him and he will tell us what to do if anyone gets sick. *whew* That was a relief for this beginner! The calves are about 9 or 10 days old.

I was really impressed when he told us they have been on colostrum for several days, bottle fed, and NONE of the cows they come from ever get antibiotics or shots. That means our three little cows are getting the best start in life they possibly can; doesn’t mean they will all make it (fingers crossed they do!) but they do have a head start.

He also mentioned to feed them MILK protein only replacer- NO soy. This was another relief because A) soy is evil and B) I’d already bought a more expensive, quality milk replacer that was soy free.

Quite honestly, I can’t tell you how excited we are; the 3 days leading up to their delivery included some SERIOUS nesting on all our parts- think nesting for your first baby but on steroids!

They don’t have names … not sure we should name them since they aren’t pets; the kids joke about hamburger and ketchup for names (definitely their daddy’s sense of humor). I think maybe we should just call them “calf 1, 2, and 3.”

It stinks that not all calves are raised with their mamas, but that is just the reality of some farms, not all farms can afford to have fabric buildings, but we are so lucky we have the space to keep ours safe. I am happy we could take them in and raise them to be healthy, grass fed cows so we and other families can have beef the way nature intended.

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On The Farm: Wrapping Up November {2015}

by Meghan // December 4, 2015 // Comments off

So … about Thora. She is still very much a puppy. And while she loves to love on all of us, be near us, and generally obeys commands, she is still a puppy.

And puppies chase things and are just naughty in general. And BIG puppies like to show their authority using their big-ness. This particular BIG puppy likes to dig giant size holes looking for *wait for it* …

moles. (I think because the cats catch moles and she wants one for herself.)

So we have small-human sized holes in our yard now. Which is okay, we can fill them in … but man. She is a mess! She sure is loyal though and definitely My girl.

The laying hens and two roosters have moved out to their coop. They really need a nicer, new coop with more room and no drafts. But right now they seem okay, if annoyed by their damp, drafty conditions. They are not yet free ranging … we have to do some engineering for Thora a runner before she can be introduced to them full time!

We exchanged 1 possible rooster for another 5 week old chick, but will be returning 3 other possible roosters soon for more baby chicks. We didn’t get them before Thanksgiving because we would be traveling, and wittle baby chicks need daily care.

We came home from Thanksgiving to ice everywhere! Everything is covered in a few inches of ice; we are just praying we keep power.

Overall, things are looking good for the winter. The weather is back up in the 50’s which is very nice! The kids have been playing outside, and enjoying the weekends with their daddy. Hopefully the winter doesn’t get too bitter and windy!

How was November for your family?

Disclaimer: Some links on this blog are affiliate links; when you use those links you help support my family, at no additional cost to you. Thank you!

Elemental Science: Our 2015 Homeschool Science Curriculum

by Meghan // September 17, 2015 // Comments off

I have had so many friends and readers asking about our science curriculum. Well, we finally started it!

This week was our first one back at school full time after our move to the farm. It has been great and everyone fell right into routine.

Part of our new routine includes our first real science curriculum: Elemental Science Intro to Science (which is on a Kindergarten level).

So far this curriculum is right up our family’s alley! It is based on the Classical and Charlotte Mason models of education; as you may know I LOVE teaching using those models and so far they fit my children’s learning styles well. It requires 2 books, 1)The Usborne Internet-Linked First Encyclopedia of Science and 2)More Mudpies to Magnets: Science for Young Children. The third book that is recommended, and I LOVE IT, is Handbook of Nature Study.

The Lessons:

Each week you have options for 2 or 5 day lessons; we do a combo depending on how much time we have (it worked out to 3 days this week). You will have your lesson intro, experiment, student notebooking sheets that go with that experiment, and a nature study! (see a sample HERE). There are also short reading assignments for most lesson from the required supplement books above.

The lessons each have an experiment, which for me is awesome because A) it is all set up for me and I have the books I need for it and B) I am not good with hands on … so it is good that it tells me I need to do it! (plus my kids love hands on stuff). I did buy the experiment kit because of the move and everything, I just didn’t want one more thing to do. But everything in it is pretty easy to come by so you could easily set up your own kit to pull from throughout the year. It was about $42, and I wasn’t disappointed.

This week we studied how matter can states; from a solid state to liquid and back again using old crayons for our experiment (via the curriculum). We also did a little experiment that was in the science encyclopedia creating gas!

Then we took our science outside to do our very first nature study which was about pine trees. I did not do a lapbook for this nature study since it was our first week- we just drew/wrote in our nature study book. (look for another post about our nature study notebook soon!)

We are starting all of this very slowly and I don’t want to overwhelm Lexie with too much at once as she is still young, but she is soaking up every single thing we do. I will plan more in depth nature studies when appropriate. 🙂 Mister loves tagging along and wants to do all the same things we are doing, so of course he joins us.

Another thing that turned me on to ES is that in the later years they have tests included as part of the curriculum, along with everything else. Now, I do NOT believe in testing everything all the time. I do however think science is a great area to use test for assessment (and as a tool for learning to take tests when older). So there’s that …

Elemental Science so far has been a delight, and something both the kids (5 and 3yo) look forward to! I would definitely recommend it if you are interested in a Charlotte Mason, gently hands-on, Classical science curriculum.

Hanging Laundry Out on the Clothesline: Farm Life

by Meghan // August 25, 2015 // Comments off

I have line-dried our cloth baby diapers for nearly 5 years (as soon as one was potty trained we had another). But I have never had a large enough line for all our clothes.

When we bought the farm, the previous owners had hung a wire clothes line from the power pole to a tree. It works just fine, although we need to tighten it up a bit.

I am a laundry perfectionist- I loathe dingy clothes that don’t smell fresh. I LOVE fresh laundry, so I was worried about moving to another house with a water descaler. But, I did a little googling and realized, after 2.5 years of having a softener, I’ve been doing it all wrong! You can use less detergent and get cleaner clothes with a water softener! Whew, was I excited to read that. By the way, if you’ve not got a water softener of your own, then you may want to take a look at some WSE water softener reviews, as one of these could completely change the way you look at doing your laundry. That is the place to look for water softeners for in the home, but obviously hotels and laundrettes and similar businesses can also suffer at the hands of hard water. They don’t have to though, as you can find industrial water softeners here. These are aimed at water treatment on a more industrial scale.

Anyway, I thought I would give the clothesline a try today after washing my first load of clothes at the farm.

I am now on my third load today, and can probably get in a fourth!

HOLY COW!!! Have you smelled freshly line dried clothes before? They are crisp, clean, and BRIGHT!

For the soft water, I used half a lid of gain detergent on an Xlarge load, with two rinses. They smell so delicious I want to roll around in the laundry basket (ok, take that mental image out of your head). But in all seriousness- this is forever how I will dry our laundry in warm, dry weather! Hubby and I have talked about it and will probably put in two lines on the side of the house where there is no shade or tiny people running around. 🙂

Do you use a clothes line?

Also, do you use a water softener? I think if I’m honest, part of this lovely washing has to be down to me using the water softener properly for the first time, haha. If you don’t have one, I’d recommend you read reviews on sites similar to https://allgreatappliances.com/best-water-softener-system/ to find the one that would suit you best!

Let me know what you think guys!

Homesteading on The 40 Acre Wood: So It Begins

by Meghan // August 20, 2015 // Comments off

So It Begins: the beginning of our little homestead

watching the hummingbirds

Since I was little, maybe four or five years old, I knew I wanted to live on a farm. I dreamed of rolling hills, trees, and white fences, and of course a barn full of animals that would keep me busy.

Though my mom, dad, brother and I lived in the suburbs, all our family lived in the country; both sets of grandparents gardened, canned, sat on porch swings, shot BB guns with us, fished from their ponds, and cooked from scratch. It was truly living the dream for my brother and me, every summer, all summer long.

I’ve always wanted to live on a farm and that is a goal of mine till this day.

I never stopped dreaming of the farm I wanted, but I never saw it in my future. It seemed unattainable.

*Enter my husband*

My husband is a dreamer. But he isn’t a dreamer by definition- he is a dreamer that sees a dream, sets a goal, and gets ‘er done. So, maybe he is in fact a “do-er.”

About 6 years ago he told me one day we could have a little homestead.

I couldn’t see past our current situation, and told him with 100% certainty, he was crazy.

But here we are; in 2015 moving into our dream home, on land.

By dream home, I don’t mean what most people would define as a dream home. It isn’t brand new, fancy, or big. It doesn’t have 5 bathrooms, or a bedroom for every person in the family.

(It does have my dream front porch, a lovely kitchen with a window that overlooks the back yard where my babies will play and the chickens and guineas will run around, a big gas stove perfect for canning, and a big fireplace that heats the whole house. That is my *DREAM*)

The kids love it; there is tons of room for them to run, play in the dirt, ride their bikes. They like picking tomatoes in the garden and playing with our inherited barn cats.

What is most important to my husband and me though, is that it our kids can mostly free range on our property, safely. We can raise our family on our own land to: hunt, fish, ride 4wheelers, garden, raise our own food, and learn how to appreciate God’s hard work.

We can live slowly and simply without the busy rush, rush, rush of the rat race life so many consider their dream.

It is going to be a lot of work, but man is it all going to be worth it. I can’t wait to share updates with you all, as well as things I learn on “the farm.” We will spend the winter getting part of the barn in order for our chickens and guineas, expanding the garden, prepping firewood, and maybe working with fencing.

What to name a farm?!

We started calling it “the farm” after we started working on in the garden and yard this summer. I am trying to give it a real name, so far all I have really loved is The Forty Acre Wood- but that seems kinds silly. So we will see. =)

Sonlight Box Day Core A {2015/2016}

by Meghan // July 11, 2015 // Comments off

Last week we began our official 2015/2016 homeschool year.

By most standards ~~but we don’t go by most standards, now do we?~~ this is early, even for year round schooling. However, with all the chaos of moving and the uncertainty of living in a rent house, the kids needed more structure and routine than we had going.
Lexie kept telling us she didn’t like this home (I don’t blame her, it doesn’t feel like home), and wanted to go back where all our books and things were (most everything is still boxed since we will be moving again in about 36 days, with the exception of our necessities and a few toys/books).
So I felt like we needed something to make the next 2 months feel more secure and emotionally safe for the kids- so what better way than to break out Homeschool Box Day! 🙂 (you can read about our very first Box Day HERE)

They were over the moon excited while unboxing everything. (Please excuse the rather sloppy photo editing, it was mostly done from my phone, since we have very limited internet usage in the rent house.)

They are most excited about Curious George! We aren’t even reading that during our homeschool time; it has just become an ever.single. day. “Can we read Curious George?” time. They especially love listening to the stories on CD.

We will take it slowly; right now we are focusing on AAR, SL LA, math, doing our daily Sonlight reading from Core A, and the Mister’s BFIAR story. He is listening along for most of the books, but the Before Five in a Row book is specifically for him. Because I don’t have my printer, laminator, etc unboxed, he isn’t exactly “rowing” the books right now. We can always come back and do that later.

Aside from George, Boxcar Chldren is their other favorite, along with our timeline book and the big map.

Anyway, Box Day was a success and getting back to school time has completely changed the feeling of our home! The kids are happier; you can just feel the intention in our day and it is wonderful!

Have you done box day?

2014/2015 End of Year Homeschool Overview {Pre-K and Preschool}

by Meghan // June 24, 2015 // Comments off

{6/21/2015-we are now done with Sonlight P4/5- yay! I am still unsure of when we will begin 2015/2016 school year}

In the past few weeks we have been finishing up our 2014/2015 school year. We really have a few days left of reading from Sonlight P4/5, but we are traveling at the moment, and I chose not to bring the books. So we will finish when we get back home.

But, here is what we have been doing in the last few weeks.

Lexie (4.5yo) Pre-K year:

Lexie has been finishing Sonlight’s P4/5 core (Bible, history, geography/other cultures); we have loved the bible in this core, and may sub it in next year, through Core A. (or use it for little brother).

In math she has been working through the last of our Singapore Early Bird books. Honestly, this has taken what seems like FOREVER because I haven’t stuck with it as much. She can do everything in the books, but doing the assignments is good practice. In between working through the pages, we have done hands on math using manipulatives like: blocks, counting bears, unifix cubes, and

She has been working on recreating and expanding patterns on paper and using manipulatives, skip counting (which she LOVES to do), and counting backwards. She is now seeing patterns in everything we do, and everywhere we go, which is fun!

In science we have learned about and discussed the types of animals and what attributes make them mammals, amphibians, reptiles, bird, insects, etc. Lexie lap booked the frog lifecycle and really enjoyed that. We have also learned about the seasons and a bit about outer space and the planets. Obviously none of this was very in-depth (she is 4.5, after all). But it was all interest led by her and Max. We used our online science program, Digital Science Online and books to read about and better understand these topics.

In reading, language arts, and handwriting Lexie has been breezing through All About Reading Level 1 and HWOT pre-writing. We are still working through AAR; some lessons are longer and while Lexie’s ability to read is fairly advanced, her ability to sit through an incredibly long lesson isn’t there. As in most children, her abilities and development in other areas don’t all match up perfectly (hence HOMESCHOOLING bliss!). So we still have about 10 lessons in AAR to get through. We are going slowly to keep her confidence up and she loves it! I hope to finish AAR Level 1 over summer, before we actually begin Core A for the next school year.

HWOT has been great! I think we are pretty much done with needing the pre-reading level. She is ready to move on; we will use the K level for this coming school year. Honestly, I am not sure how long we will stick with HWOT. It has been great for her because her confidence while holding a pencil or crayon was terrible, and now she LOVES writing and drawing of all kinds. But I am not sure how the methods will work for creating pretty, neat, legible handwriting. (I hate my handwriting, and wish someone had made me write neater growing up. So I hope to help encourage her neat handwriting.) There are a few other programs out there, and after we do the K book, she should developmentally be ready for something a bit more thorough and strict. We will use HWOT for Mister when he is ready to learn writing; I do believe it is a GREAT beginning program for little ones that need a bit of direction and encouragement. But again, not sure how I will feel as they get older and need better handwriting.

Max (2.5yo) Preschool:

Mister has been learning to identify his letters. He knows them now, but his first reaction when asked about a letter? … “I don’t know!” But he does in fact know … So, again development and personality play a huge part in that. =) We are working on identifying his lower case letters, and he does pretty well with that also. We will be using our book, S is for Smiling Sunrise, to help with that task (read more about that HERE) through next year.

He is still working on identifying his numbers (he knows a few), has grasped and enjoys counting with 1:1 correspondence, counting past 20, counting backwards, and sorting. He loves to sort by size, color, etc. especially when we play with the counting/sorting bears

For science he has just tagged along with us through the year, focusing mainly on weather, seasons and animals for him. He likes just about anything that involves him getting attention or touching things! Typical 2 year old male. 😉

I went ahead and got Mister the AAR Pre Reading Level for next year. I hope to do a quick lesson with him first thing each day, while Lexie does independent work, so maybe he won’t “need” me as much during her big girl school. It will be fun for both of us, and encourage his love of learning and reading.

Recently I started back to our circle time routine. I had taken a break from it after Ila was born, simply because I didn’t have time with nursing & pumping every two hours and I was worn out. Max also wasn’t very interested in it before now. Since we have started back he *loves* circle time, singing the songs, and absorbs everything we are doing. It also helps get some of his wiggles out before we start reading our core books and learning time, which means he is less of a detraction and more cooperative! *score*

We are also working through his Before Five in A Row, and will continue that through next year. When that is complete he will just do literature based unit studies that go with whatever topics we are discussing in Core A, until I can decide who will team up with whom for school.

Developmentally and maturity wise, Mister is not where Lexie was at almost 3 years old. And that is okay! Some days it is hard, because he is all up in the terrible two’s and Lexie’s were never like this, but he is fun, active, and has a HUGE imagination. I in no way want to discourage that or put that out by pushing him into academics too soon. He loves to just run around, dancing and singing or playing with his trucks and tractors.

We will technically homeschool year-round with several breaks throughout; this will allow us to take off when we have illnesses, spring fever, or mama just needs a break. We will take a few weeks off in the summer from full blown school hours; but we will continue some activities many days of the week just so we have some focus in our home during the day. Being at home with no routine just in the last few weeks has driven ALL OF US crazy; the kids are begging for school every day, and J.Tom and I are definitely feeling the difference in their attention and behavior with no real structure.

I will do another post on our hours/weeks of school and breaks. Since we are in the process of moving to KS (again, love homeschooling because we can start/finish/continue/break when we need to!), I have not yet figured up our number of required hours per day and all that.

2015/2016 will be my trial year for record keeping, so I will update you on all that soon!

Through all this year, I have reminded myself that BOTH of the older kids are still little. They are young, and while they love school and learning, play & reading books are still the most important things! We will end this year on a great note, play and learn all summer long, and pick back up right where we left off in the fall!

How has your homeschool year gone? Are you ready for a break?

8.5 month Baby Summary Update {ww37 and babywise schedule}

by Meghan // May 27, 2015 // Comments off

Well, here we are; somehow Ila is 8.5 months old! To think she is closer to 1 year old than a newborn baby … =( It is going by so quickly.

But God meant for healthy things to grow, and she is surely growing! She is a little over 20lbs and 28.5″ long; not as big as her siblings at this age, but that is okay.

Ila has 5 teeth and is working on one or two more. She gave up nursing around the beginning of April, and though I was devastated and continued trying to get her to nurse, she was completely done by the third week of April. Trying to nurse had become a battle that stressed us both out. I really thougth she was going to nurse for the long haul; she was my best nurser out of my three babies. But just like the others, once she realized the milk in the bottle came out faster, with less work involved for her, (even though it was the smallest size Tommie Tippee nipple), she was done with mama. =(

She still has a head full of hair, and that is the first thing people notice about her. The second thing they mention is how happy she is. And she is happy. The happiest baby ever; I know I say that on all of her summaries, but really. She doesn’t get upset over much, she has never spit up a day in her life (which I attribute to not getting dairy protein through nursing or her formula), and the only time she has a hard time with sleep or not feeling well is during wonder weeks; she is even pretty happy while teething, with only one or two rough days. I know this won’t last forever, at some point she will become a tiny tantrum on two feet, but for now, it is bliss!

Eating At 8 Months

Ila is eating every 4 hours … sorta? =/ She is eating solids LIKE CRAZY. If we are eating, she wants a bite of it. Which means that she has been eating: burger meat, steak, meat loaf, rotisserie chicken, fried chicken, spaghetti, cooked carrots, cooked green beans, sautéed zucchini and onion, grapes, apple sauce, pears, banana, eggs … and really the list goes on (though no processed foods). Basically if it is soft enough for her to chew, and homemade with real ingredients, she gets it. I did give her some BBQ from a local restaurant the other night, and she liked that too. =)

So at 3 of her 4 feedings she eats solids, then takes her bottle. She refuses her bottle before she eats real food, and she won’t take it right after she eats … so a little after she has eaten she is ready for her bottle. Oh- and if she hasn’t had a poopy diaper she won’t take a bottle, so basically her life revolves around when she poops! haha But I am working on not letting her eat as much food before her bottle, since that should still be her primary form of nourishment right now.

Schedule

Ila has moved seamlessly to a 2 nap schedule. I knew it was time to drop the cat nap because her naps were being interrupted, but she was still tired after waking and about 20 minutes later she would go back to sleep. Also, the third nap just seemed to be messing with her night sleep and first morning nap. So … we dropped to a 2-3-4 schedule (loosely) and it has been working great. Really it is more like a 2-2.5-4 hour schedule. She hasn’t quite worked up to 3 hours at that second nap yet, but it won’t be long. I imagine after this wonder week (ww37) she will be ready.

So at 8.5 months, her schedule looks like this:

7am wake, bottle, solids
9 down
10:30 usually wakes, rest until 11
11 up, lunch, bottle
1 down for nap #2
2:30-3 wake, solids, bottle
5:30 dinner, bath
6:30 bottle, bed
Asleep by 7pm

Development

Ila is doing new things every day! Since my lsat summary, she has started sitting up, scooting on her belly, rolling all over the place to get to things she wants, clapping, and signing. She likes to roll around on the floor and is really trying to crawl; she is thiiiiiis close to crawling! But honestly, with the move, and rent house, etc. I am not a huge fan of her crawling too soon anyway!

She has started signing for milk and more. I think she started signing for milk about a month ago, but I wasn’t 100% certain. Then she began signing for more, and it was pretty obvious what she was wanting! haha The baby is covered with fat rolls and loves to eat, what can I say?

The other day at the rent house Ila was in the floor with Scout (the singing talking dog). It was singing a song and she started DANCING. It was possibly the cutest thing ever. So now, she just bounces and dances when it plays music.

Ila is working on grasping small pieces of food, and while she can usually pick them up, she has a hard time getting them into her mouth. She has also discovered throwing things .. including her water cup! NOT FUN. Ugh. But our little Mister is so sweet and gets it for her every. single. time she “drops” it. haha He is helping create a monster. =)

Big brother and sister adore her. I mean … just smother her to death adore her. Including Mister- she is his “sweet baby girl Ila.” I love that he is (usually) so gentle and good with her. And big sister is mama’s BIG helper. She is also in love with Ila and is always teaching her new things (works on signing with her) and cheering her on! Did I mention Charlie loves her, too?

As far as the WW is going … there is some fussing at sleep time and all around weirdness going on, but in the nest 3 weeks that should end. *whew*

That is all of Ila’s 8month update I think … I *love* this stage! (minus the wonder week!)

What is your favorite “baby stage?”

A Homeschool ABC-Book {a review}

by Meghan // May 14, 2015 // Comments off

As we have started including Mister (2.5yo) in our learning time routine more and more, I am always looking for fun ways he can learn along side big sister. Thankfully, we reviewed a precious book, S is For Smiling Sunrise and its audio sing-along song, by WordsBright; we have enjoyed reading this book each day as part of our learning time! He considers it his special learning time book, but big sister loves it too! It is inspiring, positive, and a fun way to include an ABC-book in your homeschool!

About S is For Smiling Sunrise {and why we love it}

This hard back book was written by a father for his daughter to grow up with; it is perfect for children of all ages. You can read this with your toddler, and it continues to be great for emergent readers as your child ages. My children are 2.5 and 4.5, and they both enjoyed (and are still enjoying!) the book.

S is for Smiling Sunrise isn’t your typical ABC book, which I love! It includes both character traits and fun rhymes that your children will grow to understand and love. The illustrations are lovely, bright, and printed on heavy, crisp pages.

What’s even better, WordsBright has included a Pre-K and K to 3 Teacher’s Guide to help parents expand on the content in the book. There is also a precious audio CD; we really enjoyed listening to this during in-home transitions (such as after learning time, before lunch, etc.), and the kids listened to it during their independent play time in their room. You can get the song as a free MP3 download directly form the website.

My son loved pointing out the capital letter and “little” letters at the top of each page, we made it a game which really helped encourage him to identify his letters (one of his goals for our homeschool year). The illustrations are beautiful and so much fun for little ones! He also learned new words, such as interesting, and dawn, while identifying things he knew in the pictures.

My favorite part of this book, is you can just tell it was written with love; almost like a sweet love letter from a daddy to his baby girl. The little rhymes are fun and it is much different from any other ABC book we have read, or own. The Teacher’s Guide helped give me more ideas for expanding on the book, and we enjoyed that as well!