How to Grow a Dinosaur: A Book for New Siblings {new release review}

by Meghan // January 23, 2018 // Comments off

With 4 tiny humans running around, you can bet we have had many phases, changes, and adjustments in our home over the last almost 8 years. Adding a new addition every 18 months t0 2 years can be a challenge for older siblings.

We love literature in our home, and have found that reading books and poetry usually help us with any new changes, especially when young children can comprehend but not yet express themselves verbally.

How to Grow Dinosaur , written by Jill Esbaum is a fun new book about an older sibling dinosaur who is learning all about his role as a big brother. What do babies need? What do babies do? What is my job? In this sweet-sibling story, big brother learns the bad news aaand the good news about the new baby in his family.

With Mike Boldt‘s,bright, silly, yet simple illustrations this is a great guide for siblings and parents. The pictures are sure to make the kids in your like laugh, and feel at ease about the new baby coming into their life. How to Grow a Dinosaur helps open the conversation of what is and is not appropriate behavior around a new baby, and how it can be hard for both bigger siblings, and the newest sibling.

This beautiful, large hardback book, with its 40 pages is perfect for children ages 2-5; my 7 year old was able to relate to and enjoy the story.

If there is a new baby coming into the life of a child you know and love, this makes a *great* sibling’s new baby gift. Mama and daddy are sure to appreciate the special story they can share with their children.

This newest book we’ve been reviewing is releasing TODAY, so get your copy now Amazon!

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!

Friday on the Farm: {Birthday & Camping Edition}

by Meghan // September 8, 2017 // Comments off

I am writing this on Sunday and back dating for the sake of hitting Friday on the Farm. *insert cheesy face here*

We have spent the last 2 weeks celebrating birthdays … one right after the other. It has been a joy!

The kids got a new play set/fort/swingset/tree house/whatever you want to call it for their combined birthdays. Hopefully it will last for years to come, and will eventually become an actual tree house in the woods, near the pond.

They each got a small little special for their birthdays- the 7yo a field press and the last Narnia book, The 5yo Mister a bug/small animal terrarium for nature studies and a bug field guide, and the 3yo little Miss a fairy garden house.

Each of the kids had their own special birthday cake- all gluten and dairy free. Boy did that require some special grocery store trips … But we managed to do it!

Mister’s “rocket” cake:

Big sister’s Smores ice box cake:

Little Miss’s dirt cake:

The husband smoked up some BBQ for the week:

We spent Wednesday-Saturday camping at a local state park; all 6 of us in the pop up camper and our new caravan (not forgetting to bring out RV battery as that comes in incredibly useful sometimes!) that we finally managed to get finance for (thanks to Auto Finance Online, see this site for more info). It was surprisingly less difficult than expected. More specifically, after the first day and night, we had things figured out. haha. Keeping the caravan safe and secure is definitely a concern for anyone who owns one. Wheel clamps for caravans ensure that your caravan is not going anywhere you don’t want it to!

A few random camping with tiny humans tips we found made things easier:

Get one of these for the baby. just trust me. There is a time and place for a pack n play, but these little sleep tents are amazing when traveling! They fit in the tiniest spaces and can easily be covered with a light blanket for darkness
cover baby’s sleep tent or pack n play with a blanket
noise. machine. We took the humidifier we use at home in the kids’ rooms, but then remembered the pop-up has an AC fan, so we used that. PERFECT for blocking out the noise at a camp ground during naps and bedtimes
kiddie potty. We just keep on in the camper now, because it is easier than them using the camper potty, and we dont have to go up to the bath house, AND we don’t have to worry about them having privacy from fellow campers
wagon– saved our lives. when baby wasn’t being toted around in it, fed in it, or just playing in it, the 3yo was pulling it around for fun
picnic blanket– again, couldn’t have done without it
crocs for every child
overalls the kids can rewear each day, with a clean shirt underneath
just leave all the luggage bags in the car to keep camping space clear and organized. It’s a tip I learned from a friend after they hired a campervan with Rent.is on their European adventure, and it makes sense. Each night I got out their PJs, they changed before going into the camper, and I put their dirty clothes into the dirty clothes bag. Clothes to be reworn were placed on top of their bag (in the car) for the next day

Just some camping fun:

I woke each morning to my husband making coffee and breakfast over the fire. He is irreplaceable.

It was a lot of hard work, but one of the best family vacations we have had. My sweet husband did most all of the heavy lifting and hard work, and though I know he enjoys it, it was such a blessing to me. I actually got to chill and not really fret about anything. It was really nice.

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!

Online Reading and Math with K5 Learning {a review}

by Meghan // June 7, 2017 // Comments off

Reviewing the Online Program by K5 Learning has been a lot of fun for my daughter. We don’t do a lot of work on the computer (if you read my blog, you already know that …), because I just feel like she is still very young for the computer screen. But a few days a week while the littles nap we have been enjoying doing K5 Learning on my laptop together. And man, has it been a great experience!

What it is

K5 Learning’s Online Program is a supplement to any education program. An account is good for up to 4 students, and allows parental and separate student accounts. This is an online reading and math program for grades K-5. Students take placement assessments which allows them to work at their own level and at their own pace through a personalized program of reading and math lessons. Each lesson also has a corresponding worksheet for extra practice and understanding.

Included are lessons in:

Reading– phonemic awareness, phonics, sight words, vocabulary, & reading comprehension
Math– numbers & operations, measurement, geometry, data analysis, algebraic thinking
Spelling– advanced spelling and vocabulary, adaptive instruction, 150,000 word database

Each subject has lessons that help build foundational skills, confidence, and fluency, as well as independent and interactive learning.

There is an entire library of worksheets (that are great to use with manipulatives) to focus more in depth on different topics. I especially like the looks of the math worksheets that use base ten blocks.

What We Thought and How We Used It

We have explored all of K5 Learning. The spelling has been fun for my daughter; we just started a spelling program a few months ago, and she is enjoying the challenge (she is SO my child …) of spelling words. I *really* like that when she misses a word in the K5 program, even after correcting the error, the word comes back up so she has to respell it correctly a second time! This is good for “muscle memory” so to speak, which outside of learning rule breaker spelling rules, is how we typically learn to spell.

The reading placement assessment was a bit tedious at first, but between each section is a really fun learning video about animals, or another topic that is interesting to kids (and even me). This was really nice, and made the placement test much more enjoyable! The reading lessons are relevant, and because she doesn’t need phonics lessons, are a great help for her in the department of vocabulary and reading comprehension. I would also say the reading comprehension selections are a really nice challenge!

Mostly, we have focused on math, because she has been having a tough time with math facts. At first, she was hesitant to use the K5 math because she had a sense of failure in regards to math facts.

But it wasn’t long before she started asking to do it! This made my heart so happy; K5 Learning has helped her feel successful while also having fun, and actually learning. I like that it has helped her with number fluency, and I can see that fruit! It has made her more confident with numbers in general and that’s important- because that seems to be a BIG hold up with kids and math.

The assessment placed her appropriately; though she scored above first grade level overall in math (she is in K, working mostly on a 1st grade level), the program doesn’t put students more than one level above the grade level assigned by the parent. But if your child finds it too easy or too hard, you can easily email them to have it changed.

the ninja and the toddler learning alongside big sister

Speaking of email- I felt like the communication with the company was definitely personable! It gave me a feeling that I could trust them as a company, and always contact them if I had any problems or questions. *Sometimes with online companies you don’t get this type of customer service, and that is a huge problem- but NOT with K5 Learning* I feel confident in their service!

Connect With K5 Learning

7 Months Old Baby Summary Schedule {baby #4}

by Meghan // February 24, 2017 // Comments off

I cannot believe my baby is 7 months old. I am really not certain where the time has gone- I guess just in every day life.

In trying to be present for all the moments, I have been journaling more of our days than I have been blogging them. But I am trying to put some of that on the screen.

Our schedule for now is a typical 2-3-4 schedule. We will stay here until she drops to one nap. To transition to one nap, she will naturally begin shorten one of her naps between 11-14 months old. To make sure it is the morning nap, I will start capping that nap when she shows signs that she is ready to shorten a nap, then eventually we will drop the morning nap and move the afternoon nap to 12:00 noon.

We moved to the 2-3-4 around 6 months, but it was still messy and uncertain. The day after she turned 7 months I decided we were sticking to the 2-3-4 schedule and not looking back. It has been a *dream* since.

I know scheduling babies is not for everyone. But I can tell you that while hard at first, sticking to it pays off. It gives me a life outside of babies, it gives my marriage freedom outside of babies, it gives my babies independence to sleep, be happy, and healthy on their own. I can give my baby and their schedule to anyone in the case of an emergency, and any of them would probably do pretty well as long as their caretaker kept to the schedule- it is all in the consistency.

Routine creates confidence, confidence creates happy babies.

Today, Coralie’s schedule looks like this:

7am wake, bottle, snuggles, mommy baby time, then get the older 3 up
7:30/8 solids
read books, activities with everyone on the floor
9:00 Baby down for first nap
11:00 Baby up from nap, bottle, snuggles
make lunch for all, feed solids
12:15 2 year old’s nap
12:50 4 year old’s nap
1:30 Baby 2nd nap
3:00 everyone up from naps, baby bottle
play outside, errands, activities, mama prep dinner
5:30 solids for baby, dinner for all
bath time
6:40 baby botttle
6:50 baby bed, right to sleep

She LOVES:

drinking kombucha from a sippy cup
bouncing in her bouncer
eating
snuggles, just being held
warm days outside
sitting up high so she can see everything
being tickled
being talked to
chewing on anything
her swaddle blanket- she has one arm out, but does NOT want the other arm out. She likes to suck on the cloth
sleeping on her side
sleep- she loves her naps and bedtime sleep. If i get sidetracked she is super quick to let me know it is time to get ready for bed!
being in the car- maybe she doesn’t love this, but she doesn’t mind it, which makes me life easier
holding her firefly and her skwish
chewing on things with her 2 bottom teeth

She really doesn’t enjoy:

cold days outside, or cool and windy days
the dog in her face (can’t say I blamer her…)
being alone
having a wet diaper
hiccups
people invading her space
the exersaucer outside- it is the same exersaucer all my other babies have used. She hates it. She prefers her bouncer or rocker
loud noises
bright lights
being woken up (did I mention she likes her sleep?)
teething

She has been such a joy for us. Everyone needs “baby time” in the house, and we all delight in her new developments. She is a sweet girl; we are pretty sure she is teething her top teeth now, so there is lots of drool, lots of fussiness, and a little clinginess. But this too will pass, and probably all too quickly!

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!

Weekly Wrap Up {homeschool update} with Baby #4 Summary

by Meghan // November 23, 2016 // Comments off

So, how goes being a mama of 4, 6 years old and under? It is going really great!

We have fallen into our groove with routines, baby is sleeping great *most* days for her naps, which helps with our learning time as a family. The kids are enjoying their school time; we have finally gotten pretty comfortable with Mister doing more activities while I teach Lexie. Ila walks around with her ABC flash cards (I laminated them and put on a ring for her) during most of learning time. She likes to come sit in my lap through out the morning and “read” to me. =)

Lexie (6 years old)

The Lady is just flying through everything I give her or introduce her to. She enjoys reading; we are still going over the rules as we work through All About Reading, because I don’t want her to have gaps down the road. However, she is reading on a 4-6th grade level. Next we are going to start working to build her vocabulary, because when reading at a higher level, she is coming across many words she doesn’t know yet.

She is learning her math facts in math and really enjoys challenging herself with those. She does her math sheets independently and we do calendar most days (sometimes I just forget ..). Whenever we do hands on math with manipulatives Max likes to join in. He can do math on her level, but his writing skills aren’t there yet so we don’t focus on a math curriculum at all for him- just hands on fun! (like it should be).

We have started using the CD that came with our science (Apologia’s Astronomy 2nd Edition)- that way I don’t have to read, but I can listen along and pause it to go more in depth or explain something a little better. The kids follow along in the book, and then Lexie does the science journal.

Handwriting and math are part of her “clip board work,” that she does independently; I check over these after she has completed them to be sure she did her best, or understood everything. She loves watching herself improve, and I enjoy the discipline she is learning in completing her work on her own.

Max (4 years old)

Mister is just reading like crazy. He does not like to read formally, off a piece of paper yet. He likes me to write words on the board for him to read, and I am 100% okay with that! He is only 4, after all.

He is working through Reading the Alphabet by ThisReadingMama.com- I used that with Lexie and she *loved* it, so he is enjoying it now. Each week we go on to a new letter/site word. His favorite activities are the mazes (he is constantly asking me to find mazes for him to do), and he enjoys syllable counting. Max is also very interested in counting to 100 .. every. single. day. Which is great so I go with it; he likes to get out his number chart for that (check our Rainbow Resources for those!).

Mister is still obsessed with puzzles and anything he can do with his hands. We try to make sure he gets plenty of movement, hands on learning, and has lots of play time so he continues to grow a love for learning.

Ila (2 years old)

Ila is tagging along with us in everything we do. Right now she enjoys puzzles, dolls, coloring, and practicing her letter sounds. She doesn’t actually know the letters that correspond with the sound, but she likes to try and I like encouraging her. She is going to follow Lexie in her eagerness to learn and read, I think.

Our Routine For Now {baby #4 is 4 months old}

7am baby up, nurse
7:15-7:20ish I get Max up for mama and baby time while I give baby a bottle
Mister gets “the sisters” up =)
I cook breakfast, baby hangs out in bumbo or bouncer, older 3 do morning chores/get ready for day
everyone eats breakfast and we do our morning basket “stuff”
8:25 baby down for nap
all 3 bigger kids go outside or downstairs to play until 9am
9am we begin school
10:30- it is time to get baby up and fed. We are usually done with school by this point, Lexie may have some clipboard work to finish on her own for the rest of the week
11:15 everyone has lunch
12:00 baby takes nap, then I put Ila down for nap, bigs go outside to play
12:45 Mister goes down for nap, Lexie has rest time reading books, mama writes blog posts, does chores, or rests
2:00 time to get baby up for feeding- Lexie usually comes in to spend time with me and baby
3:00 everyone up from naps, outside or downstairs to play or we run errands
3:30 baby down for last nap, I prep dinner if not yet done
5:00 Baby up, nurse
5:30 everyone eats dinner, baby gets solids
bath, wind down, sometimes we watch a show like Mister Rogers, Bob the Builder, Boxcar Children, etc
6:30 baby gets bottle and goes right to bed
7:00 everyone in bed, unless Mister napped good then he and Lexie get to stay up a little later (but they’re always ready for bed-that’s what happens when you spend most of your day running around a farm!)
Mama and Daddy time- this is my favorite part about keeping a good routine while our kids are young~I get 1:1 time with my husband and we can unwind from our days together without little people needing us non stop. It’s nice!

Not everything is set to a specific time, but naps and feedings are. Everything else works around that, and just sort of falls into place; it is simple and flows well because I don’t have to force anything.

Coralie {4 months old}

Baby #4- wow. She is already 4 months old (19 weeks) and SO happy. The best thing I could have ever done for this baby is getting a good sleep schedule down- without it she would still be crying, fussy, unhappy, and unpredicatable.

Because of her eating and sleep routines I am able to pinpoint what she needs, she rarely cries (and if she does it is because something is wrong), and she sleeps very well as long as I hit her wake time right (too short results in a short nap, too long results in crying).

But the BEST part of her routine-she went from HATING going to sleep in her crib, to *loving* it. Before about 15 weeks old, she cried every time I laid her down on the changing table to put on her sleep blanket (we use THIS ONE). Now, the girl is happy, kicking, and ready to go to bed as soon as I zip her up! We talks and babbles while I sing Jesus Loves Me, sucks/gnaws on her hand (teething), and when I lay her down she goes to sleep within 20 minutes. Sometimes she fusses after talking for a bit, but never cries for me to get her. IF she is crying-crying, I will go rub some oil on her gums or try to burp her and then lay her back down. Then she usually drifts off to sleep.

She is still a very social girl, loves talking and playing. She got a jumper from her grandparents for Christmas, which I had to let her play in early because A) babies outgrow things fast and it seemed silly to waste a whole month of having it but not using it and B) she is all about kicking these days. She loves it. This way she can see everyone and know what is going on, which is right up her alley.

She is eating every 3.5 hours, her wake time is anywhere from 85-95 minutes (lengthens as we go through the day), and she is experimenting with solids. We have done soft boiled egg yolk, green beans, squash, carrots, and peaches. She devoured all of them, and stares at us while we eat. I think she is ready for more in her day, but honestly I am not ready to have to tote around baby food, spoons, bibs, etc every time we leave the house. I already have to pack formula and hot water, so Im good for now. I am going to try to get by without daytime solids until 6+ months. She is only having them at our dinner time (5:30) now.

That is pretty much it for our weekly wrap up and summary. We are just trucking through everything, enjoying it as we go.

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!

Our Homeschool Curriculum Choices 2016/2017

by Meghan // July 28, 2016 // Comments off

Aaaah Every homeschool mama’s dream- getting the new school year’s supplies and curriculum all planned out and organized.

As you all may know, we *love* Sonlight’s curriculum as our core- Bible, history, and read alouds. We also love their readers (books children learn to read on their own).

This past school year (2015/2016) we used Sonlight Core A with the intention of stretching it out over two years- I planned to do that by reading sequels to books, adding in lapbooks and other units, while alternating weeks of SL and these other things, etc.

Yea … so we still flew through it! The kids asked all the time to read our “learning time books,” and did not like me alternating some weeks of all the great read alouds and history books from SL in an attempt to stretch it out.

Because we didn’t stretch Core A over 2 years as planned, this left me with an extra year to fill- a year known in the homeschool world as a “gap year.”

As it turns out, SL revamped their cores for 2016, which means Core A has some new books added and some old ones removed! They also separated their language arts from the core itself. This helped me create a new plan for our next few school years.

Here is what we will do for the next few years:

2016/2017- Gap Year using Beautiful Feet Early American History as core (ages 4 and 6)
2017/2018- Revisit Sonlight Core A (ages 5 and 7)
2018/2017- Begin Sonlight Core B (ages 6 and 8)

Why is this helpful? Because it means I can keep my two oldest in a Core together, and my two youngest (who are toddlers and a soon to be born baby) will core together when they are ready to begin. Inserting a gap year here puts my two oldest at the best possible ages for the Cores; with Sonlight it is generally better to be in the top of the age range than the bottom because book content is heavier as you get to Core D and the farther in cores you go the more chapter books you encounter.

Break Down of What We Will Use for 2016/2017

Last year my 3 year old tagged along for Core A, as I have mentioned, and learned to count to 100, ID all his letters and their sounds, and just found a love for learning (slooowly but surely). My oldest, 5 years old, loved every minute of Core A, and began reading anything she could get her hands on, including books on 3rd-4th grade level. She seriously just picks up any book and read it.

They both LOVED the pioneer era, so I thought for our gap year doing an Early American History study would work out well! We chose Beautiful Feet Books Early American Primary Jumbo Literature Pack for our curriculum this year. I am truly 100% excited!

We have done 2 years of other cultures/world history so I thought this year we could take a break from that (though I think I may have a couple of future ap world history students!) while we enjoy a little bit of studying closer to home, before we jump back into world cultures/world history with Core A again.

2017 Curriculum Choices (Kindergarten age 6, Preschool age 4)

Together we will all enjoy:

History/Core– Beautiful Feet E.A. History- this also incorporates copywork and writing
Bible- Reading from Egermeier’s Bible Story Book
Memory work (Bible verses, poems, etc that I have chosen)
Science- Apologia Science Astronomy second edition (oh my goodness we are LOVING this-review to come in September) used with the Jr. Notebooking Journal for Kindergartener, the preschooler will tag along/color pictures as we read
Art– Artistic Pursuits- we love this program, hands down

Kindergarten (age 6)

Reading– AAR Level 2/3- we are about half way through Level 2 now, so we will continue on to Level 3 once we are done
Readers– we will continue using Sonlight’s readers, as well as other first and second grade readers from the library
Spelling– AAS Level 1- we did not being AAS last year as I had planned (mama was just too sick/exhausted with pregnancy to add in anything else at the time) so we will begin it this year. Lexie is very concerned about how to spell her words and because her reading level is so advanced I figured this is a good time to gently introduce spelling.
Math– Saxon 1/2- we will finish Saxon 1 and move on to Saxon 2 this year. Max, the preschooler, will tag along using manipulatives to understand concepts instead of writing
Handwriting– we will use our faithful copywork, as well as A Reason for Handwriting book B
Writing– copywork, journal, and modeling (I plan to introduce more formal grammar/writing at 2nd grade level)

Preschool (age 4)

Reading- All About Reading Level 1 (mixed with some games from the Pre Reading level because he loves them)
Math- tag along using manipulatives to understand concepts instead of writing, learn to write numbers
Handwriting- Handwriting Without Tears Preschool or K book (I haven’t decided yet… he is still very much at the pre writing level, but I know Lexie flew through that stage once she got started, so we may just go to the K book first)
I plan to use lots of hands on and games with him; he loves puzzles and mazes, building things, and sports right now so there isn’t a ton of interest in paper and pencil learning just yet. I don’t want to burn him out or push him too young. He is excited about learning to read and write letters, but short of that it will be a lot of play.

Miss Tot (2)

Ila will tag along, get some one on one time with mama, and enjoy independent play during our school time. She is learning her shapes, colors, ABCs, and how to do puzzles right now. Really, she has mastered her puzzles and counting to 10, so we will just continue with songs, finger plays, and other tot-time learning for her. =)

In addition to our curriculum, we will do LOTS of play outside, work on the farm, and learn through nature.

So, as for now, these are our plans for homeschool this year! If things change or I add something (haven’t yet placed my last order..) I will do a part II and let you know.

What will your school year look like for 2016/2017?

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!

Accomplish ALL The Things {Simple Woman’s Daybook 23}

by Meghan // April 20, 2016 // Comments off

Outside my Window …
It is gray, cloudy, and the sun isn’t up. We have had rain for 3 days now! YAY

I am thinking…
About all the things I need to start fitting into my day: more floor time with Ila, more violin practice with Lexie, more ironing of J.Tom’s clothes (one day I will be able to afford the cleaners!), more walking, more pregnancy exercises … oh. And more menu planning (really not doing good menu planning), and more blog planning.

How’s that for thinking 😉

I am thankful…
That my husband woke up before me to make coffee and feed the baby cows. =) We have started weaning them from their milk (a little late), and boy are they pushy! We don’t let them boss us, but the taller brown one sure tries.

In the kitchen…
There is bone broth that needs to be jarred up and put in the freezer.

And coffee!

I am wearing…
A maternity dress- it is one of the really old ones from my pregnancy with Lexie. It doesn’t really fit well, but they make great house dresses now, and are comfy to sleep in. Old Navy, $10 6 years ago.

I am creating…
probably a mess of everything. I have so much to do; today is cleaning day, but I also have to work in the basement (ugh) and get ironing done. I have dresses to finish sewing before baby comes, I want to put together a small unit study for the kids on Little house in the Big Woods, because we are about to finish that, and then we are going to grow crystals. That’s creating stuff, right? =/

I am going…
I need to go to Costco this afternoon; if the Mister takes a good nap we will go get groceries and then meet the daddy for dinner out.

Did I mention I have done a really bad job about menu planning lately?

I am wondering…
If it will continue to rain and fill the pond up. We thought we had a leak … thankfully the hubby had access to a few tons of kitty litter so we spread that out where we thought the leak may be. However, it may in fact just be that we didn’t have a wet winter and our runoff is blocked a bit, and there is a huge pond next door that has to fill before ours will.

Hoping the hard heavy rain we got last night started the process. We have had slow, steady rain for 2-3 days now. It has been wonderful!
I am reading…
Oh gosh! Okay, so I have a few books on my shelf, but have only really started one. The first two are homemaking books from the library, though I think I would like to own both. and the rest are books about raising boys. Cause … my little Mister is the only Mister and I am a girl. Therefore I really know very little about raising boys.

The Hands-On Home
Little House Living
Wild Things: The Art of Nurturing young Boys
Shepherding a Child’s Heart
I have a few more specifically on boys, but haven’t started them yet and am unsure of the titles.

I am hoping…
really more like praying God helps me find me the patience and energy today to accomplish all the things!

I am looking forward to…
Not having a mile long to do list! It seems to come in phases, sometimes I feel like I have it all done and everything is great (obviously, it probably really isn’t). And then sometimes I am SO. Far. Behind. Like now. =)

I am learning…
That my Mister needs freedoms, and boundaries, and more reinforcement of consequences when he breaks those boundaries.

Also, that I have let a LOT of time get by me before this baby gets here! I am 27.5 weeks already, and we have a TON of rather big things to do.

Around the house…
dusting. vacuuming. switching season clothes, packing kids clothes that are too small to save for baby, and I am always decluttering. Which right now I think we are in a pretty good place with that. Minus all these girl clothes I have to hold on to! I know I should throw them away, but I just can’t do it. We’re throwing enough away though, leaving us with a lot of space now. If anyone else needs to declutter their home, it might be worth contacting a company like 1300 Rubbish to make sure they can take the rubbish away from your home. That always makes the job easier.

A favorite quote for today…

One of my favorite things…
that Ila has FINALLY this week, started saying more words: red car, Lexie, mister, bear, more animal sounds, hair bow, and she pretends to read the words in books by speaking her own little baby Japanese. It is really cute.

I also LOVE that Lexie begs to take Ila outside while I am prepping meals, switching out laundry, etc. I do let her take her on the porch or to the back concrete and Lexie just loves it. So does mister- he drives Ila around in the back of his little pick up truck. She is so loved.

A few plans for the rest of the week:
I think ALL the lists above should cover this one. =)

A peek into my day…
This was the other day

Baby #3 Summary: 18 month Update and Routine

by Meghan // March 14, 2016 // Comments off

Well … Talk about dropping the ball =/ Poor Ila hasn’t had very many baby updates.

But, here I am with her 18 month baby summary!

Personality and Development

Ila walks to the beat of her own drum, for sure. While Mister and Lexie are out running around on their many adventures, Ila is usually either off in her own world (playing with trucks, or sitting in a hole in the yard playing with dirt), or totting right behind them. She is still obsessed with animals and tends to talk back to them in their language, more than she speaks to us in ours. She moos at cows, tweets and whistles at birds, growls at the dogs, and SCREAMS some wild meows at the cats; she can call, “here chick, chick, chick” just as well as I can, doesn’t have a single fear of those calves in the barn. As far as she is concerned, Thora and Charlie belong to her and she is one of them. (she doesn’t discriminate!)

Speaking of walking … Ila started walking full time somewhere around November (14 months) which is the absolute latest of all my babies. The first two were walking by 9-10 months. Ila just wanted to take her time.

Speaking of speaking … Ila has words, she just chooses not to use them most of the time. Ha! Her vocabulary consists mostly of: Tho-ra, charlie (which comes out something like chagie), dog dog, meow, cat, air (airplane), mama (for mama, more, please, I’m waiting! and NOW!!), dada, dada home (cause that’s the biggest deal of the day besides meals), and my absolute favorite which comes out plain as day Yes Ma’am! haha Why of all the words we have taught her did that phrase stick, we will never know… There are a few more I am forgetting I’m sure, but these are the most widely used. She won’t say Lexie or Max yet.

She does sign for her drink and please … but that’s about it. She CAN doe “more-more” but chooses not to most of the time unless I really make her. 😉

I can say this about her- she is smart and hilarious! She picks up on things so fast, without us even really realizing it, which I am sure is because she is submerged in a literature and language rich environment AKA living with her siblings. They talk to her, sing to her, read to her, pretend with her, and if I’d let them they would feed her (that may or may not happen on occasion). One day after dumping the ABC beanbags into the laundry basket, I found her sorting out the bean bags and laundry, putting each item where it belongs.
She is so funny, and will do just about anything to put a smile on your face. She also finds herself quite humorous … I think she takes after her daddy!

My silly, sweet, snuggly little rag-napper. She enjoys stealing my rag off the kitchen sink

She is the snuggliest of all my babies. Max was a snuggler, but mostly because he was refluxy and cranky and needed lots of reassurance; that snuggly behavior stuck through his personality to today. Lexie liked snuggling as a baby (and really craves it now at 5.5) but then she wanted to go do her thing and come back again later. Ila will just snuggle all day if you let her; she walks up to J.Tom and me and gives the BIGGEST squeeze hugs around our legs. She often just wants to be held and lay her head on my shoulder. She gives great big, squeaky kisses that put the slobberi-est of dogs to shame!

Eating and Favorite Things

At meals, she likes to be the first to fold her hands for the blessing so she can start eating. She has started pointing to things and counting (like she sees Mister do), and she likes to bring me letters and say Mmmmm. Apparently all letters are M (probably because Max says M-A-X Max! all day long). She has discovered her spit (ew) and blows spit bubbles to get attention. Her favorite foods are probably whole pears, which she has been eating since she was about 8 months old, and anything I cook that is warm. She will devour anything, but like beans and ham, spaghetti, turkey sandwiches with spinach, and loooove green beans. She really likes the tomatoes out of my vinegar salad and roasted broccoli.

She has finally started enjoying listening to me read to her; up to this point she just wanted to sit in my lap while she held the book and thumbed the pages. Somehow it just soothed her, the feeling of the pages flipping. And she still enjoys that, but we have started reading her Bible and she is actually listening and points to the pictures, etc. So that’s nice. While Mister and Lexie are doing school, she likes to ask for crayons and paper … but she just eats the crayons.

Her favorite things are our animals, anyone’s shoes, flipping through books, eating, and dancing. She will play with Mister’s toy trucks for what seems like hours and rolls them all over the house.

Her eating schedule looks just like ours now. Here is her daily routine:

7am wake/snuggles
7:30 breakfast- fried eggs, homemade oatmeal, and fruit with water
- play while we finish morning school basket/do morning chores, begin school
9:00/9:30-10:30 she goes to independent play in her crib while we do parts of school that require a little more quiet (Lexie reading aloud, math, me reading aloud if she is being particularly loud!)
11:15 lunch
12:00 nap She usually sleeps until 2 or 2:30
3:00 everyone up from naps
outside play/play downstairs if weather is nasty
5:30ish dinner
6:15ish bath
6:30/6:45/7pm bed, depending on what time she woke up from nap. If she slept until 2 or later bed is 6:45 or 7pm
All kids are in bed by 7, earlier if Max didn’t nap good

Everything is flexible by a few minutes other than sleep times.

This month marks the firs that we have truly been Wonder Week free! Whew- let me tell you, since about Christmas, we have had one WW after another. Some of those wouldn’t have been that noticeable, except that hers manifest themselves in waking at night- not just waking, but screaming all night unless being held. A few times I tried to hold her, but she wouldn’t go to sleep, only stop crying. So we had many wakeful, exhausting nights. And once she came out of the WWs (I think they were the last 2 until she turns 2?) everything went back to normal. Thankfully!

I think that is about it on her baby summary. My next will probably be when she is about 2. Of course we should have a newborn by then, so the summary may be a little late 😉

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!