Reno Air Races

We had a family day at the Reno Air Races. It was a hot day filled with lots of vintage planes, a few stunt shows, Air Force transportation and free T-shirts.


Jay and the children got to see the inside of an Apache helicopter(seen here) and a extremely huge plane used to refill the planes in mid-air(sorry for my lack of plane name knowledge). It is always amazing to me when I see things like this-- these machines are really used to fight for our freedom. We are truly a blessed nation to have the military capabilities to protect ourselves with such machinery.


Ayden's favorite plane of the day--can you guess why? The teeth, that's right.


Can you guess why Emry liked this one? The red, white and blue? You guessed it!


And of course this one was neat because of the face.

It was a lot of planes and a lot of noise and unfortunately the children were done before Jay and I were. We went with a homeschool co-op in Reno and received free admission but Jay and I were wondering if we could leave the children at home next time and enjoy the races by ourselves. The noise of the jets scared Emry, the heat tired Ayden out, Kensley just went along with them and Brady was content but we had to leave early. Jay and I wanted to sit in the bleachers and watch the races and enjoy the Blue Angels practice show but it was not to be. It was a neat thing to experience but we will hold off until everyone is a little older.

Life Learning Center ~ off to a great start!

At Life Learning Center we offer a multi-aged curriculum, which is individualy tailored to each students developmental needs and personal interests. We offer a small student to teacher ratio, 4:1, to be exact, which enables exceptional one on one attention for hands on activities and christian character development. Students participate in daily Bible study & worship, story time, copywork, math, spelling and reading/phonics. Children also participate in weekly drawing practice, fine arts, music appreciation, geography and nature study/science. All subjects are taught in a home environment of safety, comfort and family.

So that is my professional sounding educational goals for the year, now for some cute first day of school photos and tidbits.


Yes, we actually do educate our older children but this shot of Brady and his cute little face and beautiful blue eyes was to cute to pass up. What does Brady do during Lessons? Nap of course, well for most of the time, but he does join us for circle time, crawling around squealing, clapping and pulling the hair of his sisters.



and our sweet KensKens. She to participates in circle time, dancing, singing, praying (and this girl can really pray, head bowed and all), and listening to jokes and stories. After circle she usually colors or does tot trays and sometimes watches a video(Miss. Pattycake is her favorite).


Emry Anne is in 2nd grade this year. She is growing in her reading skills and focusing this year on spelling and geography. She will be doing a continental world tour using picture books and hands on activities. Her favorite free-time activities are listening to books on tape and watching T.V. On the 1st day of school I asked the children a series of questions and took their pictures, here are some of E's answers: her favorite color is purple, her favorite people are, Hannah, mommy and daddy (yeah for us and hopefully we will always be on the list), her favorite things to eat are macaroni and ice cream, her favorite game is the egg and spoon race, she loves to wear dresses, she wants to learn how to cook and when she grows up she wants to go to tea parties.


Ayden is in Kindergarten this year. He is focusing on copywork and math with some practical life lessons and fine motor skills intermixed. This boy loves all things science so we will also be focusing on different science and nature topics such as dinosaurs, magnets, clouds and shells. Here are some of his first day of school answers: A's favorite color is orange, his favorite person is Hannah's brother Steven, he loves any book dealing with futuristic topics, his favorite foods are hot dogs & hamburgers, his favorite thing to do is build, he likes to wear sweat pants and watch future shows (AKA the science channel, do you see a theme here?), his favorite movie is Wall-E, he wants to learn about how things work, tickling makes him happy and when he grows up he wants to make inventions.

We have gotten off to a great start and I am so pleased with the children's efforts. I feel like I have hit the mark for each child's interests and needs because I can see their hearts enjoying the materials I present. Don't misunderstand me, each day presents with challenges, mine and theirs', but God is faithful in giving wisdom, patience and protection with a few glimpses of fruit for encouragement along the road.

Tot School

We are now in our 6th week of school and the children are all doing very well. Kensley is daily asking to do tot trays and is even wanting to make up her own trays, with Ayden throwing in a few tray activities. However, K's absolutely favorite thing to do is color, color,color! Maria Montessori says children have sensitive periods for the various developmental skills, well my girl is having one big time, she will even take previously colored pictures and add another layer of color, asking "is this bootiful?" she loves to color lots of things from barney, to horses and pumpkins but of course like most little princesses, Cinderella is the best, no matter how many times her face has been scribbled over. We have had to have several reminders that we color on paper not on ourselves and I think she has decided to obey. So now onto some cute pictures.



A little fine motor practice with Mr. Potato Head



Coloring a pizza. One of her favorite stories is Pete's a Pizza. It a very cute story about how a dad tries to cheer up his son on a rainy day by making him into a pizza. It is a great story to act out with lots of laughs.



And this is K's ToT tray area. I usually try to always have out something imaginative. On the bottom shelf is a group of bears to go with the picnic basket full of tea party items like dishes, a table cloth and napkins. Also on the trays regularly are a matching activity, a stringing activity, a color activity, a scooping activity and a puzzle. I just introduced K to tongs and tweezers and she really enjoyed it, the Bigs were jealous and asked for their own trays. Tot School is never a requirement at our house but an optional activity while the Bigs are working on their lessons. I do however always require her to finish what she starts and put the activities away properly. So when people wonder how we homeschool with little ones, this is how. I always think it is a good idea to have activities ready for little ones but always remember that their primary task is to play.

Carrot Broccoli Salad

Sorry, I won't be offering a pretty measured out recipie but try it according to your own ratios and you will probably enjoy it.

Mix:
Shredded carrots (I use my food processor for this and the broccoli)
shredded broccoli
dried cranberries
toasted pecans (put them in a dry skillet and toast until browned, watch them because they burn easily)
top with as much or as little dressing as you like

Dressing:
Mix 3/4c. olive oil
1/4c. white wine vinegar
1/2 tsp. chopped garlic
1/4 tsp. salt
1/4 tsp. pepper



It is yummy and a great way to eat some raw veggies--enjoy!

EDIT: Jay added Picture

Lake Nacimiento

My oh so brave parents took Emry, Ayden and Kensely for a week. These photos are from Lake Nacimiento when we picked the children up. The Lake is one of my all time favorite places and I forgot until I got there and took in its familiar sounds, smells and sights. My family has spent so many summers coming here, it is hard to believe I now can share it with my own children.



Brady and Mommy.



Beautiful Kensley Rose.



Brady--just say no to crack!


Jay, Emry and Ayden on Uncle Mike's Sea-Do.



Ayden Joseph

More lake pictures

More pictures of my favorite people and favorite childhood place.


Emry Anne



Kensley with my parents-- "the TUTUs"


Emry and Ayden with my brother Mike.



Kensley Rose



Emry and Ayden on the tube for the first time--what fun even thought one of their turns ended in them both crying.

4th of July

We love our local July 4th parade. It is a good time filled with lots of flying candy, water and sun.


Two good looking fellas.


Daddy and the ladies.


Brady is just fascinated with his tongue.


Emry and Ayden

Brady Michael--Enjoying His First Summer!

A cozy ride and nap during a hike at Emerald Bay.


Brady enjoying a snack at Emerald Bay before the blue jays, chipmunks, geese and ducks have their feast on his leftovers.


All 3 of these pictures were so cute I had to post them all. These were taken at the beach when Emry, Ayden and Kensley were staying with my parents.

Emry's 7th birthday!

Emry's birthday was a birthday with flexibility. I had wanted to do a party at the park with friends but my 100% social girl declined that idea in favor of a sleepover but when her friend got sick it was fast thinking to make her day special. We went with a butterfly theme including a butterfly cake, a butterfly net and a butterfly house. I think she was happy with the day that ended up with us having lunch at a friends' house and a visit to the fun zone at Boomtown.


Emry with her butterfly cake--I got the design idea from Kraft Foods, they really do have some simple and fun cake ideas.


On a carousel at Boomtown. The big carousel is free for all of 2009, for all you locals.


A girl who loves presents.


It was daddy's crepes for breakfast.


And more presents.

Summer Fun!

Daisy Girl--Kensly out in the yard with her favorite "triped dress." The girl loves to wear this dress, dirty or wet, it dosen't matter the chant is the same "triped dress, triped dress!"

Clever Emry Anne--she made her name out of tinker toys.


Yes, this is the old fashioned Lite-Brite. A friend told suggested it to me to work on fine motor skills. Can anyone guess who made this rendition of Wall-E? Ayden.


Have I shown you Emry's teeth or should I say missing teeth?


My favorite picture of Ayden.

The Tour De Nez Bike Race

Every June the Tour de Nez stops in our little town. It is fun evening for the children with bike decorating, racing and watching the clunker race and the professionals race. This year Kensley brought her trike and Jay walked the race with her, she loves to be a big kid like Emry and Ayden.



Kensly and Jay in the little kids race.


Emry taking a moment to smile at me as the racers go by.


The fellas!


Ayden and Kensley looking over the bike decorating choices. Ayden is holding a roll of orange crepe paper, his favorite color.


A bike race and a must have dress.

Tot School

Here is what Kensley has been working on this summer.


A letter matching game using Kensley's name, I got the idea from the Tot School site under tot Tools.



The letter matching tray using our last name. Kensely impressed me with her letter matching, she completed it without a single problem, no she dosen't know the letter but is a proficient matcher.


A color matching activity--again fun and done with no problem.


Kensley sorting the colored pom-poms.


Here Kensley is working on a simple puzzle.

If you need ideas to engage your tot check out the tot school icon and the totally tots icon on our sidebar. Kensley has also been working on "copywork" along side Emry and Ayden. She excitedly gets her pencil box while I print out a block style letter or number for her to color, paint or put stickers on.