Land of the Wee Ones

Tuesday, May 31, 2011

RAFA Awards

RAFA dance awards May 2011

Katie with medals in ballet, tap and jazz

Nick Rookie Baseball

Before the first game

#10 at bat

Getting his trophy from Coach Joe at the end of the season

Thursday, December 09, 2010

Katie's 9th Birthday

Katie at her birthday party at Painted Potter.

Blowing out the candles.

This year's cake. We went simple with an American Girl theme.

Happy 9th Birthday!

Nutcracker 2010

My Little Sentry

Katie and her Rat friend, Nicole

A line-up of Sentries, ready to fight the rats.

Saturday, November 13, 2010

More things

Made these cute baby shoes today.

The fabric came from a friend, and they look absolutely adorable in person.

Not real fond of the raw edges everywhere though.

And made this baby girl outfit some time ago, by taking a store bought pair of leggings and shirt, and adding the ruffled layers to them. Really quick and easy project, and then I added some applique on the shirt to make it match even more.

Quick catchup

My toothless friend.

Playing little league for the Arizona Wildcats

Happy 6th Birthday Nicko!
A birthday full of Legos, Star Wars, and Clone Trooper Cupcakes!

A visit from the cousins. The girls loved each other.

And all of them had a great time celebrating Nick's birthday.

A Lavendar Fairy for Halloween

And Luke Skywalker the Jedi Knight.

And the 2010 Ballunar Festival

On a chilly morning.

Saturday, September 11, 2010

Letter of the Week so far

For "A" we made apple pie. I just picked a simple recipe from my cookbook that I use a lot. I have made many apple pies before. This one ... not so good.

For "B" week we made Birthday Cake Ice-cream Banana Splits. All reviews were thumbs up.

For "C" week we made Clone Trooper Cupcakes and Chocolate Chip Cookies. Some happy kiddos here.

Plans for "D" week ... I picked up a box of beignet mix and we are going to attempt making them. Technically they start with B, but my kids call them doughnuts, thus D it is!

Beach August 2010

A day at the beach in Galveston. Wild waves, that were so loud you couldn't hear anything else. Nick loved jumping in them.

Nicholas, hard at work. He loves to play in the sand and build.

This would be Katie pre-rock falling injury. She was having a great time running around, playing in the sand, and seeing her very first natural hermit crab.

Shortly after, she ran after me towards the big rocks that line the seawall, and sliced up her foot on them. That ended the beach trip. Although she was all up for heading to the candy store in The Strand after we cleaned up the foot and put some bandages on it.

Monday, August 23, 2010

School Year 2010 - 2011

The first day of school has begun!! This year Katie begins 3rd grade, and Nicholas is officially a kindergartener.

So here is a list of what we are doing this year.

Katie - 3rd grade
Math - We are using Teaching Textbooks 4. I like the fact that it is more hands-off for me, and that it is visual, auditory, and tactile. Plus it gives her instant feedback. I think she enjoyed doing math on the computer, and it made her feel more grown-up.

Reading - We are continuing with Sonlight 2 Advanced. Even though she reads well above grade level, Sonlight's list of books is also above grade level in general. So most of the books would be considered at least 3rd grade, plus they are such fabulous books for this level. I didn't want her to miss out on them. Plus we are continuing on with Wordly Wise and doing book 3.

Language - We are doing a combination of Sonlight language arts, and Voyages in English 3. I had the Voyages already, and I really like the way it is laid out.

Spelling - Continuing to go along with Spelling Power. Worked well last year, doesn't take much time, and makes so much more sense than other spelling programs, that make you practice the words you already know.

Handwriting - We have mostly abandoned this, but will continue one day of cursive each week, and then the Sonlight copywork is also being done in cursive this year to give her more practice.

Science - Attempting something new with Noeo Physics 1. Looks easy and fun, and I think will fit both kids well. Plus we added in a Lego Simple Machines set.

History - Continuing on with American History from last year. We are starting with a Native American study, and then moving on with Lewis and Clark, and Westward Expansion. Most of the reading follows Elizabeth Foss' ideas.

Religion / Art- Liked Seton last year, and so continuing this year with Seton 3. Also going to do a saint study to go along with Elizabeth Foss' Alphabet Path that Nicholas will be doing some of. Plus we will be doing some art projects that go along with the flower fairies and saints. I think this will be a lot of fun for both of them, and give us something to look forward to each week.

Nicholas - Kindergarten
Math - Finishing up Horizons Kindergarten Book 2. Then we will continue on with Horizons 1.

Reading - Finishing up Hooked on Phonics Kindergarten and Primary Phonics. Then we will continue with Sonlight 1 starting in November. Lots of sight words. And of course Explode the Code once we start the Sonlight.

Spelling - Sonlight 1's spelling words once we start that.

Handwriting - D'Nealian Kindergarten and 1st grade.

History and Science will be the same as Katie's.

Religion - We will be following the Alphabet Path from Elizabeth Foss, and using the saints as a starting point, along with some good coloring books, and the Everyday Children's Bible.

Hoping to update more as we go along this year.