our day

Woke up.
Read books- Curious George Flies a Kite and a chapter in Paddington Bear.
Got dressed.
Made chocolate chip pancakes.
Did our maze books.
Played with trucks.
Made Strawberry Muffins.
Made a garbage dump with the new dump truck.
Cleaned out our junk drawer and found some lost treasures.
Played the Sausage Game (This is a made up game where the boys try to be sneaky and catch Gritty to "eat" her before the sausage lady catches them) not sure how I got nicknamed the sausage lady:)
Ate strawberry muffins for lunch! 2 each.
Played Ants in the Pants game.
Read a new book: Tops and Bottoms.
Rested.
Had a snack- bread with honey and cheese, cranberries, nectarines and bananas.
Took Gritty for a walk. Landon rode his scooter.
Played in sandbox.
Showered before dinner.
Ate Parmesan Crusted Chicken with risotto and broccoli. One of our favorite dinners.
Read books with dad.
Bed.
Another good day at home.

Creation Station

William's

Landon's
We spent about an hour working. It amazes me how different the two of them are. William made several creations as you can see. Landon made just one. He wanted to keep adding to his. He would describe it to me and every time it would change to something different. It was a bridge and a mushroom at some point.

These are some of my favorite mornings.

life's curriculum

I had a conversation with someone I met at a picnic this past weekend. Pretty much the same conversation I have had with people whenever I say we homeschool. The question: Is there a curriculum?

Well, there could be. I could sit down with them every day and do the typical letters and numbers but that is the very reason we did not send them to school. We learn through our every day actions. We bake- therefore we use numbers to measure. We read- and learn about words, what they mean and how to use them correctly. We play and learn how to interact with one another. You get the idea.

We are life learners. How many times have you wanted to know how to make a certain recipe or learn a new skill? What do you do? Maybe get a book from the library or do some Internet research. You try it until you figure it out. Eric and I have done this with numerous things we now know how to do. So why does it have to be any different for children. It doesn't. It's not.

Both Landon and William learn something new everyday. Be it from a book we read, a trip we go on, their own adventures in the backyard, or their little experiments they like to try. Sometimes even from a show they watch with Eric.(Dirty Jobs is their favorite)

So I say our curriculum is LIFE.

It's a pretty good one too.

great days

Time spent at home is the best time of all. We have had two relaxing days, enjoying each other and savoring time spent with daddy.

The boys wait patiently as Eric gives them a lesson on how to smoke ribs.

It has been a long time since we have done this. An all day anticipation. As the day wears on the smell becomes stronger and makes your mouth water. Eric used lemons, apples, beer and wine for the flavor.

Eric relaxing- something he rarely does.

Mama's knitting - I am trying to finish all my projects before I start a new one. I think there were four in my bag.

Gritty sleeps-what else does she do?

We added the slide.


Dinner is ready!

This was the first time Landon had ribs. The meat was so tender it was easy for him to eat.

William just kept on eating- he is growing like crazy these days. And eats all day long.

A new project- finished in one day! The boys have been wanting a sandbox for a long time. Eric found the plans here.

He modified it for a 6 foot square sandbox.


Landon played happily in it while Eric and William went and got more sand. It took 30 bags of sand to fill it up! Next weekend Eric will make the cover for it.

feels like summer

The past two days we have been busy, busy, having fun.

We had a birthday party to go to.

We have to get one of these!

It's a huge bubble maker. The boys had such a great time with it. The bubbles were so cool to watch!

Cooling off in our little backyard pool.

Homemade popsicles!

This was William's recipe. Strawberries, bananas, apple juice and a spoonful of honey to make it sweet.

Daddy at the grill, with Gritty waiting, wishing for a little drop of something.

A nice weekend to start the summer.

water play

One of those hot days and the boys are trying to cool off. It started out innocently with a bucket of water and before you knew it William was spraying Landon. Landon loved every minute. Their laughter made my heart swell. They get along so wonderfully as brothers and have a good time together. One of the many blessings of being home all day together.

Marvelous Mud

Boys will be boys!