The most wonderful time of the year...

Have had a very busy Holiday season so far this year. Our HS Christmas party was fun, singing carols, eating yummy food & making ornaments that will be taken to a retirement community & given. Had fun putting up our tree, Christmas village & decorating the rest of the house. Enjoyed our annual trip to Apple Hill & brought back lots of apples which were made into pies, muffins, applesauce, & other apple flavored food...
We are making some of our own Christmas traditions to do every year. Including caroling, charity, gingerbread decorating, nativity, advent, & reading different Christmas stories...etc.
Above are some pictures of the gingerbread decorating fun:)

Defying gravity & Christmas decorating

Thanksgiving

We had a nice holiday with lots of yummy food. Before our break, C did a Thanksgiving lapbook. Of which I will post pics soon. She learned all about the Pilgrims, Indians & the reason for Thanksgiving. Both girls had fun learning-so did I :) We made Pilgrim popscicle stick puppets & put on a little skit. We also made a Mayflower board game. Who knew school could be so fun? If my schools were this fun, I would've paid a lot more attention in class!
Reading an amazing book called Redeeming Love-Can't put it down! Thank you for the loaner L :)
Made homemade pot pie for the first time-even made the filling totally from scratch ( no canned soup)It came out really great. Email me if you would like the recipe :)
Planning a special little girl's 5th birthday & my favorite favorite time of year-Christmas! N loves Christmas too. She was born in Dec so maybe that has something to do with it. The girls wanted to decorate for Christmas early this year. They decorated a small Xmas tree & we put it in their room. They have been wrapping their toys & sticking them under their little tree :)
N asked me if we could keep the Christmas tree & all the decorations up ALL year. lol:)
I hope the holidays bring you & your family joy this year:)

Halloween '09

Ancient Egypt Lapbook

Fall Update

We have been listening to The Story of the World on audio cds & learning about ancient cultures. We just did an Ancient Egyptian lapbook & C gave a verbal "report" in front of her fellow homeschoolers. It was very surprising (in a good way) to see all the information she had retained & she insisted on going up there all by herself. She did a great job!:)
We also finished our apple study with the story of Johnny Appleseed & will be going on a field trip to Apple Hill soon.
The girls are learning so much & we all are having a great time on this new road of homeschool...More to come...

Homeschool

I was so inspired by a friend of mine's blog that I am going to try to keep up with this one on a more regular basis. :)

This year is our first "official" year homeschooling & we all LOVE it! We are all learning SO much! We are on our third unit study now. We just got done with our study of pumpkins & finished off the study with a field trip to Bishop's Pumpkin Farm. This was our first time going to this farm & we thought it was the biggest, best one we've ever seen. They make homemade pies from the pumpkins they grow. We brought home a pumpkin walnut pie-so yummy:)

We are now studying apples, how they grow, pollination process...etc.
We cut open an apple the other day & sort of dissected it only to find that it only had 2 little seeds inside. I thought there would've been a lot more...


N is learning to read small 3 letter words. C has mastered basic reading & is getting into the more difficult reading. C's handwriting has improved. N can write her name (sometimes with a backward letter or two:)
I really like our math curriculum. I wish my math would've been this much fun when I was a kid.
Science is a Creation based book full of colorful pictures & songs to help remember facts.

We spent all day socializing with other homeschooled kids & will be spending most of the day tomorrow with the group on a fun fieldtrip.
This group of kids is so great too. A couple weeks ago one of the kids (who was a little older) reminded N to say please when she asked him for his ball.:) I love that the older kids are basically mentoring the younger ones. We all need to do that for eachother. Use our special talents & gifts to come beside others (without judgement) & help.

Well need to go finish dinner...:)

wwas (will write again soon)

Well, I haven't written for awhile. A lot has happened since my last post. N turned 3! C is getting ready to turn 5 & just got accepted into a wonderful school! Because of the economy & gas prices, Scott will be telecommuting a couple days a week. So our big project is getting the back room organized enough so we can make office space for him...
I have been ballroom dancing & competing for about a year now. I absolutely LOVE it! I even got to meet & talk with a few of the professional dancers from Dancing With the Stars-kind of cool. I encourage ALL wives & mothers to get back out there & do what you loved to do before you became a wife & a mom. Something that is JUST FOR YOU :) I guarantee you it will recharge your battery & you will be a better wife & mother for it!:)
Our Foundation for Nathan has also been a work in progress. Slowly but surely we are getting the word out & raising money for research, so we can find a cure for this disease!

The Nathan McGuire Meningitis Foundation
Helping today, so they have tomorrow...
www.firstgiving.com/nmmf

Here are some recent pictures:

Daddy let me make your hair pretty!:)

This is what happens when you live in a house full of girls! hehehehe...I love the expression on his face-classic! He says there is too much estrogen in the house...lol
So if any husbands want to go golfing or just have a guys night hanging out-call S. I know he'd love it. :)

New update

The girls are getting so big! C is now 4 & N will be 3 in Dec. S is doing well at his job & finally bought himself a car he has deserved for years of hard work. I am training for my first Ballroom Dance Competition in Oct which I am very excited about. So, life is continuing on... despite the obvious hole that still exsists & will always exsist in our family.

I am a mother of three. 2 girls & 1 boy. My youngest daughter is 1, then my middle daughter is almost 3 & my son is, well...He's a heavenly 5 year old...He died when he was 3 1/2. There are no words to even begin to describe the pain. So I won't.
I am a stay-at-home-mom & I am so glad! The time I have with my kids is so precious to me & I wouldn't change that for the world. I have a very sweet & hardworking husband who takes care of us. I am very thankful for what I have, thankful for what I once had, sad that he's gone, & hopeful I will see him again.