Pictures from our week

Ryan's new favorite is camo

Abby's new hairdo

Created especially for her by her loving big bro

Caleb's newest riding toy...it's really supposed to hold a tub full of megablocks, but this is much more fun!

Cookie Baking Day

Here are some pics from this year's cookie baking day. I think this is our 8th year! The first year I had no babies, the 2nd year I was pregnant with Ryan, and every year since I've had at least one on one hip! This year both Ryan and Abby were old enough to really get into the decorating bit. Abby is quite serious about her decorating responsibility - check out all the sprinkles she put on this cookie!

I think Ryan's favorite decoration this year was the holiday-colored M&Ms.

The kids were especially excited about the fact that Cousin Morgan was able to join the fun again this year.

And, of course, we cannot leave out a picture of Caleb, who spent most of his time running from the kitchen to the living room and back again! Stopping only to pose for the obligatory picture...

Learning Notes - 11/12-11/16

L/A ~ letter "Q" - and we are now finished with the entire alphabet!, Ryan read a mini-book entitled "A Cub" ; we reviewed all the letter cards and he gave me a word that began with each letter (all sounds that the letter made since we used the vertical phonics approach); we also reviewed all of the sight words that he has learned so far

Math ~ MUS Primer Lesson #10 - watched the DVD lesson together, completed practice page 10A & 10B; practiced writing number 6, 5, 8 & 7

Read Alouds ~ My First Counting Book, The Bunny Book, The Bunnies' Counting Book (all Little Golden Books), Fall Leaves by Mary Packard, The Snail House by Allan Ahlberg, Autumn Days by Ann Schweninger, Edward in Deep Water & Ruby's Beauty Shop by Rosemary Wells, Fresh Fall Leaves by Betsy Franco, The Pilgrims First Thanksgiving Day by Ann McGovern and The Very First Thanksgiving Day by Rhonda Greene

Literature Review

I love books. Actually I think that love is not a strong enough word for how I feel about books. I began collecting children's books about 8 years ago when I was planning on becoming an elementary school teacher. Then, God changed our plans and instead I became a mommy and now a homeschooling mommy - I love having a valid excuse for collecting books.

Of course, collecting books can be quite an expensive habit, so I have had to become a bit creative. One of my favorite hangout used to be one of the used bookstores in our area. However, lately I've been using PaperbackSwap to expand my children's book collection. The kids and I also use our local library A LOT! And you can't beat our online ordering system...I search our library's catalog on-line, put my books on hold, and pick up the books at my convenience! This is a life-saver, especially when toting three children (one on my hip!).

There are so many times when I come across a good book - and I want to remember it so we can check it out again, or find others by the same author, but I don't want to spend the money to add it to my collection - so I think I will start blogging about my library finds so I will be able to refer back to the book/author when I need to...

The first book I want to review is one that we actually own. I bought it for my youngest's first birthday. I recently discovered Priddy books, we have a few of the cloth books (so cute) and I wanted a board book...At Borders I came across B is for Bear which is a board book and a touch and feel book - Each page features one letter of the alphabet and a picture to go along with the letter. Most of the pages have some sort of touch & feel component (which all my kids have enjoyed) - either a fuzzy duck or a sparkly rain drop. Caleb's favorite is the mirror for the letter "Y" ("Y is for you, go on, take a look"). Those pages that don't have a touch & feel piece are usually brightly colored and still very attractive to youngsters. I also enjoy the written words, they do rhyme and they are fun to read.

I have enjoyed all of the Roger Priddy books that we have encountered so far. This one, however, is one of my favorite Priddy books.

Fall Fun

Fall is definitely my most favorite season. I love that we live in an area where we get to experience the change of seasons; I especially love the crisp fall weather that has FINALLY arrived! This year Halloween fell on an AWANA night - and instead of trick-or-treating we attended our church's Fall Festival - we had a blast! Our family consisted of one hulk (without the scary mask), one cow, one Eeyore, and one black-eyed pea:

Daddy was quite creative with the carved pumpkins this year. We have a kitty pumpkin for Miss Abby and a cool guy with spiky hair pumpkin for Ryan. BTW, I'm not sure what's up with Ryan - this is the face we get when it's time to pose for pics - he usually is a happy guy - guess he has a hard time smiling for pics though.

And here's what Caleb likes to do with pumpkins and gourds...

We also got to visit one of the local farms to let Ryan try his hand at the corn/apple shooter (he was a bit too small to shoot the larger pumpkin cannon).

Look Who's Walking!

Caleb has been taking a couple steps here and there for about 1-2 weeks, but I don't think he realized what he was doing...on Monday he took a few steps at a time and by Tuesday he was walking across the room!

Fall Y'all Giveaway - Vision Forum Wishlist

Ok, here's my VisionForum wishlist so I can enter In a Shoe's Giveaway

Passionate Housewives Desperate for God 16.00
Moody Science Video Collection (19 DVDs) 160.00
Making Brothers and Sisters Best Friends 12.00
What to Expect from a 12-year old 10.00
The Master's Plan for Fathers 35.00
Teach Them to Your Children 17.00

I could add more but then I would exceed the $250 limit...so many good reads in that catalog!

learning notes 10/29 - 11/2

L/A ~ letters "y" and "v"; sight words "do" and "so"; making words: good, gas, gate, got, dog, grab, grass, gone, wall, well, will, wig, west, wade, wore, wide, yes, yak, yoke, baby, have, save, gave, cry, happy, fly, muddy, vase, vest, love, my, by, sky, live, dove. I have had to get a little more creative with the making words activity so Ryan doesn't get bored: we've used magnetic letters, our WP letter cards, I've made the words and had him read them, he's made the words that I dictate to him and I've had him write them on his handwriting page.
Math ~ MUS Primer Lesson 10 (Hundreds Place)
Read-Alouds ~ Box Turtle at Long Pond, Fishing at Long Pond, Beaver at Long Pond - all by William George; Duck, Duck, Goose by Tad Hills; In the Small Small Pond by Denise Fleming; Month by Month a Year Goes Round by Carol Diggory Shields