they grew! 100 days!

Randomly we decided to grow some seeds in baggies about 10 days ago and oh my, Jackson has LOVED this! The pictures are the true joy he expressed when opening the seeds to check on them! no posing at all! I am really starting to think I might have a little scientist on my hands! Which will be hard if we home-school forever since neither Dave nor I excel in science. Jackson loves nature, animals, math and science and we aren't even 6 years old yet! Tonight for a new movie on netflix he picked a documentary about big cats in Africa. He and Lauren both loved it (even the part where they talking about eating the animals they caught...they both tell me it's just the way it is!).

Today we also celebrated our official 100th day of school....even though we are closer to 115/120, we just didn't mark it everyday. when we started this counting journey our fist day I didn't know if I could even make it to the hundreds column in our notebook...and here we are...and that is ALL GOD! Here are few things we have accomplished so far...

-Adding (10 and 10's)

-counting money

-reading beginner books, phonics on all letters

-level 2 of Hooked on Phonics

-almost finished writing a simple book about Jackson

-doing well at handwriting

-learning about nature (he is really into bids now and learning how to identify them)

-working on wood projects

-thinking about the big pictures in life

-reading the Little House on the Prairie Series, he LOVES the adventures they go on! We are on book 3 now...and I love it too!

I truly love homeschooling as tiring as it is....I do look forward to the days when there are no babies and can really focus on the school, some days it's VERY hard to get past the everyday stuff and do school. We have been doing some sort of school since Jackson was 3, he was just ready for something more and we just started and it's so neat to see things we started 3 years ago come into play and what a blessing it is that I get to see all this happen!

kids in snow! Feb 5 2011

images today...

more bird pics...

these might be the same birds as the other day, but I got better pics today. Can't wait to find out what they are for jackson's nature book! we will do that this afternoon!

My snow day...

Well we didn't make it out the door but for a minute and the kids didn't play in the snow, but we still had a great day! it is sooo cold and normally we would have gone out, but between lots of cooking, dave working from home, washing dogs, naps, having to find the winter clothes, schoolwork and just being tired we didn't go out.

I did play with my new camera lens, which made me really eager to get outside and play more with it. I also would like to take a photography class, but have no clue when I would sneak that in. I threw some birdseed on the porch (saw a friend had done that) and watch the birds come. Jackson LOVED watching the birds. Tomorrow we will go back and identify the birds and put them in his nature notebook. here are some of the pics I got from outside today (and a few other things)....

his reaction to the birds!

checking snow levels! he got 6 and 7....so we will say 6.5 inches! but it's still snowing as I write this...I bet it's 7ish now!

Peter loved to watch the birds and snow!

the best blizzard shot we got!

sunset....the sun came out for just a few minutes!

I would love to say he liked to watch the snow, but he just watched Dave...he loves his Daddy!

Roller Rink...2011!

Well Jackson has been doing a lot of reading (well I read 95% still) and we said once he filled a reading requirement we would go do something fun. Well he filled it 2 months ago at the beginning of Dave's crazy work schedule and the holidays...but we didn't forget!

Saturday, the morning after Lauren's 4th birthday party (post to come), we all got in the car and headed to Fayetteville....to the disco light, fun tunes and ROLLER SKATES! I mean really are Dave and I actually going to get on them??? it's been a LONG time. but then we realized we all have to! can't send all three kids out with no experience and no hand to hold. yep, ALL FIVE of us did it...it was an adventure to say the least! :)

So how did it go?? Well at first Jackson was very upset (he is a perfectionist) and just couldn't get it. He is almost in tears, very sad about this reward activity. But by the end (2.5 hours later and Dave pushing him out there) he had improved a LOT and was asking to come EVERY Saturday. Lauren never really liked it, but did smile some! :) she would NOT let go of either of us! Then there is Peter, he ROCKED it! He would let go, in fact he waved me away the last hour! if he fell he laughed (cried a couple times) and got back up and tried again. He just loved it and by the end he really was doing great! My baby isn't a baby anymore and this event with all the kids was surreal. no one to hold, everyone participating, crazy! oh and my not so baby anymore turns TWO next month!

My BIG boy! Roller skating for the FIRST time!

Peter had so much fun!

WOW....all my kids are so big now!

Lauren didn't frown the entire time...see picture below...

there is the smile....see she did have some fun....poor thing just didn't love this activity, but stuck with it even while getting a blister!

Peter really was the youngest skater there...pacifier and all! :)

the coolest helpers to learn to skate!