Stuck at home pt. 2

Some days seem to have a will of their own. And no matter how much you want to make a turkey cupcake, it ain't gonna happen! Because you're out of baking soda, and can't find candy corn, and the kids are at each others throats.

Some days you have plans for fun crafts, lunch, snacks, and memories together and it all turns south and you realize you don't even have bread for lunch that day. (We made home made lunchables) lol --

So, when all else fails...and when staying at home is driving you and everyone else crazy. I mean really crazy.... you just go to Lowes and look at the Christmas decorations instead. =) And lay out frozen spaghetti to reheat from a few nights before and call it a day.

Both kids asleep when I got there. Crazy!

Yay for Christmas lights!

And Frostys to help sore throats

Even if they get everywhere.

These are how the turkeys turned out from yesterday. I love them! Can you guess whose is whose? 

Thumb print turkeys. I need to make the faces on them still.

And gratitude pumpkins from the weekend. I loved how these turned out. 

When we got home Ryan's fever had returned and he was coughing and sneezing so it looks like its home again tomorrow. =) Thankful for God's many graces even on the not so fun days. =)

Stuck Inside!

This is how the past two solid days have looked at our house. Sick! Fever sick. High fever sick. Sunday Josh was sick, Monday Ryan was sick, Tuesday Scott was sick. For three straight days we have been inside. The kids did literally nothing but sleep and watch TV. 

Today both boys woke up without a fever. Yay! But... I knew they weren't ready to be out. Both had energy back which was good, but keeping them inside all day was going to be a task! So, this morning I made a list of all the things we could do so we wouldn't lose our minds! 

- Calendar time/Tracing time/Highlights magazine

- Snack- make trail mix

-art projects...(check pinterest)

-TV time

- outside time

- book/puzzle time separately

-hot chocolate?

I was literally trying to come up with anything I could think of. I have had some long days here at the house before when I felt unprepared for keeping these two busy. With my list in hand I felt like I had a plan for the day!

First we did art....

I found this turkey pasting activity on pinterest that was super easy for me to put together. I forgot to get a pic of the finished product but they were cute! 

Then...

The boys made Thanksgiving bracelets and loved that. Ryan's had to be a pattern and Scott's could just be whatever he wanted. =)

Next...

I let the boys make their own sandwiches like at Subway. They love doing this. It can be a big mess, but worth it!

and more art...

The boys did a brown handprint for a turkey and then thumb prints for feathers. I taped something over the turkey's "head" so they wouldn't paint over it. 

And then outside time...

We only stayed out for around 15 minutes because Scott fell off the slide and started coughing. Really short lived! It was freezing cold too.

We also did some reading, tracing, TV watching, and some free play time. Josh came home for lunch which gave me a short break to go on a walk which was wonderful! Overall my day turned out way better than I thought it was going to be just by doing some really simple things together. I have a feeling we will be here all day tomorrow too to let the boys have one more day to get over the sickness. I think I will start my list of activities tonight! I'm thinking turkey cupcakes??

What do you do when you are stuck inside all day? I'm open for ideas! =)

School's in Session!

School is here! I love school. Love school. School at home is different and I am still learning what it looks like for me. This is how we began school this year. I have changed a few things (as i tend to do) but I am excited about the year and having fun with the kids. 

This chart changes weekly and has a different verse to memorize, song, letter of the week, number of the week, sight word and lesson.  The lessons have brought about a lot of good discussions!

They are so cute!

Scott will be doing lots of activities like these to help with fine motor skills and just for fun!

He also loved his coconut tree!

during his lesson

Of course Ryan wanted to play with Scott's tot stuff too. =)

His story for the week and patterns.

Independent work trays (during Scott's nap). The star trays are for when he is finished with all his work.

Coconut story

Coconut patterns

Letter A fun. Scott did not want to glue these on so that he could eat them!

Ryan enjoyed it too.

A is for Alligator fun!

Here are our goals for the year:

Scott -

- recognize his letters (atleast uppercase)

- learn his ABC song better

- continue to develop a love for being read to often. (with more difficult books)

- learn to OBEY the first time! =) lol 

Ryan -

- become familiar with word families, sight words, and reading basic basic books independently.

- Continue to love to be read to!

- Learn some basic math concepts like money, time, patterns, skip counting, and recognizing numbers.

- Learn to correctly form all letters and numbers.

This year we will also be involved in our Co op group where Ryan will be in a writing, reading, and math class with 8-10 other kids his age. Ryan is also involved in Soccer!

Along with these things a big goal for me over the course of the year is to enjoy my children. I know this time goes by so quickly and more important than learning anything I want to love them and discipline them well this year. Another goal for me is to be flexible and willing to change things that don't work or seem ineffective. I have trouble with getting an idea in my mind and becoming frustrated when things don't work out like I expected them to. I need to work on this. And to give myself grace when things are crazy and school doesn't even happen. That is ok. =) This is what I am learning and I have so so far to go in understanding how to make this work. But i am excited about the journey! =) Thanks for reading!

Happy Birthday Ryan!

What a gift this sweet boy is to me and our family. It is hard to believe he is 5 years today! He is always planning, talking, keeping me on my toes, laughing, reading, getting into mischief, playing with Scott, and loving life. His excitement and joy leaks out into the lives of others and is awesome to watch as his mama. He reminds me of his daddy everyday! I love him so much and to be able to teach him, watch him, learn from him, and grow together has and will always be one of the biggest blessings in my life. Praise God for 5 years ago today and the special gift he had in store for us! Here is a look at some classic Ryan moments over the past year!