Homeschool Update

It's official! We have received notice that we have completed our second year of homeschooling, and our daughter has finished 1st grade!

This year was a very full year:
1. Trip to NY to visit family and attend her first show on Broadway.
2. Fell while jumping up to the monkey bars and broke her wrist. Ended up learning a lot about anatomy after 3 months of recovery!
3. First ever camping trip in a tent!
4. First time selling stuff door-to-door to raise money for Brownies.
5. Field trips to places ranging from colonial farms to historic houses to corn maizes to chocolate factories to vet hospitals to pet stores to museums to rock climbing to special exhibits in DC.
6. Singing carols to earn donations for a food pantry.
7. Collecting coats for homeless people.
8. Doing Life of Fred math work
9. Participating in classes: Lego Pre-engineering, art, and Zumbatomic
10. Advancing her reading skills
11. Studying the Revolutionary War using Liberty Kids
12. Studying science using The Magic School Bus
13. Volunteering 15 hours at The Closet
14. Doing a community clean-up day
15. Playing with friends!
16. Raising butterflies
17. Building wood projects at Home Depot with her Dad on Saturdays
18. Packing meals for school children for The BackPack Program
19. Singing in church and beginning to acolyte at church
20. Playing soccer on a team with practices twice a week and a game once a week
21. Earning Brownie badges and patches
22. Traveling to CA for a funeral
23. Supporting mom while she dealt with allergic reactions and last-minute trips to CA to be with family

Interestingly enough, the most important things we did this year had very little to do with traditional school. In fact, it almost didn't reveal any elements of traditional school. However, she is at or above all the markers for first grade! By just living life, we were able to keep up with the other kids, and we were blessed to do some other really fun stuff that helped develop her character and world view.

GE Profile Convection Microwave Review

Some people buy just any old microwave. Ya' know, the one that's pretty, matches their kitchen, and fits into their budget.

And then, there's me! I researched microwaves for a few weeks. I called several stores and talked to sales people. I visited stores and talked to sales people. I called GE customer service to inquire about the microwave. I read reviews online over and over again.

Finally, we decided we were going to buy the GE Profile Convection Microwave! We are so happy we bought it! It bakes; it toasts; it roasts; it heats; it defrosts; it saves counter-space; it vents exhaust; it tells me messages when I've tried to do a function on the unit that it doesn't like; it's great! The fan for the convection oven is no louder than the microwave noise. Also, the fan doesn't run after you've turned off the oven function. A standard sized cookie sheet fits inside, as does all my Pyrex cookware.

I have an extra oven and microwave all-in-one! What a great appliance!

So far, I highly recommend this convection microwave oven!

A Veterinarian Birthday Party

As you probably read, we had several birthday celebrations at our house! We started with the neighborhood party, moved on to the birthday day celebration with family, and finished the birthday celebrations off with a veterinarian birthday party!

Our daughter wants to be a vet when she grows up. She used to want to be a mom when she grew up, but she's changed her mind...we'll see how many more times it changes! So, with this career choice influencing her, she asked for a vet birthday party.

How to Host a Vet Birthday party:
1. Ask all your friends to bring a favorite stuffed animal friend.

2. When all your guests have arrived, have them introduce their stuffed friend (name, how long they've had them, where they got them, etc).

3. Have a tag, collar, and leash table ready for the girls! I pre-cut leashes and collars out of scrap fleece fabric. I chose fleece because it doesn't fray, and it's usually in the scrap section at JoAnn's. We lucked out and found puppy paw fleece! I also pre-cut 4 inch squares of colorful card stock. And you need a few spools of ribbon, hole punch, markers, and scissors.

4. Tell the guests that before they enter the vet's office, their animals need new leashes, collars, and tags so that they don't get lost. Have the girls make name tags out of the card stock in any shape they choose. Cut out the shape, hole punch a hole, write the name on the tag, and feed through a piece of ribbon. Tie the ribbon onto the collar fabric. Tie the collar fabric on the animal. Tie the leash onto the collar.
                                      
5. Invite the guests to join you in the vet office! For the office, I set up three tables that were labeled: bumps and lumps check, eye and ear check, weight and height check. We also had a crate set-up and told the girls the bed was the surgery center. When they entered the vet office, I gave them a clip-board with a check-in paper for them to fill in their animal's information.

6. After the vet office, they came back to the dining room to play pin the tail on the dog.

7. We finished the party off with milkshakes!

How to have a birthday party for a ton of kids!

We decided to have 2 birthday parties and 1 birthday day this year. At first, this sounds ridiculous, but it actually makes a lot of sense. Or so I tell myself!

We live in a "Leave It To Beaver" neighborhood where about 10-20 kids are running around playing every evening. The kids get along great. Most of the parents have similar expectations about their child's behavior. It's a fabulous place to live! But.....come birthday party time, it's a little difficult to include everyone.

So in August, our neighbors threw a "neighborhood friend party" and a "school friend party" for their daughter, and we copied the idea!

Our neighborhood party was on Saturday evening, and there were about 20 kids here for it. We invited almost everyone in the neighborhood who has kids and about half were able to join us. Our best friends from preschool were also able to come celebrate!

We set up food and drink tables under a tree since it was drizzling, and began playing fun games with the kids!

We played limbo, jump rope, freeze dance, hot potato, and make dad a mummy. We sang Happy Birthday.We ate birthday brownies. We let the kids go and play Ghost in the Graveyard and Sardines. The adults snacked, drank, and loosely supervised while the kids laughed, screamed, and played! It was a fabulous evening of fun!!

Baby to Toddler to Preschooler to Girl.

It was a big day for us seven years ago!

I remember our drive to the hospital in eager anticipation of our little baby's arrival like it was yesterday. We didn't know if she was going to be a he or she, but, secretly, we were both hoping for a little girl! Five hours after we arrived at the hospital, after arguing with a nurse, calling in our good friend to act as our doula, having a little scare about my water, and blissfully receiving drugs, our little girl was born!

I remember holding my breath until hearing her scream. Oh, how we love to hear a baby scream at the beginning....and our little girl has never stopped screaming! Thankfully, these days it's usually screaming in playful joy with friends!

We called family. We called friends. We hugged. We snuggled. We saw visitors. It was wonderful!!!! Ya know, minus the whole broken tail bone, little blood issue, and other stuff. 

This week we celebrated seven years since that memorable day. That day in which our lives changed forever. We celebrated at three parties this year, which might have been a little overwhelming for my husband and me, but she adored all the parties, presents, and attention!

She is a child who has a fabulous imagination, contagious laugh, strong opinion, curious mind, and playful spirit! She's a child who challenges us, stretches us, and encourages us to be better parents and better people. She's a child who loves strongly and deeply.

We are grateful God chose us to be her parents, and we look forward to another adventurous year together!

Fun Amongst Grief

It's been a sad few months here at our house with too much death in the family. As the saying goes, though, weddings and funerals are great family reunions! I got to spend lots of fabulous time with my niece and nephew out of all the grief! I'm so glad I snapped this picture at the park!

A Dirty Start to May

After a few days of dreary weather, we finally had sun today! Woo-Hoo!!! We had a friend visiting us today, and so we ventured outside to soak up all the glorious sun!!

And....since it was so beautiful, we ended up in the creek....3 times at morning, afternoon, and evening!!!

For our last creek adventure after dinner, we recruited more friends! This is what they looked like after hiking through the creek, catching tadpoles, surviving a collapsing bridge, and sinking in clay puddles! Needless to say, it was a glorious way to start our spring.

(Note: I know spring technically started a little while ago, but we're just now getting around to celebrating it!)