Not Quite As I Planned

So, I thought I'd be able to be a great mom, fantastic wife, A+ student, volunteer extraordinaire, an everyday blogger, and a few other daily/weekly task master however it just doesn't look like all that is going to be possible...DUH!  I'm just a bit crazy sometimes :)  I thought I'd jump on here and let you know how the first week of classes has gone for me--fantastic!  I'm excited for my classes this semester--Public Speaking and Personal and Community Wellness.  I'm getting in shape this semester! Last week I completed 5 days of working out and I've already tackled today's workout.  Public Speaking, well, that's a bit challenging but I appreciate the importance of it and how I can definitely benefit from the course.
Enough about me.  The kids completed their first full week of school last week too.  Penelope did her 2 days, one of which was all day.  She has asked daily to go to school despite being told she only goes 2 days a week.  The boys have some great teachers and are off to another wonderful year.  Alexander has already done some research and completed a report on the subject of himself.  John Paul has brought home some papers covering various reviews of last year's work.  I love his handwriting and listening to him read.  The boys are having fun competitions each evening as we review math facts. And, Stella is crawling! Eight months old and crawling! No teeth, no rolling over, CRAWLING!
Check a few of these out
Get some quick extra nutrients in your diet at Green Thickies
Was so excited for her baby announcement.
I'm excited to check out this site with the kids.  Did you know PBS Kids and Whole Foods have teamed up to create Fantastic Organic?
Have a beautiful week! :)

7 Quick Takes

(1) Today is the last day of school (good bye 3rd and kindergarten) for the boys, but learning won't stop :)  I've got some fun activities planned and am going to try a summer long project (thinking of a research project kinda thing) along with daily journaling.
(2) Just finished my homemade cappuccino and really want another one...and another. :)
(3) Could totally take a mini tropical vacation just by eating one of these pineapple macadamia nut macaroons (more about these treats next week!)

(4) I'm such a nerd or just really excited and interested in my summer class...general psychology...that I already started reading the textbook when it arrived earlier this week.
(5) I need to hear from the professor of said summer course to know the syllabus...class starts on 6/4!
(6) I wrote out our daily {flexible} routine/schedule for the summer.
(7) Planning a powwow with the kids this afternoon to brainstorm chores, activities, and the summer bucket list!

HELLO SUMMER!!!!

Homeschooling???

I've had all four kiddos home for two+ days this week (it's Wednesday right now).  The girls are usually home and the boys usually at school.  However the boys are fighting a nasty cold and John Paul has had a very low grade fever.  They are pretty energetic and really not suffering too much.  (A friend pointed out that I'm pretty lucky and should be thankful. So true!)  Anyway, since they aren't too bad, but can't be at school due to that pesky low grade evening fever, I decided we'd do school at home.  We've been busy doing math and reading as well as some art and science too.  I took the girls to story time at the library this morning and took the opportunity to check out a handful of art books.  They are currently recreating masterpieces :)  For science, I cheated and let them watch a science video I picked up.  Math this morning was doing some graphing with Legos--pictographs and bar graphs--and math facts.  I studied to be a teacher, I taught for a few years before having kids, I've occasionally thought about homeschooling, I've decided that I'll keep sending them to school :)

How Pinteresting!

Today I had Alexander home from school. He was slightly sick...okay, he probably could have and should have gone to school, but every now and then a sick day is okay.  He sure was helpful while we ran errands.  It was great having an extra set of hands to help :)  I thought I'd get in some fun learning for him so I turned to Pinterest for some ideas.  I've been collecting various Preschool activity ideas to do with Penelope, so I thought I'd look for some specific things for Alexander.  I've realized that if you are looking for something, pretty much anything, it'll be on Pinterest.  It's like Google with pictures and comments that you can sort and save!  I'm a Pinaholic, I admit it :)  So anyway, along with looking for things for Alexander I also thought I'd look up busy bags since a friend had inquired about them on Facebook.  I've made a few for Penelope and thought I'd do a specific search on Pinterest for the busy bags.  Oh my, there are some FANTASTIC ideas out there.
Take this one for example:

Toddler Busy Bags

This mom set up an exchange of busy bags with other people.  What a cool idea and way to get a variety of bags for little ones.
Here's another one that so simple, yet so much can be done with it.

Clothes Line Busy Bag

With the clothes line bag, patterning and sorting could be done, fine and gross motor skills are practiced, place the tops and bottoms on a piece of paper and then draw heads, arms, legs and shoes.  So much fun in one bag!
And here's another one that has many fun ideas, but that are all in the same theme with more focus on learning. (This blog has so many things that I like, I've been getting her emails for quite a while now.)

Themed Busy Bags

So many fun ideas out there!  I love these busy bags because I already have so many of the items around the house.  Now I need to come up with some that would work for the boys!

My Kiddos

Just some regular everyday time with my kiddos.  Everyone says to enjoy this time, it goes so fast.  I'm trying to really focus and truly enjoy this time with them.

Recently Alexander had a school project that involved creating a diorama.

Lately he's preferred taking the pictures as opposed to being in them.

Alexander's suburban diorama with ponds and the Empire State Building....I asked him why the ESB was in his diorama and he said it's there because his was really small and could fit in the box, but the real ESB is huge and is in New York City.  I think we'll have to revisit this a bit.  See that light at the top?  That's the sun :)

Well, the other kiddos couldn't be left out of such fun! Both John Paul and Penelope created their own dioramas too.

He actually glued all of those Lego dudes in there and used Popsicle sticks to create a road.  He's so proud of his project!  I love it!

Penelope is always trying to be just like her big brothers.  She even does homework like them.  She's been writing the letter P now for a few weeks and is working on the letter B.  Every time she sees a B she says, "B, baby!" 

Perpetual ragamuffin! I think that's some hot chocolate on her face.

 

Trying to tie John Paul's soccer cleats on her feet

School Time!

Tomorrow I will send my 2 boys off to school.  This will be the first time that both of them will be at school, all day, together!  That leaves Penelope and myself at home.  Am I ready?  Yes and no.  Is Penelope ready?  Not the slightest bit!  She call her brothers her buddies.  When she wakes up in the morning or from a nap her first question usually is, "Where the buddies?" Quickly followed by, "I play buddies!"  She LOVES to do whatever they are doing and repeats most everything they say.  She even plays with their friends--with the exception if babies are around, she'll want to help play with and care for the babies.  I think she'll make an excellent big sister! :)  She has a small Pokemon card collection so that she can trade and play with the boys.  In the evenings, I can usually find Penelope and Alexander in bed together reading Calvin and Hobbes books.  If John Paul is bouncing or kicking a ball, so is Penelope.  I love her relationships with her buddies.

We will definitely miss the boys, but I'm so excited for them too.  Alexander starts 3rd grade and John Paul begins kindergarten.  We've met the teachers and seen the classrooms.  I think we are in for a fun and educational year.  The boys are in wonderful hands and fantastic classes.