Marbles

We went to Marbles as a family and joined up with the Klicks again over Christmas vacation and had a great time.

they had a great area where the kids could build igloos
and go ice fishing...very cool!

Daddy and Braden had fun building and racing the derby
cars...Daddy got REALLY into it:)

I (along with the kids) LOVED the magnetic marble runs and decided I want a
small sheet metal wall in our house:)

more weather fun

COOL solar bugs

Kinsey had SO much fun being a mail carrier!

a little boy took her box away and she was NOT happy...
see her holding onto it while she drives??

Cailey stayed in the dress up
area for a long time and kept putting
on shows for anyone who would watch...
my little drama queen:)

writing letters and playing with dinosaurs

Cailey and Kinsey had fun being
firefighters

sweet Caroline asleep
while the daddy's chat

They had so much fun taking turns being the doctors and
patients

Cailey loves to play with
crutches and these fit her
perfectly! She decided that they
hurt her armpits though.

Spring Schedule

I've been asked (by parents who are skeptical about homeschooling) how my children are able to interact with other children and learn 'social skills' so I thought I'd post our new spring schedule that starts tomorrow. It's MUCH fuller than the fall...not quite sure how that happened and I do NOT plan on having this many activities in the future but hopefully the kids will have fun and learn "how to be social:)"(totally kidding)

Monday: 3:30- Swimming Lessons for all three kiddos
Tuesday: 5:00-7:00- Tae Kwon Do for the oldest two and Daddy
Wednesday: 2:30-3:15- Gymnastics for Cailey
6:30-8:00- Awana for Cailey and Braden
Thursday: 2:30-4:30- Drawing and Sketching and Gym class for Cailey
7:00-8:00- Cheerleading (with Upward) for Cailey
Friday: 9:00-12:00- Co op for all three kiddos (Kinsey in preschool, Braden taking reptiles and amphibians and science experiments, Cailey taking arts and crafts and science experiments)
1:00-3:00- Girl Scouts for Cailey (while the others play with other kids their age)
Saturday: time TBD- Cheering for Basketball games
Sunday: 6:00-7:15- Kidz Praise for Cailey

If you add the time up you can CLEARLY see that the kids will be 'socialized'. It's quite overwhelming to me but hopefully the kids will enjoy everything they do. I have NEVER been one to 'force' activities on the kids and won't make them do something they don't want to. Most of these things are requests from the kids. I will say that Cailey is now saying she doesn't want to do Tae Kwon Do but I honestly think that's more due to the fact that I always do special things with just Kinsey during that time. Once it starts up again we'll see if she feels the same way:).

School will pretty much be the same as the fall: Cailey- Math, Phonics, Grammar, Spelling, Handwriting, Copywork, History, Science, Sign Language, Bible, and Novels
Braden- Math, Phonics, Handwriting, History, Science, Sign Language, Novels, and Bible. He sits in on the last four with Cailey but LOVES school:)!!
Kinsey- preschool skills, and Sign Language (which she sits in on and tries to play the games:)

I think this is everything....wow....we do a lot!

Puzzles Galore!

Braden has loved doing puzzles for a long time and is really great at it. The other day he started doing a puzzle and then took out another, then another until our floor was covered in puzzles! He put the two huge 100 piece puzzles and all the other big ones by HIMSELF! Cailey decided to help him out and put together the princess, Mickey Mouse, and Care Bear ones for him:). Once Kinsey saw them both working on them she joined in the fun and tried so hard to put together the Strawberry Shortcake puzzle but had to get some help from daddy. I felt bad telling Braden he had to take them apart on Christmas Eve since he worked so hard and used over 600 pieces but when I told him I'd take a picture of them he was ok with it. Great work guys!

Jumpin' Beans

Brian is off from work all week so we've been able to do some fun things as a family. Every year we look forward to this extra time we can spend with him! We went to Jumpin' Beans and out to lunch with the Klick's and had a great time!

Happy New Year 2009!

New Year's Eve!

kinsey was SUPER excited to be playing games!
Game #1 (Cailey's choice) was UNO attack

she can't read...and doesn't know
her numbers...but when Kinsey sees
the 'sorry' card she yells, "SORRY!"
very cute:)
Game #2 (Daddy's choice) was Sorry

Game #3 (Kinsey's choice) was Hi-Ho
Cherry-O

Game #4 (Braden's choice) was Trouble

Game #5 (Mommy's choice) was
Sequence for Kids

and

is our New Year's Eve tradition!

When Brian and I lived in Massachusetts we soon discovered that THE thing to do on New Year's Eve was to get Chinese food! It was pretty much IMPOSSIBLE and you had to plan on waiting for hours because everyone was getting it.
Last year we skipped it (but had it for lunch) to go downtown with friends but this year we went back to tradition and had a great time! We've been playing games every night this week and it's been so fun! The kids are old enough to play harder games and ones that I had when I was growing up (Guess Who? even has the 1980's date on it from when I got it:). I am SO thankful for this time we get to spend together and play, talk, learn, laugh, and love.