School Recap: August

We had a great start to our school year this month, and the rest of the month just got better! The girls also started weekly art and dance/tumbling classes that they've really enjoyed.

Here are a few of the highlights of some of the things we studied this month. (Due to their philosophy that fun snacks/lunches=fun school, I tried to incorporate an edible component to a lot of our learning. The girls were big fans!)

We studied creation and then made edible masterpieces by painting something God made on pieces of bread.

Who knew toast could be such a fun snack?!

 We learned a lot about constellations!

We had an almost fail art project remaking our own crayons.

 

See that "FOR WATER ONLY" note on the side?? I didn't! These cute little trays I just had to have from IKEA began to melt along with the crayons. :(

 

They weren't perfect, but they girls like them. Definitely not a project we'll do again.

We had a field trip to the World of Coke Museum (which really deserves its own post!) and to the Georgia Aquarium.

 We did a lot of dividing large groups into sub groups (which is building a foundation for what we're learning in grammar this year). I'm pretty sure their favorites were the plants (trees, grass, and flowers) and shapes (circles, triangles, squares, and rectangles) group activities.

Emma Lee's

Kerri's

Their favorite lunch of the month!

Debut

Introducing my new, very on the side, official adventure: photography.

I'm renting out a studio and offering school portraits to homeschoolers on Sept. 9. I've had a great response so far! If you're in the area and want to get in, let me know quickly before it fills up!

I'm also offering a few sessions per month of either on location or studio shoots.

Check it out here!
Read about me and why I love photography so much. Look at a few of my favorite pictures, and let me know if you're interested!

Another Two Reasons

After all, laughter is the best medicine, right?

Scene 1 - Kerri runs from the pool over to me and whispers excitedly in my ear,
"Mommy! I think I really AM a mermaid because I can see underwater! Isn't that great??!!"

Scene 2 - Walking out of our house at the same time a man carrying a suitcase is leaving our (single) neighbor's house.
Emma Lee: "Why do you have a suitcase?"
Unknown Man: "Because I have to go back home now."
Emma Lee (to me): "Oh, I thought he might be her husband. I guess he was just here to have fun with her."

Yeah, how do you explain that one!

One Reason

Just one of the many reasons I've had to laugh today:

Emma Lee: "Mommy, why are you sneezing so much?"
Kerri: "I think it's because the boogers in her nose are dancing."

*Officially, this mommy does not condone the use of the word "boogers." Unofficially, this mommy might not have been able to keep from laughing her head off.

Kerri's Turn

Just like we did last year for Emma Lee, we let Kerri get her ears pierced since she's an big kindergartner now! She wasn't about to let me forget that it was her turn!

She opted to take Mr. Penguin along with her to keep her brave. It was a tough deciding between Mr. Penguin and Jessie, but in the end Mr. Penguin won out due to his squishy and huggable nature - much more comforting.

It didn't take her long at all to decide which earrings she wanted. She chose cute little multi-colored daisies.

So excited! Not nervous at all! 

She was so brave! Here's the video. She came close to crying, but in her words, "I just chose to laugh instead." Typical Kerri!

Make a video - it's fun, easy and free!
www.onetruemedia.com

Here's the before and after shot! Don't you just want to eat her up!

8-11-11 (A Little Late....Again) + Back to School

So, this may be cheating a little, but I was behind on this month's photo challenge and decided to just wait a couple more days since I knew I'd be taking some back-to-school pictures today. Here are my sweet girls:

           My Kindergartner!!!???

My First Grader!!!             

We had a great first day back to school, and I think we're all really excited about this year. We talked about when we need to have/do/be for a good school year. Here's the list they came up with:
Good Snacks (first and most importantly!) ;)
Obey and Listen
Fun Trips with Friends
Respectful
Patient
Always Do Your Best

We also started out the morning by going through all their books and talking about what we're going to learn this year, and then I asked them what else they might want to learn about. Kerri had an immediate and very specific list:

How do butterflies make cocoons?
Are butterflies and bumblebees cousins?
How does lightening strike down?
What is the sun made out of?
Do fish really do school underwater?
She also wants to learn about ants, bumblebees. . . well, actually all bugs, rainbows, snapping turtles, and everything underwater. I'm thinking science will be a big winner with her!

Emma Lee wasn't quite as specific, but she's most excited that she gets to learn cursive because that's been a request of hers for a while. She also wants to start a nature collection, and "harder" math "like grown-up math" was at the top of her list.

Anatomy of a Sleepover

Make-up

Dress-up

L-R: Flashlight Fashion Girl, Tinkerbell (who must have spent too much time with the lost boys), Ninja, & Purplicious Fashion Mermaid

Pizza

Dancing

Ice Cream

Movie (with popcorn of course!)

and slowly,
one-by-one,
eventually,
hours later,
just before midnight:

Sleep!

Turbulence

You know the airplane game you play with your feet?

Make video montages at www.OneTrueMedia.com

Well, Kerri hit a little turbulence the other night.

*I promise, we didn't do this to them when they were babies!

**Just an FYI, those are Andy's feet - mine are much prettier! ;)

Our Little Drama Queen

While we try not to promote the negatives aspects that can come along with having a drama queen in the family, we love it when the more positive side of her dramatic tendencies pop up. Here's Emma Lee giving a little reading about one of her favorite characters: Amelia Bedelia.

Simple Recipe for Crazy Fun

Take 1 strong daddy and 1 brave girl.

Add a pool full of water and toss until thoroughly mixed!

Make video montages at www.OneTrueMedia.com

*Substitution: 1 diving board can be substituted for the strong daddy, but the results aren't nearly as good!