Our week...

Our week actually feels like somewhat of a blur. We pretty much didn't do anything this week for homeschool except add to our bald eagle lap book. I am getting a bit burnt out on coming up with my own stuff so it has been hard to find the motivation to have school. I guess there was some learning done just not academic learning. The first half of the week was cold the second half was warm and beautiful with a little bit of sickness on the side. 

We woke up to this Monday morning and it was melted by the afternoon but still, I am so ready for spring.

The kids on their own wanted to make a bald eagle craft. They got all their own supplies and made these without any help or direction. Mac's above and Oak's below.

Mac built this car on his own. He is getting really good with his creativity with legos. 

Oak spends most of her time with a blanket wrapped around her for an Elsa cape and Mac wanted to join in like this the other night. 

One morning Mac wanted to make us all breakfast. I directed him the first day and the second day he wanted to do it all on his own. He can now make himself a bowl of homemade oatmeal with out any help at all. 

I promised the kids we could find them an art project at the store. I had a hard time finding something that didn't cost a lot. So I found these little perler bead packets that cost a dollar. Mac was great with them and could totally do them and Oak had a harder time and mostly made a mess. But we still had a fun afternoon doing this. 

Tuesday was a nice day but when we got to the park the wind was COLD. So we didn't stay long.

The next day we went to the post office to mail packages to the kids' birthparents and get stamps (finally!) then we stopped by daddy's work which is just a couple of block from the post office. After...

Since it was lunch time and we had no food at home (since I have been putting off grocery shopping) we stopped at Subway and then went to the park to play. When we got there we saw a new friend that we had recently met at one of the church playgroups. We had a great time chatting. Then just as she was leaving then a few other friends that I have met at the the play group (who are all in a different ward) showed up so we stayed, then as they were all leaving a friend from our ward showed up. So we ended up staying for FOUR hours!!! It was heavenly!

We all came home with our faces sunburnt!

The kids were so exhausted from all that playing. Oak who always has a hard time settling down to sleep zonked! She didn't move from this position for the entire night.

Mac on the other hand ended that fun day with a fever and so we stayed in the next day for the entire day and this is what my house ended up looking like. 

 I noticed tan lines on my feet and it made me happy!

Friday wasn't as nice, but Mac was feeling a bit better so we met some friends at a park and it ended up being too cold so we went to the Children's museum since we both have year passes.
Friday night our Church Stake had a family game night. So we went to that and it was so much fun and very well put together. They had rooms for different age groups for the kids and we helped out with the nursery age kids the first hour. Our kids were in the movie room watching Monsters Inc and eating popcorn. The second hour we just sat and talked with friends.

Saturday we headed to the library for their read to a dog program and Mac was hesitant to do it for some reason and he just sat and looked at books down one of the book isles. 

However Oak loved the dogs. 

Saturday morning Mac woke up with a huge sore on his mouth and few other bumps on his face. Later in the day his arm looked really bad so I ended up taking him to Immediate Care. 

Turns out he has Imetigo, which is an infection. So we got prescribed a topical antibiotic and it is doing much better but still looks bad. Doctor said it can only spread if he is kissing or rubbing his face on other peoples faces so she said we were fine to go to church and other activities.

Saturday was a beautiful and hot day. It got up to 72. When daddy got home from work we went to the park and there was finally enough wind we were able to fly the kite. 

After the park we headed over to the indoor sports field (which is at the park we always go to) and they were showing a free movie (Monsters University) and had vendors for buying food. So we brought our blanket and chairs and bought some hotdogs and watched the movie. It was fun.

On our way out from the movie the sky looked like this. 

So that is our week.

 Hoping for more school, nicer weather and better health for this coming week.

Sunday Gratitude...

I am grateful...

...for the man in this picture. We have had our disagreements, our struggles and many not so great moments in our marriage but there has also been so many great, amazing, wonderful moments. With all that we have been through together I can't imagine going a single day without him in my life. Eternally grateful for him and his devotion to me and our kids.

...for our needs being met. Although I really dislike living in this apartment. We have a place to live, money to pay for it, food in our fridge, beds to sleep in and we have each other all under one roof.

...to have the opportunity and freedom to homeschool my kids. It may be frustrating at times, but I honestly love it and get excited for our future with homeschooling. I am grateful for all the opportunities it gives us as a family to learn and grow in the ways we want.

...for the invention of crockpots. Seriously I love that you can just throw anything in there and leave it and it will be done for dinner. 

...that Spring is on its way! Yay! I love March and Spring and warm weather and flowers and everything that has to do with spring. I have been told the Spring is the only time you will see K Falls green and I am excited to experience it here. 

...for new friends here. I know I mentioned that a few times already. But I am just so grateful to not feel lonely here because even after being here only two and half months, we have friends and people are so inclusive and friendly here. True blessing!

...to have unpacked the last box that was IN our apartment. I have had a few stragglers and it was driving me nuts. I look forward to the day we get to move into a new house and I can unpack everything and find the things I need to.

...for the learning and growing process that comes from serving in callings at church. My current calling is for sure stretching me and helping me to grow. 

...for ways to keep our family, birth families and friends updated on what is going on in our lives. As much as Facebook drives me nuts sometimes, I also love it and love having a way to share our lives with those we love far away. 

...that our house is now sold and we don't have double the household bills to pay. 

Homeschool this week...

Well I don't feel like we did a lot for school this week. We got three days in but none of it was thorough or intense. I think we did school work one day and the other two we just worked on our first lap book.

Double up on the markers is always fun.

filling in numbers.

Mac tends to write his numbers and letters frombottom to top and instead of top to bottom so I found this sheet and he did really good at doing correctly so we might be doing these a couple of times a week.

They were watching a Leap Frog spelling video so she was doing her own spelling.

Working on our first lap book. It is about bald eagles since we have been watching the Eagle Cam everyday.

It has actually been quite difficult to do because Oak wants to do her own and it is difficult to help them both. Oak usually doesn't want to follow or listen to directions because of her age but she wants to do what Mac is doing and I can't give enough attention to Mac so he is actually learning something and then he wants to goof off because Oak is goofing off. It gets frustrating.

And we found this bald eagle kite that we just had to get. Unfortunately when we took it to the park it was the one and only time we have been to the park that there was NO wind. Boo!

I have been trying to figure out curriculum to do for Mac for first grade next year. I am getting excited because I think I have most of it figured out. It has felt so overwhelming for so long looking at all their is and how much it costs and not wanting to spend so much money on something that may not work well for Mac. 

Also there is a homeschool center here that is part of the school district and if you are a part of it they purchase all of  your curriculum. I think you are required to come in once a week or something like that. I am not sure we will do it for a couple of years but I think as Mac gets older it will be great.

life this week...

Right after church Oak went and changed into this outfit. She just looked so cute I had to take a picture.

I had emptied out the last box that was IN our apartment and the kids wanted a door and windows.

Mac's chore of choice one day. I was explaining to him how I wanted him to seperate the clothes and he wanted to seperate by each individual color. 

Princesses like to read books too.

The kids wanted to use markers for homeschool. This is from everytime she would put the cap back on. 

After dad had changed when he got home from work they decided they needed to try on his clothes.

Wednesday I was just not wanted to enforce any structure like having them get their chores done or doing homeschool because I wanted to get some cleaning done around the house. They may have destroyed their room but they were playing so well together. Eventually I told them they couldn't have lunch until their room was cleaned up. It was after 1pm before they had lunch that day.

She walked around all evening pretending she was Elsa and singing "Let it go!"

She took my phone and hid in my room and after I found her and my phone I found these photos on it. So cute!

Mister cutie-pants in the bath with swim goggles.

While I was making breakfast one morning they had gotten out the craft stuff and was making some fun master pieces.

I was really impressed with Mac's pirate ship.

Mac is also getting so good at being creative with the legos. He made our family with Oak's legos.

My cute red heads being patient while waiting in the check out line at Walmart.

I seriously always love how the hills look behind our house. 

Mac's friend was staying with us for a few days while his parents were out of town. We went to the children's museum twice and these boys just played and played and really could have stayed all day. We went two days in a row and stayed no less then two hours each time. 

This is Mac's lunch of choice everyday, peanut butter and cheese sandwich. I think he learned about it from a cousin. 

It was a beautiful day at the park. I ususally just sit and watch the kids play so that they get some play time with others but they took the opportunity to come and attack me. Cute red heads of mine!

Mac's robot.

Oak is obsessed with doing my hair. Somehow she has figured out how to put hair bands in to make ponytails. It hurts but she loves it.

She took a picture of her work.

Buds watching a movie.

Children's museum again. They finally got this to work and the posed in front of it.

Silly girl at the museum.

We got a new kite and have looked forward to Saturday all week to go to the park with daddy to fly it. It is almost always windy, at least a little bit. When we got there, there was NO wind at all. It was disappointing!

Sunday Gratitude

I am grateful...

...to have gotten my house cleaned (like deep cleaned and decluttered) last night while Hubs was at a benefit dinner for work and the kids were in bed. It was much needed! I just sat and basked in it since it doesn't last long in this tiny apartment. 

...for the really nice weather we had at the beginning of the week. It was amazing and makes me look so forward to spring. 

...to be making friends here. It has been almost impossible to NOT make friends. Everyone is so inclusive and friendly. 

...that kids are so forgiving. With as difficult as my kids have been this week, I am not very proud of some of my parenting moments. But I can say that my better parenting moments outweighed those. Phew!

...for the random times my kids will, on their own, tell me they love me. 

...that we were able to get the rest of our belongings from our house in Veneta to here without any problems and fit it all in our garage here. 

...that when I asked Mac what he learned in his Primary class today that he actually answered and I knew he was listening because I taught the same lesson to my primary class. 

...for both of my kids' amazing primary teachers. Oak's loves her teacher and class and can always tell me everything she learned and always comes home with the coolest stuff. And Mac actually is listening and learning instead of being the difficult disruptive boy that was before we moved here.

...

This last week...

This week was a bit of a rough week. The kids have been testing me and have been, honestly, driving me nuts. Because of this we did very little homeschool, so I tried to concentrate our learning on other things and craft projects. And the beginning of the week was so beautiful we were able to get outside quite a bit.

I happened to come across this Bald Eagle Cam . And the kids have loved it! The eagle parents have a brand new baby that they have been feeding and it has been so interesting to watch. The kids randomly throughout the day will ask to check on "their" eagles. We have started a few eagle art projects this week but haven't finished them.

Mac has asked everyday for the last month and half if his Lego magazine was here. We were both very excited when it FINALLY came.

Every morning! Mac LOVES it the most. I love it, but not everyday, and Oak mostly tolerates it but has been asking for it and actually eating all of her bowl lately.

One evening, not long before dark I wanted enjoy the last little bit of nice weather so I wanted to go on a walk. The kids were not wanting to so I found this neighborhood scavenger hunt and they were totally excited about it and they found almost everything.

My first time making beef stew. It was yummy!

Mac on his own decided to draw the eagle and the eagles nest with the baby and the bad egg.

(One of the eggs never hatched)

On Tuesday we went on a walk on a local trail and played at the park with the church play group. It was a beautiful day. Mac and his buddy J were at the head of the group the whole time that by the time we had to turn around they were so exhausted and it took a lot of effort to get them moving so we could get back to the park.

It was such a beautiful day on Tuesday we went to the park again in the afternoon.

I have found Oak laying like this a lot lately. So cute!

Hubs just got called as cub scout stake chairman so we went to the blue and gold banquet this week. Mac loved it and was so well behaved. 

Wednesday was the day the kids were the hardest. And in the afternoon I decided to make bread and I spilt a brand new bottle of oil. It was kindof my last straw for the day.

Saturday, we went to the library for a free activity and movie. It was Despicable Me 2.

The library provided capri suns and popcorn.

Oak has been obsessed with doing my hair lately. It is kindof cute but very painful.