walks, bikes, knobs and books...

Last Sunday night the kids got to have ice cream before bed. I will just say it wasn't my idea ;)

I was grumpy Tuesday morning so we got out of the house and took a walk and it really helped. Love having the walking path right behind our house. 

The kids love to read the books at Walmart. And her outfit kills me!

She was just so dang cute and well behaved this week. 

Mac's taekwondo class. The competing kids went to a competition and they were getting a picture with all their medals. They wanted all the kids in the picture because everyone helps everyone.

Mac got to go to a friends house and their mom sent me this picture with the caption, "Lunchtime entertainment." That's my boy!

Then his friend came to our house for a bit and we played outside. His friend can ride a bike without training wheels so they wanted to work together to get them off Mac's bike for him. 

They also pumped the tires up. It was just so cute to see them working on it together. 

Then Oak had to try her bike without training wheels. She is determined! She is close, but not quite. I plan to take her pedals off this week to see if learning to balance helps her. 

She wore these for the whole day one day. They actually belong to one of her build a bear bears. Silly girl!

Oak came and snuggled with me in bed one morning. I wasn't quite ready to get up. 

She said I could put knobs in her hair! I was so excited! I think they are the cutest thing ever on little girls. 

Seriously cute! Love her!

Friday morning we went to a local cafe to get breakfast and donuts. The breakfast was surprisingly amazing for being a little coffee/bakery shop. 

Both the kids got aebleskivers. And they loved them!

Then we went to the used book store right next door. The kids loved it! They had a whole little kid section. And the kids didn't want to leave. I let the kids each pick a book. Then when we bought them the owner said they could go pick another one for free. LOVE it!

Art class on Friday was impressions of impressionist pieces. 

Mac figured out how to do this on the wall. And he was so excited!

Our stake had their annual family game night. Mac loved playing games with the other kids. 

Scenes like this make my heart burst. 

So I found these at the book store. I was so excited!! I have seen people talk about these all over the TJed (Thomas Jefferson Education) homeschool facebook group I am a part of. And I also remember having the brown version of them growing up. They were $40. I am not sure if that is good or not but I thought it was. 

We played Mexican train and I won! But after it is always fun to do fun things with the dominoes. 

Oak has started a cough this weekend. So she stayed home from church. Mac decided he would make her breakfast. 

He even made her a little note that says I love you and he drew picture of all the things she likes. 

It was just Mac and I at church today since daddy went to another Ward and grandma stayed home with Oak. 

Our Relief society also had their birthday activity this weekend that my mom and I went to. It was a lot of fun and some of the women in our ward performed Women At The Well. It was beautiful. 

Oak got to have a playdate with her friend from preschool who happens to be her teachers daughter so it was at her teachers house. She was so excited to be able to go upstairs because they aren't allowed when they are at preschool. She had a blast. 

We also all went to another friends house for a playdate on thursday. They are friends that used to be in our ward but moved to another ward so we don't see them often. 

Sunday Gratitude...eleven...

Oak stayed home from church today because she has a cough.

I am grateful...

...for Sunday dinners at the dinner table with my family. There is just something about it that I love. Especially when it is roast beef, mashed potatoes and gravy. I Sunday regular growing up. 

...for the last few healthy weeks we have had. And thankfully Oaks JUST has a cough.

...for amazing people like The Piano Guys and Lindsey Sterling who make playing instruments look so cool that my kids want to play an instrument someday. And also so that my kids are constantly belting out their songs via, "da-da-da-da" since their music is all instrumental.

...for Sunday naps. I don't think I need to add anything to that. 

...to have taken a week off of planning school. I started the week with a lot of anxiety and I just couldn't add to it with school. It helped a ton! Now back to business. (I love homeschool for this very reason, we can take time off when ever we want.)

...for the rain the last couple of days. I have LOVED the sun but the rain was a nice break and we SO NEED the rain here. 

Reading, warm weather, new friends and swim suits...

Mac and grandma played Mexican train and they each won a game. Mac loves playing games and is always really good at them and remembers all the rules really well. 

I came home from picking up Mac from the homeschool center and I found Grandma and Oak like this. Mac quickly joined in of course. 

I didn't want the kids watching any tv this week so we did a lot of extra reading. I picked up The Adventures of Pinocchio that I had started reading with the kids awhile back. We were half way through. We ended up cuddled on the couch for an hour and a half reading it and we ended up finishing it. My throat hurt after reading that long. But I loved every second of it.  

Oak ended up testing for her camo belt on Monday. For the littler kids the testing is a bit less formal but she did great and was so excited to earn a belt. 

We just got home from the library and I was making lunch and it was really quiet in the house. And I look over at them reading. LOVE!

Oak wore her boxtroll box several days this week.. She also loves to make her own sandwiches. 

Oak spends most of her time in her own little world of make believe. In one day she will pretend to numerous different things. This day she was a mama to her baby doll Rose and made her this little bed. She had us burp her and rock her and sing her primary songs. She was also a choir director and had us practice singing for a concert. A personal stylist where she did my hair and I had to try on shoes to see what looked the best. She has quite the wild imagination. 

I am just in shock by how much her hair has grown over the last year. 

I was watching the kids play outside and it was so bright that I had to get my sun hat out. Just sunglasses wouldn't do. And I rolled up my pant legs. It was amazing. 

Almost everyday Oak wanted her hair in pig tail braids. She looks so adorable in them I could hardly stand it. 

So we were out playing one afternoon and the kids started playing with new neighbor kids. Turns out they are homeschooled too. So they played outside with them almost everyday. The kids are a little bit older then my kids but they got along really well. And they were just really kind, polite kids. 

One of the things I love about homeschooling is we aren't rushed in the morning. Instead we can lay in bed and read library together. 

Mac read us a couple of books too so that he could finish off his reading log. 

Oak finished her reading log where we read books to her. We mostly did it because she had to be like brother. 

It took about a month and a half for him to read 25 books to us. But it has helped him a lot and now they have earned a trip to Jump N Jax. 

A math game. Math lately has mostly been consisting of math games. Mac doesn't like repetition so this is how I get the repetition in for him. 

Another math game. 

Oak did Hooked on Phonics. 

The weather was so nice this week that Grandma wanted to plant flowers with the kids. 

Friday we went to our Young Hearts day where we visit senior centers. The last two we went to their weren't many residents who came so the kids mostly played with each other. But there were a few. 

Kids playing a game together at the senior center. 

We went to Elmer's for lunch one day and Mac and I worked on these Sudoku. Mac caught on pretty quickly. And it was actually fun to do with him. It totally counts as school :)

Mac had such a rough week with his behavior. None of our normal tactics in helping him have worked.  It just felt hopeless and I am wiped out! I wasn't always a patient loving mom with him but tried to find moments to repair and connect with him. I loved coloring with him and we ended up coloring this entire thing. 

Friday the kids had art class again and they did color mixing. 

Saturday morning daddy decided he didn't need to go into work so he stayed home the kids were so excited. I guess excited enough to give him a back scratch and a foot rub. 

We ended up going out to breakfast and it was dad's choice. We ended up going to this place on the lake but way out of town in the middle of no where. It was a beautiful place. Loved it! We will be going back for date night soon. 

He does night like when I have him take a selfie with me but he humors me. 

Loves these two!

Mac got pancakes the size of a plate. He inhaled them. 

They had this cool bench out side. Oak loves bears! 

Then when we got home the kids put on their swim suits and "helped" dad wash his car. 

Then they got to play in the water for a bit. Yes, it was warm enough for them to be able to do this.