Nature Study: Birds part 1

We've been keeping an eye on this little beauty right outside of Tristin's window!



I don't think she appreciated me taking pictures of her..it was making her a bit nervous. She was literally getting her feathers ruffled haha ;)




We are going to keep a close eye on her as she so gracefully does what God created her to do. So far we've only seen one egg, and she sure doesn't leave that baby much at all.

We've read up on Doves, and found that the male and female take turns attending to the egg (male in the morning and afternoon, female evening and night). We are now keeping watch for 2 birds! We've learned that it takes about 2 weeks for the squab to hatch and they feed it crop milk for a few days before introducing seeds. After about 11-14 days they begin fledging.

Daily Life and Goals

We have been having such a wonderful Spring! The weather has been a little funny, but that's to be expected in Texas :)

We have started a (very) small garden. We have a ton of shade at our house so we have to use containers, which is nice for a beginner like me.

We have kitchen herbs. Basil, cilantro, and mint. And outside we planted onions, spinach, and lettuce. I'm planning one more container with tomatoes and peppers in a few weeks.



We're moving right along in school, and loving it more than ever! Of course there are many really hard days, but the good outweigh the bad. It still amazes me to see how much the boys are learning and I'm so thankful I get to see it right in front of my own eyes!

I have been praying for a while for God to give me a heart completely for Him. It amazes me how much he's teaching me about loving others, having friends, and serving my family. I am an introvert. I love to be home, but I also realize that relationships are really very important, and God is teaching me how to reach out to others more and be more hospitable. Another area he's working on is making plans and being a good friend. It seems everyone is so busy all the time which made me feel uncomfortable to take the first step to actually make plans. He's leading me to step out and at least ask :)

If you've been around for very long at all, you know my love for setting goals. It's such a great challenge for me, and helps me grow. I'm usually not too open to share them though. Maybe for fear of failure? I don't know. But, not anymore. I want to share my goals with you in hopes that I'm kept accountable?? hint hint ;) and maybe to encourage each other. If you have any goals, please feel free to share them with me? You can bet I'll pray for you and check up on you if you want me too!

So my goals and lists of things to do for this week were:

Daily:
   *read the word - right now I'm reading lasts months' she reads truth study on prayer
It seems God really brought prayer to my attention these past few weeks, and I know I was really needing help in my prayer life.

   *Cook for my family.
If you follow me on Instagram, you know how I LOVE cooking healthy meals for my family everyday. Morning, noon, and night. Honestly, I don't think their are many days when I actually leave the kitchen!
Some meals we loved this week were: Edie's honey garlic pizza, mango basil shrimp served with rice, and these easy pork chops (I baked ours).

   * cleaning. Of course. I've been working very hard to make a schedule that works for me. I'm finally think I'm getting there, and will post my new schedule next week!

   *homeschool. Lots of reading, writing, math, nature study, a few science videos, and I've finally made projects a priority, and oh how we've had fun with this! I'll share more of that soon too.



   * eat well, drink water, exercise 3 days a week, do my hair and get dressed hehe

This week:

Memorize: (with the boys)

The LORD Is My Shepherd

23
The Lord is my shepherd; I shall not want. 2 He maketh me to lie down in green [1] pastures: he leadeth me beside the still waters. 3 He restoreth my soul: he leadeth me in the paths of righteousness for his name's sake. 4 Yea, though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil: for thou art with me; thy rod and thy staff they comfort me. 5 Thou preparest a table before me in the presence of mine enemies: thou anointest [2] my head with oil; my cup runneth over. 6 Surely goodness and mercy shall follow me all the days of my life: and I will dwell in the house of the Lord for ever. [3]

Visited 2 friends (Tuesday and Thurs)

Went vacation shopping for snacks etc for our upcoming trip to Branson MO!

Jaiden had a dr appt. (please be in prayer for him as they have to test his thyroid)
Get our dog groomed
Call the bug man to come spray

Clean out our school stuff and get rid of anything I don't need.

That was my week! I did almost everything on the list, but still need help getting my workouts in.

Oh and if you're wondering? I wrote this post Monday...had some trouble with the pictures, and finally got it all finished today.I almost didn't post, but I guess it's better late than never!

Jaiden's Room

Thinking back to when I was working on the boys' rooms and realized I never posted a "progress" photo of Jaiden's room and I wanted to do so before we start changing things around and adding things to walls.

We haven't painted much of anything (as in walls) but this year, I'm hoping to just get it done. We will see. So for now, this is what we have.

We painted this old antique bed gray, along with his side table, and if you recall the green bench I had at the old house? We painted it navy to match his Ikea bedding.



Pillow I picked up for him at Target.



And, I was absolutely stoked to find this already made burlap bed skirt at a garage sale last year for $10.



I had to add these letters  my mother in law got him when he was little.



We definitely like to keep it simple for him, but I am working on adding things to the walls, after I paint them of course.

Our School Day: Bible

I'd like to break down different aspects of our day, and write about how we do and what we use for each subject.

This is always the time of year for reflection and figuring out what is working and what is not. It is so nice when most things we use are falling into place.

We start our morning with Bible reading and scripture (plus poetry, days of the week for the preschooler) memorization.

I try to get this in at breakfast (7:30) so Jaiden is able to join us, but it hasn't been happening at that time lately. I'm trying to get back to that though.

We read through the Family Reading Bible together.

I love this Bible. Love it.  We've used it for 2 years. I was wanting to read the actual Word of God with the boys. Although I love the Jesus Storybook Bible for extra reading with Brighton, I just love the way The Family Reading Bible is the Bible. It has plans to read every day, and short questions to get you thinking about the verses you just read.

I have Tristin bring in his Adventure Bible to read along while I read The Family Bible aloud. This has been wonderful practice in his reading, and practice looking up Books and verses on his own. We are loving it!

I also use the Illustrated Bible to give them ideas of what the story we read may have looked like. This comes in handy at the end of the week because we try to do a Bible art project. They take what they remember learning from the week and draw it or paint it into one beautiful picture. They enjoy this project and are so excited to do it.

At the end of dinner most evening we try and do another Bible lesson. This is when I'm trying to include Plants Grown Up. We read verses together, and pick a few of the projects in the book to learn about a certain character trait. We're trying to learn 1 trait a month, to make sure they're getting it. it includes projects like writing out The Ten Commandments and posting them in your room, making your own If-Then chart by writing a list of offenses and then writing the scripture relating to the offense, and a lot of the projects are just digging more into scripture and seeing examples in the Bible.

There is a girl version of this study as well.

That's what we're doing now. There are some times I'll find a devotion or study that I'd like us all to do together. We usually do in in place of our breakfast reading. Right now I'm thinking about doing a summertime study using The Dig. They offer a free lapbook (over on GMG) to go along with the study. I thought it would make a great summertime study, since we normally don't do a lot of activities with our Bible reading.

 I'm considering  including Proverbs Study Guide (series) in next years Bible study.

Next up: Math

Winter Holiday

A few weeks ago we headed to Angel Fire NM for our annual ski trip.
The boys and Dan just love to ski. I, sadly, do not love it.
I am a water, beach, warm weather girl.
I used to enjoy skiing, but took about a 10 year break from going, and haven't enjoyed it since. Since my boys and husband do, it is something I want to work on.



We took Brighton to ski school, and he did fantastic!



I think he looks adorable on his little skis just zooming past us.



I loved hearing about his day every afternoon, and he was thrilled about the jello with whipped cream and the hot chocolate they served him!



Dan and Tristin stayed out all day. They had so much fun, and I think Tristin really adores having dad all to himself! (I stayed in with Jaiden and found Waldo, read, watched movies, and went swimming.)



He even worked on his own tricks!



We had a fine time. We went before spring break and it was really easy going there.

Our "baby" is 5

In February our "baby" turned 5.
I don't like that.
Everything in life is just swirling around 100mph, and I can't for the life of me get these kids to stay little!

Brighton is such a happy and precious boy. He is full of energy and always in to something.
He's sweet and cuddly. He loves to sit on your lap. I feel I need to sit long enough to let him stay on my lap.
Sometimes I just don't sit long enough to let him stay.

I am so thankful he is in our lives!

The traditional birthday donut cake:



We love you B!

Squirrel!

Think the dog that yells squirrel on the movie Up.



I walked in the family room the other day to this.



Oh, but that's not all.



Yup. But not just one, there were two squirrels chasing each all over this tree.
Poor dog. ha