Fall Family Photos

 A few weeks ago, we had Elise take some photos of our family.  She offered a handful of "mini-sessions" from which she donated all of the proceeds to her good friend who is undergoing cancer treatment.  We always love having Elise take pictures for us, and it was even more special knowing that the money would be used in such a kind way. Elise...you are not only a great photographer, but such a wonderful friend as well!

My favorites from the day...

Unit Theme: America

This week we have been learning about America.  While there is a whole lot to be learned (as with any topic, really!), we kept it simple.

Theme Verse

Hebrews 13:17 - Obey your leaders.

We talked about who our leaders are, and how God commands us to obey them.  Some specific leaders we talked about were Daddy & Mommy, our teachers, and of course...the President.

Some America Books

Two of these books (America the Beautiful and America, My Country 'tis of Thee) are the actual songs, respectively, in their entirety...with illustrations.  I wasn't sure how the kids would feel about me reading these books to them (since I sang them), but they really enjoyed them. 

Daily Song

The kiddos will hopefully never forget that there's 50 stars and 13 stripes on the American flag!

Pledge:

I just had to repost this photo, taken a few weeks ago, since it goes with the theme. =)  The kids take turns holding the flag each morning when we say the Pledge of Allegiance....and Shane gets absolutely giddy when it is his turn (and a little, ahem, upset, when it's not his turn).

Gotta Love YouTube

We sang this song a lot when I taught 4th grade (a large portion of our Social Studies curriculum was the US regions), and I figured that my little ones might like it.  And, they do.  They love it!

Geography:  Encyclopedia Brittania Talking US Puzzle

Our wonderful friends gave this to Caleb for his birthday this year...and it's been a perfect part of our learning this week!  It's a very helpful (and fun!) resource.  You can find it here.  The kids (Caleb, mostly) are really learning which states go where.  And, he is learning a lot of the state nicknames as a result of playing with this (not that this information will ever really come in handy, ha!).  It also recites the Pledge of Allegiance when you press the flag at the bottom, which we often use during our own Pledge time each day.

I also used this map to teach the kids about the 13 colonies.

Geography: USA Floor Puzzle

Math: Flag Template for Pattern Blocks

She added some green triangles.

Lap Books

These lap books were our main project this week.

Cover page - watercolor flags and foam USA stickers:

Caleb's, Meredith's

Insides - Symbols of the USA, The Flag, and The White House:

Caleb's

Meredith's

  Inside, with parts flipped up:

Caleb's

Meredith's

Back - Map of the US

Caleb's, Meredith's

35 Weeks

Well, I am 35 weeks (+1 day - every day matters, ha!).  I went to the doctor this morning, and I am happy to report that my weight gain has slowed down a bit (despite all of the Halloween candy I have consumed in the past week).  Our Girl (we still haven't decided on a name) is doing well....strong heartbeat, and she's very active.  My doc and I talked a little bit about the actual delivery today, which makes 12/12/12 seem very soon.  I am now on the appointment-every-week schedule....so I go back again next Thursday already.  And, I have another ultrasound next Friday to check on the little one's kidneys.  Your prayers for her are still very much cherished.

The wonderful ladies in my small group threw me a baby shower on Sunday, and it was fun to receive some new things for her.  Tiny clothes have been washed and her car seat is ready to go.  As much as I love my sleep, I am ready for some sleepless nights again (I'm sure that will change once I am in the midst of it!).  I am nervous about what life will be like with 4 little ones...especially when it comes to homeschooling, but I'm learning to be more flexible, and to take 1 day at a time.

Caleb and Meredith love talking to her through my belly, and enjoy feeling/seeing her move. Meredith, at least 1 time per day, asks me "when is it going to be the month when Baby Sister comes?"  They seem very excited, and I really hope they are still excited when she is actually here!  

Shane knows that all of this extra stuff in our house is for "the baby", but obviously, he is a bit young to really know what's going on.  Just this morning, he was looking at a recent picture of our family and was saying "baby!"...and at first I thought he was pointing to my belly and acknowledging the baby inside.  BUT, after more prompting, I realized that he was pointing to himself, in his Daddy's arms.  He was referring to himself as the baby.  Yes, Shaner-bug, you will always be one of our babies, even if another comes along.  Please remember that when this little one arrives and demands lots of attention from Momma.

This picture was taken a few weeks ago, by Elise.  So, it's not an official 35 week photo, but it's the most recent belly shot I have.  And I would like to think that my stomach hasn't gotten that much bigger in only 3 weeks!

What's For Dinner? Week 48: Chicken Ranch Pasta

This was good.  Nothing fancy, but super simple to make.  And it has bacon.  Enough said.  Recipe here.

Unit Theme: Spiders

This was a short week, as Caleb had a special overnight stay at Grandma's and Grandpa's Sunday to Monday.  I have to say, it was a nice "break" for me to just be a mom on Monday (not that there's anything about being a Mom that justifies the word "just"!).  But, to not have to do any formal teaching that day was almost like a day off. =) 

It was also a trying week.  This kids all have minor colds (sniffly noses, coughs, etc.) and I am just feeling very weary.  Weary in parenting and weary in teaching.  The combination of all of these things made for a challenging week.

Anyway, spiders was our focus.  Eew.  I have to say, when I was at the library looking at books, I could barely touch the nonfiction texts with the real-to-life photos.  I am such a wimp.

Anyway....we read this book to start off our study...

This is a great nonfiction text that doesn't creep me out. =) And, it's a Level 2 science reader, so the sentences are fairly simple....not something that is always easy to find with nonfiction.

 After we read Mighty Spiders, we created these lists as we recalled information from the text.  We talked about what verbs and adjectives are.

The kids also made these simple construction paper spiders:

Each of the legs on Caleb's had a spider fact.

The legs on Meredith's had the numbers 1-8, with the corresponding amount of spiders.

And of course, we had to learn about spider parts...

Math:  Patterns

I came across this Spider Patterns worksheet here.  Caleb practiced a variety of different patterns, using Dot markers to "color" the spiders.

While he was doing that, Meredith used the dot markers to add "spiders" to these webs.  She had to make as many dots as the number in the corresponding circle.

This worksheet was found at learncreatelove.com.

Math: Pattern Blocks

The pumpkin template I made for the pattern blocks last week was a hit, so I made a spider one for this week:

Meredith colored-by-letter with the pattern block template as well.

Some other good spider books:

This has become one of our favorite books to read during this season!  Click here to see the projects that Caleb and Tamara (little girl we had staying with us at the time) did 2 years ago to go along with this book.

Classic story.  Love Eric Carle.

Craft: Handprint Spiders

Meredith's

Caleb's (My spider has 10 eyes.  My spider is scary.  My spider is spooky.)

Craft: Webs

The kids each painted a paper plate black.  After they dried, I put notches around the outside of the circle so they could create their web.  This was actually a difficult task for both of them, so I had to help with the "weaving".  Then they stuck some spider stickers on to their webs.