I'm Back

We're still here...still alive...still homeschooling, although we are on our Christmas break.  We will be resuming our homeschooling journey on January 2nd.  Hopefully this will give me a little bit of time to prepare and to start back with a BANG!  We will be tackling reading and really buckling down in our letter sounds when school starts back.  I do have to say...learning to read is very tough and I will definitely be starting the preschool hooked on phonics with Lauren.  I am going to need all the help I can get with her.  Learning is not something she looks forward to.  I put a couple dvd's on hold at the library to help with letter sounds.  I downloaded some games on the ipad for them to play that specifically teaches letter sounds.  I make Kristen play it at least once a day.  It's not her favorite, but that's the only way she will learn.

Other than learning not much has been going on here.  The kids did make their ornaments for Christmas presents.  That was an exhausting all day event.  It did not go as I planned and they did not turn out as I had planned.  Actually, the girls did, but Dallas' didn't.  I am not sure who was more traumatized...me or Dallas.  He did NOT like making them at all.  At one point he was laying the floor crying and I felt like crying as I frantically tried to get everything ready for us to start over for the eighteenth time. I worked on those ornaments up until dinner time. I was covered with flour and glitter, had burns from the hot glue gun and my back and head were hurting. Needless to say, I was so happy for bedtime that night and a long hot shower.  I will post picture of the ornaments after Christmas, but overall they turned out pretty good considering Dallas' wasn't at all what I had planned.

Kristen and Lauren were in  a play at church and both of them did so well.  I didn't explain to Kristen what exactly she was going to be doing.  Back in November the children sang in church and I made sure I practiced the hand motions and song with them. She kept saying she didn't want to go in front of people, but I thought once she saw everyone else going up she would do the same.  Well, she didn't and since she didn't Lauren in turn didn't either.  So, I decided we would just show up to play practice and learn the song.  She never asked why we were doing it and I never explained.  Ignorance is bliss!  The Sunday before the play the kids got their costumes and Kristen was an angel.  She loved her costume, wings and halo and I knew once she put on that costume we wouldn't have any issues.  Lauren did not want to be an angel so she was a cow, but still walked in with all of the angels.  I knew Lauren would just follow whatever Kristen did and she didn't disappoint.  They both learned their song and did great both nights of the play.  This was the first play either of them have been in and I was one proud Momma!