Sunday, August 31, 2014

Life around Our Little Homestead August 2014

We are loving our space here.  The sunsets are wonderful.





Kessiah tells me often how much she loves our chickens...some of them have started laying eggs....we need to figure out how to eat more eggs!  Angel (our white leghorn) keeps flying over the fence into the garden area...even after we have clipped her wings. She has found a cob of corn on the plant that she has been eating off of. And we found a little nest she made near the tomatoes with eggs in it! One morning I was out picking some things from the garden...I set down some vegetables and some berries and went to a different part of the garden...when I came back...there was Angel eating my berries!  I was not very happy with her.

I have picked several things from our garden...cucumbers, tomatoes, watermelon, cantelope, a couple zucchini.  The peas are long gone but I ate most of those while watering the garden...not very many have made it inside the house!  No berries have made it inside either...but a few have been eaten...even off our bushes we earlier in the year.  It has been a rainy month...so the weeds are going crazy!  We let our corn go too long...so now it has become chicken feed...bummer.  I kind of lost my time to spend out in the garden once school started...I really need to get out there and take care of some tomatoes!



We finally got Sienna her bunnies...the ones she was supposed to get for her 8th birthday!  A friend of ours knew someone who was wanting to get rid of their bunnies...so we took them!



Ryan bought some bales of hay that he set up for target practice for Kessiah to use with her bow and arrow.  She spray painted a target on it and has been enjoying going outside for some target practice.

We have been busy inside as well...Ryan has painted Kessiah's room...there was some strange green and orange in there...now it is a pretty turquoise blue.  Jenessa's walls were all white...she added some color with some purple and yellow.

We went on a family hike around Fain Park.  It was an enjoyable evening but the mosquitoes were out and poor Mason got quite a few on his face that made his eye swell up.






Friday, August 29, 2014

What We Have Been Reading August 2014

Kessiah has been re-reading all of the 39 Clues books and Jenessa has been reading them for the first time.  I read them a couple of years ago when Kessiah read them for the first time...although there are some new titles out now that I haven't read yet.



Some other books that Kessiah enjoyed this summer are Ghost Hawk, Ranger's Apprentice, The Mark of the Dragonfly, The Burning Bridge, and The Sorcerer of the North.

Jenessa enjoyed the 13 Treasures trilogy, Wild Born, Into the Deep, The Emperer's Code, and Saduko and the Thousand Paper Cranes.

Sienna read the 3rd Grade Detectives series and the Nancy Drew Notebook series.

I didn't seem to get very much reading done this summer.  I guess I spent my free time planning out our school year (or taking a nap!).

Thursday, August 28, 2014

Logan is 7!

My big boy is 7 years old!  He is a talker and a thinker...and the leader of the boy pack!










Wednesday, August 27, 2014

School Year Routine

We started our school year routine on August 4th...of course, we have made a few adjustments...but it seems to be flowing well.  This plan changes a bit on Mondays because I take the 4 youngest to gymnastics in the morning.  We started our homeschool group and co-op for the younger 4 at the beginning of the month.  We started piano lessons on the 18th.  Kessiah and Jenessa started their Williamsburg classes on the 20th.  Soccer practices are starting up...so ready or not here we come for another school year!

5:30...I get up if I want to blog...which hasn't happened very often
6:00...Get Kessiah up to reads her scriptures/straightens bedroom and bathroom, I read my scriptures
6:30...Get Jenessa up to read her scriptures/straighten bedroom and bathroom, I exercise
7:00...Get Sienna up to read her scriptures/straighten bedroom and bathroom (if the boys are not up, get them up as well), I shower and get ready for the day, Kessiah has her Leadership class
7:30...Jenessa has her Leadership class, the rest of us eat breakfast
8:00...My time to clean up the kitchen and do any dinner prep, boys clean their room and bathroom, Sienna practices the piano, Jenessa eats breakfast,  Kessiah has STEM or Humanties
8:30...I do math with Sienna and Logan, Kessiah is still in class, Jenessa practices the paino, little boys are playing (or often at the table with Logan and I)
9:00...Family devotional time
9:30...I do language lessons arts with Logan and pull out some worksheets for Mason and Corbin, Sienna finishes her math and then does some science or social studies, Jenessa has STEM or Humanities, Kessiah has her turn at the piano
10:00...Snack time for the youngest 4...the older girls have to get their snack on their own in between classes.  Kessiah has a writing class 2 days a week, Jenessa is still in class
After snack...I do language arts with Sienna, the boys go play, Kessiah and Jenessa work on assignments.  When I am done with Sienna, I go into the office and provide moral support while Kessiah and Jenessa work on math.

The younger 4 are pretty much done with everything by 11:00...Kessiah and Jenessa have some assignments to complete for Williamsburg.

We have some afternoon activities at 12:30
Monday...piano lessons
Tuesday...co-op (younger set)
Thursday...homeschool group

Then we do an hour of quiet time and then I read aloud from a book.

Wednesday, August 20, 2014

A Day in Our Life

5:55 a.m.  My alarm went off...I didn't sleep very well so I knew that I wouldn't be getting up to exercise.  I spent the next 20 minutes on Facebook.

6:20 a.m.  Woke Kessiah up, I started printing Jenessa's Discover the Scriptures Old Testament study guide.

6:40 a.m.  Woke Jenessa up, I continued printing

7:00 a.m.  Kessiah logged on to her Williamsburg Intermediate Leadership..(it was the first day of classes for Kessiah and Jenessa).  I woke up Sienna and then took a shower and got ready for the day.



 7:30 a.m.  Jenessa logged on to her Leadership class

7:40 a.m.  Breakfast time...cold cereal...then I spend some time cleaning up the kitchen.

8:00 a.m.  Kessiah logged onto her STEM class, Sienna practiced the piano and then started on her math, Jenessa worked on her math, the boys cleaned their room



8:30 a.m.  Sienna and Logan worked on math, Kessiah was feeling frustrated with her class (technical difficulties), Jenessa continued with math, I sent Mason upstairs to finish his part of the bedroom

9:00 a.m.  Devotional...we are working our way through the Preach my Gospel book.  We discuss one idea or though each morning.  We sang our song and said a prayer.  Kessiah did her piano, Sienna finished her math, Logan started his language lessons and I got out some worksheets for Mason and Corbin.  I'm not sure what Jenessa was doing!

9:30 a.m.  Jenessa logged on to her Humanities class.  Kessiah worked on math.  I continued working with the boys and Sienna did a final draft of  a fable she wrote.  During this time, Corbin told me he was going to draw some people...I had never seen him draw people before!  Notice the blue crayon drawing...the one on the left is him...if you look closely you can see he drew his toes!  One of the other "people" is me and I'm not sure who the third one is!  The orange person is Mason's.




10:00 a.m.  Snack time.  Sienna finished her fable, I did some science with the boys (we were reading from Logan's workbook and answering some questions).  Jenessa continued with Humanities and then practiced the piano.  Kessiah finished her math.

11:00 a.m.  School is done for everyone!  Kessiah and Jenessa played on the piano with an app I recently downloaded.  Mason was listening to them.  Sienna and Logan were playing.  Corbin was doing his own thing.  I was getting work samples ready to send in to Sequoia and cleaning up from school.

11:15 a.m.  Frozen pizza in the oven for lunch.

12:00 p.m.  Left for the orthodontist

12:30 p.m.  Orthodontist appointments for Kessiah and Jenessa.  Kessiah needed some spacers put between some teeth in preparation for braces next week.  Jenessa needed a mold for a new retainer.

1:30 p.m.  Went to the library.  The kids checked out some new books and played on the computers.

3:00 p.m.  Arrived back home, had a snack and an hour of quiet time.  I spent my time doing some prep work for our homeschool group.

4:00 p.m.  Mommy reading time...we are currently reading a biography of Beatrix Potter.

4:30 p.m.  Kessiah and Jenessa went back to reading.  The youngest four played.  I finished printing Jenessa's Old Testament study guide.  Jenessa and I discussed the party that Jenessa is planning for Friday night with the other 11 year olds from her Primary class.  We made a phone call and I sent a text to help us get the plans solidified.  I did some more prep work for our homeschool group.  Corbin got upset at Mason and found some comfort with Jenessa...he fell asleep next to her while she was reading!


6:00 p.m.  I started dinner, we ate.  Tilapia or fish sticks and couscous....ummmm....should have had a vegetable!

6:50 p.m.  Took Kessiah to Mutual and went back home.  We did afternoon zones...they should have happened at 5:30...but they didn't! 

7:50 p.m. I went back to get Kessiah...they went 30 minutes over which got me home later than I would have liked!  Family prayer and got the boys to bed.  The girls helped me finish cleaning up the kitchen and then we tried to facetime Ryan who is in Phoenix...but he didn't answer (he was in the fitness center)  I went upstairs to have my good night talks with the girls.  Talked to Ryan on the phone.  Typed up this post and went to bed!

Saturday, August 9, 2014

School Year Pictures



New School Year....and I really needed some new pictures on the wall!  Great time to take pictures!  Looking at these makes me feel incredibly blessed and very busy

Corbin...beginning another year of fun!

Mason...pre-kindergarten

Logan...1st grade

Sienna...3rd grade

Jenessa...6th grade

Kessiah...8th grade