You know those times you mean to get on and make a blog post and honestly it’s just not at the top of your list for that day, there is so much else to do, and it doesn’t get done. It’s just a blog. Whatever. Haha.

There is also the fact that the photos were still on the camera!

Let’s start with some new things in our school room - our new rug. I had seen this on the chasing cheerios blog, forgotten about it, then got a Heartsong Catalog in the mail and ordered one for us.

Sorry the photos are huge, I don’t feel like messing with them. Plus, I no longer have psp on my computer which is my go-to for resizing and playing with stuff.

A preschool workbox activity in the box & after being played with, she loved it. Autumn stickers were $1 at Target, construction paper (which she didn’t use) and her box of supplies - scissors, crayons, glue stick. Also below is a photo of Aa playing a game created for clothespins but we didn’t have any so we improvised with counting squares, she loves that "tivity" too. It was a download from  http://www.sunflowerschoolhouse.com/ 

I don’t really have anything to share. We’re loving the workboxes. I mean LOVING them. It is so nice for the boys to see what is there. I need to be more creative in funthings boxes, we’re getting into a bad habit of there only being a couple and mostly work because they do like to just get through what MUST be done and then use free time for a computer game or something.

They will be doing a project next week that they are doing reading/listening/research on this week. Tomorrow in a box they’ll have to find 5-8 facts about their topic & write sentences for them. They will be making a poster. I am so excited to have printer ink again!!! For choosing topics I had told L to choose a state - he picked New York - and that got narrowed down to The Statue Of Liberty. And I told K to choose a president - he picked Lincoln - that got narrowed down to The Penny. Interesting, finding facts should be fun.

I went to knit night tonight and worked on Aaralyn’s sock. I am almost done with sock #1 for the third time. I knit & pulled out the toes twice now, third times the charm, right? Plus, I had help with it Never again will I knit one sock at a time, I am sure I will go nuts trying to make #2 just the same. 

I considered doing hte Monday thing on Monday night, but I guess I forgot. Hm. Anyway Monday was not a day off around here, but we’re doing a 4 day week - taking Friday off for a field trip.

Some things that have been in the boxes this week - put this story in order. I just jotted down sentences on strips of laminated paper (scraps from cut-out activities). Find which thing doesn’t belong - also done on laminated paper scraps. The best thing about those is I can erase and use the paper scraps again. Lochlan did the under/over/in/left/right/etc. ball in a box activity today. I took & Printed photos of the ball then made cards with the words. So they match the picture to the word (self checking w/ words on back of pictures, too) and demonstrate with the ball and box themselves.

I have to get back to schoolwork, each of the boys has two boxes left and both are work with mom boxes and Kier is driving.me.nuts. asking about his birthday preset.

If i’m going to expand the blog, it might as well be with one of my other huge "Hobby’s" - homeschooling. Obviously my other hobby’s are knitting, and writing. Homeschooling and my kids are pretty much my life though.

So for workbox wednesday I don’t have any photos of today’s boxes but I’ll try to remember what was in them, as one set is worked through all but one, and one set is worked through all but two. And I do have photos of our set-up that were taken over the weekend to share.

So today for Kieran - ETC, 4 pages. Sort cards into three different categories (these cards are made for sorting, possible categories were all different colors, # of items on the cards, things you eat, fruit, vegetables, things you wear, animals , zoo animals / pets, different shapes, etc). Math (work w/ mom box), reading cards & reading, pick a president to learn more about (I want them to learn about doing research, putting together a project/poster so he has a president & L has a state - I haven’t choosen a deadline yet), and Spelling. Six boxes Plus together topics.

Lochlan’s boxes today included choosing a state for the Fall project, his math lesson, playing with the lego education set (I plan to include activities with this from time to time but just let them play today & yesterday), ETC -1 page plus building blend words with letter tiles, back of yesterdays math page, and picking a book from our book box to read to me & aaralyn & Toby. Plus together topics.

The boxes -

For homeschool we’re trying out the Workbox Method, by Sue Patrick. Toby likes to take the numbers off the boxes and throw them around or stick them in a drawer. I didn’t set up the exact system and we sure don’t have twelve boxes per kid! I set up drawers, that have ten in each thing but so far they’ve only had six boxes each, plus the things we do together (grammar everyday, writing 3 days/week, history 2 days/week, science 2 days/week). 

So today in the boxes we’ve got : Kieran - Explode the Code 4 pages, Math, reading cards (new words), reading pages, small lego set, spelling.

Lochlan - Math, blend wheels, reading cards, reading pages, flip book - matching #, # of items, written # word, Explode the code 4 pages.

So, this year I have Making Math Meaningful for Kieran this year and the first lesson starts with counting out toothpicks. And they count out three different sets. 75, 157, and 368. Then you ask them, would it have been easier if you had counted by 10’s?  Okay so what if your child sets out to do this and COUNTS BY TENS or FIVES. What do I do with the script when my child has figured out howto on his very own already ?! Go Kier.  This should be fun

I am tired of this blog just sitting here, so I’ve decided to use it for more than just knitting posts. Please ignore anything that doesn’t interest you, if I even have any readers at all !

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Seems to be yet another Monday thing, so I’m technically a day off with this too but I just found it and I will not wait another week to begin. We’ll go with ten at a time, Mondays or whenever I Feel like it.

1. early morning nursing, when babe is awake just enough to know he wants his mama nearby for a few minutes

2. our awesome learning space

3. fresh flowers on the table

4. coffee, tea, dr. pepper, lemonade ice cold water - all the things i love to drink the most

5. that very best friend of mine, and her beautiful children

6. libraries, books, words

7. freshly folded laundry, all done for the week ahead

8. Sunday mornings - and all that entails

9. the desire in his* heart to know The Lord

10. curiosity

Safe birth kits sound like a really wonderful idea. I think everyone pretty much knows how I feel about birth. And babies. And how much I love baby hats - I’ll have to find some old shirts to try the sewing pattern, but I’ll probably knit one too.

Around here lately - Toby is Growing, and I knit myself some fingerless mitts for Nano.

First, you have to understand that Aa, my only girl who just turned 3 for anyone who may not know me, is all about mama lately. She is my little shadow! Everything I say I need to do I hear a "Me Too" And it’s the sweetest thing, but can be oh so annoying. "I have to go start the washing machine" "me too" "i have to sweep" "me too" "I have to nurse T" "me too" (yeahhhh right, haha).

So the other day she asked me if she could learn to knit, and I got some needles and yarn and cast on and let her try, but she really is much too young to knit with needles right now. And so, since I have <a href=http://www.soulemama.com target="new">Soulemama’s</a> book, The Creative Family, which If I recall correctly has a section on finger knitting, I will be learning how to finger knit so i can teach ms. A. So she can knit too. Just like mama. Except her color choice? Is pink. And mine, is blue.

I thought I would add, these mitts would get done a lot quicker if I quit using my valuable, hands-free, quiet knitting time (when I should be sleeping, after all someone has to get up to make oatmeal, hot tea, and maybe some cinnamon bread in the morning before we start school and that someone is typically, okay definitely always, me) to blog.

I was reading on the Nano Ravelry forum and decided I need a pair of fingerless gloves for this November. I remember it being cold enough last year to finish up my novel sitting in front of the fire all cozy under my favorite blanket, making sure ms. Aa didn’t come too near the heat (and my worries of this will be multiplied this year, as mr. TJ will be mobile anytime now I’m sure). So tonight I cast on and started mitt 1. I have wanted to make myself a pair for a long time, i’m glad it’s happening. 

TJ is five months old! It goes so crazy fast. He is a sweetheart. Aa just turned 3, and K’s 8th birthday was this month too. The other two boys have December birthdays.

I couldn’t find a post to go with it, but Joy helped me at knit night earlier this year with the long tail cast on, and I thought I didn’t "get it" at the time. However when I decided to cast on with it for these fingerless mitts all I had to do was look at a photo, copy what I saw with the yarn around the fingers, and I remembered everything she had shown me. Crazy! It is a little wonky, but I am sure i’ll get smoother as I go. And I <3 handknit with it’s little quirks vs. pictureperfect everything. luckily.

near future knitting includes a tassel belt for my sister, finishing the circular baby blanket for baby V (yes, it was baby Z, but she has been born and is a V instead), and a Hug for someone special who is far away.

i’ve also been sewing a lot ! Might as well include that here. I sewed a little vest for L’s halloween costume (Diego-Aa will be Dora. Sweeeet!), a Cinderella book (bought a kit thing on sale a year or more ago) for Aa, A couple of bean bags for Aa, Uhm. I guess that is it, but there is more planned - a ballerina bag for Aa (from a panel purchased by mom *years* ago - must purchase interfacing), a ballerina wall hanging for Aa, a couple of blankets for a sweet unborn baby (flannel is on sale this week, should go get some).  

Toby recieved a knit-gift from Katie a couple of weeks ago. He is mostly wearing onsies these days, with the outside temps being in the 90’s, but indoors at cooler places it’s nice to have a blanket to wrap him up in. Thanks Katie!

In my own knitting news, I’m working on a gift for a friends baby, with another one planned to start soon (as I get the yarn from moms house - ha! I will probably see Jeri again before I get to moms again, I forgot about it when I was there Thursday dropping off/picking up the kids!) And I just finished Aaralyn’s July 4th top (ignore the folded laundry on the bed)