Servant's Heart Academy: Week 1: Sept. 19-23

When a friend at church sent me a link to a preschool co-op she was starting, my first thought was, "Is Madeleine preschool age?" I wasn't really sure when you might send a child to preschool. Then I started thinking that if I waited until next year, she would be 3.2 years old. I still didn't know if that would be a good age to start, so I just figured...she's able to start now with directed activities and focused play. And, the wonder of homeschooling means that we can start in late September, because I was not ready to tackle preschool any sooner- it just still felt like summer. It was the week when the weather cooled down that I felt the coming on of playful doing.

Roughly, we're doing 26 weeks focusing on a letter. The activities are simple and fun and we do our school Monday through Friday during Grace's nap. 

We started with the basic skill of using a glue stick to make an A that also looked like an Alligator.

Thankfully, we started school on the first day of Tim's four day off, so he took pictures, was a super-cheerleader in getting Madeleine excited, and helped do the activities with us. 

Here is Madeleine showing Tim her "excited for school" face:

 Placing alligator teeth, we talked about shapes (she knows the basics) and counted the teeth (easy-peasy stuff).

 Dada read the Berenstein Bears' "A" book while I prepped the next task:

 After the book, we made two little people from toliet paper rolls. We made our cousin Abigail and our uncle Alex. She colored them and we talked about what they should wear and why. The next day we started with American flag. We went outside and looked at our flag counting the stripes and asking her to identify the colors. Tim and I led her in the pledge and she repeated the whole thing. In order to make our flag, we had to see which color was on top and how the flags lined up in the field, so we made sure to replicate it as best we could.

 I thought I had foil stars somewhere, but I did not, so we put that assignment aside and focused on making a stenciled Ape.

 Since the paints were out, we decided to try stamping apples on to a tree, but it didn't work out as well as I'd hoped. Oh well, she still had fun.

 The next day, we packed up everyone and headed to Los Rios Ranchos for the Little Seedlings tour. We had a great time tasting apples and hearing all about hybrids and planting and even got a visit from Johnny Appleseed:

 We got to roam the animal area for a long time (which my kids LOVE!). Miss Tanya introduced us to a bunny named Oreo, two week old and younger chicks, goats, sheep and a llama. Madeleine has only really done goats and deer and chickens, so the llama and sheep were new.

 G-money fell in love with the goats. Should have known since she regularly smothers the cats and dogs at our house.

 Madeleine loved Ranger, a sweet billy who loved to be scratched:

 After our tasting and animal tour, we had a big picnic lunch on the lawn and then enjoyed some apple cider and apple-raisin bread in the general store. It was a great trip. Thank you to everyone who came and helped make it a success; I appreciate it. The next day was Thursday, and I allowed CBS to be pre-school. I just used the coloring sheet and the bible verse to talk over dinner and ask her how the day went. She's one of the older kids in the class and I'm thankful that she is helpful, polite and loving toward her sister. On Friday, we decided to FINALLY use a gift that I had been saving for just the right time. We had received animal cracker cookie cut-outs and Williams-Sonoma animal cookie dough from my friend at Bird in the Hand. We whipped up some Animal cookies.

 First, we combined the ingredients, then we talked about separating the dough in half. We talked about 100% and 50%. Madeleine said that half was for her and half was for Gracie. Then, we had to let the dough chill for 2 hours, so we finished our flag.

 Later that afternoon, we rolled out the dough and started cutting the shapes. These cutters are adorable. I don't have a picture of one, but there is a giraffe shape in addition to the elephant, tiger, seal, and lion featured below.

After cutting the cookies out, we had to chill them for another 30 minutes and then bake them for 16. Thankfully, Nani was here to help distract from all the waiting, but I think it is good for her to learn that everything has a process and that process can take time. We can't rush through the steps (though we had a little difficulty with it during our "B" bread baking...more later).
 Finally enjoying a cookie:

So, thank you McGaughs for the gift- we really enjoyed it!
Love, Lauren

W3-over it

Well, I'm pretty much over doing W3. All my posts were going to be some vitriolic rant about something that bothers me and in the meantime ostracize and alienate people. So, let me just apologize by saying...if you drive a PT Cruiser, you are not lame. Your car is lame...but you are not. There's lots going on over here, but I just don't have the energy (or will) to post about it. I've been in and out of these little funky "down" times. I could hypothesize many components, but ultimately it comes down to being prideful and selfish and discontent. So, we'll see what gets posted from here. Hope you are all doing well.

W3: driving power

This is a changing weekly post, so I will just tell you that I am thinking about changing the title from Wise, Weird, Whatever to simply Weird. To claim that any of my ideas could be wise seems a little audacious and when I have a post like today's, it doesn't really fall into the titled theme. Therefore, I re-name this W3 to just Weird. It's the idea that in exposing my thoughts to you about this life, you'll feel better about your own weird thoughts because we all have them!

When I grew up and learned to drive, I really enjoyed and still enjoy driving. My parents bought me some excellent driving cars. My first was a little sparkly blue VW bug that was amazing. I reupholstered the interior to a black vinyl and grey velour and that thing was so fun to drive. After the little '70 bug was in a crash, my parents replaced it with a red convertible. Driving around in that car was a blast, I replaced the sound system and the convertible top (due to leaking) and loved being able to let my hair fly-literally. I bought my own car in 2004; it is my 2001 4Runner and I adore this vehicle too. It reflects that outdoorsy, functional SUV type that I morphed into after college. And I suppose that is what is so weird about these thoughts on driving and cars. I think that what you drive says a lot about you. For instance, if you drive a PT Cruiser, you're just lame-those are the silliest cars (except for it's even more class-less cousin, the HHR). I'm sorry, but you just can't come back from buying a Cruiser. If you choose a Toyota or Honda, you're willing put invest in something that is going to hold it's value. Going with a convertible? You've got a little wild streak. If I see you drive by in a Audi you're probably fairly cool. But a red Mercedes just screams LOOK AT MEEEEEE BOYS!!! (Because no man would ever rive a red Mercedes. See a Sion scream by, must be a young, but fairly trendy college kid. Obviously, mini-vans are mom's territory, but if you drive a Sienna or Odyssey, you still crave a little style versus someone who's rollin' in a Voyager or Sedona (sorry sis). Driving a Jeep Wrangler, a Range Rover or an FJ Cruiser that's never seen desert dirt than you might be a poser. Get that thing out on the rocks!!! The point is, I actually assume a lot about a person based on the car they drive. In the past, if I was looking for a cute boy, he was going to be driving a Subaru hatchback. That car just screams pacific northwest wanderlust. So, that is my weirdness...as Tim and I drive around, I am secretly categorizing people by the car they drive. Weird, but true. What do you think, does your choice in car reflect who you are?

August 1-2

Happy August! Not really my favorite Back-to-School month (I think we'll go back in September when we homeschool-if we even take a break like the public school) and definitely a hotter (and muggier) month in Temecula. After linking through a few blogs (iheartorganizing.com to The Nesting Place to beautyandbedlam.com) I found some motivation to get back into exercise. I lost all Gracen's preggo weight and a little more, getting down to my lowest weight since my wedding around July 4th. But since then it's been pretty stressful for me lately and Minto Oreos have been my solace (which I say to my shame for I know Jesus:Phil 4:6 ) Regardless, it's a little too much mac'n cheese and little too less muscle. After reading this post: http://beautyandbedlam.com/the-30-day-shred/ I decided to cash in my coupon for free eggs at Target and pick up the video (under $10). Now, two days down...I'm feeling good about getting up and actually getting a workout in. There is something about doing my exercise that really makes me feel like whatever else I do that day is just icing on the cake (or dressing on the salad for me). Took measurements yesterday, no pics-might ask Tim to do that tomorrow. Anyways, it's muggy, it's yucky, but I'm committing to sweat it off. Oh, and the selling point: the workouts are 20 minutes long. Yup, no 55+minutes of P90X, I just don't have the time. So, we'll see what Jillian and I can do together this next month.

ps. Also at Target, I found these $1 abridged classics and phonics cards & time telling cards. We got almost all of them. So, homeschooling Mama's- have any of you researched tax credits for school related expenses?

w3: the Mom uniform

For my first Wise, Weird or Whatever post I want to present: the MOM uniform

Many of you already know that I have a Mom uniform. After Madeleine was born, I wore a lot of Tim's sweatpants or his exercise shorts and looking back on pictures, it looked hideously frumpy. After Gracen, I found that most days, I was still postpartum baby body and I was constantly being touched by sticky hands, spit-up upon, and wanting to be, above all, comfortable. I also didn't want to spend a bunch of money on clothes that would look put together, but were always dirty. Enter the uniform. Because on most days, I am home with my kids and no one else comes over but my mom, I decided to spend some money on date-night/ going out clothes and put a few bucks towards the uniform.

White shirt, black shorts in summer, black pants in winter.

I bought two packages of white v-neck Hanes shirts from Walmart.

I was given a black and white pair of soccer shorts while I coached track, so I bought another pair.

I also used a gift card to purchase two more pairs of my most favorite pants in the world. L.L. Bean's perfect pants!!! They are long, nicely cut, have a touch of stretch and don't fade in the wash. They are amazing date pants- they dress up with a nice blouse. Or they look casual with a jean jacket, but most days they are the work horse around the house as part of the mom uniform with white top.

Why a uniform?

1. I was wearing mostly the same thing every day post-partum anyways.

2. I don't have to think about it (no wasting time trying to make an outfit work).

3. It fits and is comfy! Looks relatively good but the elastic waistband accounts for the 30lbs. swings in weight with a pregnancy and 9 month recovery.

4. I can bleach the bejeezus out of the top if necessary

5. It is cheap and allows me to put monies towards other desires, like books =)

6. Should I go out, I can just throw my hair up, put on some makeup and black flip flops and look athletic (in the summer) or -with a pair of dangly earrings- almost done up in winter. (Dangly earrings and soccer shorts just can't go together!)

So, what do you think? Wise, Weird or Whatever? Would you (Or do you unknowingly) rock a mom uniform?

Love, Lauren

Whimsy & Desires

Now that the letter writing challenge is done, it is time to turn my attention to pressing desires.

1. Madeleine is 25 months, I am stuck in a puzzle/book rut; it is time to start activities that inspire play (which equals learning).

2. My last "monthly" post for the girls covered January, it is time to catch up.

3. While my blog is not managed enough to do a "link-up party" or generate any outstanding traffic, I do want to do a weekly blog focusing on seemingly unorthodox approaches to living. I am thinking of calling it "Weird, Wise or Whatever" and having people weigh in with their opinion. I think it could be fun and of course, it would be on Wednesday.

4. I joined Pinterest and although I have heard of the addictive power, I would like to moderately organize ideas I find on the world wide web.

So, in keeping with these desires. Madeleine and I bought out the paints. I was inspired by my friend who blogs at birdinyourhand. She wrote about adding whimsy to our yards, so this is what I came up with:

Start with a $1 birdhouse from JoAnn's

Add Crayola Washable paint

Set them outside to dry, go to the library, come home, have lunch, then prepare to drill

Drill a hole through the bottom and add a bamboo garden stake

Determine that they need a big, colorful bow on the stake; shoot adorable photo anyway

Ta-da! Whimsy & fun.

Letter #30/30- Your reflection in the mirror

Helllllllllllllllloooooooooo gorgeous!

...now seriously, go to bed.

Love, Lauren ♥