I tend to just blog about homeschooling because it is our life, my goal with homeschooling is to have two girls who are life long learners. Now onto the pictures and I'll blog along the way. Pictures are much more interesting anyway!
It's interesting to go back through and see how much the girls have grown in 6 quick months. Kellyn wasn't writing her name and mostly writing backward, which is completely normal. I'm unsure when it clicked for her but she now knows how to spell her name and write it forward and backward. She does still love to make lists of random letters and she tells me what it spells.
Lots of outdoor exploration. Being outside makes us very happy and we are fortunate to be surrounded by friends who value outdoor time with all of our kids. It makes it easier to be outside when you have friends willing to meet up with you and literally spend all day long outside together.
I'm sure you notice with your own child, they are interested in so many different things. It happens in bursts and then they move onto the next interest. My girls gravitate toward anything related to animals. Pulling books off of the bookshelf to ask me to read to them about animals doesn't happen regularly but when it does they absorb so much because they are wanting to soak up that knowledge. They love drawing pictures of their interests and we watch cartoons (Wild Kratts is a favorite in the Wold house) and youtube is the great for animal videos. We are so lucky to live in a time when we can quickly access the information we want pretty much instantly.
Cooking and helping in the kitchen isn't a daily occurrence. It is fun to work together in the kitchen but there are times when I do just want to cook something alone so I can work at my own pace. The kitchen is the one area I hope to work on the most personally so I can let go a bit more and just enjoy the experience of cooking with my girls.
We heard about a mobile dairy truck that shows kids how a cow is milked which was so cool to see. I learn so much by learning right along with my girls. We also made a trip to see the Cabbage Patch Hospital when my Mom came to visit. It was neat and very interesting. We got to see the birth of a cabbage patch baby, it sounds just as weird as you're thinking. Simple things such as watching our van go through the car wash can be the highlight of a day.
I became a girl scout co-leader and it's been exciting. Claire enjoys it overall and LOVED Girl Scout camp. She doesn't even know that I'm taking her again in April, she will be so excited. Kellyn really loves Girl Scouts as well and cannot wait to be a Daisy in the fall. She comes to every meeting and joins right in, sometimes more than Claire does.
There was a getaway to Nashville and my hubby bought me cowgirl boots that I love so much!
Mimi visited and we will get to see more family next month and Mimi again in April!
Mimi started reading Charlotte's Web to them before bedtime.
Lots of sleeping happened, lots of growing happened. Both girls have had many days when they are just so tired, cranky and done. I don't typically schedule us to be out of the house and busy every single day during the week but it's happened occasionally. We are currently going through a growth spurt or developmental leaps. Sometimes being a kid is just so hard and exhausting. I'm so happy to have the flexibility to just be. To do nothing if they need a day to do nothing.
Roller skating happened for the first time and we've done it again since. We have another homeschool skate day coming up soon, they just love it so much. So many friends come and they just have a blast. My girls and I also love the Pioneer Woman and love checking things out when we make it over to Walmart. Someday I want to road trip to Oklahoma to visit her Mercantile! All of her posts on Instagram are so dreamy and I want to buy it all.
Beeswax candle rolling is fun. Being outside is so fun!
Claire loves the trumpet and so badly wants to take lessons but nobody is willing to teach a 6 1/2 year old. Most say she needs to wait until she's closer to 8. I hope she still loves it by then and is just as excited to learn a new instrument.
Pumpkin patch tractor ride with friends.
My best friend married the love of her life in the fall and it was a beautiful backyard wedding at their new home. It was a trip I took by myself, I read an entire book on the flights there and indulged in movies I've wanted to watch on the flights back. It went by too fast and I felt like I was in high school again with my best friend.
We walked in a Youth Parade with other Girl Scouts and they dressed as adorable kangaroos for Halloween. They both were very interested in any Australian animal and would've been koalas if Target had koala costumes. I think Claire would love living in Australia rescuing animals.
Claire learned how to play the piano. She took 4 lessons and felt she was done. I can understand why so many parents want their kids to stick with something because they are paying for it but I just don't have it in me to force her to do something she isn't enjoying because she's so young. I don't want to squash her love for learning something new in fear she will be forced to stick it out long term. Many will think a 1st grader is a big kid but they really aren't big kids just yet. I'm in no rush for my girls to be big kids, I want them to enjoy childhood.
We really enjoyed our zoo membership that Grandma and Grandpa got for us. They also loved learning about why a giraffe's tongue is purple and they hoped it would lick their faces. She didn't though, she only went for the lettuce.
For Girl Scouts we got to visit a bunny rescue and that was such a huge hit. I never realized how long bunnies live and how much care they really need. They were so cute and fun to pet.
We were excited to see The Nutcracker together with our friends from our Girl Scout troop.
Claire and her friends from her Explorer's class put on a Christmas play for us and it was so sweet!
We discovered Bob Ross on Netflix and I'm amazed and inspired every time I watch an episode. He makes it look so easy and I wish I would dedicate time to practice painting everyday. Someday!
We bought our very first home. The girls picked out Magical Purple and had fun helping to paint a little bit. We really love our home!
Lots of playing, lots of exploring, lots of questions and trying new things.
Snap circuits are so fun and we got a new membership to the Museum of Natural History since our zoo and aquarium memberships expired in December. I'm hoping to renew our aquarium membership soon but wanted to make sure both memberships didn't expire in the same month again.
The girls really like to make potions, especially with mud. Checkers is also a new game I taught them when they saw this set up at the library.
You don't have to go far or spend money on experiences to learn new things. We met friends at the park and all of the kids loved watching the skateboarders and guys on their bikes. We also drove a little ways to view this really cool rock garden behind a church. It's free to the public and there were so many incredible castles and buildings built out of pebbles. So much time has been spent creating this garden and it was so cool to see it.
The past 6 months have gone by so quickly. Our girls are changing so quickly and learning so much. I'm proud of who they are and feel so extremely fortunate to witness who they are becoming every single day. I'm looking forward to the next 6 months, by my next update I will have a 5 year old and a 7 year old. I can't even believe it!
