The beginning of our homeschooling journey . . .

       We've finally gotten into some sort of a groove again. We've been able to take trips to the library more often now that Little Pumpkin is here. Thank Goodness!

     I love watching my kids learn. I mean duh. What weird parent doesn't, honestly? I love watching them change and grow (even though it tends to be bittersweet). It's pretty amazing. What's even better is seeing their individual personalities and interests develop.  I'm all about loading their big little brains up with all the information they are willing to take in.

     Since I'm only prepping for CLEPs right now and I won't be taking any classes this semester I have been using all that former study time on what some might deem "homeschool preschool". It just feels like normal to me. We hope to homeschool our kiddos long term. Right now we take things easy and don't follow any particular schedule or curriculum. I originally didn't have any intention of starting things up seriously (ie keeping records or taking grades) until my oldest is ready for kindergarten. Of course . . . that's only a little over a year away.

      As some of you know, a few weeks ago Bitty Bug asked for a "body book" out of the blue. She was sitting in the recliner and we were on the couch when she just brought it up out of nowhere. We are still not entirely sure what sparked this seemingly sudden fascination with anatomy. She is not a big fan of going to the doctor. Hubby and I explain things pretty realistically to her though. We use anatomically correct words. She likes Doc McStuffins. I don't know! We didn't dawdle over it too long. I pulled up the Barnes & Noble website and literally searched "body book" in the kids section. I showed her the results. She was so excited about what I showed her saying "Yes, that's my body book!". We went to the library first but we did end up buying a "body book" for her. She's "read" through it every day since. It's definitely a favorite. She loves the illustrations. 

    So now, my (almost) 4 year old knows about all sorts of organs, how blood works, and what some of the different body's systems are and what they do. Hearing her say "digestive system" or "skeleton" is the cutest. 

Here the things we've been learning about or working on.

• Counting to 100

• Uppercase and lowercase letters

• Months of the year

• Days of the week

• Winter (anything from the weather to birds migrating)

• Body systems, bones and organs

• Coins, bills, and sorting

• The Presidents of the United States

• Manners and etiquette

• Reading (letter sounds and 2-3 letters words)

  I'll be sharing more soon about the different ways we're learning these things!! 

 
   

More Deals and Coupons!

      I love deals and great coupons but I am a writer first and foremost. In order to keep the primary blog content consistent I'll be creating a new page. This will be my last blog post on this page about deals, coupons, or codes. After this all of these will be updated on the "Check It Out" page and you can all ready find printable coupons on the "Get Coupons" page. These pages will be updated regularly!


Coupons and Codes:

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Taking the Kid's Toys Away

     It happened. We reached that point in the parenthood thing where we were fed up. Done. The TOYS were never-ending and never put away. It's barely a month after Christmas and they just don't give a rip that their new stuff is upside down or stepped on. Forget that noise. We took EVERY last toy away about a week ago*. I think. I think it was a week ago. It's Wednesday, right?

    Yeah, I just went and scrolled through my personal facebook page to see which day it was because I knew I posted about it. Ha. It was a week ago exactly! They have only earned one thing back (the duplo legos). Those have been taken back from them multiple times too.

      The cabin fever is real. We are out of our minds. Sunday was a sweet reprieve with the random 60 degree temps. We spent 3 hours at the park playing. But, we're right back below freezing with more nasty precipitation this week. Mind you, we've been to Chick-fil-a, the library, and the art museum more than once this month. We go let them walk around through the store** just to get some of the spare endless energy out. At this rate, they'll get their toys back when they are in their twenties.

    There's plenty to complain about. I could go on about it for a while. I'll just be quick about it though. Feel free to skip this part. [The kids are crazy. The toys are taking up space in our room. Stomp stomp. Wah wah. They don't seem to care that their toys are gone. It's not working. Failing. Failure. Why why whyyy?]

    As all of this is going down something wonderful is happening. My girl's imaginations are growing tenfold! They are great little pretenders and story makers as it were. But now. Wow! The big bed is a mountain. The toddler bed is a boat. The plastic storage boxes are the treasures. Socks are crocodiles. The cubby bookshelf is a "giant, giant bird house" with all kinds of crazy birds living in them with their babies. The tall bookshelf is a ladder to the spaceship (although my sensible side tells them NOT to climb it!). Their hands are paddles and phones and brushes for the invisible "good" animals. The closet is a "bad cave". Hubby and I are the monsters half the time. Pants and long-sleeved shirts have become capes. This is only a compilation of their ideas for ONE of the pretend games they play! How awesome is this?! I love it! Their play with the legos is even more creative now, in my opinion.

      We won't get rid of all of their toys. Some were begging to be put out of their misery, donated, or sold anyway. I think we're going to get a cabinet of some kind and put them all away rather than having them out and available all the time. I feel kind of guilty because I'm a 90s kid and Toy Story ruined me. Still. I use logic. Logic tells me . . . the toys won't feel too bad and they'll enjoy listening to the girls pretend all day.

    I think this will do them almost as much good as when we ban them to "be bored" outside on gorgeous days like my own parents did. They'll have to do terrible things like run around, play hide and seek, and dig holes. I can't wait! (Well, I can and I will but you know what I mean.)
    

*I will say we aren't pure evil/their giant eyes break my mommy heart so they got to keep their lovey animals that they sleep with and carry around everywhere. Also, they have their books. Books aren't toys.

** With us. We walk with them. They hold our hands and all that good stuff. I promise.

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Just One Hour With My Daughter

      Oh, my sweet daughter. She's my little delight. She's certainly beautiful on the outside with her golden locks and her sparkling blue eyes but she's absolutely amazing on the inside. Three has been a rough age for sure. I learned pretty quickly when I was around lots of different kiddos working in a daycare that the third year made the second year seem super easy. I couldn't have comprehended then how truly challenging it is to deal with a preschool-aged kid. My sweet firstborn love, in particular, was a high-need baby and she continues to be a very sensitive little soul. She's like the exact opposite of the Grinch. Her heart is 50 times bigger than normal and every little thing affects her deeply.

     It's been a long time since we got some one-on-one time. New baby siblings make that more complicated than normal. Today we got out for an hour just me and her. It wasn't a big deal. I was just making a quick trip to Target for some random groceries. I took her along while hubby watched the other two. One whole hour.

    She talked and talked and talked. Undivided attention is a rare treat when you are one of three kids under three. She soaks it all in. She let me into her world for that hour.

     We saw a school bus. She told me about going to school and playing with kids. She told me she wanted to learn about bones and letters and all the animals.

     She saw some big houses and told me we should get a big, big house for lots of kids and lots of animals. She wants a pink pillow and three new books and she likes the sky when it's blue but it's just grey and cold right now but when the sun comes up it gets blue, blue, blue again.

    We saw a horse and a cow. "Where are their babies?" she asked. "They'll be so sad without their babies with them." And she continued telling me all about the horse and the cow and  their babies (that we've never met or seen before).

     She told me how the stop lights work ("red means stop, STOP, NOW and green means go real fast"). She told me how her carseat keeps her safe and she shouldn't unbuckle it. She told me how she wanted to go to the park and library again soon. She told me she likes it when mama is happy and not sad or angry.

    She asked to stop before we left just to look at all the Valentine's cards and we did. She admired the colors and the glitter and the hearts. "Why are these here for mama?" she asked. "For Valentine's day." I replied. "Well, I just like Valentine day." she smiled. 

    I let her choose some juice and some cereal. She chose to think of her sister. She picked out things Sweet Pea (2 years) would like and told me that Little Buddy (3 months) "just only needs milk from mama though".

   We talked and talked about so much more.

   She told me and a stranger and the cashier how much she loves her sister and brother.

   She fell asleep in the car on the five minute drive home telling me about her "body book". (She's fascinated by bones and organs! our genius. we love it!).  It was just an hour but it was an hour well spent. I hope and pray she can always talk to me but I know there will be times she chooses someone else to share her sweet heart with instead of Mama. Whoever they are they are in for a treat and I pray they appreciate her heart as much as I do (not that I believe it's really possible). I want to always remember these moments.