February 29, 2024

Annual snow day

Since moving here, we've been given one day a year of snow.  





 

February 23, 2024

DIL Wednesday-Saturday

 

Pictures to come...

Wednesdays:

Alison has piano lessons


Thursdays:

The boys have basketball


Friday:

Co-op


Saturday:

Boys play basketball and Ben and I go for a run

February 14, 2024

Valentine's Day


We had a little Valentine's "party", aka eat lots of candy after school.  Ben brought home flowers and chocolates and I made a fancy pasta dinner.

 

February 9, 2024

DIL..Tuesday

Science this year has meant more experiments and projects than before. It's a great part of higher grades! Colin is learning Earth Science this year and did a unit on volcanoes, so we made a volcano out of ice cream.

 

You never know what information is going to super stick in little brains.  Many moons ago, we got a book about Pompeii, the kids all LOVED it and remember every detail.  Colin decided that we needed to use skittles to represent Pompeii and one was even the dog that was buried.

 
He calls this his science spot...

 
Around lunch time, we turn on World Watch.  A friend of mine here recommended it...it's a news shows for kids with Christian reporters.  So they learn about the current events, but not in a terrifying way.  This week, Caleb Bailey jumped on our screen!  He was the piano player at our church in California!

 
 Alison works Tuesday thru Saturday and the best part is, she just walks across the street to get to work.

 
Most days, we do History up in the attic.
 

It's been sunny this week, so we are trying to soak it up as much as possible.

DIL...Monday

 Monday:

School days

I still get up at 6am, but it's no longer because little boys are up at 6:30.  The days of early morning snuggling are gone, which will forever make me sad, but it's still so good for me to keep this routine.  The Bible and coffee are the best way to start the day.  My spot doesn't have a light, so during the winter, I've resorted to turning on twinkle lights. 

Times have changed so much, that I can have my quiet time, breakfast and workout all before any kids are awake.  Colin will occasionally come out to the garage to say good morning, but most of the time they wait until I've showered ;)  I start in the garage, with some weights and then go for a run around our cute little village.  I never get tired of looking at the historic homes.


The boys unload the dishwasher and get breakfast.  Alison is almost always still sleeping, although she has several alarms set.  I take Maya to jump on her most mornings and that gets her up.  It's about this time that I mix up sourdough.


Our house has been too cold (drafty windows in an old house), so we've put a little heater in our closet and that has become my bread proofing room.


Colin usually starts math at the kitchen table while he eats breakfast and will head up to the attic after he's done eating.  His math is on the computer this year and we are loving the program!

Then we all meet at the table for Literature (Language Arts/English) and then it's already time for lunch.


I've been making sourdough buns that Colin and I have been loving for sandwiches.

This Monday we listened to a podcast on growth mindset while eating. 

Then we headed to the library to work on History and Science.  Alison doesn't work Monday's, so it's the perfect time to get to the library.   Alison finds a quiet corner to work and the boys and I camp out in the kids/teen section.  



When school is done, we take Maya for a walk.


In the evening, Colin has guitar lessons with Mr. Frank.  The best part is, he comes to our house!  
I love how he does lessons; they start with "jamming" together, work on a song Colin picks to learn and then work on music theory.  Colin is doing an amazing job!

A week in the life...day by day

 I realized the last time I did a 'day in the life' post, we lived in Arizona and were about to move to California!  So much has changed and I've also realized how unique this season of life is.  It's taken me a long time to document our life...know why?  because no one wants to be photographed anymore!  So I have to sneakily try to document. 


Sunday:

When we first heard about our current church, we put off checking it out because service doesn't start until 1pm!  We thought that was just too weird.  Now that we've been doing it for almost 2 years, it seems strange to not have the entire morning to relax.  I try to make "brunch", which we really eat at lunch time, but the kids seem to like this little tradition. 

Every couple of months, we serve on the cafe team as a family.  We make coffee and set out bagels and cream cheese.  Long Islanders are very serious about their bagels!


Colin loves ramen and had been craving it for awhile.  Ben found a place that has gluten free noodles and it was the best ramen we've had!