New Banner

As you can see I have made a new banner. A blog I follow made a post about being extra careful when you use pictures from the internet and other blogs.  This blogger was recent fined hundreds of dollars because of using an image, unbeknownst to her, without permission. She linked the image back to the website where she got it from but said website was also using the photo without permission. And this image in question was simply of colorful Easter eggs in a carton.  I know.  Very scandalous.  Sooooo...that being said, the photo I used in my previous banner was one I found on Google Images and I did not want to take any risks. This photo in the new banner is my own, taken at the zoo.  I know I've used other company logos and various clip art from image searches here, so I wonder if they would fall under the same category as actual photographs? Hm. Worth looking into.  The only photos I have used are my own. It used to annoy me seeing a blog with photos that had a huge mark on them since it made it appear less personable, but I definitely understand now. :-/

Ryan has a day job...what?!?

Autumn was not awake for this Kodak moment

Ryan officially started his new job as a base police officer on Monday! A day job--as opposed to his afternoon/night job. :) His old schedule was 2-midnight, which we all adapted to after 9+ months.  His new schedule is 8-4...a normal schedule for a 40-hour week work. Strange.  Being a police officer is all he's talked about doing since I've known him.  He went on a ride along in high school and that pretty well did it for him.  He's going to Georgia in less than three weeks for the academy. He'll be gone for 2 months!  In the meantime, he's doing computer-based training since he can't go out on patrol yet.  Be on the lookout for motherly rants about the heathens dear blessings we call Hannah and Autumn. I know everything will be fine. If I was totally loaded I would probably move to Clarksville for those two months, but I can at least visit a few times. :)

Week in Review #34: Aa is for Apple and Astronomy

Our first full week of school!!!  And what a busy and productive success it was!

I am surprising myself with how relaxed I am feeling toward school. I read that if you try to force your kids into learning than they will start to resist your teaching. Don't want that! 

Tuesday through Thursday Hannah went to cooking camp at church. It was a day camp that lasted 9-2:30 each day.  She always wants to help me prepare food (she currently knows how to make pb&j and scrambled eggs--with proper supervision of course), so I knew she would have a blast!  Wednesday morning she helped me make pancakes by pouring the batter into the pan. She did a great job! I did the pancake flipping and cooked the bacon.  I just turned 29 years old and I still managed to burn my hand with grease splatter. Sheesh. 

I finally got around to ordering Hannah's astronomy book, and it came on Monday! I've been trying to find it used, but to no avail. Apparently it's a hot item on ebay right now. Flipping through it I am very excited to get started! The text is very simple for me to read aloud to Hannah, and there are fun activities to do at the end of each lesson. The end of the first lesson we are to make our own solar system and of course we will buy the styrofoam balls and paint them! Can't wait!  We read through some of the first lesson on Friday, learning the definitions of astronomy and constellation and that there are nine planets (we're including Pluto, sorry :-p)
I believe toward the end of last week we officially implemented reading time when the girls go to bed.  We have their bedtime story and they go to their respective rooms and read/look at books for 30-45 minutes before lights out.  It's been working out beautifully!

A is for Alligator (Autumn will get it mixed up
and say A is for crocodile :-p) 

file folder game to review telling time

What happens when I'm not paying attention

playing a match/memory game

At the park with Daddy so Mama can watch
the morning news in peace :)

Easy Peasy Paper Plate Panda

pic wouldn't act right...argh

paper plate
black felt
white felt
googly eyes
glue
pen

No directions necessary.  I even free-handed it in cutting the ears, eyes, and nose. :)

Totally Cute #2: Bags

Love giraffe print! I found this purse at Goodwill, priced at $4.99.  Since I was there the first Saturday of the month (everything is 50% off!) I got it for a whopping $2.50!  A smaller purse might be good for me so I'm not tempted to toss everything but the bare essentials in it.  We'll see how long that will last. :)

My mom made this! I'm planning on using it as our "zoo bag".  She said if anyone were to order one from her she would charge $50 since it took a good while to make. She said that people can choose what animals they want though! :) Email her at lafmuch@gmail.com!

Week in Review #33: "Not" Back to School

July 7th was our official first day of school!!! Of course we started out small just to get ourselves warmed up. Hannah did some copywork and math--three lessons! Then again, the first 20-ish lessons are review.

School in pjs!

Autumn had a blast working on the letter A worksheets--especially using a dry erase marker on the sheet protectors! I did this assessment with her a couple weeks ago just to see how many letters she actually recognizes (about 70% I would say!).  I've been learning a lot about homeschooling this age from 1+1+1=1 not to mention it's where I got a lot of my awesome printables! :-D In the picture above you may notice Autumn is scribbling writing on a magnadoodle. Talk about a great homeschool tool!

Colored it purple and said it was a dead apple :-/

Aside from beginning school on Thursday Hannah had a dentist appointment. She would sob on and off over it, no matter all the "pep talks" Ryan and I tried to give her. Long story short, all went well!  Due to lack of dental insurance, we've been going to the UT School of Dentistry.  Forgive me if I've already mentioned this. They accept insurance but even paying out of pocket is massively cheaper than a private practice. It's so fantastic. Anyway, Hannah saw the same student doctor I see. He was so great with Hannah which was a good thing since I had to stay in the waiting room. :-/  I left my phone with Hannah so she can flip through my pictures or play a game to distract her from the impending doom she was imagining. I forgot about how she loves to take pictures and I found a few like the this:

I just had to laugh. I could just imagine Hannah giggling as she was snapping photos of all the other students wandering around!

She also requested her own smock :-p

Caulfield Academy is officially in session! :)

Long Overdue Family Outing

Ryan has been working a massive amount of hours lately.  He is training to be a base police officer (just had his physical so he should get an official start date any time!) in the morning and then working his normal shift with Lockheed Martin in the evening. Seriously, the girls and I wake up and he's gone. He gets home around 11:30, and I'm still up. We basically say hello and go to sleep since we're both so tired from the day. :-p The kids have really started to notice have much he's been gone lately. :( While today he still had to work for LM we were able to go out together this morning to the zoo and then mexican food for lunch! Feels like forever since we've all gone out together!

"Daddy who? I have chips!"