30 Days of Thanksliving

For each of the days in November, I posted what I was thankful for. I posted in Facebook and wanted to transfer them here for longevity's sake. A long time reader and believer in 1000 Gifts, I've tried different ways of keeping track of my heart's gratitude. Maybe on my blog is the way?? I'm a good starter, but not a good follow-through-er. I'm working on changing that.

So, here are my 30 Days of Thanksliving {divided into 4 parts}

day 2 of a month of thanks: I'm thankful for my wonderful hunny. thanks for helping me rearrange the furniture the other day...and thanks for not freaking out when I wanted to put it all back the way it was. :)

Oh, what's that, you didn't see day 1--that's because I didn't do it yesterday...I'm thankful for God's grace!

Day 3 of a month of thanks...I'm thankful that God is Peace when life is hard.
Read this sweet story on one of my favorite blogs...

Day 4 of a month of thanks...(yesterday)...thankful for friends. God has graciously given me wonderful friends who dig in and walk this life with me. I'm thankful that my friends challenge me to be more like Christ. And laughing with friends is one of the greatest gifts!!

Day of thanks #5: thankful for my husband and the opportunity to attend a beautiful, encouraging wedding together on this lovely autumn day

Day 6--month of thanksgiving: So thankful for our church family. Pastor who teaches boldly, yet lovingly; members who love and serve each other, a women's class that enters into each others' stories treasuring and loving each other. God is so good.

day 7 of a month of giving thanks: I'm thankful for my 3 kids--sometimes they make me want to tear my hair out strand by strand but even through that, I love them. They challenge me to be a better me and they love me unconditionally. I love my kids.

Stromboli with friends

Last week I enjoyed a fun dinner with some friends. We talked about being more intentional about getting together...and since we all need to eat, well, dinner sounded like a good way to fellowship. I made stromboli, and others brought salad and desserts.

This stromboli recipe is written on a hand-penned 3x5 card from my friend Julie. Unable to make this recipe without thinking of Julie, I'm eternally thankful that God allowed us to be friends. I miss her so very much.

Here is the recipe:

Stromboli

*You can use frozen bread dough, thawed, or make the dough in the bread machine following these instructions: 
1 1/4 c. warm water
3 T. oil
1/8 c. + 2 tsp. sugar
1 tsp. salt
2 T. instant mashed potato flakes
3 c bread flour
1 1/2 tsp. yeast
Dough setting on bread machine.

When dough is finished, roll out on floured surface into large rectangle (like 8"x15").
Brush lightly with oil and sprinkle with oregano and mozzarella cheese. Evenly sprinkle about 1/2-3/4 lb ground beef (browned and drained), pepperoni and more mozzarella.
Roll longways and pinch to seal ends (wet dough to get it to stick together.)
Bake on stone or sprayed baking sheet. 350 degrees for 20 minutes or until slightly golden brown.
Serve slices with warmed pizza sauce.

You can add other meats such as cooked, drained sausage to the inside. Can also be made as lunch meat stromboli--use cheddar cheese, lunch meat and dip in mustard/mayonnaise, etc.

Chicka Chicka Boom Boom

So far, I've only been able to keep up with posting the preschooler's school plans. Really, I'm doing schoolwork with the other 3 (1st grade, 4th grade and 10th grade), I just can't figure out time to write about it all. Anyway, our next book is Chicka Chicka Boom Boom.

Here are some of the ideas I've collected for the next two weeks:
Confessions of a Homeschooler has these printables 
1+1+1=1 shared this cute lapbook
Making Learning Fun posted ideas and some printables to use with the book
I Heart Crafty Things has two great ideas--magnetic letters on a baking sheet and a snack
The Crafting Chicks posted this cute idea for making a mini coconut tree out of an empty toilet paper roll.
Click here for a freebie download for a fun game from Peace, Love and Learning.
I made our own coconut tree out of tag board and lowercase alphabet stickers. I crafted the coconuts out of brown paper bag circle cut-outs stuffed with a bit of cotton. 
Lastly, we are going to make a coconut dessert on the last day...I think I'm going to use this recipe from AllRecipes.com

I'm excited about using this book with Alea...she so fun to teach and she loves school!

Blueberries for Sal

We had a great study of We're Going on a Bear Hunt! The little girl I watch LOVED the video of the author reading the book. By the end of the 5 days (which is two weeks for us--two days one week and three days the next) she had the book memorized. very cute!

For the next two weeks, we are going to "row" Blueberries for Sal. Here are some resources I found for this book.

• Literature Based Themes: Robert McCloskey This site has some great links to good ideas. We are SO making blueberry paint! :) 
• my favorite...Homeschool Creations printables 
• Blueberry Crumble {!!}

The only big downside is that this isn't really the right time of year to go blueberry picking. :( So I'll get some at the store and we'll make blueberry pancakes and muffins, etc. Won't be exactly the same, but we'll still have fun.

We're Going on a Bear Hunt

With as long as it's been since I've posted, you may think I've already been on a bear hunt! Really, I have so much I want to post, I just can't seem to find time to do it. I am working on sticking to my schedule and hopefully, once I get into a routine, I will have time for some other things that I really enjoy doing.

I am homeschooling 10th grade, 4th grade, 1st grade and Pre-K this year. The youngest one is a girl that I've watched since she was a tiny baby. She LOVES doing school and I'm really excited to do Before Five in a Row with her.

This week we've started We're Going on a Bear Hunt. Here are some resources and printables I've found to go along with the story.
A video of the author telling the story:



Homeschool Share--lapbook for this story
Homeschool Creations printables for this story
Printables from Sparkle Box
For some fun snacks we are going to have Teddy Grahams, Gummi Bears and chocolate pudding (for the mud, of course!) I'll have to spread out the snacks during this week...don't want her to have too much sugar all at one time.

Hopefully soon I will be able to post about what I'm doing with the other kids. We started school on August 22, so we are still working hard to be diligent and consistent.

Off I go, to do more printing and preparing!
Thanks for sticking with me!

Preparing for Montana State Study

I've finished preparing for the Pacific Coast States: Washington, Oregon, California and Alaska. Now I'm moving on to the Rocky Mountain States starting with Montana.

For all 4 of the Pacific Coast States I really liked the HomeschoolShare printable lapbook pieces.  So, I will continue to print these and use them for these states as well.

I found this mini unit on Montana from diyhomeschooler. 

SchoolExpress has these printables for Montana (and other states as well.)

Lots of fun Cantering the Country!

Planning for NEXT Year!

Well, we are finishing up school for this year. We'd gotten a little behind on Math, so we've pushed through the month of June and now into July trying to get finished. I'm letting myself start to plan for next year {I had to make myself wait because I LOVE the planning part--it's the carrying out part that is hard for me.}

So, here is the beginning plans for Trenton {1st grade} and Bethany {4th grade}::
Cantering the Country
Five in a Row {Volume 2 selected books}

We are going to read Gramma's Walk.
And we will study Washington State.

Here are some resources I've found for Gramma's Walk:
Oceans of the World map (so far, I'm just using this one lapbook piece from this unit.)
Lapbook for Gramma's Walk

Here are some resources I've found for Washington State:
US Geography Resources
Enchanted Learning--Washington
Official Washington State site--with coloring pages, activity book, etc.  

For this coming year, I'm doing our lapbook/unit studies a bit different. Last year, I printed out resources, put them in a folder and several folders remain untouched. :( SO, this year, I'm printing out everything, cutting it all out, pasting it on cardstock paper and binding it together. Then when we do the study, the kids will decorate the title pages, fill in the mini books and learn, learn, learn. :) I'm excited to see if we have more success doing it this way. {Not to worry about the untouched folders; I imagine they will be used before it's all said and done.}

I'd love to hear how others organize, plan and carry out their homeschooling...so please, feel free to leave a comment!