Homeschooling Update: September 2013

September was our first full month of homeschooling, but we did take a week off for the beach trip. :)

Here's a summary of what we did in September:

The first week of September was our 5th week of school. Apparently I am hit or miss with picture taking and I didn't take many pictures. Oops!

• We continued on with the phonics lessons and worked on letters "F" and "T". 

"F" is for fan

• She loves to play a matching game with her new words and making up a sentence with them.
• Arabelle worked on the number 5 this week. She is getting really quick with her math flash cards, which she names the number before, between, and after (ex. __ 6; 5__7; 4__).
• In this week, she and Bo learned the first part of one of their catechisms.
• Who is God? God is the maker of everything. There is only one true God. God is one, yet he is three persons: God the Father, God the Son, and God the Holy Spirit--the Trinity
• We continued on in their bible story book, the Golden Children's Bible. 
• They both finger painted fruit trees and the serpent, which I didn't take a picture of...sorry!
• For science this week, we mixed the primary colors to make new ones and made a color wheel. Clearly, this was one of Arabelle's favorite activities!

The second week of September, we were at the beach, so the 3rd week was our 6th week of school.

• She studied the letter "H" this week in phonics. Her Nature Reader book was about hippos and I even learned some neat things about them!
• This week I dictated some simple sentences for her to write and she did pretty good!
• They finished learning the "Who is God?" catechism
• This week, we read Follow the Dream, a book about Christopher Columbus. We also looked on our big map and talked about his route and the 7 continents. We colored the continents on a map and traced Christopher Columbus' route to America.
• They drew pictures of "If I were an explorer"
• Arabelle drew her and Breana exploring for treasure. Fortunately, they find 2 treasure chests!

• Bo drew and airplane on the right there and some truffala trees (from The Lorax) on the left and him and Braden on the bottom. He wanted me to draw a tow truck too (clearly, I am not an artist!).

• We also went "exploring" on a walk one day and took empty toilet paper tubes so they could spot something new to check out. :)
• We read the poem In 1492 and Arabelle glued a construction paper ship one day. 

The last full week of September was our 7th week of school.

• She studied the letter "C" and "P" this week and continued learning new words.
• In one of her workbooks, she draws a picture of something that begins with the letter she is studying. She drew Papaw for the letter P. She also wrote "Papaw" there across the top. Her handwriting is improving!

• She and Bo learned Proverbs 3:5-6 this week. 
• We talked about the months of the year and the seasons. She drew some pumpkins and 'decorated' them with some weeds from outside. This was totally her idea...can you tell how proud she is!?

• For science, we collected some leaves and made leaf rubbings by placing them under a sheet of paper and rubbing the side of a crayon over it. 

We usually go to the library once a week and get books. Arabelle picks out some she likes and I choose some easy readers. I also look for books related to the topics we're discussing. Thank goodness for the internet!!

I am always trying to come up with fun games for her to review her phonics words. She loves memory games, so we do that a lot. I also have put out pillows as 'lily pads' with words on the paper in front of them and she 'hops' to the correct lily pad when I say the word. 

That's our summary for September! Looking forward to more fun in October! 

Growing up

Arabelle and Bo are growing up so fast and learning new things....Bo has learned to pump his legs and keep the swing going all by himself! That is a BIG milestone to this swing pushing Mama! 

It finally rained some recently and was wet enough to the frogs to come back to their usual spot. Arabelle and Bo were making a mud home in the wheel barrow for their new friend.

*No frogs were harmed in this activity....they set him free and he hopped off as fast as he could. ha!

Today was hat day at school. Bo was EXCITED, can you tell?

Arabelle loves to help around the house and wanted to wash the dishes for me this morning. It's getting to the point that her 'help' is actually helpful. She did a great job!

We are enjoying this fall weather! 

4 Month Old Comparison's and Mae's Growth

Mae had her 4 month check up today and all is well! She's growing well and doing what she's supposed to. :)

She weighed in at 13lb 10oz (50th percentile) and was 25.5 inches long (80th percentile). She is actually shorter and lighter than Arabelle and Bo were, so she's going to be our little peanut it seems!

Considering she was born off the chart on weight and length (9lb 10oz and 22 inches), it may appear that she's not growing like she should, but Arabelle seemed to follow the same growth pattern (quickly dropping to the 50th percentile for weight, which she is still at). Mae nurses well, is content between feedings, and has some sweet fat rolls, so we aren't concerned. Considering she grew 2 inches in 2 months, I'd say she's just fine!

At 4 months, Arabelle weighed 14lb 10oz and Bo was 18lb 7oz (hefty!!!). Arabelle was 26.75 inches and Bo was 26.5 inches long.

Here's a comparison of them at 4 months old. Arabelle on top, Bo in the middle, and Arabelle in the bottom. Everyone says she looks just like Bo, but I still see both of them.

Gooooo Dawgs!!!

Jared took Arabelle and Bo to the Georgia game on Saturday and they had so much fun! Arabelle went to a game last year, so she knew the deal (and the good snacks they had!). This was Bo's first trip.

They ended up selling the 2 tickets they already had and finding some club level seating, so they stayed dry the entire game. 

Arabelle was SO excited to have her picture made with one of the Georgettes (Jared knows her mother). When she was telling me about it, she said, "She let me hold the pom poms!!!".

Jared is NOT a picture guy, so I was shocked and really happy that he came home with this one!

Both Arabelle and Bo said that eating cotton candy was their favorite part of the game. :)

They had a long day, full of fun. So thankful that they got to spend some quality time with Jared and he was able to share one of his favorite things with them!

Arabelle's 5th Birthday

Arabelle turned 5 years old on Friday, Sept. 20th. Since we had Bo and Arabelle's birthday party together back in August, we still wanted to do something special on her day.

Here she is the evening before she turned 5. I told her we could just skip her birthday and let her stay 4 another year, but she said "No, you can't stop me!".

Birthday morning! 

Soooo excited for The Princess and the Frog, featuring her favorite princess, Tiana!

Birthday pancakes with chocolate chips and sprinkles!

And singing Happy Birthday

We did a little bit of school work Friday morning, then went to town to run a few errands and picked up her best friend, Breana from school. Arabelle was SO excited! She also requested Ranchero's for lunch, so we picked that up.

They "rested" and watched Arabelle's new movie, then a few more friends came over around 3:00. Arabelle had asked for chocolate cupcakes with pink icing, so I had ordered those from the bakery and they were delish! 

The kids played all afternoon and had so much fun! Papaw and Mamaw came over for supper and Jared grilled steaks. She wanted "Papaw's peas", okra for Bo, steak, and Mamaw's cake for supper, so that's what we had! 

Candles and "Happy Birthday" again!

After playing outside and getting a shower......

Bo was instructed to put on some PJs and he came out in one of Arabelle's gowns. He will say, "I look like a girl!", but still wants to wear the gown because it's "Beautiful and cozy!". Silly boy.

We are so proud of our sweet 5 year old Arabelle and I'm saying it again....I can't believe how fast she's growing up! 

Mae is 4 months old!

These months are flying by and we're trying our best to enjoy Mae as a little tiny baby! She is now 4 months old!

• Mae goes for her 4 mo. check up on Monday. I'm curious to see how much she weighs. Her little thighs are looking mighty plump!
• She is still on a 3-3.5 hour schedule and sometimes will go 4 hours between feeds. We follow the eat, play, sleep routine and it's going well! 

• She begins the day around 7-7:30 and takes 3-4 naps/day. If they are on the shorter side, she'll take the 4th nap. Bedtime is between 6:30-7:30, depending on if she takes a 4th nap. I try to get her to take a 4th nap everyday, but she sometimes just babbles happily in her crib for awhile before I get her up. 

• Nap lengths still vary. She has been taking one good, solid nap (2 hours) each day, but tends to wake early (40 minutes) from the others. Sometimes I can get her to go back to sleep, sometimes not. She goes down on her own and usually doesn't cry at all. 
• We've had some rough nights (waking 2-3 times) in the last month. I'm fairly certain it's been related to developmental things....she found her feet, then started sleeping much better!

• She loves to sit up with help and play with her toys. 
• She rolls from back to belly anytime she's put on the floor, but still sleeps on her back in the crib. She has woken up crying 2 times because she rolled on her belly, otherwise she stays on her back.

• She has found her feet and LOVES to grab those sweet toes. She hasn't gotten them into her mouth just yet, but she's trying!

• She's hit that distracted nursing stage, so at home, I usually lay on the bed and feed her. She's less likely to try to wiggle and squirm around to see what Arabelle or Bo is up to. And I get to rest for a few minutes. ;)
• She is still swaddled with the right arm in. When she wakes in the mornings, it's usually out. 

• She's in a size 2 diaper and 6 mo. clothes.
• She loves standing up and we got the exersaucer out a few days ago, which she really likes. 

• She still loves to be outside, drools a ton, and loves to laugh at Arabelle and Bo!

I can't believe she's already 4 mo. old! I'm also thinking back to how I felt last year at this time (SICK!!!) and so thankful that part is over and the fun part is really here! :)

*Bo was 4 months old when I first started blogging....here's his 4 mo. post.

Arabelle is 5 years old!

Arabelle is 5 years old today!!

Happy Birthday to the girl who first made me a Mama! We love you so much Arabelle!

*We have a fun day planned and obviously, I'll be sharing all about it in a few days. :)

Messy Painting

2 Saturdays ago (I am behind!!), Jared was gone to Athens for the ball game and I was hoping to make our day at home super fun!

I took some cardboard out and gave Arabelle and Bo the paint and let them have at it. No instructions and no worry about a mess. Here was the results!

I think painting outside is one of their favorite things to do. :)

Mexico Beach

We had a great time at Mexico Beach, FL last week! We went down on Sunday and came back Wednesday night. Arabelle stayed at the beach house with Mamaw and Papaw for the full week.

Arabelle and Bo spent the last Saturday night at Sambo and Leigh Leigh's house, since Jared was gone to Athens for the ball game and I was TIRED and needed to pack up. Arabelle woke up Sunday morning and got sick. Poor girl was SO sad about it and was afraid we wouldn't get to go.

She got home Sunday morning, got sick again, rested some, then was totally fine by 10:30! It seems like maybe her stomach was just off and not a real virus, thankfully!

Poor Mae hates the car, so it was a LONG drive there and back, but we survived. No more long trips planned for awhile though!

This was pretty much my view for the drive, except for 3 short naps (15-20 minutes each). :(

Bo didn't mind the noise too much though because he was asleep before we got to Tifton. 

We got there Sunday afternoon and wasted no time at getting down to the beach!

Mae was soooo tired from all the crying and cat napping that she took a long nap in the baby carrier.

When I saw Daddy in these sunglasses, I asked him if he was wearing women's sunglasses. He said that he did't know, he just got the cheapest ones at the store. Come to find out, he was wearing Mama's sunglasses and she was wearing his "cheapest at the store" glasses. Haha!

Collecting shells:

Mae's first beach trip!

Lindsey, Brian, Caleb, and Jacob arrived Sunday evening. Here's Jacob enjoying the beach!

Arabelle was so proud that Mae was wearing her bathing suit from when she was a baby. :)

I don't know what's going on here, but it makes me laugh!

I can't believe this girl will be 5 on Friday!!

Lindsey and Caleb:

Sisters :)

Arabelle helped bury Caleb this time.

Mama found this 'boat' at Walmart and it was the most fun thing! We all loved it!

Sack time!

Buried Bo:

Ready to go 'surfing'

On Facebook, I always see pictures of my friends' babies sleeping on the beach and I could never get Arabelle and Bo to do it, but I figured I had a chance with my 'easy' baby Mae and it worked!! She napped for nearly an hour on the beach! How sweet is this??

 We went out Tuesday morning for some family pictures. Mae and I were the only ones who were happy to do it. ;)

And everyone was happy when it was done!

Jared and I had a date night Tuesday night after Mae went to bed. I had some yummy crab legs and Jared taught me how to get the crab meat out in one big chunk.

Arabelle just got back this afternoon and wasn't too happy to be leaving the beach. She already says that she's going to live at the beach when she grows up. This week, she said that Mamaw can cook for her and Papaw can do her yard work. haha! 

Thanks for a great time at the beach Papaw and Mamaw!