Year 2 of homeschool has begun!

Well, if you scroll down a couple of entries, you'll see that I had great intentions of blogging about our first official year as a homeschooling family - and you'll also notice that I wrote ONE entry! There are oh so many reasons why I didn't post more, but most likely, the main reason was simply because I was a newbie to the homeschooling world and found it to be WAY MORE challenging than I think most non-homeschooling parents will ever understand. There are certainly great benefits that come with it, but if you think for one second that it is "easier" than sending your child through the public school system, I beg to differ. But, I'm not here to argue the politics behind our decision to teach our kids at home. Lord knows we've had enough of that over the past 12 months. ;) I am here to say that year one was hard but incredibly rewarding, so for now, we are still a homeschooling family and year two has officially begun!!!

Last Monday, August 10th, was Ella's first day of 3rd Grade, Eden's first day of 1st Grade and David's first day of 4's Pre-K.

These crazy kids are ALL mine and I love them oh so very much!!! Because of that love, I want the very best for them - and that means choosing the very best curriculum for them. I actually enjoy researching curriculum so I spent the summer reading other mom blogs and making a list of my "would like to's" for this year. What I landed on is Saxon Math 2 and 3, Horizons Spelling and Vocabulary for Eden, BJU English 3 and BJU Reading 3 for Ella, The Story of the World and Heritage Studies 3 for both girls, The Life of Fred series for Eden and David and then weekly Art and Science activities that I create. 

Cuties with their new binders! 

He is SO excited to have his own binder this year!

Already annoyed with my camera :) 

Ella working on her first spelling list for the year

Eden working on her first spelling lesson for the year

One of the subjects that we didn't focus on much last year was Science. My kids LOVE Science, but I really wanted to push Math and Language Arts last year so I left the Science teaching up to the co-op that they attend on Thursdays. However, this year I have added it into our weekly curriculum and they are already loving it! We jumped right in on day 1 with the human body - so we're kind of combining Science and Health. :) I bought a squishy human body set that is super cool! We took it apart, discussed all of the organs, muscles and bones...and then put it back together again. I have to admit, it was really fun! 

We took some time to talk about our lungs...pretty cool, right mom?? :) 

Like I said, it was really cool! We are all excited about learning more about the human body this year!

Week 1 was quite a success! Ivy Noel (now 20 months old) tried to test my patience a few times, but I assume figuring out our school time in regards to her nap schedule will be my biggest challenge this year. :) We tried to amuse her by bringing her toys into the dining room, but that lasted all of ten minutes and then I found her digging through one of our computer desk drawers. Stinker!!! 

I welcome week 2!!! 

Four crazy kids in a tub!

10 Months Old!

Today was a great day! My Eden turned 6 years old and my Ivy turned 10 months old!

Milestones to date:

*She is a crawling pro!
*If you put her in her walker, you had better watch out because she can move!!! The backs of our ankles are all bruised. She loves to "walk" over to my island and pull the season salt off the shelf.
*She is pulling up on EVERYTHING, especially the back of your legs if you stand in one place for longer than a minute.
*She is still drooling 24 hours a day but still only has her two bottom teeth.
*She is wearing a size 4 in diapers and a size 9 or 12 months in clothes.
*She started doing a funny little laugh today - she opens her mouth and "cough" laughs. ADORABLE!!!
*She drinks more formula than she eats baby food. She wants our food really bad so I give her whatever she can handle with two teeth, but she's not that interested in pureed foods. Typical Crandall kid!! She loves puffs and has started eating a lot of graham crackers. She drinks a little bit of water every now and again when she can tip her first sippy cup up to where something comes out. :)
*She loves, loves, loves the bath! I'm pretty sure she would stay in there for hours if I let her.
*She LOVES her siblings and they love her!

Very solemn face tonight. It's way past her bedtime and she just got out of the bath so she is ready for her bottle and bed! 

Happy 6th Birthday to my favorite Edie Cakes!!!

At 11:50am on October 2, 2008, David posted this on Facebook:

HERE WE GO!!!

The nurse just said we are at a 10 and are ready.  I'll post when it's all done.

Time to pull out the good prayers!!!!  :)

Then, at 12:41pm, Dr. Rost handed me a 7 lb. 6 oz. beautiful baby girl!!! I'm really not sure if I can handle the fact that she is now a healthy, happy-hearted, SIX year old!!!! Eden Kate is such a joy to us. She ADORES all children smaller than her, helps me clean and cook any time I will let her and she is the most tender-hearted child I know. Thank you God for giving her to me!!!!

One year old

Two years old

Three years old - and the only time I submitted a child's picture to Fox 4 on time!

Four years old

Five years old

And...my big 6 year old!!!

Daddy and his birthday girl! 

And me and the birthday girl!

"Commit to the Lord whatever you do, and HE will establish your plans." Proverbs 16:3

Yesterday was the very first day of a new adventure for our family. Yesterday was our first day of homeschool. Honestly, I never thought I would ever say (or type!) that sentence, but I truly believe that the Lord has brought me to this place and I am excited (and somewhat terrified) to see what this school year will look like for three little people who mean the world to me!

Ella is now 7 years old and in 2nd grade! WHAT??? I don't like that she is growing up so fast but I am thankful for her health, and at times, her spunky attitude! :) I've been warned for years that times flies after your kids are born, I just never believed it...until now. It's been 7 years since she was placed in my arms for the very first time. It's been 7 years since David and I sat in our hospital room and stared at our only child for hours on end. I better stop...or else I will just be sitting here bawling. :)

Ella is our strong, energetic and goofy child who is constantly on the go. I love her imagination, her constant wardrobe changes throughout the day and even her little meltdowns. She is opinionated, but caring. She will do well in this life, of that, I am certain!

Next comes Eden. My little Kindergartner!!! She is an adult trapped in a 5 year old's body. She is tender-hearted, kind, bashful at times and always acts like a little "momma" to any child who appears smaller than her! She craves learning new things and is a fast learner so I am hopeful that this year will be a breeze for her. Oh, and she likes to clean with me (and without me in hopes of surprising me!) which just makes me SOOOO happy! :) 

Next is my handsome little man - David Allen, or Bo as I have been calling him more and more these days. He melts my heart several times a day with his random "I love you, mom" and "you look beautiful today mom" comments. What 3 year old says that??? MINE and I love it! :) He definitely has his work cut out for him with two older sisters, but man does he love them. He wants to be involved in EVERYTHING that they are doing which is why he is starting Pre-K this year with me. There was just no way that he wouldn't get his feelings hurt if David and I left him out of the new classroom design! 

Last, but certainly not least, my heart and soul...Ivy Noel. I wasn't sure what our life would look like when we found out we were pregnant with our fourth child (a third girl!), but like many others before me, I cannot imagine life without her now. The older three ADORE her and practically smother her from the moment she makes a peep on the baby monitor. Most of our sibling fights throughout the day are over who gets to go upstairs and get her out of her crib! I can think of worse things in life, so I try to take a deep breath and just enjoy that they love her. She is about to be 9 months old. Sigh. She just started crawling, is drooling on everything and smiles ALL of the time!

Do I have my hands full and feel overwhelmed most of the time? Why yes I do. But thank you Jesus for entrusting these four incredible human beings to me!!! I love the Proverbs that I used for my title. It is one that I hold dear to my heart as I find myself playing a new role in their lives - teacher. I wanted to make our homeschool classroom experience somewhat similar to a public school classroom experience because Ella attended public school for kindergarten and 1st grade and I wanted her to understand that this IS school and not just "play" school. Therefore, my fabulous man helped me turn our fourth bedroom into an actual classroom and I LOVE it! He spray painted metal chairs and a table for me, hung an annoying 4x8 whiteboard that I found on Craigslist for $40, hung new curtains, helped me create a reading nook AND screwed an oil drip pan onto the wall so that Bo and Eden would have a place to make sight words with letter magnets! He even wrote a special message for the kids to wake up to on their first day of school. Love him!

We have a long year ahead of us and lots of new material to cover, but it is my prayer that this will be the best school year of their lives!!!