A few things we have been doing around here:)

We have been pretty busy with school around here.  It is fun to see my little kids catch on to new concepts and learn new things!  Here are a few of the activities that we worked on over the past few weeks! 

We had music time...Weston playing with the instruments (below) and the other kids marching with their instruments:)

 The two older kids then drew pictures of their favorite instruments.

 Easton worked on matching magnet letters to words that I wrote on our dry erase board.

 He then did his name.

 The girls finished memorizing the books of the Bible!!  They are lining up all of the books in a row!

 This picture doesn't show much, but I was teaching Katelyn money concepts.  She counted the different rows and had to tell me what row had the highest dollar amount.  Good little activity for kids who think just because they have 10 pennies...does not mean it is as much as 1 quarter.

 During "Kids in the Kitchen" the kids helped me make chocolate chip cookies.  Yum!

 We are going to be visiting Washington DC next week!  The kids had to be creative and build their version of the Washington Monument.  I was thinking they would want to use white paper and tape...but this is what they came up with:)

 Then I had them build what their dream state capitol would look like.  We compared our state capitol with the United States Capitol.

 Easton LOVES putting together puzzles.  This is a great (quiet) activity for him! 

 Katelyn again working on matching up money with their monetary amount.

 The girls love to compete against each other.  I used Katelyn's reading words and had a little spelling contest between the two.  Here is Jocelyn showing me one of the words and then Katelyn writing one of the words.  Katelyn is a year ahead of where Jocelyn was when she was 5.  Amazing how different kids learn.  She tried to get Sean (my husband) to tell her that she was smarter than Jocelyn...funny.  Don't worry...he didn't help her boost her ego.

 I asked the girls what they would like to do for a craft day....Katelyn chose to make a piano for their AG dolls...

Easton working on his letters.  We are working on his uppercase letters right now and he is already to V!  Here is a picture of his BIG T and S.  He likes to write his letters really big!

That is all that I remembered to take pictures of!  Fun times!!  Now I need to pack up or school things for the road!!! 

Husker Day! Go Big Red!

Last January I started a homeschool meet-up group.  The number of people in attendance varied from a few families to at tops 10 families.  I was thinking that since homeschoolers are just as busy as public/private school families there maybe wasn't the need (like I thought there was) for field trips and different meet-up activities.  I am thinking this is a new school year and more families are coming out of the wood work to join in our activities...which means I am super excited.  A few logistical issues are going to arise...but I am working on figuring things out so no one is left out.

Our first meet-up of the school year was at my Alma-mater...the University of Nebraska-Lincoln.  I scheduled a tour of the Memorial Stadium where the Nebraska Cornhuskers football team played.  We also go to see where other athletes work out and train.

I didn't take very many pictures...because I have already been on this tour...so if you want to see more in depth pictures of these facilities you can click on my blog post from our last tour: HERE!

 Wondering about these cute shirts the girls and I are wearing??  Well you know that little post I wrote about garage saling and good deals??  A gal over at Rhinestone Revolution....posted my tank top to sell!  I couldn't pass it up!  I had been looking for a new husker shirt the previous weekend...and couldn't quiet find one that I liked.  I asked her if she could make the girls a similar shirt.  She didn't have any girls fitted shirts in stock...so she made them with regular kid shirts...still I think they look cute....and they are a bit large on them...but hey...we can get a few years of wear out of them!!  LOVE....love them!!  Thanks Anjilynn!

Have an idea for a t-shirt?  Click on her facebook page and she can help you out!!  She lives outside the Lincoln area...so support your small business owners!!:)

Our 2011 Photo Album

Not sure you can view this without a shutterfly account...but here is our 2011 photo album!:)

Click here to view this photo book larger

Shutterfly baby photo books are the perfect way to preserve your baby's precious moments.

Getting started....

We are starting our 4th week of school....boy time flies when you are having fun!  I thought I would share a few things that I made up for the kiddos to help keep things a little organized during school.

 I bought each of the kids binders to hold a few essentials for school.  They made pictures to put in the fronts.

The inside of each binder had crayons, pencils, pens, stickers, the schedule of the day, assignments, notebooks, and book charts.

Each of the girls have a schedule.  We follow it sometimes....

and Jocelyn has her assignments printed out so she knows what she is supposed to complete each week.  She can work at her own pace if she wants.

The girls record the titles of the books that they read and put a sticker next to each title.

These are the kids chores for the week.  We rotate chores every Monday.  The kids love helping out!

and then this was supposed to be the  BIG first day of school snack.  I had it all planned out to pull these out during snack time and I was gearing up for all the hurrays and the exciting reactions....but I totally forgot.  Oooops!  So I am saving them for another special day!  It was the thought that counts right??

and there are just a few things that we do to keep ourselves a bit more organized:)

Garage Saling and good deals!!

I LOVE garage saling!  Always have...and probably always will!  There is just something about going through people's "junk" and making it into your own treasure.  I remember when I was little going garage saling with my mom and finding all sorts of goodies.  Now my kids love doing just the same.  It is getting a bit trickier now that I have 4 little ones in tow...but we manage.  They love going...but they also want to buy everything that they see.  :)  We still go on occasion, but not as much as I would like to.  I would much rather buy something used than new!  Love saving a penny!

So in order to fulfill my love for all things used...I used to have this thing for Craigslist.  I rarely bought anything from craigslist with the exception of a few large items...our minivan, bunkbed, barbie house, waterslide, and a few baby items.  It was just fun (for me) to see what other people had to sell.  I also was able to sell quiet a bit off of craigslist...I would say in the area of $2000 or more....maybe $3000.  Craziness...huh? 

But now...who needs craigslist when you can get real time feeds on facebook of what local people are trying to sell?!!  We have a local site called Linconsign (for kids items), Linconsign closet (for adult clothing, shoes, and purses) and Linconsign Home (for all other things).   I have found so many good deals on these sites...and I can garage sale at any time day or night!!  Ok...not anytime...but mostly in the evening and some afternoons. 

The only hitch is you have to meet up with someone to buy/sell your items.  Since we don't live in town, I really have to plan my week ahead of time to know if buying something is a possibility.

Here is a little peak of the cool things that I have found...and have saved a pretty penny on!! 

Clothing and shoes not pictured....due to my napping little boys!:) and my cool wall art that I am picking up tomorrow!! yay!

I was BEYOND thrilled when this got to my name....there was one lady in front of me and she was a no show, so it was mine...all MINE:)  These retail for around $50 at Shopko...I paid only $15 for this.  Instead of having a million little shoe box totes around the school room...we now have this wonderful little rolling cart...LOVE!  I filled the drawers with little busy activities...legos, blocks, lincoln logs, cars etc!!

 This little race car rug!  The boys have a similar one in their bedroom, but I thought this would be a nice addition to the school room and it is big enough for them to both sit together on it.

 Got these for over 1/2 off retail price!  We seem to always run out of seating when I have people over.   The kids have matching kid size chairs...these are adult size!!

 and this was my favorite....and let me tell you there were about a million others lined up for me to back out...sorry charlies...you snooze you lose!  It is a little 18 inch doll vanity for over 1/2 off retail.  It is in perfect condition and a great addition to the girls American Girl doll bathroom...yes you read that right...their bathroom...they have little rooms set up in their closet and bedroom.  The gal who was selling this offered up a bathtub...I could just picture the kids filling up the tub with real water...so I declined her very generous offer! 

Any good deals that you have found on similar sites?

If you want to join any of the three pages..let me know and I send you a request!

Happy Shopping!