Monday, December 31, 2007

Christmas memories

We had a wonderful Christmas!! Here are a few highlights!!






This is The Night Before Christmas pop up book Burt had when he was little. Every year we sit this book out and read it on Christmas Eve.



Taylor's Santa



Ella Grace's Santa



Naaman's Santa



Katlyn's Santa



This is Katlyn opening her camera. She was totally shocked!!!!! She loves to take pictures and she has a great eye for it.

We have a HOUSE......I repeat WE HAVE A HOUSE




After many ups and downs in the house hunting adventure, we finally have a house. I will be updating as we go along with more pics.

Monday, December 24, 2007

Friday, December 21, 2007

Happy Holidays!!!

We have been so busy with holidays and trying to finish up school before our break, I have let our blog slide. Here are a few Elmore family highlights.

Naaman is potty trained.....PRAISE THE LORD!!!!!!!!!!!!! Naaman is also starting preschool. He wants to do "big kid school" like Sissy. So far, he has mastered his alphabet, saying it, recognizing letters and he knows the sounds each letter makes. WOW!! He can count to 20 and in Spanish to 10. Colors and shapes are also mastered. We are going to be purchasing a preschool curriculum at the first of the year. He is so excited about Christmas he can hardly stand it.





Ella Grace is going through a very funny stage....she no longer goes by Ella Grace. She will not respond unless you call her "Dora Mermaid Princess Ella Grace". No joke.....she will not answer a question unless she is addressed properly. It is so funny. Ella Grace is also doing "Big Kid School". She can say her alphabet and recognizes most letters. She can count to 20 with the addition of eleventeen. ;) She is such a hoot!!! She is also Mommy's Big Girl Helper she loves to help load the dishwasher and empty the dryer. So cute.



Taylor is sitting up, rolling over and "talking" constantly. She just turned 7 months old. It is amazing how time flies. One day she is a tiny helpless baby and the nest she is this cute chunky little baby that laughs out loud when her daddy gets home from work. These moments are so precious. I love being a mommy.




Katlyn is turning into an amazing young lady. She is doing great in school. She loves it. Her favorite subjects are History, Latin, Math, and Spelling. She is learning so much, it's amazing how much she is learning. She also loves to read. She has read the Little house series 3 times this year. She is hoping to get the Rose WIlder series this year for Christmas :) She is my Big Helper, she has started helping with laundry and loves it......which is good her excitment helps me get through doing laundry... i loathe laundry.




Here are a couple a pictures from when Santa came to the house for a suprise visit. We were worried that Naaman and Ella Grace would be shy around him. They did not stop talking to him the whole time he was here. They acted like he was one of our gang. It was so much fun!!











Here is a funny picture of Burt watching TV.......




with a Saint in his lap.

Here are pics of our new puppy Pumpkin. She has gotten alot bigger. The kids love her so much and she actually plays fetch. (we have never had a dog that likes to play) She loves to play and bite Roxy (our other Saints) ears.





Friday, October 19, 2007

Weeks 7 and 8

School has been difficult these past 2 weeks. Most of our time has been spent in a car looking for a house. We thought we had everything with house hunting finished Monday of last week only to have our 100 year old farm house taken out from under us by a cash offer. So we have pretty much been out everyday since then.....AAAAHHHHHH!!!!

So I do not have a lot of school work pictures but here a few good everyday pics from our week.



Katlyn doing yoga.



Naaman doing yoga. Ella Grace refused to do it. ;)



Katlyn drying her hair by herself...for the first time. This was so huge for me, I am starting to realize just how big she is getting and.... I get all teary eyed like I am right now....okay....moving on!!!



Taylor starting rolling to her side this week..yet another milestone that puts me in tears.



Ella Grace and Naaman fighting over who will get to look at the picture first.

I hope you all had a great week. Next week I will actually show some of the kids work.

Sunday, October 7, 2007

3rd grade curriculum

I have been weighing our options for third grade for sometime. There are so many options and it is so overwhelming. Here's where I am as of now.

Latin - Latina Christina I, Ludere Latine I, Lingua Angelica I, and possibly The Book of Roots (this would be split between 3rd and 4th)

Spelling workout D

Living Learning Press - Chemistry

Horizon 3

Tapestry of Grace Year 3 w/ Story of the World 3

Teaching the Classics

Dandy Lion Logic - Primary Logic and Logic Safari

First Language Lesson 3

Wordly Wise 3000 ??

IEW

Classical Themes to Remember

As I look over the list, I always second guess. Is this too much, is it not enough, am I focus too much or too little on any subject? Any and all suggestions are appreciated.

Have a great week!

Saturday, October 6, 2007

I haven't disappeared

I can't believe how long it has been between my posts. We are in process of buying a house and it has become completely consuming.

School has been going great. Katlyn is doing so well, we will be starting some 3rd grade work at the beginning of the year if she keeps up this pace.

Here are some pics of what has been going on around here. Enjoy!!!



Katlyn and Burt painted and put this together.


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Story of the world comics. She loved this!!




I love this responsibility chart. If she gets everything done through out the week without being asked she get $$. So far it is working great.




Katlyn's guitar lesson


PRESCHOOL





How cute is this puzzle?? Naaman and Ella Grace have put this puzzle together a least 100 times.



This is the best.....Bumbo baby chair. Taylor loves to sit in this.



Yummy!!!Rice cereal.....there is no turning back no, baby!!!!!!!!

Friday, August 31, 2007

Weeks 1 and 2

Second grade is going great. We are having so much fun. I think I have FINALLY realized that everything doesn't have to perfect as long as we are learning and enjoying each other it is going to be OKAY!!






Katlyn writing sentences for her spelling words.



handwriting copywork as well as memory verses



Katlyn hard at work.

Namman and Ella Grace are also doing "school" Our them for this week was circles.






We also had a couple of field trips. One was to our vet with the new puppy. Katlyn went with a chart for vaccines and a list of questions.....I was a proud homeschooling mama. so here is a pic of Daddy and the new puppy.



Our other trip was to the Childrens Garden.....so much fun.





Thanks for checking in. See you next week :)

Thursday, August 23, 2007

Second Grade Curriculum

After months of debate, I FINALLY decided on our curriculum.
So here is our curriculum list:

Bible- Veitas Press Genesis - Joshua
My first Devotional Bible
English - First Language Lessons
Spelling workout
A reason for handwriting
Math - Horizon
History - Story of the world
Latin - Prima Latina
Science - Exploring Creation with Astronomy
Music - guitar lessons ( burt is a guitar instructor)
possibly piano lessons

I will be posting our schedule after our first few weeks to allow time for the kinks to get worked out.

Proverbs 22:6




Train a child in the way he should go,
and when he is old he will not turn from it.


This is our school motto. Burt and i strongly believe that our children should be raised to know who God is and know that He is our strength. What a blessing to be able to teach my children in the ways of the Lord.

Tuesday, August 21, 2007

New Blog

So, I am officially a blogger. YEAH! The reason I am doing this blog is to create a wonderful memory for my children. Since we homeschool I am hoping for some veteran advice from those who visit. I will also be using this as my midnight escape to come and let go of my day. Thanks for reading!!