Back to School and Our Trip to Mainz

Well, we made it through the second week of home school. The girls seem to be doing well. A lot of what Kinadie and Kara are doing right now in Math is review from last year. My focus with Kinadie is spelling and reading. I would like to put her ahead with her reading and create some intrinsic motivation for her.

Kara does well with reading. We are working on making sure she reads directions and not to rush through assignments. She is overlooking little details in her lessons. Over all she is doing well. This year I would like to find a balance between where she is at academically and making sure not to overwhelm her. She is very smart but at the same time she is only 6 and I want to make sure they all enjoy learning and knowledge at the same time.

Kaylee Jo is doing well with her letters. She is writing her name and working on her fine motor skills. She loves to paint so we've been painting letters and numbers. Right now we're doing a letter a week and making an animal puppet to go with each letter. We've done Annie Ant and Billy Bear. At times she gets restless so I've been letting her play in her room or letting her play on my phone. I've found a lot of free apps that help her write so she is still learning in her off time.

I think our favorite lessons are the science and history lessons. We've learned about evolution and creation. I was able to visually teach them why we are creationists. There is a plan and purpose for everything. Each part was made with tremendous detail. Oh how He delights in His work!

We did a fun lesson in history about fingerprints, All About Me, family, and community. The girls learned who they are and their purpose in a family, community, and the world. Our fingerprint lesson was a fun game of "Who Stole the Cookie from the Cookie Jar?" The girls had to look and compare fingerprints from our fingerprint data to the fingerprints found on various items from the pantry. Of course Kaylee Jo was the little cookie thief! Ha! Here is Kaylee Jo's All About Me presentation.

This week we looked at plant and animal cells in science and were able to create Jello versions of our own plant cells! The girls were able to remember some of the parts of the plant cell. They enjoyed creating and we talked about how detailed the cell was and each part of the cell was unique with a specific job to do for the plant.

I am so grateful for this opportunity in my life to keep the kids at home. Many thanks to the wonderful husband I have that goes to work everyday to make sure we are provided for. We enjoyed this 4-day weekend taking off from school so we could spend all our time with him. Our Labor Day weekend was spent with some sausage balls and his Ma-ma's banana pudding. I think I have finally got her recipe. We enjoyed it with the girls and reminiscing about being at home. Oh how we miss you all!!

We also played some tennis and taught Kinadie a few tennis moves. Kris is a great coach. Maybe we can get a tennis team going this summer. I know it would be fun. Kinadie seemed to take an interest to it.

The following day we tried our hand at taking the train to Mainz. I had looked up a Mexican food restaurant that had good reviews. Mexican food is hard to come by here in Germany. The owner of this restaurant, Mexico Lindo, is from San Antonio. However, I'm not sure the cook was from Texas. It was good but it just isn't like home. I'll need to come up with a good enchilada recipe (hint, hint...Brittney Alonso). ;o)

We had fun on our first train. The girls enjoyed the ride. We'll have to go somewhere new next time now that we know how the train system works. We had full intentions to going to Frankfurt today but we are at home enjoying the last day doing a bunch of nothing. Tomorrow it's back to work and school. So until next time!

First Day of School 2014

Summer seemed to fly by. We had lots of fun doing the reading program and the girls really took ownership of it and read as much as they could. We read before bed so it was fun for the girls to get the rewards along with the reading. They also made the most creative crafts. They created pet rocks, pet collars, and they did a lot of fun games at the end of July. 

In August my nephew, "Baby Blue" was born. He's the sweetest thing ever! I just wish I could cuddle him. This is him with his beautiful big sissy! He's about a week old here.

Later this August the girls went to VBS. The theme this year was Wilderness Escape. I was a tribe leader and we all dressed up as Israelites. Kinadie was from the tribe of Issachar. Kara was from the tribe of Reuben. Kaylee Jo was from the tribe of Naphtali. I led the tribe of Benjamin. We had a great time learning to trust God. By the end of the week 23 children had come to know the Lord! Kara was one of the 23!! Our hearts are so happy at the decision she made and the boldness she had to stand up and let everyone know! 

The next day Kris and I celebrated our birthdays. I made "THE cake!" It was soooo good! We enjoyed the time at home with the girls and Kris grilled the two of us steaks. 

We also started school today so I took some photos last night. I knew we would be too busy to have time to take them today.

Kinadie finally got one front tooth in!!

I also promised them the German schultute. So, the morning of school I let them dig in.

Then we got to work! The good thing is that we can do it in or PJ's or sans PJ's! ha ha!

Our lesson for this week was understanding that God will never leave us. We made moon and star cookies to help us remember that he will always be with us!

Kaylee Jo's are really good!

Alright I can hear some tired kids whining. It must be bed time! Until next time.

Our Trip to Bostalsee Campsite and June 2014

This was the girls's first summer trip. They had just gotten out of school and was a nice way to begin the summer. Here is Kinadie with a few of her classmates. She won a certificate for most improved. This was a big deal to me because of the struggles she had this year. This class she was in was a multi-age class which means that she was in a class with 2nd and 3rd graders. Kinadie is a 2nd grader. When we came here in January she was put in this class and had to learn everything a 3rd grader learns. That was a BIG adjustment for her and she struggled a lot but was able to keep her grades up. She ended the year on the "Honor Roll" and I couldn't be more proud of her!!! Such a smartie pants!!! Way to go Kinadie!!!!!!!!!

Kinadie wants to be Cowgirl when she grows up!

Kara: Our little Kindergarten graduate!!! Kara did well this year. She had an awesome teacher and was placed in an advanced program. She is well into the 2nd grade level on her reading. Way to go Kara!!!

 Kara wants to be a cowgirl, too when she grows up!

This was their principal, Ms. Morin. She was such fun. We will miss her!

We didn't have to travel very far to our camping site. It was about 45 minutes away from the house. (Oh and that's the front of our building in the background.)

We unloaded all of our things and quickly headed to the lake. The sorry part was that you couldn't get into the lake with out paying (again). There may have been another place we could have gotten in for free but we didn't bother because this place looked great for the girls. The shallow areas were blocked off with buoys for the younger kids and the floor of the lake was filled in with pea gravel. They had brought in sand for a beach like feel. The girls really enjoyed themselves. Mom and Dad did too!

Can you see the cute swan boats?

We let the girls swim and came back to fix some walking tacos. There was a playground below us and the girls enjoyed playing there.

It got pretty cold at night but we were fine under our sleeping bags. We will probably bring some more blankets next time. But this was perfect camping weather. The next morning the girls slept in. It was cool but it was perfect for a hot cup of campfire coffee. Ummmm....nothing beats it! 

The creatures have awaken! lol! We even had a bear at our campsite! ;o) And yes Kris caught me mid-bite of my breakfast burrito! Yum!

This was a great place to camp and we'll end up coming back again. There were other campers that were very close to us but everyone was friendly and kind. It was quite at night and a great place for families. There were also bathrooms, showers, and laundry rooms beside the park. Only thing I missed was an old bass boat and some good 'ol stink bait! ;o)

Our summer has been very relaxing. I have been on the ball about getting the girl to help out around the house. I was able to find some free printables online to help the girls know which chores to do. On Friday they are rewarded and Kaylee Jo and Kara chose to have breakfast in bed. What great little helpers I have! 

Good morning, Your Majesty! Ha!

Kinadie lost another tooth. I am beginning to think those front two teeth will never come! She has really been entertained with a certain video on YouTube called Cookie Swirl C. The girl in the video does lots of things with Littlest Pet Shop toys so Kinadie spent her money on a Littlest Pet Shop animal for herself.

We've been doing a summer reading program this summer and this seems to have been the key to unlock Kinadie's love for reading. I am still trying to encourage her to read books on her level and help her with her comprehension. She will do anything for a prize so for school next year I am doing a reading rewards program. I thought of doing ice cream themed but I don't want her rewards to be just sweet rewards. If any of you have any ideas please send them my way. I was going to do Hooked on Phonics 2nd grade level for her, but I really think she is well beyond that and have tried to create a different curriculum based on her vocabulary and interests. So let me know what you think or any ideas. I need new perspective!