So Proud

I experienced my proudest moment as a mother tonight.

As I stood at the door at AWANA tonight to pick up Braeden, I caught a glimpse of him... grinning from ear to ear.

And wearing his Cubbies vest.

This vest was earned tonight and he was SO PROUD!

God loved us and sent his Son.

Jesus loves me.

All have sinned.

While we were sinners, Christ died for us.

Those are the 4 versus that Braeden had to memorize.

I cried all the way home...

Here are two examples of how proud he is.

1. On the way home he asked me to turn the light on in the car "because I can't see my vest".

2. We had to peel it off to put on his pajamas and talk him out of wearing it to bed. It gets a special place on the bedpost.

6 hours in a mall

Mall of America.

The largest mall in the United States. Bloomington, Minnesota.

4.2 million square feet. 520 stores. 3 levels.

When Sean's family came to visit we thought we would make the trek up north and check it out. Was it worth 5 hours in a van.... with 5 adults...2 children... fast food stops... potty breaks...one stop with flashing lights in the rear view mirror? Definitely!

Just as we entered the mall, the Disney store was in sight. Little boy heaven. Captain Hook, Woody, Buzz Lightyear, Lightning McQueen...

We let Braeden pick his Halloween Costume and Captain Hook was his first choice. I think that the hook and the sword was what steered him away from the fluorescent green astronaut.

In the middle of the mall is the largest indoor theme park in the U.S.

A $10 wristband for Braeden and he could ride all of the 'kid' rides for 3 hours. He rode for 3 hours. Chaperones rode free.

It must have been dad and son day :)
I am a sucker for roller coasters. Sean's mom had not been on a coaster in about 20 years. I paid for her to break that dry spell and I think she liked it :) Jeremy joined me for the ride BrainSurge. Loved it.

Underneath the mall is the World's Largest Underground Aquarium and it boasts the World's Best Shark Encounter. It was very cool but definitely not worth the $18 per adult admission.

We had the best guacamole at dinner. Cracker Barrel for breakfast. Hotel was nice but the pillows were way to poofy. Picked up some cute things at Eddie Bauer. All in all we had a great time.

Not sure though that Miles agreed.

A little bit of Home

Grandma, Grandpa George, and Uncle Jeremy.

Our house was bustling last week with Sean's family.

They had to come see what all this talk of Iowa was all about.

We headed to Cedar Rapids Airport to pick up Grandma and Grandpa George on Saturday and Uncle Jeremy on Sunday. Braeden warmed up right away as he said he remembered seeing them in March. It took Miles a day or two before anyone besides Mom or Dad could hold him.

We had a great week visiting and showing them the sights of Iowa... we even made a trip up to Minnesota.

Grandma and Braeden

I snuck these photos of Miles and Grandma Karen on the porch

Grandpa George playing with Braeden and Monkey George (as he is called in our house)
Grandpa George playing Lincoln Logs with Captain Hook
Sean's brother, Jeremy and Braeden got along like long lost buds
Braeden, pretending he is from NorCal
Uncle Jeremy and Miles hanging out on the porch

Thanks guys for making the trek all the way to Iowa. It was nice to have a little bit of home.

Here we GO! Homeschool... for now

Yes, Tomorrow is Labor Day.

Yes, Tomorrow is the first day of school for B.

Homeschool, that is.

Two weeks ago was the orientation and registration for the only preschool in town.

An evening that included tears from Braeden (punched in the face) and tears from myself (very disappointed in the teacher's lack of interest in even speaking to us or Braeden. 4 families in the room).

The next day I seriously considered homeschooling Braeden for Preschool. I brought it up to Sean and he was all for it. So, the curriculum was purchased.

Sonlight, Fiction, Fairy Tales and Fun for Little Learners. http://www.sonlight.com/curriculum.html?B

Then came the desk and chair. I let Braeden "choose" the chair color. He originally picked Lemon Yellow. I asked him again later to make sure before I ordered and I gently suggested that the Green was an AWESOME color. And he said "Yes, yes, I like the green". Green it is.

His school area fits perfect in the sitting room. To the left of the desk is a gas fireplace and to the right is a bookshelf. He gets the bottom two shelves all to himself.
We are using workboxes.
Each Sunday I will prepare all three boxes for the upcoming week.

The boxes are pretty similar in that they contain a letter and letter worksheets, a Bible activity, a Kumon activity, a puzzle or game. Some days we will work on numbers.

This website is what I use for downloadable letter worksheets.

http://www.first-school.ws/theme/alphabet.htm

Kumon workbook for cutting and pasting.
Dry erase book for letter practicing... thanks Grammy.

Activity book for Bible lesson.
We will finish this day with a puzzle.
I also put scissors and glue in the box so that I don't have to search for them when I need them.

These Kumon workbooks are going to be a lot of fun.

Amazon had a buy 3, get the 4th free, deal.

Laminator.
I was going to take it back to Target, but decided that it would be great to be able to reuse some of the things I print.


I found the idea for this board on a Homeschool blog.

She has great ideas and everything is downloadable.

(Sorry for the poor pics. My camera is on it's last leg I guess)

(Wink, Wink,, Sean.... I promise I did not do anything to it)

Everything on the board is laminated.... LOVE the laminator!

Yes, Grammy, even though Braeden knows what the weather is outside, it will be something fun that he can do everyday.
He can also place the day of the week.

Also on the board is the color of the day and the weekly schedule.

So, on top of letters, numbers, activities, etc. We will be doing A LOT of reading, since that is what Sonlight is all about.

I am looking forward to the time I get to spend with Braeden... teaching him and opening his mind to fabulous stories that will feed his imagination.