Happy Memorial Day

Thank you to all of the service men and women of America!

I hope everyone is having a fun and safe Memorial Day weekend.

Happy Birthday Dave!

Today is Dave's birthday! I have a surprise planned for today, but just in the off chance he'd read this before we head out, I'll keep it secret for now. I'll post about it later!



Happy Birthday, Dave!  I love you!

Wordless Wednesday: Abby's 7th Birthday

For more Wordless Wednesday posts, head to:

Go Graham Go
Mom Spotted
Two of a Kind Working on a Full House

Sending My Prayers

While we were celebrating Abby's 7th birthday on Sunday, a tornado devastated Joplin, MO.

The tornado:



This video is mostly sound.  These people were at a convenience store and hid in the freezer.  I can't get over the sound INSIDE a closed freezer.



The aftermath:



The videos and pictures look like they are from a movie, the destruction is so intense.  Sadly, the tornado severely damaged the area hospital.  The reports are now up to 116 dead.  That makes this storm the second deadliest in history.

My thoughts and prayers go out to everyone affected by the tornado in Joplin, MO. I can't even imagine what they are going through right now.

For more information on how to help, go to STL Mommy's Disaster Relief post.

Seven

Today Abby is 7 years old!  I can not believe how fast these last 7 years have gone!

I asked Abby what she is excited about by turning 7 and she said, "Being able to reach things".  I guess she thinks she is going to grow taller overnight.  LOL!   I'm hoping she gets that loose tooth out.  I thought it would be out by now!  Of course, she has another one coming in behind the tooth next to it too.  Only 6 more months until we can sign up for dental insurance.  :)

Happy 7th Birthday, Abby!

Oh and I have shared  her birth story before.  If you like those, you can read that here.  Abby's birthday party is today and I will post pics ASAP.  It's a Pinkalicious party!

Wordless Wednesday: Zoo Field Trip

For more Wordless Wednesday posts, head to:

Go Graham Go
Mom Spotted
Two of a Kind Working on a Full House

Homeschool Weekly Review

I never did get around to posting a review last week, so this will be 2 weeks in one.  We are wrapping up our first grade and are ready for Summer break! 

Math

Abby has been doing review worksheets:  measurements, tally marks, place value, ordinal numbers, addition/subtraction facts, patterns and money.  I also introduced her to negative numbers.



Last week, she also did a few Spectrum Grade 1 tests.

Some of these questions seemed really hard for a first grader:



As  you can see, I had to write out the numbers to figure them out!

Reading

Abby did a few reading Spectrum tests about vowel sounds, sight words, spelling skills, using words in context and reading comprehension.

Science

We never did resume our science stuff.  The days have been so nice, that we end up running errands or playing outside.  However, a few weekends ago we were at a garden center and Abby made a Hosiery Head.  All week we've been measuring how long it's hair is getting. 

Isn't he funny looking?  We've had to move his eyes several times, because they keep popping off.

Social Studies

Abby completed lessons 52-58  .  We are nearing the end of Heritage Studies and these lessons were about our 4 basic needs, things people want vs. need, saving & spending money, all about me, you are special, family is special and family rules.

Here's Abby's notebook page for Lesson 56 :

In the "my family" box she has the three of us, Kitty and Rosie.  Her "favorite family celebration" is her and Dave swimming.

She also completed pages 20-27 in Maps, Charts and Graphs B.  These were about direction and map scale.

Misc.
We visited the Butterfly House the week before last, went to a Scholastic book fair and had a Cinco de Mayo lunch out.  This past week we went to the library and ran errands.

This week is our last week!  We'll finish up on Thursday and Sunday is Abby's 7th birthday party.  Let the Summer begin!

Links I Like: Edition 42

I'm so ready for Summer!  Here's a few fun projects that we'll have to do.

I love this Lobster Platter from The Entertaining Home:

I'd like to get Abby and her cousins together to make some of these:

Sharpie Marker Tie Dye Shirts from Sun Scholars.

Also from Sun Scholars, is this adorable Blanket To Backpack Tutorial:

I have tons of scrap fabrics that I think would work perfectly for this rag blanket.  I'm not even going to attempt the backpack part.  LOL!

Another adorable quilt I found is this Dolly Quilt Tutorial from Pickup Some Creativity:

I guess I'm in a sewing mood, because I also want to make this Spring Chick Skirt I found over at iCandy handmade.

It's so simple.  I wonder if they still have those skirts at WM?

iCandy Handmade was featured on Ucreate recently and shared this awesome desk:

I could really use some chocolate right now and I'm thinking these Make Your Own Twix from Peppermint Plums would do the trick:

I may have to try these at our next get together.  I know my sister is reading this, so what are the plans this weekend?  I'm thinking we need to have a BBQ and then have these for dessert.  You in?

Have a great weekend!

Wordless Wednesday: Mother's Day Pics

                                         Me and my Mom

                                         Me and Abby

                                        Grandma and the grand kids

For more Wordless Wednesday posts, head to:

Go Graham Go
Mom Spotted
Two of a Kind Working on a Full House

Happy Mother's Day

I hope everyone has a wonderful Mother's Day!

Links I Like: Homeschool

It's the first Friday of the month, so check out my Great Homeschooling Links post over at The Homeschool Classroom.





I hope everyone has a great weekend and a Happy Mother's Day!

Wordless Wednesday

Abby drew a picture of our cat sitting on the chair. 
Here is the chair:

I like how she drew in the plaid and made sure to include the lamp to the side of the chair.

For more Wordless Wednesday posts, head to:


Go Graham Go
Mom Spotted
Two of a Kind Working on a Full House

Homeschool Weekly Review

We had another fun week!  We went to the library, the park, the mall and had Matthew and Andy over twice last week.  Abby also really enjoyed watching the royal wedding.  I recorded it and we watched it Friday night.  She put on her Cinderella gown and crown and set up a tent with chairs and blankets in the living room.  I don't know why I didn't take a pic!

Math

I have Math-U-See, but have decided to start it for next school year.  So for the rest of this school year, Abby will be doing mostly review worksheets.

Last week was counting by 2's to 20, addition sentences, days of the week, using the number line, and graphs.

Reading

Abby did reading comprehension worksheets, a few Explode The Code worksheets and something new:  action verbs.

She did well with this!  I read each sentence and told her to circle the action verb. 

Science

We didn't do science again this past week.  We did get several dolphin and stingray books at the library.  We saw these in Florida and Abby wanted to learn more about them.  I'm going to work on a lesson for this week.

Social Studies

This past week, we did Heritage Studies lesson 48 on Puritans, lesson 50 about Things People Need and lesson 51 Food and Shelter.

Abby did 2 notebook pages.  This one is from lesson 50:

Abby cut each item and put it in the right category.  Every single time she does a notebook page from Heritage Studies, she says, "I love social studies!" 

Handwriting

Many of the Explode The Code worksheets this past week had handwriting with them.  This is great, because Abby HATES an actual handwriting curriculum.  If it's part of something else, she'll do it.


This week will be another busy one!  We have got to get to the grocery store today.  Tuesday is bible study.  Thursday is Cinco de Mayo and Heather and I will take the kids out for Mexican!  On Friday, we will go to breakfast and then to a Scholastic warehouse book sale. 

We're also counting down to the last day of school:  14 days left.  When is your school over?