Photojournal: Our dino week

Last week we explored dinosaurs! Bella LOVES dinosaurs, so I pulled together a fun unit, all about dinos. (Originally, this dinosaur unit was going to be just for Bella; that's why you'll notice lots of preschool level activities. But Wubs was so interested that we all studied together and I did my best to add to the lessons to challenge Emma Grace. )We started our week with a trip to the library. After we checked out our dinosaur books and an educational dinosaur movie, it was time to start our adventure! 

Here are our dinosaur books! There were lots of great illustrations, photographs of fossils, and fun facts!

Bella enjoyed the dinosaur video while Wubs was working on her math assignment. Bella doesn't really watch shows... it's just not her 'thing'. However, she LOVES dinosaurs and she was captivated!

For one of our crafts, we made dinosaurs! We made a Wubsasaurus and a Bellasaurus. The Wubsasaurus was missing two front teeth, just like our Wubs!

We made dinosaur masks, something we found while researching on the internet.

Emma Grace's turn to watch the dino video!

For lunch (almost every day last week) the girls enjoyed dinosaur nuggets! You can see their finished Wubsasaurus and Bellasaurus hanging on the fridge behind them.

Bella was gluing her bow onto her Bellasaurus. Because all girl dinosaurs wear bows, of course. ha ha!

Another fun resource on the internet was a website for the television program Dino Dan. This is Bella's favorite show,actually, it's the only show that she ever asks to watch. We printed off these dinosaur coloring books and the girls enjoyed working on them throughout the week.

We made dinosaur puppets! The girls both wanted to make T.Rex puppets and wow- they performed some wonderful puppet shows!

Wubs and her puppet.

JJ loved dino week, too! The girls roared and stomped and he squealed with delight!

Bella and her coloring book.

We cut a cardboard box and constructed some dinosaur feet. Here is Bella in her full dino costume! Terrifying, isn't she? wink.

Wubs stomped and stomped around our house!

We had a lot of fun and we learned so much! It was really cute hearing Emma Grace and  Bella using the words herbivore, carnivore, fossils, and paleontologists in conversations! As we are finishing up our school year, I continue to praise the Lord for the opportunity to be the girls' teacher! It is a joy!
"And God is faithful; he will not let you be tempted beyond what you can bear. But when you are tempted, he will also provide a way out so that you can stand up under it."- 1 Corinthians 10:13

Friday funny: Carpool?

Earlier this week, I had the opportunity to participate in carpool for the very first time! Since we homeschool, this is not part of our everyday routine. I have never had the experience of sitting in a line of cars outside of a school, watching teachers usher students, waiting for little feet to run up to our car and hop inside. So I have to admit, I was excited! My sweet friend, Shonna, needed someone to pick up her son on an early release day and we were picked for the job! Hooray!
When I told the girls that we were going to go pick up Jimmy, they were thrilled. I said, "We are going to pick up Jimmy from his school today! But we need to watch the clock so we aren't late for carpool."
"What's carpool?" -Wubs and Bella both asked.
"Well, that's just what people call it when you drive your car and wait in a line nicely to pick up your child."
"Oh, I've never done that before!"- said Wubs.
"You know what? I have never done that before either!" I replied.
" Well, did you do carpool when you were a little girl?"- Bella asked.
"No... I just walked home from school by myself every day, just like all my friends. Actually,  now that I think about it, I don't think 'carpool' was even invented yet when I was a little girl."
"Whhoooaaa. Bella, it wasn't even INVENTED yet!"- Wubs exclaimed.

Have a wonderful weekend!

"God is not unjust; he will not forget your work and the love you have shown him as you have helped his people and continue to help them."- Hebrews 6:10

Sprinkler time

Last week, our children were SO excited to play in the sprinkler for the first time this season! We went under the house and pulled out our sprinkler, beach chairs, sand toys, and beach balls to prepare for the upcoming hot summer days. Time has been passing by so quickly!  It's hard to believe that a year ago, I was pregnant with JJ and we were wondering what life would be like as a family of five; we couldn't have ever imagined just how wonderful it would be! And I can't believe we'll be celebrating his first birthday next month! (*gulp...I'm not ready for that! wink) God has certainly blessed our family abundantly! Here are a few pictures from our sprinkler fun:

The children let me take a quick picture before we headed outside!

The girls were investigating a bug on the slide. (I am trying to practice being brave and train myself to say, "How interesting!" instead of  "Eeeeww!!!" because I know that JJ will most likely love bugs and other creepy things. ha ha!) 

Sweet sisters and the best of friends!

Snack break...

JJ loves playing in water and he thought the sprinkler was an a.m.a.z.i.n.g contraption! wink.

Bella took these pictures while we were coloring with chalk. We have so much fun together!

"When times are good, be happy;but when times are bad consider: God has made the one as well as the other. Therefore, a man cannot discover anything about his future."- Ecclesiastes 7:14

Wordless Wednesday: If you fill them, they will come...

"As the body without the spirit is dead, so faith without deeds is dead."- James 2:26

JJ's big boy news!

JJ has some big news! He graduated to a big boy carseat this weekend! He was thrilled with his new chair. I think Wubs and Bella were even more excited than JJ; they love their baby brother so much and they truly celebrate all his milestones. Before we left home to run our weekend errands, we had to take some pictures! 

So sweet! We have all three children in the backseat of our family vehicle, and even with a new chair, everyone still fits wonderfully!

The girls were teasing that JJ's new seat looks like a little throne, so we were calling him 'King JJ'! We have so much fun together, that's for sure!

After we went to the church to do a few things to prepare for Sunday morning, we decided we needed to drive to Aunt Pam's house. JJ just couldn't wait any longer to tell his best friend about his new chair!

Guess what, Maddie? You'll never guess!

Let me whisper my big news in your ear. I got a big boy carseat!

Oh, JJ! You're so silly! That tickles when you whisper in my ear!

Mommy, I don't think Madelyn is impressed...

 "All the believers were one in heart and mind. No one claimed that any of his possessions was his own, but they shared everything they had."- Acts 4:32

Homeschooling for Bella: preschool for another year?

Bella is such an eager student! She is always asking me if she can 'do some school'. Sometimes I have her work on little worksheets (coloring, tracing, practicing her letters or numbers), and other times she has activities to complete like the one pictured above. Bella's birthday is in late October, so if she was going to be in public school, she would not make the cut off to attend kindergarten this fall. We haven't decided for sure if we'll do kindergarten this upcoming year or not. I think we're leaning towards waiting one more year, and just enjoy another pre-k year. Either way, I know that Bella will be excited to learn, learn, learn! wink!

"Make every effort to live in peace with all men and to be holy; without holiness no one will see the Lord."- Hebrews 12:14

his latest discovery...

This baby boy likes to get into e.v.e.r.y.t.h.i.n.g! I walked out of the kitchen for less than two minutes and this is what happened. Our crate with art supplies had been emptied! (Luckily, he hadn't tried to eat the crayons... ) wink! I've almost had several heart attacks now that our little man crawls so fast- he just disappears and finds mischief! Oh, I love this adventurous boy!

"A cheerful heart is good medicine, but a crushed spirit dries up the bones."- Proverbs 17:22

Wordless Wednesday: Three blessings

"For God is not a God of disorder but of peace."- 1 Corinthians 14:33