End of the semester "summery"

Well we are 5 months into homeschooling and I truly can't believe how amazing it has been. Never in a million years would I have thought this is were we would have ended up. All those sleepless nights thinking about which schools Olivia would get into, then worrying about paying a heavy tuition, then missing her while she spent way to long away from us...all GONE! Now, it is a ton of work. But, in the end. So very very worth it. I can't believe the difference from where we were last year. I was severely anxious, Olivia was completely exhausted, run down and miserable and Brooke just asked were her sister was all day long. Cried for hours!! It was torture! This year we are having fun, getting together with friends, having parties, co-op, field trips, park days, learning together, and just enjoying being a family. It has been the most amazing journey and I feel so lucky and blessed we are able to do this. Thank goodness for Russell who works hard so I can be home for our kids. I could not be happier with homeschooling and everything and everyone who has come into our life because of it.

We have been working a lot with reading, spelling and grammar. Olivia has got so much better and her handwriting it great now. She just needs to slow down. It's the best thing in the world being her teacher! She loves her Spanish class and knows quite a bit now. It's pretty cool! Her math is easy peasy for her. She gets 100's all the time. :) She can't stand History...LOL!! She likes doing the projects so I try to have some fun things planned every week. Science she loves! We are into biology now. We finished up chemistry and will move onto physics in a few more months. we have some exciting experiments coming up for science!! I will post about them and take pictures. Can't wait! She is still taking art at school along with her Spanish and Math and she just finished up tennis and started hula hooping class!! It is SO CUTE!! She will also be adding MUSIC to her schedule at school. I am very excited because my good friend Adrienne is teaching it and she is super cool, super sweet and super talented so I know she is going to be so happy with that. She loves Adrienne! She will most likely continue acting this semester as well and we are still doing co-op on Mondays.


Brooke, oh sweet little Brooke. She is the most adorable thing! She is working so hard. I just love it. She can write her name an she is learning her sounds. In math she is counting, doing patterns and sorting. I try to follow at home what she is learning in preschool. She does not like to leave in the morning for school but once she gets there, she is so happy. I love when I pick her up and she spots me and gets this grin from ear to ear. I can't hear her usually because she is across the playground but I can see her say "mama" that kid makes my heart melt!

She loves for me to read to her and we try to read a lot. Time gets in the way but I have made a designated reading time right before quiet time everyday so it is scheduled in. That's how crazy life is! LOL! She loves to play games so I try to make little lessons. FOr instance when we play spill the beans, I will tell her to count until the beans fall over. She thinks it's funny!

She is still taking gymnastics and she just comes along where ever we go an happily follows her sister.

That about sums it up. I am sure I forgot some stuff, I can't keep up honestly! We have had one wonderful semester and really looking forward to the next. We have so much planned! Great field trips, great friends and great schooling! YAY us!! We did it team Watley!!!

This right here is what makes it all worth it.........

CHRISTMAS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Here a a few pictures from Christmas morning. It was wonderful! The girls got everything they wanted.

Winter Solstice

We celebrated the winter solstice at church last week. It was amazingly beautiful. They played music and the kids "took a walk" through the forest to listen for owls. Then they brought in a live owl. It was so beautiful! What a lovely morning.

Nutcracker!

We did our annual tradition again this. We went to see the Nutcracker! This year we saw the one with a symphony orchestra. It was magical!!!!!! This was Olivia and my 4th year going. It was Brooke and Russell's first. I do believe we could have waited another year with Brooke. She likes ti for about 5 minutes then squirmed for the rest of the show. Although, I took Olivia at her exact age and she was mesmerized! I think Olivia might be artsy like her mama and Brooke might be more analytical like her daddy. She is much more serious then Olivia. Olivia is just a free spirit! LOL!

Protozoa!

We learned about protazoa in science last week. The girls LOVED looking into the microscope and seeing little things wiggling around. Very cool experiment!

Christmas party at Olivia's school!

This was so much fun!! We went to Olivia's school for their Christmas party and the kids had just the best time. Some of the classes put on performances and Olivia's math class had a bake sale/ Olivia and her friend Audrey marked all prices. They were so proud of themselves. ADORABLE!! They raised $75 to donate to The Salvation Army. I am so proud of my kiddo! After that, some of the kids got up on stage and sang Christmas Carols. Even little Brooke got up there. HA! They were so wiped out Brooke fell asleep on the way home and we live 5 minutes from the school. I just love that she is having such a great time there. We love it!

Making purple dye like the Phoenicians

We learned about the Phoenicians last week and how they made purple dye from snails. Well I wasn't about to do that so we used food coloring. They wanted to dye something so we cut up an old t-shirt. LOL!! i knew it would not turn it totally purple but they had fun and it had a tint of purple. They were happy with that. LOL!

My little helper

Brooke wants to do EVERYTHING these days so I put her to work. LOL!! She just loves to help mommy cook and clean and do laundry. Her favorite thing is to vacuum. LOL!!

Here she is helping me cook.

Brooke's Holiday party at preschool

We had such a great time at Brooke's sweet preschool! they sang songs and we had cookies and SANTA made an appearance! The kids were all so excited! :)

Working hard!

Olivia's handwriting has gotten SO GOOD! I can't believe what a difference since last year. She is working very hard and she is a great student! But, she is a chatter box! LOL!

Christmas party!

We had a great time for our last co-op class before our holiday break.We made cute Rudolph crafts and also Reindeer food. LOL!! It was so cute. the kids had a blast!

Church play

The girls were in a play at church today. The kids did The Polar Express. Well Brooke decided to go play instead actually. LOL!! they did a great job. It was so cute. After we got to have cookies and hot cocoa with Santa again. LOL! Olivia talked his ear off...again. :)

Roller skating!

WOW am I SORE! We went to a roller skating party yesterday and spend 3 HOURS skating. Olivia did great and Brooke was totally adorable! It was her first time and OMG was she cute! We had fun and everyone was knocked out by 8:00!

SANTA!!!!!!

Lase week we went to a Lake Norman Mommie event to see Santa. The girls were very sweet and Olivia talked Santa's ear off. LOL! They were so exited!!

Jake!

This is Jake. He is a seeing eye dog for Mr. John who is part of our church. Every Sunday the first thing the girls do is go find Jake. The say "good morning Mr. John, may we pet Jake" They give John a big hug and then jump down on the floor where Jake sits loyally at John's feet. Jake then closes his eyes, smiles and plops his enormous head on their laps. He is a sweet boy and we just love seeing him every Sunday morning.

Davidson Parade

We went to cheer Olivia's good friend Audry on as she march in the Davidson parade with her girl scout troop. We had a BLAST with friends and the weather was just perfect! Gotta love winters in the South. Brooke was hilarious. She must have said Merry Christmas to every single person there. HA! So much fun!

Nativity Festivale

Last Week for co-op we went to the Nativity Festival at a friend's church. Before we went we did a lesson on what the nativity was and that the Christan's believe it was the birth of Jesus. We talked a lot about it and they really enjoyed the lesson. At the festival Olivia wanted to be Mary. She took this part very seriously. :) Brooke decided to be a cow. BAHAHAHA!! These kids crack me up. Her friends all got in costume and had a great time. We also did some crafts then played outside. What a fun day!