County Fair

September means the County Fair!  It's one of our favorites things to do as a family and we never miss it.  Sometimes, like this year we go more then once!

There was a tent set up with games for the little ones.

Chandler got to be a cowboy!

 

My beautiful Claire

Talking about fire safety with the firefighters.

Goats!

Back at the Fair with Daddy!

Fiona liked the animals!

She was fascinated with the cows.

The kids were excited to show Daddy their booth.

My babies got to ride around in style.

In front of the barn

All of my babies and me!

Declan slept through the Fair.

We grabbed Dairy Queen after the Fair.

Happy kids!

Fiona was so excited for the ice cream!

And now he's awake!  ;)

Horses!

Claire and Chandler each were able to take a Horsekeeping 101 class through our homeschool co-op this year!

It was separate classes for each of them and Chandler got to go first!

 Chandler was really intimidated by the horse.  He was really nervous to get too close. 

 He loved the miniature donkey that was there though!  He said he wanted one for our house.  :)

 Towards the end of the class Chandler finally was willing to pet and brush the horse.  I was so proud of him!

Claire had her class on a different day and she was so excited.

 She loved brushing the horse.

 She did a wonderful job leading the horse around the field.

But being on the horse was scarier then she expected!  It looks like my Claire has inherited my fear of heights.  She has decided that she no longer wants a horse - maybe a pony instead.  And like Chandler she adored the little miniature donkey.  They are trying to talk me into one.  Silly children.  It's their father they need to work on! 

Baby Chicks!

On the first day of co-op I got a phone call from the post office that our chicks were there!  We ordered from Meyer Hatchery this time and got their late hatch special.  The kids were so excited - but it did end up being a crazy morning!

26 Little Cuties!

Playing with the chicks on the first day

 

A boy and his chicken

Fiona was bringing pinches of feed to the chicks. 

Prince was very interested in that chick!

 Now they are bigger and already growing feathers!  It looks like a great selection.  A couple Polish, a couple Barred Rocks, still trying to figure everyone out!

One Month Old!

Declan is one month old already and getting so big!

First Day of School 2014

It's here! First Day of School!

I'm tired!  Declan nurses constantly and Fiona is sweet and loving with him, but is definitely a little needy nowadays.  But the show must go on and the big kids have been restless and Chandler is so eager to start Kindergarten! 

Claire is finishing up 2nd grade and will be moving to 3rd by the end of the year.

Chandler is now a Kindergartener! 

Group picture including Fiona!

 Notice the 1st day of school crowns they made yesterday?  Yeah, that's homeschoolers for you!  ;)  We started at the table and Fiona had colored pencils and a notepad to entertain her.  She loves drawing and to take the pencils in and out of the box.  It almost made her through all the schoolwork!

The gang hard at work!  Minus the sleeping baby boy in the next room. 

 I never did get a chance to share our homeschool plan this year!  I have a 2nd/3rd grader and a Kindergarten student plus Fiona is 20 months old and Declan will turn 1 month on Wednesday.  Obviously I will need to get my ducks in a row and need to make a plan.

 So this wonderful book comes into play.  This is "A Simple Plan" from Mardel.  This is what I have at the end of our first day:

In the planning section I figured how many lessons I want done in a week.  This is the current week and I wrote what we actually completed today.  The post-it notes are where I broke down what I actually want to read, etc in History and Science each day.

And on that note, our curriculum for this year:

Math is Horizons.  Chandler is starting the Kindergarten book and Claire is actually finishing up the 1st grade book and then will move on to 2nd.  Horizons tends to be a little "ahead" grade level wise so I'm not worried about it.  I would prefer for her to have a good, sturdy math foundation instead of rushing her. 

Language Arts:  Claire is finishing up The Ordinary Parent's Guide to Teaching Reading and Chandler is starting it.  Chandler is doing Language Lessons for Little Ones and Claire will be doing Language Lessons for the Very Young.  So far they both really like it. 

 Handwriting is Handwriting Without Tears for Chandler and New American Cursive for Claire. 

 We will be doing Science and History through our homeschool co-op.  We do the reading at home and meet once a week for two hours with 29 other families to do the activities and experiments.  I love that my children get to see their friends every week and it's a wonderful group of families! 

 Science is Apologia Astronomy and Claire will be adding the Junior Astronomy Notebook as well.

History is the Mystery of History Volume 1.  So far it looks great! 

Well, that's a rundown of our curriculum, plus in the moment learning of course!  We also have monthly P.E. class, Claire is signed up for an art class and they both have a one time Horsekeeping class!  I am also planning on a having a once a week sign language class at home with them.  As long as I can keep Fiona and Declan entertained we should have a great year!

And a super cute picture to end us off with:

My littles on the first day of school! 

What's Been Going On

Summer is coming to a close.  School is fast approaching!

Declan is growing fast!  He's a strong little guy.

Fiona adores her little brother.  She always wants to be near him and help take care of him.  She moved to sit at the table with us this month and loves it! 

Claire and Chandler have spent their summer using their imaginations and playing outside.  Inside fun has included making robot "masks" and cars with cardboard boxes and lots of art projects. 

Some pictures:

Fiona telling Declan all about life

Fiona the princess

Ahhh!  Robots!

Fiona likes the swing

Best big sister ever.

They are creative about seating.

Handsome little guy

Fiona's at the table!

LOVE this picture of them!

Declan's First Bath!

Sleepy boy

We have a little boy!!

I am busy and tired and completely in love. 

Declan Elliott James L. was born on August 3rd at 10:28pm after 16 hours of labor!  He was 8 lbs even and 20 inches long. 

I was scheduled to be induced on Monday morning, but woke up Sunday at 6:30 and realized I was having contractions about 3 minutes apart.  We got to the hospital around noon and ended up reading our books most of the afternoon.  It was a slow, easy labor, but super fast and intense at the end.  He was born after only 3 pushes!  Daddy was awesome the whole time. 

Declan was fussy and whiny the first few days which was really scary for me, but the day my milk came in he settled right down.  He's apparently a lot like Daddy and was just hungry! 

He's here!

Ready to go home!

My four babies!

Sucking his thumb

My precious little guy