Nitro Swim

Last summer(2012) we enrolled little man into swim lessons for a week. It went well and we had good intentions to join their monthly group lessons to continue working on his skills. However, that is all we had good intentions no follow through. Once soccer season was finished we thought we would give it another shot. This time our neighborhood pool was giving free swim lessons for 4 days. We signed up! He did great & the swim instructor was from Nitro Swim School. Our HOA had contracted varies instructors from swim schools around the Austin area so we were pleased when we had the opportunity to experience an instructor from Nitro! We have been wanting to see what the Nitro fever was all about. We now know! Last week we started our first official swim lesson that will be weekly. He did so great that they moved him up 3 stations. Each station has a skill they must learn before moving on to the next. Some stations have more than one skill. Most have 2-3 skills. 

Summer 2012 

Nitro Swim 2013

Nitro 2013 

"Sometimes it is worth it to wait until the child is ready for then they will take off! "

Not Back TO School Blog Hop

Go here to follow
(picture credited to ihomeschool network)

I thought it would be fun to participate in the Not Back To School Blog Hop! I know what you are thinking. "Wait I had no idea you were planning on homeschooling!" Well, yes I am & Hubby too ;0)! It is a long story so we will save it for another post. Anyway, so what curriculum did we pick to start our kindergarten year? Heart of Dakota Little Hearts for His Glory by Carrie Austin. My friend Mrs TD  found this curriculum years ago when she first started homeschooling her two beautiful children. It worked for her and I trust her judgement. She is one of those friends that will research until she finds exactly what fits whatever need at the time. Everyone needs a friend like that! 

Heart of Dakota

Almost complete set minus phonics, writing & math. Carrie Austin
offers suggestion for those sections of the teacher's manual or
you can go with what you want to do. I decided to pick my own. Heart of Dakota
has phonics, writing and a  math program you can purchase on their website. 

Handwriting Without Tears 

Handwriting Without Tears is our choice for learning how to correctly write each letter. Plus it includes wood pieces for your child to create each letter and see how it is formed. This is very important for our son. He is a young 5 yr old so he is still figuring out his fine motor skills and seems to do better with a "hands on approach" for a writing program. HWT allows us to incorporate Letter of The Week. We use Raising Rock Stars ! Amazing program to add to your fun day. We only use a few things from her bundle that you can download once you have purchased. You do have to print and laminate some stuff. We like it! 

For Math we will be using Right to Start Math . We will only be using their Math Card Games Book along with the manipulative's that are needed to learn each concept. You can purchase just the game set and it comes with the book. More details here. It is also cheaper that way plus you learn the concepts required for Kindergarten and above while having fun! 

So what are your plans for curriculum? Share! 

AWANA (Sept-May 2012-2013)

I don't know if you are familliar with AWANA. It is a fabulous program for kids to learn about God & gain confidence in scripture memory. Kinda reminds me of a cub scout program where you get patches for different milestones or services. In AWANA they receive patches for service and scripture memory. Each child has a book that they work through along side their parent throughout the year. Our program just happens to run on Sunday nights at our church. We love it! The picture below is a group that has been together since they began the program at age 3. They will continue on to the next level for the year 2013-2014 as STARS. Last year they were Cubbies. It has been a huge blessing in our life each year we have participated in the program. At the end of the year they have an awards program & a party celebration with an Hawaiian theme. I have posted a few pics of his last day as a Cubbie. 

AWANA class 2012-2013

His teachers & achievement award. 

Oh yes, mommie's lil dare devil. Going to climb the Rock wall!

I encourage you to look up an AWANA program that is in your home town. They are all over and at varies churches. You do not have to be a member of any of the churches to participate in the program. 

Go here for more info 

WOW!

It has been a long while. Did you think I was lost or buried under some craziness? The latter is true. It has been a busy busy season in my life. Little man graduated from pre-k, swim lessons started, trips to movies, meeting a celebrity, M.O.P.S. gno's(girls night out), vacations began, camps, visitors and of course the start of teaching my son phonics. Oh wait, I almost forgot ladies summer bible study! Whew. Yes, I have been lost in my own little world of craziness. I promise to catch you up on all our milestones in our little family when I can gather my thoughts properly or just gather them ;0). For now, I hope you are enjoying your summer because we have had a blast so far this summer. Here are a few of my favorite pictures! (p.s. I have no idea why my blog is doing funny things around my pics)

My little smurf! Yes, I am protective of my red head!

Lego Space Camp

Fourth of July

Dell Diamond Night

Birthday Celebrations

I can not believe my baby is 5! His actual birthday is April 1st, no joke! Hubby decided to take a day of vacation on little man's birthday so we as a family could celebrate together. Since little man's big birthday wish was to go to the Lego Store that is exactly what we did. First, we had breakfast at his favorite place The Egg and I. He ordered a turkey sandwich with lots of tomatoes. We really enjoyed each other and took our time. Ahhh....hubby and I had more than just one cup of coffee. Now, that is a good time! Once we finished our lovely birthday breakfast it was off to the best place in my son's opinion, The LEGO Store! Oh boy, what an experience. Little man immediately found the "expert" to ask him where the Star Wars section of the store was located. Hysterical! I believe we were there for an hour. Just staring, wishing, hoping and dreaming of all the wonderful "stuff" we could create. It was by far one of my most favorite days! Oh, the memories I tucked away in my heart that day. No photograph could capture what my heart was feeling in that moment. However, here are a few pictures of my little man at his favorite store. Enjoy! 

love him running to the store

oh what to pick 

sweet

Look at the star fighter or ummm x-wing(I am learning)

so happy!

Silent

I realize I have been away a lot longer than I had intended. It has been a busy 6 weeks. Well, really this year has been busy and it is only March! I must admit I have not read a blog in over month. Also, on a personal note I have gone a little inward. I am not an emotional person but the last few weeks have swept over me like a roller coaster. Then it hit me this weekend as to why I have struggled a bit with my emotions. This week will be the first anniversary of the passing of my dad. Though I knew it, it seems to hit you in different moments and times. So, my friends if I appear silent this is the reason. Just pray over me and love me right where I am. It is hard to explain what I am feeling. Maybe someday I will be able to offer up wisdom. For now, I am silent.

Sooooooooo....

It has been a long time. I am sorry for that. LIFE.HAS.BEEN.BUSY. A good busy though. Holidays were great! I hope and pray yours were too. Then we jumped into January with both feet. There is not enough time to catch you up on all of it. We are still home schooling and it is going very well. Phonics has been the main focus this month. We have added (more)science, art(Monet, Van Gogh etc.) and crafts to our weekly routine. We meet with another family that we met through soccer once a week. It has been such a blessing to have a friend locally to be able to lean on for support for home schooling. It is always a bonus when the kids like each other and play well together! Don't ya agree? It is always a blessing to find that one person you can count on whether your kids are in public school, private school or are home schooled.

My son has grown in leaps and bounds. It is hard to believe we will be celebrating his 5th birthday very soon. He is still very curious and creative. His latest creation with food involves toast, cream cheese and mandarin oranges. He "claims" he is making a marmalade sauce. His other love is Lego's. Seems to be his favorite past time with his daddy. Oh yes! He is daddy's boy. Makes my heart sing!

That is all for now. I am praying for each one of you whether I know you by name or not!