Gifts and Surprises

On Monday when I went to dinner with Alanna, she forgot my gift.  So she brought it to me today.  She made me a mini scrapbook.  I love it!  It is so sweet.  Those of you who know me, know that I love to scrapbook, but I am typically making scrapbooks of my children.  It is so nice to have something for myself :)

The Cover

Alanna & I at a Third Day concert in 2004

She also made me a bow holder after reading my blog about needing another one.  I absolutely love it!  I was really wanting to get one that was this style.  I put a few bows on there so you could get the idea.  She is very crafty and can make almost anything.  I keep telling her to make a business out of it.  Maybe one day I can talk her into it...(wink, wink)

Just a side note, I got her a tile frame that has a cute saying about friendship.  I told her to pretend that I made it.  Ha ha.  

Another gift I got for my birthday, was a gift card to Amazon from Candra.  I LOVE shopping at Amazon so this was the perfect gift.  As I mentioned in my previous posts, I take a long time to decide what I would like to get.  I have to look around at all of the items (either in the store or online).  I always read product reviews and try to make an "educated" decision.  So, I just ordered the items with my gift card and most of them arrived today.  This is what I got:

A cover for my laptop that I have been needing for a LONG time to protect it from little hands.

A protector for my keypad to protect it from spills that little hands make.

Also, I have heard so much stuff over the years from Candra and friends about how awesome Rainbow Sandals are.  I decided that I need to finally give them a try.  They are supposed to conform to your feet over time and then become your favorite pair of sandals that will last forever.  Sounds good to me!

Lastly, I ordered a food processor.  I have been wanting to get one for years so that I can make my own baby food (hopefully :) as well as save time when making our favorite dinner, Chicken Casserole.  {The food processor has not arrived yet, so I can't take a picture.  I attached a link to it below}  I look forward to using it shortly!

This has been a wonderful birthday!  

In other news, I have been walking on my treadmill several days a week and dropped a few pounds.  Hurray!  I am doing pretty good about entering all of the foods I have eaten into the Livestrong app.  I am happy to see that all of my efforts are paying off!

Tomorrow starts the first day of Homeschool Soccer for the older 3 kids.  They are beyond excited!  They got all of their gear together tonight.  I have a feeling when I wake up in the morning, I will find them in their shin guards and cleats ready to go.  I am looking forward to watching them play!  I plan on bringing the camera, so hopefully I can get some pictures of them.  It might be kinda interesting since they will all be playing at the same time, but I have to stay with Grant.  I shall do my best.

1 Down 179 To Go

Today was a very busy and productive day.  As mentioned in my previous post, it was the first day of school for Cooper and Kindle.  Nathan had a photo shoot in Tennessee so everyone was up nice and early.  The kids all got baths.  We ate breakfast and I put Gunnar down for his morning nap.  Grant played a few video games.  Celeste sat down with us and colored a paper.  Cooper and Kindle were so excited to start school.

Kindle is now officially in Kindergarten!

Cooper showing us that he is in 2nd grade.

The school day went really well.  We use the Abeka curriculum for both of their school.  For Cooper, it was all reviewing what he had learned previously so he did it very quickly.  I made sure to let him know that they are easing him back into school and he will have a lot more school work soon.  Kindle had lots of fun and felt so big.  I did homeschool her in Pre-K last year, but it was a lot more casual.  She did really well too.  Cooper kept telling her, I remember learning that 2 years ago.  It was sweet :)  Day one of homeschool for the 2010-2011 school year is complete.  Only 179 more days to go!

We learned about the letter "I" today.

Cooper reviewed his vowels & their sounds.  He also colored this picture.

After school, the kids did their jobs on their chore chart (see previous post).  Then, we ate lunch and got Kindle ready for ballet.  We ran some errands while Kindle was in her class.  We headed home and ate dinner.  We tidied up once again and I managed to get them in bed 20 minutes earlier than normal (since they missed their naps due to Kindle's ballet).  I was able to work out and get a shower (a luxury item as any Mom will tell you).  I am also happy to say I did really good as well with making healthy eating choices.  Hurray!  I can't wait to see my hard work paying off on the scale!  

Now I am off to conquer Mt. Laundry.  I washed everything since vacation, but I have just been grabbing clothes out of the basket instead of sorting it.  I am sure you all never do that...

Any other homeschool parents out there?  If so, what curriculum do you use?