Friday, May 15, 2015

Seven Quick Takes :: Instagram Recap & More

It's time for another Instagram Recap in Seven Quick Takes! 

— 1 :: NPLTW —


#NPLTW Second and Third place winners in the National Pro-Life T-Shirt Week 2015 photo contest. #prolifegen (and our oldest daughter came in at Fourth place, just a couple points behind her brother!) 
First place went to Melody's son, Peter!  No… I'm not going to start using their names on the blog, but I do think it's pretty awesome that the winner's of the recent National Pro-Life T-Shirt Week contest were Peter, James and John, and in that order! ;)

Captain was actually holding one of his own sonogram images (Task #6-Holding a sonogram image of a baby.) in this picture. He pulled it out of his baby book!


— 2 :: Another Win! —


On Tuesday morning Ranger found out that he had won last month's clean teeth drawing at the orthodontist for $50 in Baskin-Robbins gift certificates!


— 3 :: Baptisms and Birthdays —


Last Saturday we attended the Baptism & reception for a sweet baby boy. 
Welcome into the Body of Christ, little one!


Afterwards we headed to my brother's house to celebrate his 29th birthday that day, and my brother Kevin's 21st birthday which is this Saturday! Of course… Lighting candles turns into a lighter fight.


— 4 :: Curriculum Plans —
  

I know it's already the end of the school year... but I finally got around to posting our 2014-2015 curriculum plans. Better late than never, right? 

If you missed it you can find it here:
— 5 :: Ascension Thursday —


I posted all the rest of the pictures from our annual Acsension Thursday picnic here and a little video over at Instagram. The feast of the Ascension has been transferred to Sunday in our diocese... We will continue our celebration with Sunday Mass and Ascension Pancakes this coming weekend!


 "Getting ready for a family game of soccer!"
"It's crazy out there! We decided to watch {or rather dodge balls!} from the sidelines. Almost bedtime... Everyone should sleep well tonight!"


— 6 :: Art for Our Lady —


Bring flow'rs of the fairest, 
Bring flow'rs of the rarest,
From garden and woodland
And hillside and vale;
Our full hearts are swelling,
Our Glad voices telling
The praise of the loveliest
Rose of the vale.



— 7 :: Feast of St. Dymphna —


May 15th is the feast of St. Dymphna, Lily of the Emerald Isle. In honor of her feast Regina Martyrum Productions just released the audio story of St. Dymphna! It's over an hour long and I'm looking forward to listening to it later this afternoon with our older children. (Note: The subject matter of this story can tend to a mature theme.) 

Right now Regina Martryum Productions is having an 18 HOUR FLASH SALE!
You can purchase two audio stories and get one free with coupon code DYMPHNA15 at checkout.
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Thursday, May 14, 2015

Our Annual Ascension Thursday Picnic


And the Lord Jesus, after he had spoken to them, was taken up into heaven, and sitteth at the right hand of God.
Mark 16:19

In Cooking for Christ, Florence Berger writes about the tradition in some areas of picnicking on hilltops to celebrate the Feast of the Ascension. You can pack the picnic basket with some symbolic Ascension themed foods to enjoy including chicken or chicken salad sandwiches to represent birds, fruit or fruit salad for the “first fruits of the Holy Spirit,” cream puffs representing the clouds, and a bubbly carbonated beverage for the “rising” bubbles!


.: This Year's Ascension Picnic Menu :.

Chicken Deli Meat, Cheese and Crackers
(It is traditional to eat some sort of bird since Jesus "flew" to heaven.)

Grapes
(The fruit represents Christ, the first fruit of all men.)

Cream Puffs
(Symbolizing the clouds that were in the sky.)

Sparkling Pink Lemonade
(Chosen for the "rising" bubbles.)









 


The feast of the Ascension has been transferred to Sunday in our diocese... 
We will continue our celebration with Sunday Mass and Ascension Pancakes! 

Happy Feast of the Ascension! 

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Wednesday, May 13, 2015

Our 2014-2015 Curriculum Plans and Checklists


We are already nearing the end of our school year and I am finally (finally!) getting around to sharing my curriculum plans. This post has been in my draft folder since last summer, but since some of you are still interested to hear the details, and since I always love looking back at what we have studied over the years, I'm going to try and finish it up real quick. 

This school year (2014-2015) our children are in 8th, 7th grade, 5th, 4th, and 2nd grade. Rose (age 4 at the beginning of the school year) and Bud (age 2 at the beginning of the school) love joining the fun! We are currently using Saxon Math with all the children, as well as courses from Institute for Excellence in Writing (IEW) and All About Learning (AAL) for Language Arts, Focus on Science Biology and Physics from Real Science for Kids, Latin from Memoria Press, Connecting with History from RC History, Maps Charts and Graphs, and Meet the Masters for Art. It has been a great school year and I feel like we have finally settled into a curriculum and routine that works well for all of us, at least right now during this particular season in our family.

Mama's Notebook Weekly Planner & Organizer, The Catholic Daily Planner, 2015 Saints Calendar

Captain :: 8th Grade

Religion:
Preparation for Confirmation (continue with Dad)
Saint Joseph Baltimore Catechism No. 2 (continue with Dad)
The Soldier of Christ: Talks before Confirmation (independent reading)
Christ 101 (just getting started with this program, will continue in high-school)

 Created for high school students and adults, Christ 101 is a welcome addition to my homeschool curriculum for our teens! The convenient and easy to follow format is perfect for me as a home educating mother of many. I look forward to learning how to better defend my Catholic faith alongside my students. Thank you Dr. Scott Sullivan for creating an engaging, fun, and effective way to teach apologetics.

Math:
Saxon Math 8/7 with Teacher DVDs
Orbiting with Logic

The boys completed their Saxon Math 8/7 last month and have moved on to Saxon Algebra 1 for the rest of the school year.  Switching back to Saxon, and hiring a tutor for extra help with Math, was definitely one of the best decisions I made in 2013! You can read more about our past Math struggles here and here. 

Language Arts:
Student Writing Intensive Continuation Course: Level B
Phonetic Zoo, continue and complete Level B
Fix It! Grammar: Robin Hood

Latin:
First Form Latin with DVDs
Memorize Server Responses for Latin Mass

Our three oldest are working their way through the first half of First Form Latin this year and will continue with the second half during our next school year. It's been slow going, but at least we are making some progress! 

History & Geography:
Connecting with History Volume 2: The Arrival of the King and His Kingdom
New Testament and Early Medieval History 63 B.C. through A.D. 1066
Maps Charts and Graphs Level H: United States, Past and Present


Ranger :: 7th Grade

Religion:
Preparation for Confirmation (continue with Dad)
Saint Joseph Baltimore Catechism No. 2 (continue with Dad)
A Child's Book of Warriors (independent reading)
Christ 101

Math:
Saxon Math 8/7 with Teacher DVDs

History & Geography:
Connecting with History Volume 2: The Arrival of the King and His Kingdom
New Testament and Early Medieval History 63 B.C. through A.D. 1066
    Maps Charts and Graphs Level G: The World
    View Ranger's Weekly Checklist





    Twinkle Toes :: 5th Grade

    Religion:
    Saint Joseph Baltimore Catechism No. 2 (continue with Dad)

    Math:
    Saxon Math 6/5 with Teacher DVDs
    Logic Liftoff

    View Twinkle Toes' Weekly Checklist


    Following the release of the updated version of Fix-It! we have returned to using this grammar program for all our older children. The new program includes 33 weeks of daily passages, 132 vocabulary words, and much clearer notes for the teacher. Each week the children learn a grammar concept, locate and fix errors in four short passages, discuss how the grammar applies to the passage, and rewrite the corrected passage into a notebook. Love it! 

    Chiquita :: 4th Grade

    Religion:
    The New Baltimore Catechism No. 1 (with Dad)

    Math:

    Language Arts:
    Student Writing Intensive, Level A (complete then move on to Continuation Course A) 
    Phonetic Zoo, Level A
    Fix It! Grammar: The Nose Tree
    Pictures in Cursive

    Latin:
    Prima Latina (second half of book, continued from 3rd grade)

    History & Geography:
    Connecting with History Volume 2: The Arrival of the King and His Kingdom
    New Testament and Early Medieval History 63 B.C. through A.D. 1066
    Maps Charts and Graphs Level D: States & Regions
    Snuggles :: 2nd Grade 

    Religion:
    First Communion Preparation
    St. Joseph First Communion Catechism

    Math:
    Saxon Math 2

    Language Arts:
    Primary Arts of Language: Writing and Reading
    All About Spelling Level 1 and Level 2
    Faith and Freedom Readers
    Supplementing with Explode the Code and All About Reading Readers

    From the archives: All About Reading or Primary Arts of Language? 

    History & Geography:
    Connecting with History Volume 2: The Arrival of the King and His Kingdom
    New Testament and Early Medieval History 63 B.C. through A.D. 1066
      Maps Charts and Graphs Level B: Neighborhoods

      Science:
      Focus on Elementary Biology with Laboratory Workbook, and Teacher's Manual
      Focus on Elementary Physics with Laboratory Workbook, and Teacher's Manual
      Life Is Precious: A Culture of Life Unit Study for Elementary Students

      Art: 




      Rose & Bud :: Pre-Kindergarten 

      In addition to lots of picture books, family field trips, educational games, and religion lessons with Daddy for both of our little ones, Rose has also started Saxon K and All About Reading Pre-Reading. She also loves participating in our family art classes. She will officially begin Kindergarten in the fall!




      Despite the fact that I haven't been able to keep up with my own hopes and personal expectations for our younger children (i.e. Little Saints and The Alphabet Path), they are still getting an incredible education. It must be pretty awesome to have so many older siblings!





      Now I need to get started planning our 2015-2016 school year which includes HIGH SCHOOL!

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      Sunday, May 10, 2015

      Decorating Cookies on Mother's Day


      A long time ago in a {garden} far, far away… 

      God created man in His own image, in the image of God He created him; male and female he created them, and God said to them, "Be fruitful and multiply, and fill the earth and subdue it; and have dominion over the birds of the air and over every living thing that moves upon the earth." 
      Genesis 1:27-28






      These cookies, cut with 3" Alphabet Cookie Cutters and leftover from one of the tasks during National Pro-Life T-Shirt Week, made a perfect treat for today! 

      Happy Mother's Day! 

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      Thursday, May 7, 2015

      {pretty, happy, funny, real} :: A Few More Pictures from April

      ~ Capturing the context of contentment in everyday life with Like Mother, Like Daughter. ~

      {pretty}



      One of Chiquita's favorite birthday gifts this year… An original painting of one of her patron saints! I commissioned Heather to paint it, along with a couple others, after purchasing the lovely original St. Brigid painting earlier this year. Isn't it gorgeous!?! You can find the print made from this painting at Audrey Eclectic.



      {happy}


      One of Captain's writing assignments this year was to write and mail a five-paragraph letter and he decided to write to his instructor. (Our children have been watching the Student Writing Intensive DVD's for a few years now.)  Mr. Pudewa actually wrote back! 





      {funny}











      Apparently he was protecting the princess from an invisible dragon!

      (You can find the rest of The Easter Story in LEGO here and St. George and the Dragon here.)


      {real}


      Life isn't always a "Shower of Roses" around here…

      {updated with new picture}
      ...but you'll just have to take my word for it, and maybe offer up an extra prayer for me today.

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