Summer School | Goals

Working through more of our weekly curriculum, I realized it would be good to lay down some goals for our summer for reference later. Most of what we are doing this summer is in preparation for the Fall. Getting in the habit now of planning weekly lessons, as well as working these activities into our daily schedule is one of the major goals I have with this summer adventure.

Most of the following goals are meant to foster learning in areas that Miss J is already showing interest naturally:

1. Character Traits (Fruit of the Spirit)

• Basic understanding of concepts 
• Memorize Galatians 5:22-23 (and maybe a couple other verses too like John 3:16)
• Ability to connect the concept to what it looks like in real life, for example:
• Patience: waiting for mommy to finish feeding Miss M, before getting a snack without yelling, demanding, etc.
• Gentleness: playing carefully with Miss M, not hitting or being rough
• Kindness: sharing toys with friends 
• Love/Peace: saying "I'm sorry" when you have hurt someone

2. Letter Sounds 

• Miss J already knows the ABCs and quite a few of the sounds. As a pre-cursor to reading, I want to focus more specifically on letter sounds beginning with the most frequently used. We will also include some daily reading lessons in a limited capacity depending on how she connects with the material. 

3. Numbers 

• Miss J already has a good handle on numbers 1-15, both visual recognition and counting. For summer, we want to work on counting to 20 along with the ability to recognize the numbers when not saying them in order. 

four :: thirty days of thanks :: lazy fridays

Lazy Fridays are the best...laying around watching Tangled in our pjs...folding diapers...



wearing princess crowns...and lots and lots of snuggling. What a perfect morning!

two :: thirty days of thanks :: memories

I laughed as I perused my pins and came across a quote that accurately described what I was thankful for today.

Source: charmedlifeliving.tumblr.com via Amanda H. on Pinterest

On this day, instead of spending my time focused on tasks that need completed in my home (laundry, dishes, vacuuming, cleaning toilets), I am thankful for the opportunity to:

• go on long walks through the neighborhood
• snuggle on the porch swing
• shovel dirt into pails
• bounce balls across the yard
• laugh until it hurts
• create memories!!

Wordless Wednesday :: Learning Numbers

Pin Real Life :: Bookshelves

I love Pinterest...I think that is no secret, but what I don't like is all the inspiration coming in and not a lot of it being acted upon. Do you ever feel like that too? I know I'm not the only one who feels this way and I have seen several different pinterest challenges around the blogosphere -- and I decided to jump on board with sharing what I have actually done with some of the inspiration I have found from certain pins. I really liked how Dee*Construction put it this way:

i've decided to make it a regular personal challenge to replace wishful thinking with reality. because, by it's very nature, inspiration cannot remain passive
- it must be acted upon.

How true! And that is exactly what I want to do! There's just so much good stuff being pinned that inspires me and regularly committing to do them rather than pin and walk away seems easy enough. :) Right?

So first up -- something easy. I actually did this several weeks ago, but haven't taken the time to share about it. The pinspiration?

Source: ohdeedoh.com via Amanda H. on Pinterest

Ikea Spice Racks made into bookshelves for kids! What a cheap and easy solution to piles of books around my house. At $3.99 a pop (sometimes cheaper depending on sales), you can't go wrong and you can leave them natural, paint them, or stain them depending on where you are going to hang them. Since I am not sure yet, I just left them natural. Here's how it looks:


I ended up buying six of them and put two downstairs in our living room where my daughter has a little toy area and  the other four will go up in her bedroom in a little reading nook. I will say...it looks really nice when the books are all in their place, but it usually doesn't stay that way for long. ha ha! Oh well -- at least for a bit it looks tidy!

Have you been inspired to make something or do something after seeing it on Pinterest? Join in the fun -- I'd love to see what you are creating!

PS -- I am trying out a new comments program, so let me know if it is wonky...hopefully it will work better than the previous way I was doing it. :) We shall see. 

Flat Diapers :: Kickin' It Old School

**Public Service Announcement: This is a very long post. You have been warned. ha ha!**

For the past three months, we have been using flat diapers and I have to say, I absolutely LOVE them. They are, dare I say...the perfect diaper. Well, at least for me and my family, they are. Flats work well, wash well, and are super easy on the budget. Recently, I have been getting a lot of questions regarding my experience using this type of diaper so I decided to write it all down and share it here. Please let me know if you have any questions -- I would love to answer them.

Prep Work: 3 stars
For just about any cloth diaper there is some preparation, even if you are using a prefold or a pocket diaper. At some point you are going to have to stuff it, snap it, or fold it before you put it on your baby and flat diapers are no different except it looks a little bit more involved than it really is. I, personally, would have given this 4 stars since folding is not big deal to me, but I know folding diapers is something most people just don't enjoy and don't want to do.


Folding each diaper only takes me about 25 seconds or less so if I wash a load and fold it right after, I am really only spending about 5 minutes of my day folding. Since I wash diapers about 3x a week, this only adds about 15 minutes to my diaper washing routine, which is probably just a little bit more than when I was stuffing my BumGenius diapers anyway. I don't mind the folding so much -- and sometimes I only fold partially and do the rest during the actual diaper change in order to let my little one air out a bit...if you know what I mean. ;)

The nice part about folding the diapers yourself is the customization you get with the shape. This works well since every baby is different and everyone needs a little extra bulk in different places depending on how their child pees and what not. You can fold the diaper down to a small size or fold it larger and double up if you have a larger or older child. This is different than using prefolds where you need different sizes but similar to the one-size diapers except, of course, for the customization for best protection. The same flat diaper will work for both a newborn and toddler -- it just depends on the fold you use.

There are all kinds of ways to fold flat diapers. If you search "flat diaper fold" on Google, you will find lots of resources including YouTube videos where people demonstrate how to do certain folds. I prefer the origami fold as I feel like it fits the best and offers the best protection. My husband doesn't know how to fold them yet...but he is slowly learning.