Favorite Things Friday!!!

Happy Friday!

I have several favorites to share with you--

my first and MOST FAVORITE

 is that we finally bought my

tickets to go to TX to visit my dad!

I can't tell you how good it feels to know that I'll be

going down there

next week!

I'll be down there for two weeks!

Eeeek!

My next fave?

I went to Junk Bonanza last weekend

with some of my crafty friends.

We had a blast! We explored every nook and cranny of it,

and enjoyed every second of it!

I found some great things--

for example:



these awesome

mis-matched

Scrabble pieces...and...other letter...things!

They were so cute, I

HAD to have them, but

didn't have a clue

what I was going to do with them.

When I got home, I remembered this frame I got

at Michael's on clearance!

Was: $14.99

Sale price: $2.99!

{sweet}



I knew what I wanted to do...

but didn't want to spend any money on the project.

So, I went to my scrapbook paper stash

and looked through everything.

I found exactly what I wanted!

This was just a scrap piece of paper, but it's

all about working with what you've got, right?



I cut a piece of scrap

burlap

and used Mod Podge

to glue it on my paper

(that I cut to fit in the frame)

and Mod Podged the letters to fit on the

burlap.

{I love burlap.}

The ends wanted to curl up,

so I used whatever I could find to anchor

the paper down

while it dried.

And there ya have it!

Love it!

My next favorite is something we did

in school today.

We were reading in Luke 3 about bearing

Good Fruit.

I had Cade write down things that he thought of as

being Good Fruit,

and things that would be Bad Fruit.

It was a great way to talk about

why Mom and Dad

don't want him doing certain things.

We're not just doing it to be mean or to have rules,

but that we're trying to shape his character.

It was a fun time together.

Tiegan did awesome today--

played and was happy while

big brother

and I were doing out school work.

Carson was at preschool, so the Little Guy

didn't have a playmate.

He was absolutely

perfect today though!

(LOVE when that happens!)

And

last but not least...

we finally bought

bunk beds

for the two little guys!!!

I've been dreaming of this day for years!

I'm so very excited!

Hopefully they'll be assembled

this weekend!!!

Happy Friday!

Hope you have a great weekend!

A Day in the Life of a Homeschooler

We had our first

co-op field trip today.

Oh. My. Goodness!

It was wonderful!

It was such an amazing way to learn!

We went to River Rendezvous--

an amazing event that teaches kids (and adults)

about what it was like to be a pioneer.

 This was a demonstration about how

the pioneers cooked.

You know...

before we could just run to

Super Target

to get anything our hearts desire!

The actors/demonstrators
actually live there
for weeks-- as the pioneers did.
It's been raining a lot in Minnesota...
hats off to them!

 This was a demonstration on

making a fire.

Carson Luke was quite intrigued.

Oh, dear...

I hope he didn't get any
ideas...

This was the artists' tent.

It was so incredible!

We learned a lot about how the pioneers

made their own paint and canvases

(if they wanted to paint).

 The demonstrators/actors were wonderful

with the kids and kept them all on the edge of their seats!

EVEN the little guys!

It was incredible!

(Cade said that this was his favorite station!)

This station was amazing.

The actors pretended to be the first missionaries

to the Dakota Indians in Minnesota.

They translated the Bible into

the Dakota Indians' language.

And WHO KNEW that lacrosse actually

originated from the Native Americans?

I never thought of them as the

"sporty" type!

Apparently they were...and fierce

competitors at that!

The boys loved it!

I was surprised at how fast the

little guys caught on to it!

On our way out, we had to visit the horses.

Isn't this little guy adorable?

He couldn't have been older than 3, but he was

one of the actors/demonstrators.

His whole family was there. I watched how

he and his brother and sisters behaved.

They were extremely well behaved and took

their responsibilities very seriously!

 And then there was the Native American dancing.

I've always been intrigued by their dances.

The boys were pretty intrigued too.

Carson had to demonstrate

his own

spirit of the dance!

I just realized that I don't have too many pictures

of Cade from our wonderful day of learning.

That's because while I was making sure the little boys

weren't getting into trouble,

Cade was up front and center in all of the

stations we went to.

He enjoyed it so much and was

disappointed when it was time to go.

I love that we were able to experience

this day together.

Just another day in homeschooling!

Favorite Things Friday!!!

This week has gone by SO FAST!

It was a great week!!!

Homeschool is going beyond well--

Cade is such a great student and I'm loving this time

with him everyday.

We're learning how to operate with the

two little guys around.

Carson started preschool this week though,

so on M,W,F I just have to worry about

entertaining Tiegan while we're doing our school work!

So far, so good!

But, even though things are going great in that department,

it's not my favorite thing.

My favorite thing happened today when we picked

Carson up from preschool. 

They were playing outside

 (while Mommy talked

to her good friend),

and it happened...

they found a frog.

My friend and I stood there

giggling

and watching all of the

boys (hers included) playing

with him, squeeling like little girls

when the frog jumped out of their hands,

chasing it, "loving" it a little too much...

it was everything wonderful
about having boys!!!!

The funniest part was when Carson

picked him up off of the ground and my

friend said, "Be careful...he might pee on you!"

Carson dropped that frog like

it was a hot potato!

So hilarious!

Then it was time to say goodby to our

froggy friend.

They gathered around like it was

a funeral!

(and yes. Carson is holding himself. One of my
not-so-favorite things about having boys!)

Loving my boys this Friday afternoon--

and so thankful for other boys

(and Moms of boys)

to share these special times with.

My favorite thing!

{Hope you're having a wonderful Friday too!}

Favorite Things Friday!!!

This week has been

oh, so crazy!I've been on a mad dash

to finish the Homeschool Room.

It's almost finished...

and the best part?

It's all been done on a

budget!!!

Wanna see???

{I took these pics at night...so the quality of

light...not so great.}

Welcome sign from

Target Dollar Spot!

(oh, how I love me some Dollar Spot!)

Burlap covered magnetic boards!

Boards from IKEA.

Had burlap on hand.

Lights, IKEA.

$12.00 each.

AWESOME storage unit from IKEA- $200

LOVE the 50% off section at IKEA!

Got six boxes for $12.

Another

amazing clearance find!

$6.00 at Kirklands!

Okay. I know this is sad...

but one of my favorite finds this summer

was these BRAND NEW Sharpies

at a garage sale!

Amazing!

{Sharpies are expensive!!!}

Found lots of educational games

@ Thrift Stores!

About $8 total.

Another great Dollar Spot find.

Found it at Michaels!

And two more-

One from Michael's

and one from

Target!

Calendar pocket folder from teaching store

$20 (way too expensive! Those teaching stores

committ highway robbery against teachers!)

{can I get an AMEN?}

Calendar accessories and weather tracker

Target Dollar SPOT!!!

(woohoo!)

The same thing at the teaching store

would easily be

$10 or more!

Yesterday was our first day

of 3rd Grade!

It went sooooo well! I loved it!!!

To my

utter surprise

the little boys played

so well together outside and allowed

Cade and I to get a lot of work done!

I loved that time alone with Cade!

He's a wonderful student!

I'll leave you with one more

favorite today.

This little bookmark is

my dream come true!

Cade reads a lot!

Every afternoon he has to read for

an hour.

This bookmark has been a life saver!

I just set it, and then I'm free to do whatever needs to be done

without worrying if Cade is

reading his required length of time.

Love it!

Have a

Fabulous Friday!