Rediscovering Myself...

My new semester at MSU started last week. I am only taking two classes this semester since I am going to have a baby in six and a half weeks. I am taking BIT 320 Using MIS (I am taking this class with my sister-in-law and to fill upper-division credit requirements), and Intro to Creative Writing. I am SO excited about my creative writing course. My professor seems really helpful and fun. It is awesome to be in a course with a bunch of people who like reading and writing as much as I do. I feel like a total nerd this semester because I am actually looking forward to completing each assignment in that class (but I don't feel the same love towards my business class). Yeah! I'm so excited. Maybe I'll feel more inspiration to write on my blog this semester...

Homeschooling has been a bit of an adventure and challenge this year. I have been really tired during this pregnancy, so trying to go to college, take care of the family, and teach the girls has been quite a challenge. I pretty much just have a sink full of dirty dishes and buckets full of clean but unfolded laundry (only clean because Jim does the wash for me every weekend) always in my house. Emily still seems to be doing well in school, even with my struggle to stay awake and teach her each day. She's still working at the third grade level in math and is getting promoted to third grade language arts next week, and is excelling at her other work in second grade. I love homeschooling the girls, I just hope I can do an adequate job. One of my favorite things about homeschooling is watching the girls learn new things and discover their interests and talents. Reading has opened a whole new world for Emily, and she has become quite an avid reader. Jazzy is also learning to read, and it is fun to sometimes be out somewhere and hear her read a word on a sign or a box. Abby is learning to count and learning colors. She is finding it easier to communicate with me and get exactly what she wants if she can describe the color of what she wants when I don't quite understand what she is saying. My other girls learned to speak early just because they loved talking. I think Abby loves speaking just to get whatever she wants. She's become very proficient at manipulating Mommy into giving her whatever she wants. This is a trend we are going to have to put an end to soon.... She pats my cheeks and bats her eyes, and will even give me a kiss to try and get what she wants. I just can't figure out where she learned that all from!

Here's one other random bit... Do you know what one of my favorite things about where we live is? I obviously LOVE our new house, I love living so close to a temple, but I also love the wonderful people we have met. I love having such wonderful friends!

Cool Handwashing Activity Books

I taught the girls a health lesson on proper handwashing and ways to help prevent the spread of germs. I found a website with some fun activity books to go along with the lesson. I printed the intermediate level booklet for my second grader, the primary level booklet for my preschooler, and a coloring page for my toddler. The girls have enjoyed working on the books to reinforce things we learned about! http://www.tpchd.org/page.php?id=88

I also found a website with a song to help teach proper handwashing. It is sung to the tune of Row, Row, Row Your Boat.

http://diseases-viruses.suite101.com/article.cfm/prevent_flu_by_teaching_kids_proper_handwashing
Wash, wash, wash your hands,
Wash 'em nice and clean.
First the bottoms (pause and scrub each palm), then the tops (pause and scrub top of each hand)
And fingers in between (interlace fingers and scrub.)

Fisher Price Website

I thought I would add another website to my blog. Fisher Price has a fun website with games for infants (they can sit on mommy's lap and push any button to hear animal sounds), toddlers, and preschoolers. There are several cute games. The only thing that I don't like about this website is that if the kids click on links around the games they get a window with advertisements for Fisher Price toys. Sometimes Jazzy gets into the advertisements and I have to help her get back to her games. It is still a really fun website for little ones. Jasmine likes to color online and play the online dress up game. http://www.fisher-price.com/fp.aspx?st=10&e=gamesLanding&mcat=game_infant,game_toddler,game_preschool&site=us

Kids Discover

My grandma and grandpa bought my girls a subscription to Kids Discover magazine over a year ago. We have loved our subscription! Every issue of the magazine is like a mini nonfiction book on a particular subject. Some of the past issues have been "The Presidency," "Matter," "The Constitution," "The Great Wall of China," "Space," "Knights and Castles," and "Yellowstone National Park." The pictures are exciting, and there are games and puzzles at the end of the magazine to test what you have learned in the issue. This magazine is mostly for first grade and up. I still have to read a lot of it out loud to Emily, but she is starting to read more of it on her own. Even if some of the information is too advanced for a particular age, younger children can still glean a lot from looking at the pictures and listening to an adult read out loud. I think the magazines are great because they encourage seeking information, and they make a wide variety of topics exciting and accessible. Children love nonfiction, and these magazines are awesome! The subscription rate is $19.95 for 10 issues. You can check out the magazine and find games and other resources that coordinate with the magazine at http://www.kidsdiscover.com/ . Our local library has a subscription to this magazine, so if you want to check out some issues in person or save on the cost of the subscription, the library might be a great way to go!

The Adventures of Motherhood...

Being a mom is the greatest adventure I have ever embarked upon. You never know what will happen next! Last week all three of my girls woke up before I had time to take a shower. I put them all downstairs, turned on PBS Kids, and went upstairs to wash my hair. I got out of the shower, and I didn't hear any noise so I figured things were going well. I had just finished dressing when my middle daughter knocked on the door and said, "Mom, the baby's on the table!" My seventeen-month-old has recently become quite a climber, so I wasn't surprised to hear she had climbed onto the table yet again. I went out to the dining room to get her down off the table, only to discover she was munching a cracker in one hand, coloring on a piece of paper with the other hand, and sitting in the middle of the table with no diaper on! I couldn't help but laugh! Not only did I find it amusing that the baby was sitting like that on the table, but I also found it interesting that my middle daughter was only concerned that the baby was on the table, not that she had removed her diaper and had apparently been streaking through the house prior to climbing up on the table! Needless to say, I diapered the baby and washed the table before we ate breakfast.

Last night we had some elderly widows from our ward over for dinner. My middle daughter, Jasmine, was sitting next to one of the widows. She proceeded to ask her a mirad of odd questions throughout dinner. We tried to get Jasmine to finish her pizza and get down from the table, but wouldn't you know, she ate seconds and thirds last night before she was finished! We kept telling her to hurry and eat, in hopes she would chew more and talk less. By the time dinner was over she had asked the sweet sister why her eyes were black (she was talking about her pupils), why her hair was white, why she had an owie on her arm, and why her ears were so big. My husband and I were hoping the sister couldn't hear everything Jasmine was saying! My baby was busy entertaining everyone and acting like a clown while Jasmine was asking questions, and when we washed the baby and put her down she tried to run off with the sweet sisters' canes! No one who is easily offended can ever eat at our house because they would surely never come back! :o)

More Websites to Check Out!

I found a few websites that I think will be fun for my daughters to enjoy this summer. I thought I'd share in case someone else wanted to check them out!

This first website was included in the last weekly e-mail I received this year from Emily's school. It has instructions for making a super bubble-blower (using paper and masking tape!) and a super bubble-blowing solution. I am excited to try the instructions out! I have tried to make homemade bubbles and bubble wands in the past with very disappointing results--just ask my girls. http://www.zurqui.com/crinfocus/bubble/bubble.html

Emily had a lesson a couple of weeks ago about U.S. National Parks and how they got started. I looked for a website about the parks online and found this website http://www.nps.gov/learn/ . There are sections for teachers and for kids. There are some fun games and activities under the webrangers link http://www.nps.gov/webrangers/ . This website is bound to keep parents and children busy for quite a while!

This next website went along with a lesson Emily had about the coastline http://www.montereybayaquarium.org/efc/rocky.asp . I didn't know what tide pools were before the lesson (I've never even seen the ocean in person), and I thought this website was a great extension of the lesson. Emily liked the song about animals in tide pools http://www.montereybayaquarium.org/lc/activities/lyrics_rocksong.asp?bhcp=1 . It has a catchy beat! Children can see a webcam video of a real tide pool, learn about different animals along the coast, and make their own tide pool. There are other activities to explore beyond the rocky shore activities. This is a really interesting website. There are awesome pictures in the animal section, and there are seperate sections for different habitats. This is the link to the activities section http://www.montereybayaquarium.org/lc/activities/default.asp .

An Educational Website to Check Out!

I was looking up some websites for kids and found a really great one. The information and activities are probably appropriate for ages 6+. The website is the homepage of the American Museum of Natural History. The main web page is http://www.amnh.org/. There is a web page for kids as well http://www.amnh.org/ology/#channel. The information available on the site changes depending on which exhibits are going on at the museum. I would recommend looking at the site with your children, as there is a lot of information on conservation, global warming, etc. It has some great info, but you might want to be part of the conversation with your children. :o) My daughter and I checked out the section on butterflies, and we both learned a lot. There was a new section about mammals on the website today. There are games and activities to encourage learning. There are sections on biology, archeology, astronomy, etc. on the kids' page. This is a website you've got to check out!