Transportation Week

This week's lesson was actually done over the course of three weeks because we had so much going on!

We packed up our "car" and got ready for a trip!

We went downtown and actually got to see and hear a real train going by!

We even practiced making a train whistle...

With our friends, we explored a historic train station, saw a riverboat and then loaded up in the car for a trip to the beach together!

Once on the beach, we saw lots of helicopters, planes and boats.  FL enjoyed waving and shouting "hello!" to each one (some got really close!).

On the way back, we stopped by an old gas station.  

All the kids got to take a turn at trying the old gas pump (it was heavy!).  This was FLs "gas pumpin' " face!

Once home, we made our own planes and, 

Had fun telling stories of our own journey on The Big Plane from China.

Making them fly was probably the most fun, though!

We also made little yogurt top sail boats.

And sailed them on the ocean blue!

One of the girls favorite things was playing train!   Everyone "got on board" with that idea! ; )

Jesus was our conductor.  We put FL right behind him because we figured he'd keep her out of trouble and she'd keep him awake!

We used our sand shakers from Music Week to help make a train chugging sound.

We had a snack car, sleeper car and even an animal car (thanks, Ella!).

And to finish up the week, we paid a visit to Chicka and Boom Boom's house to pay proper respect to his new car...

Whether it was boats, planes, trains or automobiles, we had a great ride learning about transportation!

Farm Week

Well, this was just a fun week!  I asked the girls what clothes farmers wear and they said shorts, pink shirt, hat and boots.  So here you go!

In addition to doing our farm chores together and talking about the farms around us, we did a lot of fun crafts.

The first was a horse finger painting craft.   They were too busy playing to do the cutting part, but they had a great time painting and putting on the mane.  For the record, FL did cut her horse's mane with her child safety scissors - no small feat!

They turned out so cute!  We had a friend over that day (and I had a friend over that day! Yay for mommy friends!) learning about horses, so it was great fun!

Most of the farming in our community is cattle farming, so we took a trip to the Farmers Market downtown to see what farmers grow.

We took home some lovely vegetables and enjoyed them for dinner.

At home, I got out the girls' play farm (lovingly given to us by Aunt Dana!), they picked out which of their stuffed animals were farm animals, added farm hats and gloves and some plastic containers and they had a blast feeding and playing with the animals.

  Kerry, this is the picture where the girls said they were playing HaileyKinley. : )

Farmers help each other out!  Our verse this month was "Show kindness and mercy to one another" in Zechariah 7:9.  So the girls and I gladly loaded up in our farm gear to go help a dear friend.

Another friend showed us kindness by rescuing this horse for the side of the road and giving it to our family - the girls "loved" on him very well this week!  He was one tired horse!

An unexpected lesson in farm critters was had when Sam captured a mouse!  The girls named it Minnie and really, really wanted to keep it and bring it into the house.  The lesson ended there for the girls and unfortunately for the mouse.

Minnie was undeniably cute and I did plead for her life to be spared, but life's not all rainbows and unicorns on the farm...  

On a happier note, the girls did more finger painting and printables.  We did painting and cutting crafts a few times during the winter, but they all ended in tears and frustration because (at the time) the girls didn't know how to use scissors, glue, paint or other materials.  We have just recently revisited it. Their comprehension and motor skills have improved so, so much it amazes me.  They did such a great job!

C still has difficulties with her left hand and upper body, but she is a determined and self motivated child.  And she loves tractors, so was happy to do this craft!  She has been asking for more every day.

They also painted, cut and glued this cute barn.  I did some of the cutting, as I knew it would be overwhelming to them, but they did most of it on their own and did a fantastic job!

They came out so cute - C's are on the left and FL's on the right.

We also made cute toilet tube chickens modeled after some of our own flock.  The girls picked Rhode Island Red and Barred Rock chickens to paint.

The girls got to learn that chickens have wings, a tail, comb, beak and wattle (and feet, too, but we didn't make those!).

We made haystacks for a farm appropriate treat ( and a childhood favorite!).

Taste testing is one of our favorite things to do!

As well as a "love fight" were you loving fight over the leftover batter in the bowl!

And, of course, we just enjoyed our farm and all of the chores and fun that comes with growing up on one.  C and FL donned some farm girl dresses and climbed...

Explored some farm equipment...

Enjoyed our horses...

Worked our farm girl muscles by doing our jobs...

And ran and played and had fun in wide, open spaces.

We think everyone should get to grow up on a farm... And if you can't, you'll still enjoy farm week!

We're blessed!

First Day of PreK3!

It seems to be the thing to do on social media these days.  I'm not one to join in on every trend, but this one was too cute to pass up!

We are continuing to do our themed weeks of learning because we all enjoy it so much and the girls are soaking up any and every bit of new information.  The girls haven't even been home a year, so none of us are ready to send them off to school.  For now, we will do our Pre K at home! 

Happy First Day of School, C and FL!

She requested that Ella be in the picture.  This sweet, old dog has come to mean so much to her.  She loves her in such a quiet, undemanding way.  It is sweet to watch.

And this little pixie?!

You knew she wasn't just going to pose and smile sweetly without a little sass and spice, didn't you?

Nowadays, every thought in her head begins with, "Let's see what would happen if I..."  It keeps it interesting around here!!!

It's going to be a great year filled with fun!

We're ready!

Game Day, AKA The Dream Is Complete

When we first started the adoption process, Sam said he dreamed of napping on the couch with his daughters and watching football together, both of which I was skeptical. ; )

I was right about the napping, but thanks to some grocery store t shirts and yummy popcorn, The Dream is complete!

He is one happy and blessed Papa!

Even during the tense moments of the game!

Once the popcorn ran out the natives got a little restless...

At least I had one loyal family member on my team!   Football is as big as girls' hairbows in the south, and that's pretty big!

We love our girls and are thankful for them everyday.  They even make football fun for this non-football fan!