Our NOVEMBER HOMESCHOOL Plans - Thanksgiving and Holidays!

 The holidays are upon us! I love this time of year and all the fun things I get to do with the kids! For the most part, we will still be doing our normal homeschool stuff until December, and then we'll take a break and focus on Christmas activities. 

Monday, November 1 

Today, we're going to set up our gratitude tree. This is a tradition we do every November. We put a tree on the wall. Each day, every family member writes down something they are grateful for on a leaf and we put it on the tree. By the end of the month, our tree is full of leaves and our hearts are full of gratitude. 

Tuesday, November 2 

Another gratitude activity we loved doing last year was a gratitude turkey. I used a turkey body template and cut out feathers for each girl. Then they drew pictures of what they were grateful for on the feathers and stuck them onto the turkey. Then we hung them on the wall so we could see what they were grateful for all month long. 

Wednesday, November 3 

The popcorn and salt science experiment is a really simple one that the girls love and can do over and over again. 

Thursday, November 4 

A fun Thanksgiving printable I found was this I Spy page. I think Ashtyn and Parker will really like it, and if Parker and Rylee can't do the I Spy part, they can simply color the page. 

Monday, November 8

Today we're going to do a painting activity and make an Indian corn craft. I thought it would be a good day to tie in learning more about the Native Americans. 

Tuesday, November 9 

For today, I found a printable where you can draw the pilgrim's faces and then color the page. I thought it would be a fun activity to tie in with learning about the pilgrims and the first Thanksgiving. 

Wednesday, November 10 

Another fun science experiment that we did last year that I want to do again this year is make butter. It takes a long time of shaking, but the butter actually ended up tasting pretty good and the kids loved it, plus it opened up a good conversation about things like chemical reactions. 

Thursday, November 11

Making a handprint turkey is something the girls always love to do and it's such a simple, fun one for me. 

Monday, November 15

Today we're going to keep it simple and do a Thanksgiving activity page. This is a good one because Rylee can simply draw and then Parker and Ashtyn can do more as their skills allow. 

Tuesday, November 16

A fun science activity that the girls love is dancing popcorn. You use vinegar and baking soda to cause the popcorn to move up and down in the jar. The girls thought it was the funniest thing the last time we did it and they get to learn about density. 

Wednesday, November 17 

I am trying to play games with the girls more and I found a fun gratitude game that also involves M&M's, so I think the kids will love it. 

Thursday, November 18

Last year, we made toilet paper roll turkeys and the girls loved it enough (and they turned out really cute) that I want to do it with them again. 

Monday, November 22

I love these Thanksgiving hats that the kids can make. I thought we could do them in preparation for Thanksgiving. I'll let them wear them the day we make them, but then I'll save them for Thanksgiving dinner, so the kids can wear them then if they want to. 

Tuesday, November 23 

This is our pie crust day. I like to get the pie crusts ready on a separate day so that it's not quite so exhausting and overwhelming to make pies. 

Wednesday, November 24 

This will be our big pie day in preparation for Thanksgiving. I'm planning on making a pumpkin pie, a chocolate cream pie, an apple pie, and some pies to give away. I will let the girls help me finish making and putting together all the pies. 

Thursday, November 25

Thanksgiving! We obviously won't be doing school on this day. We usually spend the morning watching the parade and Thanksgiving movies (like A Charlie Brown Christmas) and then eat a Thanksgiving dinner with family. 

Monday, November 29 

Now that Thanksgiving is over, we can start our Christmas stuff! I love Thanksgiving, but Christmas is my true love. To start off the season, I will probably be busy pulling out Christmas stuff, but I have some winter and Christmas coloring pages for the girls to color when they aren't "helping" me. I also have some fun snowman stuff they can do, whether we have real snow yet or not. 

Tuesday, November 30 

Seeing as this is the last day of November, we are going to make our Christmas countdown chains. We do this every year and the girls have a lot of fun making them. They are also a great physical representation of how close Christmas is! 

Ashtyn's Seventh Birthday!

 Ashtyn had a lot of fun for her birthday this year! 

We have a tradition to make donuts in the morning on each of the kids' birthdays. Her birthday fell on a Sunday this year, and between 9:00 church and a newborn, I knew it would be a struggle to wake up and make them in time, so we decided to buy them from Get Glazed, a local donut shop. Ashtyn wanted chocolate cake donuts with chocolate frosting and sprinkles. 

We always decorate with balloons and streamers while they're sleeping too, and Ashtyn was so excited to go to bed so she could wake up and see the decorations. 

It turned out to be an extra good decision to buy the donuts, because Oliver ended up with a cold and didn't sleep well at all. Rylee had a stuffy nose, Parker had a sore throat, and I had a cold, so I stayed home with them while Ben took Ashtyn to church. Ashtyn was really excited to be with her primary class for her birthday. 

After church, my mom (who came out of town with my brother) watched the other kids while Ben and and I did our birthday date with Ashtyn. She wanted to play video games and buy treats. 

I took Ashtyn the day before to pick up the donuts, her ice cream cake, and some snacks. Then we put prices on the snacks and she earned "money" to buy the treats by winning as she played the video games. 

After her date, she wanted homemade pizza for dinner, so I made that and then we got ready for her party. We had family come over and sing happy birthday to her and eat ice cream cake with us. Ashtyn wanted to do a "bug" theme because she loves bugs so much right now. 

Ashtyn got a lot of cute presents. This was from her Great Grandma Leah. The last time we were at her house, Ashtyn played with the car set up Leah has the whole time, so that's what Leah brought her. Ashtyn was so excited about it, she forgot to eat her cake!

This was from her Aunt Melissa, a little quiet book art kit. Ashtyn loves it and is very careful to keep it away from her sisters. 

She also got an Origami flower bouquet and how-to-draw book (I don't know how I didn't get a picture! It was adorable!) from Ben's cousin and his wife, who Ashtyn just adores. 

We always give a book for birthdays, since our "big present" to them is their birthday date. This year, we got Ashtyn Madeline and she was so excited. She's had my mom read it to her (since my mom owns it) and has always loved it. 

We also got her an origami book, since she's been really into origami lately. She usually has to have me help her find things to make on my computer and she was so excited to be able to do it by herself, without my help. She has already used the book a lot!

She also got cards with money from her different grandparents, and she was really happy because "she was getting low on money". 

Ashtyn had such a wonderful day, feeling loved by those around her! 

Ashtyn is Seven!

 Sixth Birthday: October 17, 2021

Favorite food: Hamburgers, homemade chicken nuggets, tuna with pickles, grilled cheese sandwiches, peanut butter kiss cookies, ice cream, watermelon, peaches

Favorite toys: Legos, blankets (to build forts), puppets, outside toys (rocks, bug catching stuff, chalk, her bike), craft supplies

Favorite things to say: 

                    "I won't give up, even though I'm tired!"

                    Ruder or dummy vs. pretty or best

                    "I'm going to faint!" (when she's excited about something)              

Favorite things to do: Catch bugs, watch science videos on YouTube, read, build forts, make crafts, build with Legos, play video games and her DS, play chess, do Pixel art, build video games with Ben, swim, go fishing

Favorite People: Ben (she loves spending time with Dad right now), Elizabeth and Thomas, Claire, Elsee and Paisley (her neighbor friends), the twins (two boys we're friends with their families)

Learned this year: She has learned so much this year. One thing she did was take off with reading; for Christmas, my mom gave her the magic treehouse books and Ashtyn started reading them herself before bed. Since then, her reading level has grown a lot and she loves to read at bedtime on her own. She also has gotten really into science. She loves doing science experiments, watching science videos on YouTube, and doing things like catching bugs. She has a goal to invent teleportation, so she does math worksheets to prepare for that and really enjoys finding new patterns in math. She has also really loved art. She loves to find drawing tutorials on YouTube, do origami, and practice Pixel art on the computer with Ben.

Favorite books: Magic Treehouse series (she has a goal to read all 57 books in the series), The Boxcar Children, Real Friends by Shannon Hale, The Piggie and Elephant books

Favorite shows: Rescue Riders, Octonauts, The Magic School Bus, Number Blocks, My Little Pony, Scaredy Cats

Favorite Movies: How to Train Your Dragon, The Swan Princess, Land Before Time 2

We love our Ashtyn and I love watching her learn and grow!

The Flow of our Days - Our Current Daily Routine

 Now that Oliver is over a month old, we are starting to come out of full on survival mode. We're not back to normal yet (that will take awhile!) but we're getting there. It also helps that Oliver actually goes to sleep at night and is now only waking up once or twice a night! But he's still waking up (sometimes early) and he's still a baby that needs a lot of time and attention, so we're not back to full-on normal yet. 

We usually have pretty slow-going mornings. Oliver wakes up around 6:30 or 7:00 for his first feed. I bring him out and turn on the lights, trying to wake him up enough to stay awake while he's eating. He loves to snooze while he nurses. After he finishes nursing, I take him in the kitchen and make hot chocolate for everyone (we put collagen in it) and clear out the dishwasher. 

The girls come down, dressed, around 7:30. They always have to come see Oliver before they eat (they are his biggest fans). I get them breakfast and then it's usually time for Oliver to go down for his first nap. 

If I'm feeling ambitious, then I get some stuff done while he's napping, but usually I have breakfast and sit and read while the girls watch a show or play. I usually still feel like I'm trying to wake up at this point and it's hard to feel motivated. 

Then it starts a cycle of Oliver waking up, nursing, being awake for a short time, and then going back down for a nap. During his wake time, we give him tummy time, read to him, talk to him, and sing to him. While he's sleeping, we try to do everything else. 

After we turn the TV off, the kids usually play (with something like blocks) or we get out their school stuff or an activity to do at the table. I also try to read aloud with them, but that doesn't always happen. I try to spend some time with the kids, get myself and them ready for the day, and pick up the house. 

We have some anchors to our day. Wake up and eating breakfast is our first. Our second is lunch and then Rylee's nap. Our third is dinner, around 5:00, and then bedtime (8:30 for the girls, 9:00 for Oliver). In the afternoons, the older girls play outside, go to the neighbors, or play on their handhelds. I try to do a pick up with them around lunch time and dinner time. After dinner, we spend time as a family. Sometimes, we simply watch a show, but sometimes we visit family or go on a walk. 

As Oliver gets older, I know we'll be able to get back to more of our normal routine and habits. For now, we're enjoying the slower pace and having a baby. 

What Gets me up in the Morning?

 When we lived in our apartment, we had a bookshelf of children's books in our living room. I love having books out and accessible for the kids, but this bookshelf was a lot of work. The kids would, pretty much everyday, pull every single book off the shelf into a giant pile. 

Now, I could easily just stick the books back on the shelf however they would go. I could even get Ashtyn to help (she was two/three at the time). 

But I liked the shelf to be organized in a certain way. I wanted the books to be on in a particular way and a particular order. 

Not only that, though, I liked the actual act of organizing the books. I didn't do it every night, but it was a sort of reward for cleaning the rest of the apartment to get to sit down and organize the books. 

When we moved into our house, we switched the bookshelf for a smaller basket in the living room and kept the shelf somewhere it was easier for me to keep it organized. 

I've always loved organizing and that love has only grown as I've gotten older. 

Recently I was reading a book called Talk like Ted. The book itself was just okay, but there was a question the author asked that I really liked thinking about: What gets you up in the morning?

This question has more to do with your passion than a specific thing. For example, rather than answering something like "writing books," you could answer, creativity. Ben's answer was learning to master something and then teaching that to other people.  

As I thought about what my answer would be, I was sure it was something to do with my love of organizing, but I just wasn't sure. 

As I talked with Ben about it, I started making connections. I love planning and making lists. I love being prepared. I love things like editing videos and making videos talking about my plans and lists. My favorite part of writing is outlining, and my second favorite part is editing. 

Then we pinpointed the thing that ties all those things together: 

The thing that makes my heart sing is taking chaos and turning it into order. 

It sounds a little cheesy to say it that way, but I love it. I can see it in my motivations and in the things I do each day (even with the kids). And knowing this passion of mine in a more clear way can help me as I move forward in all of my different goals. 

So I ask you now, What gets you up in the morning? 

Our SEPTEMBER Highlights - Enjoying our New Baby!

 September was filled to the brim with new baby for us! I went into labor on September first (had Oliver on the second--you can see my birth story here), so we got to enjoy him all month! 

Oliver weighed 6 pounds 7 ounces at birth and was 20 inches long

Oliver was so sleepy after he was born. I got him latched on right after and then couldn't get him to eat for a long time afterwards. It was actually really stressful to me, but we think that because his birth was a little more traumatic with how he was positioned with his cord that he just needed a lot of rest. He's been great at eating since and loves to nurse. 

His birth was hard (of course) but such a beautiful experience. I don't ever look forward to labor, but I am so grateful for each of my children's birth and the experience they were. I also love the sweet spirit and how close I feel to the Lord by bringing these babies into the world. 

The girls stayed the night at Ben's parents' house while I was in labor. When they got back, Ben brought them into the room one at a time. They loved him, of course. 

Parker loves how small he is, but she told us that we would have to comb his hair when he is a toddler, because his hair is sticking up 😂

Ashtyn keeps saying, "I waited so long for my baby brother! I have been praying for him since Rylee!" She finally got her brother 💗

We were so surprised when Oliver was born with this much hair! None of our other babies had hair like this and we thought all our babies would just be bald. We were wrong and we love it! We especially love the little curl his hair has!

When Oliver was born, he loved to sleep while held and hated to be put down. The one place he would sleep besides my arms was on my nursing pillow.

We have had so much fun putting him in cute boy outfits, after three girls.

The first few weeks, he napped really well (and didn't sleep at night, so we had to sort that out). I would have to wake him up to eat, and even after turning on the lights and getting him out of his swaddle, he would often stay asleep. 

The first time he fell asleep in his carseat. This was the second time we took him anywhere (to Ben's parents' house). The first time, he screamed the whole time. This second time, he fell asleep. He will fall asleep in his carseat in the car sometimes, but he really hates getting buckled in. He screams every time we go anywhere. 

This cute outfit was one that Ben's cousin gave us and it's our favorite. I will also never get over his hair!

I couldn't resist this outfit 😂

So many pictures of his cuteness sleeping! 

Most of the month, we were in survival mode (a baby who doesn't sleep at night will do that to you), but we have tried to keep up on the house. The kids have had to step up and help quite a bit! 

Oliver now sleeps pretty well at night, waking once or twice and going back down pretty well. He struggles more in the early mornings and sometimes struggles to go down right at first, but overall, he does okay. It's much more manageable now. His naps are hit and miss. Sometimes, he takes great naps and others, I end up letting him sleep on me (for the second half of his nap or sometimes even his whole nap). I don't mind naps nearly as much as interrupted night sleep. 

I love baby profiles 💗

Oliver isn't a huge binky baby, but he will take this binky (Ben's cousin gave it to us as well, it's a Bibs Binky and then we had to buy more, because he won't take the ones we got from Walmart). Sometimes we have to work on it, but he almost always will take it and it does help him calm down and sometimes sleep. 

The girls love Oliver! It's been a transition for them and I'm hoping to be able to give them a little more attention again now that Oliver is doing a little better at night. 

The days are long with a newborn, but the snuggles are precious.

Oliver already loves to give smiles 💗

Oliver's first bath! He didn't love it, but he also didn't hate it. He didn't cry until we moved him from the water to his towel, and even then only for a second. He's the first of our kids who didn't just scream while in the water at this age. 

This was his first bottle. He was wondering what was going on, but he took it really well. 

When he's awake, Oliver is pretty much always surrounded by his sisters. He will never lack for attention in this house, I'm thinking. 

One thing I did this month was work on my bullet journal for next year. It's been a fun way to pass the time while resting and while so tired. I was able to listen to a few audiobooks and watch Downton Abbey while doing it. 

The first few weeks, we could not get Oliver to sleep in his crib for longer than 20 minutes, and often not at all. We would actually put him to sleep in his carseat, but I hate doing that because it's not as safe. 

Makenzie (Ben's cousin) recently had a baby and had gotten this mattress, but her baby didn't love it. She lent it to us to try and Oliver slept on it! I was so happy. This was the first time he slept in his crib and I can't tell you how relieved and happy it made me. 

Wide awake when he was supposed to be napping.

Finally falling asleep on me again.

While the mattress helped him some, he still struggled so much at night to stay asleep at first. He would wake every twenty to thirty minutes (only giving us one three-ish hour stretch a night). Ben and I were so tired and not sure what we were going to do. One night in the middle of the night, I came across and Facebook ad for this weighted sleep sack and bought it out of desperation. 

It was actually pretty expensive and after I bought it, I didn't think it would work and regretted it, but it was too late. It came in the mail and that night, I was amazed to find that it actually helped! The mattress that Makenzie gave us helped him to not wake up immediately after putting him down in the middle of the night and the weighted sleep sack helped him to not wake up later. I can tell you, it was well the worth the money! 

Other things we did to help with his night sleep was to try giving him more wake time during the day (including trying to keep him awake while he nurses, which is no easy feat) and to make sure he is getting sunlight during his waketimes to help set his circadian rhythms.  

Just a funny face 😂

The girls love being big sisters 💗 although Rylee gets mad when Parker and Ashtyn say that Oliver is their baby brother. In Rylee's eyes, Oliver is HER baby brother and no one else's. 

They love giving him smooches. He is fairly tolerant (more so than Parker was as a baby), but he definitely has a bubble and doesn't love being messed with. He simply puts up with it most of the time. 

Big yawns!

Parker is a baby person! She loves babies. Of the girls, she spends the most time laying by Oliver, talking to him, looking at him, and snuggling him. She loves that we have a baby in the house!

Tummy time!

Ashtyn "feeding" her baby 💗

A leaf bug that Ashtyn found (and kept under her bed until we made her let it go).

A small painting that Ben did this month 💗

We decided to redo our Pay Off the House Chart this month as one of our date nights. We are getting really close, as we reached 50,000 left to pay off this month! 

Something else we did in September was celebrate completing a hundred of hours of reading as a family! We set this goal at the beginning of the summer and were able to finish just as August was ending. The girls were really excited to go get ice cream when we finished and we had a lot of fun doing it as a family (and Oliver slept the whole time :)). 

Ashtyn and Parker both got Cotton Candy, Ashtyn with bubble gum mixed in and Parker with white chocolate chips. Rylee got strawberry ice cream with bubble gum mixed in. Ben and I got strawberry and cheesecake ice cream to share. 

The baby phase is not my favorite, as much as I absolutely love babies. There are certain things about it (sleep deprivation being at the top of the list!) that make it hard. But, I am doing my best to soak up these moments with Oliver, because I know they are so fleeting! We are so happy to have him as part of our family 💗