Our MARCH Homeschool Plans!

It's that time of month again when I'm planning out what activities I want to do with the kids. We read and work on the kids' educational goals in the mornings and then I try to do an activity with them each day. I like to plan those activities out to make it more likely that I'll actually fit it into our day.

Last month, I wanted to change our homeschool activities to the afternoons or evenings. It worked okay, but we had cousins come to visit for almost the whole month unexpectedly. It's been really fun and we've spent a lot of our time with them! This meant that while we got our homeschool stuff in most mornings, our "activity" for the day was often spending time with cousins. 

This month, we aren't sure how long cousins will be here, but I'm planning some activities and if we don't get to them because we're busy with family, that's okay too! I'm going to keep them simple too make it more likely that we'll do them. 

Tuesday, March 1 

Today is going to be a playdoh day! The girls love playing with playdoh and it's actually an activity I can really enjoy doing with them as well. 

Wednesday, March 2 

This is Dr. Seuss' Birthday! The girls and I love to celebrate by making green eggs and ham for breakfast, reading some of his children's books, coloring some coloring pages, and making a Cat in the Hat treat. 

Thursday, March 3 

Last school year, Ashtyn spent a lot of time following drawing tutorials. Since having Oliver, we haven't done this as much. I thought we could start doing this once a week again, especially since Parker loves doing them now as well. 

Weekend science experiment: 

A science experiment I've been meaning to do for a long time is a water bottle balloon one. You put vinegar in the water bottle and baking soda in the balloon. When you put the balloon on the bottle, the baking soda falls into the vinegar and the gases fill up the balloon with air. 

Monday, March 7 

Something I've been learning more about recently is Game School, which is helping kids learn through playing games with them. I love this idea! I found a fun math game I can play with the kids called Roll to 100. I found the rules for it here.

Tuesday, March 8 

Today I wanted to play a board game with the kids. We have a ridiculous amount of games for how often we play them. I've picked out a few to focus on this month. Rylee isn't quite old enough to enjoy games like this yet, but both Parker and Ashtyn always love it. 

Wednesday, March 9 

Today, I thought we could do a simple and fun spelling/physical activity. This spell-your-name activity is one I found on Pinterest. I think all the kids will have fun with it and it will help reinforce for Rylee (who is currently learning how to spell her name). 

Thursday, March 10 

This is another drawing day! I can find some tutorials on Pinterest to do with the girls or find one on YouTube.  

Weekend science experiment: 

The experiment this week is called Dinosaur Toothpaste. You use hydrogen peroxide and dish soap with yeast to make it foam up and can add food coloring for fun.

Monday, March 14

Because it's Pi Day, we're going to spend our time making pie! We'll have pizza for dinner and learn about Pi in math. We'll also do one of the girl's favorite activities--drawing toppings onto paper pizzas. 

Tuesday, March 15 

This is another Playdoh day! 

Wednesday, March 16 

And another afternoon spent drawing! A couple months ago, we all did a drawing tutorial together and had a lot of fun with this. This month, I have one to draw a cute little donut. I think the girls will have fun with it and if I'm feeling ambitious, we could even make donuts to go with it. 

Thursday, March 17 

This day is St. Patrick's Day! Because of my time spent Irish dancing when I was younger, I have a great love for this holiday. We will learn about the history of the holiday and of Ireland, watch Riverdance, learn some Irish step dancing, and have a "green" dinner. 

Weekend science experiment: 

For Christmas, Ashtyn got a science kit with lots of different science experiments in it. This weekend, I wanted to let her pick one out of that to do. 

Monday, March 21

Today National Poetry Day! I thought we could read some poems and then help the girls each write their own poem. We can share them together at dinner and talk about memorizing poems as a family (something Ben and I have been wanting to do). 

Wednesday, March 23 

Today I wanted to do another drawing day! 

Thursday, March 24 

Each month, I'm trying to learn about a new country and their culture with the girls. Last month, we did China. This month, I want to do Brazil. We can learn about the country by watching YouTube videos and reading library books. We'll learn some capoeira with Ben and make these books. For dinner, we'll make some Brazilian meat, beans and rice, and canjica (one of Ben's favorite desserts). 

Weekend science experiment: 

We have a book that outlines different science activities that kids can do. The kids are always looking through it, but I'm not the best at actually doing the activities with them. One of the activities is make a flip book, which we have the right materials for. I also thought this would be a good one to do with Ben, since he's an artist and has a lot of experience with animation. 

Monday, March 28 

Because Create your own holiday day is on the 26th, I thought I could help the girls each create their own holiday. We could spend a little time celebrating each of theirs or choose a day to celebrate each one. 

Tuesday, March 29

Today we're going to play with Playdoh some more. 

 

Wednesday, March 30 

Today is Take a Walk in the Park Day. As long as it is warm enough outside, I want to go to the park with the girls. They will be so excited, they've been asking (even with snow on the ground), when we can go.  

Thursday, March 31

Today is National Crayon Day, so I thought we would do some drawing prompts I found on Pinterest. I think all three girls will have fun with them. 

Weekend science experiment: 

For our science experiment this weekend, I want to make glow in the dark slime with the girls. You use the inside of sharpies to make it glow in black lights. 

So that's our plan! We'll see how it goes. Even if we don't end up doing it all I know we'll have a great month together!

Our New Routine! (now that Oliver sleeps through the night)

 Now that Oliver is sleeping through the night again, we have a new routine and I've been loving it. We have family visiting out of town right now, so our days have had a lot more family time in them recently, but this is what I'm aiming for on a regular day. 

I wake up at 6:30 right now. Even when I've been up late, I've been able to easily stick to this because of my new system--I keep my phone away from my bed. This helps me to actually go to sleep at night instead of getting on Facebook but also gets me out of bed to turn off my alarm. Then I immediately go use the bathroom out of my room and wrap myself up in my blanket in the living room. This makes it so I don't just roll over and go back to sleep. I don't even have to think about getting up, I just automatically do. 

Then I spend about 20 minutes on Morning Pages. Morning Pages is a creative exercise from the Artist's Way. It's basically a brain dump to help unblock your creativity each day. I love it because it is easy to get started, so it's a great thing for me to do each morning. 

After Morning Pages, I put hot chocolate for the family (we make it with maple syrup and collagen) in the hot chocolate maker and clear out the dishwasher. This takes me about 10 minutes, so I usually finish around 7:00. 

The kids get up at 7:30, so I get to then spend 30 minutes writing on my novel. The last couple of weeks, I was working on some final edits for my Rapunzel retelling and moving forward, I'll be working on finishing the first draft of a Cinderella retelling. I can usually write about 500 words in 30 minutes. 

I absolutely love this morning routine because it is easy to start (so it feels sustainable), it gets me going, and it gets something really hard but also really important (my writing) done first. 

The girls get dressed at 7:30 and come down to get breakfast. For the most part, they are fairly independent about breakfast. Then they have a morning list they are supposed to do, though we're still working on independence with that. Their list consists of getting dressed, eating breakfast, clearing their dishes, and hugging mom. Parker and Rylee's last item is to sit on the toilet and Ashtyn's last item is piano. She also often does typing practice and working on a story she's writing as soon as she's done with piano. 

While they are doing all of that, I feed Oliver at 7:30. While I feed him, I read scriptures on my phone and say my morning prayers. Then he gets floor time while I drink my hot chocolate and write in m journal. That has recently become one of my favorite parts of the day. 

Then I put him in his exersaucer with Signing Time for a few minutes while I either shower (Mondays and Wednesdays) or make eggs and spinach for Ben and I. Usually Oliver ends up getting fussy by the time I finish and I end up holding him while I eat. On days that I shower, I often put Oliver down for his nap before making breakfast for myself. 

While I eat, I can watch some YouTube videos. After eating is usually when Ashtyn practices piano. She's still young enough that I need to be right with her to make sure she actually goes through each song. While we're doing that, I do my five minutes of exercising and stretches. Once the kids are done with their list, they can play.

Oliver is down for his morning nap at this point and the kids are usually pretty good about independent play in the mornings. I finish eating and exercising and then finish up my own morning list. I get ready for the day, make my bed, start laundry, make bread, and do the girls' hair.

If I finish my list before Oliver wakes up, I start doing an activity or workbooks at the table with the girls. When Oliver wakes up (usually between 11 and 11:30), I sit on the couch and read to the girls while I feed him. Then we do our homeschool stuff. Ashtyn does Duolingo and (if she hasn't already) practices typing. Parker works on reading and Rylee watches a video to teach her the alphabet. 

At this point, it's lunchtime, so we all get some food. I also try to switch the laundry over to the dryer around this time as well, and I get to do the daily Wordle. Oliver goes down around 1:00 or 1:30 for his second nap. This is the point where our days start to look a little different depending on the day. 

On Mondays, I go grocery shopping. I've recently started doing grocery pick up and it's the best thing ever! It is super easy and fast, so I usually have time to take the trash out to the road and put away the groceries while Oliver is still asleep. After I feed Oliver, the girls and I can do an activity together and I can start making dinner. Ben practices Super Smash Brothers with some friends Monday evening, so the kids and I have a "no Dad party" together. 

On Tuesdays, Ashtyn has her piano lesson. Ben puts Oliver down while I take the girls over to Lindi's for her lesson. We are usually gone around an hour. As soon as we get home (Oliver is supposed to still be asleep at this point), I clean the bathrooms (the main bathroom and the master bath). If I don't do it right when I get home, I often don't get to it, so I really try to do it immediately. Similar to Monday, after I feed Oliver, the girls and I can do an activity together and I can start making dinner. Tuesday evenings I sometimes have a meeting for my church calling and Ben and I are reading the submissions for our writing group (which meets Tuesdays after the kids are in bed). 

On Wednesdays, we don't have anything planned for the afternoon. I try to pick up the floor enough to vacuum and, if the floors need it, run our carpet cleaner over the carpet. I try to do an activity with the girls and give Oliver a bath. I also like to work on my bullet journal or other projects. I try to do leftovers for dinner on Wednesdays, so I can have a break from making dinner. Then I have Young Women's on Wednesday evenings, so the kids have a "no mom party". 

Thursdays are usually pretty laid back. We don't have anything planned in the afternoon this day either. I try to mop on Thursdays (though I honestly feel like we need it more than once a week, but since it's not my favorite chore, it gets put off). Ashtyn makes dinner on Thursdays, so I usually spend more time in the kitchen helping and teaching her. I like to try to use Oliver's second nap for my own projects since our schedule is so free. Often on Thursdays, Ben and I will do a date night (we do our date Thursday or Saturday depending on what we're doing). Right now, we're actually taking a dance class together that is on Thursday evenings for an hour, so that's really fun!

Fridays look a little different than Monday through Thursday. Instead of doing homeschool stuff after reading aloud, I help the girls do their chores and clean their rooms and the upstairs bathroom. I also want this to be the day we clean the car. Then in the afternoon, I try to do a science experiment with the girls and let them watch some science videos I'm subscribed to. In the evening, we have movie night! We've started doing Breakfast for Dinner instead of pizza and are really loving it. 

Saturdays are my planning and preparation day. I have a long list of things like going through online coupons, making my daily to-do lists for the week, blogging, baths/showers for the kids, ordering groceries, pulling out a freezer meal for Sunday dinner, and picking up the house for Sunday. I like to wipe down the mirrors in the bathrooms and run a vacuum through the living room (as long as I'm not feeling too lazy) just so our house feels restful for the Sabbath.

I try to finish my Saturday list in the morning/afternoon so that after Oliver's nap, we can spend time as a family and go do things if we want. Sometimes, Ben and I will do a date or we'll go visit Ben's parents. In the mornings, I will let the kids play, turn on a movie for them, or Ben will spend time with them since he doesn't have work. 

Sundays are pretty busy for us. We have 11:30 church this year. We wake up and get everyone ready for church right away. By the time we're done with that and breakfast, we don't usually have much time. I have a few things I try to do, like printing anything I need for the next week and doing a Come Follow Me activity with the kids. We wake Oliver up early from his nap and try to get to church early for Ben's calling. When we get home from church, we get the kids a snack and call my mom to talk with her. Then we have a little while to relax until dinner. After dinner, we go visit family for the evening. 

The endings of our day are very consistent. The kids' bedtime is 8:30. Around 7:30 (or around dinner time), I like to do a five minute pick up where everyone in the family helps clean up the house. I also like to fold the laundry and have everyone put away theirs, though I don't do this everyday yet (I want to make it a daily thing!). At 7:45, Ben and I take turns each day brushing the girls teeth and getting on their pajamas. Then the girls get in bed for family prayer and scripture while I feed Oliver. Whoever didn't brush teeth then reads to the girls until about 8:30. 

Once the kids are all settled, Ben and I have a treat (ice cream, strawberries, etc.) and watch a television show or talk until bed. We try to be in bed by 10:00 (we usually read) and I try to be asleep by 10:30. 

I am loving our new routine. It feels like we're finally out of survival mode, though having a baby can still disrupt our schedule sometimes. Not everyday looks like this, but the way it's set up helps me to get the most important things in everyday and is helping me build daily habits that I really like. 

My Favorite Kitchen Appliances

I love to spend time in the kitchen making healthy, delicious food. Today I thought I'd share some of my favorite appliances that I use. 

Our ice cream machine (we got ours renewed) is probably the most used appliance in our house. Ben and I love to make ice cream after the kids go down. This is the recipe I use most often. 

I also use the bread machine (I always buy mine on eBay) and wheat grinder at least several times a week. I make bread three to five times a week and I also love using it for things like pizza crust, cinnamon rolls, and hamburger buns. 

This air fryer is our newest appliance and we use it almost everyday. It's our favorite way to cook meat and a lot of vegetables now. It's super easy to use and to clean.

This hot chocolate maker (we bought ours used for about $40) is another recently bought appliance. We use it every morning and love it! We do 1 cup water, 3 tbsp powdered milk, 2 tsp cocoa powder, 3 tsp maple syrup, and 1 tbsp collagen (though I quadruple the recipe for the whole family).

I have some different silicone muffin liners and pans and I love them. I recently have loved using the heart shaped ones to make heart shaped crayons from broken crayons. 

I love having this square waffle maker. I had a Belgium one at one point, but I like these because when we have leftover waffles, they warm up in the toaster really well. 

My mom gave us this potato masher for Christmas and it's our favorite. It folds down so it fits in our drawer really well. We don't use it a ton, but it's the kind of thing you want to keep around. It's so nice to be able to easily keep it out of the way until we need it. 

We love this can opener. It's simple, but it works really well. It's one of the few kitchen things that we keep an extra around (as a part of "food storage"). 

I don't love this meat thermometer particularly, but I can never go back to not having one. It makes it so much easier to make sure the meat is actually done and it really helps in not overcooking the meat as well.

My hand mixer is another frequently used appliance. I really like the one I have, though I only ever use the beaters. I actually have two pairs (I kept the beaters from my old hand mixer when it died) and didn't keep the whisk attachment.

This isn't technically an appliance, but it's my favorite thing about my kitchen, so I thought I'd end on this. This is how I keep my measuring cups and spoons organized. I also keep an extra tablespoon around because I often like to use it without it being attached to the other measuring spoons. 

Those are the things I must often use in the kitchen. What is your favorite kitchen appliance? 

Our JANUARY Family Fun - Oliver rolling over, Irish dance, goals, and lots of memories!

 January was a great and relaxing month for our family. We were able to slow down after the holidays and get back into a daily routine, which was really nice! 

When your kids want to take a selfie with you.

Oliver turned 4 months old:

He discovered his hands!

Oliver got his first hair cut!

Before and ...

After!

There wasn't a lot of snow for some of the snow activities I had planned, so we did this instead. I made these little snowman heads out of baking powder and water. Then the girls got to dissolve them with vinegar, creating "melting snowmen". They loved it, especially Rylee!

Parker's "leg cross thing"

One of Ashtyn's favorite activities is burning holes into black paper with her magnifying glass.

Parker's picture of Link, holding a sword and eating French fries 😂

Rylee has reached that stage where she doesn't nap anymore, but it can be hard to make it to bedtime still. I try hard to keep her from falling asleep most days, otherwise bedtime can be rough. Sometimes though she just falls asleep or I can tell she really needs a nap and help her hold still long enough to zonk out. 

While learning about the creation for Come Follow Me, we got out the playdoh. The kids had a lot of fun making each part of the creation story and then had fun with the playdoh afterwards as well. 

Playdoh is such a good, creative "toy"

Cousins 💓

Oliver and Rhen (Ben's cousins' baby) are one month apart.

One day, we did space worksheets and learned about constellations. 

The kids then got a box out of the garage, poked holes in it, covered it with a blanket to make it dark, and used a lamp to create their own stars. 

Ashtyn still loves to build with blocks! 

Ashtyn had a goal in 2021 to read every night before bed. 

This was her calendar to keep track of her streak!

Parker gave a talk in primary on the creation. She did a really good job with it.

Ben has been paper prototyping some of his games for his business this year.

This was a game he and Ashtyn prototyped together, a sea monster fishing game!

This was a cute activity where they got to draw "gross" toppings on their pizza.

They all had fun with it. Then they got out the playdoh to make more "pizzas". 

I especially love seeing Rylee color now, it's so cute. 

Parker loves to write. She is constantly asking me how to spell things now so that she can write them down. She also loves to copy things (for example, when we play music on the TV, she'll copy the name of the song and the band onto a page in a notebook). 

This is on the wall. I guess I'm just happy she's interested in writing 

One day, she wrote this down and asked me what it said. 

I wasn't quite sure how to respond 😂

Another thing the kids did on their own was make these fishing poles out of sticks, string, and broken paper clips. The socks were their "fish" until we told them they couldn't hook the socks for reals (it would make holes), then they made a bunch of paper fish.

A few days later, they tied the end of their fishing poles to toy cars and created a new toy with them. 

Sometimes the simplest activities are the ones the kids love the most. My girls love rainbows, so for the story of the Ark for Come Follow Me, we colored these rainbows together. The girls loved it and I really enjoy coloring with them. 

Jessica found a video of Donovan doing jumping jacks and Caleb edited it for fun and Parker wanted to try it 😂

The girls love dancing 💗

January was also a month of trying to go through the house and reorganize some. After Christmas presents, we also tried to declutter to make room for the new toys. This was after I finished our pantry (I wish I had done a "before picture" because it was pretty bad before). 

We also started a new system for our coat closet. I think I already shared this here, but I love it. The kids can get to their shoes and jackets really easily and also put them away without my help. It's made a huge difference for how clean our laundry room is!

Oliver loves Signing Time! We'll let him watch for 10-20 minutes at a time (he doesn't usually want to for longer than that anyway) but he already gets excited to watch it. He sits and talks to the screen and I think it's the cutest thing.

I love his little voice and the way he is discovering his body! 

Watch to the end to see how he plays with his mouth right now.

Oliver loves taking bathies now 💗

In fact, I will often wait until he's a little grouchy before giving him one and it always makes him happy again. 

His little toes 💗

This mirror is still his favorite toy. 

He started lifting his head up during tummy this month, and rolling from stomach to back (he hasn't rolled the other way yet). 

The second time he rolled over.

The first time he shocked me and I didn't have my camera ready 😂

He also grabs his feet all the time and is super interested in his toes, which is adorable.

Such a cutie pie 💗

This is another of his favorite toys. He got it for Christmas from our friend Liselotte in Norway.

Selfie! 😂

When I'm trying to get a picture of him now, he often grabs my phone and tries to eat it. 

Oliver loves to laugh and Parker loves to make him laugh!

Oliver has been doing really well at night lately, sleeping 10.5-11 hours at night.

His naps, however, have been mostly a disaster. I feel like if I could get the waketime between naps correct, he would do a perfect schedule for me (two 1.5 hour naps and a catnap) and some days he does. Most days, it's a struggle. This month, while I was trying to figure out waketimes, I would go up and rock him if he woke up early and he would sometimes go back to sleep on me. He even had a day where he would only nap while I was holding him (I still don't know what happened that day). Now, he's back to not sleeping on me unless he's been awake for way too long (and then he doesn't sleep for very long), but I enjoyed the snuggles. 

This last picture is him grinning up at me instead of sleeping. 

Talking to Mom instead of sleeping.

The little pill 💗

Oliver loves to give "kisses" now!

Rylee's favorite thing is to snuggle me while I'm nursing or holding Oliver 💗

The weather is starting to warm up and I'm loving it! In fact, Vernal didn't get nearly as cold as it normally does this year (that's how it felt, at least). It made it a lot easier to make it through January when the kids could often go outside in the middle of the day.

Trying to work on my blog/YouTube with a baby. 

He was very interested in my foot. 

We lock the fridge because during shows, if Ben and I aren't out with the girls, they immediately think they need food. 😅

Poor Parker has very thick hair. This was after two days of not brushing it. TWO DAYS. It was like this from one side to the other and front to back. I had washed and conditioned it before brushing it out, which really helped. But I need to figure out something to help her hair not get like this. 

We had a late Christmas! We exchange presents with our friend in Norway but her package somehow got stuck along the way and it only just arrived. The girls were so excited and loved what she got them! We are so lucky to be friends with her 💗

German pancakes! This one got a nice big bubble on one side 😂

We also made strawberry ice cream for the first time this month. 

It turned out so yummy! Our next flavor we want to try is strawberry cheesecake ice cream.

For Ben's birthday, we did a special date and his parents watched the kids.

They were so excited for a special movie night at Grandma and Grandpa's! They ate pizza and kettle corn and watched Looney Toons. 

For his date, we made steak and zucchini squash, both in our new air fryer. They both turned out super yummy!

I also made an Angel Food Cake for the first time and I was really happy with how it turned out! It's Ben's favorite dessert. 

The girls' favorite movie right now is Riverdance on Netflix. It's an animated movie based off the dance show. It's not my favorite movie, but I do love that the girls are into Irish dancing because of it and I also love that they use the original music. 

And on that note, it was a pretty great month. I honestly went into thinking we would need to just survive it, because cold weather and a baby can be hard. But we were able to spend a lot of good time together, make progress on some goals, get outside when the weather wasn't just freezing, and make some wonderful memories.