Jellytelly

I want to introduce you to our new favorite show! Jellytelly.

It's Phil Vischer's new project and the best part is you can watch a new show online everyday. Just go to Jellytelly.com.

Pumpkin Carob Chip Muffins

One of my favorite things about fall is that so many wonderful foods are made more wonderful by the addition of pumpkin...I'm thinking pumpkin pie, pumpkin cheese cake, pumpkin lattes and of course pumpkin muffins! MMMMMMMMmmmmmmmmmm!

So this week my family is enjoying pumpkin carob chip muffins....our fav! We're not vegetarians or vegans but I love the vegan version of these muffins found at Shmooed Food so that's what I use when making them. My only variations are to use 1 cup carob chips and 1/4 cup unsweetened coconut. (Instead of the 1/3 cup carob chips and 1/2 cup pecans called for in the recipe.) I also reduce the sugar to 1 cup.

What's your favorite pumpkin recipe??

Mom, I Want to go to School

Those are the dreaded words I hoped to never hear! It's not like it will be the end of the world when/if my boys choose school eventually...I'm just enjoying our time together and would miss them so. (Images of parents dropping their teenager off at college are running through my mind.)

However much I dreaded these words I think I handled it well when they were finally spoken by W. (I immediately began praying for wisdom.) I asked probing (but not leading) questions and then asked for a few days to talk with Wonderful Hubby, pray and think our options over.

We finally settled together on a full day enrichment program. Turns out W doesn't want to go to school all the time, just sometimes so he can see what it's like, so this should be a good fit. Unlike other enrichment programs we've done this one is all day and includes lots of core classes. It's 8:30 am to 4 pm and includes; math, reading, writing, spelling, science, art and P.E.

We're actually really looking forward to it and hope he'll be able to start next semester. In preparation he's be kicking his writing and reading up a notch so that he won't be overwhelmed by whatever expectations they'll have of him...and I'm praying like crazy!

Have a wonderful day!

Review of our Language Arts Goals

I'm thinking now is a good time to review my beginning of the year goals in the language arts department. Here they are...

*Give my kids a "reason" to write.
I'm looking for pen-pals...children and/or adults...international and domestic.
I'm also thinking that I will start encouraging them to blog a few times a week and I will purchase a couple of magnetic poetry sets (J loves to play with these at the library).

*Give my kids a "reason" to read.

I don't know how to accomplish this yet outside of external rewards. They love being read to and we are constantly listening to books on tape but they would rather do about anything rather than read on their own. So I'm thinking I'm going to have to set up some kind of system that will reward them for reading X number of books.

I think we're doing better on writing, though we have a ways to go. We've yet to find a pen-pal (any suggestions?) but the boys have written thank you notes or notes of encouragement to various people about once week. As for blogging it hasn't happened nearly as often as I'd originally planned...we'll see what happens.

We're doing a lot better with reading!!

W is reading the Tomo series on his own time and loving it. He's also picked up Dairy of a Wimpy Kid and is contemplating reading that as well. His reading endurance is way up and he can now read aloud for 20 minutes or more with out feeling worn out! Hooray!!!

J reads aloud to me when I make him and "pretends" to read chapter books on his own time. I feel satisfied with these efforts for now. He's a good reader who hasn't struggled at all like his brother, so I'm hoping a love of reading will come eventually and I'm not worried about pushing it.

We are working on reading quietly for 15 full minutes at a time. It's hard for J because he's so squirmy and get distracted so easily but I think it is a worthwhile goal. There are times in life for quiet and learning self control is a good thing. :) Besides, I told them that when we reach our goal the first time I will take them to Chuck E. Cheese! (What boy can resist that?)

Have a blessed day,

Tomo

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Just wanted to introduce you to W's new favorite books. Tomo is a graphic novel series published by Zondervan. You can learn more about Zgraphic novels here.

Momma Got a Job

We've discovered a whole new path on our journey here at Life and Love Learning Center. . . Momma got a job. It's only about 12 hours a week but it has certainly taught us a few lessons and posed a few challenges. Luckily, we're rising to meet them!

I'm working a few hours every morning so the first thing the boys (Wonderful Hubby included) had to learn to do was get their day started without me. This means breakfast, dressed and morning chores but when you've never not had mom to do it for you and keep you on task, it's a big deal to suddenly have to do it yourselves. For a few weeks I heard things like, "It's not that I can't make my own breakfast, it's that I don't want to." Statements like this just assured me that I was doing the right thing by forcing a little responsibility on everyone.

We've also learned that a better evening routine is key to our morning success. Everyone seems to have a better attitude when clothes are laid out, breakfast plans are discussed and most importantly the kitchen is clean. I hate to admit that I'm really bad about leaving dirty dishes in the sink overnight. But I'm working to break the habit because I really don't like having to leave the house in the morning knowing the dishes still aren't done. (And Wonderful Hubby really doesn't want to cook breakfast in the mess either.)

Anyway, I've been feeling a little blogging guilt over my lack of posts. But I have lots to share and am looking forward to getting back into the swing of things.

Have a great day,

Sex Education

I was so scared to talk to my boys about sex! Afraid that they would laugh the whole time, that they would go around saying vagina in public and they would want lots more information than I was ready to give them! But now that I've done it I am so relieved and I realize how silly my fears were.

We chose to use the book pictured above (Learning About Sex for the Christian Family: Where do Babies Come From? for Boys ages 7-9) as a spring board to start our discussion. It gave the perfect amount of information, was very appropriate and interesting enough that the boys asked if I would read it to them again soon.

We took it slow and covered just a few pages or so a day. I thought it would be good to stop and talk at the end of each topic. The boys asked lots of questions and we were able to have some really wonderful discussions.

Best of all, now that the basics have been covered, the lines of communication are open and I'm no longer fearful of their questions!

Hope you're having a terrific day,

A Child's View of Swaziland

Learning to Swim in Swaziland is a cute book written from the perspective of a young American girl who lived in Swaziland with her family for a while. We'll be reading this book at church next week as part of a missions lesson.

The author includes lots of fun facts, drawings and actual photos of her Swazi adventures! Your kids will enjoy this book on their own or as a read aloud and they'll learn a little too. Don't forget to find Swaziland on the map when you're done!

Happy reading,