"Insta"-replay #51, birthday partying continues!

Happy Fall!  Time for pumpkin lattes, scarves, and sweaters!

We had birthday fun #2 this weekend, spending time with my fabulous in-laws!

 The best part for me was pedal carts!  What a fun workout!  Like a real life Mario Cart, if only I had some shells.

Charry had yet another nerd fandom themed cake!  I just realized both are British.  It is fun to share the things I grew up loving.

Doctor Who is loved by all my family, even my two year old nephew loves dressing up as the Doctor!

"Insta"-replay #50, huzzah for pirates and potter

One more busy week done! (This one went better than the last)

Merry has already started learning her dance for the Christmas Recital.  She has been excitedly showing what she knows so far.

We dressed up for talk like a pirate day. One of these years we will make it to crispy cream for our free doughnuts, but not this year.

We took a trip to the zoo with our lovely Aunt Abbie.  She is a good sport and will pose with my crazy kids.

Charry turned 11, and I think it will be a good year.  She is taking after her parents, loving all things nerdy. The Tardis dress was a huge hit!

Her family party had a wizards theme.  She was brave and tried a few of Burt's ever flavored beans. She was not a fan, somehow earswax and garlic just didn't appeal to her. 

"Insta"-replay #49, and so it begins!

This last week was crazy busy as we started up all our extra curriculars and coop!

We started a new bedtime book.  Then I decided their room needed to be clean if I was going to read so we only got one chapter done.

We hung out with cousins while taking turns having piano lessons.  I really enjoy seeing my nieces and nephew each week.

Getting school done was a major chore, I'm hoping it will get easier!

The week ended with a free movie at the library.  I am a huge Muppet fan so any chance to watch them on a big screen and I'm there!  It helped that it was a free event.

I had forgotten how busy the school year can be!

"Insta"-replay #48, busy, lazy week

The week has been one of those really busy, lazy weeks when you are always doing something but looking back, I'm not sure what.

We had fun with cousins before they started back at school.  A last trip to Target seemed in order since it has been our go to hangout all summer (mostly because it has a Starbucks for us moms.)

We also had time with our California cousins!  They were up for a short visit and watching the girls play always makes me smile.  We are already looking forward to Christmas when they are up next!

After a full week of school the girls got a chance to get creative, making a school room for their dolls.  I have a feeling this will be an on going craft that won't be finished anytime soon.

 Lazy summer days are coming to an end!  Now for the busy fall schedule.

Whatchadoin? #14, Merry and 3rd grade

As a teacher/lesson planner 3rd grade is the last of the lower elementary years.  It an exciting year for me!

English consists of a grammar/writing workbook I found online, daily reading comprehension, and "All About Spelling."  We have not used the spelling as much as I would like but I'm hopeful that once we get into a routine I'll pull it out more.  Merry is not a fan of writing so I'm making a point to require something written out each day.

Math is "Life of Fred" again this year.  She loves it!  This year she started multiplication and division which is kinda a big deal!  She was reluctant at first but has warmed up to the concepts.

Science is done with her big sister.  This is Merry's last year using a "junior notebook." She is making sure to color the extra pictures and enjoy the simpler assignments.  I haven't heard her complain yet when I tell her to write complete sentences.

History is our final main subject.  She is doing "American Girl History" again this year.  It's a program I put together myself with free printouts from online as well as a few activity books I bought from the American Girl company.  This where I can see how much she's grown over the summer, she is reading the books in half the time, able to answer questions with complete ideas, and willingly reads the looking back pages.

Our other schooling consists of Latin and Geography with her sister, typing on the computer, and a few workbooks.

The year has started great!  Merry looks forward to learning new things, even hard things.  She especially likes the classes with her sister.

"Insta"-replay #47, first real field trip, kinda

Insta-replay is back!  Our school year is going good.  We still have a week before all the extra curriculars start!

Family racing on the WiiU has become a regular event.  We link up online so even though we are in different places it is still something we do with Aunts, Uncles, and Cousins.

We took advantage of the beautiful weather to eat lunch outside.

This weekend we went on our first "just because of school field trip."  Most of our trips are places we would have gone anyways but this time it was because of what the girls are studying in history.

Both girls are learning about the civil war era so we went to a civil war reenactment.  The girls asked questions and watched the battle carefully.  We tried to spot the officers we had seen in the camps.

As an added bonus the reenactment was at a military base ruin.  We explored the concrete structures and saw some big guns!

It was a great week, I hope the school year keep running this smooth!

"Insta"-replay #47, first real field trip, kinda

Insta-replay is back!  Our school year is going good.  We still have a week before all the extra curriculars start!

Family racing on the WiiU has become a regular event.  We link up online so even though we are in different places it is still something we do with Aunts, Uncles, and Cousins.

We took advantage of the beautiful weather to eat lunch outside.

This weekend we went on our first "just because of school field trip."  Most of our trips are places we would have gone anyways but this time it was because of what the girls are studying in history.

Both girls are learning about the civil war era so we went to a civil war reenactment.  The girls asked questions and watched the battle carefully.  We tried to spot the officers we had seen in the camps.

As an added bonus the reenactment was at a military base ruin.  We explored the concrete structures and saw some big guns!

It was a great week, I hope the school year keep running this smooth!