"School" on Valentine's Day

 We started today by reading this adorable book! In the book the main character collects "raining" hearts one day and then uses them to make each of her friends a perfect card.

 After the story Lillian made clouds out of cotton balls.

 Next she put her hearts under the clouds as if it rained hearts. She insisted her "rain" had to be in rows.

 Our main center for today was a post office. Lillian dressed as a post woman with her mailbag and all. Didn't you know Vera Bradley is now outfitting our postmen and women?

I bought these cute mailboxes at target and used magnetic numbers to label each one. (All materials purchased in the dollar aisle at Target!)

 She then pulled the" mail" out of her bag and matched each letter with the correct mailbox.

 After she put the mail in the box she put the flag up to let me know she was done putting in the mail. Looking back now I guess it would have been better to put all the flags up and then have her put them down when she placed the mail inside.

 

                                      Smiles from the post woman!

                                           Hard at work!

                                              She did her job well.

We finished the day with our favorite center playdoh, cookie cutters, and plastic silverware. I have started collecting cookie cutters everywhere I go in order to have them for each theme so we had hearts of all sizes. Fun end to the day!

Valentine's Party, Letter R Service, and the Letter T

Lunch Group Valentine's Day Party!

The last two years I have hosted our weekly lunch group the week before Valentine's Day. It is a fun time for the kids to enjoy some Valentine treats as well as exchange fun cards.

The kids enjoy the treats and cards and I enjoy fun paper products!

 Valentine exchanging is getting more and more "interesting" as we continue to add children. We had about 9 moms and 15 children present. (Along with 3 more on the way)

 This is some of our group outside for a group shot. Easier said than accomplished!

Lillian, Titus, and Levi enjoying their suckers. 

 Levi really enjoying his sucker!

After the party the Rivenbarks stayed so we could complete our Letter R service project which was to Read to the Rivenbarks. Lillian chose That's Not My Puppy to read. She did a great job and Levi seemed to really enjoy the book.

 Lillian even prompted him to touch and feel on each page.

 As you can see Cely Kay and Mary Kathyrn had other things on their agenda!

 Levi did such a good job listening he was able to retell the story back to Lillian.

Proof of a fun day, a Valentine's basket overflowing. 

This Week's Letter: Tt

This week we are studying the letter T! Our service project will be Toffee Treats for Terrific Teachers! Pictures to come after our project is complete. However, I wanted to share with you our Hot Tamales T from today. So much fun and very cheap.  The box of candy was 98 cents at Wal mart and the leftovers could make a "sweet" treat for someone after you have completed your project. 

 Proud of her T! Next,  Lillian told me some thankfuls to write in her thankful journal. Her are some of her entries from today and a few from days past.
1. I'm thankful for Grandma Chae.
3. For my sucker from Grandpa.
10. For the bubbles the fish make.
12. Seeing Levi's fish.
28. Watching a movie with Daddy.
37. Playing at Titus's house.
39. God making me
43. Playing restaurant with Caroline at Alisa's.
46.Saying hello to Missi and telling her we are praying.

A lot of nights I love to work in the school room and decorate, make copies, plan centers etc. And sometimes  I get so caught up in all of the doing that I forget why I am "doing" the "doing". The above thankfuls are reminders of the reason why. To TRY and teach my daughters that everything we have is a gift from the Lord...knowledge, suckers, grandparents, ability to pray, EVERYTHING he can call MINE.

Finally,  we ended our day with time with my bible study girls. We took a trip to a private nursing home across the street from our house. Last week we stuffed heart shaped baskets with goodies and today we walked them over to the ladies. It was such a joyful time! Each girl in our group explained how they "served the Lord with gladness".
Annaleigh: I love to serve the Lord by helping take care of my brothers.
Caroline: I love to serve the Lord by praying for others in need.
Madison: I love to serve the Lord by playing the piano for my mom and dad.
Kaitlin: I love to serve the Lord by cleaning my room and the house when I am not asked too.
After the girls shared one lady requested that we lead them in prayer. Such a sweet time. Not only for the for the joy we shared with the ladies, but for the blessing that Lillian was able to see others glorifying the Lord through service to Him!

The Letter S

      We invited the Rivenbark's over for some fun S activities.We played with silly string! Levi was good at spraying it from the can, but he did not want to touch it!

           Lillian loved touching it! So much that she "saved" some when we got inside to play with in her kitchen. Fun discovery for me!

                                        Running through the string!

            Cely Kay had fun watching and Mary Kathryn slept through the whole thing!

 Next, we had sandwiches in a sack! We also had sour cream and cheddar chips with strawberries!

                                 Finally we ended with ice cream sundaes!

                              Fun day of the letter S and Sweet fellowship!

Serve the Lord with Gladness

                                  Lillian adding her own words of thanks!

For the letter N we did notes for nursery workers. Lillian and I talked about why we were writing the notes and then began completing our project. After I wrote each note Lillian pretended to add her own message, as well as sign her name to each card. I pray that our church nursery workers will realize how much they are needed and appreciated when they receive their "notes" of thanksgiving for serving the Lord with gladness.


Our project for the letter P was to serve pizza to Pastor Rountree and Mrs. Patti. I emailed the Rountrees a couple of weeks ago to coordinate our pizza time. They agreed to have pizza with us but they said they wanted to serve us instead. So we went last week to Mellow Mushroom and enjoyed pizza together. I never imagined when Lillian and I started these service projects how much we would be served as well! We have seen His kingdom advance!

                                      Trying to make the letter P!

Letter Laundry

I found this cute center on line to go with a new unit we started this week and I just had to share it because we had so much fun! I say "we" because it was one of the most joyful times I have had with in the classroom at home. At the beginning of the activity Lillian could not pin her clothes on the clothes line. So we worked hard to learn how to use a clothes pin. She finally was able to do it and she squealed with joy! I then squealed! It was a fantastic day of laundry!

                         I wrote capital letters on the shirts and shorts.

                               The lower case letters were on the socks.

                                   Her laundry basket!

   And yes she has on shorts and short sleeves. These are her running shorts and her t-shirt. She ask to wear "running shorts" and a t-shirt everyday and sometimes a "running ponytail"!

The Thing That Matters

Each week Lillian and I participate in a preschool co-op at our church that I help start with four other moms. We meet once a week and myself and one other mom "teach" while the rest of the moms watch the smaller children. Each week is an adventure to say the least! Last week we did a review during our center time. My friend Kate quizzed each child on their letters, numbers, etc. When it was Lillian's turn she made several mistakes and even acted as if she had not seen some of the numbers. The rest of my day was shot!!! How could my child who has a school room, a journal, and has been doing letters and numbers since she was a year old not know her "stuff"! My attitude of shock continued through the day with worry of what am I doing wrong and am I not good enough to homeschool. I shared my thoughts with Joey and explained all that had happened. I went on to confess that I had decided it did not matter that she messed up because she knew scripture so she was fine. Thankfully my wise husband quickly reminded me that while that was good the most important thing was that Lillian is a child of God wonderfully and fearfully made in His image. WOW! He was and is right. Now that does not mean that I threw in the towel and we are not "doing school", but He has refocused me and reminded me that our motivation is to "glorify Him and enjoy Him forever" while knowing, learning, and "forgetting" our school knowledge

Beginnings

"To glorify God and enjoy Him "whoever". This is the answer Lillian gives each time I ask her what is man's primary purpose. Even when I type her words it brings a smile to my face. Doing "school" with her has done the same. It over joys me each day. One thing we do each week is a service project. Our theme verse is "serve the Lord with gladness" from Psalms 100:2. I, with the help of Facebook friends, have come up with a service project for each letter. I hope to share pictures soon but for now will share details.
A Apple juice and apple sauce for Anderson Interfaith Ministries (AIM)
Lillian and I took the donations we had received from friends to AIM early one morning. The nice man who helped us showed us where food was stored and about the people they serve.
B Baby boy clothes for Care Pregnancy Center
Once again Lillian and I took our donation of clothes and diapers to the center. Now when we ride by Lillian tells us that is where women go for help with babies and they need clothes. So sweet to see the Lord help her remember who we have served.
C Coins for Calvary
This has been one of my favorite projects. At the beginning of August I sent a letter to all of Lillians friends asking that they collect coins for Calvary. They did it! We raised over $68 among a small group of two and three year olds. We delivered the money and took pictures with the children who would directly benefit from the money. I can't wait to see this ministry grow next year!
D donuts for Dad
We surprised Joey at work with his favorite donut one morning. Such a sweet thing to teach our little ones to serve their fathers! It of course served me as well to see my husband take such delight in our daughter.
E Errands for the elderly
This project did not work as well as I planned. All the elderly I called from church did not need errands ran. So we modified and wrote "encouraging notes to the elderly". Lillian wrote and drew and I translated. So precious!
F Flowers or Food for a friend This is where we are now. So I will report back soon.
G Goodies for good news club workers
Our church host the Good News Club at Midway Elementary so we will provide some fall treats for them.
H Hats for the Homeless. We hope to donate collected hats to Haven of Rest
I Ice for the injured
Plan on purchasing some ice packs for NCS students who get hurt and need an ice pack while at school.
J Jollyranchers for Jessica
(Jessica is my husbands assistant but you could do any J name)
K Need an idea!?????
L ladies for Lunch
We have assisted living place across the street from our house and we refer to the tenants as the Ladies. We wave and talk to them any time they are on the porch so hopefully I will be able to coordinate lunch with them some how.
M Money for Missionaries
As a family we are going to pick one missionary family or mission to send money to this week.
N Notes for Nursery workers
O ornaments for orphans
P Pizza with the pastor
Q Quiznos for quality care
Hopefully I will be able to deliver some Quizno sandwiches to our doctors office for their quality care of us.
R Read to.... Still working on this one
S scripture and snickers for someone
T Treats for terrific teachers
U used toys for the unfortunate
V volunteer for veterans
W Word searches foe widows
X xerox copies for the teachers at NCS
Y Yummies for Youth
Z Zoo????

I look forward to sharing how through "serving the Lord with gladness" we learn more about our merciful Father.