Maple Syrup Unit Study

2 weeks ago the kids and I did our first official week long unit study.  Our unit study was on maple syrup and sugaring.  It timed out perfectly that it was sugaring season in our area. It also just so happen that a sugar house about 30 minutes from our home was having an open house (field trip!).  As fate would have it, the day of the open house was the same day that we had scheduled to have spring cleaning done in our house (there was no way I was going to manage that seeing as I'm still behind on laundry from before the baby was born over 6 months ago). This was perfect because we had to be out of the house for the day, and my mother was planning on helping with the kids.

I couldn't find any complete unit studies online for maple syrup but I was able to piece things together using these sites:
Homeschool Share
Scholastic- "It's Maple Sugaring Time!"
Metroparks.com
Homeschoolroom.com
Wartgames.com
Homeschooling.about.com
Kidscoop.com
Cornell Sugar Maple Research Program
Eek Teacher Pages
The Canadian Homeschooler
Word Playhouse

I was also able to get a few books from the library including:
Curious George Makes Maple Syrup
Grandpas Sugar Bush
Pancakes For Supper

The kids had a great time all week cooking with maple syrup, reading, watching videos, doing experiments and making lapbooks on the subject.  We then finished the week with a trip to a Sugar house.  I would consider them maple syrup experts now!

Sassy, checking out the sugar house.

Sugaring equipment

Peanut checking out the process of boiling down the sap

We also had to take advantage of the cow train ride of course!

This was so fun I think next year for second grade I think I'll expand on the subject even further. We had a great time and I will definitely bring the kids back next year. 

Baby Update

I plan on doing Munchkin's birth story, but I figured I should do one final catch-up from my blog break seeing as the last time I was blogging I was pregnant.  

My pregnancy was healthy and went very well.  The first three months were filled with exhaustion and nausea, but once I got to the fourth month the nausea subsided and I was able to put my energy back into the kids and baby preparations.  

I had been working once a week as a RN and as soon as we found out I was pregnant, I started to put my paycheck into a savings account to get us used to living without my pay and to buy baby things.  I changed to per diem at work, and 6 months into the pregnancy was able to stop working to enjoy the pregnancy.  Since having the baby we have decided that it is more important for me to stay home full time with the kids.  I gave my notice and I am now officially a SAHM.

We had given away all of our baby things after the birth of Sassy, so we were starting from the bare minimum.  We still had Peanuts crib and mattress, bedding, and Sassy's changing table, but that was about it.  A close friend of ours threw me a baby shower and thanks to our very generous friends and family, combined with the money we saved, we were able to get everything we needed for Munchkin and more.

Here I am at 9 months.  I was SO ready to pop!

Munchkin was born 2 weeks late.  He was 9Ibs 3oz (One ounce less than Sassy's birth weight) and 21 1/2 inches long.  The birth was exactly what I had prayed and wished for.  My recovery was quick and the easiest so far.  He latched on immediately and nursed for almost an hour after birth and has been going strong ever since.

2 Days old

Munchkin's weight gain was fast.  At 4 months old he was 17 Ibs 14oz and now at 6 months old he is almost a whopping 21Ibs!  He is exclusively breastfed (no bottles at all).  We just started solids in the past week or so (at 6 1/2 months old- using a baby led feeding method- whole foods only, no grains).  He is my healthiest and most alert baby so far.  He is such a joy and a blessing to our lives!

Before

He is also a wild man!  I had to share this!

After

"Children are a heritage from the LORD, offspring a reward from him." Psalm 127:3

Our experience starting homeschool-First grade and a new baby.

*This post contains affiliate links.

Starting homeschool was nothing like I thought it was going to be, that's for sure.  I had worked for months and months putting together a plan, curriculum and prepare all the materials ahead of time. I wanted everything ready for us so when the baby came we were ready.  We had been homeschooling for some of preschool and all of kindergarten but this was first grade, and I was nervous. This would be the first year I would have to officially declare our intentions to the state. 

We loved My Fathers World for Kindergarten and I really liked the looks of the first grade program.  I purchased the deluxe version which covered Bible, math, science, history, phonics/reading, and music.  I got additional materials to supplement for geography and health. I set the school room up in stations with additional activities ready to go.  

The kids working s our "math" center.

Playing at the library.

I also went online and found additional activities that the kids would enjoy such as the Home Depot Kids Workshops, pottery making, and a weekly puppet show at our local library.

Peanut at Home Depot

My due date was the end of August, and I had  feeling I was going to go past my due date (seeing as I did with the first two kiddos).  The plan was to start in the beginning of August to get our feet wet for a few weeks.  When the baby came we would take 1 month off and then slowly get back into our routine.  Boy was I in for a shock!  I had a hard time near the end of the pregnancy.  I was having hard Braxton Hicks contractions and they made it nearly impossible to concentrate on what we were doing.  I ended up going 2 weeks past my due date and we only did school for about half that time.  In the first few weeks it became apparent that Peanut did not like our curriculum.  He was bored and wanted nothing to do with it.  Getting him to pay attention was nearly impossible.  

A very frustrated Peanut working on some handwriting.

While the weather was nice we did as much as possible outside which helped.  The kids really enjoyed when an entire day had to do with one subject, almost like a unit study.

Our ant experiment.

Final ant project

After the baby was born, we took our one month break.  My husband had just started back at work, so I took an extra week off before we started back at school.  After many breaks and changes to our curriculum I was defeated.  Homeschooling with a newborn was not an easy task to say the least.  It was even harder because the baby was not taking bottles (and still isn't) and I hadn't discovered breastfeeding while baby wearing.  

A crying baby definitely adds to the frustration and stress for me and the kids.  So I did the only thing I could think of, and that was to pray.  After some thought and prayer (and a break from school) and you know what I discovered? Its not about what I like, its about what they liked.  If they liked it, they would learn! (duh!)  I didn't necessarily need a special room, and things didn't need to be set up like a school.  This wasn't a school, it was their home.  

I sat down with the kids for the first time and asked them what they liked and disliked about homeschool.  Then together we came up with things they would like to do.  What a difference!  We pretty much abandoned the curriculum.  We kept their geography work, health, science, some of their math, some of the art and the music program.  I've been piecing together some Bible work.  Peanut loves computers and his iPad, so why not use it for school?  So now they use their iPads for most of their math and phonics (more on the apps in a later post). We play games, and do crafts and have continued with the library, and the Home Depot Kids Workshops. 

Peanut at one of the Kids Workshops.

We have also started unit studies and lapbooking as  way to make learning interesting.  They are learning more now than ever, and we are all less stressed.  This week is the first week we are doing a unit study that is almost a full week long (on maple syrup! yum!) and we are having a blast!

A recent trip to a local childrens museum.

I have now started to look at second grade materials.  It might seem a bit early, but its become obvious that we wont be successful with a boxed curriculum and I have never put something together on my own.  I am also looking into some online programs.  One of the programs I am looking into is *K5 Learning.  K5 Learning has an online reading and math program for kindergarten to grade 5 students. I've been given a 6 week free trial to test and write a review of their program. If you are a blogger, you may want to check out their open invitation to write an online learning review of their program.

I've learned alot about homeschooling in this first year. Actually, much more than I expected.  Now that spring is finally here we can do more outdoor activities, and I'm excited for all the learning fun we are going to have!

God Bless!!

Long time no see...

I know, I know, it's been almost 9 months.  What can I say?  Life happens, and it definitely happened to us! The end of my pregnancy was a whirlwind of preparations, homeschool, birthday parties, ect, ect.  God and my family always come first and so unfortunately a blogging break was needed in order for me to focus on my faith and family.  Now, I feel like things have stabilized a bit, and I have a handle on things a bit more.

My beautiful family

I  started first grade with Sassy and Peanut in the beginning of August to get our feet wet before the baby came. I've learned a lot in this first official year of homeschooling which I cant wait to share.

Learning about ants

They are starting to read!

Going from two children to three is no cake walk to say the least.  Things are much easier now that little Munchkin is 6 months old and Peanut and Sassy are used to mommy having to give their baby brother more attention than they would like.

I had an organic pregnancy and natural birth, which was amazing. He was born 2 weeks past my due date, on September 10, 2013 and was 9Ibs 3oz and 21 1/2 inches long!  His labor was more than I could have ever asked for and my recovery was amazingly fast.   I'm looking forward to sharing Munchkins birth story with all of you.  I am also exclusively breast feeding which is new to me as well, and thankfully (with a lot of prayer), its going great! 

Munchkin at 2 days old.

I'm excited to jump back in and start blogging.  More catching up coming soon!!

God Bless!

"There is a time for everything, and a season for every activity under the heavens..."

Ecclesiastes 3:1 (NIV)

Our Maine Trip

I was excited to travel back to the Llama farm this year.  My husband and I were both in need of a vacation to relax and rest.  It was our last vacation together as a family of 4 so I wanted to make it count.  Well...destiny had other plans that's for sure!  

Packing was much easier this year, mainly because I knew what I was doing this year.  The night before we left Sassy kept us up all night (she's been having issues sleeping, we think it has to do with the new baby coming).  We were exhausted driving up but made the best of it and both of us stayed in a great mood.  The weather predicted rain, which started about an hour and a half into our drive.

Daddy and Peanut at the first rest stop.

We stopped at an LL Bean outlet and visited some trout (which the kids always think is pretty cool) and nana bought the kids some mud boots so they could splash in the rain.

Here fishy fishy!

It was raining for the first 2 days we were in Maine.  The kids went for a walk in the rain and happily splashed in the puddles in their new boots.  We went to a few places in between bouts of rain.  Peanut  was in heaven at Jasper Beach collecting rocks and throwing rocks into the ocean.  The sound of the rocks was amazing.  Unfortunately I don't have pictures.  We brought 2 cameras.  We discovered one camera was missing it's memory card (after we took a dozen pictures or so), and the second camera had it's memory card...but the card was full.  Needless to say, we missed out on pictures that day.

That Sunday Sassy and I awoke with congestion and sinus pressure.  The pollen count was extremely high in the area so it wasn't surprising.  We were happy to see the sun and began the day.  As I was helping Sassy get dressed I discovered she was covered in hives and wheals!  Soon after she developed red cheeks with a hive or two and a dry sounding cough.  Out came the Benadryl!  All I had was Benadryl with artificial dyes.  I don't think Sassy has ever had artificial dyes, and about an hour after her first dose she complained of feeling sick.  We found a local drug store and was able to buy the dye-free version.  She as still "loopy" but wasn't complaining about feeling sick.  The hives continued throughout the day.  As a precaution we spent the day in Machias, which had a hospital.  

Hives and wheals despite Benadryl

We couldn't figure out what was causing the reaction.  She has never has a reaction like this before.  We brought all our own food and all our own bedding which was washed before we left and was all made of organic cotton.  The farm doesn't spray any chemicals.  The only thing we could think of was the pollen.  Our pediatricians office agreed that was the most likely cause.  I was afraid to continue to keep her immune system on "high alert".  She was getting the maximum dose allowed for her age every 4 hours and the hives still continued.  Her cheeks would get red and she would complain of a "sick mouth".  The Llama farm was 30 minutes away from the closest hospital and we decided to pack up and leave that night.  So, at 7 pm that night we packed up the car and made the 6 hour drive home.  We kept a close eye on her the whole way home and at 1 am Monday morning we were home.

Sassy slept in bed with me that night so I could keep a close watch over her.  Less than 24 hours her symptoms resolved and she no longer needed Benadryl.  I started her on some Live Life to help clear all of the chemicals from the Benadryl from her system.  My husband wasn't back to work until Wednesday so we tried to make the most of our time together.  It was raining (of course, because it was sunny in Maine by that time!), so we took the kids to the mall and out to eat.  When the rain stopped we brought them to the park to play soccer.

Out playing soccer

Tuesday night we got ingredients to make pizza.  I made some gluten free dough and let them make their own personal pizza's.  Despite having to cut our Maine vacation short, they seemed to still have fun which is all we really wanted.

Making Pizza's!

Our vacation definitely wasn't what we planned, but we still had fun together as a family. We were able to look on the bight side and are thankful that Sassy's reaction didn't get any worse than it did. It was bittersweet for me.  In 10 weeks we will no longer be a family of four, but will be a family of 5!

Baby Update!!

I'm happy to announce that we are having a boy!  We have decided to to things differently than we did with the first 2 children we had.  One of which is to have only one ultrasound.  Naturally (because I'm not a fan of surprises) we made sure to also find out if the baby was a boy or girl.  I thought for sure it was a girl, my husband thought for sure it was a boy.  I was right with Peanut and Sassy so I was bound to be wrong at least once!  Everyone has a 50/50 chance at being right or wrong I guess.  The ultrasound showed he it on target for weight and everything looked healthy (which obviously made me very happy to hear).  

Peanut is VERY excited to have a baby brother on the way.  Sassy, although happy to have another sibling was a bit disappointed to find out she was not going to get a baby sister.  She has already put in her request for a baby sister the next time around.  I told she would have to wait to see if God chooses to give us another miracle, and even then, it's no guarantee we would have a girl.  

We name all of our children after admirable people in the Bible and so this little munchkin is no different.  Of course, we keep the kids real names under wraps online so I can't really tell you his name.  For the blog, I'm thinking "Munchkin" is a good name for him here.  I can tell you his name means "dove" so I'm hoping for a peaceful baby.

No one has come out and asked me yet, but I'll put it out there for those of you who are wondering.  Am I a little nervous having another boy (because we have 2 children who are diagnosed with Autism and the rate of Autism is higher in males than females)?  Honestly...no.  My husband and I had many talks about the possibility of having another child.  After much discussion we decided to throw caution to the wind and if it were meant to happen it would.  In the mean time I made sure to start eating healthier and eliminated as much environmental toxin exposure as possible.  I researched a bit and planned in the event that I did get pregnant, and we patiently waited.  This baby finally came after many months (about 6 or so) of prayer.  I have faith that what ever God intends to happen, will happen.  Its in God's hands and for me, letting God have control of your life is the best choice to make.  I have faith that our little Munchkin will be a happy and healthy child of God.

Introducing our little Munchkin!!!

" We live by faith, not by sight." 2 Corinthians 5:7

Planning...

SO I keep posting about how crazy I feel my life is and then stop posting.  To be honest I think I needed a blogging break, but I really do want to get back into it.  I was able to take some time and sit down and try to get things in order to give myself a clear view of what I needed to "see".  I'm now hoping to get back to blogging.

I have been working hard at making lists and preparations for our home and family.  They are all still a work in progress, but the gears are starting to turn.  I have 3 weeks left to work and then I officially go Per Diem.  I'm not so sure how it's going to work out yet.  I'm not completely quitting work, but taking a break for now.  I'm calling it my "extended maternity leave."  I'm not due until the end of August but I'm going Per Diem at work in June to give me more time to spend with my family.  I will not be working at all  until the baby is at least a few months old.  After that I may pick up a shift or two here and there to cover vacations.

We have another trip Down East planned in June which I'm very excited for.  In all the baby planning and prep I realized I haven't sat and planned out the trip to Maine yet.  We've done it before so I'm thinking it will be easier to prep for this time around now that I know what to expect.I'm hoping to post some more updates on how I'm preparing, the baby, the kids etc.

I pray you're all doing well!!

Let the Chaos Begin: Part 2!

So the last time I posted I was 9 weeks pregnant.  I had just posted about how my life was about to get chaotic planning and prepping for a new baby, and then the REAL chaos hit!  

First, morning sickness hit.  It was more like all day sickness and didn't really let up much for about a month or so. I had never experienced nausea like this before in my life, not even with my first 2 pregnancies.  It would worsen the minute I would do anything that involved movement.  It was tough trying to get just the most basic task done let alone anything extra when it came to planning/prepping.  I got some great advice from some awesome homeschool moms about how to continue homeschool with nausea and eventually learned how to manage it and pace myself.  My husband has been such an understanding, man throughout this and has helped as much as he possible could.

One thing we had planned to do was to get both Sassy and Peanut moved into the same room well in advance so they were used to it.  We didn't want to make a huge change in their life (sharing a room) on top of another big change (a new baby).  SO we went out and got the kids "big kid" beds and moved them in together.  So far it's gone pretty good and they are adjusting well.

Sassy's new bed

Peanut's new bed

Then, I got the flu.  Yup, the flu.  It lasted over a week and I spend that entire week in bed.  My husband had to take the entire week off of work to take the kids and I spent a week in bed trying to keep my body temperature at a safe level for the pregnancy.  I'll be honest, I was a bit scared that it could effect the pregnancy but took comfort in knowing it was all in God's plan and we were in His hands.  I slowly recovered and started to try to get things done around the house.

Snowing!

 Then we had a snow storm (Nemo).  I spent alot of time prepping food in case we lost power.  I wanted to make sure we had plenty of snacks for the kids.  It lasted about 36 hours and then took a good amount of time to clean up.  

Working on clearing the snow.

 The wind continued after the snow had stopped and it was tough for the kids because they wanted SO badly to go out in the snow.  That weekend we were able to get some time to take the kids sledding at Nana and Papa's house.

                        

  

During all of this craziness my husband was working on a BIG project at church.  We had the opportunity to have Trevor Morgan play at our church, and so we were having our very first worship concert.  My husband was the event coordinator so he was pretty busy getting everything done.  I am so proud of how the church rallied together to volunteer for every needed job, and that night was absolutely perfect!  All I can say is, what an awesome night!

Trevor Morgan!!

The the following night we had tickets to a Third Day concert.  I was exhausted from the concert the night before, and Sassy had been up all night with a fever.  I was able to get some rest and get to the concert.  We had such a great time with all our close friends.

Third Day concert

This morning I awoke feeling amazing and Sassy's fever is gone.  Unfortunately, Peanut now has a fever and is a sad little man.  I spent the day getting alot done around the house (finally!) and taking care of my little sick monkey, and entertaining my little Sassy princess.

Sad sick little Peanut

Despite being sick he's a tough little trooper.  I don't think we'll be making it to his therapy tomorrow, but my fingers are crossed and prayers are said.  I have my 15 week midwife appointment tomorrow morning, which I'm really excited for.  Now that I'm more functional, I'm hoping to be able to post more often.

God Bless!

Let the chaos begin!

I'm not happy unless I'm busy.  I have no idea what I'm going to do when my children are all grown up and move out on to their own.  What I do know is that I'm definitely happy because we are busy!  

photo credit: kevin dooley via photopin cc 

Christmas was great but, as usual, chaotic.  We stressed until the last minute and then everything went great.  We had planned to have people over for New Years Eve as we always do, but then Sassy came down with the stomach bug that has been going around and we stayed home to try to prevent our friends and family from catching it.  Thankfully Sassy was the only one who got sick and it only lasted about 36 hours.  I think this was a little blessing.  My husband and I were exhausted and were able to get some much needed rest.

New Years Day we went out with the kids to look for beds.  Peanut has out grown his toddler bed (his crib with the front removed) and he is in need of a new bed.  We live in a 3 bedroom home and the newest addition to our family needs a room to sleep in, so Sassy and Peanut are going to need to become room mates.  Sassy has the bigger room, so Peanut is moving in to her room.  We decided it wouldn't be fair for Peanut to get a new bed and not Sassy, so we got her one too.  We actually found a bunk bed set.  We then ran down the street and ordered their mattresses (we decided on a Naturepedic, it is definitely more expensive, but also ALOT healthier a choice and in our opinion worth the investment).  We are going to use the beds separate  not as bunks at least for now.  We didn't feel it was safe for either of our kids to be sleeping up so high.  I am now trying to come up with ways to save space and make this all work.  I'll share pictures as soon as the room is finished.  I'm glad they are moving in to the same room now.  I think one big life change at a time is good.  By the time the baby comes, sharing a room will feel like the norm for them.

My best friend had her twins (yippie!)

We started back to school this week.  The kids were excited to get started back up (they love school!).  I finished roughly planning out our schedule up to the summer and it looks like (with plenty of breaks) we will finish Kindergarten by the end of May!  I'm already starting to research and plan for first grade.  I'll have to have that all done in advance because I am due around the end of August or beginning of September.   This is the first year I have to file  our intentions to homeschool with the state so I want to make sure I have everything in order a head of time.  We may start 1st grade late next year.

We finally had our old unused oil tank removed from our basement last week and we plan to do some mini renovations downstairs so I get a nice little laundry room complete with laundry sink (score!), as well as extra storage.

And I thought we would relax a little after Christmas!

And baby makes 5!

Yeah, you read that right.  In all the insanity that was our Christmas we discovered that we got a Christmas gift from God this year...we're expecting!  I was a bit in disbelief but so excited at the same time!!

The insanity began the week before Christmas.  We didn't have ANY Christmas preparations done this year and we weren't even done shopping for the kids let alone friend and family.  The idea of home made Christmas gifts went out the window and we took a deep breath and started shopping.  By the evening of the 22rd we had finally finished our shopping (thank GOD my husband took the week off!) and the wrap-a-polooza began!  I was EXHAUSTED!  That morning (December 23rd) around 2am Sassy had an accident in her bed.  After cleaning things up my husband went back to bed, but I couldn't sleep.  I had planned to take a test that morning anyway so I decided I might as well just take it.  So at 2:30 am I discovered that we were going to grow our family even more!  

That night I came across this verse:

"Children are a gift from the LORD; they are a reward from him." 

Psalm 127:3

I don't feel very worthy but the same time so thankful the Lord chose to reward us with the miracle of life.  We are feeling truly blessed and this verse just warms my heart, reminding me how precious this gift truly is.  We are so thankful that God chose to give us this gift!

Favorites Friday: Life Factory Glass Bottles

My favorite for this week that I'd like to share is Life Factory glass bottles.  This is something I don't feel I could really live without.  I Love these bottles.  With so many issues with plastics (BPA, BPS, PVC etc etc) it's difficult to find a non-toxic way to bring filtered water with you when you are on the go.  Stainless steel is an option but I find after a while the water has a metal taste and the containers can rust.  I discovered the Life Factory company about a year ago when I was looking for non-toxic sippy cup options for the kids.  I wish I had found them sooner.  Their baby bottles can convert to a "sippy" cup with a quick change in the top. 

 We now use these every morning to give the kids their juice and supplements.  I found that our homemade juice was sticking to the plastic of the kids sippy cups and would clog up the tops quickly making them unusable.  The glass bottles work perfect and clean well in the dishwasher.  They are also durable.  If my kids haven't broken them, then they HAVE to be tough!

I had purchased one for myself and really liked it but wished the lid had a spout to make drinking a bit easier in the car (which we are in quite a bit).  Then I was at the dentist one day and discovered the 20 oz version of what I had with a spout!  I now use this bottle almost every day.  It's nice to have a brand I know and trust to be safe for my family.  Check them out today! http://www.lifefactory.com/

Our plans for the month of December.

Last year (our first year homeschooling), we attempted to continue school up until the week of Christmas.  This plan quickly became a failure and it just didn't happen.  I soon began to feel like a failure myself and proceeded to beat myself up about it. It soon turned a season of joy into a stressful time of regret.  This year we are trying something different and so far so good. 
I know that December is busy...no...crazy.  Instead of  following a lesson plan like I have been, for the month of December we are focusing the majority of our activities around advent and Christmas.  I am giving the kids a couple of daily worksheets to work on as well as a craft.






The focus this month is Christmas, more specifically, the birth of Jesus.  To keep us on track and REALLY get into learning the meaning of Christmas, we are using The Truth is in the Tinsel.

Some of the ornaments we have made so far

My children LOVE this and to honest, I'm also learning a lot! I love knowing that my children are learning all of this early.  We also created a substitute for our Calender for December.  I had the kids color ornament pictures that have the different names of Jesus.  We are using the pictures to cover up each day that has passed.  The tree is helping to keep track of how many days until Christmas and it teaches the kids the many different names of Jesus.

Our "calender" for the month of December

I sat and came up with a few concepts I wanted to focus on as well such as adding and subtracting, money, counting by 10s, and handwriting skills.  I have a ton of workbooks, so I've been able to use these to reinforce theses concepts.  I also have found so many wonderful resources for Christmas theme printables.

Here are some great places to find Christmas printables:
Living Life Intentionally
Spell Outloud
Bible Story Printables
Jennifer A Janes

O is for Octopus (MFW)

This week in our little kindergarten we worked on the letter O and counting by 10's.  We also gave our first gift to Jesus!  We started our week by packing up our shoe boxes for Operation Christmas Child.  Sassy and Peanut went with me to the store and helped to pick out he items they wanted in their boxes, they helped pack them, and helped me to drop them off.  We made sure to include a letter in each box with a special message for the child who receives it.

The kids packing their shoe boxes.

The week began with exceptionally warm weather or New England this time of year!  We took advantage of it and went to a local park with some friends.  Both kids wore themselves out running and climbing!

"CHEESE!"

Sassy was really into puzzles this week, so we spent some time on puzzles. 

I found some videos online about Octopus.  We worked on a week long mural that the kids worked on together.  Tuesday they made an octopus out of an outline of their hands.  Wednesday they painted the paper blue.  Thursday they made their fish and glued everything on to the mural.  They seemed to really enjoy the mural come together.

Our ocean mural

We finished the week with an "ocean" lunch.  We had octopus (an organic GFCFSF hot dog) and coral reef (Organic broccoli).  Sassy was a little unsure and I had to reassure her it was really just a hot dog and broccoli.

I finished my week with Christmas planning and as able to get most of the kids Christmas gifts.  Now it's time to plan the homemade gifts.

How was your week?

Where I linked up this week: