Family Fun

Frozen Yogurt

 Sibling hug!

We visited a nearby frozen yogurt shop. The kids enjoyed picking and mixing different flavors and toppings!

New Boots!

 Look who got his first pair of cowboy boots!

Joshua was beyond thrilled with his new pair of boots! He's a little stud :)

Jenni got a pair of red boots :)

 I took a picture of the boys as we were waiting to cross the street to church.
They even stand the same :)

Six Flags Over Texas: Holiday in the Park - Day 1

 On our way!

 The biggest bag of cotton candy. Ever.

We had the best time at Holiday in the Park. So many fun rides for all four of us to go on. Jenni loved the roller coasters and Joshua loved any ride that he could go on. So much fun!

Six Flags Over Texas: Holiday in the Park - Day 2

 Jenni and I were going to take a picture while we were walking into the park, but she stopped mid-picture and said, "Let's make sure we get Little Man in this picture too!"

 We do love our little man :) and he sure does love the amusement park!

I sure do love his smiles.

 We all went on the sombrero ride. Eric and Jenni rode behind me and Joshie.

 Sweet Joshua waiting patiently for the ride to begin :)

 J waiting for the tea cup ride :)

 The four of us went on the pirate ship. It was my favorite ride as a little girl. I told J that Grandma Linda and I loved the pirate ship ride. She asked if it was "a little scary." Mid-way through the ride she yelled out, "Whose idea was this?!" By the end of the ride she called it "awesome!"

We had another great day at Holiday in the Park. We spent our time in a different section of the park and enjoyed the new rides and hot chocolate!

Six Flags Over Texas: Holiday in the Park - Day 3

We spent another great afternoon/evening at Six Flags. Jenni and I went on a bigger roller coaster this time. Eric took Jenni back on the "little roller coaster" that her and I rode earlier this week. We rode the pirate ship a few times. We all love that one. We took a spin in the tea cups again. The previous time (I thought) we spun it too fast, so this time we left the spinning up to... Joshua :) We figured however fast the almost-two-year-old spins the tea cups would be fine for all four of us. Needless to say, Joshua loves to spin fast so that's what we did. In other Joshua and Jenni news, the two have started throwing their hands in the air when we are on small roller coasters or other fun rides :) We love Six Flags and their colorful Christmas lights, fun music and performances at the end of the night!

Six Flags Over Texas: Holiday in the Park - Day 4

This time Jenni and I had a girls night at the park and the boys had a night at home together. Jenni and I had a blast (although we missed our boys and all the excitement that comes from them). While Jenni and I were riding all the rides we had time for and watched as many shows as possible (Jenni loves all the music and dance performances and the light shows), Eric and Joshua stayed home eating dinner and watching western movies. I'm glad he finally has a little buddy who enjoys watching westerns with him. :)

Pizza Date

 Pizza date by the fire :)

Fires & Board Games

 Joshie loves helping building fires with his daddy :)

 In true winter fashion we got the two munchkins matching pajamas :)

 Candy Land Candy Land, Jenni loves playing Candy Land :)

 This is what Joshua thinks of Candy Land :)

And this is what Joshua thinks of being tickled :)

Eric was able to take some time off from work so we were delighted to spend some family time together this Christmas season! We had a wonderful time on all of our family outings, enjoyed finishing our Christmas shopping, and had plenty of movie and board game nights! :)

Week 20 of Pre-K

This is what we have been up to during our twentieth week of school.

(This week we focused on Christmas activities.)

Bible Verse: Today in the town of David a Savior has been born to you; He is the Messiah, the Lord. (Luke 2:11)

Christmas Books:
Christmas Trolls by Jan Brett
The First Christmas by Jan Pienkowski
Jan Brett's Christmas Treasury by Jan Brett
Mr. Willowby's Christmas Tree by Robert Barry
O Christmas Tree: Its History and Holiday Traditions by Jacqueline Farmer
Room for a Little One: A Christmas Tale by Martin Waddell
The Snowman by Raymond Brigg
The Stable that Bob Built by Cindy Kenney 
The Three Snow Bears by Jan Brett
We Three Kings by Gennady Spirin
Who's That Knocking on Christmas Eve? by Jan Brett

Math

Jenni reviewed number recognition, more, less, same as, etc.

(Nativity printable pack found here.) 

Also this week, Jenni reviewed telling time and we played many rounds of Monopoly specifically focusing on counting money.

Explode the Code

 Jenni found the picture that began with the short-vowel sound of a and marked it.

 Jenni marked the same word.

 Jenni practiced writing the letter a.

 Jenni read the word, wrote it down, and then circled the correct picture.

 J practiced sounding out and spelling the words.

 Jenni matched the word and wrote it.

 

Jenni read and circled the correct word.

 Jenni looked at the picture, read both sentences, and marked which sentence described the picture.

Reading

We are using The Ordinary Parent's Guide to Teaching Reading for phonics instruction and Jenni is reading Bob Books: Set 1 for Beginning Readers.

Other Christmas Activities

Jenni matched each picture to its name.

 Jenni working on spelling.

4-year-old handwriting is so precious.

(Nativity printable pack found here.)

Jenni's Joke

Why do chickens sit on their eggs?

Because they don't have chairs!

Week 19 of Pre-K

This is what we have been up to during our nineteenth week of school.

(This week we focused on gingerbread activities.)

Bible Verse: But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control (Galatians 5:22-23). 

Gingerbread Themed Books:
Gingerbread Baby by Jan Brett
Gingerbread Friends by Jan Brett
The Gingerbread Man illustrated by Karen Lee Schmidt
The Gingerbread Man retold by Jim Aylesworth
The Gingerbread Pirates by Kristin Kladstrup
The Library Gingerbread Man by Dotti Enderle
No-Bake Gingerbread Houses for Kids by Lisa Turner Anderson

Math

This week we continued working on money. Jenni wrote one cent to ten cents on paper, cut them into squares, and then put the correct amount of pennies underneath each amount.

 

Jenni enjoyed reviewing AB, ABB and AABB patterns using the gingerbread girl and boy and the fox from this gingerbread lapbook printable.

J reviewed time to the hour and half hour, and she began learning time to fifteen minutes. She loves learning to tell time!

 As I was getting our math work ready, Jenni made triangles with her crayons :)

We also read a fun math book:

How Big is a Foot? written by Rolf Myller

Go for THE CODE

 This week Jenni completed her Go for THE CODE workbook. She focused on the beginning and ending sounds in words and continued practicing her writing. Next she will begin Explode the Code Book 1.

Explode the Code

Jenni eager to begin her new workbook. She was working on the consonant pretest.

Reading

We are using The Ordinary Parent's Guide to Teaching Reading for phonics instruction and Jenni is reading Bob Books: Set 1 for Beginning Readers.

At the start of each week, Jenni picks out a selection of read-aloud books from the library for me to read to her. We are using The Read-Aloud Handbook (by Jim Trelease) as a guide for our additional read aloud books.

This week we read:

Alexander and the Terrible, Horrible, No Good, Very Bad Day by Judith Viorst 
Baby Brains by Simon James
The Cake That Mack Ate by Rose Robart

Dinosaurs Before Dark (Magic Tree House Series #1) by Mary Pope Osbourne (a short novel)
Drummer Hoff adapted by Barbara Emberley
Good Dog, Carl by Alexandra Day
Millions of Cats by Wanda Gag
Owl Babies by Martin Waddell

Other Gingerbread Activities

 Gingerbread Baby

Coloring her gingerbread house.

 Gingerbread House

 First-sound identification. Kindergarten printable found here.

 Practicing her writing skills from words found in her gingerbread books. Kindergarten printable found here.

 Jenni's summary of her favorite book. Preschool printable found here.

Scissor skills. Jenni takes cutting paper extremely seriously :)

Joshua

 Toddler hands! Oh, how I love toddler hands!

Jenni Singing to Grandpa and Grandma

Jenni singing a song to Grandpa and Grandma :)

Week 18 of Pre-K

This is what we have been up to during our eighteenth week of school.

Bible Verse: But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control. (Galatians 5:22-23)

Math

This week we worked on counting money, specifically one penny equals one cent, grouping pennies by 5s, and skip counting.

 Jenni also reviewed telling time to the hour and half hour.

Go for THE CODE

 This week Jenni focused on writing the letters Qq and Xx.

Reading

We are using The Ordinary Parent's Guide to Teaching Reading for phonics instruction and Jenni is reading Bob Books: Set 1 for Beginning Readers.

At the start of each week, Jenni picks out a selection of read-aloud books from the library for me to read to her. We are using The Read-Aloud Handbook (by Jim Trelease) as a guide for our additional read aloud books.

This week we read:

Bridget and the Gray Wolves by Pija Lindenbaum

Chewy Louie by Howie Schneider

Chicka Chicka Boom Boom by Bill Martin Jr & John Archambault

Frog Goes To Dinner by Mercer Mayer

The House That Jack Built by Jeanette Winter

The Little Old Lady Who Was Not Afraid of Anything by Linda Williams

This is the House That Was Tidy & Neat by Teri Sloat 

Scissor Activities

Jenni working her way through her "Scissor Skills" workbook.

Joshua

Joshua is enjoying his December sensory tub. The jingle bells are his favorite :)

 Little man playing with his trains :)

December Sensory Tub

Joshua's December sensory tub includes white cotton balls (snow), various sizes and Christmas colors of pom poms, red and white pipe cleaners shaped into candy canes, miniature wrapped packages, jingle bells, small felt stocking, felt gingerbread man, and a Christmas scented candle.