Just Finish Something Already - Blog Hop

I would say better late than never, but since this is a blog hop about completing things I think I should feel slightly ashamed.
Small accomplishments count don't they? In that case my list is compiled of several small things that I actually didn't count as things finished until I sat and thought about it.

1. I finally tried out a ham, cheese and zucchini savory muffin recipe that I have been wanting to. I actually went out of the way to pick up the ingredients this weekend and cooked them Sunday morning.
2. I went through a pile of things that I no longer want and made a donate pile (just need to get hubby to drop it off) and pulled out a bunch of things I have started to list on Ebay to sell.
3. Put in several inter-library requests for books that I have been wanting to read.
4. I have slowly been starting to put myself to bed a little earlier. I wake up crabby regardless but I am hoping the slow increase will actually start to help me catch up on lost sleep. I don't sleep well. It seems that my deepest sleep happens to fall just before I get out of bed, so I wake up feeling completely unrested. I am much more of a night person, I just wish the rest of the world ran on the same schedule as me. Maybe someday they will;)

That's all I have this week. I promise to try harder next time. Good thing I didn't attempt to do NaNoWriMo this month. But yet I know better than that since I am missing the creative gene, it would take me forever to even write a Haiku.

Just Finish Something Already! Blog Hop

I will be the first to admit that I fall into the "I'll do it tomorrow" catagory. I won't deny it, there are just so many more things I would rather be doing that what I should be doing. So today I am officially 32 weeks pregnant. That's 8 months, and when I say that out loud it kind of freaks me out. So this past weekend I kicked it into semi prepare for the baby mode.

Things completed:

1. I got our crib back from the friend that borrowed it. It has not been assembled yet and we still need to buy a mattress (which isn't too urgent because we have a bassinet as well). But part one of three is done.

2. I went through Roo's old baby clothes. Cleaned them and separated them into girl and gender neutral piles. I then put the GN clothes into the baby dresser.

3. I took all of the girl stuff and neatly stored it into a an easy access bin, so it is there and ready to use if the baby is a girl.

I feel good, positive and I even have photo proof. I also cleaned the dining room/homeschool room today if that scores me extra points;)





 

Not Back to School Blog Hop: Student Photo Week

This is my girl. She's 5 (almost 6) and really enjoys getting her picture taken. The only problem is that 90% of the pictures involved either weird faces, or one/both eyes closed so it's hard to find a picture of her just smiling. At least one of these is a self portrait from a few days ago and the bottom one is a picture of both her and I.

Not Back to School Blog Hop: School Room Week

School room week. A frightening thought for me since we live in a two bedroom apartment that hasn't been completely unpacked or set up yet. So I have been working at tidying, organizing and moving stuff. Too bad I don't have unlimited funds because I know how I want it to look. What I want and what I can afford are two different things (think Ikea catalogue). That always seems to be the way though.




This is of the computer area viewed from the kitchen, our school room shares with the dining room. Roo is demonstrating one of her worst habits of peeking over her glasses in this shot. It drives me nuts. Her desk is beside mine against the wall since she tends to get distracted easily, there is not much for her to stare at in this spot. The newly laminated world map an addition fact sheet are posted on the wall.




Same shot, slightly different angle, to include the white board and her old desk. The urge to fiddle inside of the desk was too extreme so a friend found us a flip top desk at a garage sale. When we do white board work she either sits in my chair or bounces on her bouncy ball in the middle (a good energy release for a very active child).




Our book cases, mine, hers and ours. Baskets filled with miscellaneous math manipulatives, games and crap I don't know what to do with yet. Every homeschool room is not complete without its Michael Jackson, David Bowie and Evil Dead movie poster;) This was not the wall I initially wanted these shelves on, but due to the age of the building and the slanted floor it was the best choice.  




Standing in front of the bookshelves you get the glorious view of  the fire escape:)




Due to lack of wall space our calendar, weather charts have been banished to the side of the fridge. It's actually a good spot though since it is pretty much visible from my desk.




Busy, busy work circling the things she likes from the Build-a-Bear catalogue. Those pink heart balloons are from my birthday last week. She made my husband drive all over town to find the exact colour and style she wanted. The computer is showing her favorite game of Jumpstart.




So that is our homeschool room. More tidying and organization is needed but overall this is what it will look like (unless we win millions of dollars). Most of our read alouds are done in the living room and in bed but since I haven't cleaned those rooms yet, there was no need to photograph my shame:)

NOT Back-to-School Curriculum Choices

I have always wanted to join a blog hop. I have good intentions, but never seem to follow through by the close date. But I thought what the heck to this one  “Not Back 2 School Blog Hop” @ Heart of the Matter. I enjoy looking at other peoples curriculum choices, so maybe someone will enjoy mine. These are my choices for my dd5 (almost 6) Gr. 1 school year.

Language Arts

First Language Lessons for the Well Trained Mind 

Complete Writer Writing with Ease 

Spelling Workout B & C 

Math

Singapore Math 1A 

Singapore Math 1B 

Evan Moor Skills Sharpener Math 

History and Geography

Story of the World: Volume 1 Ancients 

Evan Moor North America 

Evan Moor South America 

Science

Elemental Science Biology for the Grammar Stage 

Language Studies

Song School Latin 

Nallenart French L'Art de DIRE 

Music and Art

MusIQ Homeschool Piano 

A Composer Study I put together 

Artistic Pursuits Book One

Memory Work
Selections from Living Memory to Correspond with what we are learning. 

I am still in the process of writing up my weekly schedules on my Excel spreadsheet. I seems never ending. I think I have finished up until week 11, but once I am done I will feel so much more prepared. Good thing I am not starting her new school year until September, although we are still doing summer work right now.