Evangeline!

So I've been missing again, but this time I have the best reason ever....our baby girl, Evangeline, was born on the 18th of May!! My biggest baby, she weighed just over 9 pounds!! Sweet little baby; we've been busy cuddling, feeding, loving her, and trying to get some sleep in between.

She is lovely and all the kids constantly hover around her, wanting to hold her and kiss her. She is our littlest angel. My biggest adjustment has been trying to keep the younger kids from loving her too roughly, as our little Jimmy gets so over-excited with the baby that he wants to hug her and never let go.

And even with her being so new and all, it feels like she's always been a part of our family...she fits right in! We have taken the last two weeks off, spending time with grandparents and just being a big family. It's been great! But now, we must return to the daily routines that make up our little domestic church. Chores, school lessons, and our daily routines.

Evangeline...our newest addition!

Marian Artist Trading Card Swap 2011.

I read about this last year and was bummed that I had missed the whole thing. So this year, I've been keeping an eye out for it. It's the Marian Artist Trading Card Swap 2011! Head over to Pondered in My Heart to get all the details.

I have never done this before, but thought it would be so much fun for the kids to participate. You can also read more about it at Jessica's blog, Shower of Roses.

I'll have to keep everyone posted on how it goes for us.

Catching Up on Past Events.

April was a pretty busy month. There was our end of year program for our awesome homeschool co-op, Marco had his birthday, and we celebrated Easter. In an attempt to keep up family and friends with our April happenings, here is a brief recap of what we were up to. Get ready for pictures!!

End of Year Program for our Holy Family Homeschool Enrichment Co-op.

Thanks to the volunteer efforts of all our co-op moms, our end of year program was a huge success. This is a time when all our co-op students get to showcase and present what they have learned all semester. There's food, drinks, a performance by our bell choir and lots of fun!

Isabella with her gal pals.

Three lovely ladies smiling for the camera!

Christian performing with his preschool class.

Anthony with his Blue Knights class. They were all knighted and got to show off some of their handy crafts!

Marco reading about his saint for his saints class.

Father Tri gave a wonderful opening talk and prayer.

Marco Turns 9 Years Old!

It was a great day in early April as Marco turned 9 years old!! I don't know how time has slipped by us so fast, but we are so blessed to have this guy in our family. It was a low-key birthday with just the family, and Marco didn't care in the least.

My "little guy" is beaming!

A rare picture with me in it!!

Ready for his present.

I'm not sure he liked his new IPod Shuffle.

And that Pokemon game? Lame.

Easter!

Of course, it was just us for Easter. I can't remember the last time we had family come in for the holiday and we've grown accustomed to having it be a laid-back family day. This year was not too different, but I must say that the kids said it was the "best day ever." Why? Not exactly sure, but I'm sure the Holy Spirit was with us! And as the kids have gotten older, holidays just seem more fun, too!!

On our way to Mass.

Hubby with the kids. I love my boys and my baby-girl Isabella!

In our home, no one gets Easter baskets until after we come home from Mass. It just works for us and give everyone time to enjoy the moment without having to rush the kids to get ready to go to church.

After baskets are done, we usually eat lunch and then have a craft and activity set for the kids to do. Here, Anthony is making Easter egg holders.

Marco is working on a Lego creation.

After crafts, we fly kites!

We play outside!

We fill our cascarones and get them ready.

So much fun!

After our Easter egg hunt, we cracked cascarones over each others heads. So much fun!

So that concludes some of my catching up with tons of pictures. Hopefully I didn't get carried away! I hope that everyone's April month was just as fun!

First Holy Communion.

This past Sunday, Isabella received our Holy Lord for the first time!! It was a wonderful day to celebrate and she was happier than ever! Not only that, but she got to mark this special day with two of her good friends as well.

To celebrate the special occasion, my friends and I decided to host a little party at my home. It was a great success with both grown-ups and kids having a wonderful time!!

So Many Things!!

There have been so many things going on just this past month! Birthdays, co-op events, Easter and 1st communion. Even the day to day seems to be full of noteworthy activity. So perhaps this week I'll just be updating with pictures for everyone to enjoy! We've had a great year so far!

Preparing, Purchasing, Planning.

So it's the time of year where most homeschool families start making lists and checking them twice. I'm not talking about Christmas (although for some of us, it almost seems like it)!! It's the time of year when homeschoolers get geared up for purchasing new materials for their upcoming school year. I know it. I've made the lists. I'm starting to get that planning itch. This year I'll be teaching a 4th grader, 2nd grader, K/1st grader, and a preschooler. On top of that I'll have a toddler and a newborn. No pressure. Nothing to worry about. I'm just keeping it cool.

6 KIDS!!! Really, people. I'm starting to get worried. Am I losing my mind? How can all of this possibly get done?? Ok....I'm keeping my cool again.

So for the past couple of weeks, I've worked on creating book lists for each of the kids. We are using Angelicum Academy, so it's nice to not have to make too many decisions on what curriculum to use. For the most part, we are using their recommendations and switching a few things with what's been working for us (mainly language arts and science). It's nice to be able to reuse so much of our curriculum and only have to purchase the worksheets or tests.

But I am starting a new wish list that doesn't include books or curricula. It's a schoolroom/supply wish list. And having it has meant keeping my eyes open for great deals and snatching them up when I can. As homeschoolers, I'm sure that you all realize how much it can take to get stocked up for school and how nice it is to have a fully functional and well supplied school room. Here are some of my wish list items.

PrismaColor Pencils Set of 120

My kids (mainly Isabella) are drawing and coloring fanatics. They go through crayons like there is no tomorrow. And colored pencils? Well, that's their favorite. I'm a big fan of PrismaColor and have used them since we began on this homeschool journey. I've been through quite a few sets and my kids have become quite snobbish because of them. "But these aren't the good pencils, Mami." Drives me nuts. But then I saw this set...so pretty! I figure we need them since they tend to last us a while. Just don't look at the price tag!!!! Lucky for me, I bought them for 50% off the retail price. Still a little steep, but well worth it!

Binding Machine

The amount I've spent at Kinko's getting books bound would have already paid for 2 of these machines. This year, I decided that my binding needs aren't going to decrease any time soon so purchasing a binding machine would probably be a smart choice! I'm actually super-excited about getting it (should arrive tomorrow!)!! I already have a bunch of stuff ready and lined up to be bound! The particular one I ordered will actually bind up to 500 pages!! Awesome!

Ikea Trofast System

Ok...so this one is a big more difficult to convince my hubby of letting me get. The system is actually not that expensive, but I think that sometimes I tend to go a little overboard in buying furniture to "outfit" our schoolroom. Regardless....it's on my wish list and I foresee me making a trip to Ikea by the end of the summer! Why do I need this awesome little organizing system? Because I've been inspired to use it for the kids' school and possibly start implementing a workbox system. I've been loosely doing it for a little bit and it's awesome! Here is a picture on how I would like to use them. I would love to tell you from whose blog this is, but I can't find it! If you know, please post a comment so I can credit them.

Apple MacPro Computer

Ok...so this one is really pushing the limits. But you must understand that I have computer envy due to my hubby's awesome MacBook Pro. I don't need a laptop, but I do need a new desktop. My computer is older than most of my kids!!! It still works, although pretty slow, so I can't complain completely. But eventually I will need to get it replaced. I'm just holding out until my computer blows up...which it is on the verge of doing. I'm surprised I can even post all these pictures. I have a caveman computer (although I got the screen replaced, so at first glance it looks newer).

I'll stop there for my wish list. It seems like every item keeps getting more and more expensive. Next thing I'll post for my wish list is a Porsche....what mom doesn't need an awesome little car from keeping her from feeling like she's turning into one of those homeschoolers. Wait....isn't being in your early 30's too soon for a mid-life crisis?

Elementary Planner.

How has your organization been going this year so far? I know many homeschoolers are coming to the end of their year. In our home, we homeschool year-round with our new school year beginning usually in early August. We've been doing this since the beginning and I love it. It just works for us. Taking weeks off as we need them and having a longer break in July. I find that it keeps the kids sharper and my house less chaotic. Does that make sense?

Anyways. I am a big believer is having a daily schedule. We use Managers of Their Homes to help us manage our day to day activity. It works wonderfully! I tend to be flexible with it, however, as I find that you kind of have to be when you have a lot of little ones running around. But things usually get done in the same order every day, whether we start at 8:30am or 9am. If you want to check out my post on my schedule, click here! It's been tweaked a bit since we have added and taken activities away, but the basics are the same.

Now this year, I had decided to give my kids their own planners to help build responsibility and good habits. I ordered some cute student planners from Pflaum especially for the primary grades. We used them quite a bit, but stopped about half year. Although great planners, they were too busy. A place for notes, spelling words, and all sorts of extra activities were causing havoc in my mind as I would write down their assignments for the day. And since they was little space for all their subjects (the planner is in a weekly format), I was getting frustrated.

So I began using my own lesson/assignment planner and the kids had been checking off everything in that. But it got old with the kids fighting over who my planner and I was ready to let them each have their own planner again. After searching high and low for a daily assignment planner that met our needs and always coming up short, I decided to make our own.

So if you need an elementary planner for your kids, feel free to use mine! Or easily create your own using mine as a template. I don't mind!

Elementary Planner

The subjects on our planners reflect our use of Angelicum Academy. If you want me to email you an editable copy, just leave a comment and I can send a Word document. I had our student planner bound, so the kids each have their own books.

That's my homeschool help for today! Enjoy!!