Decorate Your Books! Oh Yeah...I'm Still Alive!!

I know I've been a slacker...not posting and ignoring all things "blog."  I don't know if it's having 4 kids to homeschool, a toddler and a 3 year old running amuck, or just adding all 6 kids into everything I do!  We are still alive and well, traveling along this homeschool journey.  

In the mean time, I thought I would start posting little projects and accomplishments.  Anthony, in his 7 year old glory, has started a spelling notebook this year and was not too thrilled with having the typical composition book to jot all his words in.  Being the wanna-be crafter...I took out my pile of fancy papers and had him choose something he liked to decorate the not so nice notebook.  Some glue, scissors, letter stickers, and laminating sheets later....voila!  A new spelling notebook!  He is actually looking forward to writing in it now and it's easy to spot among his other things.

Hope your homeschool journey is still going!

A Little Saint Patrick Coloring Page.

I spent the weekend mostly sick in bed, reading and doodling to pass the time. I had a stack of picture books that I read to the kids too. I came across our copy of St. Patrick's Day by Gail Gibbons and thought her illustrations of the saint were lovely. I do love and own so many of her books!

So I got my pencil out and made a free-hand copy of St. Patrick from her book. I changed some of the details to make him look more "Catholic" (as in I added crosses to his vestment). The kids love how it came out and I was surprised that it came out so cute as well!

So if you want to print out a copy for yourself or your kids to color, here is the link!

St. Patrick Coloring Page

Lent!

I know...I'm late! But here is a link to last year's post with some nice Lent activities and a printout!

I hope you enjoy and are off to having a wonderful Lenten season.

Click Here for Post with Lenten Path Printout!

Click Here for My Good Deeds for Lent Printout!

Click Here for Planning a Lent Lapbook!

Click Here for Ideas on Celebrating Lent!

2011: A Quick Review Through Pictures!

2011 was another great year. There was a new family member born, baptisms, parties and just many memorable time spent with family and friends. To catch everyone up on the happenings of 2011, here are some of the highlights. Enjoy!!

Our year always starts with a celebration. If you are thinking, "Yea...it's New Years!" You are wrong! Our year starts with the celebration of the birth of Isabella!! She turned 7 years old just as we started 2011. Wow...time sure flies!

Roses are Red, Violets are Blue. Sugar is Sweet and So Are You! St. Valentine's Day in 2011 meant making lots of cards to give to friends! My sweet bunch of kids and I got a rare photo together, since I'm usually the one holding the camera!

March brought more moments, like losing another tooth for Isabella and having fun with our science experiments. Homeschooling remains the main component of our day.

With a house full of kids, it seems like it always someone's birthday! Marco turned 9 years old and made a huge leap in maturity. He continues to surprise us with wonderful accomplishments and we feel so blessed to have him!

Easter in 2011 was also an awesome day! Mass, Easter baskets, flying kits, cascarones and a fun day full of celebration of the resurrection of our Lord. It was such a memorable day!

May turned out to be an extra special month in 2011. It began with Isabella's First Communion, which happened to fall on Divine Mercy Sunday and was also the day that Pope John Paul II was beatified!! It was absolutely awesome!

You can't end the school year without a field day. 2011's field day was full of fun! From donut eating to relay races and even 1st place! The entire Catholic homeschool community came together to give our kids a fun and memorable event!

The highlight of May was, of course, the birth of Evangeline Elizabeth! She was by far the biggest baby I've had, weighing just over 9 pounds! Of course, all the children were elated when she was born and it was nice to finally give Isabella a little sister. We were so blessed to have our family grow by one...a little piece of heaven right in our home!









The year continued and led into summer. With piano recitals, vacations with old friends, Marco's first tae kwon do belt graduation and just playing in the rain.












Hosting Vacation Bible School in my home was also a great memory from 2011. My kids had a blast with all their friends and learned some valuable lessons along the way! My family visiting, playing with Legos and just being silly were also fun events of the summer. It's almost impossible to document all the awesome moments we had.

The end of summer held some nice moments. Evangeline was baptized and welcomed into the Catholic Church!

And you can't end summer without a trip to a baseball game! All this just in time for our first day of school where we continued the annual traditions of marching through the house and opening schultutes!!

Back to school always means it's back to co-op too! And we started the year on a great foot! The kids continue to love going to their weekly classes and seeing their friends.

More birthday, friends visiting, family and even a new dog! There were field trips, fall weather, pumpkin carving, Saint Day celebrations and Halloween. Art classes at home, end of year programs, traveling and more. So many moments to capture...so many memories made!

































Hope everyone's year was as great as mine was. There were bumps along the way, but nothing that we didn't get through. Praying for another wonderful year!

*And if you notice my pictures got a little sparse and mixed up towards the end...yeah. Too many pictures to go through and not enough time in my day!

New Year!

It's been a couple months since I last checked in and it's just family time keeping me busy. Which is the perfect excuse to take a break from blogging!! I've been watching baby Evangeline grow, homeschooling the kids and just spending time with the family in general. We've travelled, recovered from colds, finished our first semester of co-op and just been chugging along as usual.

For now I'm just trying to get things in order and really put time into organizing my projects for the new year. There is lots to be done on many levels. Personal, spiritual, home, family, etc. Home projects are what I'm starting with this year as opposed to organization...although that comes with the territory of daily living. The main goals for the year are finishing off some rooms in the house, brightening up some rooms and making some furniture.

Anyways, I'll have to keep everyone updated with what's going down in our home. I'm looking forward to a wonderful new year!!