Bytes of Memory

More Birthday Fun!

noreply@blogger.com (Lindsay) — Fri, 24 May 2013 10:00:00 +0000

I am so behind on posts that I am throwing the rest of Sammy’s birthday together on one post! Be forewarned there are lots of pictures!

Opening presents after his party:

Sammy is so amazing! He loves everything he gets and is genuinely happy with his presents. He has intentionally played with each thing and we are working on typing (he is typing) some thank you emails to our friends and family (sorry it’s taking us so long)!

He also wanted me to take a picture of each of his gifts (don’t worry I didn’t post them all):

This was the year of the Legos and I just loved how much fun he is getting out of them. If you need to buy for a lego lover and you don’t know what they have this book is awesome:

Sammy was also really into reading the cards this year and could read them all (yes there was some guessing on the names but he could usually figure out enough of the name to guess correctly)!!

My parents came to one of Sammy’s tball games just before his birthday. After the game we went out for pizza and opened presents. Unfortunately, my camera battery died and I only got a few pictures! However, I got this one with my phone of the 3 of them:

I love these creator sets were you can make 3 different things! They are a huge hit in this house since he likes to take things back apart! We haven’t gotten into this big set yet but I think it will be a rainy day project this summer!

His current favorite though has to be the little sets that he can do 100% on his own:

So my my camera lense got bumped to manual focus in the car and I didn’t notice before I took a few of the following pictures! boo! But I couldn’t not share his birthday day celebration at his Aunt’s house:

Two of his aunts made over 200 mini cupcakes and iced them in various colors to look like Mario! Sammy was totally in awe of this and I so wish my camera was in focus but it kinda helps to see Mario better:

Blowing out his candles:

His big gift from us.. or so he thought:

These have been a huge hit at our house:

We need to plant in this very very soon! A root viewer planter from Grandma and Grandpa:

Sammy trying to figure out why we gave him a dog collar and a bunch of dog toys:

We did a skype session with Tim’s sister in Atlanta to reveal the present:

Seeing the puppy for the first time:

So excited that he gets to keep him:

Then this is how the night ended:

Happy sixth birthday Sammy! Mommy and Daddy love you forever!

How a New Homeschool Mom Prepares for Convention

noreply@blogger.com (Lindsay) — Wed, 22 May 2013 11:00:00 +0000

This will be my third year attending the HEAV convention. So I guess I am no longer a “new” homeschool mom, but I still remember preparing for my first two conventions and what worked and didn’t work for me. I want to share a few tips and tricks I learned these last two years and send one lucky person to the convention (details below)!

Here are 10 quick tips that helped me to get the most out of my first two conventions:

1. Do your Homework – Look through all the things you have and get a general plan for your year. Figure out what items you need and write a list. On your list include the price you know you can get it for online (including shipping). Look through the list of exhibitors and see if you can purchase anything while at convention.

2. Create a speaker schedule – Read through all of the speakers bios and topics for the convention. Look at the schedule and figure out which sessions you would like to attend.

3. Wear comfy shoes – You will do LOTS of walking so wear some shoes that will allow you do that! I usually wear my sneakers! They are not the most fashionable, but my feet thank me later!

4. Walk through the Exhibit Hall once with out making a purchase – This was something I did quite by accident the first year I went to convention. I walked into the Exhibit hall and was completely overwhelmed by all of the booths, people, and awesome things wanting my money! I walked through and just looked at everything. I didn’t really stop and touch anything or look through anything. I just got the lay of the land and took it all in. The next year I did the same thing. This helped me to see all of the different venders that were there that I wasn’t familiar with. This allowed me to buy a couple of things from places I would have missed since I didn’t know them by name and would have used my “fun” budget money up already.

5. Set and stick to your budget – There are so many wonderful companies out there. They have some great curriculum, toys, games, books, etc. that are calling to you. You, however, wont be able to use them all and your bank account needs to stay in the black! Before you go to convention, set a budget for the things you must get, would like to get, and some “fun” money. The “fun” money is for all of those cool homeschool extras that you know your kids will love. Since you already did your homework, you know how much each thing will cost you if you buy it at home. If you find a great deal on something you can return home under budget or move the allotted money to the “fun” category .. I usually go with the latter. *hi Tim!*

6. Talk to the speakers – Don’t be shy! Ask them questions during the Q&A part of their talk, or wait until their session is over and ask questions, or better yet find them in the exhibit hall and talk to them! I have learned so many wonderful things from the various speakers I have talked with over the past two years. I felt so much more prepared to start on this homeschool journey.

7. Bring something to take notes with – You will forget most of the things you heard in the session. You don’t think you will but you will get a TON of information thrown at you while at convention and it is impossible to remember it all. Whether you are a traditional pen and paper kind of note taker or a tablet/laptop note taker, take notes! It usually takes me about a month to finish going through all of the things I learned in one weekend at convention. This would not be possible without taking notes!

8. Check out the Used Curriculum Sale – I have purchased some amazing resources at the used curriculum sale. I have found several things on my “need to get” list and got them a lot cheaper than in the exhibit hall. This allowed me to make several fun purchases that Sammy has really enjoyed!

9. Relax – Don’t let the convention weekend be stressful. It is suppose to be a fun time to learn from different people and find curriculum that works great for you. You don’t have to go to every single session or check out every single booth in the exhibit hall.

10. Pray – Do this before you go, while you are there and after you leave. Pray about your plan for next year. Pray before you make any big purchases! Pray that you can use everything you learned and purchased to make your next year wonderful.

Now for a Home Educators of Virginia Convention giveaway!

You have the chance to win a Full Family Registration for the 2013 HEAV convention. This includes workshops, used curriculum sale, exhibit hall, and tickets to the Duggar keynote session. This is an $89 dollar value!! Enter the giveaway using the widget below.

a Rafflecopter giveaway

Mario Party

noreply@blogger.com (Lindsay) — Tue, 21 May 2013 10:00:00 +0000

Sammy wanted to have a Mario Party for his birthday this year and we were able to produce just that! I kept things SUPER simple this year! We had his party at the local children’s museum and it was wonderfully easy! The extent of our Mario theme were are favors and cupcakes! I cut out white circles and handwrote an M on them to look like the M on Mario’s hat. Then I tapped them to red party favor bags from Dollar Tree. Inside we had Mario fruit snacks (from Wal-Mart) and a K’NEX Mario figure (kinda like a Lego mini fig also from Walmart).

Next I made a batch of vanilla cupcakes in white cupcake liners. I was going to turn them into 1-up mushrooms from Mario. This was super simple by drawing eyes on the liners with a sharpie (it surprisingly didn’t bleed through onto the cupcakes). Next I dyed vanilla icing green to match the 1-ups from the game and iced the cupcakes. Lastly, I took white chocolate chips and stuck them in the cupcakes upside down to make the white circles that are on the tops of the mushrooms. Super simple and yet Sammy totally thought they looked like the mushrooms!

The beautiful thing about having Sammy’s party at the museum was not having to plan any games or activities! Everyone played in the museum while waiting for everyone to get there.

There are so many amazing things to do at this museum:

Next up it was off to the party room to make some gak!

All of the kids had so much fun making this and did an awesome job listening to the directions:

Singing Happy Birthday and eating cupcakes:

So glad we decided to have Sammy’s friend party at the museum and I really loved not having to clean up afterward!

Our Newest Family Members

noreply@blogger.com (Lindsay) — Sat, 11 May 2013 13:28:00 +0000

So I told you guys Sammy’s birthday present. Last weekend we headed to Atlanta to pick up Yoshi. It took us 8 hours to get down there and Nicia decided to join us for the trip (watching Brave):

I love driving through this area of North Carolina:

When we got there we got Yoshi to warm up to us. Then we saw how super sweet he was with his sister:

Sammy fell in love with both puppies and so did Tim and I (Yoshi in the cone of shame, Princess Peach on the far right):

So we decided to get both of them. We also knew this would make it easier for Tipsy to adjust. She wouldn’t be the only dog for the puppy to play with. She can be a grumpy old lady at times (and a spunky puppy at other times). Next up was bring two puppies that car sick back in our car! They thankfully slept pretty much the whole time and never got sick! Sammy holding Princess Peach (Peach for short):

Yoshi hung out on the floor of the front passenger seat:

We stopped only once on the whole trip and the puppies did great! Everyone ran inside to get Starbucks and go to the bathroom and I hung out with the puppies before taking over the driving. (Yoshi on the left and Peach on the right).

This is a daily occurrence on my lap.. I am not sure what I am going to do when they get bigger!

Not a flattering picture of me.. but I had to post it since this is Peach’s favorite spot to sit!

Snuggling together on the floor next to their bed:

So I might have lost my mind in Atlanta but I am so glad I did. These pups are super sweet and make a wonderful addition to our house!

Summer Fun List

noreply@blogger.com (Lindsay) — Wed, 01 May 2013 10:00:00 +0000

I love making lists of activities I want to do with Sammy during a season. I have gotten away from them in the past year or so. But I love that it gives us fun ideas to do when we are stuck in a rut! So with out further ado our Summer Fun List!

Make Popsicles
Sidewalk chalk paint
Camping
Make dinner over the fire pit in the backyard
Squirt gun target practice
Water balloon fight – We will have to recruit some friends or Daddy for this since I’m allergic to latex
Ice excavating
Water balloon piñatas
Big Bubbles
Fly a kite
Make fruit kebabs
Make moon sand
Watch fireworks
10 trips to the lake
Backyard swim party with friends (little pool)
Swim the full length of the pool (Sammy)
Float on back for 1 minute (Sammy)
Jump off of the diving board (Sammy)
Picnic at 3 different parks
Pick strawberries
Make sun tea
Library reading program
Barnes and Noble reading program
Vacation Bible School
Go see Monsters University
Go see Planes
Go see $1 movie
Ride on the tube at the lake
Go to a lawn party
Ride a train
Go get ice cream cones
Picnic in the backyard and read books under the tree
Feed the ducks
Learn to ride bike without training wheels
Eat each meal outside in one day
Do 10 new art projects
Read 10 chapter books aloud
Raise ladybugs
Take Yoshi and Tipsy to the lake to swim
Read all of picture books (put them into a digital library and purge the ones we don’t love)
Try 5 new smoothie recipes
learn to swing by yourself
Do 10 science experiments
Make an emergency preparedness kit
Grow vegetables in our root viewer
Memorize our address (Sammy)
Make friendship bracelets to give to our friends before they leave for 9 months
Find and paint walking sticks
Go to the library story time 5 times
Go fishing

So I realize that is quite a list. It is very possible that we will not finish this list or come very close. But when I am needed a fresh idea I will come here. Or when I inevitably hear, “I’m bored!” we will look on here for a fun idea. I will be checking out the lists on Little Wonders’ Days Summer Bucket List Party today and probably adding some more! Do you have any fun summer ideas we just have to do? I am going to try and take a picture (at least with my phone) of us completing a lot of these activities. Then I will update the list every week (or so) with what we have accomplished. Let me know if it gets to repetitive!

Happy 6th Birthday Sammy!

noreply@blogger.com (Lindsay) — Sat, 27 Apr 2013 20:56:00 +0000

Thursday April 25th, at 10:35 pm Sammy turned six years old! I still can’t believe he is that old! Sammy is an amazing boy! He loves to make people laugh and smile. Sammy is caring, sweet, and tenderhearted. He is also stubborn and a perfectionist. He is smart, strong, and becoming braver with each day!

Sammy right before he found out we were going to the circus (the day before his birthday):

He loves to build:

He has just started to like to color:

He loves to exercise:

Sammy loves to learn, play Mario, laugh, and EAT.. he eats a ton and loves a many different foods except for chocolate!

Tim and I discussed what to get Sammy for his birthday. He didn’t really need anything in particular! Sammy is an animal lover and we have a dog that doesn’t like him! Tipsy is old and grumpy. Tim’s sister told me about these puppies she has been fostering and she sent me a picture of them. One thing led to another and I want you guys to meet Yoshi:

We don’t have him at our house yet. But we will get to pick him up next week! Sammy is super excited and can’t wait to play with him! He decorated his swing set with dandelions today to make it nice for when Yoshi comes home!

Happy Birthday Sammy! Mommy and Daddy love you and are so proud of the boy you are becoming!

3 Decades = Awesome S’mores Party!

noreply@blogger.com (Lindsay) — Wed, 24 Apr 2013 10:00:00 +0000

So earlier this month I turned the big 3-0! I figured it was momentous enough of an occasion to throw a party. We had a bunch of friends over for a big old S’mores party! We had all sorts of fixings for the s’mores:

Peanut Butter
Reece’s Peanut Butter Cups
Peppermint Patties
Pineapple
Strawberries
milk chocolate
bananas
dark chocolate
regular marshmallows
gigantic marshmallows

This little cute looked super big eating his s’more:

Sammy’s favorite part was eating all of the fruit! He did roast a few marshmallows too:

My favorite picture of the evening:

I had so much fun hanging out with friends and chatting while the kids ran around! Sammy thought it was so fun to play with the big kids in his backyard!

Opening Ceremonies and First T-Ball Game

noreply@blogger.com (Lindsay) — Tue, 23 Apr 2013 10:00:00 +0000

Like so many people we had a long cold winter with lots of late winter snows. Sammy is playing t-ball for the first time this year and they had 2 practices before the season started! We have never been involved in T-Ball before and I loved the opening ceremonies! They call each coach and player onto the field by their name! So cool!

It was FREEZING that morning of the ceremonies and Sammy had on lots of layers to try and keep warm! Here he is waiting for his turn and trying to stay warm!

Out on the field (he is #1 on the left):

Later that day he had his first game! Getting ready to bat:

My little leftie (I love it):

Sammy loved running bases and catching up to the person in front of him:

Team huddle:

After all the years of softball that I played I love that Sammy is having fun playing tball:

My dad (Pop Pop) was able to make it to the first game while my mom was at a quilt show. Sammy was excited to see him but also missed his GiGi!

Easter! He is Risen!

noreply@blogger.com (Lindsay) — Mon, 22 Apr 2013 10:00:00 +0000

So this post is WAY late. Life has been full lately but I didn’t want to forget to post about our Easter!! Easter Sunday can be tough for our family. Tim is in charge of the technical ministry at our church and I run the presentation computer every other week. This usually means being the front of house engineer and I am running presentation on holidays. This use to be super tough pill for me to swallow. I wanted to have the relaxed and laid back morning before heading to church and celebrating Jesus’ resurrection! However, this year God really worked on my heart! I embraced our opportunity to serve our congregation and do so with a happy heart. I know this was completely God working in my heart since I have tried to do this on my own in the past. All that to say our morning was super rushed since we had to be out the door at 6:45! Also a testament to how busy our life is I didn’t even go unpack Sammy’s Easter basket and I put his stuff in a bowl from the kitchen! He didn’t seem to mind!

Posing with his Easter bowl:

Excited about some legos:

He even loved his monster shirt:

This year we cut down on the candy and the little plastic toys and got ‘practical’ items for Sammy. Sammy got Monsters Inc. movie, a t-shirt, flip flops, lego set, dinosaurs and some candy. He didn’t miss the eggs filled with candy and the little wind up toys. (Not that there is anything wrong with that. I am just trying to reduce clutter in our house and those things don’t keep his interest for very long)

After that we were off to church to celebrate and thank Jesus for our salvation! After an amazing service we headed over to Tim’s sister’s house for a wonderful Easter dinner. Then everyone hung out and watched Sammy’s new movie! It was one of the best Easter Sundays I can remember!

Our March Blizzard

noreply@blogger.com (Lindsay) — Fri, 19 Apr 2013 10:00:00 +0000

So I realized I was a little behind on blogging.. I didn’t realize how far behind I was until I pulled the pictures off of my camera! So back in March we got a TON of snow! These pictures were taken in the morning and it snowed another 6 or so inches after that!

Sammy loved it:

Our deck railing.. I still can’t believe how much snow we got:

It was a super heavy and wet snow. Our poor trees were bending from the weight of the snow. They hadn’t really recovered from the derecho we had in the summer and some of the branches looked awful. Tim’s parent’s lost a beautiful cherry tree from this snow!

Snow pup Tipsy thought it was amazing.. for a while at least:

Until she same inside and had massive snowballs hanging from her:

Since Sammy doesn’t like chocolate (he tried it again recently and didn’t care for it) we did an oil pastel activity to warm up.

We kept ourselves pretty busy playing and shoveling. So we wouldn’t miss Tim too much while he was gone.

Little bit of This and That

noreply@blogger.com (Lindsay) — Wed, 10 Apr 2013 12:44:00 +0000

Things have been busy around here! I joined a gym! Crazy I know!! Then a few weeks after joining the gym they started this partner weight loss challenge. My good friend Katie and I decide to do it! We are Team Diligence and it has been a lot of fun so far (tough but fun)! Basically you get points for working out, doing fitness and nutrition challenges % of weight loss, % of body fat lost. So with these changes in lifestyle it has thrown my schedule and routine for a loop. That seems to happen to me a lot. I have a good rhythm and things are getting done then I add one more thing in and everything comes crashing to a halt. I know I will find a new routine that works for us its just a matter of trying things until something works well.

Sammy also started something new! He is playing Tee-Ball this year and LOVING it! This is our first time in the little league organization and we quite impressed. I got his patch sewed on his uniform. The patch wasn’t on completely straight but it didn’t fall off after the first washing so I will count this as a success!

I am not sure if this is done at all little leagues or not but ours called out each coach and player individually and they run onto the field. I thought this was super neat way to encourage and honor each person. Here is Sammy’s team lined up and waiting for their turn (Sammy is the one in the back).

We had sleet in April! I still can’t believe it! This whole week is suppose to be in the 80s and I am loving it!

On Sunday we packed Sammy’s bike up to take to over to my in-law’s house. On the way over Sammy decided when he got bigger he wanted to be a paper boy. After we got there Sammy decided he could be one now. So he set to work to write his own newspaper. Then he rolled them up and put rubber bands around them. After our big Sunday meal we got out his bike. He needed a paper bag still so I dumped out my purse and he wore it around his neck with his newspapers. Then he rode his bike around the cul-de-sac and threw his newspapers into the neighbors driveways. It was seriously the cutest thing ever. One of his headlines was, “A Fire on a TV!” and the other one was something about a new newspaper boy!

A sign that spring is upon us… grilling season is here:

Just One!

noreply@blogger.com (Lindsay) — Sun, 07 Apr 2013 01:34:00 +0000

That is not the phrase…

That is not the phrase I want Sammy to hear. I don’t want him to ever think he wasn’t good enough. Or that Mommy and Daddy love him, but they always wanted more children. He is a blessing and an answered prayer; one that I hadn’t even yet prayed. When we got pregnant with Sammy over 6 years ago, it was easy. I didn’t know of the journey that we would be on after he was born.

Blessed with One

We are so very blessed and thankful to have Sammy! I am beyond thrilled that he calls me Mommy! When people say, “Oh you only have one.” I always try to say, “No, we are blessed with one.” Yes, it is true, we have only one child. I would be beyond thrilled to have more, but our family is complete because God makes it complete!

God Heard

Samuel means God heard. He knew the journey ahead of us. He never gives us more than we can handle. I believe this with all of my heart. I know this because he gave us Sammy before we knew about the years of infertility. He heard the prayer of my heart when I saw friends struggling with infertility when we were first married. God gave us Sammy as an answered prayer.

Sammy – you are and always will be enough for Mommy and Daddy and God!

Some Snowy Scattered Speculations

noreply@blogger.com (Lindsay) — Mon, 18 Mar 2013 17:03:00 +0000

Okay not really speculations but I was going for alterations so we will will just go with it!
It snowed last night. This morning Sammy said, “It’s beautiful but I am ready to go swimming. When will it be summer?” My thoughts exactly!
Tim got a new shirt this weekend and I still find it hilarious!

Why do the weekend seem to go by so fast? Also how come the ones we didn’t like as kids because there was nothing planned are the ones we love as adults?
We didn’t do anything super special for St. Patrick’s Day but we did wear our green. Tim and I taught the kids at bible study last night. I will write a post up on what we did to learn about St. Patrick.
On the way to bible study we were stuck behind not 1 but 2 horse and buggies going up a fairly steep hill. It took forever but I kinda loved it, it’s where I live:
Sammy loves buffets! He loves to pick out what he can have. Here is a picture from when he got the salad bar at Ruby Tuesdays

Yogurt parfaits make me happy
A little more about where I live… lots of train tracks. On the way to co-op on Friday I got stopped for an engine to go through:

Sammy loves to build things with Trio blocks. I might get him another set so he can build even more things!

Wordless Wednesday–My Business Cards Arrived!

noreply@blogger.com (Lindsay) — Wed, 13 Mar 2013 11:41:00 +0000

My business cards arrived and I am all set for HEAV in June! I have some fun plans in the works like what to take to convention, how to pick which speakers to go see, and how to tackle the exhibit hall. Is there anything else I should cover?

1,000+ Thankful List–Hot Drinks, Rain, and Birthdays

noreply@blogger.com (Lindsay) — Tue, 12 Mar 2013 14:36:00 +0000

91. Sammy getting excited to go over to his grandparents house each week. I know when I leave my job in June he will miss that time. I need to work on a way for him to still have some time to hangout with them!

92. So many wonderful friends getting excited to celebrate my 30th birthday next month!!

93. A husband that is throwing me a party for the big occasion!

94. The view from our street with the snow covered mountains in the background!

95. The rain that washed away pretty much all of the remaining snow! I am reading for the spring weather to be here for good!

96. An abundant supply of good books to read. I just finished reading Agenda 21 and it has gotten me thinking a ton!

97. The birthday season that is just beginning in our family. We have 11 birthdays in the next 3 months!!

98. Warm drinks on a rainy and dark morning

99. Those close friends that you can pick conversation back up with instantaneously.

100. My handsome guys!

Weekly Wrap-up Journal: Snow Storms and Convention Blogging

noreply@blogger.com (Lindsay) — Fri, 08 Mar 2013 16:10:00 +0000

In my life this week…

I have been doing the ‘single’ mom thing since Tim has been working 16+ hour days. Hopefully the electric co-op will have their power back on to all of their customers very soon. I am coming down with a bit of a cold and I’m hoping it doesn’t get any worse than it is!

In our homeschool this week…

I tried to have a snow day at our house on Wednesday but Sammy asked to do some math and then once he got started he wanted to do all of his work for the day! We finished reading Little House in the Big Woods and we both really enjoyed it. I have to figure out what we are going to be reading next! I have books 1-3 in Imagination Station series coming in the mail soon but I don’t think they will be here before Monday.

Helpful homeschooling tips or advice to share…

I don’t have anything to share this week but would like to ask for some advice.. anyone have tips for helping kids to memorize things. Sammy really struggles with anything he has to memorize (scriptures, skip counting, songs, rhymes, etc.). He gets frustrated when he can’t remember things so I am looking for some tips to help him through this.

Places we’re going and people we’re seeing…

We didn’t go out to much this week with all of the snow. However, we did pick up Nicia (my youngest sister-in-law) from her house so she could do internet school from our house since her parent’s house didn’t have power at that point.

My favorite thing this week was…

I found out I will be blogging for the HEAV (Homeschool Educators Association of Virginia) convention this year! They asked me to blog about the convention and spread the word about it. This will be my third year going to the HEAV convention and I have nothing but compliments for it. If you live in Virginia or a neighboring states please check out the convention website. I will post even more about this in the future!

My kiddo’s favorite thing this week was…

We busted out the oil pastels on Wednesday and Sammy really loved working with them. He asked if we could do more pictures with them this morning so I will be sure to set them out when we get home from co-op today.

Things I’m working on…

Well I worked on finished up a guest post fro Ticia at Adventures in Mommydom and it is up today. Go check it out! I am also working my pages here on my blog. I finished my About Me page! I am hoping to get the rest of them completed soon!

I’m cooking…

Whatever was quick and easy this week. We had some homemade pizza and some Annie's mac and cheese! Tim has been eating at work (all of his meals) which is a blessing with working that many hours!

I’m grateful for…

Our power stayed on through this snow storm! I am also thankful for all of the people that had to work because of the storm. Until Tim took this job I never really thought about the people that had to work because of the weather! I have some wonderful readers here on the blog and I thank-you for your kind words and prayers for those in my area this week!

I’m praying for…

The workers who are still out there trying to restore their services to their customers. I am praying for Tim’s safety as he is looking for the disturbances on the power lines. I am also praying for the people that still don’t have power. It is suppose to warm up this weekend but it is certainly cold out there today! I hope they are warm in their houses!

I rewarded my kids this week by…

We went to chick-fil-a for dinner last night. Sammy is really missing his Daddy so I rewarded him for his good behavior even when he has been sad. Since Tim has been leaving at 5am and not getting home until after 10 pm Sammy hasn’t seen him since he helped shovel him out on Wednesday morning and we woke him up.

Something I am ogling or have my eye on…

I am starting to look at new laptops. I haven’t blogged about it yet but I am leaving my job at the of June to come home full-time!! I will need to purchase myself a laptop before then!

A photo, video, link, or quote to share (silly, serious or both!)…

Sammy is at co-op this morning and I am not teaching this week. I am currently doing some of this:

Man Did It Snow (and a prayer request)!

noreply@blogger.com (Lindsay) — Thu, 07 Mar 2013 12:19:00 +0000

My area received its largest snow storm in over 3 years Tuesday night into Wednesday! We received around 15'” of snow with some areas receiving over 2 feet. I know for some parts of the country that isn’t much but here in Virginia it was a ton! This picture was taken when we were going to bed on Tuesday night. it was just starting to come down and stick to the deck:

Here is about 6 hours later when we got up to shovel the drive so Tim could make it into work. We got up at about 5:30 so he could make it in before 7 am. When you work for an electric cooperative you don’t get snow days! In fact Tim was gone for almost 16 hours yesterday!

Sammy heard us getting up and shoveling in the morning and wanted to come help. After we shoveled the drive way and said goodbye to Tim, Sammy started sledding. This was taken at about 6:15 am (that is snow ‘pouring’ down in the picture):

After a little rest and playing inside we took the dog out back to play and build a snowman. What we didn’t realize was we were also building a snow dog! Check out the GIGANTIC snowballs hanging off of the fur on her chest. Pretty much her whole underside (paws included) was covered in snow!

The snow was so wet they stuck right to her fur and built up quickly. Since she was so uncomfortable and cold I gave her a hot bath to melt the snowballs off of her fur. As much as she hates baths she felt a lot better after this and slept for a few hours!

Sammy and I worked on an oil pastel picture of a snow scene. I had never used oil pastels and I really enjoyed the process and so did Sammy! He isn’t one to like coloring but with the pastels he could smudge them to fill in his shapes without having to color it all in which was a hit for him! I think we will be investing in some chalk pastels and Hodgepodge’s chalk pastel e-book.

Then a little after 10pm Tim came home after being out in the snow all day! Tim usually works in the office but when a big storm like this hits its all hands on deck. Yesterday Tim was doing some work called bird dogging. Basically, they would drive to a section of power lines that they had known issues. They would walk the lines (in over 2 foot drifts) and find where something (or multiple somethings) that was causing a disturbance in the line. They would report it back to the ops center and they would notify the repair crew exactly where the issue was so they could start working on it right away instead of having to find the issue. So how do you stay warm and dry in a crazy snow storm.. well with one of these awesome outfits:

I never realized how much work an electric company goes through to restore power. There are tons of procedures to do to insure your safety as well as their own before they can restore the power. Please be praying for the people out working on restoring everyone’s power today! Those guys work hard to get power back on to you as soon as possible in way less than ideal work conditions. It’s dangerous and exhausting work! Even if you weren’t affected by yesterday’s storm the next time you lose power during a storm please be praying for your electric co-op (or company) and their employees’ safety!

Mystery of History–Ramses II (Ramses the Great)

noreply@blogger.com (Lindsay) — Wed, 06 Mar 2013 11:00:00 +0000

I had a hard time coming up with a hands on activity to go along with Ramses II (Ramses the Great). Then I decided we should build the façade of one of Ramses II’s greatest buildings a temple called Abu Simbel. We made the façade roughly to scale vertically compared to that little Lego mini figure. The length was WAY off scale. I think the length of the building was only 1/4 of the length. Sammy was still able to grasp that the building is HUGE and that they built it with out any machines.

1,000+ Thankful List–Sammy’s Show

noreply@blogger.com (Lindsay) — Tue, 05 Mar 2013 12:46:00 +0000

81. All the warning we are getting before this snow storm to get ready.

82. My awesome new blog design from Tiffany Kuehl Designs!

83. A boy that is such a healthy eater (he does like some junk food but mostly picks the fruit and veggies side of things)!

84. Pinterst and its overflowing inspiration for projects

85. Cough drops that sooth your throat (even if they taste nasty)

86. Sammy’s ability to serve himself a few breakfast options himself (yogurt, toast, or fruit)

87. My sweet mother-in-law gifting us with so many books and homeschooling materials!

88. A wonderful date night with my husband on Saturday

89. The newly organized toys at our house and the fact that they should be to stay that way (with labels and all)

90. Sammy’s never ceasing imagination!

Project 365–Week 8

noreply@blogger.com (Lindsay) — Sun, 03 Mar 2013 11:00:00 +0000

February 18, 2013

Washed potatoes ready for potato soup later in the week.

February 19, 2013

Somebody finished All About Reading Level 1.. Do you think he was excited about it?

February 20, 2013

Playing a reading review game. He looks mad but I think he was saying the sounds of a vowel.

February 21, 2013

An Egyptian headdress craft:

February 22, 2013

An at home date night game of Catan

February 23, 2013

Warm Saturday equals some sandbox playing:

February 24, 2013

Recently at Barnes and Noble Tim and I saw collection books on sale and we picked up two. The Chronicles of Narnia and Little House collection:

Mystery of History–Tutankhamen

noreply@blogger.com (Lindsay) — Wed, 27 Feb 2013 22:03:00 +0000

We read the all about Tutankhamen (King Tut). We decided to make a pharaoh headdress as our hands on activity. Sammy did pretty much all of the cutting and gluing on this activity. I helped him tape the two pieces of craft foam together and drew the shape of the headdress on it for him.
Apparently taking your shirt off to become a pharaoh makes you act super silly:

When possible I have been trying to add in books to read or look at pictures that relate to our history lessons. We read or looked at the following:

Amazon.com Widgets

We have had a lot of fun learning about Egypt and I can’t wait to do more when Sammy is older. But he really had fun that is what mattered to me!

Reading clips

noreply@blogger.com (Lindsay) — Tue, 26 Feb 2013 19:38:00 +0000

Now that we are done with All About Reading Level 1 we are reviewing by playing the games and re-reading the books. Sammy wanted to video tape himself reading through the books. Here are 2 of the 3 from last week (somehow I deleted one of them). Sorry they are sideways. I thought I could rotate them but ran into some issues. This week I will record them the correct direction!

Sammy Reading All About Reading Level 1 Story 1 from bytesofmemory on Vimeo.

All About Reading Level 1 Story 3 from bytesofmemory on Vimeo.

Wintery Lake Visit

noreply@blogger.com (Lindsay) — Mon, 25 Feb 2013 11:00:00 +0000

We took a trip to visit my parents earlier this month. Sammy wanted to test out his new fishing pole from Christmas and we wanted to have time to visit with my parents.

It was super cold but that didn’t deter Sammy from wanting to fish!

February Fishing

Sammy pretty much picked up right where he left off with fishing in the fall. He is a casting pro:

So my dad (Pop Pop) was actually able to fish along with him. Nothing was biting (I’m sure most of the fish were still dormant at the bottom of the lake) but they had fun none the less.

Seems wrong to be fishing with cloves and a winter hat and it not be ice fishing:

My mom and I stayed nice in warm in the house and worked on this fun little bag:

I learned how to do some basic embroidery and how to put a zipper into something! I can’t wait for it to warm back up so we can go over an enjoy the water and beautiful scenery even more!

Weekly Wrap-up Journal: Police Reports, field trips, and crafts

noreply@blogger.com (Lindsay) — Fri, 22 Feb 2013 18:32:00 +0000

In my life this week…

I had my wallet stolen so much of my week was filled with getting things replaced. I also did something I have never done before.. filed a police report. I need it in order to put a security freeze on my credit. I got everything done so now I am just waiting for pieces of my life to be mailed to me so they can go into my wallet.

In our homeschool this week…

We finished up our handwriting program this week. We also learned about Ramses II (or Ramses the Great). We have also been recording Sammy reading his All About Reading books as we have been reviewing them. I will upload them soon. We will be re-reading about 3 each week. I thought it would be fun for people that are just starting out with the program to hear a child read the stories at the end of the first level.

Helpful homeschooling tips or advice to share…

Yesterday we went to the children’s museum with some friends. While we were there, there was a kindergarten class there from a local elementary school. Sammy made fast friends with one of the girls from that class. Then when the class was leaving Sammy and his friend (also in Kindergarten) got in line with their class. So my advice.. don’t sweet the socialization stuff.. it comes naturally if you are out interacting with people!

Places we’re going and people we’re seeing…

We went to the children’s museum, library and science club. We had (having) some wintery mix so co-op was cancelled. We are hanging out at the house today playing games and reading books. We also went to the pet store for dog food which turned in to quite the field trip and learning about different animals this week:

My favorite thing this week was…

Hearing Sammy flying through his readers and finishing up some hands on activities to go along with our last two history lessons.

My kiddo’s favorite thing this week was…

The children’s museum was Sammy’s favorite. We did some fun learning there in addition to lots of play learning!

Things I’m working on…

being consistent with things. I know that sounds vague but things like cleaning, laundry, pictures of our school work, blogging, etc. I do really well for a while then fall of the bandwagon for a while. So I am trying to be consistent with it all and if I fall of with something to just start over again soon!

I’m cooking…

potato soup for dinner tonight. This weeks dinners have been about using things up out of the cabinets.

I’m grateful for…

cabinets that seem to be able to produce more meals than I could have imagined! Not having a debit card or a driver’s license (for writing a check) makes grocery shopping next to impossible.

I’m praying for…

continued health of our family. I am also praying for God’s timing with our family.

I rewarded my kid this week by…

getting chick-fil-a for lunch after going to the library yesterday.

Something I am ogling or have my eye on…

our curriculum choices for next year!

A photo, video, link, or quote to share (silly, serious or both!)…

Here is a sneak peek at one of our hands on history lessons:

Photo Dump

noreply@blogger.com (Lindsay) — Thu, 21 Feb 2013 11:00:00 +0000

This picture is so blurry but I love the pure joy on Sammy’s face after putting on his new angry birds bath towel. My sister made him two of them for Christmas this year and he LOVES them!

Here is a better picture of the towel. It is the black exploding angry birdie and there is a lot of sounds affects after his baths to go along with it ;-)

Nicia and Sammy playing Mario:

Tim, Nicia and I playing Dominion for the first time ever:

Where we store our sound equipment at church. Tim was standing on top of the subs getting something out of the trunk that got left there.

Our New Year’s Eve drink of choice (pear hard apple cider):

How Sammy slept on the way home New Year’s Eve (well it was actually New Year’s Day but you get the point):

Sammy’s self portrait:

Sammy’s links creation. He took this picture himself during quite time while I was working from home:

He also took this picture of his angry birds on his bed:

Sunrise.. not the greatest picture but I love seeing the sunrise:

Sammy’s hammock for his dogs:

Love happy hour at Sonic:

Working hard on his Explode the Code book:

My knight in shinning armor:

Sammy’s poor little face was so chapped. I put some our miracle eight hour cream on it and finally got it healed up:

On the Sunday’s we serve at church we are usually there from 7 am to 1pm.. we started a new tradition on those days go go out to lunch at a Mexican restaurant. These were my dates:

I found a new (to me) park near Tim’s office and we fell in love with it. Once it warms up some we will be eating a lot of lunches there:

Queen Tipsy:

A morning at the lake and this is what usually happens on the way home:

Tim’s little sister spent the night and we didn’t want to wake her up to early. So we started our school work in the master bedroom:

Sammy with his lolly pop mustache:

Sammy putting on a puppet show. I think this was the 3 little pigs:

Sammy and the door knob had a little altercation.. the door knob was fine.. Sammy’s forehead.. not so much (this was after 15 minutes of ice):

Ready for the John Mark McMillan show: