Tuesday

Rachel here. Another good day yesterday. I'm slowly learning that sometimes I have to let go and take a deep breath sometimes. Sometimes they just want to do what they want to do. They do have to finish a certain amount of work though if they want computer time. Yesterday Reese decided she didn't need computer time and did her own thing a good chunk of the time. I'm alright with that as long as she's busy and entertained. Baby steps.

Here's what we did get accomplished. Glass bead matched to her letter a sheet. Eventually these will be turned into magnets to be used with a cookie sheet. (CoaH)Lowercase clips matched to uppercase wheel. (CoaH)
Color by letter.
Emma Grace has a new found love for cutting. :)Vowel sort. (CoaH)Letter a hunt. She stamped two letters that weren't a's, which I thought was pretty good. I did point to each word individually, so it wasn't too overwhelming for her. We went over what sounds those letters actually make and called it a day. :) (CoaH)EG had no interest in actually tracing her letter a... instead she colored it in. :) (CoaH)Tuesdays are FIELD TRIP days. Since we were reading One Fish... by Dr. Seuss, I wanted to take the girls to look at fish. The plan was to go to the gardens/pond over on campus, but it was cold... so we headed to PetSmart. :) The girls had a blast! We took our magnifying glasses in and made a spectacle of ourselves... who wouldn't want to do that? The girls loved the mice and the birds. We left with two little igloo houses for their Zhu zhu pets. :) Then it was lunch at the girls' favorite hot spot Cracker Barrel. Reese just wanted to play with the sand. :-/ She made various shapes and letters.The Alphabet Game. This was really fun. Roll the dice, go to that spot, say the letter name/sound/and a word that starts with that letter. She beat me. :) (CoaH)
I think her favorite part may have been throwing the dice and running to find it. :) (Please ignore all the random shenanigans... our house is full of it... lots of different projects going on.)Reese: MORE... Color by letter... she was stalling from having to do her workbox work. :)After reading One Fish Two Fish Red Fish Blue Fish we had snack. :)
Reese: Dot-to-dot 1-20.
This was done by Reese... mainly in her underpants... and only underpants... hence the childless picture. :) (CoaH supposed to have been done with two different colored plastic spoons.)

Monday

Rachel here. Today went great! Sure there were ups and there were downs, but the tears were kept at a minimum on all parts... Reese was our big winner when it came to tears. She is the most emotional person I think I've ever met... you know... because being 4 is EXTREMELY difficult. :)

After dropping her off this morning and letting Emma Grace do some 'work' at preschool, we headed home to remove our pants, do a puzzle, and get started on our preschool day.Emma Grace's work boxes.Working with all of her letter a materials.
Sandpaper letter.Practicing writing the letter a in sand.Tracing the letter with glass beads. (CoaH)
Letter a coloring sheet. (CoaH) Upper/lowercase sort. (CoaH)After finishing most of her work, it was time for a little bit of computer interaction. We used Starfall for work on the letter a, the number 1, and the color red. Then I let EG listen to The Rainbow Fish on Storyline Online while I finished up some dishes.
Because it was WAY TOO COLD to play outside, Emma Grace and I bundled up and headed to our local toy store, Imaginations, for some indoor playtime.After leaving Imaginations, picking Reese up from preschool, and eating lunch, it was time for Emma Grace to hit the sack. Reese began her K4 time by doing an alphabet puzzle. (CoaH)Alphabetizing letter cards and then finding the upper/lowercase letter magnet matches. (CoaH)Matching lowercase clothes pins to uppercase letter wheel. (CoaH)After Emma Grace's quiet time was over, Reese and I went upstairs to read The Cat in the Hat to her. Upon finishing it was time to head back downstairs for snack. This is what I like to call a mediocre fail... while it has all the appropriate pieces... it's a little wonky. This is our interpretation of the Cat in the Hat's hat. Imagine if you will solid red Lifesaver Gummies (miscommunication with Bryan on that one), regular Oreos as opposed to the spring variety, and white frosting... not red. :) Ours are super fancy. (Pinterest)Today was ART DAY, so we made "Things." (Pinterest)After finishing all of her K4 work, Reese was able to have some computer time using More Starfall.EG managed to keep herself busy by practicing her numbers (large numbers on the floor, I would call out a number, and she would have to jump to it. We're new with number recognition, so we started with 1-5.),finishing her morning work... working on her ABC artwork book cover, reading Dr. Seuss books, and working on her new puzzle. This was really difficult for her. I think it was information overload. She knows all of her letter sounds and most of their names, but dealing with those two aspects and upper/lowercase letters... I definitely had to walk her through it. Once we got rolling though it really worked out nicely. I would point to the letter, say it's name and sound, and then she would have to find it.While I fixed dinner, Reese practiced cutting...
... and Emma Grace went on a puzzle building rampage.We ended the night with a Harold and the Purple Crayon video and some fastening practice.I'm EXHAUSTED... and tomorrow we start it all over again. :)

30 wks

Rachel here. Technically this picture is from today (30 wks 5 days) and not Tuesday (when I was actually 30 wks)... but who cares really right? :)I'm feeling pretty good. Mostly exhausted, but I'm trying to nap when I can, which sadly won't happen during the weekdays anymore with Reese doing preschool during Emma Grace's quiet time, but at least I'll have the weekends. I'm up 1 lb from last appointment 2 wks ago and craving milk once again... so no doubt my grand total thus far of 20 lbs will keep rising. Sadly I've had to keep an eye on how late I'm eating due to some unpleasant meetings with heartburn during the wee hours of the morning. And morning sickness is still my first thing in the morning pal. Add a cold/sinus shenanigans on top of that... it's awesome to say the least. ;)

Thursday we had our 3D/4D pictures done. Baby Boo is so cute I could die. I can't wait to meet her!

Reesie Nye the Science Gal... and her sidekick

Rachel here. This experiment is a lot like the other one we did a while back with baking soda and vinegar... but Reese wasn't any the wiser. :)

First we filled 4 different containers about half way with vinegar.

Second... the girls added food coloring to each container. Third... add a good squeeze of dish soap to each container and stir well.Then add a HEAPING teaspoon of baking soda to each.
Finally... stand back and enjoy the mess. :)

New Beginnings

Rachel here. Tomorrow is our "first" day of home/preschool. The girls are both super excited, and honestly... I think I am too. I'm anxious to get back to a routine... too much of our time has been wasted on vegging. :) With Emma Grace, we'll be working on the letter 'a' mostly, and Reese will be doing an alphabet review amongst other things. CAN NOT WAIT! Here are our schedules for both Thursdays and Fridays.

Thursday:
700-800 Morning routine
800-900 Puzzles/books/free Montessori time
900-1000 Pre K EG/K4 Reese
1000-1015 Snack
1015-1100 Pre K cont./K4 cont.
1100-1215 LIBRARY DAY/Playground/Play date
1215-100 Lunch
100-300 Quiet time EG/K4 Reese/Computer Reese
300-315 Snack
315-430 Outside/free play/YOGA
430-530 TV/Dinner prep
530-615 Dinner
615-650 Leapfrog Math Video
650 Bath/Bedtime routine

Friday:
700-800 Morning routine
800-845 Puzzles/books/free Montessori time
845-915 Preschool drop off
915-1000 Pre K EG
1000-1015 Snack
1015-1100 Pre K cont./Computer EG
1100-1215 Outside/free play/YOGA
1215-1245 Preschool pick up
1245-130 Lunch
130-300 Quiet time EG/K4 Reese/Computer Reese
300-315 Snack
315-430 BAKING DAY
430-530 TV/Dinner prep
530-615 Dinner
615-650 FAMILY GAME NIGHT!
650 Bedtime routine

Hopefully this week will go smoothly, and it will be easy to work out any kinks. :) HA! Can't wait to share what we accomplish!