Cows, C, & P (well, almost)
So… I really dropped the ball on preschool work this week! We really didn’t do that much, especially compared to last week. Oops. But here’s what we did do:
Sam wanted to learn about (in his words): “The letter C, the letter P, & cows. 2 letters & an animal!” So that’s what the plan was. Only I didn’t get around to drawing up the lesson plans or getting books til halfway through the week. Ahem. Like I said, oops.
We got a few books at the library about cows & other farm animals. I did a little research on what cows like & do, so we talked about the cow’s stomach & how it’s divided in 4 compartments. He thought it was gross how he throws up then eats his food again. 
We also talked about cows, bulls, calves, and what they eat (grass or milk). Sam got a little confused & said that cows eat milk cuz I also told him how we get milk from cows (and that calves nurse like Addi does…).
We did an online cow puzzle today. I also gave him a sheet of “C’s” I printed out and told him he could trace then color them. Well, he wanted to trace the C’s in every different color, so that’s what he did! Oh, and he learned cow starts with C.
Yesterday we ate ice cream, which was one thing on the list to do, but I totally forgot to mention how it comes from milk, which comes from cows… Hmmm. Next time I guess. lol
Earlier this week he glued little pieces of paper on the letter C worksheet I had for him. You may have noticed by now, but we didn’t do anything “P” related. Another oops.
The most fun thing we did, however, was “milk a cow”. No, we didn’t get to go to a farm to do so… but I made some “udders” out of a plastic glove, filled it up with water, poked a small hole in one of the fingers with a safety pin, and let each of the kids take turns milking the “cow”. They really liked it, and here are some pictures:
Addi milking the cow:
Sam milking the cow:
And so… I’m hoping I get a little more organized for next week. It’s not like he didn’t learn anything… He got to do more housework this week than usual (he helped clean the bathroom, vacuum, and sweep, as well as help pick up toys, etc.) but it’s just not as “tangible” to blog about.
Have a great weekend, everyone!
Ahhh… Fragrance
What comes to your mind when you hear the word “fragrance”? Personally, I think of perfume or cologne. Then when I keep thinking about it I think of flowers, food, etc. Well, have you ever heard of this fragrance?
But thanks be to God, who always leads us in triumph in Christ, and manifests through us the sweet aroma of the knowledge of Him in every place.
For we are a fragrance of Christ to God among those who are being saved and among those who are perishing;
to the one an aroma from death to death, to the other an aroma from life to life. And who is adequate for these things?
For we are not like many, peddling the word of God, but as from sincerity, but as from God, we speak in Christ in the sight of God.
I was reading this passage today & decided to do some exploring of the original language. The word “fragrance” in verse 15 means, “a sweet odor, spoken of the smell of sacrifices & obligations, agreeably to the ancient notion that God smells & is pleased with the odor of sacrifices”.
I used to just think we “smelled like Christ” to people… They could see his love, his patience, his quality traits, etc. But when we are the fragrance of Christ, we are literally the smell of Christ’s sacrifice on the cross. God is reminded of His Son’s sacrifice when he sees us, his children, and he is pleased! The people around us see Jesus’ sacrifice when they see us too, not just the character of Christ – but the sacrifice of Christ for them. To some, that reminds them of the life they have in Him. To others, it reminds them of their impending death.
In verse 17, it says we speak in Christ in the sight of God. The original Greek for “in the sight of God” means that God is the judge; we don’t have to worry about what others think. It’s God judging us, and we need to make sure we are speaking the word of God from sincerity (meaning purity, ingenuousness, naivety).
So that’s my word study to share with you today. I really like to study God’s word instead of “just” reading it. Try it out! It’s fun!
He’s still working on me
God is doing amazing things in my life. I had a mindset, lies I believed to be true, a lifestyle I lived by… and it has all changed. This isn’t something small, people. It’s something huge. I need to call it sin, even though I don’t want to call it that. Doesn’t matter. Whatever excuses I try to make, no matter who I try to blame, it was my sin & I’m owning up to it. And because I’ve done that, & acted upon it, I am being set FREE! I cannot explain it. I have so much joy, so much peace, so much freedom, so much JESUS! I want to share it with the world, but I also feel like I need to be specific in who I share it with & at which particular moments as God leads.
Which brings me to this point: I want to bask in this victory, take a break & enjoy it, etc. That may be all good & fine except… I have to keep moving forward. I can’t “just” bask in it. I have to let God who began a good work in me carry it on to completion until the day of Christ Jesus (Phil. 1:6). I need to let God “move on to the next thing” in my life & not take a break from Him changing me to be the person I need to be. I feel such relief that I’ve given this (huge) area over to God… but I can’t quit there. I must “run in such a way as to get the prize” (1 Cor. 9:24b). He has so much more to do in me & through me, and I’m excited!!
- What has God recently done in your life?
- Is it easy to just “stay there” & enjoy it, talking & thinking about how great it is?
- What do you think God is trying to work on in your life right now if you will continue in the race instead of taking a water break?
- Take some time to thank God, share with others about what he’s doing, then continue to run the race!
Pig Week – day 2b & 3
So on Wednesday I posted before we finished everything we had planned, but basically all I ended up doing was helping Samuel & Addison make pig snouts to wear (Addison was afraid to put hers on. She ended up chewing on it. Ew.):
Then Thursday we went somewhere in the morning & I’m beginning to realize that if we do any out-of-the-house activity in the mornings, there probably won’t be much “school” that day!
So today Samuel traced letter “O’s” and “P’s”, made a pig puppet & read some more pig books with it, & made pig “slop”. We may do some more activities this afternoon; there are some pig games & a pig jigsaw puzzle online I may have him try. I also had a couple more games/crafts but it takes preparation & I haven’t done it yet so… dunno if I’ll get there. So here are some pictures:
Samuel’s letter “O’s” – traced with a black marker:
Pig puppet (kinda hard to see, but he colored it pink really well):
We made slop out of chocolate pudding (both kids liked stirring the milk in the mix), and here are the other ingredients we used:
Addison stirring the slop base:
Far shot of the finished product (I put the “ingredients” on a plate for them to choose which ones they wanted to put in their individual bowls. Addison mostly ate the ingredients. lol):
Sam’s pig slop, after being stirred (before it was stirred, he said his looked like they were having a Christmas party. lol I’m guessing cuz it was so colorful & fun?):
Addi’s slop:
I wonder what next week’s theme will be… Hmmm. Stay tuned! 
Pig week – day 2, part a
So this morning we got up & worked on a preschool paper – the letter “O” & the letter “P”. Samuel drew lines to the words that started with the particular letters (he needed help with the “O”, but knew which one was “P”), then we used glue to trace the letters & put rice on them to make the outlines of the letters. Sam putting the rice on the “O”:
Finished paper:
Next we went outside to gather some grass. Then we came back in & read The Three Pigs by David Wiesner, which is a twist on the old story “The Three Little Pigs”. After we read the story, we tried making a house out of grass & talked about why it didn’t work (too little, etc.). We tried making a house out of “sticks” (we used toothipicks) & talked about why it didn’t work (looked like it may work, Sam suggested using glue, but in the end it wasn’t strong enough). Then we made a house out of “bricks” (wooden unit blocks) and it worked! We talked about why – it was strong, sturdy, etc.
While I was reading the book & talking about building the right kind of house, it reminded me of the Bible story Jesus was telling in Matthew 7 about the Wise & Foolish Builders. My paraphrase went like this:
Jesus said if you listen to him & obey him, you’ll be like a smart guy who builds a strong house. What happens to our house when it rains? It just gets wet. It doesn’t fall down. But if we don’t listen to Jesus & obey him, we aren’t smart guys & we’ll build a weak house. When it rains it’ll fall & crash. That’s like our lives. If we listen & obey Jesus we’ll be strong & it’ll be okay if something bad happens to us cuz we are strong because of Jesus. But if we don’t listen & obey Jesus & something bad happens we’ll be weak & fall down.
Not quite sure if he got it, but hey, I tried! He’s pretty good at remembering Bible stories told to him at church, but since this one was more applicable to our lives with not many “characters” I’m not sure how much it’ll stick. We’ll see!
Pig week – day 1
After a week or so break from school, Sam decided this week he wants to learn about pigs, people, & the letter “O” so we got some books on the subject, and I started googling snacks, crafts, & other ideas. I found a lot, but the craft I chose for Monday took so long that we only really got to a couple of things. And Tuesdays are crazy (story time at the library, home for lunch/nap, then to karate) that I don’t think we’ll have much time for “school” on Tuesdays.
We are also starting a “trial routine” to see how it goes.
- Get up, dressed, teeth brushed
- Breakfast
- Bible story/memory verse
- Outside play
- Snack
- Craft/activity or “school” paper
- Free play (Sam reminded me I forgot this! Ha!)
- Lunch
- More craft/activity/school
- Nap
- Snack & activity if have time
- Class at community center
- Fix dinner w/mom (or watch tv if they can’t help)
- Dinner
- Evening schedule varies
So Monday for the Bible story we read about the parable of the Lost Son, since he ended up eating pig slop. Then we worked on making a piggy bank by putting tissue paper on an oatmeal container w/a glue & water mixture (paper mache style).
We made “pig trough buckets” from which they ate their lunch. Sam asked to use his pig bucket again today. (In case you can’t tell it’s just a plastic cup w/holes punched so a piece of string could fit through so they could hold it.)
We watched a few pig videos on YouTube: pigs rolling in the mud, pot belly pig doing tricks, baby pigs nursing, smallest pigs in the world, and pigs eating slop.
We have several pig books from the library we read as well as some about people (how they are different, etc.).
So that’s what we did Monday. Tuesday we didn’t do much. We read Noah’s Ark for Bible time (since pigs got on the ark…) & we finalized our piggy bank & Sam put money in it. Oh, and we started watching “Babe: Pig in the City” but Sam got bored, then scared of it later on. I agreed it wasn’t such a fun movie. Oh well. I also got Charlotte’s Web. I know that one’s good. More later!
Sam’s new look
Okay, I just had to share these pictures with everyone. Samuel has this necklace that Chris’ family gave him & he found out it was his & wanted to wear it. Well, I decided to piece together this outfit, and now…. Well, let’s just say you know we’re now living in the ghetto. Enjoy!
End of Airplane Week
Whoa, I totally got behind on the blogging. We finished up “A is for Airplane” week last Thursday & Friday.
We made “A” collages. First the kids colored the letter “A” – upper & lower case. Sam wanted to trace his letters. He did very good at it & traced them in several colors. I cut them out & the kids glued them on a big sheet of paper. Then I had the kids look at magazines. Sam found “A’s” and things that started with “A” (I helped only for 2 of the items). Then we took some paper & glued the pictures from the magazine on it (Addi wouldn’t let me help her look for A-words; she just liked looking at the magazine, so her paper only has the A’s she colored).
Sam’s “A Collage”:
Addi’s A’s:
We also made “propellers”. Now this one is the most simple & I wasn’t very creative on it, but Sam ended up loving his propeller, wanting to take it to show our friend, and carrying it around everywhere. I printed out a propeller, glued it to a part of a cereal box to make it sturdy, cut it out, then taped it on the end of a straw! Like I said… simple. It was the best way to show how propellers worked. We spun it around in our hands.
Sam’s propeller:
Sam spinning his propeller:
Addi’s propeller (I know, I know. She has no clothes on. It’s okay. It’s still “summer” & still warm, at least inside. Plus the marker comes off her skin better than her clothing!):
So then Friday night we ended the week by going to the airport to see some real, huge airplanes. We ended up going WAY later than we thought (I think we got there at 9:30pm?), so it was totally dark. As we were driving up we saw a smaller airplane in a “garage” (hangar). We parked in the short-term parking & went inside. Sam got to ride on the “moving sidewalk”, the escalators (which Addi really liked!), & we got to see the ticket counter, security check, and the baggage claim. Then since we couldn’t see any real airplanes inside, we went back to the parking deck & stood in the cold, slightly rainy air & watched for planes. We got to see 2 take off – we could hear them & see the lights. I also saw one land but I don’t think the kids saw it.
Here’s a pic of the family on the moving sidewalk:
Samuel & Addison watching for airplanes on the bridge that Sam loved:
It was a great week, and we also got to “eat” an airplane as well. I took a banana, sliced it in half, stuck some tortilla chips in them as wings, then used some mini marshmallows for windows. Here’s Sam’s:
Thanks for reading & looking at the pictures!
It’s already almost Wednesday this week & it has been crazy. Yesterday I was unable to move without having intense vertigo in the morning, then my car broke down & we spent all afternoon working that out, then it was nap, etc. so no “school” yesterday. Then today was spent doing some really important (and hard-to-reach) phone calls & online searches, and some thorough cleaning of the house, so no school yet again. Tomorrow I’m hoping to start on “B is for Brain”… We’ll see how that goes or if it takes a turn for a different theme. Only time will tell!
