Lunch with a Zookeeper

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August 15, 2012 By Jennifer Lambert Leave a Comment

To celebrate our new year with Apologia Land Animal science, we went on a great field trip!

We had lunch with a zookeeper at Hogle Zoo!

They served the humans pizza and we got to ask questions and learn about animal enrichment!

Here are Tori and Katie with their warm-up activity: a word search and information sheets that Dad and I read to them about zoo careers.

Our zoo educator with a ferret

We even got to pet the ferret!

A zookeeper with a macaw.

Providing enrichment to the lemurs. We drew on their exhibit’s glass.

The girls really enjoyed drawing for the lemurs. They loved helping the animals not be bored.

We watched the zookeeper provide a snack in enriching hanging baskets.

It was fun watching their antics as they got their treats!

A fun touchy feely center

Then we were let loose into the zoo.

We bee-lined for the new Rocky Shores exhibit to see the seals, sea lions, and bears.

I think I love the zoo more than the girls!

The seals and sea lions are all rescue animals. One is completely blind and another is blind in one eye. Due to injuries by humans. So sad.

We got to review the differences in seals and sea lions that we learned last year in Apologia Swimming Creatures.

The polar bear was swimming and doing flips underwater. We watched him a long time. He was so funny!

He kicked off these rocks and flipped and just swam in a circle to the surface.

Hi there!

There are three grizzly bears rescued from Yellowstone.

Their mother had to be put down and they were rehabilitated and brought to the zoo.

The bears were romping in the water like they were still cubs!

We went to check on the tigers before we left and they were sleeping in the heat of the day. Maybe next time!

Visit Hogle Zoo and check out their education programs!

Literature Study (or Book Report) Notebooking Pages

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Homeschool Space in Utah, Part 2

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August 13, 2012 By Jennifer Lambert 4 Comments

We are so very blessed to have a basement where most of our homeschooling is accomplished and our stuff is stored. This leaves the upstairs to look neat and tidy, most of the time!

Would you like a tour of our basement? I didn’t grow up with a basement and this is very exciting for me!

At the bottom of the stairs are these lovely closets and room for Alex’s sensory items and puzzle drawers (there’s another drawer to the left on the other side of the closet). There was no pretty angle to take this picture! I was balancing on the stairs! My husband built the sensory table. The purple bin holds our Montessori sand tray and under the table is our light box with manipulatives.

‘Round the corner, my main kids’ school books shelf…past and future Tapestry of Grace, science, Bible books go here. Also, some reference books are stored here that the kids don’t use as often. The bottom shelves store some Color Wonder, Do-a-Dot books, magnet books, dry erase books, and Educubes.

Our “main” school room. Tori’s and Katie’s matching desks. So pleased to have these. They match the girls’ bedroom sets, so eventually they may fit in their room, or they can take the whole set with them someday (in a far off future!) I found them at yard sales. I also found the awesome table and chairs set at TWO DIFFERENT yard sales – totaling $35! I keep our theme books in the little gutter tray under our picture frames with our daily lessons. The bulletin boards haven’t been updated with our weekly Bible verse(s) or themed word wall yet.

The window is worthless because the deck covers it and it messes up my whole wall arrangement! Oh well, we rent, so there’s nothing I can do. I’d rather not see the window well and all the critters in there. Maybe I could just get a BIG white board and cover it all up.

The girls’ cubes (modified workboxes since they share) are on the opposite wall of the above picture. I also have their weekly word family wall above it.

Alex’s corner. I moved our calendar to his area since he’s the one who needs to work on it now. There’s a chair railing than goes around the ENTIRE basement – weird and it messes with my poster placement! grr!

Every classroom should have a fishtank, no? ack, it needs cleaning!

Our media center and choice vicinity of family read alouds. The TV is my husband’s dowry, lol. He really wants to upgrade. I suppose after 8 years, we should. The screen is pretty much done – sticky and written all over.

Behind the sofa, we have our reading center. The shelf on the left holds all of Elizabeth’s books that the girls are now inheriting – American Girl, Dear America, Royal Princess Diaries, Magic Tree House, some classics. The little shelf on the right holds picture books , among them our vast collection of Berenstain Bears, Magic School Bus, and Dr. Suess.

The light green cube on the left holds current unit/week Tapestry of Grace books for the girls.
The dark green cube on the right holds our living math books for Alex and the girls.

Here is Elizabeth’s cube system (in progress). One cube per subject – history, foreign language, Bible, math, science, LA. The striped basket holds her art books and supplies. The notebooks propped on the floor need to be gone through- old papers put into the portfolio, reorganized, etc. Liz likes to do her work upstairs (away from the little ones and I don’t blame her!) I’ve given her a letter try to turn in completed work for our conference. Her agenda and TOG binder and Kindle are on the left. In the magazine file are her minioffices with a big bunch of notebook paper.

We have a craft room too. Liz’s and my sewing machines are here (messy with mending piled up!) That’s my grandmother’s sewing basket on the floor!

Here is our new craft table! I need one more chair and the three girls can sit here and work together on projects. They worked here, decorating their math journals last week.

Back upstairs is MY domain and conference area. On the left, on the other side of the wall, is the piano keyboard and kids’ computer.

There’s also another bookshelf, just inside the doorway. These two bookshelves hold reference materials and “my” books on literature and Bible. I also have some nicer children’s books on the bottom shelves that I monitor so they don’t get messed up. Some were mine when I was a kid!

I know we’ll not have this much space probably every again, but it’s so nice to be a little spread out while we can!

See our curriculum list for this year here!

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Salt Dough Maps

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August 11, 2012 By Jennifer Lambert Leave a Comment

Fun Dyed Salt Dough Maps for Geography

We made lovely maps of landforms for geography study.

We used the book Geography from A to Z for reference. The toothpicks were for labels.

Always fun to let them get them their hands dirty mixing the flour, salt, and water! Sticky!

Fun sensory play.

I separated the dough into three sections and dyed them yellow for desert, blue for water, and green for land.

Alex liked using play dough tools.

Kate was very particular placing her land and water dough.

Tori loved the hands on activity!

Liz liked rolling out her dough.

We placed toothpicks in parts of the wet dough maps.

After the maps dried, we glued handwritten flags to the toothpicks, labeling the land formations.

It will dry and harden overnight. You can add painted details!

How do you make geography fun?

Also see this salt dough map of the Nile River Delta. Check out no-bake cookie dough maps and chocolate chip cookie maps.

Salt Dough

Ingredients

1 cup AP flour
1/2 cup salt
1/2 cup warm water
food coloring optional

Instructions

Mix ingredients together with a wooden spoon or plastic spatula or by hand.
Divide into thirds. Add yellow to 1/3 (desert), blue to 1/3 (water), and green to 1/3 (grass) to make land maps.
It will harden so keep in a zip bag in fridge until ready to use.

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Painting With Ice

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August 10, 2012 By Jennifer Lambert Leave a Comment

Added food coloring to water and froze it in an ice cube tray.

We painted with it. I think I need to make the colors darker. It was pretty watercolor-looking abstract stuff though. The kids loved it. I think freezing the colored water in muffin tins and using wooden sticks would make for better holding onto. Maybe.

Frozen Fun! Painting with Ice

Of course, it was 97* so we painted outside on the driveway.

Ths kids had lots of fun watching the ice melt onto the paper. They explored and learned.

So happy they didn’t once complain that their hands were cold. They even saved the cubes to try again another day. They really liked this activity!

Then we wanted to eat ice!

Homemade frozen pops! I found this cute little pop tray at Walmart, I think.

We made tropical punch Kool-Aid, homemade lemonade, and grape Kool-Aid popsicles. They were yummy and the kids loved them! I like the reusable holders.

Liz wants to try yogurt pops, pudding pops, ice cream pops, and root beer pops. My, she’s creative.

I can’t wait to explore and try healthier alternatives – with no additives, but we’re using up the pantry.

Their expressions crack me up!

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Grapevine Studies Ruth Review

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August 9, 2012 By Jennifer Lambert 2 Comments

We were SO excited to get our Ruth Bible study books in the mail from Grapevine Bible Studies.

I met Dianna Wiebe and her friend, DeeDee, at the Utah Homeschool Convention down in Provo.

Liz and I went out to dinner with them and then joined them at their hotel and hung out in the pool. It was a great evening.

I also recently reviewed the Esther Bible study. It was awesome. A fairy tale!

My drawings. I never said I was an artist. I did figure out if I draw a grid to make four squares on the board, it makes it easier for the kids to follow along. It matches the 4 square grids on their papers. Tori especially was mixing up the drawings on her paper. She’s a perfectionist and her stick figures are awesome.

Liz relaxing while she draws her stick figures.

Tori and Katie act like they compete to finish the quickest.

The teacher book has everything drawn out for me to copy onto the white board. I alternate between reading the Bible story, drawing the stick figures, and summarizing the lesson. Some of the drawings crack the girls up. They love it. And they remember it.

The student books have the blank grids for the kiddies to draw in the stick figures like mine. It was an important moment when I had that revelation to draw a grid on my white board to match theirs. No more tears or questions about where we were in the lesson! My three girls are always on a different picture from each other. Of course, nothing is ever easy.

Then our favorite page: Draw your favorite part of the lesson. The girls love this one. And then they write their memory verse.

Alex’s favorite part was when I drew Boaz sleeping. He kept pointed to the stick figure on the board and telling me, “He’s sleeping!” He recognized that. Precious. I told him the man’s name is Boaz. “He’s sleeping!” Then for the next stick figure, I drew Boaz finding Ruth at his feet. They’re both sitting on the threshing floor. Alex’s reaction: “He’s up now!” Glad he’s part of our Bible studies!

Check out my other Ruth review. Liz Curtis Higgs raps the book of Ruth!

Liz and I got a little crazy and rewrote The Lion Sleeps Tonight. Come on, you know every time you hear the name Elimelech, you want to sing it.

We’re very excited to start Old Testament Basics next month. Look forward to that review in a while though. It’s a much longer text! A great big thanks to Grapevine Bible Studies for providing the Ruth study free for an honest review.

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Pineview Reservoir Nature Study

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August 8, 2012 By Jennifer Lambert Leave a Comment

We got to experience nature up close and personal when we went camping!

Here was our little buddy. He wasn’t shy at all! He wasn’t even bothered when we made a fire in the pit. He sniffed around looking for scraps.

Just a little walk and we found ourselves at this glorious creek. The water was icy cold, but that didn’t stop the kids from playing in it! Several of the older kids caught some brook trout too!

Lovely wildflowers abounded all over the campground and trails.

Just look at that view! There was a great no wake reservoir with trout. I didn’t catch anything though. The kids loved trying to fish. You can also see the lovely storm coming in that drenched us for a few minutes.

I love how lush and green the mountains are. We saw deer too!

Here’s the road that led from the campground to the lake. Christmas trees!

I had great fun examining the thistles on the lakeshore, just buzzing with bees. Did you know there are about 33 different species of bees native to Utah? It is the Beehive State!

There are 3,500 species of bees in the U.S. and 20,000 species in the world.

See the different stripes and shape of the abdomens?

Hi there!

It was exciting to see wild raspberries all over the campground and near the lakeshore!

Here’s the view from the other side of the lake. I love the clouds in this shot reflecting in the water. It was so gorgeous and peaceful here!

We went kayaking too. The girls could really handle their own kayak and now we want our own! We definitely look forward to camping again. It’s like nature study in a bundle. It was so nice to be without electronics. We didn’t even have a cell signal.

ProSchool Membership - Productive Homeschooling

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Prayer Journal for Homeschooling

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August 7, 2012 By Jennifer Lambert 20 Comments

I have a prayer journal for our family each year.

I love going back to view the answered and unanswered prayers and see our spiritual growth and blessings.

I had this lovely lilac journal lying around for just the thing. Isn’t it lovely? I bought it at Walmart (It’s a Dayspring product and I can’t find it anywhere online; must be discontinued) a while back because I thought it was so pretty.

Here is a similar Prayer Journal that I like too. I hadn’t really thought about what I’d use it for, but God knew I would come across it and He was ready to nudge me to start this prayer journal.

My first prayer journal entry.

It’s about my eldest because she’s the child I am most worried about this school year.

I hadn’t thought about format, but here I starred the topics where I most want to see improvement. Only God can do that and if He uses me to help do that, I am willing. I dashed off a few ways I am already planning to help her in those areas. I’m sure God has His own agenda. He always seems to, eh?

Often, I have to get out of the way.

Then I prayed right there on the page.

I hope my prayer isn’t too selfish.

I need her to be independently working so I can teach the middle kids and keep the toddler interested in tot school and out of trouble.

I know I often expect too much of my eldest. She has so much responsibility. I often rely on her too much.

I also pray that I can keep on schedule and on track with planning lessons so that everything runs smoothly this year. No more winging it with three officially in school and a toddler on the loose! I have to be diligent with meal planning, lesson planning, gathering materials, library books, printing and laminating, and being cheerful about it all.

That cheerful part is the hardest, let me tell ya. My husband doesn’t like coming home to The Grouch.

I think my next prayer entry should be about me and my attitude and how it affects my family.

I hope, in the spring or early summer, I can look back over my prayers and concerns and successes and failures to see how God has moved through our homeschool, through our family. How he has pruned us to be fruitful.

We are so blessed to be able to teach the kids at home.

It’s been years and I still update my prayer journal every fall and spring and it’s such a blessing to see where God has led our family!

As a military family, we often pray for great opportunities for our family when we PCS every few years. It’s getting more and more difficult as the kids get older for them to find extracurriculars and friends. It’s like the community falls away more and more as the kids get older.

Ways I pray for our homeschool and our children:

academics
best materials for each child
safety
good attitudes
schedule help
my attitude and cheerfulness
good influences in friends, coaches, teachers
understanding and comprehension for difficult materials
extracurricular classes and funds
driving lessons
dual credit options
part time work options
college, trade school, vocation
tests and exams
scholarships
relationships with peers, teachers, parents
Scripture

I love that I’ve homeschooled my eldest all the way to college and the other three kids are doing great!

You Might Like:

Prayer for Quarantine
Maybe We’re Not Lost
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How I Pray
How Journaling Helps Me
Journals Unlimited “Write it Down!” Series Guided Journal
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Refillable Notebook
Journaling with Jesus: How To Revolutionize Your Devotional Life Through the Discipline of Journaling
Prayer Journal For Women: 52 Week Scripture, Guided Prayer Notebook For Women Of God
Bible Promises for Moms
Letters to You: A Modern Heirloom Memory Book to Capture Childhood Moments Through the Years
The Better Mom Prayer Journal

How do you pray for your children?

Linking up: Pinch of Joy, House on Silverado, April Harris, CWJ, Mostly Blogging, Grammy’s Grid, Pam’s Party, Pieced Pastimes, Moment with Franca, Random Musings, Stroll Thru Life, Jenerally Informed, Shelbee on Edge, Eclectic Red Barn, Bijou Life, LouLou Girls, Suburbia, Soaring with Him, InstaEncouragements, Anchored Abode, Ridge Haven, Ducks in a Row, Fluster Buster, Ginger Snap, Thistle Key Lane, OMHG, Penny’s Passion, Try it Like it, Artful Mom, Debbie Kitterman, Slices of Life, Simply Beautiful, Cottage Market, Hubbard Home, Being a Wordsmith, Answer is Choco, Momfessionals, Lauren Sparks, Imparting Grace, CWJ, Anita Ojeda, Modern on Monticello,

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My Favorite Math Sites

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August 6, 2012 By Jennifer Lambert Leave a Comment

We’re going in a different direction for math this year.

I just love the idea of math journals.

I’m using Life of Fred math with Elizabeth. We just got the Fractions book. She does the lessons so quickly that I am having her complete a couple each day. We’ll try to do a journal every other day. I am so not a math teacher, so this will be difficult for me to get in the groove. I plan to start out slowly to help us get the hang of it. She can do her LoF work in the journals to keep everything together. I will supplement with mathbooking (math+notebooking!) as needed. Liz really hates lapbooks, so I will have to make it not so artsy, more note taking and visual interest. We’re collecting living books; a few I have already, and lots of others are at the library.

With Tori and Katie, we’re doing Singapore math 1B and I will supplement with Life of Fred and we’ll do journals maybe once a week or so. Tori really loves math and makes her daddy proud. I’m going slowly with these two because there’s no rush. We’ll do a Singapore lesson every Monday, then LoF on Tuesday. Wednesdays will be journal day. Thursdays and Fridays they can do apps, board games, or Funnix.

After searching the Internet for ideas, I’ve come across some awesome websites with a plethora of math ideas. I’ve listed them here in no particular order.

I love middle school math blogs since most middle school teachers only teach one or two subjects and if these math teachers have great blogs showing all their fun ideas, then they are probably great math teachers!

The elementary blogs often have lots of great fun teaching tips, but you may have to dig to find the math goodies in between all their other fun stuff.

Enjoy my ten go-to sites for math:

This is what started it all. I have ruminated on this for about a year, y’all. My husband is old-school. He would love to have a cute little one room schoolhouse in our basement, but that’s just not feasible or desirable with a toddler, 2 primary girls, and a middle schooler! Often, I have 4 different levels to teach! (Tori and Katie are a year apart in age, but eons different in personality and sometimes quite different in abilities!). Tori wants to learn cursive, for instance, and Katie is still mastering manuscript.

1. Middle School Math Madness. I think this lady really enjoys what she does! I wish I had had a teacher like her in 7th grade!

2. Runde’s Room has some great products for sale and lots of fun freebies. Very exciting stuff! She’s pinned all over Pinterest and has a great teacher store. I love her math journaling ideas.

3. Homeschool Share has some great math notebooking and lapbook materials! Subtraction lapbook and games and a division lapbook. These will be fun for Tori and Katie. Liz won’t do them, I bet. We’ll see. She can choose if she wants to or not.

4. Math N Spire: Some really great math lab ideas. Some really “getting in and doing it math.” Innovative! Liz might like the projects. Great for kinesthetic learners!

5. Step Into Second Grade: A good blog for primary work, not just math. I love the flip book idea! Also printables and freebies! Great pics and examples to help me, a visual learner.

6. Tales of Frogs and Cupcakes…is that not a great blog title? I’m so jealous, lol…Great pics and examples for math journals. Again, I’m visual and this has eye candy!

7. The First Grade Parade has many great ideas! I love this one for money learning. I have to adapt some stuff for notebooking since it’s classroom poster type stuff.

8. Homeschool Math blog with great resources and sister site Homeschool Math. Great articles!

9. Blog, She Wrote: math journaling article with great links to other sites. A mom in action with math journaling her kiddos! hurrah!

10. Our Journey Westward. Lovely examples of using living math books. Cindy writes her own curriculum at Shining Dawn Books – Now Our Journey Westward.

So, I hope to begin with our math journals in a couple weeks with our math journals. I have some lovely composition books, but I may go get some blank journals instead. Liz has a summer math course the next two weeks which I hope will give her some much-needed review and more confidence in math.

I’m kinda excited to get started. I fear math. I really do. I can do money math and the basics and that’s about it.

I am so pleased that Elizabeth loves the Life of Fred books. I probably projected my math fears onto her. My husband says so. This whole pre-algebra thing is at my math abilities limit. I really don’t know how I got through algebra I&II and geometry in high school. So, I’ll do things differently with Tori and Katie. I’ll probably have to do everything differently with Alex. He’s a boy. He throws me for a loop every single time.

Check out more of my math favorites here:

Follow Jennifer’s board Math Journals on Pinterest.

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God Knows Your Name Book Review

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August 6, 2012 By Jennifer Lambert 2 Comments

I reviewed God Knows Your Name: In a World of Rejection, He Accepts You by Catherine Campbell.

“What’s in a name? That which we call a rose/ By any other name would smell as sweet.” Shakespeare

Names are important.

We pore over baby name books trying to find that perfect moniker for our children. A name that will define him or her. A name that evokes whatever trait or virtue we wish him or her to possess.

I know I was troubled by finding just the right spelling for my four babies. I didn’t want them to go through life explaining their names to everyone or spelling it out for people. When I was a high school English teacher, I had some students with rather creative names. There were random dashes and capital letters in the middle of names. I sure didn’t want to do that to my kids. I almost spelled my firstborn: Elisabeth, but then I changed my mind almost at the last minute to the Z because I imagined her forever telling folks her name “with an S.” Our youngest girl will probably have the most trouble because there are so many ways to spell Katherine. Our featured author has hers with a C. Then there are several different endings: –ryn, -arine, –rine. Ah, well.

Names are important.

God knows our names.

Fear not, for I have redeemed you; I have called you by name, you are mine. When you pass through the waters, I will be with you; and through the rivers, they shall not overwhelm you; when you walk through fire you shall not be burned, and the flame shall not consume you. For I am the Lord your God, the Holy One of Israel, your Savior. I give Egypt as your ransom, Cush and Seba in exchange for you. Because you are precious in my eyes, and honored, and I love you, I give men in return for you, peoples in exchange for your life. Fear not, for I am with you; I will bring your offspring from the east, and from the west I will gather you. Isaiah 43:1-5

Doesn’t that just make you happy to know that our Father in Heaven knows our names? He thinks about us. Isn’t that exciting? We are important to Him. He redeemed us!

“In a world of rejection, He accepts you.” This is on the cover of God Knows Your Name by Catherine Campbell. I think that statement sums it up. We all feel rejected. He accepts us. When we come to realize that God accepts us, the world changes. We see things differently. We see people differently. We see ourselves differently. We see God. He sees through us. I don’t think we ever really stop needing that acceptance from people, whether it’s parents, peers, or spouses. But we can rest in the assurance that God accepts us and we are acceptable.

My Review:

In just six little chapters, Catherine Campbell breaks our hearts for all those who are hurting, all those who have been hurt. We’ve all been there. We can all connect with one of her stories. We so want acceptance. All of us have at one time felt Nameless, or Hopeless, or Worthless, Helpless, Powerless, or Loveless. And God heals all that and accepts us. He knows our names.

Each chapter includes an applicable Bible story about a real Bible character, fictionalized to make that person more real to us, to fill in some possible details. It is beautifully written. I was spellbound and couldn’t quit reading it! The second half of each chapter describes the story of someone that has personally affected the author, Catherine Campbell. The stories are heartrending. These tales make us cheer for Christians who have helped others see the reality and majesty of Christ, those who have helped people understand that God knows our names and loves us. It’s about real people shining their lights for Jesus, being His hands and feet and doing something for His glory and kingdom.

About Catherine Campbell:

Catherine’s interest in writing started in primary school when she won a National School’s Story Competition run by the chocolate company, Cadbury. Much later she moved on from the story of the cocoa bean to crafting magazine articles published in magazines.

In March 2008 her first book ‘Under the Rainbow’ was published by Ambassador Productions, closely followed eight months later by her second, ‘Rainbows for Rainy Days’. Her third book ‘God Knows Your Name’ has been published by Monarch.

Her working life started as a nurse in Belfast’s famous Royal Victoria Hospital, and she continued nursing on a part-time basis for the next few decades. In 2005 Catherine hung up her uniform for the last time to devote more time to writing, and to be able to keep up with her diary of speaking engagements, as well as those of a busy minister’s wife.

Catherine, a native of Belfast, Northern Ireland, now lives in the beautiful northern town of Coleraine, where her husband, Philip, is minister of the Congregational church.

Family is vitally important to Catherine, and she thanks God for a close loving family who have supported her at every stage of her life. She and Philip have three children; two daughters, Cheryl and Joy, now in heaven, and a wonderful son, Paul who is married to Susie, both exceptional musicians. Paul and Susie’s daughter, Bethany Joy, is now a delightful toddler and adding another generation of wonder to the family.

Disclaimer: I received God Knows Your Name free from the publisher through Kregel Blog Tours for an honest review. The opinions expressed are my own.

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Tot School 28 months

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August 6, 2012 By Jennifer Lambert 2 Comments

We’ve been fitting in Tot School wherever we can this summer. We haven’t done much formally and I often didn’t have a camera available to get cute shots of the Bubba!

I gave Alex his share of dough when we made our salt maps. He loved doing this!

He’s often working alongside his sisters.

Salt Dough:

1 cup flour
1/2 cup salt
1/2 cup water
food coloring (optional)

Homemade play dough is great. I really can’t stand the smell of the name brand store bought stuff. I often make ours yummy-scented and use really neat colors. I store them in bags in the fridge and they keep forever.

Alex likes to help with chores. He likes to use the spray mop. I guess he needed that stool for leverage or something. Maybe he’s got a little Captain in him.

He really loves mopping! But I had to dry the floor with a towel when he was “done”.

Coloring his “Rose Window” for history. We studied medieval cathedrals. I love it when he participates with his sisters. He’s getting to be such a big boy!

He really loves the early readers on the iPad. Alex knows all the colors of the rainbow!

I found this great little fishy tray on clearance at Walmart and knew I had to have it. We used it to sort Goldfish crackers by color, of course.

Alex is saying, “I did it!” and is really just excited that he gets to eat them now.

Alex does love “his” iPad. He has really learned so much from the apps in the last year. He loves Preschool Adventure lately. His favorite is the arcade, especially the rocket letter game where he gets to blast the robots. I am impressed that he can identify and differentiate the uppercase and lowercase letters. The sounds remind me of the Cybermen in Doctor Who. creepy!

Alex got a cute big boy haircut at JCP. They’re free for kids all of August!

Some of my favorite shots. Alex started gymnastics with his sisters (different classes). He got some slick sunglasses in a kids’ meal from Arby’s. He loves feeding the ducks. And his darling spiky new big boy haircut. He was so thrilled to get a sucker.

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