Homeschool Preschool on a Budget

Union County Smart Start Resource Center = A Homeschooler's (with no Education degree or expirence) Dream! A friend of mine who does in-home daycare/preschool told me about this great place! I've nicknamed it the "Toy Library" for my kids. That describes what it offers...you can check out educational toys for a 2 week period. There is an annual fee of $20, but that is well worth it. Here is what I got on my visit yesterdy: -Melissa and Doug Lacing Cards -Sorting Shapes Apron -Snap Lock Beads -98 turtles for sorting and counting -Books about your body, going to the dentist, and seasons (all topics that are a part of our next few weeks Letter Of the Week curriculum) -Lakeshore Learning Flapjack Math -Little People Pirate Ship -Bean Bags -Bible Story books w/ Little People-like figures (Miracle of the Loaves and Fishes and Jesus Loves the Little Children) Those items themselves would have cost well over $100. But I can "rent" them for a 2 week period, and then go and get other things! They have tons of Lakeshore Learning and Melissa and Doug resources. Those are both "hot" (and expensive) items used in most preschools. So they don't have to "miss out" on not going to an out-of-the-home preschool. We can get access to tons of educational toys w/o having to buy them! Thank you Union County, NC!! In addition to it being a great cost-savings for me, it's also a great creativity motivator for this BA Business degree holder! ha! :-) I never thought I would homeschool my kids! and we just taking it one year at a time and praying Levi is as receptive to learning from Mommy as Wyatt is! I love Confession of a Homeschooler, but she seems to have quite a bigger budget for her homsechool resources than we do. So I view her ideas and then request the books she recommends from my library, and look for the manipulatives at the Resource Center! I also add certain books to my "cart" on Amazon.com and save them for later! I recently started using something called Swagbucks (heard about it from other blogging/money saving friends). Instead of using Google or Yahoo for my search engine, when looking up things like "how do you know if it's a concussion"...but intead of those sites, I use the Swagbucks toolbar to type in what I want to search. It randomly gives "points" for searching. And when you get enough points you can redeem them for gift cards to Starbucks or Amazon, and lots more! and it's legit. I have already redeemed 2 gift cards! If you want to earn free stuff too, sign up! and if you sign up w/ my referral , I would get some points too. But even if you don't sign up under me, just sign up. I mean for NOTHING you get free stuff from Amazon or Starbucks! this post is getting long! Will share more book recommendations later! here's a pic of Levi sorting uncooked black beans to keep him busy while I was cooking. Yes, a mess was made, but well worth my uninterrupted 20 min!!

Levi's alphabet and Bible Verse

"No two children are alike". Wyatt loves to be read to, he loves to do "crafts" and "school". He was singing songs and repeating Bible verses when he was 20 or 22 months old. Not only does Levi not show any interest, he tells me, "Mommy, no sing", or "Mommy stop counting". It doesn't bother me that he isn't doing things as early as Wyatt did, it's just kind of discouraging that he asks me to stop doing things! ha!
well, apparently he is still listening, b/c the other day when we were driving in the car, he said, "I'm going to hide" and proceeded to cover his eyes w/ his hands and started to count. Of course he wasn't exactly hiding since he was strapped into his carseat, but he was imitating how Wyatt plays Hide and Seek. He counted very slowly and loudly, but counted all the way to TWELVE!!!
Then the other morning when Wyatt was doing his typical repertoire of songs to himself while he's waiting for it to be 8am, so he is allowed out of his bed, Levi started singing the ABC's w/ him and got most of them right! I about fell out of my chair. I figured he had no idea how to count or say his ABC's!
Since being encouraged by those two things, I thought I'd try to get him to repeat some Bible verses with me (since he had previously said no to that as well). Well, yet again, he said, "No Mommy, no verse". I still said Eph. 4:32 to him.
THEN, a day or two later in the car out of the blue, he says, "Be Ye Kind". I started praising him right away and was so happy. Then when I was done talking, he said "one to another".
So Levi just has a different way about him and loves to say no and just do his own thing, but he really is listening, and will just do things when HE wants too.

Time Flies When You're Having Fun

Not that I'm looking for an answer to this, b/c I really don't think there is an explanation for this phenomenon...but WHY does it seem to take FOREVER to get past the baby stage when you're so sleep deprived, can't figure out why they are crying, and going out w/ the baby feels like you're packing for a week long trip, but time FLIES when you're at the fun stages? For me anyway, it seemed like it took forever to get to the 3 or 4 month old stage when they aren't so colicky, and are finally on somewhat of a schedule. But then once we got there, and to other big milestones, now it just seems like time is on fast forward, and I don't like it!
Here are just a few things I can think of that the boys say or do lately that is just not baby-like anymore.
Levi used to close his eyes very calm, and serene-looking when we prayed, now he squints them shut trying to peek out and look.
Wyatt asks me to "drop him off" when we go to someone's house for a play date. One time he even asked me to drop him off at the store, so he could stay ther by himself! ha!
Levi says "Mom" instead of Mommy most of the time ("Thanks, Mom". "I can do it, Mom")
Those are just a few.
But I enjoy some of the things they say and do that are still baby-like:
They both say "Forsie" (for Horse). Wyatt says "Grills" (for Girls)
and of course I love, "Mommy Hold Me"
One area I wouldn't mind if they "grew up" in, is potty training, and just the whole start-to-finish act of going to the bathroom!
Here's a pic of my "big" boys!

Coffee, Covers and Kisses

At some point during my Levi's first year, I became a coffee drinker. Since I didn't recieve any extra hours in my day when I had my 2nd child (or 1st for that matter), I just had such a hard time in the mornings b/c I was EXHAUSTED to say the least! I found that chocolate also helped for that "awakeness" that I needed! ha! I think if we ever have a 3rd child, I will just have to keep some bit size chocolates at my beside and pop one for those middle of the night feedings! :-)
but on a serious note, I do remember daily praying for Energy, Strength, and Patience especially for those first 12 to 18 months when I had 2 in diapers, 2 who couldn't feed themselves, 2 who couldn't walk, etc! I don't know if twin would have been easier or harder!
But back to the coffee, I only drink it in the AM, and I barely drink the whole cup! So I'm not a full blown coffee addict yet! oh, and it has to have some flavored creamer, and sometimes sugar too!
Now on to my the other topics of this post...
Covers...
Wyatt just LOVES to be covered while he's sleeping/napping. He can be sweating like crazy, and when I go to pull his covers off to cool him off, he will grab them so tightly (in his sleep). Adam says he was (is) the same way, he would rather turn on a fan or A/C instead of take his covers off!
well, the other morning when the boys got up earlier than I was ready for, I let them stay in my room and turned on a cartoon. Then I went out to get their sippy cups and fix my coffee. Within minutes, Levi had come out and was "up and at 'em" with talking, questions and mischeif (he rarely sits to watch a whole episode of a cartoon). Since Wyatt was quiet, I didn't bother to check on him, and was enjoying just 1 child for as long as I could. After about 20-30 min, I went to check on Wyatt. He was snuggled down in the covers of our bed watching cartoons. When I had first left him, he was on TOP of the bed I had just MADE. He had pushed off all the pillows, and pulled back the comforter and sheet and gotten quite cozy and having a lazy morning of watching cartoons in bed! (def. Adam's child! whereas Levi is up and at 'em like me!)
Kisses...
"I give you kiss" (Levi says this to me randomly thru out the day) Wyatt is also very sweet and loving and likes to give me a kiss on the forehead at times! wishing that would never end!

Spoke Too Soon!

The other day when I posted about entering into the land of bumps and bruises, little did I know that the day after 1 child fell off his bike, the other child would take a chunk out of lip! ahhh!
The boys are struggling with obeying the rule of not jumping on the bed! Wyatt had just started to jump while I was getting his clothes out to wear for the day. I turned around to discipline him for jumping and he fell to his knees in an attempt to stop jumping. Well, the momentum of the jump propelled him forward and his mouth went right into the foot of the bed frame which is very sturdy wood. I was so worried he might have knocked his tooth out. There was a bit more blood than I've ever seen. He was crying, but he was alot more calm than I thought he would be from the looks of what I saw coming out of his mouth! Thankfully, it wasn't his teeth, just his lip! There were 2 cuts, but one was like a hole! it was still a slow bleed hours after it happened! Hopefully that will be a good reminder to him for why he should not jump on the bed.
However, my wild, red-haired boy had to be told to stop jumping on the bed WHILE I was still cleaning up Wyatt's mouth! ahhh! Sometimes I think Levi is just oblivous!

Entering the world of bumps and bruises

Yesterday was my expirence with a fall that resulted in more than just a scrap or bruise. I'm sure I'm in for alot worse with 2 very active boys!
Levi was trying to ride his new Harley Davidson tricycle (which I got at a yard sale for a steal!) Neither of the boys like to pedal although they can reach the pedals, they would rather use their feet to push off and just scoot. I guess that is safer for now??
well, as we were going back up the smallest incline, Levi asked me to push him b/c he was having trouble getting the bike to go. Mind you, I'm already carrying Wyatt's ride-on toy b/c he decided he didn't want to try to get it back up the hill (very small incline :-)
So instead of pushing Levi w/ my hand b/c that was occupied w/ another bike, I gave him a shove w/ my foot. He took off pretty fast and liked it. but liked it so much that he learned backwards, and somehow make the bike do a wheely, landing flat on the back of his head!
Then my tough-guy son who we used to think was missing the gene for pain (this boy hardly cries at pain from injuries or spankings!), started screaming and crying and holding his head. I just sure that I was going to touch his head and come away w/ a bloody hand. But thank goodness, just a big bump!
He was kind of subdued for about 30 min. and worried me a little b/c he didn't put up a fight to be taken inside, and he sat STILL and watched TV (totally uncharacteristic for him). But all is well, just some complaining when I lay him down for a diaper change.

Getting Started

After following some homeschool, preschool, and money saving blogs for about a year, I'm ready to attempt my own blog! I will have to add 'researching how to create a good looking blog' to my list of things to do, so it might be slow going at first! (if only you got an add'l 2 hrs in a day for each child you have!)

This blog will allow long distance family and friends to be more a part of our lives as the boys are growing up!