A Typical Day

In my last post, I shared about
the boys' first campout in the backyard.

And an update as promised...
Christopher did not make it through the night,
but Michael and Daddy did!

 

Christopher didn't like the sounds
of the cats outside the tent,
so he came in for the night.

 

In other news....
I thought I would share a few snapshots
of some typical days around here!

 

Elizabeth loves bathtime!
 

Elizabeth in time-out....
and clearly not upset by it.

 

An update on bedtime...

 

First few days of having a big girl bed.

Elizabeth sleeps IN her bed now!!

 

 

Exploring bugs and more!!!

 

Playing video games with the family

 

Improvising when she can't reach (climbing!)

 

A little bit of school time!

 

 

 

And Lizzy, too!

 

 A bookworm like her brothers?

 

 

Just chilllin'

 

 

I certainly love it when this is what
I find them doing in their free time....

 

Reading time!

 

 

We were so blessed to have
a Friday date night last week!

 

 

My handsome hubby  :)

Little 15 week baby bump

 

We are currently in the process of
re-organizing our homeschooling den...

which means it is a disaster zone!

 

We are hoping to make progress this weekend
(and maybe even paint???)

 

In the meantime, we have been
floating from table to table for school....

 

The dining room worked quite nicely!

Bible Reader Workbook

Loving his headphones and starfall.com

 

This was my first time letting
this girl color and she LOVED it!

 

This is the most cooperative
she has ever been on a school day!

(other than when she is napping!)

She LOVES to color!

 

And finally,

We represented our Gamecocks
yesterday for the first game!

 

Better luck next time, Gamecocks!

 

She says "Gamecocks"!

 

Those were just a few snapshots
of some typical days around here.

 

(well, except the date night...

we could use a few more of those)

 

<>< Stacy 

 

 

First "Campout"!

Tonight I find myself sitting alone in the den,

hearing snippets of Elizabeth's bedtime "Jesus music",
and distant outbursts of extremely overexcited boys...

Camping out in the yard for the first time!

 

Friday is camping too (Christopher's dog)

Veeeeeeery excited!

Casey surprised them with the tent all setup,
bought some "camping snacks",

and, of course, some modern technology...

(movie night in the tent??)

 

Ready to start the night! 

I know they are thrilled to

FINALLY

get the camping night they have begged for!
 

 

Stay tuned to see if it lasts all night  ;)

Did I mention the random FOUR
cats that came into our yard, climbed trees,
and tried to get in the tent?!!??

 

Um.  No.  Go home, please!

 

 

Of course, if Michael had it his way,
he would have brought them in the tent!
The kid loves animals and BUGS!

 

 

Speaking of bugs,
Michael caught a super cool butterfly today
which prompted us to start our nature journals!

 

We are taking a few Charlotte Mason
approaches to education this year...
She believed that students should
DAILY spend time in nature
(which certainly isn't a problem for these 2).

 

Drawing the Red-Spotted Purple Butterfly

 

We certainly aren't artists at this point
(truthfully it's an area we struggle in),
but we took some time to draw what we saw
and researched it in our field guide book!

 

Michael's Journal

Christopher's journal
Can you find the 2 butterflies?

 

 

Charlotte Mason also encouraged
the Teacher/Mother to participate in journaling...

which means I get to slow down for a minute
and enjoy nature and learning with my kids!

 

My journal - a lot more informative!

 

 

Overall, a fun Friday night at the Wiley's house!

Praying for a safe night!

 

<>< Stacy

4 Generations!

 

4 Generations

 

Last year, we started what very well

might become a new tradition...

 

4 generation pictures with the girls,

and a ladies lunch out!

 

How fun {and rare} it is to all hang out together,

and the pictures will be treasured forever!

 

 

My cute little girl getting ready for pictures  :)

 

 

It was quite interesting considering the girls

are 3, 18 months, and 15 months,

but we did manage to get at least 1 picture!

 

You can click here to see last year's pictures!

Somehow it was easier with little babies!

 

Steven, our resident photographer!
Doesn't the purple owl look good on him?

Violet, my niece...
the only one who really cooperated!

 

 

4 Generations of Mothers and Daughters!

 

 

I am not joking about how hard it was to get even 1 good picture!

Here is the 2nd best picture....

 

Note the wiggly girls and me laughing

at how crazy they were being!!!

 

 

 

I certainly do love my family!
Everybody pitched in to try for a good picture

and then the men kept our kids

so we could enjoy lunch and shopping

(a rarity for me!)

 

Just the ladies!

 

Just the family!

 

We should do things like this more often....

Especially when the girls get bigger!!! :)

 

 

We will treasure our 4 generation pictures forever!

 

<><  Stacy

 

1st Day of School 2014!

 

We started school a little early this year to allow
flexibility in our schedule when baby comes (February).

 

Before I posted this, I got a little nostalgic
and glanced back at this post from our
very first day homeschooling last year.

 

Wow!
What an enthusiastic day that was!

 

Day 1 may not have been as exciting this year,
but we had to take our annual back-to-school pics...

 

Our first day!

7/28/2014

 

 

 

 

Michael is in 1st grade!!!He is already a strong reader

and is willing to read just about anything!

(a trait his Daddy loves, of course)

 

He loves crafting, modeling clay,
creating things from random art supplies,
and paper airplane making.

 

As a result, we have string, rubber bands, paper,
and all sorts of other junk strewn across our house.

(I'll have to work on that before baby gets here)

 

That's really another story for another day....

 

So far he isn't loving 1st grade work, but
we haven't jumped into the fun subjects yet  :)

 

 

Little guy is in Pre-K
(although I'm still not 100% sure
what that will look like this year)

 

Christopher insists on doing school work with us.

It's cute, but hard.  He wants my attention constantly!

I am hopeful I can figure out how to meet
his needs without brushing him away so much.

His desire to "do schoolwork" really is adorable!

 

 

 

True colors?????????

 

As for Lizzy, I had to add a chair to the table

so she would stop crawling/standing on ours!!!

I am trying to teach her to sit on "Lizzy's chair"

Sometimes she will toddle off and do her own thing.

Other times she listens to her favorite ABC learning song.

(which she is learning to sing adorably)

 

She is also big into looking at books,

destroying Mommy's stuff when she isn't looking,

climbing into bathroom sinks,

jumping on and off of furniture,

and other extremely dangerous habits.

She can be bribed at any time with

the youtube clip of Frozen's "Let it Go".

(Babysitters remember that)

 

She really is another story for another day...

 

Sporting a tiny little Woody hat.  And YES, she wanted it on!

 

 

 

We filled out our back-to-school questionnaires, too!

 

 

 

 

 

 

Christopher......

 Looks like we have a future Power Ranger on our hands!
I love how he drew the sun, himself, and me.

Favorite food: cottage cheese.  No joke, people.

 

 

 

Michael........

Although indecisive (like his mother),

Michael decided he wants to be a runner one day.

The. Kid. Can. Run.

His favorite color is Garnet (yes!!!)

Favorite book: the Bible.

(I know, melt a Momma's heart, right?)

 

 

 

We celebrated the day with pizza at Grandma's house!
Michael insisted we would need a decorative banner

(didn't I already mention the insane amount of crafting?)

He made this one by drawing each attending person on
a pennant and taping them to a piece of yarn.  It was cute.

 

Michael: proud of the banner

Me: proud of my little first grader!!!!

 

 

 

 

Overall, I am excited about our
homeschooling journey YEAR 2!

 

We are blessed to have this opportunity
and blessed to be surrounded by
so many fellow homeschoolers!

 

<>< Stacy