Sisters

I am the oldest of three girls.  I love my younger two sisters.  Without a doubt, they are my best friends.  My heart is full of memories:  doing our hair together as we prepare for school, playing with my youngest sister as our "baby," standing up in each others' weddings.  When we had Madeline, I really wanted to give her a sister.  It turns out that was not a problem.  I consider all my girls so blessed to have sisters.  There is something about the bond of sisters. 

My sisters are incredible women.  Let me tell you....

My youngest sister, Marissa, delivered a handsome baby boy named Charlie two days ago.  She is going to have her hands full taking care of Charlie and his big sisters.  Maleah is a responsible 3 year old.  Layla is a very spirited 1 and a 1/2 year old.  We visited Marissa yesterday, less than 24 hours after giving birth.  You would never know she had just pushed a baby out.  She was walking around the room, looking fabulous, helping run after all the kids.  Seriously, people.  I think I birth babies and recover well.  Marissa is in a league of her own.  She is one tough lady. 

My middle sister, Alisa, takes amazing photos.  I could never do that. But she loves to bless others through her special gift. She is fabulous.

 
I pray that my girls have the same pride in each other.  I pray they have the same fierce dedication to helping find God's best for each other.  I pray they are as thankful for their sisters as I am of mine.

Easy Sunday morning breakfast

If you are like me, Sunday morning can be a little crazy.  Getting everyone ready and out the door to church on time is a challenge. 

I want Sunday to be special.  It is the Lord's day.  I want to go out the door with a smile on our face, our hearts and minds ready to worship our magnificent God.  One thing I have discovered to help us out in this endeavor:

Cinnamon Rolls!

Buy a bag of frozen cinnamon roll dough from the grocery store.  Put them in a pan on Saturday night.  Place a towel over them and let them rise through the night.  On Sunday morning, pop them in the oven for about 15 minutes.  Spread the pre made frosting on the beauties.  Delicious and easy!  They are a Sunday morning tradition at our house.


I'm linking up with Works for Me Wednesday.  

Our reading list

As I mentioned yesterday, books really make learning come alive.  I am not a craftsy person.  We don't do many official science experiments or art projects at my house.  (I leave that to Classical Conversations.)  Instead, we read.  A lot.  My girls are immersed in good language throughout the day.  History becomes so much more vivid when you live it through a fictional character in an actual time period. 

Here is the chronological list of books we will be reading to correspond with our history lessons this year: 
The Bronze Bow by Speare
Beowulf the Warrior by Serraillier
Flame Over Tara by Polland
Twice Freed by St. John
My Father's Dragon by Gannett
Castle Diary: The Journal of tobias Burgess, Page by Platt
The Reluctant Dragon by Grahame
Door in the Wall by DeAngeli
Dangerous Journey
The Adventures of RobinHood by Pyle
Master Cornhill by McGraw
Joan of Arc by Stanley
Columbus by D'Aulaire
King Henry VII by Green
Courage and Conviction: Chronicles of the Reformation Church by Withrow
The Second Mrs. Gioconda by Konisburg

Some of these books will be read aloud together.  Some Madeline will read by herself, depending on the depth of the material.  I compiled this list by researching Sonlight, Tapestry of Grace, and others.

Here is Madeline's just for fun reading list:
Black Beauty
Treasure Island
Peter Pan
Strawberry Girl
Misty of Chiconteague
The Toothpaste Millionaire
The Cricket in Times Square
The Railway Children
And the Word Came With Power

She can pick out other books to read.  However, she loves to read and reads fast.  It is helpful for me to have a guided list to direct her back to.  This allows me to keep her challenged, be able to discuss the stories she is reading, and know that she is receiving a well rounded education.

Madeline's 2nd grade itinerary

Here is a synopsis of what Madeline is covering this year:

Math
Saxon Math
We are about 75% of the way through Saxon Math 2, then will be moving on to 3.  We really need to get those math facts to come automatically this year.  She understands the concepts well and learns math relatively easy.  Now we need to get it down so she doesn't even need to think about it.

Language
Spelling Workout
This is DIY spelling.  She completes the workbook pages one day, copies the spelling rule and word list another day, takes a 15 word spelling test the 3rd day.  She gets phonics reinforcement with this approach, but does not belabor her too much.  We are just about done with Spelling Workout B, then we'll be ready to move on to Spelling Workout C. 
Writing With Ease
Writing With Ease uses quality children's literature for copywork, narration, and soon will be dictation.  It is all laid out for you in the workbook with a gentle yet fun style.  We are about half way through Book 1. 
First Language Lessons
This is our study of grammar.  Once again, it uses short but full lessons to verbally learn about the parts of speech.

History
The Story of the World
We are covering Volume 2: The Middle Ages this year.  We read about a chapter per week, then do the map work, review questions, and narration.  We supplement with additional informational books from the library and the Usborne Encyclopedia of World History.  An important part of history are the read alouds and independent reading of literature that correspond with the time of history that we are studying.  This really makes history come to life.  I'll post our reading list for the year tomorrow.

Science
Exploring Creation with Zoology 1: Flying Creatures of the Fifth Day
I have enjoyed this science approach.  Honestly though, science is the on the bottom of my list of important subjects right now. 

Additional studies
Madeline is learning piano from me.  We all study the Bible together through the Picture Smart Bible.  Of course she is also attending Classical Conversations and working on that memory work.

Adventureland!

Last Monday was our first adventure in the land of fun. We've had discounted tickets all year, and have just been waiting for the right day. Monday was it. Most schools around here had started, it was the last regular season day for the park, beautiful weather, and minimal amounts of people.

We had an absolutely fantastic time!  Madeline surprised us with her bravery, going on all the big rides.  She did it all.  Cora did great hanging out in the stroller most of the day. 

Lydia and Anna rode all the classic Adventureland rides, causing Mark and I to reminisce about how all the rides seemed larger back in the day.  

We arrived right as the park opened in the morning and rode rides all morning.  We hardly had to wait in lines.  Then we had a late lunch under some trees out by the van.  The girls changed in to their swimming suits, and we headed to the water park.  We stayed until just about 5:00, enjoying every minute of it.  Our first family trip to an amusement park was a hit.