Fall Fun - Catch Up

It is hard to believe we are 3 weeks away from completing our first 1/2 of Classical Conversations and homeschooling. I can't get over how fast life is flying by and how little I really get done in a week. Weeks have gone by since I last blogged and it is only because we have been swamped! 

 

Here is a recap:

Soccer... last game is this weekend. It has been fun, Kyla's favorite part is the snack's after the game ;) 

 

 

We went to see flat stanley at a local theater, her first show. It was the perfect length, just under an hour. She really enjoyed it, we have read the book together. 

 

That same week we went to pioneer days at a local national park. She learned to wash laundry, make candles, some things about gardening and cooking. It is a neat park!

We also made a trip to Kansas City to see a friend and we visited a children's farmstead there. 

And last but not least, trunk or treat... we also hit up a fall festival :)

Upcoming: 

 

In history the next few weeks we are talking about slavery. I have checked out some picture books from the library to help us understand and open a way of communication about slavery. We are plugging right along in our other studies. In math we are working on place value and skip counting. Still working on reading and handwriting as we go. 

Probably the biggest thing is little man will be 1 in a few weeks!! Where has the time gone! 

 

linking up with the homeschool hop:

   

What have you been up to?!? I am so sorry I have missed some great posts lately. Say hi so I can come by and see what you have been up to!

Weekly Journal

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if you are visiting please say hi, I would love to stop by your blog and "meet" you!


In my life this week…

I survived... no seriously that is how it felt some days but as I sit here on Friday evening I am greatly refreshed by the Lord and His grace this week. My week didn't look anything like I planned it buy exactly as HE had in mind! 

In our homeschool this week…

We worked on our CC memory work from week 5. We went to the library and got some books to read to go along with our History Sentences. Kyla read the second Bob Books and we finished all the letters in Handwriting Without Tears. We practiced today by writing in salt. 

My favorite thing this week was…

Kyla's first soccer game last weekend. She had such a blast and it was very entertaining! :) My parents also came to visit and go to her game. We purchased a screen door for the front and my parents bought us a sliding screen door, hello airflow! I am incredibly blessed!

What’s working/not working for us…

Not having a schedule or goals! I am hoping to sneak away a bit on Monday to plan and lay out a plan! 

Questions/thoughts I have…

How much should I do for K4? I know it should be fun and teaching her a love for learning but that comes naturally to her... how far do I push, how much do I give her! 

Considering reading The Core: Teaching Your Child the Foundations of Home-Centered Education or Echo in Celebration: A Call to Home-Centered Education 

Any recommendations on which one? I have read some of The Well Trained Mind

Things I’m working on…

A chore chart, I cannot seem to find the time to get one done and photography session! 

I’m reading…

A Praying Life by Paul Miller 

A photo, video, link, or quote to share…

Here is Kyla working with Salt today and I wanted to sneak in and get a sweet sleeping photo of brother and he had just woke up! 

Priceless!

Daddy went to check and see if she was asleep last night and this is what we found. She doesn't know how to read yet but she often wants to take her Bible to bed with her to "read" before bed! Yes, it is upside down! No, that is not a big deal! :) I am praying God will give her a love for His Word that runs so deep in her soul she will feast on it always! 

Here is a great read: Homeschool Blindspots by Reb Bradley. It is really a great parental read regardless of your schooling preference. 

To whet your appetite, here is an excerpt from the conclusion. 

"I am convinced that the most contagious parenting is living a heartfelt faith before your children. Fruitful interaction is not about what you do to your young people, but who you are with them. It's about having a real faith in God, and expressing it in a real relationship with a real person--not about methods and self-working principles. God intends that the side-effect of loving Jesus and enjoying the grace of the gospel will be that all people--including our children--will be touched by the Savior in us."

If you are visiting, say hi so I can visit you! 

I would love to hear if you read the article and your thoughts :)

Happy Tuesday!

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What's Going On | Preschool

You know what even the best laid plans fail :) but such is life. I can say since we started preschool a few weeks ago life has been insanely busy or I have been so wiped out that sitting at the table doing something formal hasn't been my top priority. BUT what I will say is I am still being intentional with Kyla. I thought I would share with you things we are doing to encourage you to just live intentionally during what may be a busy season in your life. 

• Books, we read lots and lots of books! 
• I have a few special "school" type things that she has easy access to any time she wants. I will often turn off the TV and music on and generally that is where she goes first! (Right now in her boxes she has pom pom balls/colored cups for sorting and counting, lacing cards, tangram puzzle & her geoboard)
• Puzzles, this girl LOVES puzzles. 
• The Letter Factory Video
• When we are at a restaurant waiting for food we use the creamer, butter, sugar packets, sweeter packets, anything really to count, do patterns, matching, same and different. You get the idea :) 
• We have stopped and looked at and talked about buffalo on the side of the road. 
• Coloring
• Playing on her magnetic doodle board
• Lots of playing, and her imagination SOARS! 

We have fit in a few days of organized school, which has included a few workbook activities, tracing, drawing lines (pre writing stuff), working on the letter A and what it says, the days of the week, Bible and Catechism Questions and Scripture Memory. Counting and sorting with her bears and some cutting for fine motor skills! 

Hope school is going well for all of you as you continue to plug right along! 

The New Cut | Happy Sunday

Just my girl and her new haircut :) 

Have a great Lord's Day!

Weekly Wrap - Up

Week one of Preschool is over but the big news this week was Miss K's first haircut!! She did such a good job! We took her to the same place we get our haircut at and I knew she would let Mrs. Sarah cut it without any problems. I told her if she sat real still she could chew a piece of gum while she got her haircut. That is exactly what she did! We trimmed a little off and shaped it up. Here is the before picture and the during, I still need to get a good after photo. 

Such a big girl!! 

Preschool went well, it is very laid back but she is enjoying doing "school" for a little bit every couple of days. I am slowly adding new things but for now we are being intentional at doing something everyday! 

Have a great weekend! 

Preschool | Day 1

First I have to be a mommy an minute and say... "HOW DID SHE GET SO BIG!" and "I CANNOT BELIEVE WE STARTED PRESCHOOL!" okay now that I got that out of the way I can get on with our day! 

As I have mentioned in the past (here and here) we are starting school because she loves learning and is showing interest. It is very laid back! I told her yesterday that we were going to start today and she was very excited, her excitement rolled into today and our first day was great! 

I of course took her outside for some photos, and I wanted a new blog header. 

We started with prayer and our calendar wall and moved the star to the date, talked about the days of the week and the weather. (I do have things to add to this still, shapes and a few other things) 

Next was Bible time. I have chosen to go through The Big Picture Story Bible. We are going to read the same   story all week long. This morning we talked about creation and that God used words to create the world and that His creation was good. We also reviewed our Catechism Questions and Scripture memory. 

Following Bible time I did some basic assessment tests. I used the Assessment tools I found on the 1+1+1=1 Blog (under the learn more section). I had a really good idea of things we needed to work on and this was helpful to confirm those areas. The assessment included her identifying capital letters, lowercase letters, numbers 1-10, shapes and colors, tracing horizontal and vertical lines, cutting straight lines, counting 1:1 when touching an object, and ABABAB pattern recognition. 

She capped out the morning helping daddy make eggs, in case you are wondering she was supervised! 

We also read some books and have had plenty of free play and daddy time today (since today is his day off)! While I was at the store Daddy threw in some computer time. Rest time/tv time has been spent watching Peter Rabbit and The Letter Factory. 

I pray her desire and love to read and learn continues as the Lord continues to shape and fashion her heart into His! 

Happy Monday! 

Are you weary?

I don't know about you but I think being a parent is the hardest job in the world! I am sure you would agree, there is no responsibility like molding a child's heart. As a Christian parent I must continually and consistently correct, rebuke, reprove and train my child (and myself) in righteousness. Ya know what, that is TIRING! 

I find great comfort in Galatians 6:9

"Let us not become weary in doing good, for at the proper time we will reap a harvest if we do not give up."

If you need some encouragement as you press on, check out this post on the Girltalk blog. 

For God's glory and my daughter's heart, I will not become weary!

She is three!

I didn't set out for these to be her 3 year old pictures... but there is a few I just adore! 

Three has been wonderful but so challenging, she is attempting to spread her wings and retest her boundaries. Independence is a great thing when earned and exercised respectfully. I am reminded that this is a season and an opportunity to point her to the cross when she cannot obey and to remind her that she needs God's help to obey and follow mommy and daddy. We often ask her if was she is doing is pleasing to God, when the answer is no we remind her she cannot please God without Jesus' help. We also let her know that mommy and daddy can't please God without His help either and we often need to ask God for help. I rest totally in the fact that God is working the Gospel in her life and I rejoice to see the lightbulbs click :) 

Toddler/Preschool Schedule

In my post on the Easter lapbook I mentioned the need of some structure. I finally finished our chart and I am really happy with it! Let's hope Kyla is too! A few things I like about this is Kyla will know what to expect once she learns what each of the pictures means and I will have some sort of routine to follow. I love the idea that it is flexible and not the law! The box next to the pictures I can either use a photo of Kyla and move it when we are onto the next subject or write in what we are doing that day! I did another video just because it was easier and quicker for me!!! 

I would love to hear what works for you!

From the mouth of babes

I guess Kyla really was paying attention when I taught the kids on Wednesday night. All week she has been practicing the verse, which really surprised me when she first started saying it!

(yes she did dress herself, I had her in jeans and a different top, and yes her shirt is on backwards!)

Enjoy!

And this is love...

Valentines day has never been a day I get to jazzed about. This year it has been fun with Kyla around. We made some heart butterflies with candy for her friends at church and at library story time. I also made her a skirt that has hearts on it with a coordinating bow! (because you know it all has to match :) )

yes that is leftover lunch on her face :) 

Today was a restful Saturday, hope yours was too!! 

Have a Happy Valentines Day!

Totally Two!

Just a few months before she is 3, I cannot believe it!! 

Happy Thursday!

Update...

goodness, it has been awhile.

and man have things changed!

I was reading through my last post, the book list. I read a lot more the rest of the year but forgot most of them, that is pretty sad huh :) I can say hands down the best book I read of 2009 was

"The Gospel for Real Life" by Jerry Bridges

in a very close second was

"Becoming God's True Woman" edited by Nancy Leigh Demoss

and an awesome parenting book

"Don't Make Me Count to Three" by Ginger Plowman

2010 has started with a bang! I am currently enjoying my Bible Reading Plan!! Woo whoo, I am on it! So far so good! I am also reading "A Chance to Die: The Life and Legacy of Amy Carmichael" by Elisabeth Elliot and "Because He Loves" My by Elyse Fitzpatrick

I have a reading list about a mile long for 2010 but I am excited to grow in grace!

I am not even sure where to start with and update... well how about this...

We are Ozarkians :) we live in SW MO and have since the beginning of October!

God mowed down a path and called Justin as a senior pastor. We are enjoying our new church family and feel OVERLY blessed to be a part of God's work here. Ministry is never easy but Christ is sufficient!

Kyla is 2.5, wowza! She will be three in May! I cannot believe it. I am getting paid for my raising... this girl talks from the moment she gets happy in the morning (slow riser like her mamma) to the time she closes her eyes to go to sleep! It is unbelievable. I look at her and am feel the goodness of God in my life, she is such a gift. Now don't get me wrong, she is a toddler, and a two year old at that! But I am thankful for this grace in my life!

Look forward to getting into the swing of things again!!

Miss K Update!

I love fresh air! It is in the 50's here today! I have a window open behind my desk and I love it!! Kyla is sleeping and I am enjoying some me time! I am about to finish my latest adorable newborn session but in the meantime wanted to give you an update on Kyla!

She is getting so big, she is 20 months now! She is talking all the time, most things are indecipherable but I usually get it! However her most used words are Momma, daddy, baby, cup, peese, dank ewe, dogga, baba (barney), Boz, beeeeee (blanket), hot, and cold. She make animal sounds too. My favorite is the elephant (which was her first) and also the chicken (mainly because she flaps her arms like wings!!) She is a blast and a joy! Justin and I are very blessed that God allowed us to parent this wonderful child!! I am sure most parents feel that way!

Here are some of the latest images of her:

We were out in the snow for this one (the image in the blog header is here makeshift snow boots! Call me a redneck if you like but it gets the job done :) )

In case you haven't seen these amazing locks in person!!

Just my girl saying cheese for her momma!

Kyla and justin had a midnight chocolate date!

Going for a vintage artistic shot of her lashes and lips!


Thanks for letting a blesses mommy oogle of her little girl!

What we have been up to...

I cannot believe it has been 4 weeks since I posted! YIKES! I am sure you (all 3 of you) have been wondering whats been going on. Not a lot really so I guess not much to write about. We all know that cannot be true considering we have a 1 year old. Well about that one year old, she is so busy... walking like crazy, into everything! I am amazed at how quickly she catches onto things. She is such a joy and she is also very difficult at times. We have entered the phase of hitting and no! She wants to do what she wants when she wants to. It is crazy how strong willed she is but by God's grace we are disciplining her and teaching her obedience. If she doesn't obey us how will she ever learn to obey her Heavenly Father. Here is a cute little vidoe of her being sweet!

Justin has been busy working like crazy since he graduated! We are excited to see what God has in store for us next!

I have been busy updating my webpage and thinking more about business stuff. I would love some feedback if you want to offer it. www.karaguffeyphotography.com I am also going to be doing my photography blogging at www.karaguffey.wordpress.com if you want to subscribe. I will show session sneak peaks and specials on that blog. Thank you to all you who have contributed your beautiful faces and those of your children! I appreciate you!!

I guess that is really about it! Thanks for stopping in!

Happy Birthday Baby!

We did Kyla's 1 year pictures today because the weather is going to be bad tomorrow! There are more on my flickr! Become my friend see more kyla :)

Happy Mothers Day to all women out there!

I am blessed to be this girls mama!

Save the Date!!

May 17th @ 4:00 pm @ SSBC





We will gather together to celebrate Miss K's FIRST Birthday!


(I have invites coming in the mail.. hopefully soon!)

If you are reading this you are invited!! Let me know if you plan to come so I can feed you!

tututastic!

Here is Miss K in a tutu from http://www.sararosetutus.com check her out!