We went to Target this week and Taite and Calla used their money to purchase something they've been wanting...workout shirts. They were on sale for $9.08. Of course, they were something they don't really need so if they wanted them it was their money they had to spend on them. It was a great math lesson for the day.

One thing to point out is how much Taite loves to be in comfy clothes. He wears track pants and t-shirts (or now his new workout shirts) everyday. If he's not in track pants he's in shorts. The only day he doesn't wear track pants or shorts is Sunday when we go to church - but he changes when we get home. ;-)

Although Taite has always worn this attire, Calla is wearing her new workout shirt too. I think Travis and I inspired them to wear workout shirts and actually workout as we've been doing our P90X workout in the basement each morning. We find the kids will come down the moment they wake up. Sometimes Taite participates in the exercises, but usually all the kids sit and watch us. Taite got a set of weights from Mimi and keeps them in his bed - along with a band. He says he wakes up and does 20 to 30 sit-ups and push-ups each morning. Gettin' buff!

Calla is liking the new workout shirt, but mostly because it's pink. She wears it with jeans. Dark jeans - that's important. Usually she wears tank tops (and I impose a sweater, sweatshirt, or any other long sleeved top on her). Now with this new shirt being long sleeved I've had at least 2 less clothing discussions with her.

Lincoln has his own workout shirt, too. He's part of the 'in crowd' around here. He really couldn't care less about the shirt or the workout, but he likes that Taite likes it.

Because it's February, we are spending some of our homeschooling time doing valentine's things and president things. We just read a Magic Tree House book about Abraham Lincoln - great book! We have one more Abe Lincoln book and another president book to read for the month. We also finished the Oregon Trail book we got from a friend. Now the kids want to visit the Gateway Arch in St. Louis and see the gateway to the westward expansion. Field trip! (We'll be there in May - hopefully the kids can come. They'd love to go on a covered wagon trip to Oregon too. Hmmm...

Now that Taite is done writing his spelling words...it's back to school for me.

K

We are having a great time with our homeschooling experience! We are experiencing our ups and downs as we learn more about how best to teach, learn, and have fun with school.

Yesterday after school was over, Taite said he wanted to "paint his face." That meant he wanted to put black lines under his eyes like a football player. Then he wanted to write his favorite Bible verse on the black lines - John 3:16. I guess that's his own form of Tebow-ing. ;-)

On Monday for math we worked on measuring. He drew a football field on a piece of construction paper using his ruler. He measured each ten yard line to be at the inch. Then he got creative and used thin red tape to make the 'N' for Nebraska in the middle of the field. It is now hung on his wall. So the thing I learned this week is to utilize football as much as possible while learning. ;-)

Today is a full school day of phy. ed. Travis took him to Buckhill Ski Resort in Burnsville to go snowboarding. They are both taking lessons and snowboarding for the day. I hope to post a picture of that.

Taite loves phy. ed. and anything causing him to work out. I'll post his work out regimen when I figure out how to add pictures.

For spelling right now I'm just taking the words I find him misspelling and using 10-15 of them each week. We have writer's workshop twice per week. He writes stories for that - but I find him writing more often outside of this designated writing time. He likes to write - and he's good at it. He's great at attempting to spell things.

All for now. I'll try to be consistent at posting funny stories or fun things we do with homeschooling - or just plain old life. Have a super day!

Kate

We are starting a blog! Too many fun things going on in our lives in 2012 to not document it. I've contemplated doing this for awhile. Instead I've had a notebook where I keep all the funny stories about the kids...and nowhere to keep the details of our adventures.

In January 2012 we started homeschooling, an online Bible study I wrote called Introducing...Heaven (I just penned it, I didn't create anything), a new MonaVie year - 2.0, and a new Family Heritage year. It's sure to be our best year ever!

We'll be seein' ya!

K