Merry Christmas!!

The boys woke us up at 5 am :) They were a little excited. They had a lot of fun opening their gifts. We had a lot of fun watching them :) It was wonderful to watch our daughter experience her first Christmas morning. Christmas really is 100 times better when your the parent.

Elliana was in the kitchen with me while I was making our big Christmas lunch. I looked at her and it dawned on me that someday she will be helping make Christmas dinner, and now I am handing her a teething ring. The thought and action brought tears to my eyes :)

Before I get any gender comments the boys will also be helping me make dinner (in fact, they already do). I plan on teaching all of my children to cook before they leave the house. Not just mac-n-cheese and other convenience foods. They are going to know how to cook ham, turkey, homemade bread and anything else I can think of :)

We hope you had a wonderful Christmas!!

White Christmas?

A day before Christmas Eve and it is snowing :)

We are all excited about the next few days. Tomorrow we get to spend time with Grandma and Grandpa Tucker :)

Hope you all have a great Christmas!!!

Day 2

We took yesterday off from school (the sickies are going around our house). But today Joshua was asking "When are we going to do school?" and "What are we learning to do today?". So we did some more "school"...

This is Joshua vacuuming (he is VERY good!)


Asher cleaned the windows...

And Joshua polished the furniture...

Asher is afraid of the vacuum, but he decided he wanted to learn how to vacuum too...

This is so much fun :)

Day 1

We started Home Ec. week with laundry and making beds :) Joshua has already told me he likes this kind of school.

What is my objective for the laundry lesson?? Do I expect them to do their own laundry?? No way! But they can sort and help put away. And it is good for them to see how their clothes get clean. Mom dosen't shake her magic wand :)

It has suprised me how Joshua has put other school topics into what we are doing. For example, while folding a dish cloth he told me that we were folding them into fourths! He also cracked me up when he laughed and said "I'm folding my own socks!".

Thi is a picture of Joshua sorting laundry...

Here he is moving laundry from the washer to the dryer (such a cutey!)

Even Asher helped with the laundry!

Here is cutey patootey Asher learning how to make his bed (he is a natural!)

Home Ec. Week!!

Aaron and I talked and we have decided to do something different this week with school. The boys worked really hard last week and finished all of their book work. But the great part of homeschooling is that they can learn things here at home that you can't learn at school. For example how to sort, fold and put away clothes and polish the furniture, just to name a few.

So this week the boys will be spending some time learning home economics. Joshua especially will be helping with laundry, meal preparation, cleaning, and anything else that comes up. I will most likely get some GREAT pictures of my guys hard at work. So I will be sure to post them :)

YEAH for homeschooling :)

Update on Our Family

It has been snowing a lot the last few days. I think we have about 6-8 inches so far. The boys are having fun playing in the snow with dad. Elliana and I are enjoying the warmth of the indoors :) It is wonderful to watch her change everyday. She is such a sweet little girl.


Joshua and Asher have been working hard at school the last week. As a result they finished all their work for the rest of the year (2007). So they are now on Christmas break. They are more than a little excited about this :) Although mom might sneak in a little bit here and there during the next two weeks.


Asher has been surprising us with his vocabulary. He has started using words like "certainly". He is definitely a daddies boy these days. When Aaron comes home from work Asher tells him "I am glad your here". That definitely makes Aaron's day :)


Joshua made my year the other night. I was getting ready to go to the gym and I was wearing my "Moms Rock" shirt. He walked by me and said "Moms really do rock". That's my boy :)


Elliana is so close to crawling. She should be on the move soon. We are looking forward to watching her experience her first Christmas (out of the womb, last year she was just listening:). We are certain that her favorite gift will be the wrapping paper. Here she is playing peek-a-boo..


I have been working on a big quilt for Asher. He decided he wanted an "army" quilt. So we went to the store and he helped me pick out the fabric. Here he is with the finished product...

Just us girls hanging out together (one of my favorite past times!)...

My adorable husband (my greatest blessing!)...

Time For School!!!!!

Many people have asked how I homeschool when I have three children ranging in age from 8 months to 6 years....here is a glimpse into our lives..

Asher cutting and pasting...

Joshua working on his math... he likes to relax while he works...

We have a lot of fun :) We try to keep things laid back and just enjoy our time together.

Update...

Aaron is coming home!!! He has been in Florida all week and we have missed him terribly. But my knight will be back in his castle in a few short hours :)

We are working on a big school project. Yesterday Joshua decided he wanted to have his own restaurant. So I said, why not. We are putting together a menu, making signs and even getting hats for us to wear (he has great ideas!).

We will be having the Rhodes over to Joshua's restaurant on Sunday evening for dinner. Joshua's restaurant is named "The Best Restaurant in the Universe". The customers will receive an envelope of play money when they arrive. Joshua will be dressed in a suit and will be the waiter (Asher will help too). He will be in charge of seating the customers, taking their orders and collecting their money. This way he will get to practice counting money :) I also want him to realize that he can do anything he dreams.

I have been promising pictures so here are a bunch...

This Asher in our backyard

Trimming the tree...

My silly little girl..

Little Miss Christmas..

O.K. that was a lot of pictures...sorry if it took forever to load. Hope you all have a great weekend!

An assignment...

Joshua wrote a newspaper article about Jesus today. He learned about the 5 W's and the H. Below is the article he created.

Jesus died on the cross for our sins. He is God's son. He performs miracles, He is very special and He heals people. On Christmas we celebrate His birthday. I love Christmas because I like to get toys.

Crazy Week Ahead

It is a little busy around here this week. Joshua finishes his study of animals and moves on to space (he is very excited). We are working on subtraction in math. Math is Joshua's favorite subject in school. We are also reading the book entitled "Understood Betsy".

At this very moment the boys are dressed up as Captain Pickard and Captain Kirk. Yesterday for lunch Joshua wanted more water. He asked me for some "scotch". He and dad watch too much Star Trek (he was pretending to be Scottie).

Other than a week packed with school I am also making Asher a quilt. He picked out what he calls "army" colors (brown and camo). It should be done soon, he is pretty excited.

Elliana is working on some more teeth. She is also starting to get mobile (scooting on her belly).