Happy 11th Birthday Unicorn!!!

It is hard to believe that it has been 11 years since Unicorn made her "exciting" entrance into this world! I wish I remembered the day but I was unconscious and having seizures due to eclampsia. She was born 7 weeks early via emergency C-section. I went to sleep Monday, February 28, 2000 and the next thing I know it is Thursday, March 2, 2000 and I am in the hospital and no longer pregnant. Unicorn was born Tuesday, February 29, 2000 at 5:47 pm. She was 3 pounds 11 ounces and 16 inches long. We were both in pretty bad shape but we pulled through!


Click here to read the rest of the post from my family blog.

Homeschool Mother's Journal ~ Week 3

In my life this week...


I am getting ready for my oldest to turn 11

In our homeschool this week...


I broke out the oil pastels for Unicorn to try. 

Places we're going and people we're seeing...


Saturday we are going to "Golden Corral" for Unicorn's birthday.

My favorite thing this week was...


when my daughters decided to play nicely together for a whole afternoon. They dressed up their "My Twinn" dolls (see photo below)!

What's working/not working for us...


our schedule and/or our lack of another computer. After switching to a computer based curriculum we are realizing that we are either going to have acquire another computer or redo our schedule (I am hoping for a computer)!

Homeschool questions/thoughts I have...


none this week...mostly because I am too tired to think!

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

Week in Review ~ Week 24

~Family Accomplishments~

~Continued unit on Love
~Continued reviewing Articles of Faith 1-5
~Continued memorizing "The Living Christ" (First 6 sentences complete)
~Continued using Time4Learning (I am doing a review for this product in exchange for 1 month free).

~Mama continued using Rosetta Stone Latin and Completed 7 mini-lessons
~Completed our 111th day

~Unicorn's Accomplishments~

~Finished Discover the Scriptures lesson on Wilford Woodruff

~Completed 3 mini-lessons in Rosetta Stone Latin (94% overall)
~Completed TTL4 (21 WPM and 99% Accuracy)
~Completed a lesson on John Glenn Day (Feb. 20)
~Completed a lesson for President's Day (Feb. 21)

~Completed a lesson for Iwo Jima Day (Feb. 23)

~Learned about authors born in Feb. (Laura Ingalls Wilder, Jules Vern, John Steinbeck)

~Learned about some famous people born in Feb. (Norman Rockwell, Charles Lindbergh, Thomas Edison, Galileo Galilei)
~Started Reading Caddie Woodlawn
~Continued Reading Leven Thumps and the Gateway to Foo
~Continued Time4Learning for Math, Language Arts, History and Science
~Math: Comparing & Ordering Numbers, Number Lines & Inequalities, Rounding
~Language Arts: Plot, Main Idea
~Social Studies: Shang & Zhou Dynasties
~Science: Scientific Investigation - Atoms, Matter, Elements, Periodic Table of Elements
~Started a mural using oil pastels

~Ladybug's Accomplishments~

~Continued Time4Learning Kindergarten for Math, Language Arts

~Completed Time4Learning Science 1st grade
~Math: Matching Numbers
~Language Arts: Letters "D"
~Continued a Unit on Nursery Rhymes from Mother Goose Time
~Completed "Old Mother Hubbard", "Little Jack Horner", "There was an Old Woman", "Hot Cross Buns" and "Little Boy Blue" activities

~Monkey's Accomplishments~

~Developed an attitude and didn't want to do anything except Dora this week!

Week in Review ~ Week 23

~Family Accomplishments~

~Continued unit on Love
~Continued reviewing Articles of Faith 1-5
~Continued memorizing "The Living Christ" (First 4 sentences complete)
~Continued using Time4Learning (I am doing a review for this product in exchange for 1 month free).

~Mama continued using Rosetta Stone Latin and Completed Unit 1 Lesson 3
~Completed our 107th day

~Unicorn's Accomplishments~

~Finished Discover the Scriptures lesson on John Taylor

~Started Discover the Scriptures lesson on Wilford Woodruff
~Finished reading the February Friend
~Completed Unit 1 Lesson 3 in Rosetta Stone Latin (94% overall)
~Completed lesson 33 in TTL4 (23 WPM and 91% Accuracy)
~Completed a mini-unit for American Heart Month
~Completed a lesson on Ferris Wheel Day (Feb. 14)
~Completed a lesson for Valentine's Day (Feb. 14)

~Learned about authors born in Feb. (Judith Viorst, Fred Gipson, Charles Dickens, Norman Bridwell, Wilhelm Grimm, Henry W. Longfellow)

~Learned about some famous people born in Feb. (George Herman Ruth, Jr., Nicolas Copernicus, William Fredrick Cody, Michael Jeffrey Jordan)
~Completed Reading The Witch of Blackbird Pond
~Continued Reading Leven Thumps and the Gateway to Foo
~Continued Time4Learning for Math, Language Arts, History and Science
~Math: Standard, Expanded and Word Form to the Hundred Thousands Place
~Language Arts: Summarizing
~Social Studies: Phoenicians
~Science: Scientific Investigation - Control Groups and Atoms
~Spent a LOT of time coloring!

~Made Cookies

~Ladybug's Accomplishments~

~Continued Time4Learning Kindergarten for Math, Language Arts

~Completed Time4Learning Science 1st grade
~Math: Counting, Shapes and Perspective
~Language Arts: Letters "M" and "S"
~Science: Jane Goodall, Water Cycle and Earth's Crust, then she started 2nd grade science with the Life Cycle
~Continued a Unit on Nursery Rhymes from Mother Goose Time
~Completed "Old King Cole" and "Pat-a-Cake" activities
~Played board games and put puzzles together

~Made Cookies

~Monkey's Accomplishments~

~Continued Time4Learning Preschool Level 1
~Completed Unit: Alphabet
~Worked on Matching (using a board game)

Homeschool Mother's Journal ~ Week 2

In my life this week...

I am attempting to cope with lack of sleep and an extra helping of pain. I have fibromyalgia and this weather is driving me crazy!

In our homeschool this week...

We started doing PE differently. Curious? I got the idea from Homegrown Mom. Check it out!   :D

Places we're going and people we're seeing...

This weekend Unicorn is going to her dad's (and 2 funerals) while Ladybug and Monkey spend some time with Grandma and Papa while Hubby and I go to the Mesa LDS Temple.

My favorite thing this week was...

finding a new way to do chores. My new way means help for mommy and chores are done daily without complaining! If this works for more than a week or two I will share here!

What's working/not working for us...

With our new chore system I was able to find some "extra" time to spend making cookies with my children!

Homeschool questions/thoughts I have...

I am thinking it is time to rework the family budget to include Time4Learning!

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

Week in Review ~ Week 22

~Family Accomplishments~

~Continued unit on Love
~Continued reviewing Articles of Faith 1-5
~Continued memorizing "The Living Christ" (First 4 sentences complete)
~Continued using Time4Learning (I am doing a review for this product in exchange for 1 month free).
~Completed our 102nd day
~Mama started doing Rosetta Stone Latin again. Unit 1 Lesson 2 is complete (a total of 29 activities)
~Took Monday off of school because Unicorn had a rough weekend (click here to read about it). We rode bikes together as a family.





~Unicorn's Accomplishments~

~Started Discover the Scriptures lesson on John Taylor
~Continued reading the February Friend
~Completed Unit 1 Lesson 3 (a total of 46 activities) in Rosetta Stone Latin (94% overall)
~Completed lesson 31 in TTL4 (23 WPM and 85% Accuracy)
~Completed a mini-unit for National Cherry Month
~Completed a mini-unit on Jell-O for Jell-O Week (Feb. 6-12)
~Completed a lesson on Laura Ingalls Wilder (born Feb. 7)
~Sent a card to a friend for Send A Card to A Friend Day (Feb. 7)
~Completed a lesson on Jules Vern (born Feb. 8)
~Continued Reading The Witch of Blackbird Pond
~Continued Reading Leven Thumps and the Gateway to Foo
~Continued Time4Learning for Math, Language Arts, History and Science
~Math: Place Value, Order/Compare Numbers, Rounding (Then we switched to level 3 Math and she did Place Value - Level 4 was just a little too hard for her)
~Language Arts: Suffixes, Homophones, Idioms and Greek/Latin Roots
~Social Studies: The Olmec and The Phoenicians
~Science: Scientific Investigation - Collect/Organize Data, Record Observations, Unexpected Findings
~Played board games and Wii Sports





~Ladybug's Accomplishments~

~Continued Time4Learning Kindergarten for Math, Language Arts and Science
~Math: Position Words (over, under, beside, between, etc.)
~Language Arts: Rhyming, Syllables and Story Details
~Science: Classifing Animals, Weather/Seasons, Thunderstorms
~Continued a Unit on Nursery Rhymes from Mother Goose Time
~Completed for "Baa, Baa, Black Sheep", "Humpty Dumpty", "There was a Crooked Man", "Itsy, Bisty Spider" and "Hey Diddle, Diddle" activities
~Played board games and Wii Sports

~Monkey's Accomplishments~

~Continued Time4Learning Preschool Level 1
~Completed Units: Numbers and Food

Homeschool Mother's Journal ~ Week 1

In my life this week...


I am having to help my oldest daughter, Unicorn, work through the death of her baby cousin. Short version: her step-aunt lost her baby boy sometime during the birth process. He died of heart failure. Click here for the whole story. 


In our homeschool this week...


We completed our 100th day! Wednesday, February 9th was our 100th day of school for this year!

Places we're going and people we're seeing...


This week we aren't going anywhere except to church. The last few months have been busy and it is nice to just stay home once in a while!

My favorite thing this week was...


sitting down with each of my children individually and just checking in. We talked about the good, the bad, the easy and the difficult. They were allowed to talk about whatever they wanted/needed to talk about in addition to answering a few questions for me.

What's working/not working for us...


So far, Time4Learning is working for us.

Homeschool questions/thoughts I have...


Today I am wondering why I waited so long to homeschool my children. April 5th will be our 1 year anniversary of homeschooling!

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

Week in Review ~ Week 21

~Family Accomplishments~

~Completed unit on Order and Goals
~Started unit on Love
~Continued reviewing Articles of Faith 1-5
~Continued memorizing "The Living Christ" (First 3 sentences complete)
~Started using Time4Learning (I am doing a review for this product in exchange for 1 month free).
~Went to "Slim Goodbody"
~Completed our 98th day

~Unicorn's Accomplishments~

~Finished Discover the Scriptures lesson on Brigham Young
~Started reading the February Friend
~Completed 3 lessons in Rosetta Stone Latin (94% overall)
~Completed lesson 29 in TTL4 (14 WPM and 96% Accuracy)
~Completed a mini-unit for Black History Month
~Completed a lesson on Groundhogs for Groundhog Day (Feb. 2)
~Completed a lesson for Weather Forecasters Day (Feb. 5)
~Continued Reading The Witch of Blackbird Pond
~Continued Reading Leven Thumps and the Gateway to Foo
~Started Time4Learning for Math, Language Arts, History and Science
~Math: Standard and Expanded Form to the millions
~Language Arts: Antonyms, Synonyms, Prefixes, Suffixes
~Social Studies: The Olmec
~Science: Scientific Investigation - Conducting Experiments
~Played board games and put puzzles together

~Ladybug's Accomplishments~

~Started Time4Learning Kindergarten for Math, Language Arts and Science
~Math: Same/Different, Matching, Grouping, Counting, Sorting and Patterns
~Language Arts: Patterns & Rhymes, Identifying upper and lowercase Letters and Matching upper and lowercase Letters
~Science: Living/Nonliving Things, Ants and Armadillo Environments, Amphibians
~Started a Unit on Nursery Rhymes from Mother Goose Time
~Completed "5 Little Pigs", "Sing a Song of Sixpence", "1, 2 Buckle My Shoe" and "Hickory Dickory Dock" activities
~Played board games and put puzzles together

~Monkey's Accomplishments~

~Started Time4Learning Preschool Level 1
~Completed Units: The Human Body, Vehicles, On the Farm and At the Zoo
~Worked on Matching (using a board game)