Wow...

I can't believe it has been over 2 months since my last post. 

I guess I will find out if any of you are still reading my blog after this post. ;)

We have had a good start to our school year. Monkey has finished All About Reading Pre-Reading and the preschool level of IXL math. Ladybug has finished All About Reading Level 1, All About Spelling Level 1,  IXL KG level and half of the 1st grade level and Happy Handwriting. Unicorn has a great start into her 7th grade year and is getting ready to start her 3rd year of NaNoWriMo.

The kids took a few days off of school the first week of October to go camping with Papa and Nana. They had a great time fishing, hiking, going on a scavenger hunt, painting rocks and checking out the Ranger Station and Fire Look-out Towers. When they got home Ladybug learned how to ride her bike. Once Ladybug figured it out then Unicorn decided to try to learn to ride her bike again. She has hydrocephalus and some issues with balance so that combined with a REALLY bad bike riding accident 5 years ago had her pretty scared of bike riding. I am happy to report that she has overcome that fear and is now a bike rider! :)

This month we are preparing for NaNoWriMo and studying Elections and doing some Art projects. Ladybug and Monkey also started a new spelling program (that we love) and I will be doing a review on it VERY soon. We also started a book club and have read Charlotte's Web and The Wonderful Wizard of Oz.

Origami pigs and clay spiders for Charlotte's Web

Unicorn's sidewalk chalk drawing for The Wonderful Wizard of Oz

Ladybug's sidewalk chalk drawing for The Wonderful Wizard of Oz

Next month we will study Thanksgiving and participate in NaNoWriMo. I hope you will check back soon for more reviews and an update on what we are learning!

Brag Time Thursday ~ NaNoWriMo Winners!

Unicorn and Ladybug both WON NaNoWriMo for the 2nd year in a row! This year their goals were DOUBLE what they were last year!
UnicornGoal: 10,000Actual: 12,566Title: The Continuing Adventures of Sunshine and Moonlight
LadybugGoal: 1,000Actual: 1,057Title: The Adventures of Holly, Molly and Katie

Workbox Wednesday ~ Linky

Today the girls are finishing up NaNoWriMo (come back tomorrow for Brag Time Thursday to see how they did). Unicorn is also continuing to work on her Math (Teaching Textbooks 4) and Ladybug is working on her Reading (Reading Eggs, Ooka Island and First Start Reading). Monkey is just chillin' "reading" books and watching educational videos. Tomorrow we start Discover Christmas. 

Workbox Wednesday ~ Linky

We are spending the rest of this month writing our NaNoWriMo stories. Unicorn will also keep working on Math (Teaching Textbooks) and Ladybug will keep working on Reading (Reading Eggs). We will also be reading books with Monkey.
I am going to keep posting the Linky for those of you who are not taking a huge break through the holidays (also, I have some fun stuff we will be doing in December) so keeping coming back and see what everyone is up to!

Workbox Wednesday

This week I am SUPPOSED to share Monkey's PK workboxes, however, Monkey is taking a break. He will start back with {BFIAR} after Thanksgiving when the girls take a bit of a break.
Ladybug is also on a LIGHT schedule as her main focus is NaNoWriMo. She already has 400+ words in her story. She is also continuing with Ooka Island, First Start Reading (Book B) and Math Mammoth (1st Grade).
Yep, Unicorn's schedule is LIGHT as well. She is writing a Novel for NaNoWriMo and already has almost 3,000 words. She is also continuing Life of Fred: Cats, Teaching Textbooks 4 and RosettaStone Latin.
As a family we are working on decluttering for our upcoming move, memorizing the Articles of Faith and virtues from We Choose Virtues and skip counting by 2's and 3's, reading the Friend and working through The Mystery of History (this week is the Phoenicians, Israel Divides and Elijah). We are also using a few products that we will be reviewing soon (some really fun stuff)!
Hopefully next week I will have some pictures for you!

Brag Time Thursday ~ NaNoWriMo

This week I'm going to brag about my girls! They are participating in NaNoWriMo's (National Novel Writing Month) Young Author's Program for the 2nd Year! Last year Unicorn wrote a novella with 6, 295 words (her goal was 5,000) and Ladybug wrote a 504 word story (her goal was 500).

This year Unicorn's goal is 10,000 words and Ladybug is going for 1,000! As of the writing of this post Unicorn already has 1,024 words and Ladybug has 230!

Workbox Wednesday ~ 6th Grade

This week I am sharing Unicorn's 6th grade workboxes (the wings and tiaras are part of their Halloween costumes)!As a family we did chores, Religion (Friend magazine and Article of Faith #10), We Choose Virtues (focus on Attentive and Obedient), Old Testament Stories (Solomon) and History (Solomon in The Mystery of History). Then Unicorn did her Math (Life of Fred: Cats and Teaching Textbooks 4), Latin (RosettaStone) and worked on her NaNoWriMo story for Writing. She is also reading a book that we are reviewing soon.

NaNoWriMo Winners

Today is the last day to "win" NaNoWriMo. Unicorn, Ladybug and I challenged ourselves to write a novel during the month of November. My main reason for participating in NaNoWriMo was to be able to do something with my girls. I wanted them to have a good experience writing, being creative and accomplishing a goal. With that being said here are the winners:

Unicorn finished early and exceeded her goal. Her goal was to write 5,000 in 30 days! She finished her novel on Nov. 24 with 6,295 words! She has begun illustrating her novel and will edit it in December! One of the rewards from NaNoWriMo is that winners of the Young Writers Program get a free published copy of their novel! By January, Unicorn will have a published copy of her novel: "The Adventures of Sunshine and Moonlight"!

Ladybug finished at the last minute. Her goal was to write 500 words and she finished today with 504 words! She will also illustrate her book and polish it off in December and publish "The Adventures of Zoe and Lilah" in January!

As for me, while I didn't meet my goal of 50,000 words I do feel an element of success. I currently have 13,342 words and a very good start to my novel and I helped both of my girls write novels. I do plan on finishing my novel and now that I am not trying so hard to help them with their novels and sharing my computer with them I may actually find the time to finish!

Week in Review ~ Weeks 14

**This is actually an accounting for Nov. 15-26

~Family Accomplishments~

~Continued Unit on Gratitude
~Continued learning Article of Faith 5
~Mommy wrote 3,587 words for a total of 13,342 NaNoWriMo

~Went to the musical "How the Grinch Stole Christmas"

~Took the 25th-26th off for Thanksgiving
~Completed our 68th day 



~Unicorn's Accomplishments~

~Continued Discover the Scriptures: Give Thanks
~Has raised her Math Age +.12 years in 6 hours since starting Math Whizz 

~Completed Unit 1 Lesson 2 (4 activities) in Rosetta Stone Latin with an overall score of 93%
~Completed Lesson 13 in TTL4 with 17 WPM and 90% Accuracy
~Wrote 2,778 words to meet and pass her goal of 5,000 words. Her grand total is 6,295 words for NaNoWriMo
~Attended a Father/Daughter Activity with her Daddy K for church. She learned to tie a tie and practiced shaving on a balloon (and about static electricity). He learned to do a ponytail and paint fingernails! He also had to identify her by her feet. They had a great time!
~Finished sewing her apron and a fabric book (photos will be added when I get them from Grandma)!

~Went to her Daddy P's the 20th-28th










~Ladybug's Accomplishments~

~Continued Click 'n Kids and has completed a total of 7 lessons with a 95% average
~Since starting Math Whizz she has increased her Math Age +.15 years in 2 hours and 30 min.
~Wrote 50 words for NaNoWriMo 

~Made a Barnyard Diorama
~Made a cow, mouse and goat
~Drew her favorite farm animals (ducks, cows, chickens)
~Made a Thankful Turkey







~Monkey's Accomplishments~

~Made a cow, mouse and goat
~Colored his favorite farm animal
~Made a Thankful Turkey

Week in Review ~ Week 13

~Family Accomplishments~

~Continued Unit on Gratitude
~Continued learning Article of Faith 5
~Mommy wrote 4,245 words for a total of 9,299 NaNoWriMo

~Unicorn's Accomplishments~

~Continued Discover the Scriptures: Give Thanks
~Has raised her Math Age +.07 years in 3 hours and 30 minutes since starting Math Whizz 
~Completed 4 Lessons in Rosetta Stone Latin with an overall score of 94%
~Completed Lesson 11 in TTL4 with 29 WPM and 97% Accuracy
~Wrote 1,474 words for a total of 2,258 NaNoWriMo

~Ladybug's Accomplishments~

~Continued Click 'n Kids and has completed a total of 6 lessons with a 97% average
~Since starting Math Whizz she has increased her Math Age +.14 years in 2 hours and 15 min.
~Wrote 0 words for NaNoWriMo  (It was a crazy week for mommy...she will write more this weekend)!
~Learned about wheat
~Practiced writing
~Practiced cutting
~Wrote a postcard to her Aunt






~Monkey's Accomplishments~


~Successfully avoided preschool all week
~Successfully avoided the camera all week

Week in Review ~ Week 12

~Family Accomplishments~

~Finished our Unit on Obedience
~Started a Unit on Gratitude
~Continued learning Article of Faith 5
~VOTED
~Mommy wrote 5,054 words for NaNoWriMo

~Unicorn's Accomplishments~

~Started Discover the Scriptures: Give Thanks
~Switched to Math Whizz and has increased her Math Age +.04 years in 2 hours
~Completed 2 Lessons in Rosetta Stone Latin with an overall score of 93%
~Completed Lesson 6 in TTL4 with 23 WPM and 96% Accuracy
~Wrote 784 words for NaNoWriMo
~Finished Maryland, South Carolina and New Hampshire for Social Studies
~Worked on her Butterfly Notebook for Science
~Chose to read The Secret Soldier for Reading (I didn't assign anything for Nov. because she is writing a novel)
~Spent a few hours with Grandma picking out fabric and getting started on sewing an apron




~Ladybug's Accomplishments~

~Started Click 'n Kids and completed 4 lessons with a 98% average
~Started Math Whizz and has increased her Math Age +.06 years in 1 hour 20 min.
~Wrote 265 words for NaNoWriMo
~Made a "Piggy Planter"
~Practiced handwriting
~Made a Tractor
~Did a Puzzle
~Learned how to do a Dot-to-Dot
~Practiced cutting




~Monkey's Accomplishments~

~Practiced coloring
~Made a Tractor
~Practiced writing
~Tried cutting