Tot truck school!

This week was truck school for tot and he loved it!  I've never done a theme, but was inspired by www.delightfullearning.com.  

Everyday we started out reading a few of our truck books...

I love him holding his loader while reading the loader book (serious business for him!)!

A few days we did different truck puzzles - he's very much a puzzle king and would really do them all day.  He's getting very good at them too and loves saying each truck's name!

Each day I had two different trays with special truck related activities on them.

For this one I'd say the color, he'd pick it out, then color the corresponding truck.

Lining up our different trucks...

Learning all of their names...

 Matching trucks to them...his favorite was the forklift, but didn't have one so the grader stepped in :)

and of course a truck sensory bin that got played with each day :) (just beans in there!)

Here we are counting trucks and putting on our magnetic pom poms.

The pull out book spells his name by the trucks and there was one space left so I put an 'I love you' hand - see him imitating it :) 

 Then today we put all of his little activities together (I got them from www.1plus1plus1equals1.net) and made them into a lapbook.  He was so excited when I said we were going to make a 'truck lapbook'!!! Wants to be just like the brothers :)

 Then of course everyone had to pull out ALL of the lapbooks ever made and show them to papa who came today for a few hours!

We did a little practical life today and he helped cut bananas for the dehydrator.  He did well with his knife. His were obviously not the right size, but mama didn't mind eating them,..

When I was on the computer this afternoon, I looked down and I noticed him playing Mass right behind my chair.  The collar on the head, bible in front and all of his vestments (daddy's ties) wrapped around himself (his 'father clothes') :)

...consecrating...I heard his little "ding, ding, ding" he does at the part!

Little techy tot :)  Playing his matching Thomas game on the tablet with big brothers cheering him on every match he made!  

And that's our week in tot school!  I'm thinking maybe a rainbow theme next week...

Papal lapbook

I just have to share something I am SO excited about! Last night Jessica from Shower of Roses shared her Papal Lapbook and Unit Study she put together for this historical time we're living in!  As soon as Pope Benedict retired, I wanted a lapbook for the boys, but really didn't know where to even start, nor did I have the time!  I was SO SO SO happy when she posted hers :)

Beautiful, huh?  So we started today....here is Captain writing in his first mini book - it's a pop-up of the Vatican - LOVE it!

I also had him color Pope Benedict's coat of arms which he loved (I printed that over a week ago and can't remember where I printed that from) .  He can't wait to see what the next pope chooses (or of course what he'll choose if he's ever Pope ;) )

In Jessica's lesson plans she suggested reading from a book we didn't have, but someone linked a free copy of the book.  It was an older book and oh so good.  Bible verse after bible verse through the Acts showing the primacy of Peter. I love seeing how the other apostles viewed him as head knowing and understanding what Jesus had done by giving him the keys.  I just heard the typeology the other day how from the Old Testament when a king was going to leave, he left the keys with his Prime Minister.  This action showed that the Prime Minister was in charge of the castle and all affairs until the king returned.  If the prime minister died, then he handed on the keys to someone else and so on until the king returned!  Sounds familiar right!! All Jews in Jesus' time, who knew their Old Testament very well, would have understood perfectly the action that Jesus did by giving Peter the keys.  I am in awe by the beauty of the Bible in all of it's intricacies and simplicities.  Wow...  Anyway, here are some examples that we read today.  The boys both loved all of them.  I thought they may zone out, but they didn't, even Rex said 'Hey, we heard that in the Gospel of John' which they sometimes listen to on our tablet while going to bed :)  There are many more, but I just wanted to show some detail.  Here's the link for the book - this part was located near the bottom under "The Primacy of Peter".

4. Christ also conferred on Peter special marks of distinction not conferred on the other Apostles. He gave him a new name. He chose him as a companion on the most solemn occasions. After the Resurrection, He appeared to Peter first, before showing Himself to the other Apostles. The Lord said: "Simon ... I have prayed for thee that thy faith may not fail; and do thou, when once thou hast turned again, strengthen thy brethren" (Luke 22:31-32)
   As with every well-regulated society, the Church needed a visible head; Christ appointed St. Peter visible head of the Church. The city has its mayor, the state its governor, the nation its President. At the head of every government is a president or king. Even in the family, the father is the head. Every corporation has a head.
   The Church is a visible society; that is, it Is composed of human beings. It needs a head as well as any other organization. Christ is always its invisible, Head, but it needs a visible head to take His place among men.

Did Peter actually exercise his primacy? --Yes, Peter actually exercised his primacy, and the other Apostles and the disciples recognized him as the head of the Church.


1. Peter's name always stands first in the lists of Apostles; Iscariot's is always last. St. Matthew even calls Peter the "first Apostle." But he was neither first in age nor in election, for Our Lord had called Andrew; his elder brother, before him. He must therefore have been first in honor and authority.
   
2. It was Peter that proposed the election of another to take the place of Judas. In obedience to Peter's advice, the Apostles put forward two among the disciples to choose from; and after praying, they chose Matthias (Acts 1:21-26).
   
3. It was Peter that preached the first sermon on the day of Pentecost. The Holy Ghost had descended on the Apostles; they spoke so that each person present (and there were many nationalities in the crowd) heard his own language being spoken. The people were amazed; and Peter spoke (Acts 2:14-36).
   
4. It was Peter that admitted the first converts from Judaism (Acts 2:38-41), as well as from paganism (Acts 10:5). "And he (Peter) ordered them (the Gentiles) baptized in the name of Jesus Christ" (Acts 10:48). This was a thing unheard of, that the Jews, "of the Faith", should consort with "heathen"; but Peter broke all bonds.
   
5. Peter worked the first miracle. He gave a man lame from birth the power to walk (Acts 3:6-8).
   
6. Peter meted out the first punishment. Ananias (and later his wife Sapphira) had lied and cheated; and having been rebuked by Peter, fell down dead (Acts 5: 1-6).
   
7. Peter cast out the heretic Simon Magus. This heretic had wanted to purchase the power of the Apostles of bringing down the Holy Ghost on those on whom they laid hands (Acts 8:19-20).
   
8. Peter made the first visitation of the churches (Acts 31-32).
9. In the first Council at Jerusalem, there was much disputing, but when Peter spoke, all submitted (Acts 15:7-12). "After a long debate, Peter got up and said, ... 'But we believe that we are saved through the grace of the Lord Jesus' ... Then the whole meeting quieted down" (Acts 15:7, 11-12).
   
10. After his conversion, St. Paul presented himself to Peter (Gal. 1: 18)
11.  
12.  Ok...since I can't figure out how to not have it stop numbering, I'll just sign off!  No I won't...two more things.  We also tonight watched this little 3 minute video and the kids really liked it!  I feel they understand the whole electing of the pope now!!  Also, tomorrow we're going to make these adorable keys of Peter pretzels!!  Perfect!  Ok....now I'm signing out ;)

Happy Birthday Dr. Seuss!

In honor of Dr. Seuss's birthday week I decided last night to devote a week to him!  I just happened to come across these fun activities from 2TeachingMommies and we had most of the books to go along with them! Yeah! I usually wouldn't blog about it until we were all done, but I thought I would do it early in case anyone wanted to join in! 

 The boys were so excited and Captain got right down to reading to Rex.

We got right into it (Captain complains about ANYTHING school oriented before breakfast, but I didn't hear a peep about Roll and Graphing!).  We read Mr. Brown Can Moo, Can You and did the roll and graph to go along.  They love these everytime we do them, so I put them in page protectors to do over and over again this week.

While they were playing I thought "why not green eggs for breakfast" :)  It was a hit!  Too bad no ham to go along with it! And of course I read "Green Eggs and Ham" while they ate.

Then we read one of our favorites "If I Ran the Zoo" and mixed up our own funny animals.

 Captain's 5 headed walrus for his zoo.

 Tot joined him (he was amazingly still sleeping for the green eggs - that would have thrown him off!)...

 ...and if anyone knows Tot (who is very orderly) - ALL of the animals had to have the correct heads on the right bodies!

Lastly, we ended with some Cat in the Hat videos on www.pbskids.org. 

 Later in the day I found Tot taking each book over to Rex at their desk, who 'read' them to him!

We'll do a few things everyday this week and end it on Friday with the opening of the zoo where they're having a storytime/craft for Dr. Seuss's birthday!! So if you live here, and have a zoo pass - come join us!  Check the website for times - we're going to the earliest one which I think is at 10:30  :)  I'll post the rest of our fun week after we're finished!

Peace
Lauren

The past two weeks...

Since I didn't get to my weekly wrap up last week, I'm going to combine the last two!  I'll try not to make it too long ;) and just hit some highlights!

Here's our great new map that I mentioned in my last post.  I saw it at my friend's house a few weeks ago and loved it.  Then another blogger mentioned it was on clearance at Bed Bath and Beyond! Yeah!  Ours had three left.  The kids loved it and Rex is already picking up continents quickly!

  He keeps climbing up and making the airplane fly to new places.

I was gone one morning and came home to our living room turned into a beautiful 'cathedral' - dedicated to the Holy Family as you can see on the picture on the right.

 Here we were praying our family rosary in the cathedral and baby playing Mass (singing Alleluia with the bible).

Definitely one of my favorites from last week.  I walked in the school room to find this!! Loved it!

Rex  enjoys using these playdoh mats to do his letter of the week from www.homeschoolcreations.net.

 Tot with his new Busy Hands playdoh box.

One special tray - that messy special tray that is always the favorite of every child when it appears.... our Tot saw it for the first time last week and he was in love.   Pouring rice (dyed green from our rainforest sensory bin) from a juice bottle, through the funnel..and now for the excitement....into a bowl. Yes, a bowl...can't get much better than that! Had you on the edge of your seats, huh? :)  Even though this one seems so simple, it's hours of fun (for all the brothers!)!

 ...and fun is also had in sweeping up the extra rice that doesn't fall on the tray!

Captain started an online class last week (a first for us here).  It's the Lego Club for Homeschoolers.  It's Mondays from 4-5 pm through Currclick - and it's free!  We were just handed down TONS of Legos and I'm so grateful!  He logs on and watches his teacher live and she gives them her designs.  This month is Ancient China and they watched a little about the Great Wall, then built it!  She's been doing this class for over 2 years and you can see every project they've done - they're pretty neat.  He REALLY enjoyed his class and followed along perfectly. 

A rainbow Great Wall!

 

Momma got a little daring again after seeing a Fun with Shaving Cream pinterest board.  The final outcome didn't work well since we had gel instead of foam, but they sure had fun anyway!

 I told Tot to put his hands up so I could get a picture: :)

 Brothers messy wrestling! *the wrestling never stops here, esp. now that Rex is always wanting to, Captain has a partner!

I hit a clearance sale last weekend and found a brand new shrink wrapped Hooked on Spanish for 1.00!!!  With the 99.99 tag still on!  Love when that happens!  So we started....they think it's more of a game and love it.

Tot is getting so good at his Super Sorting Pie.

He was never able to pinch the tongs before, but finally got it and loves sorting by fruits and colors! (He has most of his colors down now by name :) )

A yummy chocolate chip/starburst rosary for the feast of Our Lady of Lourdes!

We made this neat paper chain for Lent.  Everyday we rip off a chain to say after dinner grace and each has an extra prayer to be said and for what intention.  Ex- tonight was 'say an extra Glory Be for our world leaders'.  Simple.  Also serves as a visual countdown to Easter.

Rex was excited to use Captain's AAS board to do his spelling last night!  Also, he's now earning 'tickets' for getting his sight words correct and 20 tickets equal a Wild Kratt!  He feels so big like his brother! Love it!

 Thanks to Aunt Katie for this never-ending fun Weird and Wacky Contraption Lab - really - they love this thing!  If you notice on the bottom - when the ball falls through the contraption, it's goal is to land on the blue circle and shoot out a pig attached to a rocket across the room - ingenious - who thinks of these things ;)

And now finally maybe my favorite...  today we finally opened Tot's last birthday gifts which just made it here from baba :)  He loved this Melissa and Doug felt food Sandwich Set!  We just kept making sandwiches and naming all the ingredients over and over :)

 ...and some lacing beads from baba that he enjoyed so much!

Saving the best picture for last....onion glasses!

 Little Tot had his surgery on Tuesday and is doing wonderfully!  Praise God!  He looks a little like a movie star with his new, shiny white teeth!  Thank you for all the prayers!

Have a blessed Lent!