Gymnastics #3 {Tricks 4 Treats}

I feel like I need a mommy confession. I had a bad week prior to this meet. I was very emotional and distracted and I firmly believe it rubbed off. Miss E will say that the decorations for Halloween messed her up. Who really knows. We all know that you have good days and bad days; good meets and not so good meets. This meet was really rough. It is all apart of the process so we take it, we learn, and we move on. 

Sunday, October 4, 1015

Tricks 4 Treats, Oceanside Gymnastics

Vault #1

Vault #2

Bars

Beam

Floor

Next meet is 10/18. It is another early one, about 45 minutes from home. I'm expecting great things...

Gymnastics #2 {South Section 2nd Prelim}

We started our morning super early for this meet. We had to leave the house at 6:30am to be in Chula Vista (East Lake) by 8:00am. I don't really like the early morning and we had fog. The fog was so thick near the gym that it was hard to see stop lights. Let me just say I'm not a fan of fog in areas I'm unfamiliar.

We made it to the gym and found out that Miss E would be competing by herself. She is the only 8 year old competing Level 3 on our team. One of the other girls showed up at the wrong time (long story) and decided to forfeit getting ribbons to compete with Miss E. She was so sweet in saying that all she wanted to do was gymnastics and the ribbons/medals didn't matter.

This turned out to be Miss E's best meet. She raised her overall score by over a point from the Judge's Cup and had two PRs!! Overall she finished 12 out of 25.

Sunday, Sept 27, 1015

South Section 2nd Prelim, Chula Vista YMCA

Vault

 No video of the vault. I turned the camera the wrong way...

Bars (PR)

Beam

Floor

Blessings,

Elizabeth

Fun With Literature {Chocolate Touch}

Miss E read The Chocolate Touch as part of her Literature/Vocabulary lessons. 

She imagined what it would be like to have a magic touch. If she could have a magic touch she would want it to be chocolate, too. We worked together on a little writing assignment.

I also found a novel study from teacherspayteacher. For a novel study I thought this was pretty good. It was a little bit challenging for Miss E, but we had good discussions after every chapter.

Our FUN activity was to make chocolate bars.

Chocolate Rainbow

Ingredients: chocolate, fun marshmallows, rainbow star sprinkles.

For the chocolate bar we just melted about 1 cup of mini chocolate chips in the double broiler. I laid out some wax paper in a small Tupperware container in which Miss E put in a few marshmallows. I then poured the hot chocolate over the top and then she added more marshmallows and sprinkles. She was not patient enough to let the chocolate cool before she started digging into her creation. This was the best part of both kids' week.

Fun Happenings {overdue update}

Here is what has been happening in the life of Domicile Lessons...

In March we became a family of 5!! The big kids were so excited to meet their little brother. We've continued the Biblical E theme with names so now we are 5 Es strong.

 

Here are a few recent pictures.

In July Miss E took a huge step in her gymnastics career and is now on Team!! {Her first competition} She was a little hesitant, as was her momma, in this next phase of life. I'm super excited for her. She participated in a two day clinic of intense gymnastics with a sleep over. I checked in on her a couple of times since I dropped her off and she seems to be doing well. The night was a little rough but she toughened up and stayed with her friends. Clinic ended with "The Really Big Show" that the girls worked hard on all weekend. It was pretty cute!!

On August 8, Little Man took a huge step in his walk with the Lord; he got baptized!! This momma's heart was about to explode and water leaks from my eyes anytime we talk about it. Back in February the story taught in his class at church was about having your name written in the Book of Life. He came home and asked if we would pray that his name would be written in the Book of Life. We told him that it was not a prayer we could pray, but we shared with him how to get his name written there. That night he accepted the Lord!! In July during our daily Bible reading we read the story about Philip and the Eunuch from Acts. If you don't know the story, Philip is helping the Eunuch understand what he was reading and then baptizes him. Little Man said when we were done that he was ready to be baptized, too. When asked why he wants to be baptized he says so he can show people he believes in Jesus!!

Homeschooling is still going strong. I slowed our schedule down a lot through the summer. We never really took a total break. I'm ready to hit the fall hard and get into our new routine. With Miss E's gymnastics at 10 hours a week, my work at our church, Little Man's endless energy and the baby things are going to be interesting... stay tuned there may be an update soon.

Thanks for reading.

Blessings,

Elizabeth

Gymnastics #1 {Judge's Cup}

Miss E's first team meet with Cal Gold.

Sunday, Aug 30, 1015

Judge's Cup at Palomar YMCA

First Event: Vault (PR)

She tied for 8th place and received a medal!

Second Event: Bars

Third Event: Beam

Fourth Event: Floor

This is the event we were all a little bit nervous about. She just mastered her round off back hand-spring and had to do it without a spot for competition. She nailed it!!

 

One of many meets under her belt!!

End of July Already?!?!

Well, 'Summer' is flying by. I seem to remember that May took what seemed like forever for us. The month just kept going and going. June went by in a snap and now we are at the end of July. We do not take summer vacation per se. We did go to Colorado for 8 days the beginning of July and that was our vacation. Not really a vacation but that is another story for another time. Now we are getting ready to get fall into full swing!!

I am changing up our curricula this year. When I started this homeschool journey two years ago, I was looking for a great curricula, that I would love, that would come wrapped up in a pretty box that would be delivered to my door. For me, nothing like that exists. So, this year I'm eclectic and I have never been more excited about what I'm going to teach. I will admit, I'm a little overwhelmed with all the teaching manuals and I can't seem to create a spreadsheet that I love, but I still have a couple of weeks to get everything ironed out.

Miss E is starting 2nd grade and Little Man is kindergarten. We've been working a little bit since our trip and things are going to be interesting this year. Miss E yells at Little Man to be quiet while she works on her work. She is easily distracted. We are going to have to overcome that and quick. Little Man usually goes with the flow, but he is starting to become a distraction when his work is done. There is a huge gap in the amount of work they will both be doing, juggling time will be my little dance until everything evens out.

Our Curricula Choices

History (Both Kids): Beautiful Feet Books, Early American History

Science (Both Kids): Sassafras Science, Zoology

Math (Both Kids): Singapore Math, Earlybird and 2

Language Arts (Both Kids): LIFEPAC, K and 2

Supplemental Vocabulary (Both Kids): Wordly Wise 3000, K and 2

Supplemental Phonics (Both Kids): Explode the Code, A B C and 3 4

Supplemental Penmanship (Both Kids): Zaner-Bloser K and 2 

I also have a few online programs to sprinkle in technology

This promises to be a full year. I think it will be fun, too; and very busy!! I hope to update again before we start 1st and 3rd grade but I will not hold my breath.

Blessings,
Elizabeth

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What We Have Been Up To

Okay, I admit I'm not a good blogger... oh well!!

This 'school year' has been a busy one. 1st grade has literally kicked my butt. It has been hard, I won't sugar coat it. Miss E and I have had some epic battles when it comes to our school day. Part of it is probably because we are both strong willed and another part is probably due to the fact that we don't have a set daily routine. Everyday for us is different and that makes things hard. One thing I'm going to work on for next year. If everyday is different then we will make a routine set for each individual day. Who needs to do science and history everyday?? How about just three days a week??

We have, however, had some really fun times though. We've pushed through subtraction and even though it is not her favorite thing, she is starting to 'picture' the problems in her head. We've had fun with science and history. She LOVES to read and be read to. We've had some days where things just 'click' and we've finished everything we set to accomplish.

As any homeschool family will tell you, school is not the only thing you have to manage. We are also managing life. Back in December we had a diagnosis of celiac disease in our family. Fortunately celiac is only affecting one of the four of us but as the head cook, the whole family is now gluten free. Let me just say that GF is hard work!! Not only are we cleaning out our pantry and replacing what we can with GF stuff, we are also replacing recipes and our 'go to' food. Yes, there is a ton of processed foods in the grocery store that are labeling GF but I can only take so much of the boxed stuff.

As of right now, I have a plan to change the focus of my blog a little bit. We are still a homeschool family and as I find things to post I will. (Don't hold your breath waiting for an update.) I also want to post about our adventure into the GF world. I want to share the recipes we've tried and liked. I also want to share how we are managing as a family as we make these changes. In all fairness, our kitchen is now 99% GF, I've had a few months to work at getting there.

So, let the adventures begin!!

In the mean time here are a few pictures of our winter/spring adventures!

 Hatching Dinosaur Eggs

Reading Hop on Pop

 Family fun at Disneyland!

Making our own solar system.