Classroom Redo!

We've only been homeschooling for about 6 weeks and we've already moved our classroom. Actually, we moved it about four weeks ago. Yes, it kind of sucked, but it really worked out for the best. Our old classroom was in the dining room and after a couple of weeks I decided to take my craft room that I had only just begun working on and give it up! Crazy right? I was a bit sad, but I knew it had to be done! I really wanted to have a dining room and a separate classroom space. Honestly, who has time to craft these days, anyway? I sure don't! All my time has been going to homeschool stuff! I still have a craft space, it's just not what I wanted and it's not set up... yet.

Anyway, on with the show... do you want to see the new room? I love it now! Don't get me wrong, I like the old room, too! But now it's pretty awesome! 

But, please!!!! Look pass the carpet... Ugh! 

This is where we do most of our work. The black box on the table is our work box and holds all the books we'll need for the week. Under the table and work box I keep my teachers manuals, curriculum and a few books. On the other end you can see our giant paper roll.
Above the work box we have the first black container that holds my pens, pencils, and markers, the next one holds colored pencils, the following one has paint brushes, and the last one has scissors and glue. Above that we have paint and glitter! On the top we have a punctuation chart I made for Landon as well as our maps.  Then of course on the side is the human body diagram.

Here is a close up of the punctuation chart if you'd like to make your own.

I am not 100% sure what to do with the fireplace, yet. I am thinking I will decorate it with seasonal artwork, or something. We'll see!

Inside my red chest I keep all of our school curriculum items. Top row holds all of our school books, middle row holds; language, math, and science. And the bottom row holds a few books that we've completed already and a few puzzles... odds and ends. 

On this wall, I am currently keeping the calendar accessories, though maybe I should keep them near the calendar. I don't think there is space, though. Anyway, August and the missing weather and season items are on the calendar. 

As you can see, I have extra wall space for later! Here I have Emmelyn's Busy boxes on the left side of the white table, I'll show more of those at the end. On top of the table I have my printer, pencil sharpener and laminator. I love that thing!

Inside I have our extra books they are separated by file folders into categories. Not all of our books fit though, so some are upstairs. I tried to keep the most educational ones in here, though.

For a close up of our calendar you can go here!

Today, I made this contraction caterpillar I saw on Pinterest for Landon. I think it's cute!

So, you're probably starting to wonder what is behind the curtain? Well, it use to be a laundry room. Our garage had been converted by the previous owner into a MIL suite and our family room (this room) was part of that area. So this door above is a bathroom (convenient for the school room) and the curtained area is the old laundry room.

I normally have a gate up right behind the curtain to keep grabby little hands out, but for the purpose of today, I don't. 

This is where I keep everything else. Oatmeal containers, egg cartons, art supplies, boxes, etc. The black file box on the bottom left holds file folder games and other fun stuff for later in the year.

The top three drawers contain art supplies while the bottom three hold paper products. 

Now, back to those busy boxes!

(Side note, this is turning into the longest blog ever...)

 From the bottom we have Mr. Potato Head, then foam rings (foam noodles cut up), pattern blocks, and then finger puppets, which are Emmelyn's favorite! (Found them on Amazon.com)

 

Emmelyn also loves these pom poms! She loves to fill up her shape sorter and pour them out! Behind those we have her busy bags.

 

First bag contains a cupcake making kit, it's adorable! Next one is just laces for the foam rings and a lacing kit.

And then there is our wall clock, can't forget that! Landon's learning to tell time, so I drew up some quick circles and taped them to the clock, pretty easy!

Hope you've enjoyed our new classroom! 

We sure do!


Linking up at:

http://www.ihomeschoolnetwork.com/category/not-back-to-school-blog-hop/

Clean Cherry Muffins!

I dream about the weirdest things.

 Lately it's about homeschool and what I need to do around the house. When I woke up this morning I wanted to make muffins and they had to be cherry! Luckily we had bought cherries over the weekend

 I searched for some clean cherry muffins on the web.. didn't find any that had ingredients I had on hand. 

Well, I thought, gee, I've made enough muffins in my life, I can do this! 

And so I got to it!

Oh boy, did these turn out great!! 

So here's what you need:

1-1/2 cups white whole wheat flour
1 cup oats

2 tbs coconut oil

1 tsp baking soda

1 cup unsweetened applesauce

1/4 cup milk, soy, or almond milk (add more if you need it)

1 egg (or two egg whites)

1 cup of cherries (or other fruit)

1/2 cup of honey (maybe a little less)

1/2 tsp of salt

1tsp of vanilla

Mix it all up and bake in muffin tin at 350 degrees for about 20 minutes or so. As always, it depends on  your oven. I'd start checking them around 15 minutes. 

 Should make about 18 muffins!

Enjoy!

Donuts, Shaving Cream, and a Little Food Coloring!

I've been wanting to buy a donut pan for a long while now, but I could never find one! I finally saw one while wandering around Target a couple weeks ago and had to have it! Landon decided on the flavor of donuts so I found this recipe on Pinterest and created my own frosting recipe and made some amazing baked chocolate donuts! YUM!

Frosting:

1/2 cup chocolate chips
1TBS butter
1/4 C powdered sugar
1T water (more if needed)

Melt chocolate and butter in microwave for 30 seconds and stir (checking to make sure you don't burn it) add another 10 seconds and stir if needed. Add water and sugar and stir together.

Michael's been working 12 hour shifts lately and with a very long commute his days have been about 15 hours! Woowee! So the kids and I have been trying to keep busy! Thursday night we decided to paint in the bath tub! They both loved this and Landon told me numerous times that I was the "best momma ever!" 

Seriously, go do this! 

Now! 

What are you waiting for?

All you need is some shaving cream and food coloring, that's it!

 

 I didn't add water to the bath, because I didn't want to them to slip and fall, so we played and then we washed the walls and their bodies afterwards.

 "I'm going to need a very big wipe!"

So fun!

Second Week of Homeschool (late)

 We're actually moving into our fifth week of homeschool, but I'm a bit behind here, so bare with me! During the second week of school we learned about Batik fabric and made our own paintings! The kids BOTH loved this one! In fact Emmelyn was SOOO mad when we were done with this one, she threw her first major fit!

In history this week, we learned about tribal masks and why some cultures wore them and we made our own!

 This picture on the right cracks me up with his eyes. ;)

She was a good helper while we practiced counting by two's

We baked some yummy clean oatmeal cookies this week, as well! The kids had a great time helping out in the kitchen and Emmelyn kept stealing bananas as we mixed! It was hilarious!

 I just love how full her cheeks are, haha!

Do you homeschool? If so, when do you start? Are you year round?

Our Natural Routine

Whew! I thought it was hard to keep up with my blog before, but after starting homeschooling, it's even harder! I think about updating often, but then I'd have to go get my camera, and upload pictures and then edit those pictures... and well... I don't usually plan to be on the computer THAT long!

I've noticed lately that we're sort of broke into a natural routine with things. With two kids running around, I devote our mornings to fun projects like art or science experiments or trying to play out in the yard or play "Just Dance" on the Wii. I always try to get my work out in during the mornings with them or during naptime if at all possible! Afterwards, Emmelyn takes a nap and Landon and I work on his school. By the time we're wrapping up, (if we're lucky and Emmelyn takes a long nap) we're almost done with school (besides reading) so we break for lunch.

After lunch I clean the kitchen up, start laundry, you know whatever needs to be done around the house while the kids play together. If we still have some school work waiting to be finished we will work on that in the afternoon and we usually do our chapter book reading as our bedtime story. It all works out great for us and just flows!



We're loving homeschooling and I am so glad to KNOW what Landon is learning about!

Like yesterday, in science, we read about the Flower Mantis ...

Doesn’t it look just like an orchid? Apparently they will hide in the flowers they resemble and wait for dinner! Freaky!