Our Day

I had someone recently ask me what a "typical" day looks like for us. So, I decided to journal one of our days!!! Obviously, not every day is the same, but this is fairly "normal" for a weekday.

6:30 ~ Maya K gets up to use the bathroom. She goes back to bed.

7:00 ~ Maya K gets out of bed (her cow clock has "woken up" letting her know that she can get up). She starts playing in her bedroom.

7:20 ~ Nathan comes in to wake me up and say goodbye (he's leaving for work)

7:40 ~ I go into Maya K's room to say "Good morning" and read to her. We are currently reading the "Jewel Fairies" books (we finished Book #1, "India the Moonstone Fairy", this morning).

8:00 ~ I go downstairs and turn my computer on while Maya K goes back to playing. I bring the cat inside from the garage and feed him. Then I spend some time on my computer, checking my e-mail and FB, and reading some blogs.

8:30 ~ Maya K comes downstairs and asks what we are having for breakfast :-). I start making pancakes while she goes upstairs to clean up.

8:50 ~ We eat breakfast and I start the dishwasher.

9:10 ~ Maya K finishes eating while I go upstairs to shower. When she finishes her breakfast, she goes upstairs to make the beds and get dressed.

9:30 ~ I get out of the shower to find that Maya K has completely taken the covers off my bed because she thinks it will be easier to make the bed if she starts all over :-). I help her fix it.

9:40 ~ I go downstairs and get things ready for school. Maya K comes downstairs multiple times to ask me questions, tell me stories, sing me a song, etc. She finally gets dressed.

10:00 ~ We start school. Phonics, Numbers, Handwriting, and Seatwork (while she works on her seatwork, I sit on the sofa and read some of my current book!!). As she is finishing her seatwork (coloring) I read to her from a chapter book ("Hi, I'm Katie Hooper" by Jane Sorenson)

12:00 ~ School went well today :-). I turn on "Clifford" for Maya K to watch while I get lunch ready.

12:10 ~ I let Maya K eat her lunch while watching "Clifford". She's EXCITED!!!!

12:30 ~ She's not done eating lunch so she brings her food to the table and I read to her ( from "Hi, I'm Katie Hooper").

12:45 ~ Lunch is done and we cuddle up on the sofa to read two picture books.

1:10 ~ We go upstairs to get things ready for Maya K's quiet time. I read another picture book to her :-).

1:20 ~ I come downstairs, make a phone call/leave a message, empty the dishwasher, prep dinner and put it in the crockpot, and then go upstairs to work on some laundry.

2:00 ~ I'm back downstairs and turn my computer on to check e-mails and FB. The phone rings and it is my earlier phone call/message calling me back. We visit for a few minutes.

2:15 ~ It's back to checking e-mail and FB.

2:30 ~ I sit down on the sofa with my book!!!!!!!

2:50 ~ Time to do the dishes

3:10 ~ Get Maya K up from her quiet time and then finish washing the dishes.

3:30 ~ Finish schoolwork with Maya K (we don't normally do any schoolwork in the afternoon, but there were two more things I wanted to get done today)

4:10 ~ Get ready and leave to go drop off a few movies at the library (it is SUPER cold here in Iowa right now, so this was a quick trip because the movies were due today!!!)

4:35 ~ Back home / change of plans because of someone's attitude and time of discipline

5:00 ~ Attitude fixed!!! I'm working on dinner and Maya K is building with blocks. Nathan gets home from work.

5:30 ~ Dinner!!

6:00 ~ Maya K starts playing with Play Dough and I clean up from dinner.

6:20 ~ Maya K is still contentedly playing (!!!!!) so I sit on the sofa with my computer and read a few blogs.

7:00 ~ Start the clean-up process with Maya K

7:15 ~ Maya K's bedtime snack

7:30 ~ Maya K's bedtime routine (lotion, jammies, brush teeth, oil on face, gloves, chapstick, story with Daddy, prayer, count to 10, lights off)

8:00 ~ I come downstairs to find a bowl of ice cream waiting for me!!!!!

FB Friday

October 12, 2013 ~ I stayed up late last night playing games with some great friends!!! But I'm definitely feeling the late night this morning!!!

I get to take a mini-road trip with my sister today!!! We're heading up to Independence, IA, to attend our aunt's wedding :-). The morning was full of washing/styling Maya k's hair and laundry!!! Now, it's time to GO!!!

October 13, 2013 ~ It was a lot of fun to get to spend time with my sister driving to and from our aunt's wedding yesterday!!! We got to see our parents and grandparents, along with other family members that we don't see very often :-).

October 14, 2013 ~ Maya K: "Is God ever silly?"
Me: "Ummmmmmmmm.........." (getting ready to give some sort of theological answer about the holiness of God)
Maya K: "I mean, if there are kids in Heaven, does God ever be silly with them to make them laugh?"
Me: "YES!!!! I think that God likes it when people are happy and I am SURE that He enjoys hearing kids laugh in Heaven!!!!" :-)

We had our third and final post-placement visit with our social worker tonight :-). It went great and now we are almost "officially" done!!! We still need/want to finish her re-adoption and name change, and then update her name change on official documents, but we are getting close to DONE!!! :-)

October 15, 2013 ~ Maya K just called me to come upstairs and show me something. She had sounded out and written all by herself the words "nut", "tub", and "log"!!!! I'm so happy with how much she has learned since we started school two months ago!!!!

How many peas is it safe for a 6-year-old girl to eat in one sitting??? Just sayin'!!!!!

October 16, 2013 ~ Oh dear. I was trying to do something crazy with Maya K's hair for AWANA tonight, but it ended up looking good :-). Oh well. The barrettes are in a rainbow of colors, so maybe that counts as crazy???!!!

October 17, 2013 ~ Congratulations to my brother Tim and sister-in-law Mandie!!! They are excited to be expecting their first little blessing and I am excited to be an AUNT again!!! (I haven't shared the news with Maya K yet :-). That excitement will be for tomorrow!!!)

Just for fun!! Nathan and I first met the summer of 1997. There was nothing "special" between us then, but it was a piece of the puzzle that God used to bring us together!!! I love you, Nathan!!!!!

October 18, 2013 ~ For whatever reason, this week has seemed long. And, now that Friday is here, I'm wanting a relaxed day. Maya K has complied (so far) by sleeping in a half hour (yay!!!) and being content to play upstairs in her room for MUCH longer than normal!!! But, I suppose that we need to eat breakfast at some point, so I guess the lazy part of my day is done :-(.

"I think you need to have a little patient, because they are wanting...giving people a little rest of it....that way they like it some more." ~ Maya K, speaking on why I am having a hard time finding her favorite kind of gum in the stores :-).

A neighbor just came over to invite Maya K to come help her make glitter pumpkins this afternoon!! This will be GREAT!! It's not my mess and not my garage so it will be FUN!!

Maya K got to help our neighbor make glitter pumpkins!! It has been a blessing to get to know our new neighbor Hannah and she has been so sweet towards Maya K. She came over this morning and said that she thought it would be a lot of fun for Maya K to help her!! Since I am NOT a glitter/mess-making person, this was GREAT!! And she let Maya K pick a pumpkin to keep :-).

Nathan: "Are you going to be good for Mommy tonight?"
Maya K: "If I say 'No' will you stay here?"
Nathan: "NO. I will (insert consequence) and then I will still have to leave."
Maya K: "Okay. Yes, I will be good."
I did not smile. On the outside. :-)

FB Friday

October 5, 2013 ~ I "heart" these moments!!!!

October 7, 2013 ~ Maya K and I are heading down to Indianola to visit some of my old students at VCA over lunch and recess today!!! I'm excited to get some HUGS from my kids and Maya K is excited to get to play on the playground :-).

What a blessing to get to see my many kids and get so many HUGS!!! I am so glad to be home every day with my little girl, but I definitely miss VCA and all my kids!!! Maya K had fun and got to spend some time in the kindergarten classroom while I wandered the halls :-).

October 8, 2013 ~ Me: "Maya K, it's almost time for breakfast, so if you want to make the beds and get dressed before breakfast you need to do those things now."
Maya K: "I'm on it!!!"
I think she's been listening to her Daddy!!!

Maya K: "Just call me 'Silly'."
K: "I thought your name was 'Sally'?"
Maya K: "Oh yeah. It's 'Sally'."

We're a little sad today :-(. PBS Kids has changed its scheduling and Daniel Tiger is no longer on after lunch. He has been a part of our daily routine for MONTHS and now he is only on at 10 a.m. which is during school. I'm trying to figure out WHAT TO DO?????!!!!!!??????? :-)

October 9, 2013 ~ "I'm trying not to smile, but I just keep graining!!!" (translation: grinning!!!) ~ Maya K

After talking with Maya K for almost TEN minutes trying to answer her question / help her understand ~ "Can God sin? Can He make Himself sin if He wanted to? But He can do anything. If He wants to." ~ I finally had to give in and use a ridiculous illustration. But she finally understood.
"The one thing that God cannot do is sin. He is perfect and if He sinned He wouldn't be God anymore. He can't do it. I cannot talk to a cat and make him understand me. Even if I WANTED to talk like a cat and have the cat know what I am saying, I CAN'T do it!!! God CAN'T sin!!!!"

October 10, 2013 ~ Thursday mornings have been hard the past few weeks. I wasn't sure if school was even going to happen today. It took Maya K SIX tries to be able to sing the alphabet song; something she has been able to do for a very long time (and she was only finally able to do it because I had her run up and down the stairs five times!!!). Reading through the blend cards was NOT going well and I almost stopped. But then, all of a sudden, she started reading the blends better than she ever has!!! It lasted for about 20 blends, and then it stopped. But for those 20 blends she HAD them!!! It was great!!!!!

This picture is from last week, but I wanted to show how well Maya K's handwriting is coming along. She LOVES handwriting time!!! It's honestly one of her favorite things to do in school!!!!!

I am printing some pictures today and came across this gem from our family vacation in CO this past May. Maya K being silly with her cousins :-).

"I just like to talk like a princess sometimes." ~ Maya K

October 11, 2013 ~ A blessing of homeschooling ~ When a friend just needs you to come spend time with her, you can drop your plans for the day and just go!!

First Week of School

Our first full week of kindergarten went very well!!!! Maya K is having fun (except for a grumpy moment on Thursday when she told me, "School isn't very much fun!!!") and she is doing a GREAT job!!!!

We have been starting our school day at 9:30 a.m. She normally wakes up at 7 a.m. and then plays in her room until 7:45/8:00. Then she comes downstairs and brings our cat in from the garage and feeds him. We eat breakfast and then she goes back upstairs to make the beds and get dressed. Normally it is around 9:00ish before all this is done and she can have a few minutes of play time before school starts.

Bible - We each get to choose one or two Bible songs to sing and then we read a story from her Bible story book. On Mondays, I am planning to read through her papers from Sunday School and finish anything that she wasn't able to get done in class. Then we end with us each talking about something we can thank God for or ask Him for, and then we pray together.

Phonics - I really like the A Beka phonics curriculum, so that is what I chose to use this year. Maya K already knows most of the letters names and sounds, but we are starting with the vowels and learning the name, sound, and a picture that starts with that letter sound. We have had some fun learning a few poems about the letters "Ii" and "Uu" as well as some hands-on activities. Worksheets are also involved :-).

Handwriting - Maya K has been interested in writing letters for the past few months, so she is really enjoying handwriting!!!! She holds her pencil BEAUTIFULLY and wants me to draw a smile next to the letters that she does well. I do!!! She also really loves our "Writing House" song. You'll have to ask her to sing it for you if/when you see her :-).

Numbers - We are working on number recognition (1-5 so far) and that is something that has not been easy for Maya K to pick up on informally since she came home. But after putting some time in each day she is doing very well. We are also working on counting to 20 (she does great) and things like patterning, object placement (i.e. top, middle, bottom; before, after). Worksheets are involved some days.

Phonics Review - We review the letters we have been working on and often play a fun game.

Readiness Skills - This isn't every day, but some days we have a paper that involves coloring, cutting, gluing, drawing, tracing, etc.

As the school year progresses and Maya K learns to read, we will have more "seatwork" and a reading group time :-).

We have been getting done with her schoolwork around 11 a.m. this week. I have been pleased with how well Maya K has been focusing on what I am asking her to do and I know that our bond is growing stronger with each minute we spend together!!!!!!

I am very grateful for the opportunity to teach my daughter this school year!!!!!

First Day of Kindergarten

Maya K started Kindergarten today!!!!!!

I am homeschooling her for Kindergarten and we were both excited to get started!!!! It only took about an hour to do our work today, so it was short and sweet :-). We had fun!!!!