Been a whiles since I have been on my blog. Where has the time gone. Quick update on our world and why I have not been around.

If you have read this blog before you know my father passed away on May 31, 2013. Sad to say my mother in law has passed away on Sept 8, 2015. A week or so later my best friend, Owlbee, passed away Sept 25. It has been a roller coaster ride of emotions around here.


The kids...

Bigger (16) is still playing the bass at church, doing okay in school and has a girlfriend and has been spending a lot of time with her family.

 

Super D (16) is still with us and is more of our family every day. He is taking classes at St. Petersburg College duel enrollment program.

(no picture, he does not like me posting them online, sad mom face)

Honey (8) is her typical girly self. She is struggling with school.  We have added a tutor once a week for reading and I am looking into a new curriculum for math.

Moose (6 about to be 7) is an active boy. He has such an imagination and can turn any items into a playing field. (Who needs toys, right) His is great at math and is moving along slowly with reading.

The hubby...

Big Daddy is dealing with the death of his mom in his own way. We got him a puppy, his name is Duke. He is still playing the drums at church and shows me every day how much he loves me.

As for Me, Lil Momma,

I have been dealing with migraines/headaches for a while now and they are finally getting to the point I can not function. I am see neurologist. I have really thrown myself into daily doodling and drawing to help my stress level. You can follow me on Instagram at #lilmommab. Dealing with so much loss, mother in law and best friend, Owlbee. It has been even more stressful.


I think that is the update for us.

PS. The school pictures are proof pics from the best photographer! Mor


Lil Momma Strouse

Another New Family Member

We have been so busy that I forgot to share that we have yet another new family member.

Meet Georgie Grace!

Gerogie gets along very well with Cali 

(flash makes eyes close) 

Georgie loves to sit in Mooses lap and watch his DS. 

Georgie is Moose's kitten and Cali is Honey's kitten. 

Everyone is doing great adjusting to being part of our family. 

Lil Momma Strouse

Go Fish!

Today in our homeschool elementary we have enjoyed one of our favorite games.

 This seems to be a popular game in our house right now.

I love that my two youngest like to play together. It make my heart over flow when I see all of my kids playing a game like this together!

Lil Momma Strouse

Elementary Science Series: Week 4

As I have said over the past few weeks hands on activities are great for my children to learn about science or anything. We have been enjoying a youtube channel called Art for Kids.  

Not only have the kids learned some hand eye coordination and art skills they have also learned about different features in animals. This would go great with second grade science worksheets. Some examples of this are…

This is an owl that Honey drew.  She learned about eyes and feathers while drawing this owl. It also lead to more conversations and research on all kinds of owls.

This is a Raccoon that Honey drew. This lead to conversation and research on why raccoons have the mask look on their face along with raccoons being scavenger animals. 

Lastly, Moose got in on this art/science fun but he fell in love with drawing a dragon. In the video the man states draw lines on the belly like other lizards.  That lead us to look up all kinds of lizards and see how those lines are actually scales on their belly. 

Art is a great way to incorporate other subjects like science. What subjects do use art with? 

Lil Momma Strouse

Moose turns 5 years old.

My baby turns 5 years old. How can this be?

I am at a loss for words…. Okay, those who know me know that is not going to happen.

Moose wanted a CAMO birthday. We aim to please, well we do on big birthdays like 5, a WHOLE HANDFUL.

We started transforming the house into camo central.

Then we made a camo swirl cake.

Before

After but before icing.

I ended up attempting to make a tank.

I was disappointed in it but my boy loved it.

The inside looks great.

We let him open One gift in the morning, cause a 5 year old does not understand that people will not be there till 7pm for him to open gifts. 

He loved his army set and played it all day.

When it came time to open presents at night, he was moving so fast he I could not get many non blurry pictures.

Camo SHEETS!!! 

Yes, this boy had a very camo birthday. Even went to sleep having camo dreams. 

Now I need to look at the homeschool requirements and kindergarden games. 

Lil Momma Strouse

2013-2014 School Year

It is that time of year again when everyone is writing about what they are doing for the next school year and their first day of school.

We have been schooling for about 2 weeks now. I know I am a bad mom I did not take those pictures where my kids hold up a sign that says the grade they are in. O'well so is life.

This year I have a 9th grader, 1st grader and PreK5. Wow what a stretch between the 9th and 1st grader. I am not sure how this is going to work with all that earth and space between them, but we will do it that is why I love homeschooling.

For my 9th grader we are using the following....

• Notgrass Exploring America - this covers English, Bible, History and for us Writing
• Keys to Algebra 
• God's Design for Life - science/biology
• Spellingcity.com for vocabulary/spelling list

We might add a class from Time4Learning.com High School. This is new this year!!

For my 1st grader we are using the following...

• Time4Learning.com K/1st grade curriculum
• All About Reading Level 1
• Complete Math workbook grade 1
• "Today is" notebook
• Lots of Dry Erase practice sheets
• Hands on games
• Read, Read, Read, Read, Read and did I say read out loud?

For my PreKer we are using...

• Time4Learning.com K grade curriculum
• All About Reading Level 1 (relaxed)
• Complete Math workbook grade Pre-K
• "Today is" notebook
• Lots of Dry Erase Practice Sheets
• Hands on games 
• Read, Read, Read, Read out loud!

9th grader! "Biggun"

1st grader! "Honey"

PreK 5 "Moose"

Lil Momma Strouse

Worst Sick Bug Ever.

This is what a sick lil momma and moose look like....

A yucky bug came to our home.  I think it is the worst sick bug ever! It all started with me. Last Thursday I felt like a train with many, many, many cars had hit me. I spent two days in bed, with fever, chills, coughing, sneezing, and aching ALL over.  On day three I did move around the house some.  On Sunday, my little guy had a fever too.  I hate that I am the one that passed this sickness to him.  

 

Moose has laid around and slept on and off.  Even Levi felt bad for him, he laid on the couch nudging his hand while he slept wanting him to wake and play with him.  

At one point Moose even slept sitting up he was so worn out from the fever. 

On Sunday Big Daddy started running a fever too. This is not looking good for the this family...

To add to this now HONEY is running a fever but she is complaining of a BAD headache to her icky feelings. 

Biggun as of right now, (knock on wood) is the only one who is not sick.  Monday Biggun finished some school work from last week that did not get finished. He is falling into a rhythm with his school. I am praying keeps on this way.  At one point Moose and Honey both asked to do school. I love that we are able to use special needs learning as we need to. Sickness is a special time. We did a few things and read some stories. Homeschooling is a wonderful that way. 

Lil Momma Strouse

Summer Trouble

Lil Momma Strouse

Watercoloring a great hot summer time activity.

Watercolor painting is one of our favorite activities to do during the hot, rainy summer days.

When looking at art curriculum this is a common activity that is used.

Moose would not let me take his picture while he was painting. I can't wait till he is old enough to use the kindergarden online curriculum and the art curriculum, too. 

I love this free hand water color picture done by Honey! I think I might frame it.

Lil Momma Strouse