Happy Thanksgiving!!

This week has been really fun!  We have kept pretty busy.  We took a break from school Wed-Fri.  It was a much needed break for me and the girls.  It was nice to just relax and not have to worry about school work.  We still did activities though so the girls were not bored.  We played games, went to the park, cooked, fed the ducks, and went to see a movie at the theater.  We had a very nice Thanksgiving as a family.  The girls helped me a lot with the cooking.  It was a nice, easy, quiet, and relaxing day!   

Lorel lost her first tooth on Monday.  I was helping Mackenzie pick out what she was going to wear for the day and Lorel came running in saying she lost it.  I asked her where it was and she said that she dropped it in the carpet somewhere.  So we went to search for it.  Well, our carpet is thick and we couldn't find it anywhere.  I still have no idea where it went.  I even vacuumed and took the canister outside and dumped it on the ground with no luck.   She was really upset.  She thought the tooth fairy wouldn't bring her money without the tooth.  So Lorel wrote the tooth fairy a letter explaining what happened and asking if she would still come and visit her.  She left it under her pillow and the tooth fairy DID visit her!  She was really excited.

We read a lot this week.  The girls watched a show on National Geographic about mummies.  They were really interested in it.   So next week we are going to study about mummies.  We also watched a show about sharks.  I love the National Geographic Channel!  Lorel is learning how to measure using inches and centimeters.  She is still working with on the computer with her little program.  She loves it.  Mackenzie is still working with double/triple digit addition and subtraction.  She is currently reading a Junie B. Jones book.

We went to the state park this week.  The girls had fun.  We fed the ducks, drew a nature picture, played at the playground, kicked the soccer ball, and took a walk on the trail.       

This week was not busy at all.  The girls did their normal studies.  Mackenzie didn't have soccer practice because of the time change.  It was too dark to practice.  The girls didn't go to art class because they just wanted to stay home.  We did go to story hour today. 

Mackenzie learned about vowel pairs AI, EE, EA, OA, and OW .  She is still working on addition with regrouping.  She is almost finished with her Baby Sitter's Club book.  She created an art book where she drew a flower pot, a self portrait, and a guitar. Mackenzie started to learn to play the piano this week.  Well I guess she is learning to play on the keyboard that we have.  I am just starting out with the basics.  Then when she has that down we are going to find someone to give her lessons.  Lorel continues to get better with reading.  She has been solving addition and subtraction problems.  She is doing well!

The girls played dress up.  We went to the park.  We went to the grocery store and Mackenzie read the list to me and crossed off the item after we found it.  We danced!

It was a pretty easy week.  Next week we are going to crack down and get a lot done.  I feel like the girls are progressing and are learning a lot.  They are both doing excellent!

Poor Mackenzie! :(

Last Saturday was an eventful day! Mackenzie was carving a pumpkin and cut her pinky finger close to the palm of her hand.  It was pretty deep so we took her to the emergency room.  They cleaned it well and then glued it shut.  We were lucky... NO stitches!  Her finger is doing much better now.  She still can't bend it because it hurts and it is swollen.

Sunday, Chad had to go back to work at about 4 PM.   I decided not to take the girls trick or treating without him here.  I didn't want to be out alone after dark.  We had already went to the safe trick or treat at all the local shops around downtown Hobbs anyway.  Instead we had a little Halloween party at home.  We got a pinata(couldn't find a Halloween one), did a few Halloween crafts, grilled out hamburgers, and ate cake.  We all had a very fun time.  After Chad left we watched some Halloween shows.

 The girls are doing really well in their schooling.  Lorel has started to read!!!!! :) YAY Lorel!  I have tried and tried with her but she just hasn't wanted to do it.  I know that she can because she knows the sound of every letter, she knows tons of sight words, and she knows how to blend the sounds.  She has just been stubborn.  But on the website that I found called Time 4 Learning they have little beginning reading books on there.  On Monday we sat down together and she started to read them.  I gave her A LOT of praise, maybe a little overboard!  Mackenzie and I even gave her a round of applause!  So that is a great HUGE step for her.  I guess I was worrying about her for nothing! I know she is very smart she just might be the type to only do things when SHE is ready!

The girls had fun on Tuesday writing with chalk outside.

Mackenzie has still been working memorizing her addition facts.  She is getting very good at addition with regrouping.  She learned about what a main idea of a picture or story is.  She is reading a Baby Sitter's Club book.  She learned this week about silent consonants such as k in knot and w in write.  She also learned three letter blends such as str, spr, spl, etc.  She is doing super and works very hard.  I am so proud of her!

  

This week the girls learned about what an archeologist is.  They then went in the back yard and dug up anything they could find.  They found some pretty interesting things!  They got really dirty!  They had fun!

We went to the park a couple of times.  We fed the ducks on Thursday.  We try to go visit them every couple of weeks.  They girls love the ducks and are always asking to go and feed them.  I think the ducks love us too!  We are constantly going to the library.  We read for an hour everyday whether it is me reading to the girls, silent reading, or Mackenzie reading to Lorel.  I really believe reading is the most important thing that a child needs to be strong in.  If a child isn't a strong reader, then they won't be a strong learner.  We love to read!