7 Reasons Why I Love Homeschool

It's been almost a full year since I have started homeschooling. It's been over a year since I wanted to homeschool. Yes, I still have days where I want to pull my hair out. Ha! But more often then not, I have days that are great.

I recently started thinking about how homeschooling was whenI first started with Aiden and now. I remember mine and Aiden's frustration and my lack of patience. Now, my patience has grown (thank the Lord) and Aiden and I have come into an understanding of each other's role when "school" starts.

These are the 7 reasons why I love homeschool:

• I love my kids, no one will do more right by them than me. 
• I can delve further into a subject because one of my children are interested in it more. I take Aiden to a science center just about every week for him to go to a class and learn all things science with other homeschool kids.
• We can do school work in the car, outside, at the park ...ANYWHERE! That freedom is liberating.
• If we need a break, we TAKE it. 
• No more meaningless school days. Everyday we accomplish something or build upon what we have been working on.
• I am closer to my children. I am soaking up this time with them, because I know it won't last forever. 
• Our family as a unit has grown closer. When my husband is home he gets to be with them all of the time, so his time home is better. Our family is better. 

Today, for instance, Aiden wanted to do his school in his room. As long as he was of good attitude and getting his work done, I was all for it. 

This is Aiden catching me taking a picture of him. Haha. I love that boy. 

So, there you have it. These are my top seven reasons why I love homeschooling my children. They might change. Ask me in another year... Hehe.

Have a great one,
D

Thankful Pumpkin

For the month of November, we are doing Thanksgiving, thankful, and turkey crafts. This week we did a Thankful Pumpkin. I'm gonna break it down for ya... ;)

What you will need:

2 or 3 orange sheets of construction paper

1 sheet of green construction paper

black washable marker

tape

scissors

Ok, besides this table being scratched to heck and back, see the tape hanging off of it? Be prepared to have plenty of tape on hand in this matter. 

Cut the orange paper into strips (lengthwise). About 1 to 1 1/2 inches long. Start writing "I am thankful for..." and then put what you are thankful for. This was an opportune time to talk about what we are grateful for. I mentioned to Aiden that no matter what we can always be thankful for something. Make sure that your character is free from the love of money, being content with what you have; for He Himself has said, "I will never desert you, nor will I ever forsake you," Hebrews 13:5

Aiden with his thinking cap on...

I wouldn't give Ava scissors, and she is getting at the age where she had got to do whatever Aiden is doing. Here she is practicing with a crayon. That lasted to about 3 mins. He he. 

Okay, here goes... you want the thankful statement to be on the outside. So, you take two strips and put them in a "V." The wideness of the "V" will determine how many strips you will use. As you can see in the next photo, Aiden's "V" was wider. 

Here's the final project! It turned out better than I thought. Mine was starting to fall over to the side so I put an apple in the middle to keep it straight. Aiden's however, is sitting just right. For the vine and leaf, I just freehanded two spirals and two leaves. Cut them out and tape the vine onto each pumpkin. After you have cut out the leaves, roll each one up for just a minute. It makes it look more realistic. 

This was such a great crafting experience for me. Aiden enjoyed it too, but it was nice for me to communicate with him about being thankful. 

A+ for great family fun!

I hope y'all enjoy!

Dannielle

Little Girl All Grown Up

Ava is now 19 months. She is getting to that point where she is transitioning from an infant to a young girl. With that being said, there are these cute pajamas that are in her size now! See, she's very petite. She is at the bottom of the normal growth chart. She could probably still wear clothes that are 12m but they wouldn't last as long. 

These button down pjs are absolutely precious! When I showed her her new pjs, she said, "Awwwe!" She was excited to put them on knowing that they were different. She ran to the mirror and twisted her torso back and forth staring at herself in the mirror. I had never seen her react that way to clothes. She's definitely all girl. 

In my family, for Christmas Eve, we open one gift. They are pajamas. We usually let the kids open a toy gift as well. I will have the Christmas pajama set for her to wear Christmas Eve. 

I got these at Target. I mean Target is my all-time go-to place for just about everything. If I can't find it there I go to Amazon. I literally don't have any shopping in my town. I have to drive forty-five minutes. Ugh! But... I love the country. 

These are super cute as well! There are other choices in the Target link that I posted up top, but these are my faves. 

Do y'all have any pajama's that y'all love for your little munchkins? 

Happy Halloween Eve!

Dannielle 

What I've Realized

Reminder: I'm switching blogging sites and this is an oldie but a goodie... enjoy!

Its been a couple of months since my thirtieth birthday. I didn't know what to expect when I turned 30, but it wasn't anything out of the ordinary which was just as I would have guessed. I have noticed some things about myself lately. Not like, "Oh my gosh I'm growing a tail!" kind of things. Things like: I need frickin' glasses to write this dang blog!

I'm now comfortable in my own skin. I don't think this epiphany has come to me in my thirtieth year, like a curse that has been lifted from my life on my birthday, and now I am excepting of my own self. I think it has come alive, because I've realized that there is no other Dannielle Scruggs. God made only one of me. People who cannot except me for me can go fly a kite. Being a woman, and a mother, which by nature are people pleasers I have put myself on the back burner a lot. But you know what? IT'S OK TO PUT YOURSELF ON THE BACK BURNER... sometimes.I would go extreme either way. I have been timid for the most part of my life. When I felt like a doormat for others, I became extremely opinionated and stuck in the mud, even. In life there is balance. Too little or too much of one thing is not good. My moral compass is sound and I know I can count on that. I am no longer lost.

I have felt misunderstood most of my life. As if I couldn't quite get the right words out of my mouth. I don't know of more than a couple of people who truly "get" me. But you know what? THAT'S OK! I don't think of any of that as a burden anymore. When I was younger I tried and tried to be like everyone else going down the wide and traveled road. I realize that I may be a perfectionist. I have tried so hard at something like let's say handwriting. Yes, handwriting. I remember being in middle school that I saw another girls lower case letter "a," and I thought it looked better than my current "a". So guess what? I practiced and practiced that "a". Writing every word I could think of that contained the letter "a". Of course I didn't think it would make me a better person, but that my handwriting would be better. I always strived for being better. Really just better than the Dannielle the day before. I am perfect just the way I am. That Dannielle that is full of useless information, yes, she is grand. That Dannielle who wants to do it by herself just because she wants to, yes, she is magnificent. And so are you. By the way, I don't use that "a" anymore.

Choose your battles carefully. Really, I mean really, in the whole scheme of things is it important for you to scream or get pissed because someone cut you off in traffic? No, of course not. Most of the time when we get mad or our feelings hurt it's not us it's our pride. Pride is no bueno. Pride is like your ugly twin. In my relationships with my children I sometimes get carried away.

"Don't scream! Don't run in the house! Don't jump on the bed," I yell. What I've realized, there's a time and place for everything. I don't want to smother my kids. Aiden told me the other day that I take fun out of things. I laughed, because I am sure I do sometimes, and it was funny the way he put it. But I explained to him that you can't stand in your chair during dinner. Maybe during breakfast... just kidding. With the relationship with my husband, choosing my battles has been very important. Best advice that I can give: if you're not sure what to say, or you are angry, don't say anything! Words hurt. Period. Our mouths have gotten away from us at times. You can't take those words back.

I can't eat whatever I want anymore! Gravity has taken a hold of my various body parts, and let me tell you what... it is unforgiving! This second pregnancy really did it for me. I am not the same size as I was in high school, and I haven't been since highschool, but I can still wear the same earrings! Yeah, yeah. I find myself tracking my calories, pining over my dreams of cheesecake and buttercream frosting. By golly I will still eat sweets and other delicious faire, but it may not be as spontaneous as before.

Pics of my sweets... gosh I love them.

Always ~ D

How I Survived...

Reminder: I'm switching blogging sites and this is an oldie but a goodie... enjoy!

... a trip 8+ hours away from home.

This week the Hubby has class on his two week time off. It's in Houston, Tx, and since Aiden is now out of school we decided to tag along. Ava has not liked riding in her carseat... ever. Needless to say, I was apprehensive about this 8+ hour trip.

Portable DVD player.

RCA Twin 9" Mobile DVD Player

This. Is. Essential. This happened to be the second one we bought in two days. The first one went kaput in 30 mins of use. This one is pretty cool. You can either watch the same DVD on both screens or watch two different movies. At this point Ava doesn't care what she watches, but I can forsee  them wanting to watch different movies. Each screen has a remote and a carrying case.

Stretch your legs and your belly.

 

Do any of y'all love the show Diners Drive-ins and Dives like I do? My dad gave me the idea of looking for a restaurant that  has been on the show, and eating there. There happened to be a restaurant in Gulfport, Ms called the Blow Fly Inn. Crazy name, but great food. It really helped the kids, and our sanity by stopping, getting out, and eating. Of course this made our trip longer, but more enjoyable nonetheless.

Hallways are my best friend.

When I see a hallway, I can't help but think if The Shining or Poltergeist (AHHHHHH!)

Being that Ava is starting to really get the hang of walking and running, she absolutely loves going up and down the hallways in the hotel. The hotel room is definitely not big enough for her energy. Aiden even enjoys is too, although I don't let him run.

Discover the city.

        

No matter where you are at, there is something new out there for you and your children. We are grateful that Houston has a lot to offer and that I don't have to be super creative. Even though there might be things that we have seen or heard, for your kids, it might be the first  time. It's fun to see their amazement at things that we find mundane.

While we were in Houston, we went to Downtown Aquarium, Children's Museum of Houston, The Space Center, and The Houston Museum of Natural Science. They were all great, but the best one, and the one we didn't get to finish touring was the latter. It was amazing!

Take a breath, and breathe in the moment!

It's hard I know, but remember this fun moment isn't going to last forever. There were moments when I kept thinking, " Oh gosh I cannot wait till we get home and Ava goes to sleep in her own crib in her own room!"  But I had to take a breath look for the good in the moment, like when I could see Ava's head peeking up out of the pack play jibber jabbering.

All that being said, boy am I glad being back home...

Still pooped ~ D

Trip to the Pumpkin Patch

Yes, yes just like about every other family with small children, we went to the pumpkin patch in October. This was our first adventure in a pumpkin patch; I mean a REAL pumpkin patch. Normally there are a sea of pumpkins all in pretty little rows that are in the front yard of our local church. In this case, the farm also produces peanuts so the aroma of boiled peanuts filled the air. We went on a hay ride to the field. Of course Aiden picks the largest pumpkin he can find. I remind him that I cannot help him because I am holding my own 17 lb. pumpkin Ava. 

This is the PUMPKIN.

This is how he tried to get it back to the trailer... until he realized that it was a better idea to get one that he can manage. Smart boy!

This is the line for the zip line. Yes! They had a zip line! I was so much fun to watch them. If I had gone, my butt would have dragged the ground. I will give you a moment to picture this ... and laugh...

This is like a sand box, but full of corn kernels! I have never seen such a thing. The kids loved it. 

Ava had a great time as well. She is biting on her upper lip here because she is getting her two top teeth in any day now. Needless to say she has been fussy lately, but today she was quite the angel. 

It was a great day. The weather was perfect and the kids had a great time which is the most important thing. 

Have ya'll been to any pumpkin patches this season? Were there any pumpkin patches that were out of the ordinary? If so let me know!! I would love to hear from ya'll!