First Day of School 2014

Well, we survived the first day of school!  Last week sometime, I cried to Kenneth, in the midst of feeling so overwhelmed, that I didn't know how I was going to do it this year.  How was I to teach all these children and keep Kate happy?  Well, we have one day under our belts and it actually went pretty well!  Grant got up on the wrong side of the bed, and was a little difficult all morning (as you will see in the pictures), but I prayed really hard and utilized breathing techniques to maintain calm even with his difficulty.  I did have to send him outside to the backyard once when he was being loud and obnoxious, but I kept my cool and did it very calmly and he came back in happy a little while later. 
We even started Latin this morning!  I chose a very basic curriculum that just gives a gentle introduction, but I am looking forward to learning with the children!  Our first lesson consisted of learning the word 'nauta' which means sailor.  We also talked about a couple of English words which were derived from this Latin word: nautical and astronaut.  That's it!  I'm looking forward to the learning we will all do. 
The kids' favorite part of the day was Animal Science.  They love to learn about different animals.  I learn something new each time we study our book together.  It is quite fascinating!  The girls did great with all their math, language, reading and writing this morning.  Emma, and Arianna (who never likes to be left behind), started memorizing all the American Presidents this morning.

I'm not sure where the kids got the idea, but they asked for raisin bread this afternoon, so I whipped up a couple of loaves of cinnamon raisin bread which we had this evening in celebration of the first day of school and as a Family Home Evening Treat.  (I even made it with no refined sugar- just honey and date purre.)  It was delicious. 
Without further ado, here are the pictures:

The school room last night when we had it all cleaned up for today.



The family room portion of the basement

Another view of the schoolroom.  My bookshelf is still a mess, but it's good enough for today!

View from the family room.

Here are the morning shots before Dad went to work.  I tell you Grant was not digging the pictures!

Emma- 3rd Grade

Boy, do they ever look alike!  Arianna calls Kate, herself and me 'the blue-eyed girls'

Sisters

The children

Mom with the kids- Grant in Kindergarten, Emma in 3rd grade and Arianna in 1st grade

Trying to get Grant to smile.

Daddy with crabby Grant

She's growing up too fast!

So is she!

He's kind of smiling!

How do you like this face?

He's thrilled with the picture taking, can't you tell?

Emma is such a good big sister to Kate.

This picture makes me happy!

Emma reading to Kate at one point this morning while I was working with Arianna.

hard at work

Arianna drew a tree with aphids and ants on it.  We learned about them during animal science.

Emma chose to draw and write about the honeypot ant.

Grant was most interested in the millipedes and centipedes.

And last but not least, the girls making the overnight oats.  They really enjoy this job!

Here's to a great school year!  I love you kiddos!