Resolutions Revisited {Reevaluated}

1:Reading and learning more sign language: Fail...no reevaluating this one. I just need to try harder.

2: Crochet a granny square a day for my blanket: So-so...I've missed a couple of days but then made them up...until I missed yesterday.
{Reevaluated} I will crochet or knit everyday it just might not be a whole square or a square at all. One of the days I didn't do a square was b/c a knitted a hat. Also, I contacted the local children's hospital and found out that they take handmade items (wasn't sure since they don't take stuffed animals). I want to start making hats and baby blankets to donate.

My blanket so far and the squares I made last week but haven't attached yet.

3: Fitness:
*eat right and log it: check! I've been good about this everyday: MyFitnessPal
*weights 2-3 times a week: uh....needs work lol I did make it to the y once and did weights. I have plans to go twice this week.

 {Reevaluated} I'm bumping my weights goal down to 2x a week. Once this becomes routine I may add the 3rd day.

*30 Days of Yoga: check! I haven't missed a day! I am absolutely loving the 30 days of Yoga with Adriene  Yoga makes me feel great and I'm seeing progress in my flexibility already. I had planned to do the daily video in the morning but I like sleep too much to get up earlier than I need to. I've been waiting till the kids go to bed and am loving it. It's the perfect way to end the day. I have noticed that I need to lock the dogs out of the room while I practice unless I want them to participate. 

Downward dog = kisses from the dog

Please comment below! I'd love to hear from you! 

© Mama Dani's Musings

Other places to find me:
Facebook: Mama Dani's Musings ~ Twitter: Mama Dani Blog ~ Pinterest
Feedburner Or subscribe by email (on sidebar)
My Etsy Shop: Made By Mama Dani

School Update: Jan. 2015

We're about halfway through what the normal school year tends to be so I thought it would be a good time for an update. Over all I say things are going pretty well. Sean and Maddy are both ahead of schedule on math and language arts. They worked faster than I had thought so I think we'll slow it down a little for the second half of the year. We're unfortunately are behind with science and history. Part of it was illnesses (like me being sick most of December). We also never got into a good routine and that was my fault. This will change starting this week. One change I'm making is only concentrating on either science or history per week instead of trying to do both each week. I think this will be the key. With only one of those subjects to concentrate on, it should help me stay more organized and make weekend lesson planning easier.

Mr Skeleton from one of our science lessons

Speaking of organization, this morning while browsing pinterest I found Amongst Lovely Things' post: How I’m Using Spiral Notebooks to Simplify Homeschooling. I thought it was a great idea and since I had some notebooks lying around, I decided to give it a try. I'm hoping it helps keep us organized and on track. Sean and Maddy both seem excited about it.

 Sean and Maddy's notebooks and the basket to hold the notebooks and the day's school books. 

Self care is referring to things like brushing teeth, brushing hair and such. the first page of their notebooks has a list of what they are to do. Sean has laundry on his list b/c today is his laundry day. Maddy's was yesterday. Our laundry schedule is another new thing I'm trying out to keep myself more on track.

 

I even have a notebook of my own. Those items under self refer to things I'd like to do for myself. Today they are all some of my new year's resolutions: 30 days of yoga, crochet a granny square a day, read more, and a reminder that I'm going to go to the gym tonight and lift weights.

© Mama Dani's Musings

Other places to find me:
Facebook: Mama Dani's Musings ~ Twitter: Mama Dani Blog ~ Pinterest
Feedburner Or subscribe by email (on sidebar)
My Etsy Shop: Made By Mama Dani

Don't forget to leave a comment below. ;)

Good Bye 2014, Hello 2015!!

It's that time again! Time to say goodbye to the old year and hello to the new year. I like to say goodbye to the old year by reminiscing.

In 2014:

• We begun the new year will lots of new life in our little suburban homestead ...and more in February! ...and more later in the year that I didn't blog about, including hatching eggs under a broody hen for the first time.
• I focused on my crafty side and opened up my Etsy shop: Made by Mama Dani
• I started the year having just lost a few daycare kiddos but have ended the year with a full house and a nice wait list for my home daycare.
• We said goodbye to our beloved Dachshund Annabelle.
• And said hello to a little firecracker Boomer.
• We started a new school year with Sean in the 1st grade and Maddy in kindergarten.
• I brought back Fun Lunches for the kids.
• The kids had a fun and busy year with Maddy continuing dance, Sean continuing soccer, and Sean starting scouts, and we all started going swimming at the ymca: update post #1 and update post #2
• Maddy turned 5, Sean turned 7 and Emily turned 3 this year. ...my my have they been growing!
• Richard and I celebrated 8 years of marriage! 
• I became serious about bettering myself. I logged my food and made better choices. I worked out regularly with cardio, weight lifting, swimming, and yoga. I've lost about 14 lbs!

Onto the new year! My intentions for 2015:

• As cliche as this is, I plan to continue working at bettering myself. I will work on the last 20-30 lbs I want to lose. I will continue to make good food choices. I will continue to work on making exercise part of my routine. I plan to lift weights 2-3 times a week, have regular swim time with the family, and regularly practice yoga. Join me on my facebook group Girls Rule {Boys Drool} Fitness and/or on MyFitnessPal
• I will be beginning the year with 30 days of Yoga with Yoga with Adriene. I'm going to give morning yoga a shot, wake up and get on the mat before I do anything.
• I will find more time to read. I am working on Wicked and then plan to read the other 3 books in the series.
• I will learn more sign language and share it with the children I care for. I will start this with one of my Christmas gifts this year: Sign to Learn: American Sign Language in the Early Childhood Classroom
• I will expand my butterfly garden this spring. I need to add more nectar plants to attract more butterflies and need to replenish the Milkweed that did not return this year.
• I need to remember to write down all the cute kid moments I want to remember years from now: with my Kids Say series
• And lastly, I will continue with my creative outlet: knitting and crocheting. I have started a stack of crocheted granny squares. My goal is to continue at least 1 square a day until I have enough for a patchwork blanket for myself.

© Mama Dani's Musings

Other places to find me:
Facebook: Mama Dani's Musings ~ Twitter: Mama Dani Blog ~ Pinterest
Feedburner Or subscribe by email (on sidebar)
My Etsy Shop: Made By Mama Dani

Don't forget to leave a comment below. ;)

Busy Bees

Who said homeschoolers miss out on socialization!? Mine most certainly do not! Fall is just about here so all our activities have started up again. Sean is continuing with soccer. Moving up to U7 he's playing on a bigger field, bigger goals, games are longer, and they have referees. I love watching him play. He enjoys it so much!

Sean has started a second activity. This one he's been counting down to since he could pretty much talk. Last week he begun Cub Scouts as a Tiger Cub. Isn't he cute in his uniform!? He's following two of his role models with scouts: eagle scout, Uncle Justin, and scout master, Granddad. Sean and Granddad were both so excited that Sean was finally old enough to join that Granddad helped Sean go to his first meeting will almost all the requirements for the bobcat badge signed off on. All Sean needs now is to learn the cub scout law. Don't let the sourpuss look fool you; he was just annoyed with me for taking another picture because the one before was blurry.

 Maddy is continuing with dance again this year. It's her third year and she's moved up to first year barre. She also has a different teacher this year...the same teacher I had most of my time in dance. She has also tried out hip hop but isn't sure if she's going to continue with it.

And lastly, we recently joined the YMCA. While on vacation a few weeks ago we did a lot of swimming in the hotel's pool. Maddy took to the water like a fish. With frequent opportunities and a little nudge, I believe she will be swimming in no time. Sean, however, was the opposite. He clung to the stairs and didn't even want to be carried out into the water. The YMCA that we joined has an outdoor pool that starts as a splash park and gradually gets deeper. We've gone 3 times now and it has done a wonder on both children. Maddy's jumping in, going under water, and begging for time without her puddle jumper on. Sean will not only leave the stairs but will swim the length of the pool with his puddle jumper on. He will also slide from sitting on the side into the water at the 3ft level. Major improvements!! This is now how we end the week. Friday evenings we go swimming as a family. With scouts, dance, and soccer taking up 3 of the 5 weekday evenings, it's nice to have 1 weekday evening where we get to relax and enjoy an activity together.

© Mama Dani's Musings

Other places to find me:
Facebook: Mama Dani's Musings ~ Twitter: Mama Dani Blog ~ Pinterest
Feedburner Or subscribe by email (on sidebar)
My Etsy Shop: Made By Mama Dani

Don't forget to leave a comment below. ;)

The Beginning of Our 2014-2015 School Year

Monday was the beginning of this year's school year. Even with doing a little school over the summer, the kids were excited to get back into the swing of things. I plan on getting back into the swing of blogging our schooling. However, I will not be blogging everything we do.

This year Sean and Maddy will be learning science and history together and will be doing math and language arts separately. For science, we're using R.E.A.L. Science Odyssey, Life level 1. For history, we're using Story of the World, Vol. 1 Ancient Times. I would have preferred to find a completely secular history curriculum but I really like everything else about SOTW. We will skip a few chapters and use other resources to expand on the other chapters. World Religions is just a resource book I wanted to get. We want the kids to be knowledgeable about all religions. The nursery rhyme cards will be used for copy work to improve handwriting. Both will be using Singapore Math this year. Sean will continue with Explode the Code and Maddy will be trying Recipe for Reading for language arts. Sean will be reading the Magic Tree House books and using the reading comprehension book: Reading With the Magic Tree House

Mondays are our light days. They work on their handwriting and do art. Tuesdays and Thursdays are science and language arts. Wednesdays and Fridays are history and math. Monday's copywork was a version of the rhyme "Rain, Rain, Go Away" They then illustrated the rhyme. Maddy says that "Hpe" spells happy. ...not bad for a kindergartener. :)

© Mama Dani's Musings

Other places to find me:
Facebook: Mama Dani's Musings ~ Twitter: Mama Dani Blog ~ Pinterest
Feedburner Or subscribe by email (on sidebar)
My Etsy Shop: Made By Mama Dani

Don't forget to leave a comment below. ;)