Welcome to Third Grade

Can you believe we are nearing the end of August? You know what that means.

School!!

Ty started 3rd grade here at Arrow Academy last week.  Wow!  Third grade!  That’s hard for me to believe.  So far it’s been smooth sailing.  Both teacher and student have had positive attitudes, and we have enjoyed getting back into the swing of things.

Once again, I am using the A Beka curriculum with Ty.  (More on why I chose this here)

For the most party, Ty’s lessons have been review of previously covered material:

In Arithmetic:
He’s working on addition and subtraction to the 1,000’s place with carrying and borrowing; Multiplication – the 0’s, 1’s, & 2’s tables; Labeling the parts of arithmetic problems (addends, sums, minuends, products, etc.); telling time to the nearest 5 minutes; linear measurements; and story problems.

In Language:
Definition of a sentence; Types of sentences – declarative, interrogative, exclamatory; Capitalization and Punctuation.

In Science:
The nervous system and the Senses – he’s learning the parts of the eyes and ears this week.

Penmanship:
Review of all cursive letters – capital and lower case.  This year he’s learning to write 3/4 space.  I wondered how he was going to do with having to write so small, but I think it’s actually a bit easier for him.

One new thing we are doing this year is a calendar notebook containing materials that I downloaded from one of my favorite homeschooling websites.  Each morning Ty takes his notebook and completes calendar-related worksheets that reinforce the days of the week, months of the year, math facts, place value, color and shape words, sight words, and the fifty states – map, abbreviations, and capitals.  The last activity in his notebook is a daily doodle – it’s just a fun, random, step-by-step drawing for him to do.  Last week he drew Dr. Seuss characters.

I also ordered a supplemental art book along with his regular curriculum this year.  The book includes about 5 simple art projects to complete each month.  Today, Ty did his first art project – Pinprick Art.  Lucy joined in the fun too.  She couldn’t wait to do the “part roject,” as she called it.

First Ty had to draw a simple picture on colored paper.  He chose Angry Birds as his subject matter of course.

Next, he had to use a push pin to poke holes all along his line drawing.

Lucy watched big brother do it, then she gave it a try.

She drew a “fish” and went to work poking holes.  Lucy was quite adroit at using the push pins.

These two monkeys had a blast with this simple little project.  Ty even confessed that art was his favorite subject in school… aside from recess, of course.  They were so proud of the finished products.  They could hardly wait for Daddy to get home so they could show off their work.

Here’s the final result…

Pretty neat! Ty squealed with delight when he saw the light shining through.  He’s easily amused.

You may have noticed the star in the center of Ty’s forehead.  He got that for making a 100 on his first trial spelling test.  All eighteen words correct.  Way to go, Ty!  Who knew that a sticker on the forehead would be such an incentive for him.  It’s amazing the work I can get outta that boy if there’s a possibility of getting a sticker on his head!  Ha ha.  Wished I had thought of this a couple of years ago.

Lindsey

Party for a Pretty Princess

Today I wanted to share a few pictures from Lucy’s third birthday party.  I admit, it’s getting increasingly difficult for me to carve out the time and muster up the energy to plan and prepare for birthday parties.  But I enjoy the whole creative process far too much to settle for cake and ice cream at everyone’s favorite pizza joint.

After a little deliberation this year, Lucy decided that she wanted a princess party.  And being the girly girl that she is, Lucy requested all things pink!  I was tickled (pink) with her choice, because I knew just how I wanted to decorate – lacey, ruffly, and a little bit shabby.  And not a Disney princess in sight! (Not that I have anything against Cinderella and her cohorts, I just don’t prefer to have their likenesses on my plates and napkins.)

Most of the decorations were items that I already owned.  I just went through the house one day “shopping” for feminine looking items.

One of my all-time favorite party decoration is tissue paper flowers.  You can make such a big impact with these things for practically pennies.  After the party, I plan to use these in Lucy’s room.

I spruced up these simple glass candle holders with a strip of burlap, a scrap of lace trim, and an old button.  Easy, peasy.

For some reason, Lucy decided that she had to hand Uncle Jude each gift as soon as she opened it.

Every. Single. Gift.

Straight to Uncle Jude.

Thanks, Uncle Jude.  You did a great job!

Daddy had to help Lucy try out her dance-with-me doll…

Time for cake!  Of course, Lucy loved it because it was pink.

As soon as we set the cake down in front of her, Lucy went straight for the crown.  Yep, that’s my hand reaching in to rescue the crown.  We still had pictures to take!

Crazy brother!  That Ty is such a little joker, just like his dad.

Make a wish, sweet girl.

Last year I bought Lucy these great Do-a-Dot paints for birthday.  This year I gave her some Do-a-Dot paint books.  She had a blast painting in the princess book. It’s amazing to see how much Lucy’s fine motor skills have progressed over the past year.  She’s growing and learning so fast.  In only a couple of weeks, Lucy will be starting PreK at our church.  She’s a little apprehensive of it now, but I know she will enjoy it once she gets used to it.

Obviously, daddy’s don’t know much about wearing tutus.

Thanks for stopping by our party!

Lindsey

Little Miss Monkey Is Three!

Can you believe I let little Lulu’s third birthday slip by last week without so much as a nod to it here on the blog?  Shame on me!

Y’all know that I have a tradition of taking my monkey’s pictures at the exact time of their birth every year.  Luckily, I haven’t missed a photo op yet.

Lucy is all about princesses now.  Actually, she’s all about princesses and babies and kitties, but at this particular moment she was in full-out princess mode. And consider yourself warned…this post contains TONS of pictures of one cute little princess.

Move over Toddlers in Tiaras, this little monkey would take home the title of Ultimate Grand Supreme any day!

This last picture scares me a little.  There’s no telling what sort of mischievous thoughts are running through that pretty little head.

I’m running a little bit behind on birthday parties this year.  Hopefully we’ll have Lucy’s party in the next week or two.  Her theme of choice this year is (no big surprise here) Princesses!

Lindsey

Fun on the Fourth

Surprise!!  I have a new post to share with you today!

Hope y’all had a great Fourth of July holiday.  The monkeys and I spent the evening at my parents’ house, because the Tool Man was outta town. :(

I don’t know what the weather was like where you were, but over here, it was H-O-T.  So my mom drug out the kiddie pool, set up a sprinkler, and let the monkeys get wet.

Lucy also enjoyed blowing some bubbles.

When Ty was a baby, Sandy bought him a baby swing and hung it out on her back deck.  It’s still hanging out there, and Ty still loves to swing on it.  (Don’t tell him you saw these pictures, though, because he would die of embarrassment.)

The monkeys actually spent more time in the mud around the pool, than in the pool itself.  This would explain how the pool water got so muddy so fast.  But Lucy didn’t let a little bit of dirt keep her from enjoying the water.

Lindsey

Wall-E Party

It’s birthday season at the Allen household again.  I admit I always look forward to planning and preparing for the monkeys’ birthday parties.  Birthday parties are the perfect excuse for me to get crafty and creative with food and decorations.  Even though things get a little crazy, and I get a little stressed on party day, I always insist on taking the party theme to the extreme.

Let’s do a quick run-through of Ty’s previous party themes.

2005 – Bon Voyage!  We were leaving on Ty’s first cruise on his first birthday.

2006 – Mexican Fiesta 

2007 – Pink Panther Party  Who says pink is just for girls?

2008 – Pirate Party

2009 – Puppy Party

2010 – Super Mario Bros.

2011 – Angry Birds

This year Ty went back and forth between several different themes before finally settling on Disney’s Wall-E.

Hmmm… Wall-E.  It’s one of Ty’s favorite movies, but how in the world does one design a party around such?  Well, if you know anything about the movie, Wall-E is set in the future, and a lot of the movie takes place in outer space.  So I decided to use space as the inspiration for the food and decorations.  I also chose to stick with shades of yellow and black since that’s what color Wall-E is.

First let me just say that this was the party that almost wasn’t.  Turns out June is not an easy time to plan a party.  All of Ty’s friends were super busy with all-star baseball games and practices.  At the last minute we cancelled, then rescheduled and downsized the party.  Next year I’ll try to have his party closer to his actual birthday.

Welcome to the party!  Here’s the decorations I put together to welcome the party guests.

Let’s begin the party at the food table.  ‘Cause, let’s face it, the kids may be preoccupied with presents and games, but the adults are only concerned with the food!  Like I said earlier, I stuck with a yellow and black color scheme, and I kept the space theme in mind when planning the dishes.

Fruit and veggie trays are pretty self-explanatory…  If you know nothing about Wall-E, the whole point of the movie was finding signs of vegetation growing on abandoned planet Earth.  EVE was the name of Wall-E’s robot-friend.

Craters…Crisp eggroll wrapper cups filled with chicken and crab salads. (Usually I would have made the salads myself, but I took the easy way out and just purchased these at the deli counter.)  I was really pleased with how the eggroll wrappers turned out.  I cut uncooked wrappers into squares, pressed them into mini muffin tins, sprayed them lightly with cooking spray, and baked them at 350 for about 7 minutes.  They turned out beautifully golden brown and crisp.  They’re the perfect vehicle for all sorts of fillings, savory or sweet.  Be sure to try these for your next party.

My Mini Moon Pies are simply Ritz Cracker and peanut butter sandwiches covered with melted chocolate.

My sweet friend Ellen supplied a yummy black-eyed pea dip for the Space-Chips.

The Meat-eors were meatballs simmered in alfredo sauce.  (Yes, I took another shortcut here and used frozen meatballs.)

We also had Flying Sausages (the Tool Man’s homemade smoked venison sausage), Trash Cubes (peanut butter krispie treats), and Rocket Fuel (lemonade).

Looks like Cassie enjoyed her meal!

Now for the cake.  Not exactly the cake I had intended to make for Ty.  I had every intention of making a replica of Wall-E, but I simply ran out of time.  Instead I went with a very artistic (and simpler)interpretation of Wall-E and EVE.  I think Ty was pleased with his cake in the end.

In the movie, Wall-E finds one lonely little plant and keeps it in a boot.

Hard to believe, but I didn’t have a single birthday candle in the house.  Instead we just lit a match and stuck it in the cake.  Hey, it worked!

My sweet little girl went straight for the icing!  This monkey loves her sugar.

Presents!  I’m hoping this Ranger Rick subscription will encourage Ty to read.  I’m afraid he inherited his lack-of-love for reading from his mom and dad. Oh, well, if we survived, so will Ty.

The youngest party-goer.  Ty loves babies.

Party favors included Flying Saucers and Milky Way candy bars.

The birthday boy with all his pals.  I think they all had a great time!

Thanks for stopping by today and letting me share with you.  Now it’s time to start working on the next party.  It’s only a month away!

Lindsey