Happy New Year!

Merry Christmas and Happy New Year from us to you!

 I have been a tad MIA through the holiday season. It was the first time in a long time that we were the most prepared and relaxed as ever.

The kids thoroughly enjoyed their new pajamas, stockings and gifts as you can tell in the above picture. We have a Christmas Eve tradition of coming home from the church service to open our new pajamas. We then change into the new pjs, make hot chocolate and cider and drive around town looking at Christmas lights.



The pictures this year have made me very aware of how fast time really is going. 

Just look at those kids. They are looking so grown up!



I'm not sure my heart can take it.

I hope you and yours had a blessed Christmas season. Happy New Year!!!

History

It can be a challenge to teach five kids at four different grade levels. I am always looking for ways to streamline so this year I decided to choose a History curriculum that would work for multiple grade levels.

This is our supplies basket. We have clips, pencils, colored pencils, scissors and sometimes glue or other items depending on what we are working on. It works well having this in the middle of the table during work time.

This particular day the kids were working on maps of the area we had been reading about. We are currently studying the Middle Ages.

It is fascinating for me to study history as an adult. I feel like I am learning as much as the kids are learning.

 

Teaching multiple ages groups has its challenges but it also has some advantages. I have noticed that my youngers are mastering skills earlier than the older ones did. They really are sponges soaking up everything going on around them.

I love that they all are learning the same thing and it makes for some fun discussions around the house.

 

This girl loves to do anything that involves color. Can you see that smile? If it resembles art, she is in.

If you are interested we are using Story of the World, Volume 2. We read the current section, answer comprehension questions, do a narration exercise and then we choose activities from the corresponding activity book to keep things interesting. History, Geography, Writing and Art all in on place. I love it!

It was raining.

The weather has changed here in the Northwest. There are moments of sun where we send the kids out to "Hurry and get some rays!"

Recently on a drizzly and cold day our youngest decided he wanted to roast marshmellows...over a candle.



Well, why wouldn't you?

It took awhile but it worked! Yum! (If you like marshmellows that is.)

Favorite Place

My family really loves the outdoors but we do appreciate modern conveniences.

I posted earlier this year about our purchase of a travel trailer. We love it!

Three or four years ago we decided to visit a campground in our county that had become very popular. It quickly became our favorite spot to go. It is 30 minutes away, on a river, has private campsites and has a really nice playground.

It has become a yearly tradtion to go at least once per summer. We have also gone in September when the weather is still nice and the campground almost empty.

There is room to stretch out if we happen to get some rain.

Curtains can be drawn for early to bed kids.

We are pretty spoiled I think. We can even bring movies to watch on the laptop when some have gone to bed and others aren't quite ready.

Each campsite has a firepit and table.

Steve doesn't take the time to read very much but he almost always has a book when we are camping. He started and finished that one on our four day trip.

Lots of memories are made away from the busyness of the daily grind. (Wow, those are some diva sunglasses. Thanks, Lil!)

Time for games, just plain time.

I can't wait to go again next year. Hmm, might need to see about winter camping this year.

Fun weekend ahead

I am so excited for this weekend. If you want to know why click on this link to my review blog. See you there!

School organization

I have found keeping our school supplies and books to be a bit of a challenge over the years. I have tried various methods including some shelving in our garage. Having the items in the garage proved to be unwise. There is a saying that I have found to be true - "Children don't do what you expect, they do what you inspect."

I had the thought that if our supplies were visible to me I could monitor those who were being less than careful about putting items away. I also enjoy looking at organized school supplies so win-win. There are boxes that hold manipulatives, magazine holders that hold seperated subjects and activites and then there are the planners that the kids use to organize reports and papers they are writing. Two weeks in and so far, so good. I still need to make labels for the magazine holders but have been too busy schooling so far. I am really enjoying how nice the shelves look each day and love even more that there is a place for everything and every in its place.

Saving money and sanity while traveling with a young family

It is no secret that traveling with a larger than average family can be spendy. A few years ago we purchased a tent trailer so that we would be able to go on vacation more often but not spend very much. The size of our family requires two hotel rooms for each stay. That adds up and having a trailer instead means we have plenty of room, a bathroom and a place to cook. This year we upgraded to a hybrid trailer that was less complicated to set up.

We attended a family reunion in Canada about nine hundred miles away and came up with a plan to make sure the spending didn't get out of control. Having a plan means less chaos and less spending.

There is a bank of cabinets under the boys' bed for storage. I purchased foldable bins that fit very well in the cabinets. Each of the kids had their own bin that held their clothing for five to six days. We were gone for ten days and did laundry at a campground half way through the trip. The shower worked great as a laundry basket since we were using campground facilities for showers.

We weren't sure what the weather would be the entire time but knew that some mornings would be chilly. The bank of hooks by the kids area served well for all of our jackets. 

We had a second area of hooks on the outside of the bathroom that worked perfectly for bath towels, kitchen towels and swim suits.

I had tried a large tote bag for toiletries on trips past but we always found ourselves having to dig through items that had sank to the bottom each day. It wasted time and was a little frustrating at times. This toiletry bag I found at Target for less than $7 was the perfect solution. The fabric wipes off and each pocket has a couple of little riveted holes in case a shampoo bottle or toothbrush is still wet when it is put away. I kept toiletries as well as medications and first aid items in this bag.

It is no secret that a big budget buster on a trip is food. We worked hard ahead of time on food prep and organization. I made two quiches and 2 dinners of burrito mix. We had lots of lunch meats, breads, chips, bagels, cream cheese, eggs, cheese sticks and fruit. Our goal was to only eat out once per day and we did really well with that. Alternating each day purchasing dinner or lunch helped so that we didn't get tired of the same foods. Also, sticking to places like Subway also kept it affordable and less greasy. I used my regular grocery budget for the make ahead meals and we really only spent about $20-$30 each day eating out which came out of the trip fund. All in all we were able to stay under budget with a minimal amount of chaos. What do you do to keep costs in check while traveling?