Wordless Wednesday: Rocky Road Love!!

Nice Mustache!

New Year, New Curriculum!

I don't know if I mentioned over here on this blog that back in December I won an ENTIRE YEAR of Itty Botty Bookworm curriculum from Jolanthe @ Homeschol Creations (who also runs this meme- hop over and join in the fun!)!  Well, obviously I couldn't have been more thrilled since I had toyed with the idea of purchasing this curriculum many times but just couldn't afford it!  So, what a HUGE blessing to have received it for free! 

We started the first week of the new year, had a bit of a snafoo (aka- R-Man got and abbreviated version of the flu and I lost my mind!) last week that allowed us only to get a few of the projects done, but we are back again this week with a vengeance! 

First of all, I have to just say that we are genuinely LOVING this curriculum!  It is so much better than I even dreamed it would be!  Incredibly simple to follow and having everything laid out already really simplifies things and makes it much more doable. 

Beyond the actual logistics of how well written the curriculum is, R-Man is getting sooooo much out of it!  I have seriously been shocked!  It may be partly because he is getting older also, but all of the sudden things are just clicking for him!  He is really starting to get his letters down and beginning to acquire basic reading concepts.

Plus, he adores the projects!  When he found out that he got to cover this icecream cone with frosting and marshmallows as a counting activity he about peed his pants!  Of course, getting to lick the knife was pretty thrilling as well!

If any of you are looking for an amazing curriculum for preschool, you will not be wasting one dime of your money if you invest in Itty Bitty Bookworm!  I have even heard rumors that they may be coming out with a Kindergarten curriculum- so keep your ears peeled!  I am just hoping it will get finished int he next year and a half!

So yup- that's where we are!  You can expect lots of Itty Bitty Bookworm related posts and progress throughout the rest of the year!  Awww- how good it feels to finally have a curriculum that fits!

Our New Year's Marathon!

As long as we are catching up on the holidays I figured I had better do your New Year's post too!  New Years was more like a 3 day festival for our family this year!  We started out on New Years Eve (our 6th Anniversary!) going over to our friend's Erik & Christa's house with plans of spending the night!  In all their wonderful sweetness and thoughtfulness they had bought my husband and I a gift card for dinner, but without reservations we couldn't make it work out for our actual anniversary, so we postponed it for the next day and decided to just whoop it up with our two families for the night!

Erik & Christa have a son your age (E) who you have known since you were 4 months old and you have always been great friends!  They also have a younger son (A-2yo) and the three of you had a ton of fun watching movies and making forts!

Here you guys are watching Dawn of the Dinosaurs- so cute!

While you guys were distracted, us adults had a blast playing Dancing with the Stars on Wii!

Christa- shakin' her groove thing!

Daddy- shakin' the maracas!

He said he didn't like it but that face doesn't lie!

Erik was the Dancing with the Stars master!

Maybe his score was so high because the console could somehow detect his ridiculous faces!

Or maybe he scored high because he and Christa would practice their moves when it wasn't even their turn!  Haha- too funny!

As the 12 o'clock hour drew closer we broke out the pans...

Popped open the bubbly...

and prepared to wake up the whole neighborhood!

I still can't believe that you boys slept through all of the ruckus!

New Years Day you boys all stayed in your PJs, just playing and having fun!  I felt like I hardly saw you for two days because you were always on the go- hangin' out with your pals!  We couldn't believe how well the three of you got along!

Here I am getting ready for our belated Anniversary Dinner!  Christa put my hair in rollers and the boys all thought I should just go like that!  Haha!

Saturday morning we finally returned home (yes, two nights spent at our friends- we were all just having too much fun!).  Literally minutes after we walked in the door, Uncle Jake (daddy's brother), Auntie Jenn and your cousins showed up for an abbreviated holiday celebration since we hadn't seen them yet!  It was nice to see them and catch up- it had been far too long!

You and cousin A

Showing off your new swords!

Playing with your remote control car!

Your other cousin A with Lion Cub!

All in all, it was CRAZY three days but oh such a blast!  There is nothing like ringing in the new year with friends, family and a ton of fun!

Christmas Morning!

Alright, now on to part 2!  Christmas morning was spent at home- just the 4 of us (that still sounds so weird to say!)!

Here you are patiently waiting at the bottom of the stairs!  You couldn't wait to see what was under the tree!

Apparently you weren't sure what to make of the gifts!  We had to prompt to you to go over and open them up!  Once you started, however, you were on a roll and loved every minute of it!

You got the crane you had just been dying for!

You also got a little digital camera, but sadly it is more difficult to work than we had hoped.  :-(

Mama helped you open some things (you got lots of games and such!)

But by far, you favorite gifts that you are still using the most, are your $3 pirate swords!  You and your dad have more fun with these silly swords than I ever thought possible!

After we had breakfast and got around for the day we headed over to Grandma & Grandpa's house (Papa's parents- my grandparents). 

It was fun to see Uncle Bob & Aunt Jeanna's family who we don't see very often.  In fact, you and your brother had never met my cousin Kolton, so it was fun to introduce you to him for the first time!  He couldn't believe how big you were and you LOVED listening to him play his guitar and sing Christmas songs to us!

 You of course scored again with some more fun toys!  Among other things, you received a fun race track for your matchbox cars and a new truck and trailer!

Here's Uncle Broth (Kaleb), just chillin'!

Here you are snackin' on Daddy's lap!

Grandma & Grandpa with their dog Casey

Nana & Aunt Jeanna just chattin' it up!  (they were best friends in high school and then married brothers!  Crazy, huh?!)

We were attempting to get a nice shot of your boys with Nana & Grandma, but you weren't to keen on the idea!

By the end of the day you were pretty tired and enjoyed a little snuggle time with Nana!  You were trying to give the "I Love You" sign with your thumb still in your mouth- so sweet and cute!

We finished off the day at home with you and daddy attempting to assemble one of the new lego trucks you received.  However, in the end it just produced more frustration than anything else and it was quickly disassembled!  Oh well- we'll try again when you are a bit older!

So there it is- your fourth Christmas (at age 3 1/2) in pictures!

Christmas... Eve- Better Late than Never!

 

Okay, so this post took me much longer to write than I thought it would, but at least it is finally here!  Well... in part!  We have so many Christmas picks that I have decided to divide them up into three posts- so bear with me!

This year we spent Christmas Eve with Nana's (my mom) side of the family.  It was very simple and laid back, which was really nice!  R-man had a blast getting to play with his cousin- every time we go to their house he always loves breaking out J's rock guitar and going wild!

 

In addition to just having a good old time he also managed to get a lot of snuggle (and tickle) time in with nearly everyone in the family!

  

On of the highlights of the evening was having Papa read the Christmas story from Luke just before we ate.

 

After dinner we got down to business and did some serious gift-opening (which was R-Man's favorite part, of course!)!

 

 

 

Some of his favorites of the night were a really cool remote control car, a rock guitar, a CARS race track, and Ice Age: Dawn of the Dinosaurs!

And here are a few goofy and cute candid moments from the day!

Uncle rick trying on Aunt Shelly's new beret!  None of us were to sure about it!

Cousins!

Silly face!

Nana & Papa in sweet love!

Daddy checkin' his e-mail while mama gets up to speed on her google reader!

And we just did some snugglin' too!