A Day in the Life of the Conn Family

Was this a "typical" day for us....well...I would have to say....NOPE.   Nothing "typical" happens around here!!  But it was what THIS day looked like for us.

So our day begins by getting up early to take Frost to work.  He just loves his job at the kennel...which has just worked out so wonderfully for him!  His boss is AMAZING, he works so hard, and he's able to make some pocket money!

I came back home...started some coffee, check my fb & email, finalized my "what I would really like to be able to go over with the boys today, but probably won't be able to do this much" list, started some laundry, and read an article or two online.



I'm not totally sure what all Arlee did today...I pretty much leave her to do her own thing.  I did hear her recording one of her stories...I'm pretty sure she was working on some ears to wear tonight...she was re-learning her crocheting, too...and she did have me print out a Math worksheet {not sure if that was for today, or later this week}...and she took a pre-test on a website we're checking out...but beyond that, I haven't a clue.  :)  She's really good about doing "school-like stuff" on her own though.


Arlee asked me if I could help her put on one of her sparkle tattoos.  Of course I said "SURE!"...who doesn't love getting to play in glitter!!  She decided on putting her's on her neck, kinda behind her ear...

Then she asked if I wanted one...I hesitated at first, not really sure why, but then said..."why not!?!"  I'm loving my stars!!

Here are the ears she made.  I'm loving these things!  She makes them out of material fur, felt, and a headband.  This girl is so talented!

Do you see her thought bubble above her head??  LOL!  Wonder what she's thinking??


I thought the diamonds on THIS ear looked so pretty!!!

For Zachary  we are going to be trying out the Easy Peasy Homeschool.  What an AMAZING resource!!  Have you heard of it??  It is an online curriculum, all put together by a fellow homeschooling mama, and offered for ANYONE to use it free of charge!!  How great is that!?!?  Here is the link if you'd like to check it out...there is PreK/Elementary/Middle School & she's getting started on High School as well!




http://allinonehomeschool.com/



http://allinonehighschool.com/




So we did "Reading" this morning with a couple poems, discussing the poems, and going over "stanzas" and "rhyming scheme".  He also had to write one of the stanzas for "handwriting".  

I also found a free resources with a TON of great quotes for Copy Work...124 to be exact:  https://docs.google.com/file/d/0B00m3Pm7t-e-RkhHZXZNRFlCVE0/edit?pli=1

Then I enter the quotes into this website, to create a worksheet that they have to copy over the letters:
http://www.worksheetworks.com/english/writing/handwriting/handwriting-print-trace-old.html

My plan is to switch out during the week between journaling, copywork, letter writing, story writing, etc.


Today I introduced to the boys the idea I'm stealing from the DOW School!!  I will be offering "payment" for extra Math, English/Reading/Lang Arts, and Handwriting worksheets they do.  .05 for Math & English, etc.... .10 for Handwriting.   Liam did FOUR handwriting pages {which is HUGE...he HATES doing them!!  But he diligently sat and completed them all with NO complaints!!}  And Zach did TWO Math pages!!   And with these worksheets, with both boys, they WANTED to do them!!  This will be ALL UP TO THEM...if they WANT to do them, and complete them, they will get their payment...if not, then that's fine, too, with me.



Have you seen these funny "Daily Odd Compliments"??  Oh...they can REALLY hit my funny bone!  I had fun sending a few of them to Danny over IM today!  You can find them on Pinterest...here are a couple that I really liked:

 It was great getting that time to "chat" back and forth with Danny during the day!  And we shared some giggles with these great "compliments"!!  :)



When I went to go pick Frost up from work, I had Arlee make sure the two younger boys finished up getting ready themselves.  When Frost & I got back, we really didn't have too much time to spare.  He had to shower and get ready...and I definitely needed a freshening up!  Finally got everyone loaded up into the car...the kids don't like taking the car because we are all squished in there...but since I was just running the older kids to be dropped off with friends, I thought we could all suck it up so we could save some gas money today!  :)  

Frost was heading over to hang out with his girlfriend and her family.  Arlee was going out with her friend and his family.  We were planning that I would catch up with them all at the High School Hangout that was planned for the evening. 

After dropping the two older kiddos off...we went to get Liam's hair cut.  If you've seen us recently...you have seen that he is WAY overdue for one!!

And this was after a shower...so it's not as "fluffy" as it usually is!!  LOL!  Poor guy!

He was starting to help me read "Go Dogs Go" while we were waiting for his turn to get his hair cut, but then he wanted me to just read.   I think he talked to the wonderful lady who cut his hair the ENTIRE time he was in her chair!  Finishing up with telling her that he wanted to be an assassin when he grows up.  Oh boy!  I think she whispered in his ear that that would mean he had to kill people...and he was just like...."yeah".   My eyes are closed and I'm shaking my head at this point.  But he does come back with the fact that he will be a hero and only kill those who do wrong.  Good save...sorta.  Way to get out there and socialize, Liam!!  :)

Then it was over to McD's for a treat!  The boys have been chomping at the bit to use some Valentine Coupons that our friend Julie gave to them...so they FINALLY got to use them today!

 Zach got a free hamburger, and bought himself {with lost tooth money} a bacon buffalo chicken sandwich.  I love it when they get to get up there at the counter, with their own money, order, pay...just like the big boys they are becoming!!  Liam got a free ice cream cone, and an onion burger...he ordered his, but I had to pay since he didn't have enough of his own money with him today.  :)

I was not going to miss out on a treat myself!!  SO I got one of the Chocolate Strawberry Frappes!!  OH they are so good!!  I also got one of the buffalo ranch chicken sandwiches, too.  YUM!!

 

Poor Zach I think was disappointed in picking the hamburger coupon for today after watching Liam enjoying his ice cream cone.  Once Liam got about 1/2 way done...he asked Zach if he wanted the rest.  It was such a wonderfully proud moment!!

I believe he may just be singing into his ice cream cone. 

I let them play for just a little bit before we left, and headed back home.

I'm not totally sure if we were completely in the door yet before they started playing a couple games of Magic together.  With Zach being SO patient while teaching Liam how to use his cards.  Liam struggles because he can not read the cards himself yet...so it is frustrating for whoever is playing against him...but I was so proud of Zach who just took his time helping his brother.

I had come back home with the intention of doing some "school-like" stuff with Liam...but we never did get to it!  We'll try again tomorrow!


We did, however, move a couple things around in our living room, which freed up a wall...we have now turned it into "Liam's Word Wall".  With him now showing interest in learning to read...I wanted to show him just how many words he is learning!  I have these cards with sight words on them, and some that I had previously printed out...so far we have like 16 words up there...he has to KNOW them, not sounding out, no struggle, be able to look at it, and read it in a snap to get it posted on the wall...those 16 were all we had time to go thru, and get taped up before I had to get going to pick the older two up from the bowling ally.  I'm looking forward to filling up our wall with all the words he is learning!!

I had to stop on the way to pick up Frosty's new Depakote 'script...and OH MY...these pills are H*U*G*E!!  And he has to take FOUR of them each evening.  Whew!!

The two older kids both had a great time today hanging out with their "other families".  :)  And they both had a really good time hanging out with some of the other Teens from our homeschool group at the Bowling Ally.  

We got to catch up on our way home.  Talked about what they did with their other families that day.  When we got home...I shared some of the pics I had taken at the bowling ally with Danny...some of those kids are SO funny!!  We made some hamburgers for dinner...then attempted to start getting ready for bed...which is usually like a 3 hour event around here!  LOL!   Liam was the only one still awake for a quick bedtime story.  I hung out on my computer for a bit longer, even wrote a love note to Danny before I headed to bed around 2am.

I hope you enjoyed a little glimpse into our life here at the Conn Homestead!  ;)