I'm Still Here

It's funny, but I've seen quite a few blogs with this sort of title! Must be something about this time of year. Anyway, it's just this simple--I've not had time to blog. I have a whole list of things I want to post about. I'm constantly taking pictures to use in future blogs, but I'm just finding it difficult to post anything at the moment. This week I've had the flu and some pretty intense earaches, and I did well to get the kids through schooling!

And Tot School. I haven't even been doing Tot School for the past few weeks or more. It's never been easy to do, with 2 older children doing regular school work, but Gabriela is going through a "stage" right now, and I'm finding it a bit challenging. I have to admit I give a huge sigh of relief when I can finally put her down for a nap each day. She's a little sweetheart, truly she is, but I'm sure some of you can relate...and she is TWO. I always hated the term "terrible two's," and my older 2 never went through such a stage...seriously, they didn't. Gabriela is NOT terrible, but she has been far more challenging at this age than the others were. With a strong will and a habit of wanting to climb everything--she's just a little monkey! : ) I'm going to get a new shelf unit from Ikea this weekend for her tot trays...I think having more space to organize will motivate me to come up with some fresh, new activities that she will enjoy. I also have a space I can use for activities she can access by herself. Once I get it all done, I intend to post something about it. There, now that I've said it, I've got to do it, right?

Once I do find some time to spend on my blog, I have several lapbooks to post, some science lessons, some charity shop finds, a bit of Tot School, and geography lessons on Netherlands, Norway, Japan, Israel, and China.

I know some bloggers have questioned their reasons for blogging and asked themselves whether it was worth it. I blog for 2 primary reasons: 1) for my own personal record of our homeschool and 2) because I love to share homeschooling ideas. Is it worth it to me? Even if I spend hours on a post and get no comments? (hehe) Yes, for me it is worth it, but I'm not going to push myself if I can't find time to do it. No, I don't plan ever to get rid of my blog! I'm just going to be satisfied with posting in my own good time without worrying how behind I am or whether or not my followers list is growing.

I am so thankful for all of you who do follow my blog, and I so enjoy reading all your blogs you've worked so hard on. I hope you enjoy reading my posts when I do get around to posting them, and I trust you'll be patient with me when I go silent. : )

Many blessings to you all as you carry on doing what you do!

Tot School--Easter

We've been on a 2-week Easter break, and I haven't really blogged at all during this time. So, this is Gabriela's Tot School from 2 weeks ago. By the way, you'll see a lot of Easter activities relating to bunnies, eggs, and chicks. I DO try to focus more on the Resurrection of Jesus at Easter, but I simply didn't have time to come up with appropriate activities for a 2-year-old--I mostly used what I had on hand. On Easter Sunday, I taught the children at our church about the Resurrection using homemade Resurrection Eggs (Get some ideas here and here or just google it--there are loads of different ways you can do this), and all 3 of our children were a part of that. As Gabriela gets older, I will put more focus on the reason we as Christians celebrate Easter. I know Easter is not all about bunnies, eggs, chocolate, and baby chicks, and I teach that to my children. On the other hand, I have nothing against them...God created rabbits and chicks and eggs. It's how you present it that makes a difference. Anyway, that's my opinion, and Gabriela did enjoy these activities (which are not all Easter-themed btw).

UPDATE!!! I only JUST found the most wonderful Resurrection-related Easter activities for tots! I will definitely be using these ideas for next Easter! Visit Tot Play: A Learning Journey if you want to see! Oh, actually there are two posts from the same blog--both with wonderful Resurrection-related tot activities for Easter. See the other one here!

1. Putting plastic eggs in and out of egg carton, with and without spoon.


2. LAURI butterfly puzzle


3. Pom-pom fun (playing, spooning, sorting)


4. Decorating paper egg with Easter stickers


5. She made this chick at her playgroup


6. Playing with play-doh


7. More pom-poms--using tweezers to put pom-poms into egg holders


8. Egg shakers (I put different things inside each egg to make different sounds--pebbles, rice, coins, and something else I can't remember!)



9. Coloring an Easter bunny picture (I'm sorry--I can't remember where I got this!)


10. Can't remember what these things are called!


11. Bracelets on a toilet paper holder--something I just came up with out of the blue--I knew there was a reason I was keeping this thing (that we no longer use for tp)! Any other ideas for a toilet paper holder?


12. Easter tray--Finding fuzzy chicks and foam eggs in a basket full of yarn and sorting...I wanted green Easter grass, but the stores were all out of the grass by the time I thought up this tray. Gabriela loved the little chicks!


13. Bingo dauber painting. We actually did 3 of these, but the pictures of the other two (a heart with a picture of Jesus and a bunny with a basket of eggs) didn't turn out well. I got them from DLTK.


14. Bunny Books


Counting book with Peter Rabbit


Rabbit puzzle book


15. She also watched some Beatrix Potter videos (Peter Rabbit, Benjamin Bunny), but I don't have a photo of that.

16. A farm matching game--she loves matching!


17. Finally, here's our egg hunt on Easter day! Gabriela actually wasn't that interested. She just wanted to jump on the trampoline--forget the eggs!




For more Tot School posts, please visit 1+1+1=1!

Mudpuppy Giveaway at Counting Coconuts!

Mari-Ann at Counting Coconuts is sponsoring a really cool giveaway. It's this Under the Sea Constructibles set from Mudpuppy. If you haven't heard of Mudpuppy (I hadn't), they have some really nice educational toys--check out their website! If you're interested in the give-away (open to US residents) and would like to read Mari-Ann's review of this toy, visit Counting Coconuts!