7 Quick Takes

 

--- 1 ---

School is done!! Yay! I finished our portfolios and we had our required evaluations today. Now onto summer!

--- 2 ---

What will we do this summer? Next week I have declared to be Sewing Week. We're making some skirts and night gowns. I know that my machine will break, or something similar will happen to keep me from realizing my plans. Sewing doesn't usually go well for me, but I'm going to try!

--- 3 ---

Others summer plans...school! We continue math all summer, but for a shorter period that usual. We also do our most intense grammar study in the summer and only review grammar during the school year, which frees up time for other things during the school year. We will also continue reading The Lord of the Rings together.

 

We also hope to see family and friends at some point this summer.

 

--- 4 ---

My big project of the summer is to write an Italian curriculum. It is SO difficult (read: impossible) to find Italian for school-aged kids. There are lots of Spanish, French, Latin, and Greek materials out there, but the only Italian to be found is for little bitties or adults. So, I will be working to write an appropriate program for us.

--- 5 ---

After almost a year without AC, we finally got it fixed this week! Yay! Just in time for tomorrow's weather - high of 55, low of 39, and windy :). Gotta love PA! It always gets cool here for Memorial Day weekend.

--- 6 ---

I love how Elena makes me a birthday card nearly everyday.

--- 7 ---

For those of you who haven't heard...We're expecting again!!!! We will have a new little bundle of sweetness here around mid-January. Everyone is very excited! The kids are wondering if they will have a brother or sister and when my tummy will start getting bigger :). Soon enough, I assure them :)

 

 

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7 Quick Takes

 

 

--- 1 ---

 

Last Friday I went to my first-ever homeschool conference! Seton, one of the major Catholic homeschool curriculum providers,  hosted their IHM Comference for the first time near Pittsburgh, and I was able to arrange a babysitter so I could attend.  I picked up a few books we need for next year, listened to some good talks, and enjoyed some time chatting with fellow homeschoolers.  A very enjoyable day!

--- 2 ---

Elena celebrated her 4th birthday last week. Can you believe our sweet little girl has gotten so big?

--- 3 ---

 

 

I love how much Elena loves her babies :)

 

--- 4 ---

 The weather has been pretty much perfect here this week.  The kids have been enjoying extra time outside to play, and we were able to start gardening.  We cleaned out our large garden bed and planted some greens, and we cleaned out the area around the blueberries.  I haven't had a chance to give the strawberry patch a good weeding, but they don't seem to mind.  There are lots of flowers there already.  The girls also started seeds for flower gardens for attracting butterflies and birds.

--- 5 ---

The kids decided to enjoy a picnic lunch yesterday since the weather was so nice!

--- 6 ---

Last Saturday we visited the petting zoo they had at St. Vincent for the afternoon.  Elena and Cati aren't much into petting, but the other kids enjoyed spending time with the animals, petting and feeding them.

--- 7 ---

 

 

Here's an example of one of the many beautiful trees in bloom here now. 

 



 

 

The pollen from all these trees is killing me, but they are a wonderful sight!

 

 

 



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7 Quick Takes

 

 

--- 1 ---

We made our first visit to the zoo for the year this past Monday.  We had a lot of fun, but the weather wasn't quite as nice as we had hoped. 

--- 2 ---

Giuseppe decided that he didn't want to stay in the stroller while we were at the zoo.  He's a big boy now and wants to walk!

--- 3 ---

Giuseppe is an example of a kid growing up in the digital age with parents who are constantly taking digital photos of him and his siblings.  He's been doing different things around the house and then saying, "Take a picture, Mommy!"

I took these pictures at his request:

Wearing big sister's shoes

Playing with tape

--- 4 ---

Our big boy has also decided he's too big for a high chair now and has taken over one of his sister's chairs at the table.

--- 5 ---

And since I'm on a Giuseppe theme here, here's a picture from one day this week when he decided to come to the table to finish his sister's paint that she had left behind

A two-handed artist

--- 6 ---

Who else is getting excited about summer already?  Gardening, better weather, change of schedule...  It won't be long now!!

--- 7 ---

 

 

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7 Quick Takes

--- 1 ---

It's Spring in PA! It's been in the upper 70s this week and we've been wearing short sleeves! Things are blooming and I've been dosing out allergy meds to some of the kids. We're having a return to cool weather for the weekend, but I can't tell you how happy we are for Spring! Yay!

--- 2 ---

 

Nutrition lesson from Elena...

Elena: I no eat my fries at Steak 'n' Shake.

Me: You didn't eat your fries! Why not?

Elena: Because they're not good for me.

Me: They're not? Why?

Elena: Because Chiara has to eat gluten-free.

--- 3 ---

Chiara celebrated her 6th birthday this past Monday!

 

Happy girl!

Maria decorated the cakes. It was her first attempt at cake decorating, and she went all-out with modeling chocolate and fondant. We were impressed! (We don't normally have two cakes, but Chiara is on a dairy-free, gluten-free diet, so she got a special cake all to herself.)

 

 

--- 4 ---

A little girl who is not quite ready to give up naps!

 

--- 5 ---

You may not want Elena to make a smoothie for you. Apparently, she thinks fish, banana, tomato, lettuce, and onion would make a good combination.

Elena's smoothie

 

--- 6 ---

There's been an abundance of Knock-Knock jokes flying around here this week.

Chiara: Knock, knock.

Me: Who's there?

Chiara: Banana

Me: Banana who?

Chiara: Banana ice cream!

**********************************

Matteo: Knock, knock!

Me: Who's there?

Matteo: Luke.

Me: Luke who?

Matteo: Luke Skywalker!

************************************

A house full of comedians, we are (not?)!

--- 7 ---

Giuseppe, the photographer...Yesterday, I was working and heard, "Click, Click, Click." I looked up to see that Giuseppe had managed to find the camera app on the iPad and was taking pictures of himself :)

 

 

 

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7 Quick Takes - Easter edition

--- 1 ---

I've been good about posting regularly to my new homeschool blog, Creating Something Beautiful (see link on left), but I've been neglecting this one. So, I'm going to dedicate myself to at least doing this series on Fridays. When I have a regular series, it gives me a plan to stick to!

--- 2 ---

We were blessed to spend Easter with family this year. We haven't been able to do that since we left GA 10 years ago. The motivation for traveling so far this weekend was the Baptism of our nephew (and now, Godson!).

 

--- 3 ---

We dyed eggs (thanks to Grandma for organizing this!)

--- 4 ---

We had an egg hunt...

Two baskets is better than one!

 

--- 5 ---

We enjoyed the beautiful Spring weather down south! (Winter has had a strong hold on PA this year.)

--- 6 ---

We enjoyed a beautiful Easter Monday with friends (and had a 2nd egg hunt!)

--- 7 ---

After traveling more than 1500 miles in the past three weeks (we also took another impromptu visit to NC see the Baptism of a friend's baby a few weeks ago - What can I say? We love Baptisms!), the kids and I were happy to chill at home for the second half of the week, enjoying the Easter Octave!

 

 

 

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7 Quick Takes, vol. 6

--- 1 ---

It's definitely the pre-Christmas season. The kids are getting more hyper everyday! At least I've done this enough times to know what to expect. We've kinda been doing minimal schooling including math, Latin, history/science reading, and editing the kids's NaNoWriMo stories. We've been using the rest of our time to work on Christmas gifts. We mailed the ones for Italy this week!

--- 2 ---

Speaking of Christmas gifts, I'm really happy with the work the kids have put into their gifts! I can't help but to give a little sneak peak :)

 

--- 3 ---

Matteo's NaNoWriMo story is done and edited to his liking!

--- 4 ---

Cute baby picture of the week:

Giuseppe LOVES to play outside!

--- 5 ---

We had a great time this afternoon/evening at St. Vincent. We participated in a procession for Our Lady of Guadalupe (this feast isn't until next week, but since they are having finals next week, I guess it was best to combine this with the vigil of the feast of the Immaculate Conception). Then, we went to the Vigil Mass, which was mostly in Spanish. This was my first Spanish Mass, and it was very enjoyable. Then, they had a Mexican-themed dinner in the cafeteria. Everyone found something yummy to eat!

Preparing for the procession

 

--- 6 ---

We think that learning to square numbers in your head makes for an entertaining dinner activity.

--- 7 ---

We are looking forward to enjoying the Feast day tomorrow and continuing the prayerful preparations of the Advent season! I hope you are, too!

 

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7 Quick Takes, vol. 5

--- 1 ---

Today is November 30th! That marks the official end of NaNoWriMo which all 3 kids successfully completed! AND is marks the end of my month of daily blogging! I posted on 29/30 days - not bad :). Now I have to decide on a plan to continue blogging. I know my family really appreciates the pictures and updates of the kids, so that keeps me motivated. And the ease of this blogging app makes it practical!

--- 2 ---

We started editing the kids' stories a few days ago. We are reading through them together slowly, looking for grammar errors, and giving content advice when appropriate. It's a lot of fun reading their work! I can't wait to see the finished product!

--- 3 ---

We spent a good bit of time cleaning today and preparing for the Advent season which begins on Sunday. It will be a short season, so let's use it well!

 

Maria sorts ornaments for our Jesse tree

 

Advent wreath

 

 

--- 4 ---

We are going through our first illness of the season. Elena has an ear infection and is quite miserable. No one else has been sick, and hopefully, it will stay that way!

--- 5 ---

I wrote a post about our favorite Giuseppe sayings. Well, my favorite Elena saying right now is "Idea!" She says this one word instead of, "I have an idea," whenever she thinks of something. It's pretty cute.

--- 6 ---

We're still working hard on Christmas gifts around here. A package will be ready to mail to Italy early next week!

--- 7 ---

Go, Dawgs!! (Hey, it worked last week!)

 

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7 Quick Takes, vol. 4

--- 1 ---

My favorite thing about Black Friday?

Leftovers!

 

--- 2 ---

Remember my 3 goals for the Thanksgiving holiday that I posted last Friday? Well, my hair is shorter, the house is somewhat cleaner, and we have a few more Christmas gifts done than we had a week ago. Does that count as success?

--- 3 ---

The kids decorated outside this afternoon. I used to be against decorating for Christmas too early. But, one year I tried waiting and I found out that people who live north have a legitimate reason for doing so...it gets cold up here, folks! Starting tomorrow you won't be able to stay outside for more than five minutes and still be able to feel your fingers!

I think they did a good job!

 

--- 4 ---

Chocolate pie spread all over Elena's face

The kids' favorite item on the Thanksgiving table? Chocolate pie! (Shocked, I'm sure!)

 

--- 5 ---

I have two weeks to get all our Christmas gifts ready. Yes, I'm starting to feel a bit of stress!

--- 6 ---

Go Dawgs!!

--- 7 ---

NaNoWriMo word count update:

Maria - 11,605 / 12,000 words

Cati - 4,022 / 5,000 words

Matteo - 1,213 / 1,000 words

NaNoWriMo ends one week from today. The kids have done so well! They are going to make their word counts, but I'm not sure they will be done with their stories. I mentioned to them that they should think about ending their stories. Matteo told me that he could end his any time :) These should be interesting to read!

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