Sad day for us...

Our dear Lenny fish is gone. He was fine last night when I fed him right before bed, but I noticed he wasn't moving when I walked by his vase this afternoon. He's scared me before by being so low to the bottom, and I'd always tap the glass or shake his vase a little and he'd start moving. (Sorry I disrupted your naps all those times, Lenny!) But, today he wasn't napping. :( When I told Keenan he had gone to fishy heaven, he cried. We talked for a while ... Keenan brought up how happy we were on the day we got him. He was our first pet and K was so proud to bring him home! He lived with us for a year and a half. We decided together to give him a proper burial. We dug a hole in the back of the yard, Keenan drew a cross in the dirt and topped it with decorative rocks. It may seem silly, but it was therapeutic.  Goodbye Lenny fish, we'll miss you so.

Back to School!

Wow, it's been a while! We've been super busy getting ready for our first homeschool year. Today was our first day of 1st grade and it went pretty well. I took some pictures of the room & my cute little students, so this post will be pretty image-heavy. :) 

I wanted to make today special, so that K would be excited about school. So, the first thing we did was make a big breakfast together. Keenan helped with the pancakes...

Here are a couple pictures I took of the school room. Reading corner, then Math corner. I do realize that all the decorations/posters aren't necessary for homeschool, but I love it. We could absolutely have done all our work from the sofa or the kitchen table, but I wanted a room that felt fun and "normal" to me. I went to public school, then went to college to be a teacher... my mom's a kindergarten teacher. This just feels like the right approach for us. We get the feel of a traditional classroom, but the flexibility and fun of a homeschool lifestyle. Also, in my defense, I didn't have to buy much because my mom had tons of leftovers that I could use and my in laws just love to buy dollar store posters for me to use, even the ones I don't think I need. I wish I had a before picture of the room. It was AWFUL. I love the new paint color!! (exotic sea by Valspar)

Of course, I made Keenan take some pictures before we got started... just like I would have if he had headed to school the old way. 

Ella mostly liked reading time & went kind of crazy during the rest of the day. I had coloring books and little containers of small toys for her to play with while I taught Keenan. 

Overall, we had a great day. We mixed in some fun stuff with the boring work, and actually finished more of the things I had planned than I figured we would. Here's to a great school year!