Faith paints

Faith can write her name all by herself.

She wanted to help me paint the hallway.

And she painted her name.  Such a smart girl!

More birds for Queenie

Today Granddaddy and Grace went to Petsmart.

And came back with two new birds for Queenie's birthday!

The kids loved those birds.  But I promised she could visit them at Queenie's house soon.

Horseback riding lessons

Grace is now taking horseback riding lessons.

Faith couldn't wait to watch.

Grace did surprisingly well at her first lesson.

I can hardly believe she's riding a full grown horse all by herself! 

By the end of her first lesson she was riding like a pro.

Before she dismounted, we let Benjamin ride, too. 

I don't think he's going to want to take lessons anytime soon. 

Something new to ride

With David traveling for work, Grace and Faith found a new purpose for his suitcase.

A wheeled carry-me-on!

Squash a frog

Today we found a little green guy sitting on one of our flower pots.

Benjamin noticed him right away.

He grabbed him and gave him a good squeeze before tossing him off the deck.  Poor frog.

Fine motor skills

Today we  made "Spiny-o-saurus" dinosaurs.

I drew a shape on the back of a cereal box.  Benjamin smeared paint on it.

Then I cut it out, added an wiggly eyeball, and gave Benjamin some clothespins.

Adding and removing clothespins should help develop those hand muscles needed later for writing.  This school stuff is turning out to be quite fun for everyone!

Faith is learning to read

I found a fantastic website today called This Reading Mama.

And I was completely blown away with all the information she provides online for FREE!  So today, Faith and I started "school" at home where I am going to attempt to teach her to read.  This Reading Mama provides curriculum that looks quite similar to what Grace learned in kindergarten - sight words, phonics, fine motor skills, and numbers and patterns.  Faith is over the moon excited to start reading just like "Waycee" (Gracie.)