The End of Week 1

 We finished our first week of second grade yesterday.   

I am happy to say it went really really well.  

 This curriculum has lots of fun games and puzzles in the schedule.  

Q-bitz was a hit.

 Tenzi was also lots of fun.  I think we played the simple game on the side of the tube around 30 times.  Maybe not, but it is so fast, it felt like we played a lot.  

The workbox system seems to be going well.  

Nate has a much better attitude about things he hated last year. 

 Calendar time was abbreviated after a horrible start last year, but happily this year it's going great!  

I had fun trying out his Step by Step Drawing assignment myself.  

Nate really loves doing is daily Construction Doodles and he moves quick though most of his workbooks.  

I am hoping this year will go much smoother than last!  

Moment of the Week

 Shaun the Sheep

 Back to school shopping

I honestly was thinking I am so glad my kid doesn't spend all day with the children of the parents that would do this! 

 loud dog

 lazy dog

 flowers

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Sandbox Salutations (AFGHAN) July and August

Hello Everyone.

I am sorry that it has been such a long time since my last post, I've been pretty busy the past 2 months with finishing some of my Military Education course.  I completed my Senior NCO Military Education and the Joint Senior NCO course.  It was a lot of studying and a couple of long test, but I finally finished them.  Next up is deciding what I want to do when I grow up, on to a Bachelors degree!

 

 I think I found my dream truck!

 These beast are called MRAPs.  They are the Afghanistan steroid version of the HUMVEE. With the use of IED's, The military needed a better vehicle to withstand the blast of them so the Army came up with this behemoth

.

I've also been getting a good supply of packages from everyone.  I really appreciate everyone sending stuff to me. 

I have been a good boy and have been sharing with my fellow co-workers.  Thank you Sandy Sean and Ina, Dad and Ruthann, Jackie Cody and Charly, Mom, Sue and Jim and of course Teresa and Nate.  Don't worry Nate, the legos will make their way back to you.

 

I now have just over a month or so left, so I am getting excited about being back with the family.  I miss Teresa and Nate and even all 3 dogs very much.

Second Grade

Today was our first day of second grade.

Nate was super sweet an had an apple for the teacher.  I am so lucky to have such a sweet kid.

The workbox system seemed to work out really well.  Nate liked knowing how much he had left.

And he LOVED his daily art book.  This Construction Doodles book is really fun, I think he will love ending the day with some doodling.  

Moment of the Week

 baseball with grandpa

 a day at the lake

 catching up on yard work

 a visit to the journey museum

 enjoying beautiful south dakota

 chuckwagon supper

 learning how to make rope

 devil's tower

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Moment of the Week

A meet up with friends. 

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Our 2015/16 Classroom

I've been busy squeezing in time to get our classroom back into shape and ready for the new year.

Most things are the same.  But we have two big additions this year.  Our reading area to the right.  And our work-boxes back against the blue wall.

Nate loves to read!  He's always reading something, so I thought it would be great to include a special area where he can read quietly.  He likes this cozy chair, and the selection of I Can Read It books on our book cart.  And we have a bookmark can this year! I think it will save me a lot of time since I felt like I was always digging for one last year.  

I am hoping we will get more use out of the art easel this year.

I did make the table a little bit smaller this year.  This table top was very inexpensive and it worked out well to trim it down.  It also meant I needed less storage cabinets so I moved the cabinets with doors to the main wall, and just have the smaller cubes under the table.  Since we are trying a new curriculum this year and it has more workbooks, less straight up reading we have plenty of room to stretch out into our storage cubes!  I'm glad about this. 

Having the cabinets over on the blue wall works out really well.  I have craft supplies in one, and puzzles, games and things in the other. The thing I am most looking forward to this school year is our new printer!  It's wireless and it is so nice to print anytime!  We had a three in one printer but it wasn't wireless and there wasn't room for it near our PC so we had to haul it out, hook it up, print, then put it away.  SUCH A HASSLE.  I hardly ever printed things because it was such a pain.  I am so excited I will be able to print coloring sheets on a whim!  

Our workbox cart is ready to go.  We are trying this system out this year and I am hopeful!  The idea is the student gets to motivate himself by knowing exactly how much he has left.  He can SEE with each box he finishes that he is getting closer to finishing the day.  Along with adding snacks or fun boxes I really hope this will be a good thing for Nate.  

We will start this year on the 24th.  Just eleven days from now.  I hope we are ready!  I am looking forward to the new 'busy' schedule we will have with school and church activities starting back up.  It should make our days go by faster, which will mean waiting for Dave will go by faster.  

Moment of the Week

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This week was pretty quiet besides the tooth loosing and puppy birthday.  

We stayed home everyday but Wednesday.  

The rally is going on and I didn't want to go out.  

We kept ourselves busy with lots of things, and I got a lot of sewing done and the guest room ready.  On Wednesday we met friends at the pool and spent four hours swimming and having fun.  

Then we ran some errands to get fresh fruit, fabric I needed, and new toys for the birthday pup.  

Plus we had dinner at Culver's so it was a nice break.   

I am glad that the bikers are heading home.

Now the locals can come out from wherever we've been hiding.

Our new school year is on the horizon.

16 days until we start second grade.

Lucy

Today our sweet Lucy turns 1.

I can't believe how much she has changed since she came to live with us last October.  

She is just the sweetest.

Even though she is still small, at least we don't have to worry about stepping on her anymore.  

Thank goodness!  

She was so tiny when she first came home. 

She is happy, protective, and soooo sorry if you catch her shredding up a tissue.  

You just can't get upset with her.  

She does EAT stuff though and I am often worried about her.  

She spends hours chewing on a big horn we bought for Bonnie.  

She just loves following us around and cuddling right up with us.  

When she really wants something her left ear will stick up, and she is always twirling for treats and attention.  

you might notice bonnie in the background here.  springing like she does. 

She has made good friends with the doberman, boxer, and chihuahua neighbor dogs and often spends her time chasing back and forth along the fence with one of them.  

I have seen her chasing off birds from the garden and rabbits from the yard. 

 She also hides things.  

I'm pretty sure under our deck is a puppy treasure trove of things we will never see again.  

I know it's nuts to have three dogs.  

I think about it often especially with Dave gone, but we love this little dog so much and I cannot imagine life without her.