I told a sweet friend recently that I'd like to eventually write about our daily routine for me to look back on.  That day appears to be today since I had nothing else of value to write about. I'm sure it won't be super exciting for anyone to read, but here goes! (This is our routine every day; although Sunday is just a little different in the mornings due to church).       We do basically the same thing every day.  I once read that kids thrive on consistency and routine (which I witnessed in my 8 years of teaching many different grade levels), so I knew I wanted to give my own kids as much consistency and structure as I could.  My kids know what our days entail, and they can tell you "what comes next," haha. There's security in knowing what to expect, and our days don't hold a lot of surprises.  But when a surprise happens, it's an exciting day, for sure! ~~~~ Oliver typically wakes around 7:00, so I get him up and nurse him.  He and I spe...

1. Last Friday afternoon, Jack and I did an experiment with beans. He dipped cotton balls into water and put those with five different types of beans in a plastic bag. We hung it on the window to give the beans sunlight.  Here they are four days later! So neat :) Our caterpillar finally formed it's cocoon a few days ago. We check every day to see if anything has changed.  2.  My in-laws have been in town since Sunday, and we've really enjoyed spending time with them.  The kids have LOVED all of the attention. 

So yesterday was Friday, and I would have done a "five facts Friday" post except I only had two things to share. So here are a few things that happened yesterday.  I went grocery shopping at the local "everything" store, and as I was looking for refried beans to restock the pantry, I noticed something odd. Can we say, "one of these things is not like the others?"  Actually, two of those things, haha, but still. Apple and cherry pie filling don't quite seem to fit with Mexican food items... Also, yesterday was our "exploration day" on our summer weekly learning activity schedule, and while we were playing on the porch, I found this little guy. He's currently residing on our kitchen table, so that he doesn't kill my marigold plants with his voracious appetite! He seems to be thriving according to the many, many deposits he's left at the bottom of the jar. Ew. 

1. I decided that for the summer months, we'd do a simpler learning-time routine. I found this on Pinterest and modified it to fit our days.  Here's what ours will look like.  Instead of choosing books and basing learning time activities around them, I'll choose books and won't worry about making lesson plans to go along with them.  Simple summer :) We already began the new routine this week with cooking together on Monday. I had to get the soup in the crockpot by 8am, so it would be ready by lunch. I took the kids from their beds straight to the kitchen counter before changing them or even feeding them haha. But they enjoyed helping :). Please ignore their mismatched pajamas!  Ella enjoyed playing with the beans and did so on that blanket for nearly 30 minutes with no breaks and almost no interaction with me other than to show me her big scoops every once in a while :) 2. Our first harvest of our mini cucumbers!! I'm like a proud parent, and it's so ridiculous ...