Celebrating 1

We celebrated Lasa's birthday this weekend with our favorite people over BBQ and fresh veggies, sweet tea, water guns, bounce house, board games, backyard romping til dark and then after that still, and, of course, cake!



I made my first ever icing and my first ever pull-apart cake ...

 and both efforts turned out well!  It was delish! There were only 2 cupcakes leftover by the end of the night.

Lasa was a doll looking round the room taking it all in as we all sang to her.

And she was not shy about getting down to business once the cupcake was set in front of her.  She demolished it and enjoyed every last bite, smear, smash, and lick.

She was thrilled to be handed more books for her birthday.  She knows just what to do with those - find any and all flaps and destroy them.

While we all hung out, Lasa got cozy with anyone within reach.  Especially those who indulged her when she reached for their phone.

While the kiddos played, we adults enjoyed the down time to catch up since it has been way too long since we all got together.  We hashed out some ideas for Fall Break plans together again and broke out some Apples to Apples.  It was funny when the kids followed suit and pulled out board games of their own. :)

My sister and her family were here for the day as well, but somehow I only thought to take pics of this sleepy Miss. 

Anyway, back to the birthday girl.  'Twas a fitting and simple celebration to wrap up LasaGirl's first year as well as the end of summer! 

Happy Birthday - again - LasaLove!

He Will Hold Me Fast

I so love the songs we sing at Redeemer!  This one we have sung several weeks now and each time we do, it gets stuck in my head and I sing it all day long.  I prefer our worship leader's vocals every time, but this is a great version for sharing, too.  My favorite lines in bold.

He Will Hold Me Fast

sung by Trinity Church

Verse 1
When I fear my faith will fail, Christ will hold me fast;
When the tempter would prevail, He will hold me fast.
I could never keep my hold through life’s fearful path;
For my love is often cold; He must hold me fast.

Chorus
He will hold me fast, He will hold me fast;
For my Savior loves me so, He will hold me fast.

Verse 2
Those He saves are His delight, Christ will hold me fast;
Precious in his holy sight, He will hold me fast.
He’ll not let my soul be lost; His promises shall last;
Bought by Him at such a cost, He will hold me fast.

Verse 3
For my life He bled and died, Christ will hold me fast;
Justice has been satisfied; He will hold me fast.
Raised with Him to endless life, He will hold me fast;
‘Till our faith is turned to sight, When He comes at last!

Reviewing First/Third Grades

Welp, we blew through summer at some super-sonic pace that has left me unable to even understand how it is already over!  I only know it is over because we are soft starting our 2016-2017 schoolyear midweek next week.  Whaaaaaaat?

But before we go there, I figure I better do a quick catch up post (hoping I can even remember what to report on) in review of Anna's first grade year and Noah's third grade year we wrapped up back in May.  Link to last year's review here.

So, first things first - this school year was my first tackling two different students in two different grades at once.  Slightly stressing, but not too much.  This year also ended up being a jolt because of a last minute addition to our days - LASA!!  Big stressor, but so good and worth it.  I gave us much grace and took breaks when and where we needed them and often!  And somehow we never even got behind.  Not even a little.  Finished our school year with ease as early and on time as the previous two years.  Thank you, Lord, for carrying us through the year!  With huge peace and success, considering.  The only real day-to-day difference was that with all the extra interruptions, our school days went well into the afternoon each day instead of being done easily by 1 or 2 like last year.  Then again, we started much later in the day, too.  HA!

Next up, curriculum...

• Math - Both kiddos did their respective years in RightStart Math and that went swimmingly. We love RightStart.  Sticking with that for 2016/2017 for both.  Both kiddos drilled basic facts all year using the Xtra Math program online and showed SUCH improvement and fluency!  This summer Anna tested out of the Subtraction course and Noah right out of the Division course. 

• Science - Anna worked alongside Noah in his 4th grade level Sonlight curriculum.  It was another smooth year with that.  We really enjoy Sonlight's selected texts and topics.  I am sure we will miss Sonlight, as we are moving on to another publisher, GeoMatters, described in next section.

• Reading/Language Arts - Both kids worked through their respective Sonlight curriculums.  Noah, though a technical 3rd grader, worked his way through his 4/5 grade level work.  It was a challenge but Noah rose to that challenge and we cranked it out.  And Anna, a first grader, completely breeeeeeeezed through her 2nd grade work and then warp sped through the following 3rd grade year of it too that I still had on hand from Noah last year.  I knew I was about to sell it for the upcoming year anyway, so I let her pick and choose the titles she wanted to try.  I have really enjoyed Sonlight book selections and their assigned Language Arts and Writing lessons.  But they did not offer Sonlight beyond 4/5 without buying their entire Core program with it, which I don't want. So I went researching and had a new curriculum in mind for next year that I am SO excited about. GeoMatter's Trail Guide to Learning Paths of Exploration (for 3-5th graders).  Perfect!  Noah will work through their 4th grade path, Anna will work along the 3rd grade path, modifying along the way if needed since she is technically only second grade.  I am thrilled at the prospect of using the same curriculum for both.  Been looking forward to this specific developmental year since starting Noah homeschooling after first grade.  I knew Anna would catch him (reading-wise) in no time.  He is still a slight beat ahead of her, but she's capable enough to keep pace and thrive with the challenge.  This curriculum will accommodate both and differentiate their response work, saving me SO MUCH TIME.   This curriculum also rocks because it provides and aligns the texts and lessons for science, reading, and writing according to the history we are covering.  Perfect!  Again, such a time saver.  Both kiddos also be-bopped their way through the year earning points and moolah using the AR program through Josh's school system. We love having that resource and feedback!  By year end, Anna was independently reading 3-4th grade level books and Noah was in 4/5 grade level books.  Anna still chooses to read for enjoyment every day.  Noah, not so much. :} Boys.

• Vocabulary - Noah wrapped up his third grade work in his online program, Wordly Wise, and started up the 4th grade work right after.  That proved to be SIGNIFICANTLY different and much harder and time consuming than the previous years.  The emotional frustration was not worth it to me since we only signed up for this for exposure and practice anyway, so we finished his subscription in November and moved on to some Greek/Latin root words study lists I had on my radar since last year.  And bonus, Anna is so smart vocabulary wise, she was able to do those word studies with him to a degree.  I did not enroll her in Wordly Wise as it would have just been busy work for that little wordsmith.  This coming year we will launch into an official vocabulary curriculum by Dynamic Literacy that relies heavily on greek/latin roots and word parts.  It's called Word Build. This will be the first time I have used an outright vocabulary curriculum. 

• Social Studies - Taking a break from the mental overload that was World History the last two years, we saved SS work for the second half of the year and really enjoyed trying out a new curriculum from the same publisher as Trail Guide that I had been eyeing, GeoMatters.  We completed a year of mapping and states work using Trail Guide to US Geography.  And largely, this was student led.  Usually this was morning work and the kids really enjoyed the activities.  They learned SO much.  It was also a nice piggyback to their learning all the states and capitals by song last summer.  This coming year, we will return to some History using Paths of Exploration mentioned above.  It picks up neatly where our World History left off, around the discovery of the Americas.

• Spanish -  I picked up a simple Carson-Dellosa Spanish I workbook and an Usborne First 1000 Spanish Words book, and we just got familiar with basic spanish one or two days a week - alphabet and nouns mostly.  We didn't finish it, so we will wrap that up this year and maybe jump into verbs and conjugation.  :O

• Bible - I found a great little resource at the homeschool conference last year and it was a total win this year.  It was called Get Wisdom by Ruth Younts and I recommended over and over throughout the year.  I was so pleased with its lessons and presentation and content that I am using it again this year in our Community Group with the kids each week.  Noah and Anna really received the review and discussion of the selected 23 wisdom traits well and I find I refer to it when correcting their hearts every week and they immediately remember!  I definitely recommend.  The entire list of traits remains up next to our classroom still.  

Beyond these classroom subjects, Noah and Anna enjoyed extras like baseball and art (Noah) and tball and a couple sewing classes (Anna).  They also enjoyed their weekly co-op at Anchored Enrichment and our monthly field trips and gatherings with our homeschool group.  We will keep up with those things this coming year.  But instead of baseball, Noah is trying his hand at flag football.  And Anna is thinking about a regular sewing class or possibly piano lessons.

I have no idea what the upcoming year will actually take shape to be with a toddler in the house.  Wish us luck with 4th and 2nd grades!  Lasa is heading off to a once a week MDO program as well.  Wish us luck with that, too! ;) 

Another Lasa Milemarker

Facebook reminded me this morning, that this day, last year, we met Lasagirl for the first time!
Look at those tiny feet!

This year, on this day, they look like this...

Sweet feet, then and now!

Can you tell we are still marveling at this year milemarker with her?  What a year!

14 Years!

 Today these two crazy kids of long ago turned 14 together as the Family Brown!

We already enjoyed a night out sans kiddos last weekend to celebrate our anniversary and already ordered a new bedspread and coverlet for our gift to each other, but Josh was super sweet and brought home two dozen roses to mark today as well. He's a keeper.

Anna was immediately in love with the floral addition to our kitchen and set down to make us a card to match.  

Church Family

Just cuz I love these shots and this body of believers and forgot to post them a couple weeks ago.  Church picnic at the new property (a nearby church building) we now rent space/meeting rooms in.  They have basically given us access to the entire building and grounds anytime but Sunday morning and Wednesday midday.  So kind of them! So nice to have a yard to gather and linger instead of just strict timelines at the Y. So nice to be able to gather more often without the extra expense in the church's budget!

LASA at 12 Months!

This one...

turned ONE today!

And she {looks} it, looks older, right away to me, too!  I have been getting glimpses of her toddler self coming the past four weeks anyway.

Watching how big she now is draped across our laps.

Doing her hair and seeing the transformation to little girl!

Sneaking peeks of her reaching her tallest to sneak peeks of her own.  (She now pulls things off surfaces I once thought were safely out of her reach - yikes!)

She spread her little leggy wings and tried out her walker with ease this month.  This thrilled us all to the core!

And within a week of that, she started pushing to standing all by herself.

So you know within a week of that ... that big girl took her first solo steps!!  I was a camera ninja and caught them just barely.

Just yesterday, she tried a longer distance.  Squealing commenced.  And now she toddles off and on all day!  Totally a bonefide 1 year old. So proud of her!

This month she fusses for me when she spots me across the room.  But she flashes the happiest grins at Josh. She thinks he's the coolest.

She wants to be doing whatever the big kids are doing every day. 

And she wants to be eating whatever the rest of us are eating as well.  She has tried SO MANY new table foods this month.  We have nary a baby food in the house anymore.  And she finished the last of her formula today, too!

 

She got her first pair of shoes this month to go with all the standing and stepping. 

She took her first real road trip out of state this month, too.  Don't let this cute pic fool you, she was not a great traveler.  

 

Josh got her an early birthday present - a jumpy house.   And it matches her personality to a T.  She can flop and flounce and roll and twist and wallow to her heart's delight.  Gives my lap a break.  HA!

She got to see her momma again in July after a couple months without visits. It went well!

She has graduated to much couch time from her usual carpet play.  She's the cutest - hanging like the rest of the family.

She is teething molars at the moment and they are gonna kill us all, I think.  Nights are the roughest, and then morning comes and she flashes these grins all day like the hour-long crying jags never happened.

Look at the looks she can give!  She steals hearts every day still. 

Her room these days looks like this ... we are waiting to paint and personalize it until we know for sure that our custody will become permanent.  :S  That will be determined in August.  Counting down.  Two more weeks!!

And this is how she sleeps, doubled over her lap.  Noah always slept like this, too, I remember.

In other 12th month updates,

• she is up a pound to weigh 21 lbs, 12 oz (76%ile) now and 30 inches tall (73%ile). Her head measured in the 96th %ile!  That explains why Anna's headbands fit her so well. Ha!
• she is wearing 12-18 mos clothes and a few things already in 18 mos.  In shoes, she is a size 4.5.
• she keeps us in stitches with her little goblin growlish giggle she does.
• she's super snuggly - always grabbing hold for hugs and cuddles and resting on us.
• she's gotten some callous little kneecaps from all the crawling.
• she's picked up the sign for "more" and uses it every day.  
• she's proven to be quite the stuffed animal lover.
• graham crackers, popsicles, ravioli, and grapes are her best eats lately. 
• she shares my cheese toast with me every morning now.  It's our thang.
• she sort of vocalizes/hums when I sing to her.  I think she thinks she's singing, too.
• she is fascinated with the Dustbuster.  Chases it. Comes speed crawling and calling when she hears me us it. 
• she's discovered cabinet doors in the kitchen.
• she knows how to give kisses as well as wave hello and goodbye. Also shakes her head no.
• she loves the open and shut things in her life - doors, toys, books, flaps, containers, cabinets.
• she's demonstrated some defiant grunts and jerks lately, too. Really waking up to what she wants and what she doesn't want.  :}
• she claps and claps for herself with new skills ... and looks up waiting for our applause too.
• she has this sweetie pie wiggle she does to music.
• she hum/groans herself to sleep.  Also does the same subvocalizing while she chews.  It's pretty loud and totally funny.
• she is in LOVE with her toothbrush. Gets the most furious over that thing when we take it away.
• she also loves the dollhouse and pointing out eyes on toys and dolls and me.
• she's a quick learner - climbed the entire stairs this month when no one was looking.  Yikes! Also mastered drinking through a straw on her first try!
• pillows and blankets make her so happy.  Very helpful for all her clamoring and wallowing.
• she tried her first ever juice this month and loved it.  
• she has an awesomely protruding round milk belly after a bottle.
• and unfortunately, is the first of my babies to deal with separation anxiety.  Much screaming and crying has ensued at church lately.  SO HARD!
• Her daily routine goes like this: wakes at 5 or 6 for a quick bottle with Josh and then goes back to sleep til 9ish, makes stinky diaper in the morning, plays til a 1 or 2 oclock nap, naps about 2 hours give or take, plays and whathaveyou til Josh gets home, spends most of the evening with him and the kids, does bath every 2-3 days, does bedtime and bottle with Josh before going down for night at 8:00, sleeps with sound machine on, gloworm on, pillowpet stars on, sleepsack on, lights out, door closed.
• I have a song I sing to her while feeding, when she starts to get distracted or difficult to feed:  sung to the tune of My Bonnie Lies Over the Ocean, "My Lasa appears to be hungry, My Lasa is so fun to feed, My Lasa is such a good eater, Oh bring back my Lasa to me!"

On this, her first birthday, we enjoyed the day quietly at home with a morning pancake ... which she did not like at all. She spit the pieces back out.  No worries, girl!  Real cake is coming this weekend when we celebrate your birthday with friends! And I bet your momma brings you sweet treats when we see her on Sunday, too.

When Josh got home, Lasa opened presents.  Kind of.  Anna had to help a lot.  Lasa just liked the bags and bows, as expected. HA!  

 

Then we went out to eat at, as it happens, the same place we took Anna on her first birthday and the same place we went last week on Josh's birthday.  Ha!  Shane's Rib Shack.

Happy 12 months, my sweet!  Your every milestone and growth has been a delight to us all.  You rocked your first year!  You are so precious to us and so loved by all!