tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-41714423091859000752024-03-13T08:45:25.902-07:00Sew Mommy SewRachelFloreshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02934458862244567917noreply@blogger.comBlogger164125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4171442309185900075.post-67150308311911995182014-03-27T17:57:00.000-07:002014-03-27T17:57:51.011-07:00Sharing You Tube VideosI am embarrassingly behind on blogging (obviously). School and a toddler, an extremely active toddler have left me very little time for, well, anything else. Here are some videos taken since my last post.<br />
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This video was taken in September, we went on walks most mornings and often went to a pond near us with a lot of ducks. Nate learned to say "duck" within the first two times we went. He loved watching them.<br />
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These videos were taken on Jovi's birthday.<br />
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Here is Nate enjoying his birthday cake at our family party after Jovi's baptism.<br />
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And to push forward into a current timeframe, here is some footage from Juan and my 10th anniversary trip to Tulum, Mexico, taken about three weeks ago. We stayed in a cabana on the beach at a hotel called Nueva Vida de Ramiro (highly recommend), it was awesome and very relaxing. Near the end there is video of the Mayan ruins in Tulum and a live salsa band we got to enjoy during dinner one night. <br />
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I'd like to promise that I will be much better at blogging in the future and you will hear often from me, but I know better. In another 2-3 years I can promise something like that. Right now I will hope to post randomly and sporadically and that is about all I can hope for.<br />
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<br />RachelFloreshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02934458862244567917noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4171442309185900075.post-39613616266103576392013-09-08T08:04:00.001-07:002013-09-08T08:04:55.029-07:00Nate and the Trash CanThere it is, that beautiful white cylinder, tall as me with that awesome flipping top lid. I wonder what amazing surprises it has to offer me today. Will it be something squishy or smelly, something I can eat or play with? The possibilities are endless. The Momma has blocked it with a chair, but that is no problem with my amazing baby abilities of climbing and grabbing. I just have to wait till she is busy with stuff on those super high counters... She is looking away, now is my chance. I reach my tiny little hand in. I'm not quite tall enough to actually see what I'm grabbing, but it feels like a winner. Ooooo, an empty salsa cup with the lid on. Wow, I am SO lucky. This looks like it will offer minutes of endless fun and messiness. Now, I just have to casually walk out of the kitchen... NO, the Momma has seen me. She say, "No, yucky!". I know it is yucky Momma, because yucky means awesome fun. Like when you tell me yucky when I am chewing on all the delicious shoes in the shoe basket. I make a break for it, but she is faster... and takes the salsa cup AWAY only to put it back where I got it from in the first place. My heart is breaking. How could she? It was MINE! I throw myself on the floor and wail my protest, life is so unfair!!! But I will not give up, this was only as small set back. The salsa cup WILL be mine! (Taken from actual events of this morning. He tried to get in the trash about three more times while I was making breakfast. He was successful in getting something out one more time. Arrrggg!!)RachelFloreshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02934458862244567917noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4171442309185900075.post-5718593187612755592013-09-05T07:42:00.001-07:002013-09-05T07:42:57.613-07:00School StartsIt has been almost 5 weeks since we started school. Everything was going great until this week when both Jovi and Corbin got strep throat AND a virus. They are doing much better today, but schoolwork has been pretty bare minimum this week. Anyway, we had a great first day of school. It was Corbin's first day of kindergarten and Jovi's first day of 2nd/3rd grade. To make our first day of homeschool special, they got to pick out a new pair of pajamas and wear them all day long. Here they are during reading time on their first day of school.<div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><a href="https://lh4.googleusercontent.com/-C6dogcZXwv8/UiiYb2hgFBI/AAAAAAAAAr8/9uCh04P5oHY/s640/blogger-image--1928040006.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://lh4.googleusercontent.com/-C6dogcZXwv8/UiiYb2hgFBI/AAAAAAAAAr8/9uCh04P5oHY/s640/blogger-image--1928040006.jpg"></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><a href="https://lh4.googleusercontent.com/-8S5rAm9y_SE/UiiYaQKGA5I/AAAAAAAAAr0/F-vdJ3mcxLM/s640/blogger-image--71099932.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://lh4.googleusercontent.com/-8S5rAm9y_SE/UiiYaQKGA5I/AAAAAAAAAr0/F-vdJ3mcxLM/s640/blogger-image--71099932.jpg"></a></div><br></div><div>That Friday was the first day of our homeschool co-op, Denton Classical Co-op. It was an eagerly anticipated day. The kids love co-op and I am teaching two classes I created, The History of Textiles and Fiber Arts Class. You can read more about the classes on the blog I am keeping for them, www.fiberartsforkids.blogspot.com . Here we are right before we left for co-op.</div><div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><a href="https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-tS5eOhEgge4/UiiYYrm4gaI/AAAAAAAAArs/l3xXY-YyiWA/s640/blogger-image-1151912147.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-tS5eOhEgge4/UiiYYrm4gaI/AAAAAAAAArs/l3xXY-YyiWA/s640/blogger-image-1151912147.jpg"></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><a href="https://lh5.googleusercontent.com/-0HJiBc-Jf_s/UiiYXHw0t6I/AAAAAAAAArk/uosY3e1jyuE/s640/blogger-image--422438869.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://lh5.googleusercontent.com/-0HJiBc-Jf_s/UiiYXHw0t6I/AAAAAAAAArk/uosY3e1jyuE/s640/blogger-image--422438869.jpg"></a></div>I want to write more about our school day, but it will have to be in another post. I just wanted to make sure I got the beginning of school posted before 2 big birthdays happen next week (exciting).</div>RachelFloreshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02934458862244567917noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4171442309185900075.post-50387552228226049372013-08-05T17:42:00.000-07:002013-08-05T17:42:01.421-07:00Summer Time ParyOnce again, this is a bit late coming, but we had a great time at Delores's summer party this year. We took Elijah and little Ruben with us, because the rest of Ruben's family couldn't make it. DJ and his wife Alyssa were there. There was, of course, lots of food and a water slide and Paloma brought her horse over.<br>
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DJ brought foam swords to teach a new game he invented. Here is a video of a group fight with them.<br>
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<br>Here are a few pictures from the weekend.<div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><br></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><a href="https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-sPluYKXbRY4/UfcwbpStQsI/AAAAAAAAAnQ/93V0W2HSQ9I/s640/blogger-image-463515533.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-sPluYKXbRY4/UfcwbpStQsI/AAAAAAAAAnQ/93V0W2HSQ9I/s640/blogger-image-463515533.jpg"></a></div><br></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><a href="https://lh5.googleusercontent.com/-HbOlzB3E20E/Ufcwga90GEI/AAAAAAAAAno/k9HFPw3WoiM/s640/blogger-image--970373711.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://lh5.googleusercontent.com/-HbOlzB3E20E/Ufcwga90GEI/AAAAAAAAAno/k9HFPw3WoiM/s640/blogger-image--970373711.jpg"></a></div><br></div><div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><a href="https://lh4.googleusercontent.com/-s4Vca2vjT00/UfcwaLwEbZI/AAAAAAAAAnI/XanhUTgSWOo/s640/blogger-image--1619815449.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://lh4.googleusercontent.com/-s4Vca2vjT00/UfcwaLwEbZI/AAAAAAAAAnI/XanhUTgSWOo/s640/blogger-image--1619815449.jpg"></a></div><br></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><a href="https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-oNyZygorYtg/UfcwiBSH06I/AAAAAAAAAnw/nm0-WAXhx-c/s640/blogger-image--243902305.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-oNyZygorYtg/UfcwiBSH06I/AAAAAAAAAnw/nm0-WAXhx-c/s640/blogger-image--243902305.jpg"></a></div><div><br></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><a href="https://lh6.googleusercontent.com/-nAqbN9LVb3U/Ufcwlc_BlGI/AAAAAAAAAoA/lEOLcyGvg2s/s640/blogger-image--876730822.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://lh6.googleusercontent.com/-nAqbN9LVb3U/Ufcwlc_BlGI/AAAAAAAAAoA/lEOLcyGvg2s/s640/blogger-image--876730822.jpg"></a></div><div><br></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><a href="https://lh6.googleusercontent.com/-gCAVByOjoVA/UfcwYZlhcNI/AAAAAAAAAnA/8l1LMZkOf60/s640/blogger-image--1702956632.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://lh6.googleusercontent.com/-gCAVByOjoVA/UfcwYZlhcNI/AAAAAAAAAnA/8l1LMZkOf60/s640/blogger-image--1702956632.jpg"></a></div><div><br></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><a href="https://lh5.googleusercontent.com/-ExywmcrTH-4/UfcwdEZl8_I/AAAAAAAAAnY/labDS8b7PFA/s640/blogger-image-718280295.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://lh5.googleusercontent.com/-ExywmcrTH-4/UfcwdEZl8_I/AAAAAAAAAnY/labDS8b7PFA/s640/blogger-image-718280295.jpg"></a></div><div><br></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><a href="https://lh6.googleusercontent.com/-Fh2SXtBs2eg/Ufcwe78PbCI/AAAAAAAAAng/MonHtbT3Csk/s640/blogger-image--1914060505.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://lh6.googleusercontent.com/-Fh2SXtBs2eg/Ufcwe78PbCI/AAAAAAAAAng/MonHtbT3Csk/s640/blogger-image--1914060505.jpg"></a></div><br>
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</div><div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><a href="https://lh5.googleusercontent.com/-kW-kC4PfJWM/Ufcwm-CygRI/AAAAAAAAAoI/ls5XeaBVp4Y/s640/blogger-image--391711109.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://lh5.googleusercontent.com/-kW-kC4PfJWM/Ufcwm-CygRI/AAAAAAAAAoI/ls5XeaBVp4Y/s640/blogger-image--391711109.jpg"></a></div><br></div>RachelFloreshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02934458862244567917noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4171442309185900075.post-23340967076283942232013-08-01T17:15:00.000-07:002013-08-01T17:15:00.063-07:00Nate The Great<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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I admit that when we named Nate, I planned on rhyming his name with "great" a lot, perhaps excessively, but what else am I supposed to do when he deserves it so much? Nate started taking steps on his own when he was about 9 1/2 months old. Here is a video of him walking with assistance about a week or two before his first real steps.<br />
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Just last week, at 10 1/2 months he started really walking on his own.<br />
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As stated in the video he talks ALL the time and amazingly enough a lot of it is intelligible. He's said mama and dada for month and months, but just this past three weeks he has had a language explosion. He can say hi, thank you, welcome, oh yeah (this one IS as cute as it sounds), Elijah, Ganna, ball, wow and whoa (kinda the same as wow) all of these words he has said on more than one occasion and I am sure he know what they mean, he can also wave and sign more and finished. He has also said "here you go" (as he was handing people things), and I love you, but while he said them several times one night, he hasn't repeated them more than that day so I'm not counting them as official words he knows. Here is a video taken this week of him walking and waving.<br />
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Yep, Nate is pretty darn great!RachelFloreshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02934458862244567917noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4171442309185900075.post-46433317277482796052013-07-29T14:48:00.001-07:002013-07-29T14:48:23.354-07:00Corbin Graduated PreschoolOk, I know this is two months late, but better late than never right? Corbin went to Apple Creek Preschool last year two mornings a week. He had a great time, made lots of friends and learned lots of new things. Here is his end of school preschool program.<br />
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His teachers were wonderful and really made his preschool year special. We love Apple Creek!<br />
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RachelFloreshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02934458862244567917noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4171442309185900075.post-83685155766805187452013-06-15T20:16:00.001-07:002013-06-15T20:16:55.277-07:00A Little Catch Up<div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><a href="https://lh4.googleusercontent.com/-sJequ2C0ddU/Ub0uF32bHRI/AAAAAAAAAiw/0rIbTw0SH4U/s640/blogger-image-2115894525.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"></a><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><a href="https://lh6.googleusercontent.com/-xr3cPSQoa0I/Ub0uHnfi-CI/AAAAAAAAAi4/hUL5dhlBENQ/s640/blogger-image-1636942556.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://lh6.googleusercontent.com/-xr3cPSQoa0I/Ub0uHnfi-CI/AAAAAAAAAi4/hUL5dhlBENQ/s640/blogger-image-1636942556.jpg"></a></div><br></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><a href="https://lh5.googleusercontent.com/-GIKgdVpJihY/Ub0uJYXuhnI/AAAAAAAAAjA/i39m0Kwz0bc/s640/blogger-image--1146744125.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://lh5.googleusercontent.com/-GIKgdVpJihY/Ub0uJYXuhnI/AAAAAAAAAjA/i39m0Kwz0bc/s640/blogger-image--1146744125.jpg"></a></div><br></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;">It has been a while since I blogged, but now that I can post from my phone, hopefully that will change. </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><br></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;">Nate has been growing and growing. He started crawling at around 5 months and now that he is 9 months, he is a superb speed crawler. He pulls up and cruises while holding onto furniture. He can stand by himself for a few seconds at a time and can walk while holding onto someone's hands. I'm sure his first steps aren't far away. Nate hates baby food because he wants to feed himself. He likes veggies and meat more than fruit and his most favorite food is grilled zucchini. He can say mama and dada and actually mean me and Juan, he can also sign finished. He loves to talk and babble and put EVERYTHING in his mouth. He is a sweet baby who likes to give hugs and kisses and is my first baby who likes being read to. Jovi and Corbin adore their little brother and he thinks they are pretty great too. </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><br></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;">Corbin graduated from preschool at Applecreek at the end of May. I always got glowing reports from his teachers, he was a great student and had lots of friends in class. Corbin is currently taking swim lessons and loving them. His most favorite thing to do right now is to play with Alec who lives next door to us and is Jovi's age. He also likes to build Hot Wheels racetracks and race his cars, play with play dough, build with Legos and ride his bike. I'm not sure what he would say his favorite food is, but he really likes spaghetti with meatballs. He loves reading books about Tornados and volcanoes. He can currently read Bob books with very little help from me and is very good at simple addition. He struggles with writing, but is working on it. Corbin is a funny boy with quirky sense of humor. He loves his brother and sister and is often very thoughtful about their wants and needs.</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><br></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;">Jovi is happy it is summer because she loves to swim and our neighborhood pool is open, but misses our homeschool co-op. She is taking swimming lessons too and is a very enthusiastic student. Jovi loves to craft and draw and is getting very good at it. She is working very hard at reading more and harder books. She is doing very well in math and her favorite subject is history. She loves the show My Little Ponies and can draw them quite well. Jovi's favorite food is cheese pizza or maybe a cheeseburger. We talk a lot about healthy foods and healthy choices, but you wouldn't be able to tell what she eats by how she looks. She is a tall, skinny girl. Jovi is a wonderful big sister to her little brothers. She is sweet and caring and a wonderful helper for her parents.</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><br></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><br></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><br></div><br></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><br></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><br></div>RachelFloreshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02934458862244567917noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4171442309185900075.post-71862567977810111142013-02-20T08:55:00.001-08:002013-02-20T17:12:11.196-08:00A Family Update<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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Nate can sit up and sort of crawl now. He kind of rocks back and forth on his hands and knees and then lunges forward. He still hasn't got a rhythm with his hands and knees moving together, but it is only a matter of time. He gets around surprisingly well with his lunging and scooting. He loves putting everything he can get his hands on in his mouth so now that he is mobile, we are very careful about what is left on the floor. Nate got his first tooth yesterday, one of the bottom center ones finally broke through. I have been giving him food most evenings now, he has had avocado and sweet potatoes so far. He is less than thrilled with food, he will eat about a teaspoon full unenthusiastically and then he refuses any more. On the other hand, he loves water. He has a sippy cup that he just thinks is the best. He usually ends up all wet, but very happy about it. <br />
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Jovi and Corbin had fun picking out presents for Juan's birthday. Jovi got him a box of chocolates and a Hotwheels car and Corbin got him a bunch of Hotwheels cars. Juan took the day off and so we had a fun time as a family, lunch out and dinner at home. Juan is such a great dad and husband, I hope he had a wonderful birthday and knows how much he is appreciated by his family.<br />
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Yesterday we went to the park. There were two girls there who looked like they were about 5 or 6 year old and they asked Jovi to play with them. Corbin went over and started swinging on the swings. Jovi played for a while and then asked Corbin if he wanted to play. The girls didn't seem happy about that, but Jovi just told him, "He's my brother, he's cool.". So then the other girls wanted to make him a bad guy, and ran away from him, but Jovi told them no, that he didn't like being a bad guy and went over and gave him a hug, she reminded them about how cool he was and suggested they be lost girls and he could be their hero. I'm not sure if that is what they ended up playing, but they seemed to all have fun together after that. It was SO sweet how Jovi took care of her brother. I love that they are such good friends and play so well together. They are both so sweet with Nate. I love watching their sibling relationships grow and develop. RachelFloreshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02934458862244567917noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4171442309185900075.post-90494845854739079052013-01-26T15:09:00.000-08:002013-01-26T15:09:09.624-08:00Nate LaughsNate has been laughing for a while, but we just got it on video a few days ago.<br />
<iframe width="560" height="315" src="http://www.youtube.com/embed/syDqgxB4Uyw?list=UUEVV5QC1lcL3yAvr3G66bfA" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe>RachelFloreshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02934458862244567917noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4171442309185900075.post-71640654956189323252013-01-07T07:21:00.000-08:002013-01-07T07:21:19.279-08:00The Wedding<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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Emma and Evan's wedding in St. George was beautiful. Here it is in pictures and movies.<br />
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RachelFloreshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02934458862244567917noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4171442309185900075.post-37131593693433067652013-01-05T10:44:00.000-08:002013-01-07T07:31:36.965-08:00SleddingBeing a Texas native, I've never actually been sledding. That was remedied the day after Christmas when we went sledding with Emma and Evan in Provo. They took us to this awsome sledding park that was like a big huge bowl. It had been snowing since Christmas Eve so there was lots of snow, in fact it was still snowing while we were sledding. Everyone had so much fun. My mom stayed home with the baby and even though Juan was feeling bad with the beginings of a very bad cold, he went down the hill a few times too. <br />
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RachelFloreshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02934458862244567917noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4171442309185900075.post-86756057846676092372013-01-03T16:05:00.000-08:002013-01-03T16:05:00.200-08:00Christmas Part 2We knew that we were going to Utah for Christmas since the end of this summer when Emma got engaged and chose Utah as the location for her wedding. We originally planned to drive up over three days and drive back over three days but, life happens. New babies have their own ideas. <br />
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Nate hasn't liked riding in the car since he was one week old and he screams to express this displeasure. This got progressively worse till mid November when he would scream from the time he was put in his car seat till the time he was taken out with no break. Really, I'm not exaggerating. At that point we decided there was a price to sanity and we were willing to pay it. We decided to fly to Utah. He has gotten better since then about riding in the car. Now he only screams about 1/3 of the time, but we are still glad we chose to fly.<br />
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We flew into Salt Lake City on the 23rd where we shared a two room suite with my parents and one of my sisters. On Christmas Eve, we visited temple square and the mall right next to it. It started out cold and slightly rainy and then got cold and snowy. It was really neat watching all the snow fall.<br />
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That night, my dad read the Christmas story while the children acted it out (sort of). Jovi had been looking forward to Nate playing baby Jesus since I got pregnant. Nate wasn't so sure, he only lasted a few minutes, but they were the best minutes of the pageant.<br />
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We set out the children's stockings and they made a plate of milk and cookies for Santa and the children were sent to bed. The adults stayed up and played a game of ticket to ride. The next morning, the kids woke up at 6:00am (5:00 central time) and since it turned out everyone was awake, the kids got to open their presents. (The video is kind of long and I was really tired while making it.)<br />
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Nate really loves his Eeyore toy. I was actually really surprised that a three month old would like a toy so much, but he does. It is super cute, but I do have to wash him regularly because of all the chewing.<br />
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After the parents went back to bed and then woke up at a more reasonable hour, we got dressed and went out to play in the snow at the park across the street from our hotel. Juan took Nate back to the hotel after about 10 minutes. We had him bundled in a really thick bunting, but even with the short exposure he got chapped cheeks. I felt really bad about it. We were much more careful keeping his skin covered whenever we were out after that. The kids and I had lots of fun though. Jovi and I liked the snow, Corbin loved it. I think he would have stayed outside all day if we had let him. The kids are each showing off their "snow castles" made with plastic cups.<br />
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That evening, we had Christmas dinner at IHOP and then went to Temple Square to see the lights. Temple Square was beautiful, but we didn't last long because it was SO cold. We saw the nativity, walked around a bit and went back to the hotel to warm up. It was a really nice Christmas Day.<br />
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RachelFloreshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02934458862244567917noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4171442309185900075.post-55288431861396893212013-01-02T11:28:00.001-08:002013-01-02T11:28:35.634-08:00Flower FairiesThis summer Jovi and I got<a href="http://www.amazon.com/Fairies-Petal-People-Yourself-Klutz/dp/159174802X/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1357143773&sr=8-1&keywords=Klutz+Flower+Fairies"> this</a> Klutz book on how to make flower fairies. I have to say, I think it is one of the best craft books I've ever bought. The directions are clear, the included stuff is complete and gives you enough to make about 10 faires and the finished products are just adorable. While Jovi is old enough to make her own fairies, they don't come out "perfect", the hair and faces require a high level of fine motor skills to get them looking just right. She prefers to be the designer and have me put them together. The final product is just so cute you want to make more (I found replacement materials at Joann and Hobby Lobby). Juan's mom and sister saw the faries at our house in September and requested some of their own for Christmas. His mom is a kindergarten teacher and her room is decorated in faries so it's a perfect fit. These are the fairies I made for them and a batch for Jovi. I also tried out making flower angles and I think they came out really nice too. The green shirted ones are my attempt at guys, I need to work on them. The glitter looks better in person than it does in the pictures.<br />
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RachelFloreshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02934458862244567917noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4171442309185900075.post-2391018729272426882012-12-31T15:58:00.000-08:002012-12-31T15:58:02.617-08:00Christmas Part OneChristmas this year was very unusual, good, but unusual. My youngest sister got married December 28th in St. George, Utah so we decided to spend Christmas in Utah as well. Because we were not going to be here Christmas day to spend it with Juan's family like we normally do, we went down to his mom's house on the 15th and had an early Christmas with them. We all had a great time. We had lunch. We read the Christmas story and then presents were passed out.<br />
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My nephews got to open their present from their grandma first. Their dad had told me that they had talked about being grateful for whatever they get on the drive down. That was put to the test when they each opened their very own...bag of chips. They were so disappointed, but tried to hide it. Here is the awesome picture right after they opened their present.<br />
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They then proceeded to watch everyone else open their gifts, which were significantly better than a bag of chips.<br />
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We kept telling them throughout that they should OPEN their chips and eat them, but they were not interested. Finally, after about the 20th time of suggesting they open their chips, Ruben decided it might be a good idea and Elijah followed...<br />
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It was a very good trick. Their grandma had opened the bags just a tiny bit, put the money in and then glued them back together so they didn't look tampered with at all. The boys ended up being very happy with their gifts. Everyone else had a good time opening their gifts too.<br />
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So, what do you do out in the country after all the gifts are handed out and the weather is great? You shoot bb guns, of course.<br />
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Or you can play Pegs and Jokers.<br />
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Juan made dinner for us and watched the baby. (He is such a multitasker.)<br />
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Later that evening, the kids made "gingerbread" houses. The last pictures are of Jovi's house. Corbin's house fell apart before it was finished, but it was still enjoyed.<br />
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By the end of the day, we were all tired, but happy. It was a great first Christmas celebration.</div>
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<br />RachelFloreshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02934458862244567917noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4171442309185900075.post-66306392527189749552012-12-31T08:01:00.000-08:002012-12-31T08:01:34.444-08:00Enchanted FariesBefore Nate was born, Juan saw an ad for a photography studio that took fairy pictures of children. I went to the studio's <a href="http://enchanted-fairies.com/">website</a> and thought the photographer's work was beautiful. We knew Jovi would love the experience and thought about having her picture taken for her birthday. I showed my mom and she wanted an appointment for both kids. We made an appointment right after my due date with the idea that my mom would take the kids. Nate came early and was about two and a half weeks old so I decided to go too and bring him. It was a great experience, the photographer was wonderful with the kids and Jovi could have a future in photo modeling. Unfortunately, due to several issues it took a long time to get our photos back BUT as an apology the studio gave us the digital rights to all our retouched photos. They are totally forgiven. We will likely be back for more photos in a few years and I highly recommend the studio for any fairy photos you might want taken of your children.<br />
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I love all the pictures, but the picture of all three of them is my favorite. We have a beautiful print of it hanging over our fireplace. These pictures were totally worth waiting for.RachelFloreshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02934458862244567917noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4171442309185900075.post-4300555487251846672012-12-10T09:02:00.000-08:002012-12-10T09:05:18.362-08:00Thanksgiving WeekendThanksgiving weekend started on Wednesday with my dad's birthday and my sister and her fiance flying in from Utah. It was the first time they got to meet Nate.<br />
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Laura got my dad the best birthday present, a pair of tiger slippers. This is what he did with him...<br />
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On Thursday, we spent Thanksgiving with Juan's family at his mom's house. We had a great time with a nice traditional turkey dinner. The kids spent most of the time picking pecans from the lawn and since the weather was so nice we spent a lot of time outside too. We all had fun cracking the pecans the kids had picked up. Did you know that some pecans are yellow? They taste just like the regular pecans. Corbin is showing off a yellow pecan in one of the pictures. <br />
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The rest of the weekend was spent with family, shopping and relaxing. The kids loved having their aunt Emma and soon to be uncle Evan around to play with.<br />
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I taught Jovi how to finger weave over the weekend too. She made headbands for herself and her doll, several doll scarves and some wrist warmers.<br />
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Here is everyone looking serious to match Nate. It's amazing how "serious" looks so different on different people.<br />
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<br />RachelFloreshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02934458862244567917noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4171442309185900075.post-34175972239748740582012-12-10T07:39:00.001-08:002012-12-10T07:39:40.652-08:00Halloween<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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The kids had fun this year. Jovi wanted to be a vampire, goth style. I made her a cape and we put together the rest of her outfit from her regular wardrobe. She had some vampire teeth, but in her words, "They freaked me out." when she looked at herself in the mirror, so she didn't wear them. Corbin wanted to be a ninja,but settled for being a pirate when I ran out of time to make the ninja costume that I planned. Nate got to be Super Baby, even his blanket matches. It was a night full of Trick or Treating and candy eating, lots of fun was had. RachelFloreshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02934458862244567917noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4171442309185900075.post-34770575384923200872012-11-20T18:14:00.000-08:002012-11-20T18:14:00.223-08:00Nate's VisitorsNate had lots of visitors in his first month. He was very happy to have them since it meant more people around to hold him, which is of course what should be happening 24/7 according to him.<br />
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His grandma came and visited him.<br />
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His Aunt Paloma came and visited him.<br />
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His Aunt Laura came and visited him.<br />
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His Aunt Sandra came and visited him.<br />
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His cousin Karla came and visited him.<br />
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His Aunt Viriginia came and visited him.<br />
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His cousin Monica came and visited him.<br />
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Group shot of that visit :).<br />
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His uncle Ruben and Aunt Tisha came and visited him.<br />
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His sister wants to visit with him every day. It is literally the first thing she asks every morning when I come down the stairs, "Can I hold Nate?"<br />
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His brother loves to visit with him too and Nate (usually) loves it. Corbin can really hold his attention.<br />
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Nate loves visiting with his dad. He is apparently very comfortable to sleep on. Juan's chest is one of Nates very favorite places to fall asleep.<br />
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Three more visitors that I don't have pictures of, (soon to be fixed) were his Aunt Eden, his Grandpa John and his Grandma Sharon. His Grandma has been so helpful watching him whenever I have appointments and occasionally when I need a nap. I am so appreciative of all she does for us. Nate loves being held by her and thinks she's great.<br />
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RachelFloreshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02934458862244567917noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4171442309185900075.post-75614620812374165022012-11-18T14:06:00.000-08:002012-11-18T14:06:40.724-08:00Things I made for NateI thought I'd share some of the things I made for Nate while I was still pregnant. <br />
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You might recognize this as Nate's coming home outfit. It was part of a mix and match set. I made it using <a href="http://www.newconceptions.com/babyessentials.htm">THIS</a> pattern. It was an easy pattern with a good fit. I plan on making more sets for Nate in the future. <br />
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I tried some freezer paper stenciling to make shirts for everyone on the big day. They turned out pretty well, but I would use different fabric paint if I was to do it over. It was a glitter paint and I thought it had color in it, but really it was just clear with glitter. It would have looked a lot better if I had used a white fabric paint with the glitter paint over it. Oh well, Jovi and Corbin helped with the stenciling and they were super happy with the results and that was the most important thing.<br />
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I made this diaper bag from my own pattern. Really, I just put it together as I had all the pieces sitting on my shelf for well over two years, but it has lots of pockets in it and works great. If I had put it together back when I had cut it out and sewn the separate pieces I probably would have given it as a gift, so I guess procrastinating sometimes works out for the best.<br />
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We are cloth diapering Nate, at least part time, so I made him some newborn fitteds. The first set was with the Darling Diapers<a href="http://www.darlingdiapers.com/Darling%20Diapers%20Free%20Newborn%20Fitted%20Pattern2009.pdf"> FREE</a> newborn pattern. I made it with organic cotton velour and each has a snap in soaker. I really liked this pattern. I made the second set using <a href="http://hyenacart.com/NykiBaby/mt/2272/28493/NykiBaby-Butterfly-Fitted-Diaper-PDF-Pattern">THIS</a> pattern. While I liked how easy they were to make (notice, it is all one piece), I did not like how it fitted. I used some orange cotton sherpa that I had gotten when Corbin was a baby and had been sitting on my shelf since then. I used the cotton sherpa and cotton velour to make some wipes to go with the diapers. <br />
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At about 6 weeks, Nate grew out of all those diapers and I started exclusively using <a href="http://www.cottonbabies.com/index.php?cPath=139">Flips</a> covers with a diaper flat folded into it and a few pocket diapers. I like that the covers are one size and with the diaper flats they are trim and get clean quickly in the wash. I'm hoping this is the system I stick with till he is potty trained. <br />
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Please ignore the dirty floor. These are pictures of the quilt I made for Nate, I really like the fabrics and how the colors came together. I also made several flannel receiving blankets since I only like mine over sized and can't find them in stores at reasonable prices.<br />
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Thank you for looking at all my creations. I'm working on lots of stuff for Christmas and will hopefully post about that in the next few weeks.<br />
RachelFloreshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02934458862244567917noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4171442309185900075.post-22846188413416909092012-10-17T07:38:00.000-07:002012-10-17T07:38:48.590-07:00A Lot Can Happen in a Year...<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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Like adding a whole new person to our family. Nathaniel James Flores was born on September 13th at 6:15am. He was 9lbs 8oz, 20 inches long. My pregnancy was a bit hard, everything seemed a little worse than all my other pregnancies, but then again I don't like being pregnant and I was much busier than I was with my previous pregnancies. At 34 weeks I found out that Nate was breech and if he stayed that way I would likely have to have a c-section. It was a shock and a huge stress. I tried all sorts of stuff to get him to turn, but nothing was working. At 37 weeks I went to the only doctor in the DFW area who does vaginal breech births, Dr. Cummings. He was amazing and was able to turn Nate in the office with minimal discomfort on my part. We thought Nate would come earlier than Corbin who was born at 38 weeks. We made all our plans thinking that he would be born around 37 weeks and then, after he was turned there was added stress because the only way to assure that he wouldn't turn back breech was to have him be born. FYI, stressing about labor will not put your body into labor any faster and can sometimes delay it. Nate was born exactly one week before his due date. The birth was by far my easiest, fastest birth. My water broke at 3:00am without any timeable contractions, 30 minutes later they were timeable and close together, but I was able to breath through them pretty easily. My parents came to our house so my dad could stay with Jovi and Corbin and my mom could come with us. We got to the birth center at 5:00, I was 4cm but could stretch to a 6. I labored on the birth ball for a while and then asked to get in their extremely large tub. I will always labor in water from now on, the pain relief I got was extreme. About 30 minutes later I told my midwife that I was feeling a lot of pressure. She got the bed ready and had me get out of the water so she could check me. She said I was 9cm and asked if I wanted to start pushing or get back in the water. I wanted to get back in the water, but with my next contraction she said that she could see the baby's head and that I should push. With both Jovi and Corbin I felt an extreme need to push and pushing lasted 30 minutes to an hour each time. With Nate I felt no desire to push, but he was born in less than ten minutes of pushing. They put him on me as soon as he was born. He was so beautiful with a full head of hair. He was very calm and alert after he was born just taking everything in. He nursed very well right away too. I felt so grateful and blessed that everything had gone so well and we were both ok.<br />
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We went home a few hours later and Jovi and Corbin got to meet their new brother. They were so excited and thought he was SOOOOO cute.<br />
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Later that day Eden and Laura came over, but I forgot to get pictures, future pictures are to come. We are so excited for our new family member. He's been with us for 4 weeks now and we all just love him more and more.<br />
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RachelFloreshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02934458862244567917noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4171442309185900075.post-65956863634810582462011-11-08T08:19:00.000-08:002011-11-08T08:19:53.037-08:00Snuggle BabiesThis weekend we went down to Eagle Pass to visit Juan's grandparents. We took my 11 year old niece, Arrieanna with us on the trip to help with the kids and have fun. Jovi and Arrieanna shared a bed in our hotel room. This is a conversation Juan and I overheard in the early morning hours:<br />
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Arrieanna, very sleepy says, "Jovi, move over to your side of the bed.".<br />
Jovi says, "But I like to snuggle.".<br />
Arrieanna replies, slightly annoyed, "Just move to your side.".<br />
Jovi says, "Ok... I know, you can come on my side of the bed to snuggle.".<br />
Arrieanna ignored the offer.<br />
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My children love to snuggle with someone while they sleep. We have finally gotten them out of our room at night, but it took till last month. Corbin was always crawling into bed with us and Jovi would try to do the same. Our answer at the time that was only marginally successful was setting up blankets on the floor beside our bed for them to sleep on. Corbin still climbed into our bed most nights and I was often too tired to move him back down to the floor. We finally decided last month that the blankets had to go and the kids HAD to stay in their beds. Or compromise was that if the woke up at night and needed someone they could go and sleep in each other's rooms. This has worked really well for us, we rarely get a child coming into our room at night and the kids seem happy. They are usually in Jovi's room when we wake up. I wondered about this till Juan told me what he saw one night. Jovi had woken up, gone into Corbin's room, woken him up and she was prodding a very sleepy Corbin through the hall to her room so he could sleep in there with her. I guess Jovi prefers her room to Corbin's room. RachelFloreshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02934458862244567917noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4171442309185900075.post-15275205775054919932011-11-06T16:07:00.000-08:002011-11-08T16:07:18.329-08:00Jovi's Reading JourneyI wrote this as a post on a forum and wanted to remember it.<br />
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We did ETC last year and on the days I had dd do it, we did NOT do handwriting. I, personally did not find that ETC was enough for dd's phonics instruction. I have tried a LOT of phonics programs. Reading does not come naturally to dd, but she wants to learn so here is what I've tried, hopefully you will see something you can use:<br />
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Bob Books: dd could memorize them, but I learned that she couldn't hear separate sounds within a word so I looked for something to help with ponemic awareness.<br />
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<a href="http://www.amazon.com/Phonemic-Awareness-Young-Children-Curriculum/dp/1557663211/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1320786552&sr=8-1">Phonemic Awareness In Young Children</a> has tons of easy to play games that help children hear beginning, middle and ending sounds in words, they play with rhyming and sylables too. A lot of the games require a larger group as it is a classroom program, but some can be done with just one student and some of the games are fun enough that the whole family can enjoy playing. We did not use the whole program, but I know what we did helped dd. *This is NOT a reading program, there is no written component, but it is an EXCELLENT listening program*<br />
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Next, dd could hear specific sounds in words, but couldn't blend them, the above program works with that, but I also started using <a href="http://www.amazon.com/Phonics-Pathways-Reading-Spelling-Jossey-Bass/dp/1118022432/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1320787036&sr=1-1">Phonics Pathways</a>. The book stats out VERY simply, we drilled her short vowel sounds and played their blending game over and over. Then she stated doing the "lessons", reading a page a day. We stopped after all the CVC pages were read because even though she could read short vowel words, she lacked fluency. Every word was laborusly sounded out no matter how many times she saw it. <br />
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We stopped phonics pathways and switched to www.starfall.com. I had the books and student workbook and I used that along with the online books and games. I had her read a book a week and by the end she was reading each one fluently and it was transfering to other things she read and best of all she loved reading time each day. BUT once we started into the vowel combo books it wasn't enough practice for her, she was getting confused and the rules were not transfering to other things she read.<br />
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We switched to <a href="http://www.amazon.com/Ordinary-Parents-Guide-Teaching-Reading/dp/0972860312/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1320792837&sr=1-1">The Ordinary Parent's Guide to Teaching Reading</a>. We skipped the beginning and got through digraphs, she was progressing, slowly, but she hated it. Reading was no longer fun and now a chore.<br />
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A little bit after I started using OPGTR, I got <a href="http://www.allaboutlearningpress.com/all-about-spelling">All About Spelling</a>. I really like this program. It includes phonemic awareness, it teaches ALL the sounds for every letter, alphabetical order and dd enjoyed it. I know others have used it to teach reading and could see how it would be very effective doing so. I was using it for spelling, but saw dd's reading ability increase too. But I wanted a reading program to complement my spelling program, I didn't want to use it as the reading program too.<br />
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This year we have started using <a href="http://www.excellenceinwriting.com/catalog/primary-k-2-pal-reading">PAL: Reading</a>. I LOVE this program. I warn you, it is teacher intensive, but it is SO effective. Supposedly you are able to take a total non reader to reader with this program except there is an underlying assumption that your child knows their letter sounds and there is no direct instruction on blending, but it is perfect for where my dd is now. It really focuses on vowel combos, it introduces them through poetry and there are LOTS of folder games. By the end of the program, I have confidence that dd will be able to read most children's books and early chapter books. She will also have been introduced to a lot of poetry, new vocabulary and some grammar. I highly reccomend this program if your child can't seem to get past reading short voewl words, it is great!<br />
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<br />RachelFloreshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02934458862244567917noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4171442309185900075.post-44597507619754698932011-10-02T19:28:00.000-07:002011-10-02T19:28:00.813-07:00KerchinaMy mom has been waiting to get Jovi an American Girl doll since she was born. We both felt that at 6 years old, Jovi could both appreciate and take care of the doll. For her birthday, my mom took her to the American Girl Doll store and let her pick out her doll. Jovi didn't want one of the historical dolls, but choose one of the dolls in the My American girl doll series. Jovi named her doll Kerchina (said Kercheena) and she looks a lot like Jovi, but with straight brown hair. After she chose the doll, My mom, Jovi and I went and had "tea" (aka hot chocolate) upstairs and the American Girl restaurant. They even sang to her and she got to blow out candles. <br />
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RachelFloreshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02934458862244567917noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4171442309185900075.post-68075604296710506212011-10-01T19:15:00.000-07:002011-10-01T19:17:02.764-07:00MonksAt the end of August, for history we were studying the movement of Christianity from Rome to England and the creation of the monestaries there. I made somewhat authentic Monk habits for Jovi and Corbin and brought them to co-op for the kids to try on. They really enjoyed them and it made for some great pictures. That same day everyone got to try writing with quill pens. Writing with quills and ink is NOT easy. I can understand why copying books took so long. It was a fun co-op day.<br />
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<a href="http://s50.photobucket.com/albums/f339/RachelElizabethFlores/?action=view&current=20110822_2567.jpg" target="_blank"><img alt="Photobucket" border="0" src="http://i50.photobucket.com/albums/f339/RachelElizabethFlores/20110822_2567.jpg" /></a>RachelFloreshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02934458862244567917noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4171442309185900075.post-65713083190877683892011-09-30T20:26:00.000-07:002011-09-30T20:26:50.721-07:00Flashback to 2009I'm not yet done with my summer updates, but I was uploading these to youtube and wanted to share a few videos.<br />
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<iframe allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="315" src="http://www.youtube.com/embed/atyZQueUJWI" width="420"></iframe>RachelFloreshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02934458862244567917noreply@blogger.com0