Happy 11th Birthday, Jack

Today is a very special day… My baby boy, Jack, is another year older! I don’t know where the time has gone, but I am so thankful to call this boy my son. It is hard to believe it is your 11th birthday already.

Jack through the years…

[See image gallery at homeworkandhorseplay.com]

Happy 11th Birthday, Jack!

My wish to you is that you have many more wonderful years in this life. From day one you have kept me on my toes, but I wouldn’t have it any other way. I have grown so much as a person since you were born. I am so proud to be your mama, and I can’t wait to see what the future holds for you. 

I know that sometimes things are really difficult for you, but one day these challenges will be in the past. As I always say, practice makes perfect. Today you are one step closer to being the amazing man I know you will be. Always hold your head high because you are enough! I wouldn’t change one single thing about you.

I love you my sweet Jacky Boy!

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{Guest Post} Why I Read Books That Make My Children Cry

I am an emotional person, and I am not afraid to show it! I am always crying about something, and I know that some people may consider that a sign of weakness. However, I truly believe that sometimes the things people may see as a weakness are what really make us strong. It is important to me for my children to feel comfortable showing their own emotions, and reading emotional books is a great way to let their emotional health thrive. Check out my {Guest Post} Why I Read Books That Make My Children Cry to find out the other reasons why I read emotional books to my children regularly.

Sneak peak…

I’m a homeschool mom of a child living with autism spectrum disorder (ASD). I take every chance I can to share my love of books and reading with my children. Just like real life, books can be full of sorrow, heartbreak, and devastating tragedy. Some parents may shy away from reading books that make their children cry, but that is not the case for me.

So why do I read books that make my children cry?
1. Social Awareness and Understanding
2. Family Connection
3. Preparedness

You can read the rest of my thoughts over on the BookShark Blog.

Thank you for reading my {Guest Post} Why I Read Books That Make My Children Cry…

Do you have a favorite emotional book for read aloud time? I am always looking for great books to share with my children, so please comment below with your recommendations.

Did you miss my past guest posts?

How to Manage Multiple BookShark Programs in a Single School Year

How Homeschooling Helps Me Manage My Bipolar Disorder

4 Reasons BookShark is Perfect for My ASD Child

3 Reasons I Treat My Homeschooled Teen as an Adult

 

 

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Life Lately ~ Spring 2018

Can you believe it is May already? Life has been a whirlwind for us this year, so I figured it was time to share a Life Lately ~ Spring 2018 update from all of us here at Homework and Horseplay.

Home Life

These last few weeks have been full of exciting projects for us. Last summer our hot tub broke, but it wasn’t in the budget to replace it right away. We finally saved up and purchased our new tub… What we thought would be a simple project turned into something much more. It took an entire day just to demo the old hot tub.
Then instead of just carrying it across the deck they had to use a crane to lift it up and over the garage because our fence was still frozen in the ground.
It was all worth it though because now we get to enjoy our beautiful new tub! My aching joints have been loving our lazy evenings outside. 
In a few days we start our garage remodel, so we can put our home gym back out there. Currently it doesn’t have a heat source, which is a must here in Michigan if you want to use it year round. We have a contractor coming to put the proper vents in the roof, insulate, and add a ceiling instead of the open rafters we currently have.  (I will share before and after photos after we get everything completed.) 

We are also very slowly working on spring cleaning. I purged a ton of items we were no longer using. Now that the snow is completely gone we are also working on cleaning up the yard. I can’t say I am thrilled about that. Our yard is a hot mess, and I don’t want to do any of the hard work required to get it looking decent.

My other big project is painting a few rooms…. One down, three to go! Thank goodness we got that hot tub in. I think I will be needing to soak after all that manual labor (ha).

Homeschool Life

We are finally reaching the end of our 2017-2018 homeschool year… Which isn’t really the end for us since we follow a year round school schedule. With the nicer weather finally making an appearance, I am looking forward to having a more relaxed schedule again. 

Kenten has had a couple of techy weeks. He competed in a two robotics competitions, and my husband has been teaching him a lot of networking skills. 
I started purchasing a few materials for next year already. Last year while looking through the Timberdoodle catalog both Kenten and Julia asked for the Chem C3000 kit. Since we were not covering Chemistry last year I didn’t purchase it, but recently there was a closeout sale and it was too good of a deal to pass up. I believe I snagged the last one from Timberdoodle, but you can still purchase it on Amazon.
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I still have a lot of decisions to make, but it feels good to have a few things purchased. As of right now I am planning to have Julia and Jack both move on to the next levels of BookShark for the 2018-2019 school year. Unfortunately, Kenten is using their highest level this year so I am working on putting together a mix of curricula for him. Once we finish up the last few weeks of current materials I will share an end of year update/review.

Book Life

I’m not going to lie… I am slacking in the reading department this year. I have read 28 out of the 55 books I pledged to read this year, but most of them have been for school not my own personal reading. However, I did snag some awesome books at the library book sale a few weeks ago. 
A lot of these are just for fun, but I am working on expanding my classic book collection for Kenten’s 10th grade year. I am going to have a hard time narrowing down which ones he will read this year. There are just so many great options.

So that’s my Life Lately ~ Spring 2018 update…

I hope 2018 has been a great year for all of you so far. Follow me on Instagram to make sure you don’t miss out on all the happenings here at H&H. 

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