THE BOTANICAL GARDEN ROCKS!!!!!!!

Last Friday we went to the Botanical Garden with my friend D who also homeschool her daughter.We had such a great time ,First we went to the family garden,the family garden offer so many activities after 1:30 pm ,you guys should really check them out. first activity was the worm station, Eva love this! i mean she really really love this that's all she did the whole time we were there..LOL . second activity was harvest station, the girls planted lettuces and learn to identify weeds. They even got to take home carrots,beans and cucumbers. They also learn about Native American, Lenape.The girls made a husk doll and saw a wigwam .

After that we went to the children garden and the learning center ,and guess what ,they did more educational activities. they did a mini book about their favorite fruits ,and each of them got a strawberry plant to take home.

Oh did I mentioned that the weather was wonderful!!

Happy Moments

I am soooo Happy! On July,I applied for a scholarship for Tania to continue her gymnastic training . Last week I received a letter from Chelsea Pier, congratulating me about the scholarship that they approved for Tania . I couldn't believe it, I was jumping up &down , I was filled with joy. I Thanks God for this opportunity ,without the scholarship Tania wouldn't be able to continue her journey.It is hard to tell a kid that they no longer will continue what they love because of Money.

This morning , I pulled kenia tooth out , it was wiggling for over a month. Kenia was really brave about the pulling,but afterward she told me she never want another loose tooth.....LOL

K posing for daddy.

Carmen is really proud about her little buddy. Since she proof to Daddy and mommy that she could take care of this little fellow. We have decided to buy her a plant.

summer

Our summer is going great, the girls are enjoying every second of the day. On Mondays,Wed and Frid they have swimming and Tennis , on Tues & Thurs they have track &field and soccer all this programs are provided free in the summer through the city parks foundation . We are not doing much academics ,I figure once this programs are over we could hit the books hard. I'm also babysitting my 10 year old brother for the summer so our days are busy and hectic. Tomorrow I will mail the paperwork to the central office of homeschooling, This year I have to file for Kenia since she's already six. Overall we are having a wonderful summer .
we found this cutie pie in the park dirty,hungry and crying for help she could only be 2 or 3 months old,we took her home and gave her a bath and fed her. The girls pleaded with daddy for the cat to stay, of course daddy caved in. The girls felt like little heroes,now she's part of our growing family.

when we are not outside the girls spent their time putting this puzzles together . This spider was done by my oldest Carmen and the dinosaur was done by Tania

My two year old is driving me crazy!!!!!!!!!

Eva is driving me insane! she's acting so horrible. I know she's in her terrible twos, but c'mon does it have to be this bad. Why does she feel the need to take out my laptop keys ......why??? why does she's constantly touch everything that I said NOT TO TOUCH. she's scratching our DVD collection, she goes to the kitchen open the refrigerator and take all the food out , how is that fun? she spills water,milk, juice every chance she gets. She wake up in the night go to my room climb to my bed and push me out of my side of the bed to make space for her ...........arrr why why why??? she constantly fighting with her sister (sarai) and bothering the dog. She's so horrible that even my dog hide from her........LOL . She make me want to pull all my hair out. She's no angel that's for sure ,but I still love my little menace especially when she's sleeping LOL.

update

Kenia first ballet performance was Yesterday at Barnes and Noble. It was hectic ,We needed to be at the studio at 11:00 am ,even though the show was for 2:00pm. I was one of the moms that volunteer to help so I was very busy getting Kenia and the other girls ready and cleaning up the studio afterwards. I think this was good experience for Kenia and I.

Tania - still doing gymnastic , she learned how to the back handspring , it was a very excited moment for her.

Carmen- still playing tennis . Lately she have been very interested in the Chinese culture and now want to learn Chinese-mandarin. She is using Rosetta Stone and have learn some words.

Sarai- is learning how to read and add.

Eva- is learning new words each day ,songs,numbers,colors.

My biggest news is that I'm pregnant again, even though this will be my six child , I feel very happy and excited.

Mommy and me

Having five kids is not easy , not for the parents neither for the kids, there's is allways one that will feel left out, in this household is my 3 year old S , she is not the oldest, she's not the youngest. Is hard to keep up with all of them , but is my job to raise happy and healthy girls ,each of them need to feel important and love. So I decided that ones a week I'll take S to swim ,just us, this is her special time with mommy. S had a great time in the swimming pool ,she smile, she laugh , she really got a great time and so did I.

Loving the warm weather

What a beautiful day!! Thank you Jesus!! The girls and I really had a great time yesterday and today ,it finally stop raining and the sun was keeping the day warm . Yesterday we went to the running track the girls ran and T practise her forward walkover ,she was so happy to finally get it, I reminder her that hard work paid off, after the track we went to c tennis practise . Today was another amazing day ,I woke up at 4:00 am , I spent some alone time ,then I cooked breakfast . The girls woke up around 7:oo am, after breakfast the girls did all their school work T did teaching textbook , C did some 2 digits and 3 digits multiplication drills , they both read their history book,grammar,spelling and writing, K did some addition drills and read It not easy being a bunny , S and E play some educational computer games (starfall.com) . After all our work was done we ate lunch and got ready to go outside. We wanted to go to the running track again, but instead we just when to the park the girls have some fun,but the park was to crowded and they decided to try a different Park so we did. At the second park they had a better time it wasn't crowded and they got to play with the sand and C got to practise some tennis.

All about T

T is taking gymnastic every sunday and Mondays, she's doing really good. Last week she was invited to show the advanced girls her flexibility, we were all proud of her and she really enjoyed the showing off moment. Her coaches all agreed that she's a fast learner and not a beginner. If is God will next year ,I will register her in chelsea pier.
T is 8 years old today!!!!

All about C

C is doing great in tennis! she have tennis classes on Tuesdays,Thursdays and Saturday. I loves the coaches they are great with the kids and know how to make it fun,but is not all about fun they take tennis very serious. C feels like she's ready to play with the big kids so Today I'll talk to the coaches about that. Even though she's doing great in tennis she's struggling with math, with 3 digits multiplications. I'll keep giving her practise with 3 digits multiplications until it becomes her strength.

Today , we went to visit our favorite person in the whole world, my hubby auntie L,she's like a mom to us, she's is the nicest person you would ever meet. She cooked a delicious,juicy,turkey and arroz con gandules with tostones, yum. The girls really enjoyed visiting her ,C was petting and playing with auntie L cokatoo.

Madness

The NYC parks offers many free programs,like ballet, tap ,boxing,tennis,soccer, ,swimming and many more. Registration for the free swimming program was today, I woke up at 5:30am, got dressed, and waited for 7:00am since registration was schedule at 9:00am. T and I walked in the cold cold weather until finally we arrived . The Recreation center were full of people waiting to register their kids, some individuals have even Camp out all night, I asked the person in charge how many people were before me, he kindly replied "114" LOL .So I left , I figured that my chances of getting the girls sign up was slim since this is a first come,first serve program. After that, I took T to her first gymnastic class. It was incredible, I was so happy to see her smile . After class , we came home ,I picked up C and drop T off and onces again I left home, I took C to her first tennis class,so I though, Once I got there I found out that tennis start next week ..........sigh O well, I least c met her coach.

I am so exhausted!!!!!

HULA HOOP

Today I gave C&T their earnings for the week, each girl got $ 9.50 ,a quarter for each book they read and quarter for each math lesson that they score 90% and up. They asked me to take them to target because they wanted to purchase a Hula Hoop that lights up, so I did.

I was surprise to find out that the Hula Hoop that they wanted was $8 dollars,even though I wouldn't purchased such a pricey Hula it wasnt up to me,it was their money.
Of course, they purchased the Hula that they wanted so much.

T.V versus Books

A while ago I heard someone calling the T.V " the idiot Box" , at that time I though it was strange,but afterwards I understood why they were calling it the idiot Box.
I have try many times to take the T.V out of the house,but hubby love his big screen T.V and the girls took after their father , they enjoyed spending time sitting on the couch with daddy and watching movie after movie. I personally hate it , it's a waste of time, time they could be reading or being creative. Today I noticed how the girls don't enjoyed reading books like they used to,and how the littles ones are not so fond of books . That is not good, even though k is improving in her reading , she should have been reading independently already,but still struggles sounding out words, that is because she prefer to watch t.v rather than reading her books. I remember when C &T were her age they were already reading at a fast paced , I remember how T used to prefer reading her Henry and Mudge books than watching the Idiot Box. I know every child is different ,but I feel this is not about that , It's my fault, I guess , for not having a balance between T.V and other form of entertainment.
Starting on Monday , I will put an end to the idiot box ( I least when my hubby is at work....LOL)
I will not allowed the girls to watch t.v Monday-Friday . It will be hard ,since T.V could entertain the girls while I cook or take a break,(shame on me)but is a must . I will try to visit the library more often and join the homeschool book club again (I stop going 2 months ago)I want to bring the love for books again in this house.

"Television wastes time, promotes passive, vicarious brain development rather than active thought, and is a source of pernicious social contamination. " by art robinson

Money don't grow on trees

I want my girls to learn that working hard has it's reward, I don't want them to think that the world is an easy place where they going to get everything handed out , I want them to be responsible and independent, I want them to appreciate their father hard work, overall I want them to be good daughters to the Lord by abiding in his words and his words only,we believe deeply in God and try are best to follow and understand his words(the bible). To accomplish these goals my hubby and I don't give them an allowance, the way they get money from us is by them reading books, we use to print out a 100 squares sheet and tape it to the wall, for every book they read, and I will put a star in each square, when the sheet were full of stars I will get them what they wanted , their first reward was a digital camera . Now we do things a little different we give them a quarter for every book they read, which teach them to save up (money management) it really works , one time when I was in the store with them I over heard C & T talking about how much they wanted a purse ,C told T that if she liked it to buy it, because T had enough money, but T replied by saying that if she wait longer she will save up more money which means that she will have enough to buy the purse and more stuff, that buying the purse now will reduce her savings. Sometimes they try to be sneaky and have me buy their wants for they could save their money.....LOL. This week I print out a book list sheet for they could record each book they read through the week ,I tape the sheet to the refrigerator, at the end of the week I will give them a quarter for each book they read and a dollar for each book they read that I recommended.


To accomplish the goal of been responsible and independent I give them chores , K clean dishes after breakfast, T clean dishes after lunch , C clean dishes after dinner. they are responsible for keeping their bedroom and the playroom clean. I started teaching them how to cook , They love this part of been independent, I have taught them how to make pancakes,eggs,bacon, rice, chicken Marsala, pizza, beans, and how to chop onions.

To accomplish the goal of them been good Christians my hubby and I read the bible to them, teach them to pray, teach them right from wrong, teach them by us been an example.

Things don't always goes smoothly as it sounds, the girls don't always follow this outline, dad and mom many times get soft and let them get away with things, especially daddy, but we are trying and every time we fall down the wagon we get back up, we try ours best not to spoil them ,but sometimes we do.Yesterday my hubby and I were talking to the girls about how adults also get punish ,adults don't get time out ,but every time we break the law we get punish , our punish is in the form of paying fees or jail time. This discussion gave my hubby an idea of how they should get fee-tickets when they break the rules, they laugh , I reminded them of the fee ticket this morning and C told me she prefer time out... LOL .

This week:

C & T for history they will continue reading story of the world (vol 1)by Susan Wise Bauer

Chapter 11 Ancient Africa

Chapter 12 The middle kingdom of Egypt

Chapter 13 The new kingdom of Egypt

Chapter 14 The Israelites leaves Egypt

Chapter 15 The Phoenicians

For spelling we use spelling power, they get a daily test and only study the words they misspell

For Grammar they will keep working with helping Verbs,capitalization, initials,titles of respect, addresses,contractions,adjectives, introducing interjections.

For math we use Teaching Textbook, they will be working on decimals and carrying,decimals and regrouping,money word problems,thousandths and decimals.

For writing -they will write a summary for each chapter they read in history.

The books I recommend them to read was Great Expectations by Charles Dickens adapted by Monica Kulling and Les Miserables by Victor Hugo adapted by Monica Kulling.

K will continue working on her reading lesson , she's getting better at reading.

S will also continue working on her reading lessons.

E will continue getting potty trained ........oh I almost forgot to mention that E finally use the toilet , we all clap and show her how happy we are for her.

Recap

Wednesday, c had a dentist appointment ,so at 9:40 am we were out of the door and walking toward the bus stop, After a 15 min bus ride we arrived at the Dentist office , we waited about one hour, and finally we were called. Inside the dentist room they clean her teeth and change her braces, this month she chose blue , I was glad that she picked blue cause I was tired of the yellow braces.

Thursday, we started our school work at 8:00am

C did 2 hours of Math, 1 hour of reading ,1 hour of writing, 30 min on spelling and grammar.

T did 1 hour of math, 1/2 an hour of reading, 1 hour of writing, 30 min on spelling and grammar

k did 1 hour on her math facts and reading lessons.

S about 40min in her reading lesson and math.

Friday, I did laundry and gave the girls the day off. I tooked the girls to the neighborhood park in which the girls played withs all their might.

we all thought she looks adorable with that hat



C sketchbook

C & T they are inseparable

Work and play

Yesterday , My hubby bought me EA sport active , this game is awesome.
The girls enjoyed playing the sport section of the game. They dance, they played tennis, baseball , skating , baskeball, volleyball. We had a great day , C&T did their math lessons,C needed help with decimal and fractions ,but after a short explanation she understood and did the rest of her lesson by herself. T did paper mask and hats in her freetime. I started potty training E , she will piss everywhere except the toilet ....sigh. O well , soon she would get it.

T made bunny ears for

S.

As Happy as a child could be

The girls hate going to the mall,they exclaimed that going to stores is boring,they complained about the crowd, they impatiently bother me to finish shoping fast, but the store that makes everything negative about going to the mall, better for them is best buy . The only reason that they love this store is because of the opportunity to touch all type of musical instrument. Their faces lights up like New York City in the night, their smile is as big as a clown, their eyes open as wide as their eyelids permit them to.

Yeah,they totally feel as happy as a child could be.