File Folder Games

I bought two Carson-Dellosa Kindergarten File Folder Game books for $10 from a Homeschool Book Sale (retails for $30 each). They each have over 40 games in them that can be made.

I laminated everything. I pasted a library pocket on the fronts of the folders with the top part folded down. After I laminated the folder, I carefully cut the flap back open and added Velcro, so the pieces wouldn't fall out. I used Velcro dots for placing all the pieces where they go on the folders.

Samara already knows her upper/lower case letters and the order of the alphabet, but I thought these would be good for review. Samara said the first one was really boring, lol. She had a little more fun with the second one. I guess I'll have to put together some more challenging games and save these for Alaysia!

Apple-Licious Alphabet - Matching upper and lower case letters



Bunny Business - Find the missing letter for each bunny

Yard Sale Finds!

I found this desk at a yard sale for $35! Here are pictures of Samara cleaning her new desk. She was so excited that she wanted to clean it up right away.


I found this chair for $0.50!!! The seat was already off and the padding and cover were yucky, so I took that off and threw it away. I bought new foam for the seat and reupholstered it. I found some tan vinyl in the remnants section for 50% off and covered it with that first, so it would repel any spills from soaking into the foam. I covered the vinyl with fabric Samara picked out from the discount fabric section. Total price: $13.50 for a custom chair. :)

Before


After

What's in a Blog: The Purpose and Passion Behind Lori's Little Loves

I have always known I was called to stay home with my children and have known for most of my life that I wanted to home school them as well. It is such a blessing to have a husband who is passionate about both and the Lord has recently made it all possible! Since February, I have been consumed with preparing to officially begin our homeschool this fall. I have joined several yahoo groups, read through many blogs, book marked at least a hundred websites, attended a convention, chosen curriculum, and have started meeting other homeschool mom's in my community.
The benefits to homeschooling are endless. Traditional schooling whether it be private school or government school, shelters children and prevents them from experiencing real life, until sometime after graduation. One of the most wonderful and exciting things about homeschooling are all the opportunities that will be available to our children. They will always and continually be exposed to real life. They will never be restricted to spending their days with one age group, in one room, with one teacher. Instead they will be immersed in real life filled with many cultures and adventures, surrounded by people old and young. Instead of reading about weather patterns, water cycles, and plant growth in a text book, we will go outside and experience it and interact with it.
Every part of our life will be a part of the education process and it is from that philosophy that this blog is birthed. There will be posts and pictures of the exciting new unit we are working on, the cookies we made together, neat things the girls are doing, trips we take, and so on. It is here that I will record the journey of our life.

What's in a Name: The Story Behind Lori's Little Loves

Many years ago, when I was something like 11 or 12, I started making little animals with Sculpey clay. I was pretty good at it. (I think my mom still has the first one I made; if so, I'll post a picture). My mom had a dream that I was a grown woman running my own little shop filled with all my little Sculpey creations. The sign outside my shop read, "Lori's Little Loves." Though, I quickly moved on to something else, "Lori's Little Loves" stuck with me. A few years ago, I used it as my website and ebay name to sell crochet dresses that I made for miniterature dolls.
As I was trying to think of a name for my blog, "Lori's Little Loves" once again came to mind. Though I am not currently making any short of craft, there is something else that I have made (with some help of course) - my three beautiful little girls. They are 5 years old, 20 months old, and 2 months old. Samara, Alaysia, and Liberty are Lori's Little Loves.