The Kastenbauer Family

I was writing up a list of the educational shows I like to let the kids watch, and got to writing all of them that we watch, sooooo.... I decided I would just post them all over here in a separate list. Easier to reference that way! 


Shows I like and that I like to let the kids watch:

Netflix
-Mouk
-Scout & Friends/Leapfrog (alphabet and numbers)
-Magic School Bus
-Stella and Sam
-SuperWhy!
-My Side of the Mountain
-The Jungle Book
-The Boxcar Children
-DinoTrux, (I don't care for this, but it's decent and the kids love it)
-Chuggington, The Adventures of Chuck & Friends, Mickey Mouse, Winnie-the-Pooh movies, Kung Fu Panda, Tinkerbell movies, Moanaand Finding Dory (decent and funny, entertainment)

Amazon
-Lisa Loeb Nursery Rhyme Parade
-We're Going on a Bear Hunt
-Snowy Day
-If you give a mouse a cookie
-If you give a mouse a christmas cookie
-Wild Kratts
-Mr. Roger's Neighborhood
-Daniel Tiger
-Shaun the Sheep
-Thomas the Train

I would like to share with you our plans for our homeschool this year. Codeman is in First grade, while Jesse is an official Pre-K dude. Anna is a wannabee brother and underfoot helper and Titus. He's three months old. Whooofta. I'd just like to repeat that again. Whooooooooofta.

I have read many books, blogs, and journals on the topic of education. Home education, and to be even more specific, sources regarding Classical Education and Charlotte Mason. I truly enjoy these topics and the sources. I am intrigued, and so I continue reading and have now found myself following and chatting with several homeschool moms online in addition to my local and Colorado friends who homeschool. Tim and I were both homeschooled, although my window of homeschooling was only 4 years, I glean much from my mom and Tim's mom. As some podcasts I've listened to refer to us, we are second-generation homeschoolers :) Haha! Well, it helps give me perspective on quality literature and publisher…

First Day of School! Cody in first grade and Jesse in preschool.

Today we begin the first day of First Grade! This is special because it's our first year of more intensive study. I have higher expectations, as I should, for each year we move up through. But, in the same breath as exciting, this is also a new challenge. I have to be on my game a little more this year, having to actually plan out farther if I'm going to function the way I want for me and the kids in our homeschool and the littler tagallngs. There has to be thought out into what I give the little ones to play with while I work with Cody. There needs to be enough to keep him going a minute while I address trouble. There needs to be enough direction for Jesse and attention to him to learn the basics of ABCs and 123s. I need to plan out what is realistic and what is impractical. Because I tend to be very practical in most areas, I HOPE I am that way with school lessons and curriculum too! Also- hey! I'm tackling…

This is a small list of recent quotes I want to remember. Well, I wish I didn't have to, but I want to now that they've been said.




"No, you can't sleep with the rolling pin."


"You don't have to pull your pants down to your ankles to pee. And, turn towards the woods instead of the road."


"Stop! You're not supposed to hang in your window. The screen won't hold you."


"Please don't pee where we walk."


"You can use the dental floss for a Lego zipline, but you can't swing on it! You're too heavy."


"Please! Do NOT pee off the deck through the rails. It's getting on the dog."


"When it starts to rain, don't crawl over your sister to shelter her. It's weird."


"Just pee into the toilet. Not to the wall (not in the trash, not on the seat, not on the floor, not at the bath...)"






So many of them are about peeing. Hmm.... Is this just my boys? I guess that makes me officially a…

The other day in reading during my quiet time, I was revisiting 2 Corinthians. I was thinking, Tim and I have spent many an hour thinking a lot, about a lot. There are so many ugly and awful things going on across the globe, and across our front door. Our mission field is in Northern MN with Native Americans. In this ministry, we have stumbled through some thick, difficult situations. I am certain you can all attest to difficult times being just that: difficult. The Lord doesn't bring us into circumstances just to drag us along, seeing us become battered and bruised, but it IS His priority to bring glory to His name. We are His chosen ones, and our privilege is to sing Hallelujah to His name!

Anyway, I was thinking that we have faced difficulties. One thing that I wanted to share with you today is about my health.

In 2014, I was diagnosed with an auto-immune disorder called Alopecia. This was saddening and drove me and Tim crazy for three years. One day, I found a bald spot on my …