Author: sofijaburton

Fall is in the Air

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Friends,

The air is getting crisp, and I am so exited fall is here. It is my favorite season. Probably because I grew up next to a forest. Here are some pictures I wanted to share with you, paired with the perfect outfits:

Fall happens to be my favorite season for fashion, as well.

Hope this gets you in the mood. Pinterest is great for that. I started a whole board just for fall pictures. Oh by the way, the first and last pictures were taken behind our house by my neighbor Emily. Enchanting, isn’t it?

Have a great day,

Sofija

Sources: Top and bottom picture via Lonely Mountain Photography; second picture from the top: via Sunday Corssbow; 3rd pictures: via the.fashion.diary; 4th picture: via nemoi memo; second to last picture: via Indigo Crossing.

Fall is in the Air

friday grams

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Friends,

How was your week? Our week was kind of long. Still adjusting to this new (to us) online school we are doing. New things can be hard. Sometimes it is difficult to figure out if it’s good hard or bad hard. Tell me, have you encountered something hard lately? What did you do to make it easier? For me, it helps to take breaks, get out and have fun. Yesterday we were all overwhelmed with the school load. When it came time to get ready to go to the first home-school co-op (parents taking turns teaching classes) of the school year, no-one wanted to go. But we went, and it proved to be a welcome break, and a good time with old and new friends. It was refreshing.

Here are some pictures I took the last week:

My husband and I took our 4 year old shopping. It’s fun to just take one of the kids sometime. It is like a date.

I took the two youngest Antique shopping. That was quite a unique experience. You enter a world of long ago. The girls had fun sitting on kid’s rocking chairs, and playing with antique toys.

Have a wonderful, relaxing weekend.

See you here next week.

-Sofija

friday grams

Teaching German

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Friends,

Today I’m going to share with you how I have taught my kids to read German. Understanding and or speaking wasn’t good enough for me. I really want them to be able to read German and ideally write as well. The challenge for me was to find the right material. They are not native speakers, so they are missing some vocabulary and grammatical nuances that are assumed in German school textbooks. However they are beyond the level that  might be available here to kids that have no prior knowledge. So you have to improvise. Personally I always wait until my kids are solid in their English reading before I would teach them how to read in German. However bilingual schools show that it is possible to do both at the same time. Thankfully German is much easier phonetically than English so it doesn’t take that long to teach. Above I have a German reader that is used in German schools. They are easy to understand even for non native speakers. Once we work through that I have them read simple books like the Max und der Keks series to give them the opportunity to read on their own.

For the next level I use the second grade reader above left. I also use different grammar and writing helps.

Above are German readers. They are called Leseloewen or Lesemaus.

After the second grade level I have them read books like early readers. Once they are at a 4th grade level they might be able to read Pippi Longstocking, or similar books.

I bought most of these books in Germany, they have great sales around August. Another great resource is Alphabet Garden, an online store; they have quite a bit of text books and refer you to billingual websites. Amazon.de is also a great option.

My oldest just started high-school. He is pretty fluent and a decent reader. However his grammar and writing skills are lacking. Therefore I enrolled him in German. I want him to start from scratch with Grammar and relearn some of those things he has missed.

In my experience immersion is not enough. If you don’t have a strong grammatical foundation you will always be guessing as how to built your sentences. I was immersed in Croatian all my life. I was taught grammar in elementary once a week but it was assumed that I was a native speaker. I would have benefited relearning it in high-school as a foreign speaker to fill all those gaps I have.

This is just to show you what we have done. I’m sure there are better options out there. If you know of any do tell. I’d love to hear from you.

-Sofija

Teaching German

Bookcases

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Happy Memorial Day!

Are you enjoying this long weekend? Any big plans for today? We got to visit with dear friends yesterday, but today is all business. My kids are doing school today. We trying to get ahead so we can take time off in October for a family trip.

Organization is on my mind. We spend Saturday going through piles of toys and clothes and organizing them into rubber maids. Rubber maids have got to be the cheapest way to make a closet look organized. Thanks to my husband, who has some crazy organization skills, we transformed two rooms that have been overflowing with toys, junk, and random plastic things, into serene spaces. It has taken a weight off my shoulders to say the least.

However we are not done. I have several boxes with school books I would like to put into a bookcase. Here are some favorites I wanted to share with you. Lately I have been drawn to the lawyer bookcase look and library style bookcases. I paired expensive ones with cheaper ones in each row.

Top row: I like the glass doors on these, no more dusting. The left one is from IKEA and costs $135, the right on is from Crate and Barell $349.

Middle row: The left one is from World Market and costs around $600. The one on the right is from Sundance costs $1,895.

Bottom row: I saw the one on the left at Costco for under $200. The one on the right is from Pottery Barn and costs $1,199.

It would be so great to have all my school books so easily accessible.

I have to wrap it up, my 8 year old has been waiting to get on the computer to play his game.

See you back here soon,

Sofija

Bookcases

Olive Juice Kids

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Friends,

I’m really liking the fall collections I have seen for children and adults. There are some years it is very easy not to spend any money on clothes, but this year make me wish we had a two-income household.

I have mentioned my preference for colorful, mismatched clothes. However when I’m in the mood for matching and preppy I turn to Olive Juice Kids.

I like the ruffles, and collars. And the disheveled hair.  I think this collection is great for family portraits or Christmas cards, because it is timeless.

What do you think? Too preppy? They don’t have much for boys, and for some reason they have left out the baby collection for the fall. Maybe they will add that later.

It’s 8 clock, time to turn my attention to school. My 11 year old has already done her Latin and Literature, but my 14 year old is barely awake.

I’ll see you back here soon,

Sofija

Olive Juice Kids

First Day of School

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Kid’s out fits from left to right:

On Natasha: one-piece from H&M. On Lucille: Benetton top and skirt. On Ella: Top and skirt from H&M. On Shane: Top from Old Navy, shorts from Benetton. On Esther: top from Gap. On Finn: top from Polo.

Hi,

How is your week going? Ours is a whirlwind. My head is spinning. We started school last Monday. My oldest started high-school and my second oldest middle school with K-12, an online school. Not only is this school new to us, it is new here in the state as well. That translated into some confusion, technical difficulties (because it is mostly online), and frustration. But that is just how it is with new things. I see it as good practice for college. I expect the next week to be much better. So far I’m pleased with k-12. They seem to have a classical bent, which is what we have been doing. We are trying it for this year and re-evaluating for next year. I’m teaching the rest of the gang myself. Shane is starting 3rd grade, Ella 1st, and Lucille is demanding a rigorous pr-school curriculum involving a lot of coloring. In fact I have to start out my day with her; she won’t let me work with anyone else. Natasha, the toddler, chimes in with her coloring book, as well.

I have been asked before what I do with my younger ones when I school the older ones. Here are some things I have tried int the past or think about trying to keep the younger ones happy.

  • Buy educational toys, coloring books, even pre-school books for school hours only. I keep those toys in the school closet. That makes it special and helps them to know they get to do school also.
  • If you can tolerate messes, let them play bubbles in the sink, Play-doh, water colors, hand painting, etc.
  • Set a schedule and schedule some time with the older ones playing with the younger ones. For example my 14 year old may have an hour a week to play with my 1 year old.
  • A schedule is a really good idea. You can schedule times when your little ones play on their own with designated toys such as Legos or Playmobil. For more on schedules read: “Managers of Their Homes” by Teri Maxwell. She has tons of different kinds of schedules, even for people who DO NOT schedule.
  • I try to start off my day “schooling” my 4 year old, meaning I let her scribble in a pre-school book and I teach her letter sounds. This lets me have one on one time with her first. This way she is satisfied and can move on to other things.
  • Often I do lessons with the older ones on the couch while my youngest sits on my lap.

How about you? Do you have little ones? What have you found helpful? I’d love to hear your ideas.

Have a great day!

-Sofija

First Day of School

Fall Outfits for Kids

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Hi,

I’m eager to share a new to me children’s line from Belgium: Bellerose.

What intrigues me about this line is that the outfits are fun, mismatched, and slightly too small. In other words, that is exactly what I have in my kid’s closets. These outfits give me new ideas to work with what we already own. Take a look:

I like how they pair yellow with green or red. You can’t go wrong with toggle coats and Scandinavian sweaters. How about one of the boys wearing sweats? Some of my children have an aversion to jeans, so this makes total sense to me.

How about you, what inspires you for your wardrobe?

-Sofija

Fall Outfits for Kids

Old Town Albuquerque

sofijaburton, , 2 Comments

Hi there,

On Friday I had a chance to go to old town Albuquerque. We had an international student stay with us last week, so I wanted to show her the sights. Founded in 1706 it is quite charming. Spanish settlers organized the center in the traditional Spanish colonial way: with a central plaza anchored by a church. This is San Felipe de Neri church, built in 1793.

There are shops all around the plaza shaded by pergolas like this one.

What makes Old Town so fun are the little shops hidden in sideways like this one.

Here is the plaza in the center. On the weekends there will be bands playing life music and children dancing.

New Mexico is all about manana. Life is slower here.

Here you can see the blending of cultures in this area. Native Americans side by side with Spanish settlers and poeple of Mexican origin. This is reflected in the stores, museums, and performances in old town. When you get here on the right day you see a Native American dancer performing on the street.

Found this water well in one of the side passages.

Here is my 2 year old, Natasha.

The building still look very much like when they were built centuries ago.

This is me and Natasha cooling off with a smoothie. It was quite hot.

Hope you enjoyed it. Come visit us sometime.

Have a wonderful day,

Sofija

Old Town Albuquerque

Homeschooling Meets Design

sofijaburton, , 2 Comments

Hi there,

Here is a perfect blend of homeschooling and design. If you read the Pioneer Woman’s blog, this will be old news to you. Ree, a mom who home-schools, and lives on a ranch in Oklahoma, needed help with a room makeover for her two teenage daughters. Bob and Courtney Novogratz, a design couple from New York, came to the rescue. I would have never put them together but I love what they came up with.

Here are two pictures before: An attic room with orange carpet.

And after:

Wow, suspending beds. I Like the blend of rustic and color. I would have never picked striped carpet tile, but they work really well here.

I like the tassel blankets.

Look at this long desk, a homeschoolers dream. Lots of space for all their crafts, too.

Knitting and sowing made hip.

What do you think? I’m hoping if I blog long enough maybe I will get a Novogratz makeover someday….

Have a lovely day!

-Sofija

Homeschooling Meets Design

Jemez Mountains

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Hello,

how was your weekend? Ours was fabulous. We went on a family outing with the six kiddos in tow, and it was actually smooth and pleasant.  By that I mean nobody threw up, starved, had accidents, or got hurt. If you have little kids you know what I mean. Everybody had a great time, which is no small feat with 8 people. It was so fun, we might try it again. 🙂 We drove through the Jemez Mountains, northwest of Albuquerque. Take a look:

Love the color of the rocks.

Our first stop at soda creek. Everybody is acting like they haven’t eaten in days…

So pretty. Waiting for this cabin to be for sale.

The girls checking out soda creek, wondering if it safe to go in. They decided not to.

Next stop: Battle Ship Rock.

Here is my man.

Found a spot to go in. Lucille’s not quite sure…

Natasha sporting my sun glasses. The cuteness factor went up a couple notches.

Plotting a different route home involving four wheel driving. My 6 old commented: “This was the bumpiest short cut ever!”

On the way home.

What’s ahead for you this week? Is school starting or are you savoring one more week of summer? We will be gently easing into school, which will be disrupted by a German college student. Anna will be staying with us for three days until she can get into the dorms. We don’t know her yet, but she seemed quite nice in her e-mail.

Have a fantastic day,

Sofija

Jemez Mountains