This Week

I often get asked if we take school breaks when the Public School takes theirs. Because our children have alot of friends in the PS, I do give them a break. We do not do "nothing" for a whole week however.
I picked up 5 educational movies from the library that goes with what they are learning.
I still do read alouds- Currently finishing up The Slave Dancer. I also found a website that has lessons to go with each chapter, so I will give them one lesson a day and read one chapter a day.
I will find ways to incorporate living math without them even realizing it, such as recipes and asking Ty to build me a shelf. Life is Learning and just because we are not doing "book" work this week, there are learning opportunities in every day life, if you know where to look.
I will not let them vedge in front of the TV. Educational shows or not. Play a game, go for a walk (when it is nice) Do arts and Crafts. SOMETHING other than TV.

We went to see the Reptile Show yesterday at Beaver Lake , the reptiles were huge! We went on a nature hike afterwards, albeit a bit cold, it was enjoyable. I am thinking of taking the kids ice skating Thursday. However, as homeschoolers we are spoiled because usually during school hours we pretty much have the place(s) to ourselves, with schools on vacation I am anticipating a mad house. :)

Ty spent the night at Church for the Lock-In and they went bowling, sledding, ice skating and I am not sure what else. Matt is going to go pick him up now.
That's all I have for today. I am going to post a list of things to do other than watch TV later. I know how easy it is to just let them watch TV all day, especially when you yourself have alot to do. However, are they really getting anything good from it? Even if it is educational after awhile you Will see their eyes glaze over and you know they are in TV lala land. Anyway this is my thoughts on it. I know families that chooses not to own a TV for just these reasons. We will occasionally have a TV turn off week. However, I do like a few shows and there are good programs for the kids available, so moderation is my motto. :)

Pictures of Bre and Daddy as Promised ;)

Here are the pictures of MAtt and Bre all ready for the dance. Like I anticipated, Matt didn't take pictures there. I knew he wouldn't he doesn't like lugging the camera around. Oh well, at least I have these. :)
Bre came home with all kinds of goodies like candy and balloons. She spent about an hour telling me about Wacky Chad (magician/trickster) and all the other events that took place. When she was all done telling me about she just had to add " Now, this does NOT mean that I am a Girly Girl!" I laughed so hard because I was totally anticpating those exact words and I wouldn't have it any other way.

Father Daughter Dance

Right now my "baby" is at a Valentine Father Daughter Dance. The proceeds go to the Children's Hospital. I took tons of pictures before they left and forced Matt to take the camera with them. I hope he takes pictures. :)
I just have to tell you the anticipation Bre had for the entire week that Daddy asked her to go to the dance. First of all, anyone that knows Bre knows-she doesn't wear dresses. I used to put the cutest little dresses on her when she was a toddler. However, when she found her voice she put a stop to that! lol. Now that didn't stop me from constantly buying them in hopes that she would suddenly have a change of heart and wear them. She only wears dress pants or skirts to church.

Here's the funny thing, when Matt told me his plan to ask Bre to the dance (which by the way includes a crosiage) I was thinking of how I was going to break it to him that there is no way Bre would want to go. One she is a mama's girl (doesn't like to go anywhere without me) and two, she don't do dresses.(yes I know that is not proper grammar)
Here is the scene: before I had a good excuse for her so his heart wouldn't be broken, he asks her if she would like to be his date for the Father Daughter Valentine Dance. Me: holding my breath and squinting my eyes hears "Really Daddy? I would love to!!" WHAT? I open my eyes to see if she really meant that. She did. The next two hours consisted of her tyring n EVERY single dress that has been hanging In back of her closet until she found the perfect one!! It was such a sweet moment for me. A glorious glorious moment. She is not an all together tom boy but she isn't a girly girl either. I have been OK with that-really. But, I must say it was a sweet moment. Then here comes the kicker-She asks me to CURL her hair and do her nails!! She also said she would like some pearls to go with the dress.We went shopping! FUN! We bought a pretty petite black dress purse to go with her shoes (and to hold her inhaler.) We found a very pretty set of pearl necklace and bracelet at a Thrifty shopper and to top it off we bought nail polish in the exact shade as her dress.
At exactly 5pm she said it was time to do her hair-Beautiful ringlets that we tied into side ponytails with matching valentine ribbon and a pearl clip. She wouldn't put on her dress until after dinner for fear of spilling taco on it. Oh I almost forgot, she also bought daddy a huge chocolate bar that say "Be my Valentine." How SWEET!

I will put pictures of them once Matt gets back with the camera. Probably won't get to it until tomorrow actually. I am sure I will be up late hearing all the wonderful little details of a magical time between a little girl and her daddy.

PENDRAGON-Christian Movie made by two homeschool families~!

Today is the 100th Day of School!!

Woo-Hoo! We celebrated our 100th day of school this year today!! We ordered pizza and I bought 100 small chocolates. I also bought soda- Which I NEVER do! We did not do any school other than reading The Slave Dancer. We also watched Get Smart and just had FUN! I want to coordinate with other moms next year to have a huge party somewhere FUN. It is important to have fun days once in awhile and what better day than the 100th day of school? The kids have been doing great with their schooling. I am so proud how far they have come, these past four years. :) We did have a few "bad" days last week. I think they were getting cabin fever and they just kept antagonizing each other. It was driving me CRAZY. My friend Becky invited Ty to go tubing with her family and he came home in such good spirits that I KNEW that this was in fact the problem.
We took the kids sledding Sunday because it was so nice out and we ALL feel better. I am going to make sure we get enough outside time. I constantly ask myself WHY I live in NY because I hate winters! FAMILY is why we stay and FAMILY is why we will always stay. :)

Some VERY FUN Projects we have been doing...recipes included

Here are just a few things we have been doing...
1.) We made homemade chalk-Yes it works JUST like store bought. I will upload pictures once I get around to it. :)

Here is the recipe:

Materials needed:

1 cup plaster of Paris 1 cup water Powdered tempera paint Mold for chalk (small paper cups, ice cube trays, tissue rolls, etc.)Mixing bowl and spoon ( I used a plastic edd carton! they look like the chalks you can buy around Easter time)

What to do:
Step One: In a large bowl, mix the water and plaster of Paris together.
Step Two: Add the powdered tempera paint to the mixture.
Step Three: Once the paint has been mixed in well, set it aside for a few minutes.
Step Four: Pour the mixture into the mold and let it dry. This can take anywhere from several hours to a day (or maybe longer), depending on the size of the mold. Remember: The bigger the mold, the longer it will take to dry.
Step Five: Once the mold is dry, remove the chalk. If the chalk is still moist, let it air dry for another 24 hours.
Now your kids can have a blast drawing with the chalk they created. Anything they draw will be washed away by the rain, so don't worry if they accidentally get some on the side of your house!



MAGIC OOZE: This was a very very cool science project. Even Matt was stumped and played with the stuff. hehe.

Here is what you do:

we put our cup of water in the bowl and we added cornstarch until we couldn't stir it anymore. Now we have our ooze. Aviva poke the ooze with your finger really fast. Tell me how it feels? Hard. Hard. Now I want you to poke it really slow you can put your hand in there. How does it feel now? Ooze. You can play with it now pull it out and you can take a spoon full of it. Put some more in your other hand. Move it from hand to hand. Issac Newton a scientist from the 1700 hundreds describe the properties of ideal fluids. Scientist has found that not all fluids behave like Newton's ideal fluids. Scientist named this fluids non newton fluids. Our ooze behaves a little like a liquid and a little like a solid it is a non newton fluid. When you are finish enjoying your ooze make sure you throw it away in a plastic bag in the garbage. Do not pour it down the drain it will clog your pipes.



Bird House: Food is scarse in the winter here in the north for the birds. This also goes great if you are participating in the Back Yard Bird Count from February 13-16th!

Here is how we made ours:

To make a Milk Carton Bird Feeder, you will need:
milk or juice carton
craft knife or scissors
wax pencil or crayon
ruler or straight edge
two small lengths of double-sided tape
two bamboo skewers or straight, small diameter twigs to use as perchs
bird seed
hole punch
twine to make a hanger
Milk Carton Bird FeederInstructions:

1. Use the wax pencil and ruler to draw the shape of the opening on the front of the milk carton, as shown in the diagram at right. The opening looks like the outline of a house with a peaked roof. You should allow about two inches at the bottom of the carton to hold a good amount of seeds.

2. Use the craft knife to cut out the opening. Younger children will need an adult to help with this part.

3. Using the top of the peak as a center point, fold the piece of milk carton that you just removed in half along its length. Make a half inch cut from the point of the peak down the center fold. Fold up a half inch flap on either side of this cut, as shown in the diagram at right.

4. Attach a length of double-sided tape to each flap.

5. Insert this roof piece into the top of the opening and use your fingers to press the flaps against the inside of the milk carton until the double-sided tape holds securely.

6. Poke a bamboo skewer or thin straight twig through the wall of the milk carton, just below the left side of the opening. Repeat on the right side. Poke skewers all the way through and out the back wall of the carton. This keeps the perches straight and secure.

7. Use a hole punch or a skewer to punch two holes through the top line of the carton.

8. Thread twine through the two holes to make a hanger.

9. Fill the bottom of the feeder with nyger seed or a small bird seed mixture. Hang your milk carton bird feeder from a tree branch that you can reach easily when you need to add more bird seed.Suggestions:If you plan to do a lot of bird watching, hang the feeder in a spot that you can see clearly from a window. If the bird feeder is some distance away, use binoculars or a spy glass to see the birds up close.Buy a good bird identification book and keep a record of all the species that turn up at your backyard feeding station. Record the date that you saw each bird, whether it was a male or female, or a pair of a birds. You may also want to add other observations about their size, appearance, special markings and behaviour. Research the birds that you see to find out what types of foods they prefer, or experiment by offering different types of bird seed in your bird feeder to find out for yourself.

The kids are also currently working on their Civil War lapbooks along with their daily work.

Cassie's Blog

Cassie has decided to make a blog to encourage and inspire young people. I love it! Check it out here! Be sure to leave her a comment or two!

Mexican Jumping Beans-YEAH!

Yesterday was the first day of HIM co-op this year. Cassie filled in for me at the nursery for GYM day co-op. It was nice to see "old" faces and new. It's amazing how much children grow in just a few months. Babies that weren't crawling are now walking! There is just something about being in a room of fellow homeschool families that makes the world seem so much better.

Ok, now on to the topic at hand. Mandy- the amazing-science teacher brought in a lesson on Mexican Jumping Beans and we had the children use the Scientific Method to awnser questions such as "Why do they jump?" "What are they?" "What's inside?" etc...

I read this book to the class and we did different experiments with the children to see if their observations were correct. It was allot of fun and the kids had some pretty funny ideas of what the bean was and what was inside. One child said it was a peanut with a popcorn kernel inside. It was also great to see the wheels spinning in their heads to come up with the answers. One little girl Maya had the idea to draw a circle around the bean before I read the book and see how far it jumped out of the circle by the end of the story. Some of those buggers travel far. :)

It was just a great time! I look forward to helping with next months science class -earth worms!!

Update on my Mom

I want to thank everyone for their prayers. It looks like my mom will be going home today!! It's a good thing too because today is her anniversary. :) After six days of being in the hospital and only two days with food she is more than READY to get home. Her recovery will be slow and long but at least she can recover in the comfort of her own home. Again, thank you for your kind words of encouragement and prayers!

New House Pics

Downstairs Guest Bathroom, This is also the bathroom Bre uses and it has a full size tub. Ty and Cass share huge upstairs bathroom and we have a full master bath.

This is the Master Bedroom.We have HUGE walk in closet and a nice sized bathroom.

LivingRoom

I love the kitchen There are so many cabinets that I had room for everything.

Another view of the kitchen.

A glimpse of the Dining room

School Room. There is a sliding door that leads out to the back deck.

Here are some pics of a few rooms. Does the School room look cluttered? I hope so, if it didn't then we wouldn't be doing school right! I was going to declutter and organize before taking all the pics but I thought, let people see how we really live. :) I do like a clean home but I have learned the difference between clean and cluttered. I guess I will have to live with a little bit of clutter if that means happy kids. Someday I will look back and cherish the clutter! I didn't take pictures of the kids room. l'll save that for another day ;)