Paper Crafts Class- Project #2 Mini Books

Our second papercraft project was mini board books. We titled them "Simply About ME." The project was inspired from a book my brother made when he was young. I thought it was so great to read about what he liked and thought at a young age.

For this book the kids included their birth statistics, a photo of them as a baby, a current photo with statistics, a family photo, what they love about their family, what they think their "gifts" are (we called them 'Super Powers'), what their dreams or aspirations are, what they love, and what makes them laugh.

This is the book I made as an example. I'll post photos of our oldest son's book soon.

Paper Crafts Class- Project #1, Thank You Cards

As I mentioned earlier, I'm teaching a Paper Crafts class at our homeschool co-op. For the first project of the quarter, the kids made thank you cards. They were given an example and they then created their own cards. The top card was made by our oldest son. He's one of my 9 students in the class.

Darkling Beetles

I wish I could report that we got a puppy or a fun pet to raise, but no...the boys are raising Darkling Beetles. On our kitchen counter sits two cups filled with cornflakes, a couple pieces of apple, and darkling beetles/mealworms.
The boys are taking a zoology class at our homeschool co-op. The are learning many new animal facts and are diligently recording the details in their journals. Our oldest son is focusing his animal study on iguanas and our middle son is researching bats. I'll post some of the information we've learned about the aforementioned animals at a later time.
Darkling Beetles are from the Phylum-Arthropoda, Class-Insecta, Order-Coleoptera. Our beetles are still in the larva (mealworm) stage. They are about an inch in length and have a tough yellowish brown exoskeleton. They are cylindrical in shape. They burrow in the cornflakes. We add bits of apple for moisture.
We've learned that the beetles and larvae eat decaying leaves, sticks, grasses and some new plant growth. They are decomposers. They have molted a couple of times since we've had them. The boys were able to examine the molted skin under the microscope. Our oldest son noted that it had a paper-ish appearance.
These little decomposers will continue in their cups on the kitchen counter until they turn into beetles. At that point I think momma will want the little buggers out of the house. At least they're raising something that will stay in a cup.

Mercredi Gras

This week people around the world celebrated Mardi Gras (Fat Tuesday) or Shrove Tuesday (the term used in the United Kingdom). It is the day before Ash Wednesday marking the beginning of lent.

We read in the United Kingdom Shrove Tuesday is also known as Pancake Day. Why would one celebrate with eating pancakes? Wikipedia (www.en.wikipedia.org) states "The reason pancakes are associated with the day preceding Lent is that the 40 days of Lent form a period of liturgical fasting, during which only the plainest foodstuffs may be eaten. Therefore, rich ingredients such as eggs, milk, and sugar are disposed of immediately prior to the commencement of the fast. Pancakes and doughnuts were therefore an efficient way of using up these perishable goods, besides providing a minor celebratory feast prior to the fast itself."

We love to celebrate so we started off our day with Pancakes like the English. We then were going to have a decadent dinner New Orleans style, but the day was so filled with other kid activities we had to postpone our Mardi Gras celebration to Wednesday, hence Mercredi Gras.

For our New Orleans style dinner we made Chicken and Sausage Gumbo over rice, Red Beans and Rice, and New Orleans Bread Pudding with Bourbon Sauce. I am blessed with some great kitchen help to assist in chopping, stirring, and more. All the help makes for a great meal! We are going to experiment with more cajun, creole and carribean recipes.

So Many Books, So Little Time

From September 2006 to September 2007 the kids and I tried to keep track of the books we read. Each time we completed a book we made a paper ring and added it to our paper chain. We finished the year with somewhere around 200 books read. This included picture books and chapter books. Because of the age of our kids we read a variety of books from board books to about middle school level.

We were recently cleaning out our homeschool room and decided it was time to recycle our paper chain, but wanted to keep the memory of the accomplishment in a photo.

The boys would hang the chain from upstairs and it would still leave a large pile of paper chains on the floor below.

This year we're not keeping track, but we're still busily reading.

Paper Crafters on a Field Trip

As mentioned earlier, I'm teaching a paper crafts class at our homeschool co-op. We've made thank you cards, we're working on an "About Me" book and yesterday we went on a field trip to a local paper crafts store.
We learned about the business of paper crafting, a bit of the history of scrapbooking, how a local individually owned business can compete with the big box stores and we learned a new craft.
We made marble magnets. We were blessed as the owner of the store provided the craft supplies at no charge to us.
There was one bummer of the trip though...I brought my camera and with all the excitement, I forgot to take any photos. What kind of scrapbooker am I??
I will post photos of our projects soon.

The Craft Show

We shared a space with some friends. Our friends were trying to raise money for their upcoming adoption. It was a good experience for all.

Craft Show

Here are some of the crafts we completed... gift tags, bottlecap necklaces, bottlecap bracelets.

Preparing for the Homeschool Craft Fair

A couple months ago, the kids participated in a local homeschool craft fair. They made distressed Christmas gift tags, bottle cap necklaces, bracelets, French wire baskets, and more. It was a great experience! They worked so hard completing their projects. I will post our craft photos on the next post.

Fun with Papa

Office

One of the great games the kids have been playing lately is "Office." Our oldest expressed interest in learning how to type. I figured the computer keyboard wouldn't be quite the same as learning on a real typewriter. I mentioned this to my mom one day and she said she had an older typewriter she was planning on getting rid of because it was not being used. So on her next visit she brought up this typewriter that we used when I was at home.
The kids couldn't wait to pull it out, set it up and get to work. One sits in the chair, or at the "desk" and types away all forms of pertinent information. Most of the information gathered reads something like, "eeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeffffffffffffffffffffffffffffff," and the like. It's such good fun, and they are so official when doing it.
Lately, next to the typewriter they've set up the adding machine. So one does calcultions while the other pecks away at the keys.
The kids have had a great time using these archaic tools!
Just think of the days when young girls aspired to one day grow up to be a "Secretary." Look how far we've come!

Reflecting on the Fall

I realized today that months have passed by since we posted. I can't believe how quickly time flies. I know that sounds cliche, but it's the truth.

Last fall, I taught a class at our homeschool co-op. It was called Ahoy Mates and we learned about Pirates. There was so much to know! We followed the Magic Tree House supplemental book to Pirates Past Noon called Pirates. We did things like make pirate flags, we learned about knots (sweet husband knows quite a bit about knots and did a great demonstration), we made our own dubloons, we made hard tack, we dressed like pirates, and we finished off the class with a party worthy of a great pirate. It was all great fun! I've posted some photos from our party. I made the two cakes- the pirate ship and the treasure chest. Both patterns I was able to find on the web.

This quarter I'm teaching a class on Paper Crafts. So far we've made "Thank You" cards and are currently working on an "About Me" chipboard book. I will post photos soon.

Last quarter the boys also took classes on The Civil War and pioneer life. So much great learning going on!

Happy New Year Pneumonia!

Well this year started off with a bang! Sweet husband came down with influenza at the end of 2007. I regret I didn't show a great deal of sympathy and care. I didn't realize how bad it was until New Year's day when it came on me. I can't say I've felt that bad in a long time. Fortunately, sweet husband knew the pain I was in and cared for my every need along with taking care of our 3 dear kiddos.

After about a week with the flu, I came down with pneumonia. I knew it was bad and was keeping up with my symptoms and diagnosis by reading www.webmd.com A trip to the doctor and a chest x-ray confirmed what I knew. I had a case of bacterial pneumonia. I don't know if I've ever felt as overall miserable as I did with pneumonia. Kidney stones gave me intense pain, but the inability to get enough air was startling.

I'm happy to report after about two weeks, I'm now officially on the mend. I feel much better and am looking forward to a better year. I'm still trying to lie low and get plenty of rest. Relapse would be terrible.

So what have I learned through this?? I've learned that I'm surrounded by amazing, wonderful, and giving family and friends. I've had family and friends sacrifice their own time to come and care for me and our family. I've had friends pray, encourage, cook, clean and show great care. What a blessing!!

I've also learned that this may be my year to really experience rest and relaxation. I know I have a hard time just sitting. This has shown me that it's okay to just relax. Remind me if I start neglecting down time later in the year.

I've also learned it's good to be quiet. When you have limited oxygen, you learn to be quiet. It's a good thing!

I hope you all are doing well.

Happy New Year!!

Cooking Kids

As part of assignments, the kids have been busy in the kitchen. Yesterday they made wonderful Banana Muffins. They were a great hit! The recipe was in one of the recent Family Fun Magazines. The kids enjoyed them so much I think they'll be trying another recipe very soon.

We also finished up our study on Monks. The boys made a lentil soup similar to what the monks would have eaten daily. We also had bread with it. We learned that monks would have bread often, but only on special holidays like Christmas would they be able to enjoy it topped with butter. That was hard for the kids to imagine.

We also learned that in order to be a monk one had to give up all worldly treasures. The one thing they did have and treasure was a small wooden cross. The kids and I discussed giving up worldly treasures. All agreed it would be hard for us to give up everything and live that life of simplicity.

Something About Pride Coming Before The Fall

What's that saying about "Pride Coming Before The Fall?" The other day I was at a friend's house and she was sharing about how an exterminator was coming to her home because they have a mouse problem. I listened to her story and proudly thought, "I'm so glad WE don't have THAT problem."

I should have known I shouldn't have even let that thought cross my mind. Remember the saying, "Take every thought captive."

Well, long story short...Our oldest son stashed a pack of gum in a secret drawer. Yesterday he went to retrieve his gum and instead he found a shredded wrapper and NO gum. He thought for sure our youngest had swiped it and stashed it again in her secret spot. I went to check out the evidence and knew immediately what had happened. We investigated further and found the individual Bubble Yum pieces in DIFFERENT drawers to the side of the initial location. WE HAVE A MOUSE OR WORSE YET...MICE!!

Sweet Hub and I set some traps, and yes used Bubble Yum as bait (forget cheese-these are teenage mice). Then Sweet Hub left for a soccer game.

As you can guess in less than a half hour the kids and I heard a "SNAP." But to make matters worse we heard the mouse scurrying around in the drawer with the trap. How awful can this get? I didn't want to open the drawer because I would have been completely undone. So we waited for Hub to return home and it turns ou the mouse trap trapped his leg! Oh my gosh!! Sweet Hub took care of it and this morning we awoke to no more caught mice.

Maybe he was the Lone Mouse. I sure hope so!

So next time I think of something I "Don't Have" I'm going to take that thought captive so as not to receive it within a couple of days. Crazy how these things work isn't it?

Story of the World- The Middle Ages

We're studying the Middle Ages through the Story of the World series. This week we learned about Christianity coming to Britain, Augustine, and monks. We mapped out the possible routes Augustine would have taken from Rome to Canterbury and we practiced our calligraphy. Here's some of our oldest son's work...

Seed Science

We've started a science unit on seeds. We're following a unit study from the curriculum Science Through Children's Literature An Integrated Approach by Carol and John Butzow. We read Eric Carle's book The Tiny Seed yesterday and today we're looking at different seeds under the microscope. We started out with lettuce seeds. When looking in the microscope our little girl (4) shouted, "It looks like the giantest cucumber." It's amazing how many ridges are on the seed and how long it appears. It's not noticeable to the naked eye. We also looked at a beet seed. Our middle son described it as a "sand world." When viewing a cabbage seed under the microsope our oldest thought it reminded him of a piece of gold, but then later thought it looked like a "crusty surface like a rice cracker."

The microscope we're using was my hubby's when he was a young kid. It's no wonder it was one of his prize possessions. That little chemist grew up to be a big chemist. By the way, the big chemist just got a new job as an asset economist. We're so proud of him!

A Lesson In Alliteration

We began our school days this week. It's going to be a fun year! The kids are a bit older and the activities we're able to do are going to be challenging and full of learning adventures.
The boys learned about alliteration and wrote their own poem/verse using alliteration. The exercise was full of silliness and laughs and they were both very proud of their finished work.

Our oldest, 9 years old, wrote:
Batman buzzed black bug's back beneath buggy's bath
Batman beat black bug
Batman's bride batted bunnicula beneath Batman's batcave
It was a bunny battle

Our Middle son, 6 years old, wrote:
Green Goblin got goat girl during getaway
God gulped!
God gave goat girl the greatest guarantee
Goat girl gave goblin gum.

A great book for illustration of Alliteration is The B Book.

Something from the Garden

How in the world do zucchini grow so fast?? One day they're little and manageable and a couple days later they're HUGE! This is one of the examples of what has been happening with our zucchini. A couple days of rain and we go out to harvest and find zucchini weighing about 12 pounds. Lucky for us a sweet Hungarian man at the food bank LOVES these HUGE zucchinis. He smiles and his face lights up when he sees us arrive. I guess there's a Hungarian soup he makes with them.
We've been blessed with a plentiful garden this summer. Right now I'm harvesting broccoli, beans, cabbage, beets, onions, carrots, tomatoes, zucchini, yellow summer squash, acorn squash, patty pan squash, hubbard squash and butternut squash. There are even some raspberries still on the vines. So yummy!

The flowers in the photo are also from the garden. I would love to have year round flower bouquets from the garden, but right now it's mostly during the summer months.

Family Hike/Slug Fest

We escaped for a little hike/walk on a local trail. We find that unless we actually get "away" from the house we don't do a very good job relaxing. We tend to see all that needs to be done and will work from sunrise to sunset (sometimes even after sunset). The jobs at home are endless so we try to get out for walks, bike rides, etc. The kids are getting old enough now to walk or hike a little way (with exception of the little one- but we're working on it).
There are so MANY beautiful trails and parks locally! We need to make time to enjoy them. On this particular day it had just rained so the SLUGS were out in full force. We saw many different varieties. In addition to slugs our trail had sights of the lake, waterfalls, forests, and yummy berries to eat.