dragonfly days

this week in school

This Monday, Jack owke up and wanted to play Legos, for hours. As he was playing I realized that our week was looking to be a rather hectic one and I should take advantage of one of the best things about homeschooling, flexibility!  So we had no formal school this week. We just went with the flow which included: new class schedules, dentist appointments, doctor appointments and dad being off work.

Here is a list of learning that happened anyways:

• read Hedgehog Haven
• read: Bull Shark, Mako Shark, Whale Shark, Great White Shark, and Tiger Shark
• read: Biology and Physics, in the Basher series.
• watched lots of Mythbusters.
• rode bikes and went for a hike
• played lots of fruit ninja on the kinect- great for a very active boy
• watched a documentary on Austrailia
• tap class
• hip-hop class
• bread sculpting class
• library visit
• Spanish- okay I did make him do Spanish one day. :)
• Brain pop
• ipad games- math ninja, Discovery sharks, Jumpstart Jetpack, Learn Sharks, Toca Doctor, Frog Disection, Build a Bird, and World Atlas. 
• art, lots of art. Painting, drawing, and general making.
• Legos
• Guinea pig care- we've been learning all about guinea pigs as we prepare for the little ones.
• Fred Astaire- we watched videos and read up on him online.
• learned more than we wanted to know about teeth and feet. :)
• tappped, tapped, and tapped some more.
• have been learning about different species of butterflies.
• spelling and typing on the old typewriter
• money- counting and adding money, over and over again. :)

Tomorrow Zac is taking him hiking, which means more science and outdoor skills. :)

 

 

 

random musings

It's becoming a Wednesday thing. :)

• I finished another layout in Project life. I am really enjoying getting our pictures printed out and part of our story down.  It feels good. :)
• Our guinea pig is about to give birth any minute.  
• Tomorrow we get to visit with the doctor about turf toe.
• Today we didn't have any appointments or classes that I had to go out for. It was wonderful. I baked muffins, made a great dinner, worked out about five hours earlier than I usually get to, we pulled out the art supplies and played. It was very nice. I need to be sure to schedule these type of days.
• My husband is starting a new hobby, more on that in a few. 
• The series of shark books we found at the library this week are very popular around here. Perfect for a shark-obsessed beginning reader.

 

love

Jack had his first tap class yesterday. He loved it and wants to keep going. We bought a pair of shoes after class and he has only taken them off to sleep or leave the house.  Yes, shoes that make noise. He is in awe of them. I am left wondering why there aren't more boys in tap. Did you hear me? They have SHOES THAT MAKE NOISE. What boy wouldn't love that? He has been tapping so much we had to move the plastic office floor protector out into the living room for him.  Today, one of the only times he sat down was to  watch  you tube videos of Gregory Hines and Fred Astaire.  Have you seen the one of Fred Astaire and Ginger Rogers dancing in roller skates? 

 He told me that I had to take the picture above to show people how the shoes worked. :) 

While we were at the store picking up medicine for Steve(for the tooth, again), we picked up the perfect bag for transporting his shoes. A duffle bag with a skull and crossbones.  It was exactly what I pictured when I found out he would need a bag.  Perfect for the guitar-playing-dance-loving-rocker boy that he is.

The good news? Someone went right to sleep tonight.

Frosty the doughman

Today we had the opportunity to go to a bread sculpting class put together by one of the moms in our support group. You can't see it in the picture, butat the time Jack was making a snowflake out of bread dough. Those were baked, brushed with melted butter and then dusted with powder sugar.

You can see the snowflake in this pic as he is dusting it with sugar.

After that they made a snowman out of dough. I have no pics of that. We brought it home and baked it and needless to say it didn't last long. 

Today we were also blessed with about 20 minutes of snow. Jack was thrilled. This boy has been wishing for snow all winter.  That is all he really wanted for Christmas. When I looked out and saw the flakes, he came running. And then he applauded.  He gave the snow a round of applause. Love that.

 

scenes from the weekend 1/22

Glad to have hubby back home.

A separate cage for the piggy.

A shopping trip turned lunch out for Zac and I with a couple of kiddos.

Can you guess what he wants to start doing this year?

What most of Jack's money is spent on.

Last week was a long, hard week. Seriously. Everyone gets thrown off when hubby is out of town. So glad to be on the flip side of that. 

This weeks plans:

• bread making class for Jack
• P.E. if the weather is good, otherwise we'll just hit the library
• tap class
• endodotist for Steve-  finish one and discuss the other
• hip-hop class
• guitar- hopefully. We have to switch things around for dance.
• girls pref dance for Steve
• call sports med doc and try to get Steve in.
• Rugby
• Lacrosse, at least for Talisa.
• A day trip...maybe. I need to see if some of the angst and whinyness that has plagued our house goes away by then.

Things I hope to get done:

• another project life spread
• a system to organize project life weeks in waiting
• Apple Pie muffins via Finding Joy in my Kitchen
• movement everyday.
• some Valentine planning
• start reading, Mindset for Moms
• Finish reading,  A Million Miles in a Thousand Years.

What is on your list?

 

You know it's been one of those weeks...

when one minute you are hiding under a beach towel protesting staying at the pool...

and five minutes later...

And then you stay for another two hours and protest leaving the pool.

I'm ready for the weekend! :)

random musings

 As if most of my posts weren't random. :)

• Today we got the results for Jack's reading test. I was a little anxious about them, especially when the teacher started the conversation with, "What exactly do you use for language arts?" Turns out it was because he scored well.  Phew!
• We went to Subway for lunch. We do Subway about once a week because I feel like it is a good way to see some change in his diet. He loves it. He gets so excited that even the people working there comment on it.
• I started my first week of Project life. I will finish the rest tomorrow.
• I was giving one of my girls a talk, not lecture, talk. Half way through I wondered if I was telling this stuff to her or if I was the one that really needed to hear it.  I think it did us both good.  It was the "don't-assume-anything-don't-expect-anything-because-really-you-only-have-control-over-yourself-and-your-reactions-and-don't-let-other-peoples-opinions-stop-you" speech.  Do it anyway. Sigh. Yes, I needed that. Thank you. 
• Jack has decided he will try tap along with hip-hop. I also had my first conversation including the stereotype against boys in dance. Sigh.
• Took Steve to the doc tonight, again. The running joke all night was that I would be rich if I got the $5 co-pay every time he was there. :)  Looks like turf toe. Referred to Sports Medicine. Seriously. I guess we may not be going to the tournament this weekend. Can't decide whether or not I'm okay with that. 

making

I saw this and knew we had to make it!

Giant Geoboard.

Here is our version:

It ended up being about 2 ft square. 

I am going to buy some of the thin elastic headbands to use for bigger shapes.  I'm also trying to figure something out for really big shapes, maybe sewing elastic? 

What are you making?

scenes from the weekend 1/15

I don't know why this pic won't post right, but it's kind of funny sideways too. :)

This weekend: Battle of the bands in support of our favorite guitarist-- they did awesome! Recovering from a looooong week with very little sleep. Baseball and lacrosse at the park.  Staying up too late again, running errands, driving class with the teens, birthday parties, and cleaning.

 

On the list this week:

• rugby
• lacrosse
• dance
• park
• Zac is off.
• no dentist- always a good start
• project life-- every time I try to start I find I am missing one thing. I vow to get it started this week.
• homeschool- make paper and penguins are on the list this week
• movement- I lagged at the end of last week between being busy and no sleep. Won't let that happen again.
• Lacrosse tournament- tis the season
• rugby meeting
• Guitar lesson
• I'm thinking some kind of surprise field trip is in order one afternoon this week.

What is on your list?

bricks

I'm getting real creative with the titles of these posts. :)

The Colosseum is completed.  Jack has been enjoying geography a lot lately, especially when we have time to do projects.   This one was a leftover from before Christmas, something we just didn't get around too during the hustle and bustle of the season. It's good to have it done. He loves building and had been looking forward to it.  I need to make sure to incorporate projects for him. 

This week we are studying Germany,  we didn't get around to this before Christmas either.  Today we looked at pictures of castles and the Berlin Wall.  I think we will try and make pretzels for park day this week.  I am channeling my fifth grade teacher who drilled us with German songs and words. I never thought I would thank him, but I am now!  Although I'm not sure Jack feels the same way.

 

back

Today was our first day back to school. It went well.   At one point Jack had taken the crime scene tape from his forensic science kit and put it across the dining room table. Zac saw the tape and asked about it and I told him you could tell how some people felt about being back to school today.  ;)

We spent a good part of the day building the Colosseum out of foam blocks and hot glue. Pictures to come. 

We did the reading test. Zac and I have both loved to watch Jack's reading take off these past few months. We especially love the fact that he loves reading.  

Then we had our weekly p.e. class, not so much a class but a get together and play games time.  We've missed it. Jack missed the games. I missed having a weekly date with the library.

He's getting to have quite a mop on his head and I don't know what to do. I don't want to cut it, but it needs to be tamed. Any ideas??

 

scenes from the weekend 1/8

This weekend: family in from out of town-- family we haven't seen for about 13 years! We had a fun time rockin' out Friday night. We stayed up way too late. Date night last night. Today was a day to catch up on housework, practice driving with the teen boy and try and finally get those Christmas card pictures taken. I think we'll get them done by Valentine's day!

So on the list for this week:

• reading test for Jack- as part of k-12 we are supposed to do this.
• p.e.- yay for having p.e. back!
• lacrosse- in full swing
• concussion test for lacrosse
• guitar lesson
• hip-hop class
• Moms Night Out!!!!!!!!! Can you tell I am excited?
• Dentist- to take care of the rest of the cavities. Ugh.
• Oral surgeon- to get a consultation on the tooth.
• park day
• battle of the bands with our favorite guitar teacher. :)
• learning- Jack's request: penguins, Africa, and legos. My request: Spanish, math and reading.
• Getting started on my project for the One Little Word, finally chose one!
• I've also decided to do Project Life this year. I am starting with last week and can't wait. I am excited!

What's on your list?

 

my new space

This project has been in the making for a few months now and it is finally done!  After years of having to do dinner time while accommodating my projects laying all around, I finally have my own space.

There is still some final tweaking to be done, but it is useable!  Talk about fitting a lot in a very small space. The two brown boxes on the floor to the left hold craft supplies- top one wood craft and the bottom holds felt in yards.  The basket in the center holds my bag that I take projects out and about in.  The right brown box holds felting supplies.

From the left: old floss drawer that I found thrifting- perfect for my stitching supplies, my vintage typewriter, the pile of papers needs to be dealt with, and Jack cut the hearts out of felt.

On the top shelf is a pencil sharpener which is hidden behind a jar of felt beads, a big jar of buttons, jars holding- rubber bands, wooden thumb tacks, and mini wooden clothespins(for the shutter memo board in the top picture),  our terrarium, a metal bucket holding pens, scissors, markers and paint brushes.

The middle shelf- binder holding all of my class printouts thus far, embroidery patterns, felt patterns, and one full of homeschool ideas. Side note- I just realized they were all thrown on there after I had finished them yesterday.

Bottom shelf: card catalog of lesson plan ideas for homeschool., extra moleskine notebooks, blank canvases, and a big sketchbook, three hole punch, beeswax polish and my post it note supply. :)

In the far corner lies the photography supplies. The green crate houses our homeschool stuff in use. The roll of white paper on top is for an upcoming school project. You can see my planning notebooks in front. And the stack of papers in the middle are my home cleaning/organization ideas and planner. 

Time to create!

looking ahead.

This is the new years post. I hate to say resolutions, because well I don't like that word.  And I tend to do this a couple of times a year, usually at the beginning of each season.  But like everyone else change has been on my mind the past few weeks.  I haven't yet come up with my word for the year. I have a few in mind, but I haven't had the time to sit down and journal or meditate on them yet. Hopefully soon.  So on to the changes...

• learn how to play the ukulele. So excited about this one. I got my ukulele tonight and already have two chords and three notes learned. Now to practice, practice, practice so I can make a song. :)  BTW-Isn't it pretty? The writing on it is the word peace in all different languages.
• Daily movement. So far this is going strong. In fact I've been doing for a couple of weeks now. 
• Have a monthly date with each child. Zac and I decided we needed to do this. We have already had one and it was a blast. Mainly just a go to the coffeehouse and talk kind of thing.
• Volunteer more.
• Read more. I go through periods of reading way too much and then not reading anything at all. I haven't read any books, other than to Jack, for months now. Time to get back in the habit.
• Create. I want to create something- art, journal pages, jewelry, embroidery, whatever at least once a week. This should be easier now that I got my "studio space" aka the other desk in the dining room, organized and set up today. More on that tomorrow.
• get back in the kitchen. This fall was crazy busy and our eating habits suffered a bit. Not much, but I miss our from scratch foods. So I will be making time to work those back into the schedule. 

There are more, but those are for me to know and you to guess. ;)  Also I am doing a 365 type thing this year on Instagram. If I ever figure out how to link it here I will.  Looks like I may need to revive my flickr account.

 

 

making a plan

Today I spent some time trying to make a plan and set some intentions for the year.  I didn't get far, three kids trying to fit as much as they possibly could in on the last day of Christmas break made sure of that.  Hopefully I will be ready to share my thoughts tomorrow.  I still just can't believe how fast this past year has gone. 

Today I received semi good news from my doc, as in I will probably not have to go back for a year. We still need to see the test results, but to me those were sweet words.

For now though, my new moleskine and I have a date. 

2012

Ahem. Sorry about the absence. Life just kind of got in the way. Christmas break with four kids and the hubby all off kind of does that.We've been playing lots, sleeping in, staying up way too late and hanging out.

No post with pictures from the weekend, because there were no pictures. Yes, I took a break from everything which is all good.

So on the list for this week:

• doctor appointment (me)
• dentist appointment (Steve)
• lacrosse starts which includes two parent meetings this week.
• rubgy starts
• school back in session
• house- get the house back in order
• project homeschool- we have a few projects to finish up and I think it will be the perfect way to get back in the swing of things. 
• get back to our normal rhythm. 

And that is all. I'm trying to keep it simple.

Wishing you all a good 2012.

 

scenes from Christmas 12/26

So busy. So much fun. And so much to be thankful for.

Friday we rang the bell for  the Salvation Army.  This was such a neat experience. It is on the list already for next year. 

 

Jack taking a break for bell-ringing, singing and dancing.

The big kids got a big suprise on Christmas Eve. I love the pics of their faces.

It's not often we can pull a big surprise on them.

Jack decorated some gingerbread men for Santa.

Christmas morning.

We hope you all had a wonderful holiday. :)

learning all the time

Here are some pics of all the learning that has been going on around here lately. :)

As part of our study of Italy last week we talked about Pompeii and made a volcano.

Zac and Jack spent an evening building this robot. It is really cool.  I picked the kit up last time we we at Hobby Lobby for 75% off. 

There was a last minute choir performance on Monday at the library to welcome Santa.

 We have a new fish. His name is Zen.  We fell in love with the peace sign decor. Then at Zac looked me and asked why I am trying to change the fish. Peace sign, Zen, Siamese fighting fish. Lol.

There was also some dog walking and visiting animals at the pound and guitar lessons today.

scenes from the weekend 12/18

Anyone ready for Christmas?? We aren't! :)  But the plan for this week is to take it how it comes and enjoy it. I think it will work. We still haven't had everyone together at the right time of day with the right weather for a Christmas card pic, so I bought cards to send out and we'll have to send the pics along later. Sigh. The story of my life.

On to the list for this week:

• Christmas shopping with Jack
• mail out Christmas boxes--at least something got finished, well almost 1 more thing to get and then hopefully they will be in the mail tomorrow afternoon. 
• call some dentist to get a second opinion and get everything in order to hopefully get the teeth fixed over Christmas break.
• Bake for the neighbors. Zac really wants to have a handmade something. I'm hoping this means he really wants to wash dishes. :)
• Nutcracker ballet. We'll go and watch some of our favorite little people perform.
• Salvation army bell rining. The kids are really excited about this- planning outfits, learning Christmas songs on the guitar and finding the perfect holiday hat to wear.  Jack has really been curious on why we are doing it, who it will help and why people sometimes need help. It has been a great learning opportunity for him. 
• park day
• wrapping gifts- always Christmas eve, always staying up way too late watching a fun movie.
• School this week for Jack is light and easy. We'll be reading the Nutcracker and doing some light learning on Germany and Russia tying it all in to the story and performance. We'll also paint some nutcracker ornaments to hang on the tree. But the majority of the week will be about giving and appreciating those around us.

I like life

Tonight the kids and I went to see our favorite version of Scrooge on the big screen. Our favorite version being the 1970 Scrooge starring Albert Finney. Loved it!  But alas no pics from a dark movie theater. So instead I am sharing this quote:

Ghost of Christmas Present to Scrooge:

There is never enough time to do or say all the things that we would wish. The thing is to try and do as much as you can in the time that you have.

 

Yes. That about sums it up and it is something I so needed  to hear this week.