dragonfly days

the eclipse

the garden

Today we:

• had phone call about our online school plans for next year- more about those to come.
• watered the gardens
• practiced playing baseball
• played with a friend
• tried new foods
• had dessert
• bought solar eclipse glasses
• ran long overdue errands
• did lots of laundry
• did a light homeschool day
• made necklaces
• went for a walk
• cooked  a new dinner
• enjoyed the views.

 

 

We made it through Monday.

How we spent Monday...

• Spanish lessons
• Jack read,  Leonardo da Vinci  - the whole thing!
  
• Then he started to plan and make his own version of the flying man. I have talked him down from testing it off the roof or out of the tree house and we have settled on jump off the couch. Phew, that was close. 
• baking granola and baked oatmeal cups.
• picking mulberries, eating mulberries
• watering the yard
• loving on the animals
• watched the robins visiting the yard and the hummingbird in her nest
• painted some beads
• tap dancing
• baseball practice
• more tap dancing
• watching videos of Sammy Davis Jr, Gregory Hines, Fred Astaire, and Gene Kelly. 
• making this for dinner with some leftover steak from last night. Yummy!

More importantly, we made it through Monday! Anyone want to do a happy dance with me?

 

scenes from the weekend 5/13

Mothers Day brought flowers. 

This weekend was:

• short
• the last rugby game. They lost, but did much better than the last time they played this team.
• lunch  with the grandparents
• redbox and pizza date night
• breakfast for mother's day with the smoke alarm only going off 3 times. ;)
• the hubby running errands with me to keep me company
• dinner with grandpa
• a late night walk with the hubby during which we saw the most amazing shooting star
• time in the hammock relaxing.
• menu planning
• planning for the week trying to get all my ducks in a row.
• laundry

 

This coming week is:

• beginning of baseball for Jack which means practice Mon(maybe more), and games Tues and Thurs.
• dance- two classes, two dress rehearsals and two performances.
• end of year swim party with our online school.
• the solar eclipse.
• the end of year lacrosse party
• end of year school projects galore.
• family in town this weekend.
• planning phone call with online teacher

I am thinking that school will be light this week. I try to keep my schedule so that we aren't that busy or out of the house that much.  It kind of bugs me, but we are going with the flow. We'll do what we can to have enough downtime to make it livable.  I ran all my errands this weekend to try and make it possible.  The laundry is caught up.  The menu is planned. Any paperwork is already filled out and in my planner.  All I need to do is get glasses for the eclipse. Yes I am kicking myself for not buying them last week at the visitor's center when I saw them. 

Hope you all had a wonderful Mother's day. I am so thankful for all the mother figures in my life and all that they have shared with me.

 

 

pre-history

Yesterday  we headed up to the local national park for pre-history craft day. Every year Zac and a few other pre-history enthusiasts set up a demonstration in the courtyard outside the vistor's center and teach people about the natives around the area.

The tables include all different kinds of replicas. They are all avid flintknappers.

These effigies (?) are awesome. I am planning on making some myself. I would like to make some and paint them also.  They look fun!

Jack jumped right in and started teaching people about the arrowheads. He was a natural. The ranger asked if he would like to come work there. It was also evident that he was very proud of his dad.  We all are. One of the other guys asked me what I thought of my husbands hobbies. I told him I was actually very impressed by them. The attention to detail and patience involved amazes me.

That is a fish basket on the table that someone made.

Sorry for the dark pictures. I was using my old camera since it is lighter and better for hiking. They were also making sandals out of yucca plants, cordage out of yucca, and Zac helped two of our little friends make arrows using his arrowheads.

After spending some time at the demo we headed up the canyon to take one of our favorite hikes.

The cool canyon water was a welcome relief at the top of the hike.

It was a really fun day.

 

 

 

some goodies

Sorry for the lack of blog posts. We are headed in to the end of the year crunch. Throw in a few extra activities, changes and angst from all angles and you get a bit of chaos. I am hoping things find a flow soon. Real soon.

Anyways. Now for some fun stuff. A few weeks back I answered a question on a facebook post from PBS Learning Media and won a prize. Love it.

 

The book and dvd of Great Expectations.   Love surprises.

This week was the local Scholastic Warehouse sale.   Look at all those cool books. Love the River Monsters ones.  The rock book has fantastic pictures and info.

These are the other books I got. We love the Basher Science books.  The rest I am hoping will eventually interest Jack. To be truthful, he was only excited about he Ninjago one. The rest will be a bit of a challenge for his reading level, but we will either use them for read alouds or he will move in to them. There wasn't a whole lot of selection for his actual reading level this time. 

 

finally

Everything finally worked out with our schedules and we were able to take our little car lover to a car show. Not just any show, but a Mustang show.  We love Mustangs. We count them and keep a running total of how many seen while we are out and about.  So being able to see all of these in one place was the coolest thing ever.

Makes me want to go for a ride.  Jack thinks our Mustang count is up over 150 now.

going back

Today Zac, Jack and I headed up the mountain to the Mountain Man Rendezvous.  The last time we went to one was when the older kids were about Jack's age. I had forgotten how much fun it can be, especially for a young boy. 

First off, these people know how to camp. All of the camps looked inviting and comfortable.

The candy canon is always a favorite.

There were also some old time games for the kids to play.  We loved all of the period dress.

One of the games involved throwing a spear through a hoop hanging on a line.

Jack's favorite though was the archery. He simply could not get enough. I think it motivated Zac to finish making him a new bow and some arrows.

One of my favorite parts was the shops.  They had beads! Awesome beads! For cheap!  I had no idea. Next time I will have to plan to take my time and some more cash. I was really selective and only dame home with two strands of beads, two buffalo teeth, two skull beads and a bobcat tail. Yes there is a necklace planned and in progress for a certain little guy. 

 

 

 

rock hunting

This past Sunday we headed out on a rock hunt to start our rock study.

First we found a lizard. We call this a horny toad. I'm sure it has a more official name.

Then it was down the wash for the rock hunt. I scored three nice fossils in this wash.  Jack found some picture stone and other cool rocks. We also saw lots of lizards!

A different wash- more fossils and lizards.

Doesn't he have an intense look on his face? Not sure what that was all about.

Pretty lizard though.

See what I mean?

These are some of the fossils and rocks we found.

What a great start to our rock study.

 

 

kite festival

Saturday was the local kite festival. This year, Jack had an opportunity to participate in the reading program they have.  He had to read 50 minutes per week for a total of 650 minutes. He had no problem reaching that. 

There wasn't a wind, not even a slight breeze, so it was really hard to get a kite up.

Some people were more creative and used helium balloons. Why didn't I think of that?

It was a fun afternoon!

the dinosaur site

Today we took an impromptu field trip over tot he dinosaur site/museum nearby.

We are starting a rock unit and this was a good way to introduce it and get some hands on activities in. Also I had a hunch I could find some rock collections in the gift shop.

There is an origami room there. Which to me was weird. Origami? Really?

Okay the dinosaur origami makes a little sense, but then sit down and make a crane or a swan? Hmmm...maybe it's just me.

Good news though, they had rock collections.

Scenes from last week

I did not mean to disappear for a week. Life happened. Life was full. We were trying to soak it all up. I think we did our best.

Here is last week in pics, at least from Thursday on:

We went to the indoor trampoline place with our friends. Loved this. It totally wore him out.

He mostly played dodge ball, which is the only explanation I have for his facial expression.

Another morning we spent some time at the park.

Do you see that look on his face. Priceless.

Some of our favorites at the street painting festival.

On the list for this week:

• soaking up some more time with our friends before they leave.
• dance classes
• practices
• getting a baseball jersey
• fun and fitness
• planning for a birthday next week!
• science fair prep
• back to a light school schedule
• park day

What's on your list?

 

this week in school

 

This week we finished up our unit on ocean animals. Here are some of the things we did:

• Ein-o Marine science discovery tank.
• Fish body part puzzle- picked up in the Staples dollar bin
• Learning page ocean unit
• lots and lots of classifying ocean animals
• compound words
• syllables
• fractions
• greater than and less than
• addition
• subtraction
• venn diagrams
• graphs and charts
• mapping the oceans
• alphabetical order
• life cycle of a salmon
• body parts of a crustacean
• gardening
• hiking
• butterfly catching
• animal care
• playing with lots of friends
• dance
• legos, lots of legos
• reading: more Garfield and Einstein

Today Jack told me he wanted to be a theoretical physicist like Einstein.  At least we know something in sinking in!

scenes from the last week

Shell sorting activity.

Learning about penguins.

Sunday craft, ribbon mobile.

A visitor?!?

We had a free weekend- no rugby, no lacrosse, just free time.  We all needed that. Zac, Jack and the girls went for a day long hike. I treated myself to lunch, then came home to clean and organize my project space while watching a classic film. Loved every minute of it.

Today the weather was gray and a bit cold. I did my weekly errands then came home and forced everyone to watch the Muppet movie with me. I miss the old Muppets. This was close, but not quite.

On the list for this week:

• dance classes
• fun and fitness
• rugby practice and a day or two of lacrosse.
• A long weekend for the kids
• Easter!!
• Art festival
• car show(?) for the boys
• park day
• rugby game
• some major housework.
• getting the chicks moved out into their pen.
• library
• potting some plants.

And I think that is all.  Oh, and enjoying the weather to the fullest.

his garden

While we were at Grandpa's house last week, Jack was able to pick out some seeds for his garden.  This past Friday, he planted them. 

First he went through his stash and picked out what seeds he wanted to plant. He brought home a lot of seeds. Way too many for his four foot by four foot garden.

Then he started to read the packages and figure out how deep he needed to plant things and how far apart they needed to be.

Dad and Sweetie came in for a consult.

He was worried that Sweetie was going to use his garden as a litter box.

He was really intent on reading the directions and following them.

He brought out a ruler to help and had a few last minute questions before he got to work.

This year he went with all flowers.  I can't wait to see it!

scenes from the weekend 3/18

 

 

We had another trip away this weekend. I hope that it's the last for a while, but alas it sounds like we might have another one this week. I'm thankful that Steve is working now, otherwise we would have two days away this week and multiple games on one day.  We are a little travel weary. This weekend we hit a bad storm coming back and let's just say I'm thankful I wasn't the one driving.  We also spent some time with my family. Jack collected a bunch of seeds from my dad, the seed guy, and is looking forward to planting his garden box. This year he is shooting for all flowers. I'm good with that.

On the list this week;

• Zac and I are celebrating our 18 year anniversary Monday.
• Prom for the boy
• Which means renting a tux sometime during the busy week and getting the corsage
• back to dance
• lax and rugby practices in full
• Except for the boy who is working almost every day this week.
• rugby games start, two this week
• park day
• plant the rest of the gardens- seeds and cold weather crops
• library
• learning- hitting the ocean big time in hopes of being done with it for a bit.
• make granola, bread
• projects- garland, get the walls decorated in my room

What's on your list?

 

 

 

a homeschool day

Since it is spring break and I have nothing to blog about other than the joys of painting paneling, I decided to share a homeschool day with you.  This was a day last week. 

Tuesday:

7:45 Ugh. I am still getting used to getting up early. I go out and say goodbye to Zac and the older kids. I check on Jack and he's still sleeping. I decide to check my email on the ipad in bed so that I don't wake Jack up.

8:15 I hear Jack get up. I decide computer time is over and take a quick shower.  He spends the time saying hello to the piggies and feeding them.  He's already dressed. I start a load of laundry on my way to the kitchen.

8:30 Breakfast time.  I notice that Jack has two cold sores and wonder if he is coming down with something.

9:00  time to read. We head for the living room and library books. We read about dolphins, sea sponges and whales today.  Were both tired this morning and  dragging. The tickle monster shows up to get us up and going.  I reboot the laundry while he gets his pencil box.

9:45 Time to do some seat work. Today he doesn't want to do spelling. I give him the option of doing it on the chalkboard. He doesn't want to use the chalkboard and tries a few other stalling tactics.  He realizes that he's not getting out of it and starts his spelling. Today he sings We Will Rock You while working.

We do three quick language lessons. More writing work almost sends him over the edge. Time for a computer break doing Spanish. While he works on Spanish, I take the piggies out, feed the fish, and sweep the floor. After Spanish he tackles a page of math with the promise that a science project will be next. He zips through math.

For science we tackle the flour fireworks again with the right supplies. This time we have success.  We even get the smoke alarm going. We update our science journals.  After relighting the candle three times I decide it's time to move on.

I decide to try an art project. I bring out a couple of sea stars and have Jack pick 5 shells to bring to the table. We pull out the sketch books and get to work. I decide to trace around the sea star and other shells. Jack tries to do the same and gets frustrated. I decide it probably wasn't the day for an art project that required fine motor skills.

1:00 pm time for lunch. We eat.  I wash dishes after I finish.  

1:35 It's windy and I decide to bring the piggies inside. Harry escapes and goes under the deck. Jack is upset and spends the next hour trying to coax Harry out.  The wind is really going now. I talk Jack back inside to take a break before dance.  We'll catch Harry later when we have more hands.

2:00 Jack gets cleaned up and I let him watch Garfield. I reboot the laundry, make various attempt to catch the piggy, answer emails, research a topic for homeschool, and work on getting ready to go. I also remember to prep dinner.

2:50 School is out. The texts and phone calls start from the older kids. I check twitter for updates about practices and games tonight.I finish the dishes.

3:15 2 big kids are home. Talisa stayed after to take a test for college placement next year.  We discuss practice schedules, weekend plans and dinner. Steve hears about the piggy and his mind goes to work. He goes outside and sets a trap for the piggy. Within 5 minutes Harry is back inside safe and sound.

3:30 Turn off the tv, get Jack a snack and have him get ready for hip hop class. Jack reads more Garfield on the way to class.

4:00 Get a text from Talisa saying she is done and needs a ride, perfect timing. Pick her up and head to the pet store for piggy litter and kitty supplies. This was the day before we picked up our kitty. We walk around and look at everything. Leave the store without a fish. Hey it's progress.

5:00 pick up Jack and head home. Steve can't leave for practice until I get home because he left something in my car.  We get home say goodbye to Steve. Jack runs over to play with a friend.  I listen to the wind howl. 

5:30 Call Zac and get an estimate on when he'll be home. Start working on dinner. Field more texts and phone calls.

6:15 Zac walks in as I am finishing up dinner. We are eating in shifts tonight. Practice is late tonight and there is a game. Jack is back from playing.

7:00 I shower. Talisa leaves to watch the lax game. Jack is back watching Garfield again. He's definitely fighting off something so he gets more tv time than usual.  Steve and Alex go straight to the game from practice. Zac and I take advantage of the quiet house and catch up. He's been working long hours and I've been running like crazy. Times like this seem few and far between.

8:00 Steve and Alex are back. They've had enough of the wind.  Ice cream for everyone. The kids start on their showers and chores.  Jack gets ready for bed.  He's ready for bed early and I'm bored so we do another science project.  This time we are mixing glue and shaving cream to make foam. We play for a bit and then it is time for bed.

9:00 Talisa is home from the game and we get a play by play.  I read books to Jack and get him to sleep. Then it's back out to help with homework, process the days events and get everyone else on track for bed. 

10:00 homework is done. The older kids are in bed on their phones- either texting watching or listening to music. The house is quieting down. I make my lists for tomorrow. Check email, facebook, and blogs. I work on gathering up anything I need for tomorrow. It will be an easy day so there isn't much.

11:30 Zac and I head to bed.

scenes from the weekend 3/12

Okay, scenes from the weekend and the big Monday.

Some kitty love.

Chocolate chip banana bread and blackberry banana bread

Painting the horrid paneling in the bedrooms.

new peeps

Not pictured- the lacrosse games gone wrong, date night, garden work, hiking and rock collecting, an older boy getting a job(!!!), and lots of good weather.

On the list this week:

• Spring break! Everyone is off school and Zac is off work.
• Which also translates to project week: garden, painting, chick tractor
• lots of time outside enjoying the nice weather.
• rugby and lacrosse still
• another date night hopefully
• The Lorax- really want to see this. It's one of my favorite Seuss stories. 
• Sleeping in. Please?....pretty please? 

And that's all. It's enough though.  Right now my bedroom is torn apart. We'll probably end up sleeping in the living room. Yes, I think that list is enough.

learning notes this week

I'm hoping to start putting up our learning notes each week in order to make myself a little more accountable with my record keeping.  I keep a lot of notes in my homeschooling notebook, but I find I am always telling myself that I will write it in later and then forgetting.

Read:

• Amazing Dolphins
• Sea Stars
• Jellyfish
• Sea Urchins
• Dark Night
• Monarchs and other Butterflies
• Corals
• Sea Anemones
• Crabs
• Whales
• Dolphins
• Blue Whales
• Corals- different book from above.
• Garfield, lots of Garfield

Science

• collecting butterflies and pinning
• flour fireworks
• exploding egg
• making foam out of shaving cream and glue- very cool!

Watched:

• Mythbusters
• Beyond Survival
• Garfield

Language arts:

• oi + oy sound
• Spelling Through Copywork
• Language Lessons

Math:

• 4 lessons in Saxon 2
• counting money
• date
• time

Spanish:

• Powerspeak 4  lessons

Art:

• drawing
• patterns
• felting

Computer:

• brain pop
• lego.com
• more starfall

Extras:

• fun and fitness
• tap dance
• hip-hop
• library
• animal shelter
• kitty love.
• Restore with mom to buy new stove

This week was a  lighter week, again. We are struggling with getting back to things post vacation and pre spring break.  Also what can I say we've been stuck in the winter blahs. This week we had one day of 70+ degree weather and one day of snow flurries.  Jack has also been fighting off some illness and or allergies this week. 

Jack organized the jingle bells that we were making felt balls with.

the new hobby

A while back I mentioned that Zac has a new hobby.

It is a hobby  I fully support because it gives me things to hang on the wall.  Pretty things.

It's also sparked a lot of learning. We have a poster hanging up  that shows different types of butterflies and Jack would read it, copy down the names and then google them to find more images. There have been books and movies about butterflies.  This past Sunday Zac and Jack went on a butterfly hunt.  They were gone most of the day and came back with three.  Zac let Jack pin one.

Someone is hooked now. They are plotting buying a real net for him for the next butterfly hunt.  In the meantime, I no longer have to buy artwork.