June 3-5

We had some very exciting moments when the mail called for Echo to get a pair of scissors… one look at her smile and those child safety scissors in her hand and I sent Trinity and her long and seemingly TEMPTING hair in the opposite direction. Together we were somewhat successful.

With 4 scooters in the house and the hunt for a 5th ongoing the kids are really working together to share and teach EVERYONE how to ride them. I think we lucked out with the 3 wheel version I found Echo at a garage sale. Definitely a confidence builder for her so far!

We continued our week with a walk first thing in the morning to the nearest park. It was quite the walk, we had to avoid the usual walking path and bridge with all the rainfall… too many bugs and the water levels everywhere are so high it seemed smarter to walk the roads there. We spooked a bunny… they are all over the place this spring…

And then we played our hearts out at the park. It is so nice to go and have Echo able to handle herself pretty much solo now!

Super exciting… we managed to assemble our Texas binder! You can find our resource page HERE. I did not link all the books we used but have listed titles and authors. I am always amazed when we go to assemble at the actual AMOUNT of stuff we have completed to put into our books. This will definitely not be our only time visiting Texas as a topic but we certainly enjoyed our first experience.

We also had a run to the mall on Wednesday… errands coupled with education about water tables…

AND geocaching in the sunshine!! Ok maybe more playing in the sunshine but we did find at least one!

So much nature!

Echo decided to round off our day with officially starting our Canada overview. After all what is July 1st but CANADA DAY!

The weather so far has been so accommodating that on Thursday we were finally able to go to the rather well known Minnehaha Falls. The water level was SUPER high so we did not do the whole circuit. But we saw some amazing vantage points.

Got to enjoy the beautiful green everywhere while we Geocached…

And even dipped our feet CAREFULLY in the water. The current was amazingly strong all over the place and a portion of the river where you could normally wade rather far in really wasn’t overly safe.

But it was gorgeous!

After all that sunshine it was back home for another journal completed! Well done Trinity!

I love looking back at these days and portions of weeks and seeing just how much enjoyment we are taking from all aspects of our days! This is going to be a summer to remember.

March 24-26

The 23rd ended with a lovely birthday call to my dad catching us up and just generally reminding me of how much of a Daddy’s Girl I always have been and always WILL be. Half a country closer is not close enough but it is nice!

Warm fuzzies gave way to MORE snow! Come on Mother Nature!!! Can we please have that spring now??

So instead we worked on enjoying not only what we did on the weekend…

But new art to draw thanks to Art For Kids (link on right)…

And afternoon snacks. With our regular schoolwork and some together time, not a horrible start to a new week.

Our Tuesday was quiet and full of written work. We are trying to write more stories, reflect more… talk about things more… and of course continue reading together, alone, to each other. Cooperation is something we are really working on, an patience of course.

Wednesday was a special day – FAMILY FUN DAY! Which meant first doing our basics (spelling, math, reading) and then moving onto games.

Emanuel, Trinity and Echo got creative and found all the little hats they could find and the Easter Egg Bunny that they got last year from Gammie and cornered me to take pictures of a bunny hat fashion show! It may not have been hugely educational but it WAS highly adorable!

The willing (?) model

With the bunny done showing off its amazing runway skills it was time to head out for the FUN portion of our day – a trip out to Sam’s Club. The kids LOVE going there… samples, wandering the aisles, talking prices (the twins are starting to catch some of the prices as deals or expensive).

We rounded off our day with a great Freecycle find – a toy chest for Echo and Trinity’s dress up and doll clothes. It needs a little work but that is what a good weekend is for!

I figured it was also a great time to bake a box cake. After all kids who are freshly over a cold and have been working hard on their schoolwork need a  good snack, right?

We are all feeling much better this week! And now the countdown is on to Uncle James’ birthday and HIS birthday call. I miss my brother and his family!!!

July 15-16

Thus another week starts… AND we are back to our summer half days, for all 4 of the 5 who are schooling. That is one of our bigger changes, the moving of Trinity from just walking in and out of schooling into being a part of planning and portions that are consecutive and repeated.

First things first, time to check on the budding beans… one week later and there had been some growth in both cups thankfully!

We had some journaling time (Trinity had to get Gavin to help her draw the pictures on her new t-shirt from Nana and Baba).

And some story time…

And of course made our poster (finally! OOPS!) for the month of July! I do love seeing what they associate each month with.

I love that also to be included in what you see in July is EMANUEL!

We had the added excitement of a lost front tooth! I figure it adds to the total adorable package that is Emanuel!!!

In fact, we were on a half day roll! I love when they all find a spot in the room and really focus on their learning!

Trinity even had a completion! She and Emanuel have the added goal of getting all their “on the go” workbooks completed before the fall so we can bring out a whole new set at a new and higher level!

This completed playset is an absolute joy, as I have mentioned in the days prior to this. Though with Echo and adult really does have to be out with her to supervise.

And after Echo’s went to nap we got out our paints and our Home Depot unpainted crafts and the kids got down to it. I prefer painting outside… easier clean and the fresh air is nice too!

With a Wild Kratts to watch… we now know much more about the hummingbird! (I think the kids are angling for feeders when we move)

We lucked out in the evening, while on the playset a bunny came through the yard – lucky for the kids… not so lucky for our gardens! Though they do not seem overly interested in the onion garden.