March 8-12

Another weekend, another series of visits. Saturday afternoon/evening Ken and the boys went to a sleepover at Joe and Faithe’s. Total boy time. That left Echo, Trinity and myself to dinner and a rather quiet evening of a movie and popcorn.

Oh and dress up!!

We have some fairy hackers coming along it seems.

Trinity and I even took some time to start her Hello Kitty scrapbook.

And at bedtime we called Daddy to say good night.

With our ride gone overnight there was no Sunday school for us. Just some quiet play time before we had to get ready to go out.

Ken and the boys picked us up around lunchtime so we could head over to Aunty Judy and Uncle Jim’s for a visit. And to return their now fixed computer. Robbie and Jessica were there also, along with all sorts of puppies, a kitty, ducks… fish… and so forth.

We had pizza for lunch and hung out until almost dinner time. It was a great visit on a beautiful day.

Monday was the last session for the  twins’ first set of swimming lessons. With all the weather delays we actually went almost a month late. So the next session that we decided to schedule all 3 boys into gives us only one week grace to get Emanuel’s swim gear ready. They are all very excited to get to it. The twins have a little more work to move out of the beginners group to advanced beginners. But they are learning and loving it. Which is all we can ask!

Trinity was so excited… she completed her first addition AND subtraction book! With minimum tears and fuss no less!

With all the visiting and excitement we had gotten behind on our Art for Kids (HERE) drawing instructions so we had an art session using a variety of the newest ones.

We had penpal letters to illustrate…

And India to learn all about… a light lesson as sadly EVERYONE was getting sick.

Oh and I have to share our follow up on Paul Bunyan! Quite the interesting legend and a perfect chance to discuss how a story can be real or really cannot. I used two library books:

• Paul Bunyan by Steven Kellogg
• The Story of Paul Bunyan by Barbara Emberley

We had three worksheets from Education.com:

• Tell Fact From Fiction HERE
• Coloring Page HERE
• Write a mixed up fairy tale HERE

We are finally seeing some spring like weather… Perfect opportunity to go out in our light clothes and scrape some of the muck off the driveway. Now let’s not get too excited about this sudden warmth… it IS Minnesota and spring is not something winter allows easily here!

Ken and I got around (finally) to assembling a long forgotten shelf and organizing our school stuff even further. Organization is always a calming influence on my soul I swear! And now with some labels thanks to my Christmas present from Ken I even have some spiffy LAMINATED labels for three of our section. The kids were impressed by the fact that they could now SEE some favourite games and puzzles on the bottom row and keep better track of their workbooks.

Pre labels

I am loving the bigger boys helping the little kids. Their reading skills have smoothed out enough that at time they will VOLUNTEER to read the other two their workbook assignments!!

Ken and Trinity did our grocery shopping for the day on Wednesday… and Trinity made sure to come back with a special treat just for me! So sweet!

We finally got around to decorating our Valentines Day folder. It is also more full than expected! But everyone had a blast colouring hearts and messages on our folder.

Of course Echo had to bring out our 100 day markers and draw us up something nice. I think the past 100 school day have had their rough patches but were honestly very nice!

We are forging right on through the weeks with school mixed with fun! March is certainly following February’s lead!

January 6-10

The weather has gone cold cold cold… so cold in fact, that it has been declared ARCTIC! SO of course we had to try the boiling water thrown into the freezing air. Yes, instant steam and an impressive sound to boot. Ken was the adventurous one who ventured outside to do so. We also did up New Year’s Resolutions and pictures of some of our favourite Christmas moments in our journals. We did ATTEMPT a balloon left out in the cold but we did not see a dramatic change in its shape sadly. It was worth a try. The kids and I did an afternoon movie in bed – BRAVE! It was fun to snuggle and hang out together in our own little world. The twins also did another Christmas related drawing from Art for Kids. Seriously, click on their link on the right and enjoy the free art lessons! The next day we started storytime up again. I am determined to keep us reading. We lucked out over Christmas and ended up growing our book collection and of course there are always random stops at the library to find some seasonal gems. And lately, our day is never complete without a fairy! With all this cold weather we decided it was time to take on our next Little Passports country – Mexico! I did order some extra books from the library:

• Mexico in Pictures by Janice Hamilton
• Mexico by R. Conrad Stein
• Christmas Traditions Around the World by Ann Ingalls
• Countries of the World: Mexico by Beth Gruber

And of course we used Activity Village (search under Mexico) for some print outs.  We found this great Animal Planet show – Treehouse Masters. After watching a few episodes the boys decided to create some joint masterpieces of their own using their imaginations and Gavin’s art book.  On Wednesday Trinity figured she would come up with some dreams for 2014 and did an amazing job colouring the page up afterwards. In fact, everyone did some winter or New Year’s themed papers. All printed out from Activity Village (link on right). Emanuel and I took on reading about dinosaurs from a Christmas present. I have sorted through all the books I could in the house and have put everything dinosaur into a box. I am hoping we can vary up our dinosaur learning. Of course I still have backlog to share once I get off my bum and link everything up and all that fun stuff. Emanuel’s love of dinosaurs has not faltered. We are just reaching the end of our easily researched dinosaurs. Time to get more creative!  We had more storytime and more treehouses. Both Wednesday and Thursday. As well as a closer look at the amazing microscope bought with Christmas money. I cannot wait until summer when it is easier to get specimens for slides! Ken and the kids took on one of their new science kits and cracked open the magnet box.  We also got a good start on Chinese New Year. This year we are making a poster with our findings again. Lots of books and online hunting. This is one of the kids’ favourite celebrations. And this year it is the year of the horse.  With cousins coming Friday afternoon we rounded off our school week with the creating of our own ice rink. A really simple craft you can find HERE. We also made our own little critters out of magic clay and spent some time discussing how they would skate together and play.  Treehouses of our imagination… magnets… Chinese New Year… add in some interesting government stuff to accomplish – American passports, Social Security numbers and various medical appointments for Ken and we are keeping our 2014 active and exciting!!! 

And we keep on reading!

November 18-20

We started our week with the final excavation of our Egyptian treasure. Very Pharaoh oriented!

We learned about clipping coupons for our grocery unit. I am not sure they really understood what the deals were that they clipped BUT they did know that it was a good thing and could save you money to get more food or better things. Oh and that they expire.

Our Thanksgiving themed craft was thanks to Activity Village… A Thanksgiving Tree made using our hands! You can find the activity HERE. Anything that works to remind us how we need to appreciate what and who is in our lives is on the list for our Thanksgiving unit. Last year we worked on the actual history, this year we are working on the EMOTION behind the holiday.

That new computer set up sure is coming in handy with our new rule of no games until after 3pm. Lots of grouping together to work on games. We just need to find a way to get them some sound!

We had an amazing package show up on our doorstep from Sharon in Canada. She sent the kids all they need for a movie (Turbo) and cookie night and yours  truly some of her favourite chocolate bars – Coffee Crisp!!!!!

Our Tuesday had us separated into TWO groups – Echo and myself for our quiet morning at home with cartoons, cleaning and crochet…

And the rest with Nana and Daddy in tow went to their fieldtrip at Herb’s Service Station where Nana used to work.

They had a blast, everything from fixing tires to checking out the carwash to riding on the lift! What a treat! They ended it with hot chocolate and were home for school in the afternoon.

On the Wednesday the kids had another chance to learn with Nana and helped her make cookies from scratch. There are so many opportunities to learn from other people out there and when we have the chance we just have to grab it – not only did they read the recipe, help measure and mix but they also were able to spend special time with their Nana!

Of course we had school to do as well. Emanuel is now able to read to others some… it is amazing to see two of the kids sitting together and enjoying a good book!

I ended my day with a little festive drink. Ken and I got a mini date – a solo run to Sam’s Club for groceries and I was able to grab a small container (1L) of egg nog. I am the only adult in the house who likes it, but with a little milk added both Echo and Trinity enjoy a sip or two!

Definitely an excellent beginning half of a week!