Tag Archive | spring

Geocaching is Infiltrating Our Lives!

I swear I intend to catch up but we really followed through on our pledge to make every day count in May as much as possible. Living in the moment and finding the amazing in every second!!!

May 12-17

We are very blessed with our main penpal… Gammie has become instrumental in our writing and letter practice. We get more letters some months than we can almost keep up with but every one is answered! This newest installment came not only with letters but with a rainy day (and we have had a few) fun craft using pom poms.101_7444

101_7445She has added a new incentive for our school work… sending the girls their own work pages to mail back to her. Echo calls it doing her mail and I am happy to say she was VERY interested in doing it. We actually budgeted in curriculum overview books for the kids this month which includes one for her that she will start later in June or July.

101_7446There was also a new card game … whack a mole in card form?? The kids LOVED it!

101_7447Geocaching is going to be life changing for this family! Now even and every day trip to the store could be expanded to include a treasure hunt as well! We quickly are doing up all the local (walking distance) ones.101_7448

101_7450And on these outings we are finding more and more examples of winter being truly done and gone. After such a horrible winter each and every little indication is so AMAZING!!101_7451

Tuesday Trinity was teaching Echo how to concentrate on her pages…101_7453

101_7454Zander finished ANOTHER journal. Each book has higher expectations of the writer. This newest book means he has to have a title for every entry, the date and around 7 sentences! Anything to get the creative writing juices flowing! Well done Zander!

101_7455Another chapter of Treasure Island later…101_7456

And later in the day we made another trek out into the parks of Minnesota to find more Geocaching locations. This time we took Echo and while she and Mommy did not venture into the wooded area we did enjoy our walk. And met a nice puppy.

101_7459101_7460101_7461Wednesday was full of paper work.101_7464

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Osprey

Osprey

With the boys in the pool in the evening. I am not sure when we will sign them up for the next series of sessions but man are they improving. We honestly  cannot afford the large number of sports a lot of kids are in right now but what we do do seems to be so appreciated lately that I feel like as long as we keep taking advantage of what we can afford and maybe create our own opportunities we will do just fine!101_7468

101_7471101_7478On Thursday we were indoors and watching BBC nature shows. The kids made a lovely poster after.

101_7479The boys assembled some amazing Texas mini lapbooks. The links to these will be in my Texas Resource entry at the end of May.101_7480

More Wild Kratts…

Roadrunner

Roadrunner

And reading…101_7482

And a Dirty Jobs about mosquitoes (I had to share Gavin’s picture… that is one HAPPY insect).101_7483

Emanuel learned about South Africa as well.101_7484

On Friday since everyone BUT the kids and I were out and about I snuck out with Ken and brought them home CHOCOLATE DONUTS! Yup we miss our Tim Hortons!!!101_7485

And I mean we REALLY love the geocaching. I would totally suggest it to any family (or person for that matter) that wants something to do that is really on your own terms. We have downloaded an app for our smart phone but you can get a GPS unit (we want one one day). We have been picking an area that has multiple caches to find and do our best to get them all. We have our own special bag of things we need (that is still evolving and I will share the total list in the future I promise) and try to keep the kids as involved as possible.101_7488

101_7490Nature was out full force as well. Amazingly enough all this was close to Sam’s (ok so we combined a  good trip Geocaching with shopping…). A Saturday well done.101_7495

101_7496101_7497Spring has sprung full force here… and this is our best year yet for taking advantage of it!101_7492

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Seeking Spring

April 7-9

Sometimes it is fun to curl up under a blanket and watch shows together.101_6704

Especially when we have a Wild Kratts to enjoy. That third season is finally out. New animals!!!

Kangaroos!

Kangaroos!

We had a fun spring/Easter themed book to read and draw a picture from.101_6706

And Miss Echo took a dress up break. She is definitely our princess of the day.101_6707

The kids did a venn diagram comparing what we know about Jesus and the Easter Bunny to see what sort of celebrations and such corresponded… things like bright colours and family together time of course.101_6708

Emanuel and Daddy snuck out to get spiffy… brand new haircuts! Though the lady did go shorter than we usually like with our curly haired boy.101_6709

That left the twins to follow suit with showing off their buzz cuts thanks to Daddy!101_6710

That evening we sat down and built our next science kit… a solar car. Sadly the next day when we tried it out it was not very willing to drive. Ken figures some tweaking is required. So I brought out the tiny solar grasshopper we got last year on a steal.101_6711

101_6712On Tuesday we gave a new method of egg dying a spin… Volcano eggs. You mix the dye (liquid) with baking soda using a bit of water, spread it on the eggs like paint and then add vinegar and watch the fizz. We used our plastic eggs that we picked up at Walmart though the results were not brilliant. I need to check into different dyes and the like for next year. The fizzing did please all! Who doesn’t love a good volcano activity?? We found our original instructions on Toddler Approved HERE.101_6714

101_6715Emanuel has started earning arrow points for Scouts. One of the ones they are doing with the den is a puzzle. They each have a part of it to assemble on their own and bring in a couple weeks to the meeting! Exciting!101_6716

We had a lovely sunny day to enjoy and a trip to Sam’s to take so photos first in the sunshine and then off we went.101_6717

101_6718101_67221504131_10152343016001151_4843413224784325935_nOf course after that we had to enjoy just a little more sunshine in the backyard… it is a bit of a mucky mess but we managed.101_6729

We have been talking about the religious roots of Easter lately. The kids are starting to grasp the full life of Jesus now and it is interesting to see and hear how that impacts what they figure THEY should do – be kind, share His story, share…101_6730

We had planned to do family photos but with the snow still apparent I settled for some cute ones with the girls.101_6734

101_6737Echo then played in the sun room while the kids took their recess and played out in the backyard. It truly is starting to look like spring… so far.101_6740

101_6739Emanuel had his big wheel out…101_6742

The grass in our dish is starting to grow…101_6744

And we even found time for another chapter of Treasure Island…101_6745

An Easter themed storytime…101_6746

And a Wild Kratts!

Hermit Crabs!

Hermit Crabs!

Spring is here at least for the moment and we are trying to face every moment with a smile and our best intentions. New life, new start, new us!

Even a touch of green outside!

Even a touch of green outside!

Family Fun Day!

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??101_6557

So instead we worked on enjoying not only what we did on the weekend…101_6558

But new art to draw thanks to Art For Kids (link on right)…101_6559

And afternoon snacks. With our regular schoolwork and some together time, not a horrible start to a new week.101_6560

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.101_6562

101_6563Emanuel, 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

The willing (?) model

101_6570101_6568101_6565101_6567101_6566101_6569101_6574101_6573With 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).1911826_10152315251561151_1646132086_n

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!10001506_10152315112311151_1792976729_n

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?1981844_10152315842191151_1355485129_n

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!!!101_6561