Monday, December 29, 2008

Snow Days


This is what our kids got to do for most of their Christmas break. We got an unusually large amount of snow or our area and they got to ride their quad for two weeks in the snow. They played so much that they wore themselves out and wanted to stay in the house at about day 5. They pulled each other around the yard about 1000 times. They had a total blast for their break. It is back to school soon though! Yes that would be their Dad laughing when Addison hit the fence. Such sympathy.

Thursday, December 11, 2008

Christmas Cookies!

We had to take a break from school and have our annual Christmas cookie baking day.

The day that we destroy the kitchen in the pursuit of those yummy soft, and sweet cookies.

Addison & Logan are great cookie bakers. They love the eat the dough, the cookies and the frosting. It is a wonder we even end up with any cookies at all!


We had a lot of fun making the mess. It is all worth it for the memories. They tasted great by the way! Merry Christmas.

Thanksgiving Crafting


For Thanksgiving we decided that the table needed to be a little more festive this year, so we found some fun crafts to do together.


We went to our trusty crayola.com and found some fun projects. We made corn silverware holders and mini turkeys.



We cut, and cut and cut, and then did a little gluing. That means a lot glopped everywhere. They were fun to do and were great on our Thanksgiving table

Space Mobile


We have begun studying space for science now and are having fun learning about our great solar system. We have learned that there is no air on the moon, the temperature of the sun is 10,000 degrees Fahrenheit, and that Venus is dry and hot. That kids have really enjoyed learning about all these things. We decided to make a moon and stars mobile, courtesy of crayola.com.

Saturday, November 1, 2008

Crafting with the cousins!



Today we had special visitors today, Cousin Matthew and Cousin Spencer came up to visit. The kids had so much fun running around, jumping on the trampoline, and playing dress up (pirates and swords and stuff, ok there was a little Barbie too). At the very end we decided to make our spooky marshmallow mummies. This was just a little sugar chaser to all the Halloween candy. The recipe is posted below.

Marshmallow Mummies
18 large marshmallows
6 thin pretzel sticks (2 3/4 inch)
1 box fruit by the foot
black decorating gel

Thread 3 marshmallows onto each pretzel stick. Unwrap fruit snacks (do not unroll) and cut rolls in half horizontally to make 12 rolls of long strips. Unroll strips and remove paper.
Wrap fruit around marshmallow, leaving a small amount uncovered for the eyes. Add dots for eyes with the decorating gel. Enjoy!

Wednesday, October 29, 2008

Going I-Viking!


We learned about the Vikings in history and had such fun learning about this interesting people. When the farmers left Scandinavia to find a more hospitable land the search or journey was called "i'viking". So now when we go exploring we are going to say we are to go "i'viking"! We also learned about Eric the Red with his hot temper and funny sense of humor (naming Greenland). I bet the people sailing with him wanted to give him a good smack upside the head for leading them to such a desolate place. We also learned about his son, Leif, and all his travels. For our project we made viking flat bottomed boats. We had fun creating these amazing boats, with their fierce and scary dragons.

Sunday, October 26, 2008

We Love Fall!

Since we take Friday's off from school the kids thought it would be fun to go out and enjoy the day. The kids decided it was a good day to jump in a leaf pile. The day was nice, the wind was blowing and the leaves were falling. Granted our trees are only 3 years old so the amount of leaves they drop is minuscule, but Addison & Logan were determined. They racked, scooped and even kicked leaves into a pile. They even picked up leaves by hand all in the pursuit of that cherished childhood activity of jumping into a big pile of leaves. This is what they were able to come up with. It may be small in the scheme of jumping piles, but it was still fun.

Wednesday, October 22, 2008

Recess Time with Dad!


This is one of the ways my kids spend their recess time. With their Dad, making them push him on their toys! They love it! I am not sure who's the child and who's the adult!

Mt. St. Helens


Today we went to the Mt. St. Helen's Visitor Center and learned about volcano's and mountains. Growing up in Castle Rock, I lived through the mountain blowing and realized that I had never told the kids about it or taken them to see it. So, this week we were studying about mountains and volcano's for science and I thought it would be fun to go and learn about a real one right in our own backyard.


We watched a very neat movie about the mountain and and Harry Truman. There were statues made of ash and stumps of trees that had been blown over by the force of the blast. The kids loved the model of the mountain that you can go inside and see a lava flow.

We did not go up to the mountain, because this is Washington and it was socked in with rain. Maybe in the summer we will take another field trip up there. So, we went on the interpretive trail at the visitor center. The kids had so much fun running on the trail and reading about the lake. Spencer came along with us and had fun doing "school" with us. He even drew a great picture of the lake.


Then he was pondering going in the lake! I don't think my sister would have appreciated me bringing her child home covered in muck and weeds.


The trail was very fun and had a lot to teach us about a lake environment. We even got to see a few ducks. We got them to stand still long enough to take a cute picture of them with their own trees.

Tuesday, October 14, 2008

Trying to Think


I once had a critic of homeschooling actually say to me that home school kids will not be prepared to go to college and sit in a classroom with tapping pencils and people whispering because they won't be prepared for the noise. I have here before you a video of what the noise level is like during our homeschooling. Now if my kids can learn anything with this kind of noise going on, then I think tapping pencils and whispering will not be much of an issue!
I thought I was going to pull my hair out as the teacher. We had to call in the noise removal squad just so we could hear ourselves think. (You have to love Dad's who come to the rescue and remove 6 month old noise making gremlins.) Happy Homeschooling!

Monday, October 13, 2008

Halloween Treat


Tonight for family night we decided to make a Frankenstein cake. It was oooky spooky, and oh so delicious. We had so much fun, especially when we cut Frankenstein into piece and Logan informed that the monster was dead, because it was "just a cake". If monsters taste this good, then count me in.


Frankenstein Cake
1 boxed cake mix
1 can white frosting
1 can chocolate frosting
Green Food Coloring
2 tootsie roll midgies
1 peanut butter cup
2 red gumdrop slices
1 orange gumdrop slice
1 large marshmallow
4 Candy Corns
Prepare cake mix according to package directions, baking in a 9X13 pan. Cool cake. Mix green food coloring into white frosting. Mix and spread on cake for the skin color. In a pastry bag (or cut a hole in the corner of a ziploc) and pipe on the hair, scars, and chin. Cut marshmallow in half and put on 1/2 of one red gumdrop for the eyes. Smoosh the remaining red and orange gumdrop slice for the nose and mouth. Use frosting to make the candy corn stick to the mouth. Slice the peanut butter cup and place the midge and peanut butter cup for the bolts on the neck. Slice and enjoy a bit of monster.

Thursday, October 9, 2008

Fall Break!


I have learned from more experienced homeschool moms that a week break in October is vital to saving our sanity. We are having our break this week and I thought it would be fun to show what the kids have been up to. With a long break they have reved up their imaginations and had many adventures this week. They have worked on thier fort in the field, explored for dinoraur bones, been rock collectors, lego builders and corn meal matchbox maniacs. They have had a lot of fun playing together this week and mom has enjoyed having some downtime. I even managed to get two books read! Yippee for me!

Tuesday, September 30, 2008

Hot Lava

< Today for Science we learned all about volcanos. We learned that some are active, some are dormant and some are exstinct. We live in a land of volcano's and Mommy even survived the Mt. St. Helens. We live somewhat close to Mt. Rainier, which at the moment, is dormant. The kids had a blast creating their very own volcano's. I have posted the directions of how we did it below. Try it out and see what happens.

Homemade Volcano
You will need:
mason pint jar or clean soup can
dirt, sticks, rocks, and leaves
vinegar
red food coloring
baking soda

Build up dirt around the jar or can to create a mountain. We did ours out in the garden, but you can use a tray and clay to create a more realistic version. Use sticks, rocks, leaves, etc. to make it look like a mountain. Fill the jar 1/2 to 3/4 full of vinegar. Put in about 6 drops of food coloring. Srinkle in soda and watch it bubble. Keep pouring in the mixture until interest is gone, or the vinegar.

Thursday, September 25, 2008

Austrailia & New Zealand


This week in History we learned about the people of the land down under, Australia and New Zealand. We read a story about a little boy who ate moths and bats for snacks! Fruit snacks have a whole new appeal now. So we made "Moth Mix", I have put the recipe below.

Moth Mix-(from History of the World)
1 bag microwave popcorn, popped
1/2 c. peanuts (the moths)
2 T. Honey
Pop the popcorn, then mix in the peanuts and honey.
Stir and enjoy a sticky treat.



We also learned about the Maori people who discovered New Zealand. It is thought that they came from the Polynesian Islands. So we painted the kids like a Maori warrior. We were suppose to paint their faces, but the kids were not up for that, so we opted for the arms.

Sunday, September 14, 2008

L is for Logan!


AAAHHH the joys of summer harvesting. Logan has had so much fun with our garden this summer, weeding, digging, and picking. He came running to the house the other day with a special bean just for him. It had grown into the shape of an L. As Logan is learning his letters righ now it was a perfect for him to find this very special bean! You just never know what suprises you might find when you are in the garden.

Wednesday, September 10, 2008

Indian Sand Art


This week in History we learned about the Gupta Dynasty of India. One of the projects to do was to create sand art. People of the Hindu religion hang a welcome picture made of sand on their doors at the New Year holiday Diwali.

You Will Need:
Paper
Glue stick or White school glue
Colored Sand (purchase at craft store or add food coloring to your own sand and mix)

Draw designs on your paper and write the word welcome. Trace all areas with glue and sprinkle sand over glue. Shake excess sand off your design and let dry. Hang in your front hall or on your bedroom door.
We got this idea from the Story of the World Activity book by: Susan Wise Bauer.

Learning the Seasons


This week in Science we are learning about the seasons and the weather. We made this picture of a tree in all four seasons of the year. The kids and I went outside to collect different kinds of leaves for the seasons. Thankfully it is the beginning of fall so there were all colors, red, greeen, and yellow. We got the idea from Crayola.com (their version has you using different colors of curling ribbon, but we modified some of them with real leaves because they were available.)


Thursday, September 4, 2008

Candy Oasis














Today we were learning about Bedouins and the desert of Saudi Arabia. We made an edible oasis out of brown sugar and candy. As you would assume the kids LOVED it! Logan was bouncing off the walls for the rest of the day because of pure sugar shock. It was still fun.


Addison could not wait to take a nibble. Ready, Set, Go!


Logan was really proud of his creation.

Monday, September 1, 2008

Edible Earth Food Craft


Last week we studied the Earth and all the layers inside the Earth. We had fun learning about the crust, mantle, outer core, and inner core. For our project we made an edible Earth made out of oreos, rice crispies and marshmallows. The recipe is listed below for anyone who wants to try it out. It was tasty!

Edible Earth-From American Museum of Natural History
13 Marshmallows
1 maraschino cherry, stem removed
1 T. butter
2 C. rice crispies
1/2 c. creamy peanut butter
8 oreos

Directions:
1. To make the inner and outer cores:
Use a butter knife to carve out the middle of one large marshmallow. Insert cherry into the center of the marshmallow (the cherry will be Earth's inner core, and the marshmallow will be the outer core.) Put aside.

2. To make the mantle:
One the stove or in microwave, melt the butter. Stir in the rest of the marshmallows until melted. Remove from heat and stir in cereal. Cool for 5 minutes.

3. Wet you hands with water. Then roll the cereal mixture into a ball around the core.

4. To make the crust:
Use a butter knife and spread a thin layer of peanut better all over the mantle. Then put cookies inside a sandwich bag, close the bag, and crust the cookies into crumbs. Pour cookie crumbs onto a plate. Roll your Earth in the cookie crumbs until all the peanut butter is covered.

5. Refrigerate for 20 minutes. Remove from refrigerator and slice your earth in half and admire the layers of inner core, outer core, mantle and crust.

6. Eat!

Sunday, August 31, 2008

Celtic Warriors


This past week we studied the Celts in history. We enjoyed learning about these people and their lives and habits. We learned that they were fierce fighters and defended their lands at all cost. They even painted themselves with blue paint to intimidate their enemies. We decided to make battle axes and Celtic brooches and cloaks. They had a lot of fun running through the corn being Celtic warriors.