(This entry is dedicated to my good friend and honorary Roots and Wings member, Jen Glover...)

Kelsey Creek Park in Bellevue is a delightful place for children.  Wide open spaces to run around, a barnyard petting zoo with a variety of animals, a playground, and an old pioneer log cabin makes for a fun and engaging environment to explore.

Our homeschool group went on a field trip to learn about what life was like during the early years of the pioneer log cabin.

We were blessed with the most perfect day weather-wise.  (That's my claim and I'm sticking to it...)  Farmer Jayne began by sharing with us the differences in lifestyle amenities between pioneer and modern times. 

Farmer Jayne read a condensed version of "Little House in the Big Woods".  She then went around the cabin explaining all the activities the kids could participate in.

Grinding wheat...

Writing on chalkboards...

Working with dough...

The wheat, coffee, and butter station...



Playing with building blocks...

(Gulp) Hammering nails, and pumping water...

Doing laundry...

Making paper quilts...

Jen D. and I took the kids to Central Park, a neat park on the Issaquah Highlands.  The weather was kind to us, and we were able to get some good play time in before the errands!  I got to watch April's girls all morning, so they joined in on the fun!

To be a kid again...

'F'; I just wanna squeeze those cheeks!

'G', riding a "bike"


KK and 'R'

'A2', cute girl!

'A1' is a mountain goat!

Our Tuesday Time this week was with Suzy and her kids.  We had the added bonus of Kathy and gang as well!

Suzy and I decided to do a service project at church and weed the front garden.  It was fantastic weather and the kids enjoyed seeing how long of a root they could pull up.

AJ and his bounty...

Sweet 'T'.

Taking a break in the shade...

Five full buckets of weeds!  A job well done!

Creating compost out back...

Teamwork!

A well deserved picnic at the park after...

'AJ2' and 'G' teeter tottering...

Look who I got to see!!  My friend Kim and her girls were visiting from Minnesota.  I had not been able to get together with her, so it was great to be able to visit at the park.  Baby 'T' is adorable!

Coincidentally, some other friends were at the park as well.  Mandi brought a bubble machine and the kids went crazy!

For our "Tuesday Time" (on Wednesday), we took the kids to Kelsey Creek Park.  They are doing some major creek rehabilitation and the kids enjoyed looking at the heave construction equipment.

Kelsey Creek Park had a petting farm, with horses, cows, sheep, goats, pigs, etc. 
The kids with a goat...

(I don't remember what day this was...)

Linda taught a lesson on Ecclesiastes 3: A Time for Everything

Ecclesiastes 3

A Time for Everything

 1 There is a time for everything,
       and a season for every activity under heaven:

 2 a time to be born and a time to die,
       a time to plant and a time to uproot,

 3 a time to kill and a time to heal,
       a time to tear down and a time to build,

 4 a time to weep and a time to laugh,
       a time to mourn and a time to dance,

 5 a time to scatter stones and a time to gather them,
       a time to embrace and a time to refrain,

 6 a time to search and a time to give up,
       a time to keep and a time to throw away,

 7 a time to tear and a time to mend,
       a time to be silent and a time to speak,

 8 a time to love and a time to hate,
       a time for war and a time for peace.

('A' was a time to kill :))

('R' was 'a time to build')

Fo more pictures from this day, visit our Roots and Wings board.

Our group took a field trip to the Pacific Science Center.  Read about it here.
(Aside from witnessing two groups of high school girls (I assume on their own field trip) beat each other up in the Seattle Center Food Court, it was an awesome day!  Security was quick to respond, thankfully...)

See what we did this week!

See what we did this week!

'R' trying to balance items on his head, just like the 'Cat in the Hat'...

See what we did this WEEK!

See what we did this week

See waht we did this week!

More pictures on our co-op site!

Our homeschool co-op went on a hike this week!  The weather had been nasty all days, except for the one we hiked.  What a treat!

Little Miss 'V' as a Christmas tree!

The boys...

Our break on the big rock...

See what we did today! Monday School

Swim lessons in the afternoon, then a friend's birthday party in the evening...

Today, Linda hosted our group.  The theme was 'red light/green light' foods.  (red light are foods to be eaten sparingly as a treat, and green light foods are the ones that we make the majority of our diet.)

She began with a game of red light/green light.  The kids had to crawl to her, as she held up the red (stop) and green (go) cards.

Then, she had the kids circle 'red light' and 'green light' foods in the grocery ads.

C3 showing us the 'green light' foods...

C2 showing us the 'red light' foods...

While half of the kids were working on the food project, the other half were listening to a story...

Linda prepared a nice snack stray of 'green light' foods...

The kids indulging...

The newest member of RNW...baby N., with mom, Kathy...

"T" and "E"

"M", "J", and "R"

Linda and her princesses...

Today, our co-op went on a nature hike in Twin Falls State Park.  Our intent was to find two letterboxes that were planted along the trail.  We were unsuccessful in finding either, but had a terrific time, nonetheless.  It was a perfect Autumn day, coupled with hot cider and popcorn trail mix. 

Part of our group attended.  Missing were Liz and her kids ('A' had surgery), Kathy and her kids (visiting relatives), and Megan and her kids (on modified bed rest)

Me and my boys

Enjoying the river...

Since we could not find the letterboxes and their stamps, I brought a couple to stamps to stamp in the kids' journals to record this trip.

'A' with C1 and C2 on top of the rock with the face...

Looking for the first letterbox...

Today was the first day of  our 'Roots and Wings Homeschool Co-op'.  We are a small group of eight moms, with 20 children.  We will be meeting every Monday for two hours, alternating moms serving as the teacher.  The focus is on social enrichment and extracurricular activities.

Today, Sundy taught the kids a couple of songs during circle time.  They made homemade journals and their own personal stamps (made from erasers).  These journals will be used for next weeks activity (my turn) when we go on a 'letterboxing' hike.

(Letterboxing is an activity that combines the traditional treasure hunt , using rubber stamps and journals.  It is an activity that can be for the whole family and letterboxes are planted all over the world.  It is similar to geochaching, a hunt that requires a GPS system.)

(Special thanks to Linda for being my photographer until I get a camera...)

Circle Time

Here I am carving out a pattern on an eraser.  Hey, forewarning...if you are carving out a stamp that has letters, make sure you carve the latters backwards!!!

Sundy and kids

Showing off their journals

After school, I took the boys to Target for clothes.  I realized they don't have any long sleeves shirts!  After that, we did a Trader Joe's run, then swim lessons.

What does a Stay at home mom do all day anyway?!?!