Home Grown Hearts

Starting the new year.

Well, I decided to start this year a little early. I wanted to be able to relax and take our time doing things. This year it seems that I have too much on our plates....I signed the kids up for several field trips, Kiera, Kodi,Jacob, & Piper signed up for scouts, and we also signed up for several homeschool activties (some of which I will be teaching!  Yikes!). Our homeschool group is doing an ancient civilization study class, which will be sort of like a co-op....so I kind of had to participate. So, I REALLY have to get myself organized!! And then of course Kiera has dance, Kodi & Jacob have swimming, and Piper will be starting Irish step dancing lessons this year too!!

Some other subjects we will be doing this year are: a cooking & sewing class...this is just with our kids and only twice a month (on Sat.); every Tuesday I am taking the three oldest to the grocery store to do 'Grocery Cart Math'; for science we are going to do lots of dissections and experiments; I went with a daily geography curriculum (not sure if that was such a great idea....I may have to stretch it out to two years); I would like to finally get the kids to learn to play the piano (I mean the thing has only been sitting there for 2 yrs!)...so this will probably be taught by myself (and 'no' I don't have any experience playing the piano...I used to play the clarinet in school though); and Wednesdays will be our homeschool 'co-op' day, where we will spend most of the day with our homeschool friends.

So, hopefully we can get a foothold on our regular 'relaxing' days, and then when it comes time to add in our busier days we should be able to just slip them right in without any problems. Wishful thinking right??

Well, wish me luck.....

What a blah two weeks its been....

Ever since we finished schooling and my oldest daughter finished public school, I just don't have any energy to do anything.

Maybe it's because of the heat. Or it could because our sunroom is finally finished and most of the furniture is in.....it was such a long battle to get this room finished (and done right!), that I think it's kind of like when you have a rush of adrenaline and the feeling you get after the adrenaline passes. That big let down, that feeling of being drained of your energy. Yeah, that's the feeling...

Anyway, the past two weeks haven't been a total loss, I have accomplished some things....for example: I have almost everything we need for next year. I also have the first month scheduled, in detail of what I want to go over. I decided to only schedule month to month because last year I tried to schedule the whole year and ended up failing miserably.

So this year I am only going month to month, so as not to overwhelm myself .

The next thing I need to work on is getting a craft/work table set up in the kitchen (our new sunroom is now our dining room)....I just need to find a table that is not too big or too small (anyone seen the three bears?? They probably have what I need ).

I guess that's what I need to do, to just take things one project at a time...because Lord knows I have plenty to keep me busy for the next fifty years!  .

Caterpillars, butterflies and MORE caterpillars...

Well, we released the butterflies that we raised from caterpillars. But before we were able to release them they decided to 'get busy' and thus we ended up with approximately 100 eggs (they actually lay between 300 & 500 eggs...we released them before they could leave us THAT many!).

So instead of leaving the eggs outside for nature to take its course....we decided to try to raise the next generation. Well, yesterday they started to hatch.

I am truly amazed at just how tiny these little guys are!

I couldn't get a close up shot of the little guy so I had to use a magnifying glass! That little guy is about 1/16th of an inch long. Amazing!!

I am hoping that they will survive.....at least have enough of them survive so that we can possibly share some with our other homeschool friends.

What a show!!!

Well, our homeschool show was awesome! The kids did such a terrific job, I am so proud of all of them! The afternoon show for the seniors went well, although Piper (4yo) decided she wanted to hide her face in her costume...but all-in-all it went very well. The evening show Piper did a much better job. Kodi sounded beautiful, and Jacob did a great job as a storyteller.

Riley (5yo) was a little disappointed that he didn't get a costume...so maybe next year I will have him be in the show. I thought it would have been too difficult to have both him and Piper in the show. For me that is!...keeping them in line has been difficult, and then with Barbie...well, let's just say she's all the bad behavior of all the kids rolled into one! Quite a handful, even strapped in a stroller! So maybe next year she will be a little more doable for Piper and Riley to be in the show (I can dream can't I?? ).

Anyway, here are some pictures of my kids in their costumes:

Kodi: Mommy Sloth

Piper: Kid Sloth (she did NOT want to be called a 'baby sloth")

Jacob: Storyteller #2

They're Free!!!

Well, we released our butterflies....of course, not fast enough to keep them from laying eggs. So now we have about a hundred eggs in a jar...waiting to raise the next generation into butterflies. Kodi was very excited when I told her we could keep the eggs. I also asked her if it would be ok to share them with some of our homeschool friends....she thought that would be great.

Here is a picture of Kodi trying to get the butterfly to sit on her nose:

So that was our adventure for part of this week. The rest of this week the kids are working on their show, which will be performed for the seniors this morning and then they will do another performance for our families this evening. It should be lots of fun. The kids have all worked so hard on this and I know that they are going to do a wonderful job!

Butterflies, Butterflies, everywhere.....

Well, one week after the butterflies changed into chrysalides (plural for chrysalis....see you DO learn something new everyday  ). they turned into butterflies!! Kodi was so excited when she saw them. So we now have 9 beautiful butterflies. Here is a picture of two of them:

I was hoping to release them about a week or two after but the weather has been a little too chilly, and I was afraid that it would kill them.  So they are being wonderfully cared for by my daughter Kodi. It is so fascinating to see them eat...their long probiscus uncurling and sucking up the sugar water that is so carefully placed on a paper towel for them. And then as quickly as it comes out it curls back up.

I also noticed that after two weeks that they are starting to mate! Yikes!! What will I do with all the eggs if we don't get them released? Guess I better find some leaves so if they do lay their eggs we will be able to put them outside before they hatch....although I am sure Kodi would love to take care of more butterflies. But nine butterflies? How many are females? How many eggs does ONE butterfly lay? I really don't want to think about it.

I will keep you posted.....lets hope for warmer weather to come REAL soon!

Well, I did it...I ordered for next year!!!

It was quite a trying few weeks. Researching what I wanted to use for next year. I think english gave me the hardest run. I decided to go with both! We are going to use Cozy grammar and Christian Light Education for the three oldest (and of course the little ones can sit in on the Cozy Grammar videos).

I also decided to go with CLE for math too. Rod & Staff was nice but a little too dry for us. I did like BJUP but my kids (and myself too) like workbook style learning better than textbook. It seems to take the kids way too long to do their work if they have to write everything out, so workbooks it is!

For science and history I have things around the house that I haven't used up so I will piece some things together for that.

Then I decided to have the kids learn sewing and cooking so I went with Future Christian homemakers handbook. This curriculum was written to be used for a homeschool group (or for more than one child) so I may even open it up to the homeschool group....which would be a HUGE step for me!!

For the younger ones I really wanted to go with Winter Promise, but I still think they are a little too young for something like that (plus they can't sit still to save their lives, so that would have driven ME crazy!!). So we are going to do Explode the Code, and Singapore math...and they can join in when we do our science, history, & cooking (at least for as long as it holds their attention ;o).

So all in all I spent around $690....and for 5 kids I don't think that is too bad.

Butterflies....

My daughter Kodi (10yo) absolutely loves butterflies and caterpillars. All last year she was outside with her butterfly net and bug box trying to catch butterflies (actually she was catching  pretty much anything that had wings , well not anything THAT big...but you get the idea LOL).

So for Christmas she got one of those butterfly kits....you send away for caterpillars and raise the caterpillars into butterflies. She started out with 10 caterpillars, unfortunately one was very tiny and he didn't make it (she named him pipsqueek). So now we are down to 9 little furry creatures.

It is so cool watching these things start out so small and in just one day they get HUGE. It has been a week since they arrived and they are now into their chrysalis stage. As soon as they are all into their chrysalis stage we will transfer them over to the butterfly pavillion so they can emerge into butterflies.

Here is a picture of one set of the caterpillars that have changed into their chrysalis stage:

We did this a few years back and when we released them into the wild they fluttered around the back yard and the kids were actually able to pick them up and hold them for awhile. Some even stayed for a few hours on the deck! I am hoping that they do that again so I can get pictures.

Choosing curriculum for next year.

UGH! Sometimes I really hate this part of homeschooling. Picking out curriculum for next year. I am torn between a language arts curriculum called Cozy Grammar or a Catholic language arts curriculum.

Cozy grammar is expensive, but it is reproducible (so I can use it for the rest of the crew....6 kids so technically it is worth the expense). It is a DVD program that comes with a workbook. The lady is really sweet & funny who created this program, and the video clips look interesting. I think it will work for all my kids different learning styles. But I am trying to figure out if it is a complete curriculum. And I don't want to spend that kind of money on something that may need to be supplemented with other things. It's hard to tell by the website whether it is a stand alone, complete curriculum.....I know, I should just email them to find out.....hey, I haven't gotten to that point yet ;o)

Now the Catholic curriculum (which is by Catholic Heritage)....that one is nice. Not as flashy...just a regular workbook format. It is basically an independant program (not teacher intensive which I like). It is much cheaper, not reproducible (so I will have to buy new every year) and may not work for all my kids different learning styles.

I'm pretty much set with the other subjects (thank goodness!). Language arts is the only one I am stumped on. Which is actually a first for me.....usually I have several that stump me. So maybe I am getting better at this curriculum thing.....guess we'll see next year!

Oh yea, and I am still wondering about whether or not our oldest will be homeschooled next year......do me a favor will ya? pray that God hits me upside the head with a two-by-four with his answer on that one. Because that's another dilemma I'm having trouble with too.

UGH! And I thought getting the portfolios together every year was hard! 

Yahoo!!! An unscheduled Wednesday!!!

We finally had a Wednesday where we had NOTHING scheduled  woo-hoo!!

So, we took the day off from schooling. JC did his morning workout, then ran some errands. One errand was to take our dog to the groomers, and boy did she need it!, Poor thing looked like she had mange, her hair was coming out in clumps (normal for being half German Shepherd). Plus her nails were long and she kept slipping on the hard floors. What difference a good grooming does for her, it makes her look 10yrs younger (and she's 13yo).

Then we packed a picnic lunch and hit the park (the guys who work there are starting to know us by name LOL). We brought bikes for Jacob, Riley & Piper, and Kodi brought her inline skates (and of course we had our helmets....can't forget about that after safety day). I took Barbie for a walk in the stroller twice around the park. Our park isn't huge but it is nice and shady, with a path that goes around the perimeter of the park (maybe about 1/2 mile in length). We especially like the basketball court....it's fenced in and the kids can ride their bikes in there (and we don't have to worry about them riding too far ahead).

Then we headed home and relaxed!! FINALLY! A relaxing Wednesday.

Safety Day....

God sure is spoiling me....because again we have another wonderful day. Our homeschool group had a safety day set up (thank you Joanne!), where the kids learned about fire safety, police safety, and bike safety. So we went early so we could have lunch and play for a little bit.

The Sheriffs department sent out two wonderful officers. They finger printed the kids, and gave a wonderful talk on stranger danger, not to play with weapons, and not to touch drugs. They gave out badges, magnets, and stickers. The kids were so thrilled, and had so many questions for the officers.

The fire department brought in a fire truck, lots of coloring books and information booklets. They set off the siren on the truck, showed the kids all the compartments on the truck and let the kids sit in the truck....how cool is that ??!! They also had a firefighter in full gear to show the kids not to be afraid of the firefighter...seeing what a firefighter looks like in full gear, its no wonder kids are frightened. And towards the end of the firefighter's talk they got a call...so they had to race out of there (sirens blaring and everything!).

The the bike safety lady taught the kids the hand signals that they would need when riding on their bikes. She also showed the kids the proper way to wear their helmets.

It was such a wonderful day.

Another lovely day!!!

Well, I just have to say I am loving the weather lately! I just hope it stays this way for a while (a little rain here and there is ok too ).

Today was dance class and an impromptu drama class....all of us from the drama class are new to putting on our own play so we have realized that we need more practice dates. Live and learn right?

The kids are doing really well, considering this was their 2nd class.....now we have to get cracking on the costumes. Anyone know how to make a sloth costume?? Ha ha, just kidding. I think we have a pretty good idea of what we are going to do...we just have to get the materials.

I brought Piper with us because she wants to be in the play....I don't mind, except that she doesn't listen very well, so I really am hesitant to let her do this.  But I will make her a costume just in case. I hope she does get to be in the play, because I know she will have a ton of fun.......guess we'll see .

After the morning classes, we all went on our monthly run to BJ's. Not too bad this month...I managed to keep to the list . We were saddened by the fact that our BJ's has gotten rid of the snack bar...it's going to be replaced by Subway!! Yuck!

We always looked forward to getting some juices and pretzels after shopping, then we would sit at the snack bar tables and relax for a few minutes. The rest of the day was spent putting groceries away, and doing chores.....but of course we had to get in a little park time. By the end of the day we were beat!

 But what a glorious day it was! 

What a glorious day!!!

Monday was another busy day! The kids had drama practice at 12:00, so I decided to pack a lunch and arrive early at the park so we could eat before class. It worked out pretty well, by the time we were finished our lunches the other families were arriving. Kodi & Jacob went in to rehearse the play and I took the other little ones outside to play. The day was beautiful!! It is still a little cool, but with the sun out it warmed us right up.

I let the kids play for a little while, and then we all decided to go for a walk. The park has such a wonderful path for walking. Piper and Riley were a little tired during the walk, but they made it around with a little coaxing. By the time we got back to the class, the other kids were almost finished and they were raring to get out and play!!

After the rehearsal our homeschool group had their monthly meeting, so while the kids wore themselves out, the moms got to chat. We talked about portfolios, plans for next year, and activities coming up. I had such a wonderful time that I almost hated to leave. But Kiera was coming home from school soon, and Jacob had his tiger scout meeting later on....so we packed up and headed home. I can't wait for another park day.

Weekend fun....

Well, after the snow storm that disappeared as quickly as it came...the weekend was upon us even faster. We ran out on Thurs or Fri. (can't remember which one) to get a birthday present for a friend of Kodi's....which the party was on Saturday. No surprise here that we went out at the last minute to get a gift, which seems to be the norm for me lately (MAN! I have GOT to get myself into gear!).

Anyway, the party was a blast....they had a band there and they were pretty good, considering it was only two boys and they were only 10-11 years old. The one played drums and the other played bass guitar. Anyway, they had the songs playing in the background (mostly for the vocals), but you could definitely hear them playing their parts. 

The food was great, the kids were pretty well-behaved considering all they ate was sugar!!

Then on Sunday, we went to Gram & Pop's house for an early Easter celebration. We had lots of wonderful food, and conversation. The day turned out to be beautiful!! So we spent much of the time watching the kids rollerskate, ride bikes, or hit a ball around. And of course there was an egg hunt.....it is such a riot watching the kids scramble around looking for eggs that, for the most part, were right in front of their noses!!

By the time we got home we were exhausted!!

Snow??!!?!?

  Well, our usual busy Wednesday ended up being a nice cozy day at home with the family. We woke up to snow on the ground and it steadily got worse from then. By 8:30am it was a blizzard outside (about 4-6 inches on the ground)...usually by 8:30 we are on the road heading to our dance & drama classes (we were actually planning on having a picnic after drama??). So, of course the classes were cancelled. Which is perfectly fine with me....I hate to drive in the snow, even with 4 wheel drive I hate to drive in the snow.

  The kids were a little disappointed, until they saw it snowing harder...which meant they could go outside and sled (thank goodness I am not on task...I was supposed to put their snow stuff away a few days ago).

  So Kodi & Jacob went sledding/snowboarding from around 9:30 until 11am. They came in for lunch, and by 1:00 the snow was pretty much gone. The sun came out and it all was melted by dinner time....pretty weird weather.

  Kiera came home from school (our only child that is in public school), and told us that it snowed so hard this morning that the bus had to pull over on the side of the road and wait out the blizzard (the roads were pretty bad). She said they sat there for almost 2 hrs!! Guess that bus driver needed a vacation after that experience!!

 I sit here and think...what if I had all my kids in public school??? They ALL would have been sitting on the side of the road for that long. I think I would have freaked out if that had happened (especially if it had been Riley). Now, don't get me wrong, I think it was smart of the drivers to pull over......but I couldn't fathom my special needs, 6yo child sitting on a bus for that long. And he probably would ride a regular bus with no seatbelts, and 30 other screaming kids......he would not have been able to handle that situation (not sure that I would be able to handle that either...God bless those bus drivers). 

Yikes!

The Inventors fair!!!

  Well, today was the inventors fair, and I think it went pretty well. There were 9 inventors presented and our inventor was George Washington Carver. Kodi and Jacob did most of the project themselves, with a little help from me (next year I told them they get to take the reins and do it all themselves! ). Jacob helped with putting the poster together, but he isn't one for doing oral reports so Kodi did that part. This was our first time doing this, so we were a little more nervous than others, but overall Kodi & Jacob did a great job.

  We had a poster, a hand out, and some sweet potato potato chips.....I didn't want to bring peanut butter, for fear that someone might be allergic to them. So since GWC found over 100 uses for sweet potatoes, I brought chips instead.

  We went first, which worked out the best b/c that way if the younger ones got cranky then I wouldn't have to worry about leaving Jacob and Kodi to give the presentation. I was amazed that Piper (4yo) actually sat through all the presentations.....if you knew Piper you would know how amazing that is. It's complete coincidence that her name rhymes with a word that can describe her; HYPER  (that being said with complete affection ). 

 Riley sat at a table and just ate....we heard that one of the best parts of these fairs are the treats eveyone brings, which we found to be true! Riley could have cared less about all the presentations,he just wanted the food. Of course he paid attention to one presentation and that was only b/c they brought out a balloon for their experiment.......balloons are one of Riley's favorites. Unfortunately, they also can cause problems for us, b/c Riley thinks that all balloons & balls are his for the taking. But lucky for us this was a good day for him, and he was able to walk away from the balloon.

  I had Barbie in the stroller, and she lasted pretty long too. I had to take her outside a few times, but overall she did pretty well. I've been pretty lucky with keeping her in a stroller, but I'm not sure how long that is going to last....b/c she's got new sneakers, and she knows how to use them!!

 The fair was held at our township building, so afterwards we went outside for lunch and to play in the park. It was a little chilly but the sun was out to warm us......it was a such a wonderful day.

Here's a picture of Kodi & Jacob right as they were about to do their presentation:

Weekend....

It's the weekend and although I probably won't blog much on the weekends, I did want to blog b/c this weekend was a special weekend for us.

On Sunday it was Riley's 6th birthday & Kodi was having her first Communion!!

We had a small party for both.....just a few close relatives came to celebrate with us.

   Kodi's communion service was a bit long but that was to be expected since there were a lot of children having their first communion. We decided to bring all the kids with us to the service. Sometimes we put the little ones in the babysitting room during service so we can have some quiet church time, but we wanted to make this a family event so we brought all the kids into church.

  The younger ones were pretty good considering how long the service was; although I did end up outside with Barbie b/c she just couldn't handle it.....but she did last through most of the service. So unfortunately, I missed seeing Kodi receive her communion, but I'm sure she did a wonderful job. She looked so beautiful in her dress........oh my, she is growing up so fast!

After the service we headed home to eat, eat, & eat!! And of course to have some yummy cake! Riley looked so excited as we sang 'Happy Birthday' to him. I had to keep the cake away from him until we finished the song, b/c he was so excited he would have blown out the candles before we finished singing!!   

For those that don't know; our son Riley has special needs....and every year he blossoms just a little bit more. This year he has learned to write letters & words on the chalkboard, he is starting to add & subtract, and he is a whiz at computer games. And just tonight he and his 4yo sister learned how to share! I know it sounds trivial to some but to those who know what it's like to have a child with special needs this is a HUGE milestone.....especially when it is your special needs child who is telling you he is sharing!!     

Riley is such a sweet child, and he has taught us so much. Much more than we could have ever imagined.

Thanks for reading!

Too beautiful to be inside.....

  It was just too beautiful to sit inside and work, so the kids spent most of the day outside in the beautiful weather. They did things like skating, playing in the dirt, talking to neighbors, and playing on the playset. Kodi decorated our driveway with chalk.She loves to make a town on our driveway (from roads and buildings to bridges and trees...it is quite a sight).

 Then they came in a did some work on the computer...we have some pretty cool "computer" games (shhh! don't tell the kids that they are really educational games). Some are about bending light, making electrical currents, or figuring out puzzles. Riley and Piper really enjoy the Zoombini game and they do pretty well with the science ones too. Jacob likes the football game, and Kodi was helping Riley & Piper out with their games.

Well, that was our day.....tomorrow is supposed to be an even nicer day. Maybe we'll go to the park and go on a hike, and check to see if spring is peeking out yet on any of the plants/trees. Ahhhh, don't ya just love homeschooling??

Wed.....our normally jammed pack day...

Because Jc has off on Wed., we normally schedule appointments on this day so we don't have to drag all the kids with us. And trust me when I have to bring all the kids to a doctor appointment, that's usually the appt. that we end up sitting in the waiting room for over an hour (and the kids end up acting like this:      ).  

So Wed. we don't usually get much schoolwork done......but we believe everyday is a learning day. For example; we got home from our morning errands and Jacob sat down and started reading the Time magazine. I didn't tell him to, nor did I think he ever read that magazine...but apparently he does .  Next thing I know, we are talking about global warming (the headline story on this weeks Time mag).....so yes, even though we don't plan schoolwork, we can still learn something.

Anyway, this morning Kodi had dance class and then right afterwards they had drama class. Barbie had a Dr. appt this morning so JC took Barbie and Riley, while I took Kodi,Jacob, & Piper to the classes. It went pretty well, Piper did get a little bored but she was pretty good for the most part. Then afterwards we had lunch and played at the playground.....it was a fun time. I got to chat with adults (yea!), and the kids got to run off some pent up energy.

The homeschool group we are in are putting together a play that we can perform for family and for a local senior center. It is about animals in a rainforest, and Kodi is a sloth, Jacob is a storyteller, and hopefully we can get Piper and Riley to be army ants and/or sloths......not sure how that will go but can't hurt to try.

 Now I'm off to get Kodi & Jacob to work on their inventors report that they will be presenting next week to the homeschool group. Talk about waiting until the last minute!  Yikes!!

TTFN