Apr. 16, 2009 - It's been a while,
but here's what we've been up to....
We went to the zoo with a wonderful friend and her 4 kids. So, us two crazy Moms braved 8 kids 8 years and younger. It was lots of fun!
Here's Mason eye to eye with a Komodo Dragon.
Some cool Komodo Dragon Facts:
1. They're the largest living lizard.
2. They were thought to be a myth until 1912.
3. Their saliva is filled with bacteria. If their prey doesn't die immediately, infection will soon set in. Komodo's trail the injured animal until septicaemia sets in and kills it.
4. Komodo's mate for life, a rare behavior of lizards.
5. Indonesia is the only place to see Komodos in the wild.
The kids got plenty close to see this peacock's gorgeous tail.
Such a magnificent sight---it reminds me what a God of order we serve. That he would so intricately design each eye feather with such uniform spacing. Not only can a peacock deploy his tail feathers, but he can also make them vibrate and produce a characteristic hum--music to it's creators ears, I'm sure!
I love this little guys camouflage.
Our most recent nature walk, with our great nature loving friends.
The older boys are creating a habitat for a beetle.
Lots of hanging bird nests. Most likely these are Oriole pendant nests, but we did not see any Orioles that day. We did see some American Robin and Geese.
• 0 Comments • Post A Comment! • Permanent Link
Apr. 9, 2009 -
We've had a late winter in Colorado. With all the recent snow we used the 'rain gauge' we built at 'Lowes build and grow clinic' to measure snow instead. We filled the gauge up to the 1.5 line.
We waited for the snow to melt.
And after about a half hour we noted that our snow had shrunk in half--from the 1.5 line to the .5 line. 
Here is Proud Payden practicing his I's, with little brother Logan to cheer him on.
• 0 Comments • Post A Comment! • Permanent Link
Mar. 25, 2009 - Wordless Wednesday
• 0 Comments • Post A Comment! • Permanent Link
Mar. 24, 2009 - ?? Math Curriculum ??
Seeing as how this our first year homeschooling, we aren't very seasoned with the pros and cons of each curriculum. This year I am using Saxon 1 for Math with Mason (5 1/2 yrs. old.) I feel Saxon reviews too much for him. We are choosing between 1. Singapore Math 2. Math U See or 3. Horizon Math for next year. I'd love to hear anyone's opions/experiences with these.
For the past 6 weeks I have been doing lessons with our 4 year old, Payden. I am following the ABC Jesus Loves Me curriculum. He has thoroughly enjoyed it, and is making huge strides in learning. I also attribute this to him turning 4. Here's some of the fun activities we've been doing to teach him his letters.
Play-Doh letters
Drawing letters in sand or salt--here we used couscous.
Letter matching games involving cutting, matching and glueing.
Daddy had the weekend off and took the boys to an open space in our neighborhood to fly their new kite. It took a while, but once they got it up it was quite hard to get down.
• 1 Comments • Post A Comment! • Permanent Link
Mar. 20, 2009 - Anyone else think it's strange....
My kids LOVE edamame. They'll eat it by the bag-full--which is fine with me because it's very nutritious. If you don't know edamame is simply soybeans, picked at the peak of ripening befor they harden. A half cup of this yummy snacks packs 9 grams of fiber---the same as about 4 peices of whole wheat bread.
If you read our blog reguarly than you know Mason has gained an interest in space/spacecrafts/NASA etc. We headed to a free day at the Denver Museum of Nature and Science and Mason had a blast in the space center.
More pictures from the Museum:
Our tadpoles arrived today. This is their habitat. We'll keep you updated as they grow...
• 1 Comments • Post A Comment! • Permanent Link
Mar. 10, 2009 - If you haven't heard...
Mason got glasses! Turns out our little scientist is going to start looking the part.
With the weather (really the whole winter) being so mild where we are, we decided to make the drive to Boulder and hike Red Rocks trail. Now, going in we didn't realize this 'hike' was in fact scaling a mountain. Or, we probably would have left the two 30 lb. babies, strollers, sick children, and our terrible directions at home. It was indeed funny--I'm sure, watching my friend and I lug 9 children, 6 of them under the age of 5, up a rocky mountain side. It was, however, a fresh breath of God's beautiful creations.
After our recent field trip to LASP (Laboratory for Atmospheric and Space Physics) Mason has become very interested in 'Kepler,' their spacecraft launched on March 6th. We found a Floridia news station that had the live NASA audio stream--very cool!
Kepler made its entrance into space after being in the works for 28 years. The planet-hunting spacecraft will be on a three and a half year mission looking for planets similar to earth, with parent stars like our sun.
Today, oddly enough, it snowed. As glad as I am that we don't live in the mountains anymore, I was secretly hoping for one or two last snowfalls this winter. We found these icicles in our backyard and brough them in to see how long it would take for them to melt ( we also needed some rainwater for our venus fly trap.)
44 minutes---much longer than I would have guessed.
Here's some facts about icicles the kids and I discussed:
*Icicles are formed when water freezes and expands.
*Icicles are usually found on the sunny side of a building because the sun's rays melt snow or ice.
*The melted water is pulled down by gravity, refreezes, and forms an icicle in an inverted cone shape.
Here's the latest addition to our fun. Our Venus Fly Trap. The kids have been enjoying feeding it. We've learned they way they attract their food is by the color inside the trap, as well as an inviting smell. Since there aren't ( I hope) many bugs in our house, we've been feeding it ground turkey, turkey bacon, or lunch meat.
and.....
On a side note, here's Mason with the fish he caught at The Bass Pro Shop catch and release pond. Payden caught one too, but Mommy left with the camera---opps!
• 1 Comments • Post A Comment! • Permanent Link
Feb. 26, 2009 - A change of pace
While Mason was doing great with the Phonics Pathways reading curriculum, I saw the need for him to memorize 'sight words.' So ( in the beauty of homeschooling) we put the book away for a while, and have changed directions to learning sight words. We start each week with six new words from this list (FYI the words begin on page 152) and build on the ones from the previous weeks. We've used a few different fun ways for him to work on them, such as:
* Sight word BINGO
* Snowball fight --the words are written on crumbled up peices of paper and tossed with a partner.
* Basketball--played with the same papers as above, if you can read the word you get to attempt a basket.
* Painting sight words
* Hide and Find---if you find one, and can read it you get a prize. Our prizes were raisins.
* Hopscotch---sort of, we made a large grid with the words in chalk on the driveway. Each player took a turn by tossing a rock to a word and reading it.
We're started a new artist and composer study. The kids painted 'The Wanderer above the Mists' by Caspar David Friedrich, while listening to Hungarian Rhapsodies No. 2 by Franz Liszt.
Our last beak in our continuing winter bird study was the water strainer. Here's Payden illustrating how they work. We're now moving onto bird feet.
This is sweet Logan, who said to me "It's ebwefing gween day Mom."
• 1 Comments • Post A Comment! • Permanent Link
Feb. 16, 2009 - We love nature walks
Off to a Colorado State Park today, it's only 5 minutes from our house, and we love it. We also love the 60 degree weather in February--wish it wasn't leaving.
As soon as we got there today we saw a male and female Red-winged Blackbird ( we just recieved our plush one from Audubon in the mail.)
The kids learned how to count the rings of a tree today.
Reflecting....
So cool to see them learn together.
While walking we saw a Magpie Bird and two gorgeous Bald Eagles.
This isn't our picutre, but it's exactly what we saw. I couldn't get to the camera in time =(
Even Mya had fun exploring.
• 2 Comments • Post A Comment! • Permanent Link
Feb. 11, 2009 - Wordless Wednesday---and a belated Birthday wish
Happy Birthday Payden!! Our sweetheart is 4!
• 1 Comments • Post A Comment! • Permanent Link
Feb. 10, 2009 - A windy winter day at the zoo
We headed out for some learning at the zoo on Monday. Although it was much windier than we anticipated we found shelter in the Birdhouse. That must have been the Lord because, they were doing a beak demonstration---exactly what we've been learning about!
The kids were able to hold different bird skulls and check out the different types of beaks.
It was a little chilly for us, but perfect weather for Penguins.
Beautiful Duck Pond
A water strainer beak---the last beak we will be learning about...onto feet!
A thirsty Elephant and excited kids.
After her drink, this Asian Elephant began making deep, loud, heavy breathing noises. We all looked at eachother wondering if we had angered her. After a minute or so she let out a gigantic trumpeting noise--scared the socks off ALL of us!
• 0 Comments • Post A Comment! • Permanent Link
Feb. 6, 2009 - I love Valentines Day crafts
Here's Mason's bird journal drawing of the Red-winged Blackbirds we saw at the Children's Museum. They're kind of bumpy because he drew them outside (gotta love the 67 degree weather in Denver.)
We talked about the 'seed cracker' beak today. Here's Mason's Northern Cardinal.
We've been busy adding some Valentine crafts to our desk work. We made these out of pipe cleaners.
We also tore up some construction paper ( very good for strengthening little fingers =)
Next we glued them onto cardboard hearts with watered down glue and added some glitter.
We then taped them onto some branches we found on a nature walk.
• 0 Comments • Post A Comment! • Permanent Link
Feb. 4, 2009 - The finished project and a field trip
After our recycled paper dried we decorated it for Valentines Day.
The paper is an egg crate consistency. The kids loved this project!
We took the day off Monday to learn and explore at the Denver Children's Museum
I love the beautiful birds we saw out the Museum window. They are Red-winged blackbirds. Mason quickly identified it's insect picker beak. The female looks strikingly different (I thought it was a sparrow.)
Male
• 0 Comments • Post A Comment! • Permanent Link
Jan. 30, 2009 - busy, busy
We've been up to lots this week, since we're trying to play catch up and all. We made some homemade play-doh. We used this no cook recipe and added a little cream of tartar for elasticity.
---If you're thinking the little boy with the Mohawk doesn't look familiar that's because he's not ours =)
We learned about another bird beak today--the nectar sipper. Here's Mason's drawing.
He also drew the tree we've been drawing according to the seasons---here's winter
Not the greatest drawing he's done, but to his credit it was freezing, and Mom may have been urging him to hurry for her sake =-) When I presented him with the sentence 'Winter is .' He said " A wonderland" so that's what he wrote.
We also made recycled paper today.
* First we cut a newspaper into long thin strips.
* Second we packed 1 1/2 cups of the strips into a clean glass jar.
* Next comes hot tap water 3/4 of the way up the jar. After shaking you let it sit for 3 hours, stirring with a wooden spoon periodically.
* After it's creamy and pasty it goes into a blender with 3 Tablespoons of cornstarch dissolved in hot water. Blend it, and then pour it into a baking pan. Place a metal screen on top of the mixture in the baking pan, then gently push it down into the pan until the mixture covers it. Bring the sceen up, place it on a sheet of newspaper, and press it flat with the palm of your hand to squeeze away the water. Let the screen-backed paper mixture dry in the sun for several hours.
Ours is still drying. After it's dried we plan on trimming the edges with scissors and allowing the 4 creative minds here to decorate it.
I'll post the finished product and the kids drawing of the procedures soon....
• 0 Comments • Post A Comment! • Permanent Link
Jan. 26, 2009 - Beaks, nature walking, fish and some crystal hearts.
We've been trying our best to get back into the groove after the holidays, vacation and adjusting to watching a little boy 4 days a week for 8 hours. Although we've been getting back on track with school I'm still lagging behind with blogging! Here's Mason's drawings of the next three bird beaks we have learned.
. 
We took a nature walk with friends last week when it was 65 degrees. Here's the 9 kids between us throwing stones across the frozen lake---they made a really cool noise.
We saw some prarie dogs--here's ones home.
This is a dead fish that was very decomposed. We could see each individual round scale.
Always a beautiful view!
We did some learning at the Sportsman's convention in Denver. They had learning stations set up for kids as well as an indoor catch and release tank, bike course, and casting center.
Yesterday we did an experiment to make 'crystal hearts.' You can find it here.
Aren't they pretty? We used red food coloring, but must not have used enough. If you are going to do this experiment the amount of Borax is not specified, you need quite a bit. We used close to half the box.
• 2 Comments • Post A Comment! • Permanent Link
Jan. 18, 2009 - 75 hours in the car to see loved friends and family...
We took a break for a last minute trip home to Findlay, Ohio and Pittsburgh, Pa. This was the first time we've drove, but I actually prefered it to flying. Driving was much less expensive and stressfull-- oh, and much more educational!
Brett's family is in Ohio, and all live very close. We loved seeing most everyone. His Dad, wife, and kids made the trip up from Georgia, which was a great surprise! Although Mya was not feeling well in Ohio she started to perk up at the end. We also all took turns with a stomach bug, but thankfully it didn't last long---or get shared with the others there.
My family, and some of Brett's family lives in Pittsburgh. My brother and his family drove in from Ohio and My sister and her husband came from Michigan! The kids loved seeing the city--even though it was freezing, and seeing family they've been missing.
The Lord had us in his loving, and protecting hands. It's truly a testimony of his grace that our kids, all under the age of 5, sustained that much time in the car- pleasantly. He also allowed us to notice our tires needed replaced before we got on the road for 24 hours home. He supplied all our needs on the trip and we are so thankful!!!
• 3 Comments • Post A Comment! • Permanent Link
Dec. 23, 2008 - Getting ready for Christmas...
MERRY CHRISTMAS!
We hope your homes are filled with the love this season, as we remember the the gift our loving God gave us on Christmas Day!
• 1 Comments • Post A Comment! • Permanent Link
Dec. 17, 2008 - Wordless Wednesday
• 1 Comments • Post A Comment! • Permanent Link
Dec. 15, 2008 - Birds...
We've been learning about the various bird beaks, and how our amazing God suited each bird with a beak specifically designed to be the best tool for the food it eats. So far we've done the Insect picker and the Hooked beak---
We did an experiment today to observe this. For our beaks we used spoons, two popsicle sticks (chopsticks,) and tweezers.
We hypothosized which beaks would be best for which items. The kids took turns using their beaks to pick up toothpicks, marbles, and pennies.
Other updates at our house---
Mason is reading beautifully. Today he learned his "Th" sound.
Mya is walking
Logan is potty trained
Payden can spell his name
• 0 Comments • Post A Comment! • Permanent Link
Dec. 15, 2008 - Christmas Spirit Award
Lovely Christin passed this on to me, sorry it's taken me so long to respond!
There are some rules with this award:
*You must be a true Christmas lover to receive this award.
*The person to whom you give the award must also be in love with Christmas.
*You must link back to the person who gave you the award.
*You must list 5 things that you love about Christmas. If you can’t limit it to 5 things, then keep going till you run out of space! :o) Pass the award along to as many people as you like. That can be 1 or 45; it’s up to you. But, you must pass it on to at least one person in order to keep the Christmas cheer going! Let your recipients know that you have tagged them by leaving them a comment on their blog.
Five things I love about Christmas:
* Getting together with family---we always have a big family Christmas party. Growing up we had our own play. My Mom would bring a big bag of sheets, scarfs, and old belts all 30 cousins would particapte--until you got too old, then you narrated. My husband, kids, and I moved 3yrs. ago--we sure do miss the party.
* Starting holiday traditions with my family
* Watching Christmas movies
* Thinking of baby Jesus, and teaching my children of the light he brought to the world for everyone.
* The excuse to make lots and lots of cookies :-)
I'm passing this on to dear Audrey from my Mops group, and my NC friend Keelie----Have fun ladies, I look forward to learning more about you!
• 0 Comments • Post A Comment! • Permanent Link
Dec. 8, 2008 - Making baby Jesus haystacks...
We got this idea off the Christmas Unit Study we're doing. It was a great time making them with the kids and talking about what a 'manger,' 'inn,' and 'stable' are --I realized they were quite confused. Mason said "I thought baby Jesus was born in an inter and manger was the spanish word for hay?" Aparently we need to scale back on the spanish time,and up our Bible time--LOL!
You have to use your imagination---the marshmallows are supposed to represent baby Jesus
Reading seems to have really clicked with Mason. He's reading sentences like these...
'Jenny has a rusty penny.'
'Andy has a fuzzy kitty.'
'Gus gulps ten big sand mints!'
'Ben felt jumpy and sick.'
...even reading his brothers a few Level 1 reading books.
The other BIG news at our house is Mya is walking! She's up to 15 steps. I couldn't figure out how to flip the video---sorry!
• 1 Comments • Post A Comment! • Permanent Link
<- Last Page • Next Page ->
