Here is a robin's nest the kids found while tree climbing yesterday. Great time for a nature study.

And I just got 2 great books on Nature. I bought them at BPS. Now I usually won't spend this kind of money on books, but I love these.

And this one too: More Fun with Nature

The red book here features a mini book inside called

Birds, Nests and Eggs

Both of these books are comprised of many little books.

After each segment there is a craft activity or experiment, and scrapbook pages

so you can add your own pictures.

This next year I hope to do one nature study every 6 weeks.

Then in the Spring we may do a couple months just on nature studies.

We had some work done to our deck. One of the main problems with the deck was that in order to get to the bottom deck or back yard, you had to exit the deck through the carport and walk around. The only other way was through the house.

The old deck 

Another big issue was that underneath it always stayed filthy from the rains. So we really never got to enjoy this area. Any furniture would be covered with pine needles and dirt.

The addition to deck as seen from the carport.  The deck was actually enlarged to a full rectangle and then the perch was added for the stairs. I wish I had a picture of this area before.

Yes you can see the new wood and old wood. We have alot of staining to do this fall. 

The stairs. 

View from the back. We plan to cover the ground around it all with rock later.  So all the area surrounding the deck the stairs and flower beds will all be rock. (Making dirt obsolete.)  

Then I plan to plant some nice plants and fountain grasses etc. in the area. And we will bring the furniture from upstairs down under here. Oh and we will be pressure washing that chimney too.

"We "meaning my dear husband.

As you can see it is covered. So now this area will be free of rain etc. (We still have a few more sheets of this vinyl stuff to add and need to do some caulking. ) We will also be adding a gutter. So my cushions on my patio chairs will stay dry and I don't have to take them in every day.  

I'm excited about getting it all finished, getting some new furniture upstairs and

us really being able to enjoy this space. (Isn't it funny now how rooms, porches and patios are now referred to as "spaces".  I think I watch too much HGTV.

Now doesn't that back area by the brick wall just seem to be calling out for a hot tub?

I think so too..

A couple weeks ago I threw together a quick garage sell. I noticed my neighbor had stuff laid out the night before. So I did a fast scramble for a few items. I did pretty well and made $85.00 in just a few morning hours.

DD also sold a couple toy sets and made $45.00. That evening we went to Build A Bear with friends

and this is how she spent the money. An added blessing was that she has a $10.00 off coupon.

                                      It doesn't make any noise but she did get it this cool Ipod so it could listen to tunes. 

  She also bought Beremy a small friend for it. 

Here she is with all her Buid A Bears. She has the original Heart Hugs bear, then she got the Spring Blossoms Bear, and this is the Summer Rainbow Bear. She wants to get the fall and Winter bears too.

Now before you think she is really spoiled. You have to know that she sold a lot of toys to get these.

Here is what she gave up (and I no longer have cluttering up my basement.)

A Play kitchen, with alot of food, dishes and shopping cart.

A huge Doll House with all accessories.

A small doll house with people and accessories.

A My Little Pony Butterfly Island with many ponies a case and accessories.

A My LIttle Pet Shop with critters and accessories.

She still has the My Little Pony Castle with many ponies and accesssories that we

plan to advertise soon.

So all these toys/ all that room, and now just 5 little bears! I am all for it!

Today we went to a local park. The rangers there led us on a canoe trip. We had a good time. I imagine that tomorrow I may feel the toll it put on my arms. It wasn't too terribly hot so it made it enjoyable.

We had a great time at the park this past week.

Our Little Hands art group met this month. We went over cool and warm colors. I had the children divide their papers in 1/2. On one half they drew something with cool colors and on the other half something with warm colors. 

So now I am trying to post part of my to do list. We have officially ended one school year and won't start back until the 2nd week of August. Giving us a much needed 8 week break. This will allow us to take another 8 weeks off during the school year.

To Do:

Finish Homeschool Blast contest unit.

Keep Vision Therapy appointments 5 more weeks to go.

Take the kids to the pool. (Research if we should get a pool pass or not this year.)

VBS this week. I am leading 2nd grade.

Order Grammar Punk -done.

Get story cards and whatever else may be needed for program.

Research stains. (Keep researching deck stains.) I am about to pull my hair out over this one! Sigh.

Build a rock garden in the back.

Wash and stain the deck.

Get new deck furniture for up top.

Get a basic 6 week plan ready for Homeschool units to begin in August.

Order other curriculum for next year. (RR and Amazon)

Order shirts for Keepers.

Order materials for Keepers.

Finish cleaning back hallway closet.

I will add more later as I cross some items off!

Well our official school week ended last week.
Peyton finished up MUS Gamma, and SOS Language Arts.

Lexi will still work on phonics and reading over the summer.

Peyton will be reading and doing a little math here and there for review.

They are both participating in the Library's Summer Reading program.

They both need to read 12 books.

We plan to hike, canoe, swim, and do alot of playdates.

Mom has her own huge list of projects to do over the summer as well.

This week is our church's Vacation Bible School.

It should be alot of fun.

Now everyone in the family will have to try and keep up with their glasses!

Today we met some friends at a park. They have an area there where you can feed the carp. It was amazing to see them. Literally hundreds of these fish just hang out here with their mouths open wide, hoping that someone will throw them some food.

Diane at Cabin in the Woods gave me this blog award.

So I wanted to pass it on to a few of my favorite blogs that I visit.

http://www.spelloutloud.com/

http://www.homeschoolblogger.com/walkingbytheway/

http://smilewinknod.blogspot.com/

http://aussiepumpkinpatch.blogspot.com/

Yesterday we finished up our last "Official" day of homeschooling for the 2008-2009 year.

We ended our study with Boss of the Plains. (Another freebie and HSS.)

This is a great unit, everything is written out for you, and there are lapbook components that go along with the unit. We learned about Colorado, the gold rush, California, the Stetson hat and the many uses it had and how it became famouse.

Peyton still has a couple lessons to finish up in Gamma and another week of SOS.

Over the summer DD will still do some ETC  and phonics. We will continue with reading, we will play alot of math games, continue our scripture memory/knowledge for the BIble Bee.

We also plan to do alot of swimming, playing outdoors and hit some local attractions.

I will be working on the HSS Blast Unit (Christmas Around the World over the next few weeks.)

We also have many home improvement projects planned over the summer.

I expect to start back around the 1st of August.

(So we will be taking about 8 weeks off during the summer.)

This was just one of the many projects we worked on this weekend.

Here is ds learning how to pressure wash. Dad says it won't be long before he can handle alot more!

While I was decluttering a closet Friday, I found some frames that used to have Ducky prints in them.

Since I changed out my bathroom I decided it was time to sell the old Ducky set including prints.

So it left me 4 frames. I decided to make these scrapbook pages for Lexi's room.

I used patterned paper that coordinated with her comforter colors, and used the shadow and regular font to make the letter bold. I added in some cute scrapbook accent pieces to them as well.

They turned out really cute. I also made it so that the letters would read straight across if the frames were at different leves.  You can see the prints here.

Here it is finished in the frames and hanging on the wall. (I took it at an angle b/c of the reflection but her name really does line up straight across. She loves it and I must say it looks great in her room!

The kids were enjoying popcicles outside this afternoon.

We had a great time earlier this week. We went to tour one of our local TV stations. We went with a group of homeschoolers. We got the chance to learn about how the news is learned and reported. We got to meet the news anchor and the weather man.

Inside the newsroom. 

                                                      Above, the news anchor, below the weatherman. 

                                              Behind the scenes camera man. 

After my first week I was thrilled. I really watched what I ate, and drank alot of water and lost 6 pounds.

At today's weigh in I only lost 1/2 a pound. Well it is better than nothing. At least I did not gain any weight over the past week. I really wasn't able to track my points as effectively because many things I ate I could not figure the points out for. (I mean how much is deer steak?)

I also ended up going to a pizza buffet one day at lunch, and well you know..You gotta get your money's worth once you pay for a buffet meal. I mean $6.00 for 2 little pieces of pizza is just wrong.

So this week, I plan to get back on task. More water, and I want to lose at least one more pound.

That will bring me to the 5% of my body weight being lost. (Plus if I would do some formal exercise it might help.)

I just learned about the Bible Bee. I enrolled the kids just in time.

Today is the last day to do it.

I am excited about the opportunity it will give us to grow in the word and scripture memorization

over the next few months. The contest is held in Septemeber.