Welcome to by blog! I am Becky and have been married for 14 years to my HS sweetheart. We have 5 busy, bouncy, boisterous, beautiful children from age 12 down to age 5. We have been "officially" homeschooling for 6 years but "unofficially" we've been doing it for 12. We finished building our new home this year and now live in the country with 6 wonderfully, spacious acres for our kids to roam and enjoy. Our lives are crazy busy with school, kids activities, church responsibilites and activities, life in general and just trying to keep it all together with my sanity in tact. http://www.homeschoolblogger.com/5rosebuds/ en-us Homeschool Blogger Fri, 28 Aug 2009 21:59:00 -0500 Fri, 28 Aug 2009 21:59:00 -0500   We began our artist study today on Raphael Sanzio b. April 6, 1483 in Urbino, Italy This work is 'The Vision of a Knight' http://www.homeschoolblogger.com/5rosebuds/721792/ Fri, 28 Aug 2009 21:59:00 -0500 http://www.homeschoolblogger.com/5rosebuds/721792/ This last week was our first full week back to 'formal learning.'  As summer vacation creeped closer and closer to an end I found myself feeling less than enthusiastic as I thought of all the preparations I still needed to make for our 'upcoming learning year.'  Our garden, thankfully, kept us busy and exhausted with all the canning and preserving we were able to do.  And to be honest - I was tired! How was I to find the energy to get our ducks in a row?  Well, as usually happens - I have to baby step a little and then the momentum picks up and I begin to get closer to the 'groove' that I desire.  So, it is with great joy and relief that I can say we've complete our first week and we all survived!  There were some rough spots... you know the times when you ask yourself... what am I doing????  (or is that just me?)  All in all, it was a success!  There are so many things to learn and so little time!! Here are some of our highlights: PE in the front yard - playing soccer and running races Finding our monstrous Puffball of a mushroom My 11 y/o saying with surprise "Mom, I actually read more than I was suppose to.  I just got sucked in." (the book he is referring to is "Roll of Thunder, Hear My Cry") My 10 y/o saying w/ enlightenment as he added Benjamin Franklin to his timeline book... "Mom, he lived at the same time as James Watt.  I wonder if they knew each other." Some of the favorite books so far are: Understood Betsy Little House on the Prairie Watership Down The Hobbit Roll of Thunder, Hear my Cry Robinson Crusoe           http://www.homeschoolblogger.com/5rosebuds/721791/ Fri, 28 Aug 2009 21:38:00 -0500 http://www.homeschoolblogger.com/5rosebuds/721791/ We had a cool and unusual find yesterday.... (the pics were taken with my phone - not my first choice - but as for now it is my only choice - better than nothing, right?)     It is a mushroom!  I couldn't believe my eyes.  This is the grandest mushroom I've ever seen.  My husband went out to start up the grill before dinner and as he opened up the grill lid - lo and behold - there were two of these babies in there.  Apparently, the kids who found and picked them thought that that was the best place to store them.  Perfect opportunity for a little 'shroom learning.  In the Handbook of Nature Study we learned that these type of fungi are called Puffballs due to the 'puff of smoke' that you see when you press a part of this mushroom between your fingers.  I think that was the favorite discovery by my children!  This cloud contained the spores.  Mushrooms lack chlorophyl and are, therefore, unable to make their own food.  Mushrooms that feed on living cells from living plants are parasites.  Saprophytes are mushrooms that get their food from dead plants.  Our puffball is a saprophyte.  The most interesting fact, to me, was that the pioneers use to use the 'smoke' from puffballs to stop bleeding - especially nose bleeds. http://www.homeschoolblogger.com/5rosebuds/721386/ Thu, 27 Aug 2009 18:06:00 -0500 http://www.homeschoolblogger.com/5rosebuds/721386/ This is a DELICIOUS recipe that I received from a friend a couple of years ago.  There is nothing so wonderful as having fresh, freezer corn in the winter - and this recipe makes it even better! 10 c fresh corn (cut off the cob) 2 c water 1/2 c butter 1/2 c sugar 1 TBS salt Mix all the ingredients in roaster oven.  Cook at 350 degrees for 45 minutes.  Stir every 15 minutes.  Let cool and put into quart freezer bags.  Freeze. http://www.homeschoolblogger.com/5rosebuds/719782/ Sat, 22 Aug 2009 17:23:00 -0500 http://www.homeschoolblogger.com/5rosebuds/719782/ Wow, it has been a long time since I've blogged!  Thank you Kimalita for checking in on me and inspiring me to get back into the blogging groove!  It is hard after being gone for so long!  I've missed all my friends here and hope that you are all doing well. I'm taking a moment to rest my exhausted body from a full day (or should I say 7 days) of canning.  We got our garden in late this year due to all the rain in the spring.  Our green beans just came in last week and they came in with a vengence.  We were picking 1-2 hours every day and getting 10-20 gallons of beans. My goal this year was to can 120 qts.  Last year I canned around 80 qts. and we ran out in April.  So far, I've canned 113 qts - in one week.  I'm amazed!  God has sure blessed us!  I've also canned several qts. of salsa, 30 qts of pickles, 30 pts of peach strawberry jam, 15 pts of peach blueberry jam, and 27 qts of peaches.   Our corn isn't ready yet.  We had a late planting because our first planting didn't go well.  I attempted to plant some summer squash last week.  I hope to freeze that and use it in spaghetti sauce, soups, and maybe just saute it if my family will eat it...... we'll see. We did have a lot of seeds and plants that just didn't grow because of all the rain we got - none of our potatoes, cantelope, watermelon, slicing cucumbers or dill came up.  Our pepper plants never had any blossoms......that was unusual.  It does feel so satisfying to fill up those shelves with yummy home canned food!  It is exhausting work but well worth all the effort.  It is a great opportunity for my children to work together! http://www.homeschoolblogger.com/5rosebuds/716528/ Tue, 11 Aug 2009 18:41:00 -0500 http://www.homeschoolblogger.com/5rosebuds/716528/ I took the kids to the St. Louis Symphony yesterday. We usually go twice a year and it is by far my most favorite field trip! As for the boys....... they would tell you otherwise. I hope I'm planting seeds that will bear fruit eventually and not planting an eternal dislike of classical music. This concert, though, was Orchestral Magic and featured pieces from Harry Potter, The Sorcerer's Apprentice, and the overture to The Magic Flute. I thought we stood a good chance of them really enjoying this one. My mom was able to come with us. We met her at McDonald's in Alton where I got some breakfast for the kids. Callie woke up earlier that morning and mentioned that her tummy didn't feel well but that she was just hungry. Well, 15 min after driving through McDonald's we found out that she wasn't just hungry......she was sick! The kids started yelling those dreaded words..... "Callie's throwing up! Callie's throwing up!" Then the scramble began as well as the "EW! Disgusting! Gross!" Luckily my mom was with us! We made it the symphony with only 2 sick episodes. I dropped my mom and the kids off and headed for the nearest store to buy ziploc bags and wipes. I found a Walgreens only a few blocks away from the Powell Symphony Hall - and I knew I was in the "Hood" when I saw the 2 Reserved Police Parking spaces in the parking lot. All went well and I got the needed supplies. We headed back to the symphony parking lot to clean up - NOT my favorite thing. At our house Adam is the one to clean up those messes because I usually feel as if I will get sick myself. I just can't take it. Well, here we are in the parking lot with the windows down and I'm holding my breath trying to not get sick myself........ Ah, the joys! We got the job done and luckily Callie was feeling better. We hung out for about 45 min and the kids were back. The symphony was awesome! The conductor even dressed in his Harry Potter costume. I'm so glad mom was there! We went back to mom's house for some lunch and laundry. Callie was happy to get out of the blanket she was wearing and back into her clean, fresh smelling clothes. http://www.homeschoolblogger.com/5rosebuds/660526/ Fri, 20 Feb 2009 15:23:00 -0600 http://www.homeschoolblogger.com/5rosebuds/660526/ With my sisters in town we had a big family outing to the Magic House in St. Louis.  The kids had a ball.  My older two are getting to the ages where they don't enjoy that too much, or at least they can't admit that they do - that would be breaking somekind of pre-teen code.....   This was a giant beanstalk that went from the first floor up to the second.  It was very cool!     ...This was a story book area where kids could dress up as characters from fairy tales ...This was a very fun place where they could dig in the rocks and do man-work.  We could hardly get them away from here. This is my brother David and my nephew David at the static ball. http://www.homeschoolblogger.com/5rosebuds/656251/ Mon, 9 Feb 2009 12:39:00 -0600 http://www.homeschoolblogger.com/5rosebuds/656251/ We live close to the area on the Mississippi River where the bald eagles come to nest during the winter months.  Last Friday my 2 sisters that live out of state were in town and we had a girls day out.  When we drove over the Mississippi into Missouri - there was a beautiful eagle perched up in a tree.  How magestic they are!!  My sister was able to catch a couple of pics before he flew away.  I'm going to take the kids down one day this week to see if we can spot some more.  http://www.homeschoolblogger.com/5rosebuds/656235/ Mon, 9 Feb 2009 12:12:00 -0600 http://www.homeschoolblogger.com/5rosebuds/656235/ We experimented with yeast.  We learned that it is a fungus that feeds off of sugars.  As it ferments, it produces carbon dioxide which creates bubbles.  We also learned that yeast like warm, moist environments.  We had two bowls - one with lukewarm water, yeast and sugar. In the second bowl we added very hot tap water instead of lukewarm water.  Here is what we observed after 15 min. We determined that the hot water killed the yeast.  The bowl with the lukewarm water bubbled and became very spongy.  The yeast was 'blooming.'  We also experimented with different sweeteners.  We had 3 bowls in which we added yeast and lukewarm water but added to one - corn syrup, to another - brown sugar, and to the last - white sugar.  They each bubbled at the same rate.  We later made some homemade bread. http://www.homeschoolblogger.com/5rosebuds/654132/ Tue, 3 Feb 2009 15:22:00 -0600 http://www.homeschoolblogger.com/5rosebuds/654132/ We had some science in the kitchen yesterday.  I found a cool website that had some experiments that I wanted to do with the kids.  The first one we did was called 'Great Balls of Gluten.'  We experimented with different kinds of flour to determine which kinds contained more gluten.  We learned that gluten is like a balloon that holds the gases in the bread as it rises.  Different types of flours contain different amounts of gluten.  Flours used for pastries have very little gluten.  Whole wheat flour contains much more.  We only had two types of flour on hand so we experimented with whole wheat flour (freshly milled) and white flour.  We put 1 c of each flour in a separate bowl.  We then added 3/4 c water and kneaded to make a soft, rubbery ball.  We let the dough rest for 10 min. and then held the ball of dough under cold tap water.  The starch in the dough began to wash away and we were left with a dough that was stringy and web-like. This was the gluten.  The kids all hypothesized that the whole wheat dough would have more gluten than the white flour and their experiments supported their hypotheses.  We baked the balls of gluten at 450 degrees for 10 min.  The balls hardened and expanded slightly.  This is exactly what the gluten does in bread. They had fun getting their hands messy! http://www.homeschoolblogger.com/5rosebuds/654121/ Tue, 3 Feb 2009 14:54:00 -0600 http://www.homeschoolblogger.com/5rosebuds/654121/