If you have knowledge-let others light their candles by it. - Homeschool Blogger

Mon, 27 Jul 2009 05:53:00 -0500

I know it's been forever but life has been hectic!

I'm going to try and give blogging a go again but...

We're moving. http://prncsstefy.blogspot.com/

Hope you can drop by for a visit!

I hate The Picture People

Tue, 16 Dec 2008 21:00:00 -0600

We went to The Picture People today and had the girls Christmas portraits done, as well as Kayleigh's 9 month pics. (Of course I'm a week late on her being 9 months. LOL)

Why do I hate them you ask? Because they do such a fabulous job that I want them all. It's only by God's grace that I came out under my budget.

These are just the ones I purchased. I'll share the rest when they email the proofs.

Almost 8

What could be better than being within grabbing distance of all that hair?

Maybe this snowman. Kayleigh LOVED him. She screamed down the building when they tried to put him away.

Poor "Frosty" no longer has buttons. A devious wee babe didn't think they matched his hat.

Santa happened to be at studio while we were there. I will never again pay for pictures with the mall Santa.

They really can't compare

Things I have done

Sat, 22 Nov 2008 09:57:00 -0600

I saw this over at Kym's and thought I would join in. I will not tag anyone, just invite you to leave a comment if you do decide to play. Copy the list and the highlight the ones you have done. (I am bolding the ones I have done)

Here goes...

1. Started your own blog

2. Slept under the stars

3. Played in a band

4. Visited Hawaii

5. Watched a meteor shower

6. Given more than you can afford to charity

7. Been to Disneyland/world (I've even been to Tokyo Disney)

8. Climbed a mountain

9. Held a praying mantis

10. Sang/played a solo

11. Bungee jumped

12. Visited Paris

13. Watched a lightning storm at sea (I watched from the shore though!)

14. Taught yourself an art from scratch (knitting)

15. Adopted a child

16. Had food poisoning

17. Walked to the top of the Statue of Liberty

18. Grown your own vegetables (Not successfully)

19. Seen the Mona Lisa in France

20. Slept on an overnight train

21. Had a pillow fight

22. Hitch hiked

23. Taken a sick day when you’re not ill

24. Built a snow fort

25. Held a lamb

26. Gone skinny dipping

27. Run a Marathon

28. Ridden in a gondola in Venice

29. Seen a total eclipse

30. Watched a sunrise or sunset

31. Hit a home run

32. Been on a cruise

33. Seen Niagara Falls in person

34. Visited the birthplace of your ancestors

35. Seen an Amish community

36. Taught yourself a new language

37. Had enough money to be truly satisfied

38. Seen the Leaning Tower of Pisa in person

39. Gone rock climbing

40. Seen Michelangelo’s David

41. Sung karaoke

42. Seen Old Faithful geyser erupt

43. Bought a stranger a meal at a restaurant

44. Visited Africa

45. Walked on a beach by moonlight

46. Been transported in an ambulance

47. Had your portrait painted

48. Gone deep sea fishing

49. Seen the Sistine Chapel in person

50. Been to the top of the Eiffel Tower in Paris

51. Gone scuba diving or snorkeling (Both diving is actually less scarey then snorkling. No waves pushing you around.)

52. Kissed in the rain

53. Played in the mud

54. Gone to a drive-in theater

55. Been in a movie

56. Visited the Great Wall of China

57. Started a business

58. Taken a martial arts class

59. Visited Russia

60. Served at a soup kitchen

61. Sold Girl Scout Cookies

62. Gone whale watching

63. Gotten flowers for no reason

64. Donated blood, platelets or plasma

65. Gone sky diving

66. Visited a Nazi Concentration Camp

67. Bounced a check

68. Flown in a helicopter

69. Saved a favorite childhood toy

70. Visited the Lincoln Memorial

71. Eaten Caviar

72. Pieced a quilt (Technically I've only pieced one quilt square LOL)

73. Stood in Times Square

74. Toured the Everglades

75. Been fired from a job

76. Seen the Changing of the Guards in London

77. Broken a bone

78. Been on a speeding motorcycle

79. Seen the Grand Canyon in person

80. Published a book

81. Visited the Vatican

82. Bought a brand new car

83. Walked in Jerusalem

84. Had your picture in the newspaper

85. Read the entire Bible

86. Visited the White House

87. Killed and prepared an animal for eating

88. Had chickenpox

89. Saved someone’s life

90. Sat on a jury

91. Met someone famous

92. Joined a book club

93. Lost a loved one

94. Made a baby

95. Seen the Alamo in person

96. Swam in the Great Salt Lake

97. Been involved in a law suit

98. Owned a cell phone

99. Been stung by a bee

A Peek at Our Week

Thu, 13 Nov 2008 09:37:00 -0600

We've been busy little beavers getting our work done with no interruptions...for 2 weeks in a row. Yay!

Bible

The birth of Jesus

The birth of John the Baptist

Social Studies

We're still studying Knights and Castles. We've finished the Time Traveler Book and our now working in CHOW and The Usborne Book of World History. Mackenzie was said to be finished with TT, as it was one of her favorites.

Our read aloud is Robin Hood and it goes along nicely with our history. And it is a GGGRRREAATTT book. Lots of adventure. It's hard to put it down.

We were studying the African countries last week in geography and we decided to study it for an extra week because there were 8 songs to learn. We needed extra time. LOL

We are still enjoying Window on the World. That book really gets us thinking and makes us more appreciative of how blessed we are here in the U.S.

Math

This week Mackenzie started colum addition and she pretty much freaked out at the sight of it. (Sigh, that girl is so dramatic...) The thought of adding 3+ numbers just sent her over the edge. Then she watched the lesson, did a few practice problems, and declared colum addition "easy and fun!"

Language Arts

We studied friendly letters and direct quotations in grammar. She is also memorizing a new poem, The Little Bird, as well.

Mackenzie reading More Stories From Grandma's Attic as her reader. She loves the stories but she's not always thrilled with the length of the assignment. "My voice gets tired." Hello? You have the option to read silently. LOL

Mackenzie has an interest in learning cursive. As her printing has improved greatly this year, I opted to let her try since we have A Reason for Handwriting transition book, which includes cursive lessons. However, their cursive program is not as good as the printing and Mackenzie hated it.

She was still insistent on wanting to learn cursive so we checked out a few other programs online and she choose Handwriting without Tears. We used to use it, we both liked but then a friend was using ARFH and Mackenzie loved the border sheets so we switched.

So once it arrives she can work on cursive M-Th and print her Bible verse on her border sheets on Friday. Big excitement, I know. LOL

Science

We are studying what's in the ground this week. We've learned how subways are built, how electric cable is layed, what kind of creatures live under the ground. Not the most exciting stuff but interesting enough.

Our science experiments have been on magnets but, I have to say, the magnets that came with our science kit are lacking. They have not been strong enough to complete some of the experiments properly. Mackenzie was disappointed. I might run to the local teacher's store this week and pick up some better ones.

Extras

Mackenzie started a 4-week cooking class last week. She is loving it. I love it because my only involvement is paying for it and getting her there. Yippee! So far she's made Northern Idaho Supper Soup, bread, homade oreos and ginger banana bread. I haven't tasted any of it yet but she says it's all good.

Soccer is officially over. Mackenzie did fabulous. They only lost one game. She is very excited to play again next year. Next she'll move on to cheerleading for the upcoming basketball season. Daddy tried to get her to play basketball but she was not interested.

Brownies is going well. Her troop is earning lots of badges and doing fun things. She also works on badges at home quit often.

We worked on a science try-it yesterday and it had some fun experiments.

Art is going well. We decided to take a break from drawing and work with colored markers for a while. We know how to color properly with lines and dots. Sounds weird, but it really looks a lot nicer. LOL

Kayleigh's Happenings...

Kayleigh, Kayleigh, what can you say? She is still adorable, still hates most food, and still determined to defy me.

1) She turned 9 months old. I forbid growing.

2) She is officially crawling. Wahh...I really enjoyed setting her down knowing that she'd still be there if I walked away. Thankfully, Daddy was home when she did it so he got to see the big event. He left the next day, so it was close.

3) She decided to start pulling herself to standing postions in her crib. At 3 a.m. Again, right before Daddy left for his trip. A mere 3 hours before he left in fact. So he was able to lower the mattress before hand. I'm totally "fix-it"challenged. She'd be better off jumping out of the crib then allowing me to mess with the screws. Sad but true. LOL

Other new skills are a gift for texting...

Her mealtime routine...

Feed

Chew

Spit out

Then repeat until all food offered is all over

Everyone likes a Freebie, right?

Fri, 7 Nov 2008 14:30:00 -0600

Emily is hosting a giveaway that will make your tootsies happy! Be sure to check it out...

Just one more reason to homeschool

Thu, 6 Nov 2008 10:01:00 -0600

So that my daughter won't have sit there and be humiliated like this girl while her daddy is off defending this horrid teacher's right to bully her students.

Sickening...

Fall Fun

Sat, 1 Nov 2008 08:27:00 -0500

We've been busy doing some family stuff.

Last weekend we went to get our pumpkin at Hunt Club Farm. They were having a fall festival of sorts with hayrides, petting zoo, jumpers and rides.

Kenzie's favorite part is always catching chickens

The Hayride

Clearly not as exciting as Farmer Tom's wild ride over at Brookdale Farm last week. LOL

We found our pumpkin

The design phase

The carving phase

The goop phase (daddy wanted to carve before goop. I don't know why.)

Kayleigh got bored with the whole endeavor and decided to clean the floor

I just can't get enough of those cheeks

The finished product

Trick or Treat

Queen of the Nile

A baby bumblebee

Who learned to clap her hands

No candy for baby

A Peek at our Week

Fri, 24 Oct 2008 19:47:00 -0500

The best part of our week was Kayleigh feeling better. That allowed me time for things like schooling and folding Mt. Laundrey.

Bible

Elisha and the Widow

Naaman is healed of leprosy

Young King Josiah

Daniel

Math

We reviewed money. It took Kenzie all of 20 minutes to finish the week's work. So we rounded out the week using Singapore Math. She worked on adding 3 3-digit numbers which freaked her out at first. But after a few examples she declared it "fun!"

Science

We took a bit of a science break. At least from the book work. We used this week to catch up on some science experiments.

We did some experiments with water.

Float and Sink

The force of water

How shape effects the ability of objects to float

How a submarine works

Kayleigh ate grass

History

We completed week 9 this week. Mackenzie is LOVING knights and castles. It goes without saying that she loved Time Traveller. Some of the extras we did...

She learned how to draw a castle and wrote a little blurb about what she thought it would be like to live in a castle. (We got this from the Draw...Then Write book from Evan-Moor.)

The girl who hates to write insisted that it would take longer to write if she wrote 3 seperate sentences instead of one long one. "Three is more than one mom." Whatever you say...ROFL

She made a castle hinge book with a diamond poem about castles inside it. We got the book form from www.teacherfilebox.com, which is ran by Evan-Moor. I LOVE that site. The poem idea came from a unit study.

She also made a medieval coin purse that I found in the SOTW activity guide. I should have taken a picture of her wearing it. She actually uses it. LOL

FYI: Thieves cutting the strings on these purses is where the phrase "cutting the purse strings" comes from. I'm confident that you were dying to know that little tidbit. LOL

Language Arts

We finished Strawberry Girl and started The Minstrel in the Tower. We'll be done with that one in no time. Only 2 more chapters to go and we just started on Wednesday.

We ditched our 1st Sonlight book. The Last Little Cat had to go. We both totally hated it.

It was a surprise that we didn't like this one because we loved The Wheel on the School by the same author. It's the first book that my voracious reader has ever not liked. Even if something seems slow, she'll generally read along further to see if it picks up. Not this time.

Mackenzie said, "If this lady continues to repeat every sentence 5 times I might pull my hair out. I understood it was a world full of closed doors the first 30 times she said it." I had to agree. I also noticed she has my ability of exaggerated sarcasm when annoyed. Uh-oh! LOL

Extras

Soccer is still going well. They played the "best team" in the league this week. (I say best team tongue in cheek because technically this is an instructional league so we don't keep score. But since all the children know how to count they all know the score. ROFL) Last time we were creamed. This time they tied those mighty Lemon Drops. The little Lemon Drops were stunned. They've always creamed everyone.

We're still doing our art lessons and I thought I'd share this one. Kenzie's clown was soooo cute!

Kayleigh's Doings

Making a huge mess but not actually eating any food

Defying Mommy's orders and trying to crawl

Fieldtrip to the Farm

Notice the hair flying about. That's not the wind. That's Farmer Tom's Wild Ride. His hayrides are no joke. Woo-hoo!

Exciting news...

Wed, 22 Oct 2008 10:03:00 -0500

Mackenzie has started her own blog and she is very excited. She loves my blog so I thought that I might use this as a way to get her writing. So far so good. She has done one entry and has another one in the works. She's waiting on me to upload some pictures. LOL

I know that she'd love to have visiters so feel free to check out her blog...

http://www.homeschoolblogger.com/princesskenzie/

A Peek at our Week

Sun, 19 Oct 2008 08:49:00 -0500

We had a very easy week this week. Well, schoolwise, it was easy. I decided to only do LA, Math and read alouds this week because we had a couple of other things going on.

Daddy was off on Monday and since he was leaving for Michigan on Tuesday, we decided to ditch school in favor of family. And isn't that the #1 perk of homeschooling?

On Friday we had a fieldtrip to a historic cruise, so that would constitute school for that day.

Mackenzie was a bit miffed about skipping history. She is very into knights and castles. So we made a quick trip to the library and she checked out tons of books on the subject. She's been reading them ever since.

As it turns out, it was just as well our school work was light, as Kayleigh got sick. I've been holding her non-stop since Wednesday, and it's Sunday now.

Since I have nothing interesting to report, I'd thought I'd share some misc. pictures.

Here is Kayleigh on the day she turned 8 months. ::sniff, sniff::

Here comes trouble. Apparently she's a PS3 fan.

Mackenzie is a HUGE fan of the Time Traveller book. She insists on wearing a "helmet" and "googles" like the book says too. Here's what she came up with.

Practicing her soccer moves with Daddy.

ETA:

This cute little face