Nov. 7, 2009 Thanksgiving Craft (take one)
John 8:12
When Jesus spoke again to the people, he said, "I am the light of the world. Whoever follows me will never walk in darkness, but will have the light of life."
The kids and I worked on a Thanksgiving craft the other day. Let's just say we'll be doing another one soon! lol It did NOT work out like I thought in my head. The turkey came out looking more like a potato, or a reindeer, than a turkey! LOL Oh well.
I traced their feet for the turkey body (turned upside down), and then their hands were the feathers. At the bottom, they told me what they were thankful for, and I wrote it down! We had to guess on Kate's though, since she can't talk. lol
Anyway, it was fun, but we'll do something different in a bit!
The boys coloring their traced hands and foot!
Meg coloring
Kate coloring
Kate's project
Meg's project
Jack's project
Ben's project
Here is also a picture of Jack's latest love. Puzzles!! He will work on them by himself all day long, several of them in a day, and not even bat an eye. Twice this week, he didn't even come up for supper right away!! He is VERY good at them, and just loves them.
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Nov. 3, 2009 Science Fair!
John 8:12
When Jesus spoke again to the people, he said, "I am the light of the world. Whoever follows me will never walk in darkness, but will have the light of life."
Tonight the boys had their first Science Fair! They worked on an experiment together, called "Dancing Raisins."
You fill a cup with clear soda pop, and add a couple raisins. The raisins obviously sink right to the bottom, because it is more dense than the pop. The carbon dioxide bubbles attach themselves to the raisin's nooks and crannies, acting like a parachute, and making the raisins float to the pop's surface.
Once it reaches the surface, the bubbles pop, and the raisin sinks back to the bottom, where the cycle is repeated over and over again!
It's a neat experiment that always makes the kids laugh.
They were SO CUTE!!!! That was seriously such a fun time. I think there ended up being 6 or 7 experiments total, with several kids missing.
Daddy couldn't come, because he had to go straight from work to a work meeting. We were done with everything by the time he was just driving to the meeting.
The kids' Aunt and cousins that live in town all came to cheer them on, and so did Grandma! Grandpa also had to work this time. The kids were so happy to have them there and were excited to show them what they've been working on!
Here are some pictures from tonight!
Their sign, "Dancing Raisins" by Ben and Jack. This was the only part of the project that I helped them with. lol Jack colored, cut, and glued raisins on here, and they both signed their own names!
The boys all set and ready at their table!
Ben made all the colored signs you see. (Raisins in Pop, Raisins in Water, Noodles in Pop, Candy in Pop.....all explaining what everything in the glasses were)
A brief meeting with the kids before everything started.
The other half of the room was set up for self-directed experiments, which you could do on your own time.
The boys performing their experiment for Auntie C. and two of their cousins!
Explaining it again for more kids passing by.
Fielding some questions.
In front of a bigger crowd!
Explaining how the carbon dioxide makes the raisins float to the top!
Ben was demonstrating what was in the other glasses.
I was so proud of them!!
Here are two videos for you as well!
***To pause the music playing on this website, go up to the top on the right-hand side and press the pause button!***
This one Ben is explaining it to his Auntie C. It's short and sweet, because her camera batteries died.
This one is of the boys explaining it to the bigger crowd.
The funny part (to me) is right away in the beginning. Jack announces that their project is called Dancing Raisins, and then he smacks Ben in the arm and says, "Ben!" LOL They each had their own "parts" in the speech, and he wanted to make sure Ben knew it was his turn now! lol
Thanks for looking! We had such a great time. Every other parent there talked for their kids. Our boys were the ONLY ones that did it all by themselves!!!! WAY TO GO!!! |
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Oct. 27, 2009 1000 Gifts from God
John 8:12
When Jesus spoke again to the people, he said, "I am the light of the world. Whoever follows me will never walk in darkness, but will have the light of life."
I was reading another homeschooling blog, and came across this: http://www.aholyexperience.com/2003/06/gratitude-community.html
I read a couple of people that were inspired to give more thanks to God. Not just at Thanksgiving time. And this is not a list of "What I'm Thankful For." It's a way to continuously list the wonderful gifts God gives to us each and every day!
1000 Gifts From God
1. My husband's kisses
2. Sleeping with my baby every night
3. Hearing my kids' belly laugh
4. Soothing classical music
5. Communion at church, and the peace it brings
6. Legal homeschooling
7. The absolute miracle of a baby being created
8. The tight-knit bond our family has
9. Hot baths, lavender oil and a good book
10. A church that I love, and a Pastor that I respect
My goal is to post at least 10 things every time I come on here, and hopefully not repeat too many. 
You should try it too!
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So, I haven't updated on here for quite a while. I apologize! My husband's work schedule changed, and it really threw our daily routine out the door. We spent ours days together as a family, like we normally would at night. But then when he went to work, it was nap time, and then our nights were always hectic and crazy. Let me tell you, I'm SO glad we started school right away in the beginning of August!!!!! It was nice to take a break.
We still did 'school things', just not every single day. Some things we kept up with, like reading which I think is one of the most important things anyway. We learned more about life lessons, like math through cooking. We also still did our homeschool co-ops, which were awesome!
We've been to the Denver Nature and Science Museum a couple of times, we went to a co-op at our church every other week, a couple park play dates, the boys had a class called "Elementary Chemistry", "Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs", a tour of the Denver Mint, and "Eye See You". We missed two due to illness, which was a tour of an AM jazz radio station, and a night at the Chamberlin Observatory.
I loved having him home during the day, and it was a good experience for everyone. He was able to be alot more involved in homeschooling, and willingly went to the co-ops with us. He loved the chemistry one! lol He got right in there and even made up some of his own experiments. He was also able to be home and watch the kids while I went to my OB appointments with my midwives, and watched the kids downstairs while I started teaching piano lessons.
He started back working days this week, and it's been nice going back to 'normal' again. The kids are loving doing more schoolwork and projects, and I enjoy having him home in the evenings, when things tend to be a little crazier.
To help us ease back into our routine, I made a school schedule for the week. I made a list of all the subjects that I want/need to teach during the week, and then divided them up, according to what we already have planned. For example, today we had a 2 hour co-op for Ben, so I knew it would be a bad day to tackle math, since that takes the longest. So I wrote down more simple things to accomplish, such as our reading, sight words, Bible study/verse and working on our upcoming Science Fair project. I love that I don't write down ANY times on this 'schedule'. Simply what I'd like to get done for the day. I put an 'x' by it when it's completed, and it's taped right in front of my on my desk. The kids have input whether they want to do their writing assignments first, or history, or art, and it doesn't matter! I love homeschooling. I adore the flexibility it brings!
Speaking of our Science Fair.....that is coming up fast! It's next Tuesday, the 3rd, from 4-6 PM. It will be in a local library's meeting room, and open to all the kids in our homeschool group! Should be a big one.
Jack is doing an experiment called "Dancing Raisins". You fill a large glass (or vase, if I can find one) with clear pop, like 7-Up. Then you add a couple raisins.....5 or so, depending on how big the glass is. Watch them dance up and down! They immediately fall to the bottom, because they are more dense (weigh more) than the pop. BUT...the carbon dioxide bubbles in the pop move around and attach to the raisin, and raise it up! It floats to the top, the bubbles pop, the raisin falls back down, and it is repeated over and over. We'll probably do some tests with colored pop, flat pop, warm pop versus cold pop, trying to put a penny in it, etc.
Ben is doing one on static electricity and Rice Krispies. You put some Rice Krispies on the table. Then you put a plexiglass (raised by two blocks on the sides) over the cereal. You rub a wool cloth or sweater over the plexiglass, and watch the cereal jump up and down! It's pretty neat. We'll probably try this with different cereals, and vary the distance of the plexiglass.
My sister and her kids, and my parents are all coming to the Science Fair. I can't wait!!! It will be very simple, not a lot of words or pictures, since they are still quite young, but it'll be a good experience for them, I think.
Well, it's very late here and I should get going to bed. I really wanted to start posting again more, and especially to make that "1000 Gifts" post.
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Sep. 22, 2009 Hammond's Candy Factory/First Day of Fall!
John 8:12
When Jesus spoke again to the people, he said, "I am the light of the world. Whoever follows me will never walk in darkness, but will have the light of life."
Today our homeschool group went on a tour of Hammond's Candy Factory!
We had been there a year ago, but the kids didn't remember it. It was fun to go again! They have a long step in front of the window for the little ones to step up and see what's going on. No secret ingredient to their candies, we found out. Just corn syrup, sugar and candy, boiled to 330 degrees! Add different flavor and colorings, and voila!
We saw them pour it onto the table, spread it out, put it on a puller and stretch it, make ropes for candy canes and ribbon candy, cut it into pieces, and even package it all up!
We all got free pieces of vanilla sugar sticks, a piece of taffy, and extra large candy canes. Can you say 'sugar high!' lol None of the kids took a nap today, needless to say. Kate finally just crashed in my arms as I'm typing this story, and it's 6PM!
Here are some pictures from our tour!
Jack taking his free piece of taffy, right when you come in the door!
Stepping up to see through the window, looking at all the workers!
A guy shaping a huge piece of rolled candy
Candy in "the puller"
Free vanilla sugar sticks!
The tour guide was showing us where to get our free candy canes
In the gift shop
The kids and I!
We also celebrated the first day of fall! It's a tradition we've done for the last 3 or 4 years now.....we color different kinds of fall leaves, cut them out, and tape them to the front living room window!
When October comes, each of the kids gets to color their own pumpkin, and we'll tape them to the bottom of the window, under the leaves.
Meg's pink leaf!
Jack busy coloring
Ben colored a brown one!
All the kiddos working hard
Kate pondering something!
All done and taped up!
SMILE!
Meg (3 1/2), Jack (5), Kate (1 1/2) and Ben (6)
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My Kids!
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