Oct. 31, 2008 - HOTM Friday Meme--Halloween, Harvest or what?
We do not make a big emphasis on Halloween. I try to just call it Harvest time, but my kids have been inundated with the word Halloween. In the past we have gone to Harvest Carnivals at our church, but it was canceled this year. The kids do get to dress up and we do carve pumpkins. We also read The Pumpkin Patch Parable by Liz Curtis Higgs. On M's first Oct. 31st, we dressed her up and went out for Chinese food. We have decided to make this our new tradition--dress up and go out to eat. So tonight, our Renaissance lady and our Army soldier will be heading out to Cracker Barrel! Check out HOTM to link up to see what other folks do! Pictures to follow!
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Oct. 25, 2008 - HOTM Friday Meme Video Intro.
Wow! I'm a dork. Please forgive my lack of editing skills(read:no editing at all) and I'm sorry M was so shaky while taping me!
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Oct. 22, 2008 - The Impressionists
I took M to the Kimbell Art Museum in Ft. Worth today to see the Impressionists exhibit that is visiting from the Art Institute of Chicago. I was not raised to appreciate art and until recently, I didn't get what the big deal was. Well, today my breath was taken away and I was teary as I stood before Monet's Water Lilies in person. M loved it too. We have a cute little book called Once Upon a Lily Pad: Froggy Love in Monet's Garden and she was looking for the frogs among the lily pads. It was entertaining for a few elderly woman standing next to us. We had done an art project on Monet's wheat stacks in different season so she liked seeing those. She commented that Monet was "really talented". She also wanted to discuss what every painting was about and who painted it. She was cute as she asked if the painters were from France or not. Other highlights were Degas' dancer paintings and Paris Street; Rainy Day by Caillebotte was M's favorite. It was huge and she was fascinated how he could paint the streets to look wet. The one painting that I wish I had been able to see was Seurat's La Grande Jatte, but they were not able to let that one travel so they had a small oil draft of a similar scene. It would have been amazing to melt into the dots like Cameron in the Seurat painting scene from Ferris Bueller's Day Off(I know I just ruined the sophistication of this post!) M also enjoyed the European permanent collection at the museum. I feel very fortunate to have been able to see these great works in person and I'm glad that I could share them with my daughter.
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Oct. 22, 2008 - He finally gets it!
C has solidly known his letter sounds since he was a young 3, but he has never been able to identify beginning and ending letter sounds in spoken word. The other day he was identifying letter sounds in words like a champ! I'm so thrilled b/c I was really worried about him not having that skill yet. He is almost 5. Now we need to focus on helping him to "get" rhyming and start blending cvc words. Then maybe we can be on the road to learning to read. I will definitely be taking my time with him.
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Oct. 9, 2008 - Our Musikgarten class
The kids and I have really been enjoying our Musikgarten class this semester. M really wanted music to be a part of our curriculum this year, but other than popping in a cd, I don't know much about it. We saw that a local homeschool graduate was just starting up her Musikgarten business so we decided to give it a try. The kids love it and I love it! We are doing the Cycle of Seasons class for 3-6 year olds. It has an "autumn" theme this semester. The music is absolutely beautiful and really makes you feel like it's fall(even in the Texas heat). It is very classic children's music, not like most of the music being made today. I like some of the children's music out there now, this just has a different feel--not as jumpy or pop music-like. It reminds me of something from my childhood. The narrator on the cd has a very kindly, yet sophisticated British(I think) accent and she makes you feel like you are part of something special. The class incorporates learning tonal patterns, instruments, imagination and movement. Anyway, the cds that come with the materials are amazing. I feel like I sound like an advertisement, but really I just think this class is so worthwhile if you get the opportunity to take one with your child. I'm hoping that I can find one in our area when we move in January. They offer class for older ages as well. As you can see, I feel passionate about this class and music education is so important!
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Oct. 9, 2008 - Eww...creeped out!
M is always handing things to me to carry for her on our walks. She loves to collect things from outdoors(always from the ground, our rule is no picking). Anyway, about a week ago she handed me something and asked me to put it in my pocket for her. She said it was a seed, it looked like some sort of seed or cone so I stuck it in my pocket. Well, I forgot about it and then a few days later removed the "seed" from my pocket to do laundry and laid in the counter, I noticed that it was somewhat flatter than when I originally got it. Major dad has been away for a few days and came home and saw the "seed" laying there. He explained to me that it is not a seed, but in fact an egg bag. It belongs to a bagworm. I refused to believe him until he looked it up online and showed me what was inside.
This is what I saw: YIKES!!!
This is our "seed" Looks harmless doesn't it? 
So apparently, a large moth lays 500-1000 eggs in these egg bags, usualy on a leland cyprus tree and I am left to wonder if I have these ugly larva swarming my house somewhere!!!!!!
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Oct. 3, 2008 - Word association!
Today M's reading lesson was about the sounds of "ea" . She will usually read the words to me and try to put them into sentences. Today she read "lead" with the short "e" sound and her sentence she came up with is "There is lead in toys from China!" I couldn't stop laughing. I guess I really keep my kids in the loop of current affairs. I think she was scarred for life when we had to throw out half of her toys a few years ago.
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Sep. 23, 2008 - Out in nature
We've finally had some nice cooler days to go out and enjoy the great outdoors. We have a lovely park in our town that has concrete pathes throughout for walking. We took two of our three dogs and headed out to see what we could find. We think we saw a red tailed hawk or some sort of hawk. It was screeching through the woods and finally rested on a branch for us. I took a picture, but it's hard to see it well. We also caught some tiny little frogs or maybe toads in the mud near our community pond. Well, I should say that M caught them. She picked them up in her fingers. They are the size of a fly! Major Dad also brought home a little skink that he found at work so we made a little terrarium for our frogs and lizard and have been feeding them flightless fruit flies from PetCo.
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Sep. 11, 2008 - Wonderful children's books
M picked out a few books from the library the other day and I had to share them with you! She did a great job. The books are both by Barbara McClintock. The first one is titled Dahlia. It is perfect for your little girl that likes to get dirty and study nature! That's, M for sure. It's about a little girl named Charlotte. Her aunt sends her a beautiful doll, but she's not quite sure what to do with it since she doesn't play with dolls. The illustrations are gorgeous and it is set probably around the early 20th century if not earlier. M loved the picture of Charlotte's room and declared that she wanted one just like it. Let's just say it looks like a nature study display.
The second book is called Adele and Simon. It also has beautiful watercolor illustrations. The story follows a brother and sister in early 20th century Paris as they come home from school. Simon loses his items as they make stops at different locations like a natural history museum, the Louvre and parks. As you read, your child can try to find the missing items in the pictures. There is a lot to look at in each picture. M asks for me to read this every night! We may have to end up adding them to our home library after we return these copies. I will definitely be checking out other books by this delightful author/illustrator.
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Aug. 31, 2008 - Wow! Look if you are going to study oceans...
I just came across this amazing ocean site that has gathered and organized all sorts of information for anyone studying or interested in oceans! I can't wait to use some of this stuff! We are going to do 10 Terrific Weeks Ocean(modified) from Usborne for our science. We will skip some stuff and add some stuff. Well, now that I found this site, I'll probably be adding as much as I can. We may end up studying all things ocean all year! As a side note, if anyone wants any specific information, my father in law is an oceanographer for the Dept. of the Interior in Washington D.C. so you can always email me if you or your child has a question! He is very knowledgable and loves to share! Happy studies!
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Aug. 29, 2008 - M's 6th Birthday!
M turned 6 last week! My parents, Mimi and Paw Paw, decided to surprise her by taking her to the American Girl Boutique and Bistro in Dallas. It was like going to Disney! M was in awe of all the dolls and the size of the store. I've read her several of the books and her favorite is Felicity. My parents decided to buy her Felicity and some of her outfits. M was over the moon excited! To top it off, they treated us to dinner at the bistro and the staff brought her a cupcake and sang Happy Birthday to her. On her actual birthday, Major dad took her iceskating and we went out for pizza. Mommy and C watched the skating from the side because we do not have that talent!
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Aug. 29, 2008 - Flubber!
When my kids were in preschool, they brought home an odd substance called flubber. Neither had a recollection of this fun goop, so I decided that it was time to make some. As a side note,some of my favorite movies as a kid were The Absent Minded Professor and Son of Flubber starring Fred MacMurray. My parents always rented those old Disney classics. They don't make them like they used to!
Here is the basic recipe:
In one bowl, mix 3/4 cup warm water with 1 cup Elmer's glue(about 2 regular bottles) and food coloring of your choice. Mix well. In another bowl, mix 2 tsp. borax(found in your laundry aisle) and 1/2 cup warm water. Mix well and add to first bowl. Let the magic happen! It will turn into a slimy, yet surprisingly unmessy goo. You can drain any excess water from the bowl and as the kids play with it, the wetness on the outside goes away. You can roll it in a ball, squish it, bounce it, draw on it with a marker or cut it. Store in a plastic baggie, it will last a good while. It doesn't stick to anything, I like it a lot better than other homemade playdough, goo type mixtures. Have fun!
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Aug. 29, 2008 - I made it!
Yes, I made it through the first week of public school in our town. All of M's friends were starting Kindergarten or 1st grade. Everyone we ran into asked if M was starting school this week! I had to drive by the welcoming signs at the elementary school around the corner. I saw the buses in the neighborhood. I received pictures of my nephew with his backpack, lunch box and big smile on his first day of Kindergarten. I must be honest, I felt a tiny bit of sadness that M is missing all of those firsts. Now that she is 6, she never will have the opportunity to have Kindergarten memories. We are past that point now. Then I come back to reality and know that what we are doing is best for our family and that God called us to do this. That will surpass any memories of Kindergarten. We are starting our full time school schedule next week. We've continued with reading all summer, but have left the rest for the new school year. We are using MFW 1st grade with some extra stuff added in. I plan to add a little bit of American history and some more science. Anyway, I'm proud of myself for not breaking down and running to the school at the last minute. Not that I really would have done that.
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Aug. 12, 2008 - Spoke too soon...
Be thankful in all circumstances, for this is God’s will for you who belong to Christ Jesus.
1 Thessalonians 5:18
We are not moving to Georgia. It looks like we'll be moving a few hours away back to Ft. Hood, TX. We were not expecting this huge change. We were stationed there about 10 years ago when we were first married. I will have to get used to the idea of that, I had gotten myself all excited about Georgia. At least I know that homeschooling will be a lot easier as far as record keeping. I know that God has a plan for us and that we will find joy and blessings wherever He chooses to send us. At least we know the area and we will still be close to family. I was really blessed by several wonderful Bible Studies through PWOC and OCF when we were stationed there before so hopefully I will be able to plug into some of those again. I didn't have kids there before so I am looking at it with new eyes. I ask for continued prayer for the things I listed below. My biggest prayer request right now would be for housing. We own a house here that I think we are going to need to rent out b/c of the market in our area. We would really like to live on post again. Anyway, stay tuned, we may have a different assignment next week!!!
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Aug. 6, 2008 - July flew by and upcoming move!
Wow, it's been awhile since I got on my blog. We had a busy month last month. We had some family visit and we all attended/taught at VBS. I have been busy trying to figure out our schedule for the coming school year. We just found out that we will be moving to Fort Stewart, Georgia in the fall sometime so I've really got to finish planning out school and moving stuff. I have a ton of things to get rid of and organize before the move. We are super excited about moving near to the Georgia coast. I know that we will be blessed with tons of educational opportunities, especially for nature studies. I'm a little nervous because I do not know of anyone else that is stationed there. I have to start my networking with other army friends to see if I can make some connections there. With all the friends we have in the army, someone is bound to know someone else stationed there.
Prayer requests as we get ready to move:
1. what to do with our house
2. availability of post housing for us in Georgia
3. getting the kids ready to leave the friends and church they love so much
4. getting the house organized and staying on task with school work
5. new friends in Georgia, new church, homeschool support, etc.
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