Jan. 31, 2008 - Bald Baby
Jason cut shaved Simon's curls off while I was out shopping one night....
Of course, he's still a cutie!
And, for good measure (but mostly for adoring grandparents), here's a picture of the older batman cutie:
Both of my kids are in rubbermaid tubs. Both of them have a copy of Goodnight Moon in hand (you just can't see Simon's). Elijah was reading it to Simon; I love these kinds of moments (even though there is dirt on the face and toys on the floor)!
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Jan. 31, 2008 - A Whale of a Lapbook
Well, Elijah wanted to learn about whales (inspired by a book he received from his great aunt and uncle for Christmas). I didn't want to whip up a whale lapbook, but I did want him to be able to explore his interest. So, I purchased Evan-Moor's September Theme Pocket (it also includes a nice unit on Africa that we will use in May). A theme pocket is like a portfolio, but Elijah didn't want a pocket book. He wanted a lapbook. So, we converted the materials into a lapbook. It was SO easy! Probably the easiest prep I've ever done. In fact, we did the lapbook in three days! And, while I don't feel that our learning was as rich as it usually is within the context of a literature based unit, we still learned (a lot!).
We also had some whale stickers to add as decoration (they are sold by Dover for about $1); Aunt Lisa bought them for us a long time ago (I'm glad I remembered them!).
We glued three file folders together.
The first one is about whales in general, the second is toothed whales, and the third is Baleen.
Homophone (tale, tail) Book
Whale Sizes -- Elijah drew each whale. We glued the back right of the first page to the back left of the second (and so on), so that you can flip through the pages.
(we also have a chart in the lapbook folded tri-fold that compares whales to school busses)
Thar She Blows!
Did you know you can recognize a type of whale by the shape of it's blow? Very cool. We also learned the hows and whys of blowholes. This was my favorite book to make. Elijah loves it.
Toothed Whales
Ooh! A whale with teeth!
Toothed Whales Information
(we took the cards and folded them matchbook on the side style)
Baleen Whales Information
(we took the cards and folded them tri-fold style)
The blue strips (bottom center) is a little reminder about how baleen works as a filter (animals in and water out)
After our experience (and after I won $50 to Homeschoolestore!), I decided to go ahead and buy a few more Evan-Moor Theme Pockets to use with some units we will be doing this year and next
June (artists, Amazon Rain Forest, farmers feed us)
July (topics: space, America the Beautiful, and transportation)
August (topics: ocean habitats, insect riddles, one of a kind)
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Jan. 16, 2008 - Giant Panda Lapbook!
There seem to be seasons in my blog life. Blog a lot. Blog none. Blog a lot. Blog none. Well, the reason for this is that the wonderful women who contribute to the Homeschool Share website have had me HOPPING! You can't imagine!
Here are some new lapbooks we have to help you on your learning journey:
The Grouchy Ladybug
Transportation (Pre-K)
Addition Facts
Subtraction Facts
Little Boy Blue
The Apple Pie Tree
Ostriches
Salmon
Choose-a-Country to Study
The Gullywasher (FIAR Volume IV)
Mailing May (FIAR Volume IV)
Rechenka's Eggs
Maria's Comet
Albert (FIAR Volume IV)
Elijah and I learned all about Giant Pandas last week. We glued two file folders together (I had a picture, but Photobucket won't shrink it right! ARG!)--
Here he is holding his accordion book out. Isn't that fun?!
Inside of the family names book
Inside of the panda diet book
I would post more pictures, but they aren't shrinking right.
This lapbook has only been shelved for one week, and it's been pulled down almost every day for review! Love that! :) We are really enjoying learning about God's creation! I'm gearing up for LOTS of animal studies next year for first grade!
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Dec. 18, 2007 - Scrappin'
I'm taking a break from creating all those lapbook templates for Homeschool Share...and I am SCRAPBOOKING! I finished up my mom's Christmas present yesterday and it's in the mail. Here are a few of the pages (although, I probably should've taken them out of the page protectors...sorry about the plastic glare).
I did the entire book (20 pages) in about six hours. My strategy was this: pick a package of stickers you like, grab all your paper that matches, and start cropping! None of the pages are Creating Keepsakes material, but my mom will *love* them.
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Dec. 17, 2007 - Gingerbread Lapbook
Some of these pictures are a bit blurry (still not sure about my camera).
Elijah made the front cover on Jan Brett's website and Jason sized it and printed it for us.
Book as first opened. Candy house on the left shown open below:
Elijah wanted to put a gingerbread "baby" in his house instead of the word find and list.
This book was so much fun to make...Elijah loves it!
First file folder opened
left- gingerbread man words hotdog book (from Evan Moore Pockets), Gingerbread Cards (memory/matching game)
middle- One Yummy Gingerbread Man Book, The Gingerbread Man mini book (Evan Moore)
right- Gingerbread Man story Bookmark (Evan Moore)
Second file folder opened
left- puppet in pocket (Evan Moore)
middle- Gingerbread Man rhyming
right- G is for... sorting game, My Gingerbread Story Pocket (Elijah wrote "The GIngerbread Man Meets the Birds of Prey")
Lift the rhyming gingerbread man and find Jan Brett's board game--
Third file folder opened
left- story sequencing cards in pocket, My Gingerbread Family pocketbook
middle- Elijah's recipe for gingerbread (you bake them for one hour!), copywork below with word find & list on front (Elijah insisted on drawing the picture and adding the folded word find and list)
right- gingerbread rebus recipe from bryback manor, Making Gingerbread accordion book
Look! It's our family-- gingerbread style!
He is getting to be great at word finds! Elijah did this one all by himself.
copywork opened (Elijah did this without any supervision...can you tell?)
accordion book opened
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Dec. 14, 2007 - Gingerbread Men
Let's make a mess cookies!
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Dec. 14, 2007 - Making a Gingerbread House
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Dec. 14, 2007 - Gingerbread Jamboree Field Trip
Listening to the story.
To the kitchen to learn how gingerbread was made long ago; she even showed them how the spices (nutmeg, ginger, cinnamon, and cloves) were grated and ground.
Let's check the oven and see if the Gingerbread Man is ready to eat.
He's missing! Run, run as fast as you can and see if you can catch the Gingerbread Man!
Looks like he headed for the barn (the barn door was open).
The horse didn't catch him.
The cow didn't catch him.
The sheep didn't catch him
. 
Hmmmm...where could he be? Look! A footprint! We're on the right track!
After following footprints around and upstairs, we FOUND HIM!
After doing some gingerbread dances and having a gingerbread treat, we visited the Gingerbread House Exhibit. (The castles were our favorites.)
Simon...oh, Simon...who do you think you are, Hansel? Don't you know that nothing good every comes from eating gingerbread houses? (I just about had a nervous breakdown when I realized what happened...but what can you do?)
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Dec. 14, 2007 - The Ragcoat Lapbook
This was a rather simple lapbook for us. I purchased the kit from HOAC, and while I really liked the components, they were just too old for ds (6). We will try it again if we come back around to this book. On the first day of our week, we went to a quilt museum with co-op; there we saw a crazy quilt (which reminded us of the quilt the Quiltmaker makes for the King in the Quiltmaker's Gift). So, Elijah took scraps of paper and made a paper crazy quilt for the front of his lapbook (I helped with the fibers).
On the inside you get to see what we worked on
Left side: All About Minna's Rag Coat (Layer book from HOAC pack), Vocabuary Cards (stapled at top)
Center: Appalachian Mountains Map, Danger! Danger! (working in coal mines; book from HOAC pack), What is Coal Mining (from HOAC), From Coal to Electricity (coloring page inside with information)
Right Side: Library Card & Pocket with book information (from HOAC pack), My Quilt Scrapbook (various pictures of kinds of quilt patterns inside; from HOAC pack).
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Dec. 14, 2007 - VOTE!
Have you voted for the Homeschool Blog Awards yet?
If you haven't, you should go and check out this blog that's competing for Best Artistic Content:
If you like what you see (and you for-sure and for-certain will), then go vote for her (A Bowl of Moss and Pebbles) here.
P.S. I am keeping this one at the top for awhile...future posts will be found below.
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Dec. 10, 2007 - The Twelve Days of Christmas (Lapbook Style)
I've entered the Twelve Blogs of Christmas Contest hosted by HomeschoolEstore. Winners each get $50 credit to HomeschoolEstore, so I thought I'd give it a shot. Specifically, I entered the contest on Trivium Academy's blog.
I want to encourage everyone to enter a few (we can each enter two) of the contests. Some of them are really easy (aka not-much-thinking-involved) in case you have a case of holiday brain.
So, here is my entry
The Twelve Days of Homeschool (Lapbook Style)
On the first day of homeschool, my momma gave to me
a book in the shape of a tree
On the second day of homeschool, my momma gave to me
two velcro dots,
and a book in the shape of a tree
On the third day of homeschool, my momma gave to me
three tri-folds,
two velcro dots,
and a book in the shape of a tree
On the fourth day of homeschool, my momma gave to me
four file folders,
three tri-folds,
two velcro dots,
and a book in the shape of a tree
On the fifth day of homeschool, my momma gave to me
five cards in a pocket,
four file folders,
three tri-folds,
two velcro dots,
and a book in the shape of a tree
On the sixth day of homeschool, my momma gave to me
six flags a waving,
five cards in a pocket,
four file folders,
three tri-folds,
two velcro dots,
and a book in the shape of a tree
On the seventh day of homeschool, my momma gave to me
seven shutters folding,
six flags a waving,
five cards in a pocket,
four file folders,
three tri-folds,
two velcro dots,
and a book in the shape of a tree
On the eighth day of homeschool, my momma gave to me
eight adhesives holding,
seven shutters folding,
six flags a waving,
five cards in a pocket,
four file folders,
three tri-folds,
two velcro dots,
and a book in the shape of a tree
On the ninth day of homeschool, my momma gave to me
nine brads a fastening,
eight adhesives holding,
seven shutters folding,
six flags a waving,
five cards in a pocket,
four file folders,
three tri-folds,
two velcro dots,
and a book in the shape of a tree
On the tenth day of homeschool, my momma gave to me
ten flips a flapping,
nine brads a fastening,
eight adhesives holding,
seven shutters folding,
six flags a waving,
five cards in a pocket,
four file folders,
three tri-folds,
two velcro dots,
and a book in the shape of a tree
On the eleventh day of homeschool, my momma gave to me
eleven wheels a turning,
ten flips a flapping,
nine brads a fastening,
eight adhesives holding,
seven shutters folding,
six flags a waving,
five cards in a pocket,
four file folders,
three tri-folds,
two velcro dots,
and a book in the shape of a tree
On the twelfth day of homeschool, my momma gave to me
twelve extensions for learning,
eleven wheels a turning,
ten flips a flapping,
nine brads a fastening,
eight adhesives holding,
seven shutters folding,
six flags a waving,
five cards in a pocket,
four file folders,
three tri-folds,
two velcro dots,
and a book in the shape of a tree
And now, we're all dizzy (and exhausted) from the thought of all that cutting, turning, flipping, flapping, gluing, sweeping, and vaccuming.
Happy Lapbooking,
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Dec. 10, 2007 - Eek! There's a toddler in my couch!
I know, I know...every mother thinks their child is the cutest...But, this little Simon guy is really CUTE! Not just in the way he looks (that's SO obvious), but the things he does. Too cute.
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Dec. 10, 2007 - Christmas Tradition
When Elijah was less than a month old, something in a MOPS magazine jumped out and screamed at me, "GOOD TRADITION ALERT! GOOD TRADITION ALERT!"
The idea I read about was to collect Christmas books (or check some out from the library) and to wrap them up to be opened at the rate of one per day from the day after Thanksgiving to Christmas Day. Well, six years (and 36 library book sales) later, we finally have enough books to do this without having to wrap any from the library.
We don't start the opening until December 1st, but it has been one of our best December traditions.
'Round here, a well-loved book is more fun to open than a brand new one.
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Dec. 7, 2007 - (driving &) Panicking
I was out tonight. On the interstate. In a car. Without a working speedometer.
Oh, yeah.
Our cars are quirky, okay. You have to know them (and know that they are paid for) to love them. But, I hate driving the one without a speedometer. I have a huge fear of being pulled over (which reminds me… I have a funny story to share sometime but not right now).
So, I’m driving and panicking & driving and panicking. Relying on the cars around me to gauge my speed. Looking at the speed limit sign that says 70...and knowing I should be going 70...but not knowing what exactly 70 mph is...and HOPING that the cars around me are obeying the law.
And, since all of life is one huge metaphor to me, I had (what I’ll call from now on) a metaphor moment.
Hey, this is what it’s like for my son.
We throw all these speed limit signs at him:
Be honest
Be kind
Be selfless
Be good
But, he doesn’t have a speedometer. He doesn’t really know what honesty is (or kindness, or selflessness, or goodness).
Do you know how he gauges his speed? He relies on the cars around him. He looks to his dad and mom to set the pace.
My son understands honesty by the way I live honesty.
And kindness by the way I show kindness.
And selflessness by the way I pour out selflessly.
And goodness by my own demonstration.
Sometimes, I'm afraid my calling is higher than I (because it is).
Thankful (and desperate) for grace,
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Dec. 6, 2007 - Easy to make ~ Easy to eat!
Elijah helped make the goodies this week. We shared them with daddy for a special tea-time last night.
Directions:
Heat the oven to 170º. Set waffle-shaped pretzels on a cookie sheet, then top each pretzel with an unwrapped Hershey's Hug. (Elijah did this step all by himself!)
Bake for 4 minutes until the Hug looks kind of melty (as Elijah would say). Remove the cookie sheet from the oven and press an M&M's candy into the center of each Kiss. Allow the treats to cool (you may have to put them in the fridge to set up).
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Dec. 6, 2007 - Simon's Wish List
All Simon wants for Christmas is a crock-pot...
P.S. Yes, mom, that's yours! I'm sorry! We'll have to move it out of the entry way and to some other "safe" spot.
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Dec. 5, 2007 - he loves winter, snow, and ice
This guy LOVES snow...he loves to crawl in it, make snow angels, slide in it, eat it...he just LOVES it. He probably spends more time outdoors in the winter than he does in the summer!
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Dec. 5, 2007 - FIAR Ornament Exchange
Here are the fantastic ornaments (group #4) we received in the exchange this year (this was our first year participating); getting the mail has never been more exciting!
I wish you could see the little lighbulb better...it was such a cute idea!
Want to see more? Some of the other moms (from other groups) have also posted:
Blog She Wrote
Five on a Whim
New Age Hippy
Mommy Logic
The Unsells
My Blessings From Above
If you use FIAR, be sure to jump on board the ornament exchange next year. It's too much fun.
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Nov. 30, 2007 -
How proud is that moment…at 8:31 a.m. when you have dinner done-- ready to go in the crockpot. The relief, the control!
How embarrassing is the moment at 12:37 when you realize you didn’t turn the crockpot on.
True story.
The crockpot is now on HIGH and my fingers are crossed!
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Nov. 30, 2007 - Our Lammy!
Here is Elijah working on our Lamington
Here he is ready for tea-time (Yes! He is STILL in his pajamas!) 
The purpose of tea-time is to work on manners...do you think I'm succeeding?
Oh, and if you are wondering what a Lamington is, it's an Australian treat! Here is an authentic recipe (ours is OH-so-fake but at least I'm making some memories!).
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