Here is the Link to my new blog.

http://thewattsfamilyhomeschool.blogspot.com/

Anna worked with her flower press today she had some flowers she pressed a few months ago and she worked on making a scrapbook for them. She did a great job it surprises me how independent she is becoming. She worked all by herself on this and enjoyed the cutting and glueing. I am learning that it is good to sit back and let her work alone being an Artist myself I find that if I don't do this I tend to want to get over involved in her projects it is just my natural desire to be creative. But then she ends up not being able to express herself freely and completely developing those gifts God has given her. Don't get me wrong we definately will still be doing lots of stuff together  Anna and I love using our creative gifts but today it was nice to stand aside and watch her work and see her develop the talents God has given her.

It is definately something I think about daily and with purpose. How to dress my daughter modestly and in a way that would be pleasing to God. These days Anna is usually wearing Hanna Andersson Clothing. Their clothing comes in a wonderful variety it is modest, feminine, and  most of it is in organic cotton and the dresses almost always have matching leggings or shorts that you can where underneath. And they make nice underwear that is modest as well. Making them Modest and practical and really cute. I love to sew but the fabric nowadays is not good quality the cottons are thin and cheap I find after a few washes they look ragged. I have found also that you can find Hannas on Ebay for cheap although the store has been having great sales. Another benefit is that they last forever the dress Anna is wearing in the picture below is 2 years old. still fits and still looks good. I think as far as clothing goes right now Hanna's are the best deal for your money!

This is the Link for there site  http://www.hannaandersson.com/home.asp

Anna In her Hanna's

We pulled out Anna'a Train and set it up in the living room. Since Anna is the youngest I am trying to let her grow up as slow as possible and to enjoy her time to play.....it seems like the whole world is constantly in a rush!! Whats the hurry ??~Anna take your time ~the world and all it's problems is just around the corner ~It will be here soon enough .... but for now lets play!!

We had fun making some chocolates to enjoy for Valentines ~

We are working on a Human Body Lapbook for Lapbooking Friday's we are all done with the Middle Ages so we chose this one to study ~The link below will take you to the webpage to where we got this free lapbook.    http://www.homeschoolshare.com/my_body.php

We are at Exodus 19 Where Moses is at Sinai and it Trembles Violently ~Leading us into our study of Earthqakes this week. We watched a movie and read several books on The Great Quake of San Francisco in 1906. Anna wrote a great paper about it.

The San Francisco Quake

By Anna Watts Grade 2

The Great Quake was very loud. Animals ran all around like a sign the earthquake was coming. The gas and electric pipe were close together. When the earthquake came it broke them and made a huge fire. The fire almost burnt the whole city.

The fire was very strong it was hard to put out. The people traveled 7 miles to the park. They had no water until they found it on a hill, but not much of it. It was not enough of it to put out the whole fire but they did. So that was how it was.

Well Lapbooking Friday's have been great. We have opened our home on Friday's to get together with other homeschoolers  to teach them how to lapbook and of course have some fun. This Friday we worked on a Coat of Arms not quite a lapbook since we just finished our first lapbook and have to pick out what lapbook we will do next. The kids enjoyed this craft and the finished Coat of Arms looked great I will include the link for the project. http://www.yourchildlearns.com/megamaps/heraldry_shield.html

We recently made a very simple old testament timeline. I thought this would be a great companion to our current homeschool in the book of Exodus. I think what we enjoyed the most about this was that the people who created this time line kept it simple so it was very enjoyable. We have seen some timelines that have looked great but have looked so complex we have not even wanted to attempt trying one. I will share the Link for the one we used. It is on sale right now for 5$ but well worth the download. We can't wait to do the one they have for the New Testament.

http://www.currclick.com/product_info.php?products_id=888&it=1

Anna's paint lesson today was learning about who Emily Carr was. We also looked at some of her beautiful paintings of Canadian landscapes. Then Anna tried on her own to paint with some Emily Carr flair. Information on where we got the art lesson from is in the link below.

http://www.kinderart.com/arthistory/emilycarr.shtml

When we used to live in Alaska we saw some pretty amazing moon rises come up over the mountains. Here in Miami it is pretty amazing as well. We have a spectacular view off our balcony. There is actually something going on right now where the view of the moon is larger than normal I will include a link below that you can read all about it on the NASA website. 

http://science.nasa.gov/headlines/y2009/08jan_bigmoon2009.htm?list1068993

Anna Gets a Paint Lesson ~Anna's Grandpa sent her a new easel and hopefully we will keep her busy with her paint brushes and away from the scissors (she will be wearing headbands for a while)LOL !!

We made some cool Knights Helmets ~ The link for the plans to make them is below This was Fun and Simple ~ http://www.clevelandart.org/kids/art/haveago/armor.html

We are studying the circulatory system and enjoyed listening to each others heartbeats ~ I was pleasantly surprised this worked lol~ you simply cut the bottom of a cup off and There you have it !!

We are in a new unit in weaver studying Gods Protection ....and having fun in the Middle Ages..........

Noah built a Lego  Trebuchet the plans were great it worked really well Tomorrow we will try for the Catapult!!  http://www.instructables.com/id/Lego-Trebuchet

I am also going to include a link for a great medieval coloring book  http://www.broccairn.org/images/coloring_book/Medieval_Coloring_Book.htm

And a Link to the Lapbook that we will start working on this Friday that looks like it will be lots of fun!http://www.handsofachild.com/shop/Middle-Ages-P172.aspx

Merry Christmas and Happy New Year!!

The Watts Family Southern Gingerbread Men

Keep an eye on these they seem to disappear!!

2cups flour   ~1/2 tsp salt   ~1/2tsp baking soda  ~1tsp baking powder ~1tsp ginger

1tspground cloves ~11/2tsp cinnamon ~1/2tsp nutmeg ~1/2cup of shortening

1/2cup of molasses ~1cupof sugar ~ 1egg yolk beaten

Combine dry ingredients ~Cream shortening, sugar, molasses, beat in egg Add Flour and mix

Roll 1/4 inch thick and cut out ~ Add extra flour if needed for rolling in case they are to sticky but be careful to not add to much or they will be dry.

Bake at 350 degrees. for 8 min.

Use Frosting and decorations of your choice !!

*depending on the size of your cookie cutter you may want to double the recipe. I have a large gingerbread man cookie cutter so I always double it ~and it made about 15 large cookies.

Anna worked on her Gingerbread Baby Lapbook

This is a free lapbook and the Link for The Lapbook is below

http://www.homeschoolshare.com/gingerbread_baby.php

Read the Story of the GingerBread Man Online Here >>

http://www.topmarks.co.uk/stories/gingerbread.htm

This is a really fun craft that can be modifed to fit any theme. You take a coloring page and print it on to Art Transfer paper. And then color with Markers and hang in a window and you have a beautiful stained glass image!!~ Tip: I had to trim the transfer paper for it to fit in the printer.

This coloring page can be found at Jan Bretts Website Link Below

http://janbrett.com/gingerbread_baby_coloring_page.htm

Were having lots of Fun making Crafts for Christmas