Loving the Outdoors

Sorry for the lack of posts!  My blogger app (on my iphone) was working for a while, but it doesn't work anymore.  We've had beautiful weather lately, and we have been spending as much time outside as possible.  O(7) has recently mastered riding her bike without training wheels, and she LOVES it!

They love to climb on hay bales and jump from bale to bale.

We haven't had much time to kayak lately, but it's one of my favorite things to do, so I hope to get back to it soon.

O does cartwheels wherever she goes!

Fun times at Lakeside Homeschool where we spend most of our day outdoors and love to go on field trips!

Get Set for School!

E(4) loves her Handwriting Without Tears Get Set For School book!!!  She usually does 2 pages per day, but she always wants to do more.

She loves to trace the letters in the book, and she enjoys making them with the wooden forms.  She also makes the letters with putty and writes them on the gel board.

E(4) has also chosen the sandpaper letters from her Montessori shelves a lot lately.  She says "I love sandpaper!"

 

Homeschool PE

O(7) ran a quarter of a mile, and then cartwheeled back home.  So, just in case you ever wondered how many cartwheels and round offs a 7 year old can do in a quarter of a mile, it's 112!
 

Minn of the Mississippi

The girls and I are reading Minn of the Mississippi, which is about a turtle.  

After reading a chapter, we went kayaking on the lake to observe the turtles.

It was a windy day on the lake, and we didn't see as many turtles as we usually do, but we saw a few.

 

My favorite part of the morning was when we stopped to observe the Cypress People...we like to pretend that the Cypress knees are miniature people who come alive at night.  There are 2 guards in front of the biggest Cypress tree.

We also saw a grandpa reading to 4 children, a person curled up and sleeping, and a mother holding a baby with a teenager standing next to her.  It was so much fun to use our imaginations to see all of these nature made sculptures, and it reminded me of finding pictures in the clouds.  We had a beautiful and peaceful morning!

 

 

 
 

Ready for Halloween!!!

The girls and I are ready for Halloween!  We unpacked one of our Halloween bins this week, and we've had lots of Halloween fun so far!

The Halloween sensory bin is always a hit with everyone.  At the end of October, I'll pour everything into a ziplock bag so it will be ready and waiting for next year.

 

I  usually enjoy playing with the Halloween felt board more than the kids, but they have both played with it a lot this week.

We have turned on the electric tea lights in our spooky lanterns so that we can eat by spooky "candlelight" each night for dinner.

 

E(4) loves to play with the fake pumpkin and Mr. Potato Head parts.

They haven't paid any attention to the Halloween I Spy bottle yet.  

Our Almost Daily Nature Walk

I love to take walks with the girls, and my goal is for us to walk at least 4 times a week.  We usually alternate between running and walking, so that we get exercise and nature study time.  Right now, we walk around 3 miles per week, but I'm hoping to eventually work up to 8 to 10 miles per week.  

We really enjoyed studying this pine tree this week.  It is covered in ants, sap, and spiders.  E(4) was excited to break off pieces of sap to take home, and both girls took home pieces of bark to crush with their mortar and pestle (to use in their science lab).
O(7) insisted on us joining hands and playing ring around the Rosie around the tree...fun!  

 They were also really excited to take their babies on our walk.  They are such good baby wearing mamas!

 
 

 

Screened Porch Science Lab

Our girls LOVE to create and conduct science experiments!  O(7) has been conducting experiments for years, and E(4) has recently realized the joy in this activity, too!

In the past, the girls done their experiments in the kitchen, but this week I realized that clean-up would be much easier if they worked on the porch (I'm not sure why it took me years to realize this!).

The girls were thrilled to measure, pour, mix, hypothesize, and discuss their experiments and findings for hours.  I love that they have the freedom to explore and create in such a fun and engaging way each day...hooray for homeschooling!

 
 

 

 

Helper Girl

E(3) loves to help clean!  She especially loves sweeping with this push broom that is the perfect size for her.  She was proud to help us clean the garage which we are working to turn into a messy art and science space for the girls.
 

Trying to get back to blogging...

I was finally motivated to get back to blogging when the blogging app on my iphone stopped working.  I downloaded a new app and thought it was working until several people commented that the pics were too large.  Now I'm back to old-fashioned blogging from a laptop using pics from my dropshots account.  *sigh*  

Aaaaand it's not working again.  surprise, surprise.  The pics won't show up from dropshots, and this laptop is slowwwwww.  Maybe this is a sign that I need to turn the computer off, drink a Bloody Mary, and read a book.  another *sigh*

Creative Glitter Art

E(3) was so proud of her glitter art last week!  She poured a bottle of glitter on a piece of paper and spent a long time drawing in it with her finger.  She explained what she was drawing as she did it.  I love it when our girls get creatively messy (as long as they help clean up!).

What We've Been Up To...

Sorry for the long absence from this blog.  We've had a busy and wonderful summer so far!

We took a train to New York City.

We saw the Statue of Liberty, shopped and ate lunch at the American Girl doll store, went up to the 102nd floor on the Empire State Building, danced on the keyboard at FAO Schwarz, climbed rocks and played checkers in Central Park, visited the Guggenheim, and saw The Lion King...phew!  It was a busy week!

The girls loved jumping on the hotel room beds while pretending they were Supergirl!

We came home and have spent as many days as possible playing on our tiny beach, swimming, and kayaking.

We've gone on kayaking trips around small islands.

O(6) has done about a million handstands and flips in the lake...she said her goal is to do 100 underwater flips per week.  I'm fairly certain she's surpassed that goal every week so far.

O(6)'s reading ability has improved dramatically, and she's reading chapter books now! (Although she's not always happy about it).

O(6) has gotten really good at kayaking by herself, and she's venturing off further and further on her own.

They love it when their daddy is home to swim with them and throw them in the air!

We've visited our local zoo several times, an O always climbs the rock wall.  One time she climbed it 5 times within about 15 minutes!

We've visited our local museum and had a fantastic time!

We spend the mornings outside and have an hour or 2 of school in the late afternoons.  School is going better than it ever has before.  E(3) requested a reading lesson for the first time in months, and we had a great time doing if!   We've done lots of science experiments and lots of art projects that I hope to eventually post about.  I hope you are having a great summer too!!!

Sweet Relief, Joy, and Gratitude

Elliott and I are home from a very long and wonderful day!  We spent 8 hours in the car and less than one minute with the neurosurgeon to hear the news that Elliott's brain tumor is showing no signs of re-growth.  Happiness, relief, joy, peace, excitement, thankfulness...feeling it all tonight!!!

Painting Frescos

After studying Michelangelo and the Sistine Chapel in our homeschool group, we decided that a fresco painting art project was the perfect activity!

To do this project, you need tempera paint, plaster of paris, styrofoam trays (the plaster pops out very easily), paintbrushes, and creative kid artists!

I mixed the plaster of paris...2 parts plaster to one part water.  These trays held 2 cups of plaster mixed with 1 cup of water.  Because the plaster of paris was quick setting, I had to work fast so the first tray didn't set before I had them all made!  I set up the trays, paints, and brushes up on plastic tablecloths in order to make clean-up a little easier.  The kids painted on the plaster while it was still wet, but firm.

All of the kids seemed to really enjoy this activity!  It was simple and fun, and I love all of their creative frescos!

This is my girls' art displayed at home. Displaying the frescos in plate stands seems like the best way to do it,  but I haven't figured out where to put them so they won't get knocked over.  I'm sure they'll shatter if they fall.

I love O(6)'s fish and E(3)'s abstract masterpiece!

Painting Sunflowers Like Van Gogh

The children at our local Montessori school have been studying Van Gogh for about a month, so O(6), E(3), and I went to the school today to do a Van Gogh inspired painting project with them!

We went to a wedding this weekend, and the bride sent both girls home with sunflower bouquets.  They were SO excited, and it was perfect timing since we'd planned to do this sunflower painting project this week!

We gave the children green, yellow, and brown paint (tempera), and they painted on white cardstock.

Before they started painting, I read Vincent's Colors (see link below) to the class.  They studied the sunflowers for a few minutes, and then they started painting.

This was a fun and simple art project that we all enjoyed!

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