Our Current School Area

We started semi-officially homeschooling in June and spent most of school time on our deck.  However, after a couple of months of "deck school," I realized that I was going to have to organize an inside space for us...since I knew that our real school room was imminent, I'd let the den/school room/playroom/art area/nature area/science center become much too cluttered and unorganized.  After a weekend of organizing and clearing out (I got rid of more than 70 books...you couldn't even tell that any were missing after I was done!), we had a fairly organized school space in our den.   Here are a few pics...

This is the Montessori shelf that Elliott and I built for O(6) years ago.  I love this shelf and would like to have about 6 more just like it :)




Both girls love our smartglobe!.  E(3) really loves the continent puzzle lately, and O(6) chooses the wedgits to start her day most days.






We have enjoyed this space for the last couple of months, and our homeschooling time has gone much smoother since we've had this area set-up.  However, we need much more space to really be organized, and I can't wait to have our den just be a den and playroom again instead of a den, playroom, school room, nature room, art room, etc.

Fall Sensory Bin

I set up a Fall sensory bin for the girls this morning (really, it's for me...I love these things).  I planned to include many more objects in the bin, but as I played with it, I realized that simple sensory bins are really more fun and engaging for us than busy ones with so many distractions.

It really is very soothing to pour and scoop, so I did this for a while this morning while hanging out with my sick sweeties (the girls have been sick all week, so we've only left the house once in almost a week).


I was hoping I wouldn't be the only one who enjoyed this sensory bin, so I was happy to see both girls really enjoying it throughout the day!

Crockpot Applesauce...SO Easy and Delicious!

E(3) and I had a lot of fun making crockpot applesauce this weekend!  ( O(6) started helping us, but then decided that listening to a Dear America book on the ipad (via Tales 2 Go) while finger knitting was more enticing).

First, we peeled and sliced our apples.  The girls love using our apple peeler, but if the apples are a little mushy (they were!) and asymmetrical, it doesn't work well.


After peeling and slicing about 6 or 7 apples, we added in a teaspoon of cinnamon, a teaspoon of vanilla extract, a little less than a tablespoon of brown sugar, and a fourth cup of water.  E had fun stirring all of the ingredients together.  We turned the crockpot on low, went to church, and completely forgot about it.  When we returned home many, many hours later, the applesauce was ready!  (it was supposed to cook for 4.5 hours, but it cooked for about 5.5 hours....luckily, you can't overcook applesauce!)


This is a terrible picture of the applesauce, but it really was delicious.  The girls had a bowl before and after supper.  O(6) says she wants us to make a new batch EVERY day!

Here's a link to the last post I wrote about crockpot applesauce.  Since then I've realized that while blueberries do make everything healthier, they don't necessarily make it better and less than a tablespoon of brown sugar really is ok :)

Our New School Room...In Progress

Our long awaited school room is FINALLY in progress!  I can't wait to get everything set-up and organized!     I'm sure it will be a couple of months before things are finished and set-up the way I want them to be, but just the idea of having space to organize is making me feel giddy :)

Here's a peek...

Pretty exciting, right?

Happy Halloween!

We had a wonderful Halloween, but I am SO glad that October is over!  Phew!  We have a family history of having traumatic Octobers, and this one was no exception.  Thank goodness there was lots of good mixed in with the bad :)

We spent our morning at the Montessori school baking pumpkin bread (in cans...so cool and so much fun!), decorating pumpkins with stickers, eating yummy snacks, and parading in their costumes.





I love the paper towel ghost juice box!



E(3) is working on making a fall tree with her carrots, craisins, and pretzels.  What a fun idea!



Here is E's pumpkin bread from a can...deeeelicious!!!!!!!!!!



After leaving the school, we spent the day with our family getting ready for a big night of partying/trick or treating.  My sister lives on the best street for trick or treating, so she hosted the whole crew.  Thanks, Mem!!!

I love the ghost that she has hanging from her chandelier.



I also love this wood block jack o'lantern painted by my niece.  I think I'll have my girls paint some like this next year.



Love the tissue paper and decoupage lanterns all around the house.



We all ate too much.  Here are some of the goodies.



Hatshepsut and Nefertiti had fun trick or treating, but spent most of their time handing out candy to others.  E(3) (aka Hatshepsut) took her job very seriously and would chase down children, open their bags, and drop candy in them.



I kept feeling like someone was watching me...



After the candy ran out, the girls had a great time playing glow stick bowling!









What a fun night!  Thanks, Mem!

Glow in the Dark Putty

Our Halloween activity of the day was to make glow in the dark putty.  This was super simple and fun activity.  I think the girls would have played with the putty all afternoon if we hadn't had to stop for their dance classes!

To make glow in the dark putty, you need a half cup of liquid starch, a half cup of white school glue, neon green food coloring, and 1 tablespoon of glow in the dark paint.

Pour all of the ingredients together and stir!

We had SO much fun, and I'm so glad to finally make putty again!  (O and I followed this recipe to make putty a few years ago, but we haven't made it since then because I was afraid that E would eat it.  Don't let kids who still put things in their mouths play with this putty as I'm pretty sure the liquid starch is dangerous if ingested.)