Our Friday Field trip..

Today was Friday..Productive and fun it was!!!

We got up, had a breakfast of French Toast and did our morning chores... (making the beds, the daily load of laundry and running the dust mop)... then we did some workbook pages and had a spelling test... Not too bad for before 11am...

Off to the library we went after completing all our things at home... We use the Knoxville library because it is bigger and offers more to us... the fee for being out of county is only $25 and I am able to check out 36 books for up to 6wks at a time using my teacher card... plus I can order what I need online and then pick it up at the branch that is most convenient for me... Well worth the small investment..

On our way, we stopped at a yard sale, where I found some great items... A set of "princess Mega blocks" BRAND NEW!! and a 1000 piece Puzz 3-D puzzle of an Alpine Castle... (also BRAND NEW!!) I really lucked  out and spent only $1.50 for my treasures... (and each child was happy with their "new" item...

Then after stopping and picking up our miscellaneous books, we decided we had time to play around, so we went downtown and took a tour of the "SUNSPHERE" ...

Sunsphere

It was built as a theme structure for the 1982 World's Fair (symbolically representing the sun) and has been several things since, including a restaurant, offices, and empty... Recently it was reopened to visitors and is completely free to see.. It has a observations floor on the 4th floor that has a lot of interesting facts about Knoxville and history on display in pictures and the view is incredible...

The kids loved it as did I...

We had lunch at Mickey D's... (I really am not a fan, but it was close)... and then we headed back home..

Too be continued.... *G*

Our day at Co-op...

A productive day...Our third day at co-op ran much smoother than previously... My kids have now gotten the swing of where they are supposed to be and when.. (even my 4yo DD)..

In Phonics we studied the letter "C" and made "clown" puppets, had a puppet show where each child had to say something about "C" with his/her puppet... and then ate "cookies" ...

Then in "Countries of the World", we again studied more on Australia... and I had some "aboriginal" artwork and a boomerang (thanks to a friend who loaned them to me) for show and tell.. as well as, some pictures and some money from Australia... We discussed more of the outback and the words used in Australia that are different  from our terms...we read "Marsupial Sue" and listened to the song on CD and then for our finale, we made a "PLATYPUS"... we used brown lunch bags and stuffed them with shredded newspapers... then we stapled the top closed in a point... then we glued on the beak, flat tail, and flippers... and the finishing part was the googly eyes... I think they really enjoyed it...

In my DS's "Contenders for the Faith" class, there was a guest speaker... She worked as a animal rahabilitationist... Taking in injured and abandoned animals from the mild to the wild... having at any time from her current 28 animals to 80 animals at her home... It certainly takes a special person to do such a job because it is very costly to take care of all the animals, plus the time and energy spent on their care... She came and gave an excellent talk and introduced the kids to some great animals...

The first animal was a baby squirrel that had been injured in a tree cutting accident... (the only survivor) and had lost part of its tail and had multiple stitches in various parts of its little body... The kids learned that the tail is used for balance and also for communication with the other squirrels.. the squirrel then went on to make the boys cackle when it "pee'd" on the handler's shoulder...

Then she got out 2 "Screech" owls (one grey, one red).. Smaller than the Barn owl or the Horned owl.. they have fixed eyes, no ears (those things on their heads are just tufts of feathers), and contrary to popular belief, a owl CANNOT turn his head 360 degrees, only 280... *L*

She then showed the boys a "Virginia Oppossum"  (or road kill as they are commonly referred to around here).. And another fallacy is that they can hang from their tails... No they can't as their tails can't support their weight... the tail itself is called a prehensile tail in that it acts like a third hand... She is a marsupial with a twist in that her pouch is vertical.. and she can have as many as 25 babies at one time...

From there was the "Desert King Snake" ... a beautiful constrictor with brown and cream markings... so she had a brief discussion on proper handling of snakes and "cold-blooded" behaviors etc.

Then was my personal favorite, the "Leopard Tortoise" from the Sahara...bought in the pet shop by someone who once they got it home decided that it didn't do tricks and got rid of it.. They can live to be 150 yrs. old and up to 90-100lbs. in weight... plus they are extremely smart creatures..

And never, never, give an animal cow's milk!!! 

So all in all, it was a productive, educational, and enjoyable day... Maybe the trend will continue tomorrow..

Happy Learning!!

Evening Plans

We are going out again tonight... It is rare to be so busy in the early part of the week.. but when opportunities arise, I think we should take them...*L*

So, tonight we are going to the movies.. They have recently restored an old theater in Downtown Knoxville and we are going to it tonight... They are having $1 movies and $1 popcorn and drinks... So for $9 the kids and I can have a great time... plus get to see what they have done to restore this beautiful, historical building... (plus there's free parking)...

Have a great evening !!

An end to a great evening???

OK... The game was great... the Smokies won 7-3...against the Chattanooga Lookouts... (YAHOO!!!)

There was one player whose name was Jorge and the crowd kept cheering Hip! Hip! Jorge!... (which was quite funny, until we start home and my kids chant it in the car for ~ 20 miles...(UGH!!)

But we had a great time and instead of hotdogs at the Stadium, my wonderful DH took us out to Smokey's BBQ in Dandridge... (a beautiful historic town in East TN, I will blog about it one day)... and we had a great meal and then went and watched the game... I had some "Yummy" onion straws... (my favorite part of the meal *wink*)

But when we got home we discovered a problem... Our bathroom drains appeared to be stopped up.. Rigth before we left, I began to drain the bathtub after giving my DD a bath... I never went back to check on it... and found that we had a bubbling of nastiness in my shower... So, it appears I will have to call a plumber first thing in the morning and our local one, charges $65 just to come out... Oh, well... win some and lose some... 

But I really should post my menu for the week as it is something I said I was going to do to attempt to make my week flow better... Have a set plan for dinner... So here goes:

Monday: (my meal was taken care of, good thing too, because we were having tomato soup and grilled cheese sandwiches)..*L*

Tuesday: Spaghetti with garlic bread and spinach salad  (homemade marinara)

Wednesday: MeatBall Subs (using leftover marinara) and home-cut fries..

Thursday: a pizza using a pre-made crust and let the kids top it, fruit salad, and ice tea (it's a late night for us as we don't get in from Karate and aerobics until after 6pm)

Friday: turkey burgers with purple onion, potato salad, and possibly some dessert if I can come up with something good, maybe a cheesecake I can make and let set in fridge..

Saturday: pork chops, apple sauce, and mashed potatoes

Sunday: Mexican pork tortilla wraps (using left-over pork)... I always make a couple more chops/chicken breasts to use for this.. 

Well it is getting late, so I must head to bed... Got a busy day tomorrow planned for school and DD 4yo is getting her "first" haircut... up until this point she has only had her beautiful golden locks trimmed... (I think I will cry).. But she hates to have it brushed and wants it cut to around shoulder length... Hopefully it grow out quick...

Good Night and Happy Learning!!

 

PLANS FOR THE EVENING!!

I DON"T HAVE TO COOK TONIGHT!!!!

DH called to let me know he had made plans for us (all 4 of us) to go to a "Smokies" game tonight.. That means we'll be doing hotdogs and chips at the ballpark.. The kids will be in heaven!!!

We should try to do a unit on the History of BASEBALL... I think that would be great fun for DS and we could count this as a field trip...*L*

Happy Learning!!

A long Weekend!!

This weekend was extremely long... I had to work my shifts and we were really busy... Twelve hours seems so much longer when I am away from my family... And I think they missed me just as much...*S*

But tonight I went out with the girls from work for dinner when we got off and had a wonderful meal at "THE OUTBACK"... It amazes how expensive meals can be in restaurants... and it doesn't help that I order ice tea or soda to drink while I am there... *L*

But when I got home, I found that my wonderful DH had done a load of laundry, as well as, mopped the hard wood floors on the main floor of the house.. I was so thankful, as that would be two less things for me to do in the morning before we started school...

I am so blessed...

Well, off to plan my week's worth of menus before climbing into bed...

Today and Tonight

Beginning Sunday, I am going to work on preparing a weekly menu and grocery list to try and make things a little bit more organized and easy flowing...

Tonight, I am going to have Country Style Steak and Gravy  with mashed potatoes and corn on the cob... I think I may even through in some yeast rolls along with that..

We got a few things accomplished today... DS read to me about sharks (one of his favorite topics) and then we had a lesson on health (involving care of eyes, ears, and teeth)... and we did some math problems on the board...

I;ve got to get together things for tomorrow;s classes at Co-op... In Phonics, we are doing the letter "B" , so we are going to use chalk and make "B" and "B" items on te board, do a few worksheets, and then read a book involving "B" and eat some Teddy Grahm "Bears" for snack...

Then in "Countries of the World" , we are going to start Australia... I have a National Geographic Kids movie about "The Wonder Down Under"... so, we will watch that and discuss the information handouts and then munch on trail mix while we are in the "outback"...

Well, off to play in the pool with the kids..

Happy Learning!!

Predator and Prey

Today we had a field trip... and went to a Panther Creek State Park. They were having a  wildlife program called Predator and Prey.

There were 8 children and 4 moms which made the perfect size group... Not too big nor too small for activities..

Crystal, the Ranger, started the class by feeling the kids out on what they knew about animals in the area and  quizzed them on some basic terms that related to the class, like "predator" (those animals that hunt), "prey" (those that are hunted), "nocturnal" (sleep during day and hunt at night) and such... Then she went on to talk about different animals in the area and their place on the food chain... They talked about why Panther Creek was named such...(a long time ago, a man shot a "panther" that was roaming in the area and it supposedly fell in the creek)... It was a great class...

Then the children got to play hide and seek in teams... Each pretending to either "predator" or "prey"...Each child had to decide what animal on he/she was going to be, then they would act like that animal and either hunt or hide from those "hunting" them.

They had a great time... Learned some stuff... and then we went to Chik-Filet... *L*

Happy Learning!!

Saturday!!!

Well, by now, I am thinking of my blog as my journal... A place to lay out the journeys and the experiences of my family and I...

Today was Saturday, and we got up somewhere around 8am and started the weekend... It's was a great day..
We did a little pick-up..(just the ususal morning stuff) and then went about our business... We did a few lessons (mainly some catch-up and let Dad sit in to see what we did). The kids enjoyed showing Daddy how our normal day usually goes... It was fun and the kids got in a extra day of school-work... *L*

Then we played in the pool .... It has been a great investment for us this summer.. My 4yo is swimming like a fish and my 7yo loves to snorkel...

Then off we went to a "Back to School Bash" that some area churches were hosting... It was great... Lots of inflatables for the kids to play on and hotdogs, popcorn, and cotton candy (one of my personal favorites)... and don't forget the snow cones... And the best part was, it was all FREE...I just love that word... It makes everything so much more fun... *L*  and did I tell you how dirty the kids can get playing on those things... Both of mine looked like they had not taken a bath in weeks and their soles of their feet were BLACK...

Well, it's off to get stuff ready for church in the morning... It's my day in "Children's Church" and I have the craft responcibility... We are doing the story of Moses and I thought we would make pyramids and do some picture searches..

Now if I could just figure out how to post pictures, I will post some of our day on the inflatables... If anyone can offer some advice to this non-techie, let me know..

Take care!!

The Moon

Okay, it's 1:30 am and  I can't sleep...

I go outside and decide to look at the stars... The moon is beautiful tonight... A perfect crescent and an orange color... I decide to wake up the kidlets and show them... Now they are back in bed, (not as excited as I was to see it) and i am going to www.spaceweather.com to look and see what's up...

Take care and sweet dreams!!

Our adventures come to a close for this week...

Today was Friday...

We didn't get to finish all that we had hoped to do this week... We had some unforseen problems... (the fridge on the fritz and my pregnant sister had some complications, which thankfully have resided for now)....(THANKS TO THE GOOD LORD FOR THE BLESSING HE HAS GIVEN HER and HER HUSBAND) !!!

So this week, we have been working on the book Abuela's Weave... (as I had mentioned in an earlier note)... We have been doing a mini-lapbook type activity to go with it... So far, we have done a color wheel, which my 4yo DD loved and we have talked about the classifications of birds...(written out by my 7yo DS)... we've visited Guatemala in the globe and colored maps and flags... We've also discussed similie's and DS wrote out some examples from the book...and lots of other things... We;ve talked about mass production and the culture in Central America... We worked on more conversational Spanish, "how are you, what's you name, the days of the week, God bless you"...etc...

We also had a few bible verses that we spent some time on... Dealing with kindness and the Golden Rule...(Matthew and 1 Samuel)

I've also begun planning some other things for the coming weeks... I'd like to do something with the "Very Busy Spider" for my 4yo and then maybe something on "Sharks" for my 7yo... (his favorite topic lately)... And we are going to start an "All about ME" unit and talk about the human body some more... (I just bought a great new book from Sam's on the Human Body and it is in great detail, but on a level that is right for the kids to understand)...

I only wish I could have taken them to Davy Crocketts cabin yesterday or today as they were having a celebration and then maybe to Panther Creek Park for another wildlife class... But I think there will be plenty of time in the future for those and this was one week where the fact that homeschool can be done around any schedule really worked for us...

Well, off to bed... I think we are going to take the kids to a "Back to School" bash tomorrow... Hot Dogs and Inflatables...Woo-Hoo!!! (they will love it and it will be a fun surprise for them)...

Happy Learning!!!

CO-OP has begun!!!

Today was our first day back at our CHEF co-op... It was a busy but beautiful day...It was so encouraging to see all the excited faces and all the new families that had joined us this year...

My kids were so excited that they had trouble going to sleep last night... I was able to get them up very easily this morning, even though it was almost an hour earlier than normal for them...

The co-op is offering some great classes this year and I have taken advantage of all the wonderful opportunities that were available...

DD is taking her favorite, "BALLET" (taught by a former HS graduate), and then off to "Phonics" (taught by dear old mom), then off to "Organized Play" , (which is great for a 4yo)...

DS is taking "Art", then a "Craft" class, then "Contenders for the Faith" (which mom is assisting with) ...

After these morning classes we have a 30 minute lunch break and 30 minute family / group devotions with the Pastor George...(their is such a large attendance this year that we had to alternate our lunch schedule and make it into 2 different periods)..which is truly wonderful!!!

Then in the afternoon, DD takes a class called "All about Forests" and then "Countries of the World" (again taught by dear ol' mom)...DS is taking a "Time and Money" class, and then "Financial Peace for Kids" (a Dave Ramsey course)...

To finish what is already a hectic day, we head from there to Karate for both kids and then they play with some other kids while I and some other mothers do an hour long aerobic class...

To make it easier on us, we've made Thursdays our new "PIZZA" day at our house... *L*

well, so long for now, it's almost past my bedtime... Happy Learning!!!

 

MY Fridge is dead!!!

....

Okay, I am not happy.... My almost 4yo. GE refridgerator is on the kerplunk!!

It began with a melted popsicle in the freezer yesterday... I cleaned it up thinking the kids had just not shut the door well... but progressed to me finding "cool", not cold milk in the refridgerator compartment and melted ice cream in the freezer today...  

Not only was there a mess, but now it has completely quit cooling... I only hope the repairman can fix it without too much cost involved... But oh, well... I really didn't need to eat that ice cream anyway....

Thanks for listening to my gripe...Take care!!

Monday for Us

Monday has turned out to be a very productive day for us..
A friend told me about a website that has some booklists / lesson plans that are more in the Five-in-a-Row style and  and so I thought I would try some..  I am  enjoying this resource and really appreciate my friend telling me about it... I like to use varied curriculum so the kids are always excited about something new..

So, today we began with " Abuela's Weave"... It is a wonderful story about a lil' girl in Argentina.. We were able to discuss life in South America and the types of homes (thatched roofs and mud/stone dwellings)...

We then looked at the globe  and my 7yo DS found it very easily and both kids were able to tell me it was located in Central America...

We talked about the Quetzal and that it is an "honored" bird in many Central and South American cultures... We discussed the Mayans and looked at some Mayan architectur online,  as well as,  some  beautiful tapestires online....

We also were able to discuss how it's not nice to say ugly things about others and how it hurts their feelings... (in the story , Abueala has a birthmark on her face and people made fun and said terrible things about her) And we discussed how God makes everyone different and special in his/her own way...

I am already planning what we will do tomorrow and the rest of the week... I think that this weekend I will get a potholder set and let the kids make some to explain a loom and the use of it...

Happy Learning

Perseid Meteors

Well, tonight we tried to have a lesson in Astronomy.. It didn't work out...

The Perseid Meteor shower (which started Aug. 9th) was supposed to be at its peak tonight... At 3am, I am up looking out into the sky... (with telescope ready)...

NOTHING....I saw NOTHING.... The sky itself was dark, but very cloudy and overcast...

 But at least I didn't wake the kids...*L*

 

Happy lil' Kidlets

Well, I have happy, extremely tired kidlets...

We had company over today to play and play hard... The kidlets had so much fun... The morning started out well with the boys going to my DS room and playing video games... The girls went to DD's room and played tea-party... Quiet as mice... They were great..

Then after a brief lunch, we went out to play in the pool... I slathered on the sun screen and gathered the goggles... and for the next couple of hours we played in the water and fired the water guns... (which my Australian Shepard, "Maggie" found entertaining by trying to attack the sprays of water... *L* )

Then on to the trampoline where the fought an inflatable elephant and each other... The girls wanted to play circus and the boys, well, they just wanted to fight the elephant.. *G*

By this time, I had tolerated the heat enough... With the humidity, the index felt like 100 and my chubby lil' body was feeling every degree..*L*

So into the house we went and played, played, and played... I made some cookies for a snack and for the girls to use with their tea party.. The kids had a great time.... and I am looking forward to doing it again... I love the adult conversation as much as the kids like the playmates...

I am so thankful for the opportunity to have the kids at home and just be able to watch them play, be kids and make friends... One more thing for me to be thankful for today...

A NEW YEAR!!!

Today was the first official day of our new year... It was a good one... I think we have gotten started off on the right foot...

We are going to be using Unit studies for science and history and then breaking down the language and math into K-4 and 2nd grade..we are also going to try to do a lapbook or two...

The kids are really looking forward to doing experiments and making more crafts this year... and I am too...

We have joined an Art group... named "Little Hands"... it is a group of pre-K to 2nd grade homeschoolers.. We will be learning about misc. artists and their styles taught by a different mother the first Friday of every month... This will allow us to continue throughout the month... And then we are also beginning to do a classical music study... I am playing different composers' music during seatwork time... My DS says it makes the dreadful "writing in cursive" go by faster...*L*

Well, time to hit the hay... and we'll see how in the morning goes... Wish me luck, time, patience, and more organizational skills than I currently possess...

Peace and Happy Learning!!

I feel so old!!!

Have you ever had one of those times when you really felt your age???

Well, tonight was mine...*L*

One of the classes at our co-op (CONTENDERS FOR THE FAITH) was having a back to class / get aquainted activity... It was a great idea... Except for the fact that it involved a physical activity...One which I hadn't done in years... (and I mean years)...*L*

What may you ask, could be that bad??? Well, it was ROLLER SKATING... the  kids adore it... and I did too when I was 20years younger... But my 30-something, plus-size body doesn't do well on 4 tiny wheels and some broken laces...

But I had a great time and I managed to stay upright... More than I could say for my wonderful DH... He went down twice... and I tried not to laugh..

The kids had a great time (so much so, that my 4yo. cried not to leave) and I definitely think the next time I take them skating, I will not sit and watch, but enjoy myself and relive my youth...