Spending Our Days With Learning, Family, and Fun ~
Our family went camping at Elkmont this week.. We were right on the creek and even though it rained, we had the best time... We playd games, rode bikes in the rain (which the kidlets loved) and just had fun enjoying each other and the beauty of God's creation...
We have been swimming to the city pool several times in the last couple of weeks... Both kids were able to go off the diving board and swim to the side without any problem... I'm so proud of how well they do in the water...
Today we had a field trip to WonderWorks in Pigeon Forge with some friends of ours... They had a special free visits for homeschoolers this week...
We had a great time... They have so much to do and see there... The kids call it "the Upside Down building" and couldn't wait for the chance to get to go...
It had been my plan to continue working on ThunderCake this week... I would like to take 2 weeks for each unit, but the kidlets had other ideas... They decided to go back to China... We looked at China when we worked on the Olympics, but they wanted to go back... So we are doing Ping this week... (luckily I still had some go-alongs and resources from the library)...So, we are doing Ping...
We watched Big Bird in China and talked about the "Monkey King", who was a trickster in Chinese Mythology.
Discussed the Great Wall and how it was built... I had a beautiful book from the library with incredible pictures of the Wall...
We talked about punishments for disobedience under the Emperor and his belief in eternal life and how he had a terra-cotta army created lifesize... We made our own terra-cotta soldiers out of red clay... and built the Great Wall out of blocks... DS got really creative and made arch ways... (he tends to be very detailed)
DD loved the little girls (dressed as ducks and dancing in the video) just like Ping... I think maybe we will try and make some "Pingess" headpieces like the ones the dancers wore and let her perform and dance of her own...
In hstory we talked about Eric the Red and how his son Leif the Lucky found North America 400 years before Columbus on our pre-Columbus journey... We are using the first little bit of school this year to learn about Columbus and Early America then it was math and LA... and we were done for the day!!
Have a great evening!!
Tonight we have Upward Cheerleading and Flag Football practice at 6pm... so, I thought I would put some ham from the freezer in the slowcooker and make little sandwiches with it on yeast rolls and maybe some oven fries and corn... Something easy but would be better than eating out...
Here's the recipe I am trying tonight.. I am substituting the cola with the Coke Zero (because it's all I have in the pantry)...and I am using a much smaller ham and just adjusting the recipe to fit it...
Cook Time: 8 hours
Combine brown sugar and mustard. Moisten with just enough cola to make a smooth paste. Reserve remaining cola. Score the ham with shallow slashes in a diamond pattern. Rub ham with paste mixture. Place ham in slow cooker/Crock Pot and add remaining cola. Cover and cook on high for 1 hour, then turn to low and cook for 6 to 7 hours.
I will let you know how it tastes... hopefully YUMMY!!
Today DD and I went shopping together... I was really looking forward to it as we never get to go just the 2 of us... We had a great time and were able to hit all of our favorite thrift stores... We had lunch at the "Pizza Palace" which was on "Diners, Drive-Ins, and Dives" on FoodNetwork... We walked the all from one-end to the other, window shopping and then on to our favorite haunts... 
I found some great buys to use in our HS... Spending a total of less than a whopping $8.00...
Here's what I came home with:
The Great Classics for Children hardback editions of "Tom Sawyer" and "A Little Princess" in NEW condition...
3 "Childhood of Famous Americans" series paperbacks (Davy Crockett, Robert E. Lee, Helen Keller) also in NEW condition...
3 of the "Cornerstone of Freedom" series: "The Story of the Presidential Elections" (perfect timing to find this), "The Story of the Supreme Court", and "The Story of the Gettysburg Address" ...
My own copy of "MR. POPPER's PENGUINS".... (which DS is thrilled about, one of his favorites!!)
An out-of-print book on Pocohontas that I found on Amazon for $32 (YEAH!!!)
A Golden Treasury of Knowledge book covering everything from Ancient Persia to molecules and space...
An Home Adventure library edition of America's Story...
and the last 2 were:
and 
Not a bad day for bargains!!! 
Our church youth went on a fishing trip at a local pond today... DS managed to catch a total of 4 fishies...after a bout of anxiety over not catching any... he hasn't learned that patience is a necessity in fishing... I just wished DH had taken the camera....
Yesterday was our first day back at co-op...We had a fun and hectic day...
I am taking a few classes this year along with teaching Earth Science... Jewish Dance and Choir for me (but you won't catch me in a leotard..*LOL*)
DD is taking : Keepers of the Home
Ballet
Sing, Spell, Read and Write
United States
DS is taking : Explorers
Tennessee History
Piano Lessons
Chess
Supermarket Science
It's gonna be a great semester!!!!
Free Tags of Time for Nim's Island being offered here.
Great item to go along with the Nim's Island HSS unit that you can get here.
Have a great week!!
A great contest is being offered over at the "Back at the Ranch" blog...A great review of The SchoolHouse Planner and a chance to win!!!
What could be better... Check it out and Good Luck!!
We are easing back into our school routine... I have been considering taking 2 weeks for every book we row as I am doing lessons with both kidlets this year and DD is learning to read... I am thinking this might ease some of the pressure and we will get everything accomplished...
This week we are reading Thunder Cake by Patricia Polacco... We will probably continue this unit into next week just to make sure we get everything completed because it is a wonderful unit...
There is a whole lot information about Patricia and the book here.
I am using the information about thunderstroms and rain from here and here.
HomeschoolShare has a unit on it here. We are working on a review of ordinal numbers, random placement, and common / proper nouns...
There is also tons of worksheets and go-alongs here.
This morning we had a little "home-ec" as both kids learned to "seperate eggs" ...I then let each one of them scramble them and make breakfast... They love to help me in the kitchen...
We have found Michigan on the map and have talked a little about Russia...
Tomorrow evening after co-op (yes, it starts back tomorrow) we are planning on working on setting the table properly (one of the HSS lessons)... and finding Russia on the map..
Friday, we plan on learning about the water cycle and doing this experiment.
1.Pour water into the skillet and heat it. Let your kids watch as the heated water turns into steam and disappears.
2.Using oven mitts, hold the pan of ice cubes about six inches above the steaming water and tell your student to watch the bottom of the pie pan. Observe and ask questions regarding evaporation, condensation, precipitation, and collection.
Another experiment can be found here on how to make a thunderstorm..
And you can simulate lightening by using Wintergreen lifesavers. Go to a really dark room and stand in front of the mirror. Wait a few minutes until your eyes get accustomed to the darkness.Put a Wint-O-Green or a Pep-O-Mint lifesaver in your mouth. While keeping your mouth open, break the lifesaver up with your teeth and look for sparks. If you do it right, you should see bluish flashes of light...
Great Math Lesson: Next time you see a storm, count the number of seconds between when you see the lightning and hear the thunder. Take the number of seconds and divide by 5 and that will tell you how far away the storm is in miles. For example: If you counted 10 seconds between the lightning and the thunder, the lightning is 2 miles away!
We are going to have a Russian meal and then have "Thunder Cake" for dessert...
We are using these books as go-alongs...
The Storm
The Magic School House Kicks up a Storm
Flash, Crash, Rumble and Roll
The Gullywasher
and The Rain
You can find more recipes for "Thunder Cake" here.
We had a wonderful time this summer raising butterflies... We did the "Painte Ladies" and it was a great learning tool...
Next year, I think we will try our hand a a swallowtail... A neighbor of ours raises different varieties of butterflies every year and I think we will try and get some eggs from her...
Here's some photos of our release....
Here is our new pet...BUTTERCUP the BUNNY!!!
Little did I know what care they require... We keep this one in the house...she lives in a playpen and uses a litter box when she is out... She is very tempermental and frequently tries to bite me (quite successfully, I might add) when I am doing something she doesn't want or changing her water...
Rabbits also are finicky eaters... Their carrot intake has to be limited due to high sugar content and they love blueberries, bananas, and apples (I never knew any of this) and dry oatmeal is a treat for them...
They are very smart and love affection on "THEIR" terms...
So this has definitely been a learning experience for the kidlets and ME!!!
This summer we tried our hand (or should I say feet) at soccer... DS loved it, DD tolerated it...*L*
Then we were off to Baseball and T-ball... This was DD's first year with coach-pitch T-ball... She improved as the season progressed and was able to hit without the aide of the T by the end of the season... Her team came in 5th in the tournaments...
DS was on the mound this year and I couldn't have been prouder...He really improved his accuracy when throwing to other bases and his catching improved as well... His team came in 4th in their tournament... Which I was extremely pleased with as they played their 1st game of the tournament with only 4 players (DS and 3 girls) ...His teammates didn't show due to a strom in the area... So not to bad... I was so proud of the fact the 4 of them gave it all they had and didn't want to go down without a fight.... what an effort!!!
While we were on vacation to Charleston, SC with the Boy Scouts, a horrible storm came through on the 4th of July... Here are some pictures of the destruction that was left in our yard afterwards...
We had only had the swing set about a year, so we thought the homeowner's insurance would cover things... We were sadly mistaken... They said since we didn't have the receipt (a year after it was purchased??) they could only give us 70% of the value... Well, at least it's something...
Now does anyone know where we can get a trampoline at a good price??? *L*
Yes, I thought it was time... A new school year and a new look for our blog...
Got to get to work getting things back to the way they were on the sidebar... Wish me luck as I am techno-challenged... *LOL*
Have a great weekend!!
DH took off today to go to a doctor's appointment this morning for some routine bloodwork... So we decided to take the afternoon and go "into town" and catch a movie and dinner...
We had an excellent meal at the Macaroni Grill... (YUMMY!! but definitely not in the budget for a "family meal" ) and then were off to one of the newer theatres in town called the "Pinnacle"... It's an IMAX with an 18 plex...
So, we decided to see "Journey to the Center of the Earth"... It was a really cool movie... In 3D (which cost s an extra $2.50 a person BTW) and with some great special effects...and we got to bring the glasses home and the kidlets were thrilled with them as their "souvineirs"...
It's a great movie and now DS (who's now 8yo.) has decided he wants to read the book... A great way to spark some interest in reading, eh? *L*
