Year 3: Exploring Countries and Cultures, Week 2

     We love My Father's World.  I mean, what curriculum suggests baking a cake and decorating it with the continents?

     I baked the cake ahead of time and frosted the ocean for them.  They thought I was baking a cake for a potluck at church and that they weren't going to have any.  They were surprised when I told them the real purpose of the cake and that they would indeed, have a small piece (At least it was gluten-free.  I have no idea how it tasted.  I didn't have any).

     To wrap up the week they also made paper dolls to show some of the different countries and cultures we'll be studying this year.  I even purchased People Crayons!

     That's all for now.  Can't wait to see what next week brings!  God bless you and yours.

Year 2, Weeks 32-35

     The past four weeks have been a whirlwind but let's try to catch up.  Shall we?

     Week 32 began with a wonderful dinner with the supermom/woman behind Half a Hundred Acre Wood, along with her lovely family.  If you participate in Classical Conversations, then you are likely familiar with Brandy's blog and the wonderful plans, resources and ideas she shares.  If not, go check it out.  She's also an Usborne consultant.  Usborne books are used by several complete homeschool curricula, such as Sonlight and My Father's World.  If you're interested in looking at what Usborne has to offer and would like to purchase some books please click here.

     Brandy and her family made a quick stop in California before heading across the U.S. back home, checking off a few more states on her 50 States Before They Graduate List.

     We also concluded our reading on Corrie Ten Boom.  Her story was loved by all in our family.  Seriously, read some YWAM books.  The books are well written and engaging.  They're having their Spring Sale and a Mix and Match special right now.  Stock up!

     Week 33 was our final week of CC.  I can't believe how quickly it passed.  This was my first year tutoring and I thoroughly enjoyed myself.  I loved seeing my class and they way they would sponge up all the information presented to them.

     Needless to say, Week 34 was pretty laid back.  Since we were done with CC and all the work we do with it, the kids didn't have much to do.  Our school day would end pretty early which was nice, since we were having summer-like weather.  We were outside a lot and got extra books from the library to read while soaking in the sun.

     Easter happened to fall somewhere between these weeks, thus we made Easter cookies.  My Little Toughie worked with me each step of the way, from making the dough, rolling it out, cutting and then rolling fondant and making royal icing.  Then, both of my kids got creative with their cookie decorating.  See?

     Week 35, along with their school work, involved appointments, new activities, final rehearsals and our CC end-of-the-year celebration.

     My kids have done CrossFit Kids before and recently signed up at a local box.  Of course, they love it.  What's not to love?  They think they're playing but they're learning functional movements and getting a workout.  Adults need to play more often too; chase the kids at the park, climb the jungle gym with them or play catch.  Just move!

     As for the rehearsals, my Little Toughie has always loved acting.  Since she started talking, she would put on her own shows.  Last year she was in a production of The Wonderful Wizard of Oz.  This year she's in Alice in Wonderland and has a lead part.  She is very excited and is taking it very seriously, but we'll get to that next week when I wrap up in the last post of our school year!

     Ciao for now.

Year 2, Weeks 28 and 29

     We ended Week 28 with a baking class and began Week 29 with Dr. Seuss projects.

     We signed up for a free baking class at Williams Sonoma.  It was a nice small class that the kids were able to do with a couple of friends.  They were able to taste different chocolates, from semi-sweet to baking chocolate.  They also learned how to line a baking pan with just a few folds of some parchment paper and a snip with the scissors (that was my favorite part).  The cake was already pre-baked along with some cupcakes for the kids to frost.  Still, this class went through each step of cake baking, from washing your hands before you start and also after separating eggs.  Pretty thorough for a free one-hour class!

     We started week 29 by making Oobleck and Truffula Tree Pens to celebrate Dr. Seuss's birthday on March 2nd.  Both of my kids did a presentation about Dr. Seuss for CC and handed out the goodies.  I even made green eggs using chocolate melts, but forgot to take the picture.  The Truffula Trees were easy (read:  boring) to make; just some hot glue and done.  The Oobleck was a lot more fun as you can see in the pictures:

     As you can see from the pictures above, my husband read them Bartholomew and The Oobleck, which is one of the few Dr. Seuss stories we've never read.  It has an interesting message (as they all do) and is one the kids enjoyed hearing.  Plus, they got to play with Oobleck!

Kindergarten, Week 34 and Spring Break

     Oh, goodness!  Two more school weeks and we will be done.  I read through bits of the beginning of this blog and saw how much time I had early on to even write about things outside of our curriculum, but still part of our homeschool.  Not so much as the year is coming to an end.  The last 3 months have been inundated with activities and appointments for both kids and meetings for me.  It's been one thing after another and my documenting duties have fallen to the bottom of my to-do list.

     I'm okay with that.  I know I can't do it all (as much as I try to), but I do what matters first.  I'm called to carry on the work that God has began in me and it is my duty to pass that on to my kids.  If I don't get to blog because my Little Toughie asks questions about the Bible story we're reading and we spend more time than expected in discussion, then I'm okay with that.  If I have to condense two weeks of writing because my kids are enjoying the sunshine while playing with their friends, exhibiting kindness and patience, then I'm okay with that.  While this started as a blog to document (as much as possible) our first year of homeschooling, it has helped to serve as reminder that at the center of it all is our Lord and Savior.  In all things, He comes first.

     In Week 34 we began reading about the Apostle Paul (my favorite).  We have a map that traces all of his missionary routes so we used it while reading how Paul shared the Gospel from one city to the next.  While listening to one of my favorite worship songs ("Redeemed") the lyrics, "I'm not who I used to be" played.  My daughter yelled out, "Like Paul!"  She knows the story of how and why Saul became Paul.  This was first introduced to her last year during VBS; when Paul and the work he did in Athens was the focus.  I'm so happy that it has stuck with her!

     We also began a new book, Dolphin Treasure.  We read Dolphin Adventure in Week 4.  My son was still on Summer Break at that point, so he was able to hear that story.  Dolphin Treasure is a another story by Wayne Grover in which he shares his experience with the same dolphin from Dolphin Adventure.  My daughter was delighted to hear that the dolphin was still around.  She has such a heart for animals and the homeless.

     A couple of months ago we found some toadstools growing around our tree (I learned that this is a sign that our grass is too wet, which makes sense since they started popping up after we had a lot of rain.)  My daughter knows these are not edible and that some mushrooms are poisonous.  This prompted her to start pulling them and tossing them in the compost bin because (and I'm quoting her), "I don't want the homeless people to think it's food and eat it and die."  This is also why every month we prepare two care packages to pass out.

     When this week concluded we began our Spring Break.  My Little Toughie wanted to share the same Spring Break week as her big brother.  Unfortunately, Spring Break kicked off with a 4 a.m. trip to the airport.  My husband was gone all week on business.  Of course, since my timing is impeccable, I started to feel sick once we got home for our early excursion.  My head started throbbing and I started to sniffle.  By the time evening came around I was fully congested and exhausted.  I did all the things I knew to do (for myself) to get better quickly and by Wednesday I was feeling halfway decent.  We even made chocolate chip cookies for a playdate later that day.

     These aren't Paleo, but it's been a very long time since I've made chocolate chip cookies, Paleo or otherwise, and my kids really wanted to make something for their friends.  We still have a batch waiting in the freezer, ready to go for when the call for cookies come!

     My sister and nephew visited and luckily I was feeling better.  Not as energetic, but at least I wasn't stuffy anymore.  It was a wonderful visit and I'm glad my husband got back safely and in time to spend a couple of days with them as well.

     That wraps up the last two weeks.  Week 35 is just around the corner!