Wednesday, November 25, 2009

Thanksgiving Notebook

I have been introduced to this thing called "notebooking." To me, it looks like a great way to combine learning with fun. I decided to try our hands at making one, so we did our first one on Thanksgiving. I think it turned out pretty good, and I believe the boys have even taken something away from it all as well. Yes, I do believe they may have actually learned something! lol In hopes that you won't get bored looking through our book, I'll share it with you all through pictures. =)

We learned a few "Mayflower Facts."


We learned some of the basic needs that the pilgrims brought along with them on the Mayflower.



We mapped their journey.


We learned the parts of the Mayflower.




We learned about their lives during their first year in the New World. Jack drew pictures of their homes, clothes, chores/jobs, and the way the got around (by foot).


We learned about the types of food that was probably eaten at the first Thanksgiving in America, and then compared it to the foods we have at our Thanksgiving feast each year. We also all took turns weaving a construction paper placemat to display this information on.


We learned the way the indians taught the pilgrims to grow corn, and made a turkey just for fun.


In conclusion Jack wrote a little bit about the first Thanksgiving in America, and we drew up our Class Compact (after learning about the Mayflower Compact).


Earlier this morning, before working on our notebook, we did our felt turkey baskets. The boys really enjoyed making these! Aren't they so cute?



So that was our day today! Whew! All in all, we had a very fun day with lots of learning mixed in. =)

Tuesday, November 24, 2009

Gearing up for the holidays

Well here we are just days from Thanksgiving. How did it sneak up on us so quickly? It seems to happen this way every year. I know it's coming, but I'm always surprised when it's finally upon us. lol

In the spirit of preparing for the big day, the boys and I spent some time today learning about the 1st Thanksgiving. We read a couple of books & made a pilgrim felt craft.


Jared's & Justin's pilgrims got a divorce. lol The boys & girls were attached, holding hands, like Jack's. They couldn't stand it, so we cut them apart. lol You know, cause girls have cooties! lol


Here they are all together. If you notice, the girl on the right end is a cyclops because we lost one of the google eyes. lol


We have videos that we'll watch and a turkey basket felt craft for tomorrow. And of course, more reading! MTH Thanksgiving on Thursday. :)

I just love Thanksgiving! Maybe it's because of all the food & yummy desserts. lol Maybe it's spending time with loved ones. Maybe it's reflecting on all the blessings God has bestowed on my life and my family. Maybe it's spending time honoring those brave men & women of long ago who left their homes and everything they knew to settle a new land; who endured terrible hardships; who lost loved ones; who learned to survive & never give up. They have taught us to persevere & to trust in God. They have taught us to stand up for what we believe even in the shadows of uncertainty. I think it's all of it. What would Thanksgiving be without all of these things? So my wish for all my family & friends is that you all have a happy & safe Thanksgiving with blessings galore!

Friday, November 20, 2009

The great switch-a-roo!

Jack decided he was ready for his own room...yet again. The only way to make this happen, outside of an extra room magically attaching itself to the house, was to give up the school room. So I spent the entire day Wednesday moving furniture around and rearranging things. By the end of the day I was exhausted, felt muscles I didn't even know I had (lol), and acquired a huge bruise in a very lovely shade of purple on my thigh. Pictures, you ask? Well, I am here to serve...

The school room as it was...



And now, Jack's room...


This will be his "school zone."


The computer has to stay in his room for now, but he doesn't mind. lol


Jared & Justin's room.
This is their "school zone." Their toy box is just to the left. See that huge cabinet? That's the guilty culprit that gave me that lovely purple bruise! The thing slipped & fell on my leg! Ouch!


When they get beds, they will go on either side of the dresser here. Right now they're sleeping on the couch.


I know all the walls are so incredibly bare, but they do have a few posters that still need to go up & I'm working on getting them some bulletin boards for their great works of art. :)

Soccer season is over







Another season of soccer has come and gone. I wish the boys had had a better season, but what can ya do? We played with a different "league" this time and boy was it ever different! Indoor vs. outdoor was a huge change. I think we all prefer outdoor, hands down. But at least they got to play, right? Jack's team lost every. single. game. :( Jared's team did alright. They won some, lost some. Justin's games were always very close, many times coming in tied. To be perfectly honest, I think we were all glad the season was over. We'll have to try really hard next year to get them back in their old league, where they play REAL soccer! lol Anyway, here they are with their trophies that they recieved after their last games. (The one of Jared was taken seconds before he dropped, and broke, his. lol)

Wednesday, November 18, 2009

What's on the Menu: 11/17

After our nature walk yesterday, I came home & made a pot of this yummy soup. This is the crock pot version, but I just did mine on the stove top. Surprisingly, even Jack like this one! (Of course, Justin didn't, but what else is new? lol)

Tortilla Soup
chicken tenders (about 1.5-2 lbs)
4 oz chopped green chilies
30 oz petite diced tomatoes
(you can substitute 3 cans Ro-tel for the chilies & tomatoes)
2 tsp minced garlic
1 onion, chopped
1 c. chicken broth
1 Tbsp cumin
2 Tbsp fresh cilantro (1 Tbsp dried)
juice of 1/2 lime (1 Tbsp bottled lime juice)
salt & pepper to taste

Layer chicken tenders in bottom of crock pot. In a bowl combine the chilies, tomatoes, onion, garlic, chicken broth, and cumin. Pour over the chicken tenders. Cook on high for 3 hours, or low for 6 hours. Add salt & pepper to taste.
Remove chicken from crock pot & shred with a fork. Return to crock pot. Add cilantro & lime juice.

Serve in individual bowls topped with shredded monterrey jack cheese, crushed tortilla chips, sour cream, and guacamole. Actually this is a personal preference. I eat mine with all of these. Jacky ate his with just the cheese & had his chips on the side, dipping them in the guacamole. Jack & Jared had theirs with the cheese & chips.

Enjoy!!

A walk in the woods

Well we finally took that nature walk that Justin's been asking for since last month. I forgot my camera, so there aren't any pictures, but we had alot of fun. We took the short trail and had a good time exploring. We discovered the names of plants that we had no clue about before. Justin was hoping to see some alligators, but I'm sure glad we didn't! lol In fact, we saw no wildlife at all. Not even a bird. It was very quiet out there.
After the nature walk we decided to stop and walk around the old Springfield Cemetery. We got a small local history lesson there as well. I had no idea that Springfield was once a big town, much less the county seat, in the 1800s. We read a sign that told us that sometime in the 1800s "indian hostility" forced 12 families to leave the area. Later a devestating fire further dwindled the population. It was the coming of the railroad, however, that finally ended it all. It was quite sad, really. As we were walking through the cemetery & looking at all the old headstones the boys couldn't believe how many of them were so young when they died. Most were in their 20s & 30s, along with some children. There were a few older ones in their 60s & 70s. The most interesting one to us was a 35 year old doctor from New York. His headstone read "Dr. (can't remember his name) born in New York (date). Slain in Texas by Mexican violence (date) for gold." It's sad how this man died, but so interesting that his headstone didn't just include a name & dates, but a story. We also saw many graves with large stones covering them as it was done long ago to keep wild animals from digging them up. As strange as it may seem, we enjoyed walking through that old cemetery. In all it was a great day.

Thursday, November 12, 2009

Pumpkin Pie! A new revelation for me!

First of all, let me apologize for no pictures this time. :( My camera battery has been charging all day & I completely forgot to put it back in the camera to take pics.

So as part of our fall study, I decided to let the boys help me make a pumpkin pie today. They all had fun & it turned out great. I haven't actually eaten a piece of pumpkin pie since I was maybe 6 years old. I hated it. I've never eaten another bite since, determined that pumpkin "anything" was nasty. So after a yummy dinner of baked ham, sweet potatoes, mac & cheese, and green beans, I sliced everyone a piece of the pie with a glob of whipped cream on top. I was ready to get me a slice of left over wedding cake when Jacky asked why I wasn't eating pie. Well, they all guilt-tripped me into getting a piece. I hesitated on the first bite, but then realized how smooth & almost silky it was on my tongue. It wasn't too bad! Another bite...it was actually pretty good. Half-way through...I can't believe it, but I like pumpkin pie!! Who'd a thunk it?? lol

The moral of the story is....keep trying new things. Taste buds really do change. Just because you don't like something when you're 6 doesn't mean you won't change your mind when you're older.

Sunday, November 8, 2009

The Wedding!

The day has finally come and gone. It was a beautiful wedding. The bride was glowing. The groom couldn't stop smiling. The guests were full of joy for the happy couple. Eventhough in my previous post I talked about being thankful I had all boys, THESE are my girls. My nieces. Yesterday, I felt as though I were letting go of one of my own. I bawled like a baby as they ran past the crowd throwing bird seed and drove away in a car with the words "Mr. & Mrs. Carter" painted on the windows in white shoe polish.

Here is our glowing bride:


Full view of dress with bouquet:


Mom getting her corsage:


Daddy & bride:


Bridal party:


The first look at his beautiful bride walking to him:


Giving the bride away:


Exchanging rings:


They wrote their own vows:


Lighting the unity candle:


And then my camera battery died! I missed their first communion together & the kiss, and the whole reception. >:( I'm hoping someone else got those pictures and will share them with me.

After all the weeks of prep and the stress of pulling it all together the past 2 days, it all turned out perfectly and was well worth it all. Welcome to our family, William. And congratulations, Mr. and Mrs. Carter! We love you both!

Wednesday, November 4, 2009

Boys vs. Girls

My aunt, who raised 2 sons, has always said that God knew what He was doing when He gave her boys and no girls. He must have known that she couldn't handle raising girls. lol Having 3 boys (and no girls) of my own, I've adopted that theory for myself. Girls are so high maintainence. I love my nieces. They are awesome young ladies & I'm very proud of every one of them. However, I think God knew that I would do better with raising boys. I've never been more sure of this fact than I am now. Two of my nieces have already gotten married, and another is getting married this weekend. Watching my sisters go through all the wedding preparations, and the challenge of paying for it all, makes me thankful that we don't have to do that as our boys get older. LOL But we have years before we have to think about that.

Tuesday, November 3, 2009

A great day of learning!

After a 2 week break from school, we got back at it yesterday. I was almost dreading it because Mondays are usually bad enough getting back into the swing of things after the weekends, let alone a Monday after 2 weeks! But I have to say it was a wonderful day! I can't tell you how many times Jared made the comment about how fun school was or how it was the best school day ever or how I was a fun mom. That boy just always makes my heart soar!
So here's what we did...

We started the day with our Miracle Music. The boys get tired of the girl's voice on the CD, but the music is great & they get things done; so, IMO, it's worth it! lol
Then we got some science learning in. We read in our book "One Small Square: Cactus Desert." The boys are really enjoying this book. While I read, they worked on their handwriting, taking a break once in a while to come look at the pictures.
Next was history. We're working on a Middle Ages lapbook from Hands of a Child. So far the boys are enjoying it. Yesterday they learned about the feudal system, causes of low population, and a few vocabulary words. We also learned that a knight's helmet could weight up to 40 lbs!! Can you imagine walking around with something that heavy on your head? Wow. We also read a couple of chapters from the Magic Tree House book "Knight at Dawn."
After history we took a break to go outside and get active. It was time for P.E. We started out with some stretches to get our muscles warmed up.


The boys wanted to do jumping jacks.


We took a little jog up our road and back.


Then we took some time to work on soccer drills. I set up a few obstacles for the boys to practice their dribbling.


And everyone got a chance to be goalie.


They reluctantly came back inside to finish up everything else. But once everyone was back inside, we had a snack of apples, cheese sticks, and peanut butter, and had a health lesson on learning the food groups.
We managed to get math, spelling/phonics, grammar, and reading done.
We watched a couple of videos of pictures of fall foliage, learned about why leaves change colors in the fall, and did a few things for our fall study.


I read a chapter from "Sign of the Beaver," and the boys worked on their last craft for the day...3D mosaic animals.


They didn't get finished with them, but they had a whole lot of fun working on them.

So, yeah, it was a long, full day, but everyone had alot of fun!

Sunday, November 1, 2009

Guck!

Thanks to my friend, Jenn, over at Our Many Beautiful Blessings, the boys got a special treat of slimy science fun today. We made Guck! The boys are having so much fun with it!

The recipe:
~Mix together 1 cup white glue (ie: Elmer's school glue)and 1 1/2 cups water. Add food coloring or tempra paint to desired color.

~In a seperate bowl, mix 1 1/2 Tbsp Borax with 1/2 cup water. Stir till the powder is dissolved, then pour the Borax mixture into the glue mixture. Continue stirring as you pour or the Borax will settle.

~Instantly a chemical reaction occurs creating a glob in the bowl. Remove the spoon and knead/squish by hand until all the liquid is gone. Store in an airtight container.

The pics:




Even Dad got in on the fun!

Paint Chip Phonics word strips

For anyone interested in the word strips that go along with the word families, I decided to go ahead and post them. I was going to do it last night while making the other post, but it was getting late and I was tired. But here they are now...Enjoy!

Vowel set "a"
-am family:
bam, dam, ham, jam, Pam, ram, Sam, yam,
clam, slam, cram, gram, scam, spam, swam, sham

-ap family:
cap, gap, lap, map, nap, rap, sap, tap, yap, zap,
clap, flap, slap, trap, snap, chap, strap

-ank family:
bank, Hank, rank, sank, tank, yank,
blank, clank, flank, plank, crank, drank, Frank, prank, spank, thank

-ack family:
back, Jack, lack, pack, rack, sack,
black, slack, crack, track, stack, smack, snack, shack, quack

-ake family:
bake, cake, fake, lake, make, rake, take, wake,
shake, quake, stake, snake, brake, flake

-ail family:
bail, fail, hail, jail, mail, nail, pail, rail, sail, tail,
quail, frail, trail, snail

-ain family:
gain, main, pain, rain,
plain, slain, drain, grain, train, brain, stain, chain, sprain, strain

-ay family:
bay, day, hay, Jay, Kay, lay, may, pay, Ray, say, way, yay,
clay, play, slay, bray, fray, gray, pray, tray, stay, sway, spray, stray

-an family:
ban, can, Dan, fan, man, pan, ran, tan, van,
clan, plan, bran, scan, span, Stan, than

-ab family:
cab, dab, gab, jab, lab, nab, tab,
blab, flab, slab, crab, drab, grab, scab, stab

-ag family:
bag, hag, jag, lag, nag, rag, sag, tag, wag,
flag, slag, brag, drag, stag, snag, swag, shag

-all family:
ball, call, fall, hall, mall, tall, wall,
stall, small, squall

-at family:
bat, cat, fat, hat, mat, pat, rat, sat,
flat, slat, chat, that, splat
special sounds:
what, squat

Vowel set "e"
-est family:
best, jest, lest, nest, pest, rest, test, vest, west,
quest, crest, chest

-eed family:
deed, feed, heed, need, reed, seed, weed,
bleed, breed, creed, greed, speed

-ew family:
dew, few, Jew, new, pew,
blew, flew, brew, crew, drew, grew, spew, stew, chew, threw

-ell family:
bell, dell, fell, sell, tell, well, yell,
spell, smell, swell, shell

Vowel set "i"
-ill family:
Bill, dill, fill, gill, hill, Jill, kill, pill, sill, till, will,
drill, frill, grill, skill, spill, still, chill, thrill, shrill

-ine family:
dine, fine, line, mine, nine, pine, tine, vine, wine,
brine, spine, swine, whine, shine, shrine

-ick family:
lick, Nick, pick, Rick, sick, tick, wick,
quick, click, flick, slick, brick, trick, stick, chick, thick

-ight family:
fight, light, might, night, right, sight, tight,
blight, flight, plight, slight, bright, fright

-ing family:
ding, ping, ring, sing, wing,
bling, cling, fling, sling, bring, sting, swing, thing, spring, string

-ink family:
kink, link, mink, pink, rink, sink, wink,
blink, clink, slink, brink, drink, stink, think, shrink

-ip family:
dip, hip, lip, nip, rip, sip, tip, zip,
clip, flip, slip, drip, grip, trip, skip, snip, chip, whip, ship, strip

Bonus
-y family:
by, my, fly, ply, sly, cry, dry, spy, sty, why, shy, sky, try, pry, fry

Vowel set "o"
-out family:
pout, grout, trout, scout, spout, stout, snout, shout, sprout

-ow family #1:
(hard sound as in cow)
cow, how, now, pow, sow, vow, wow, bow, plow, brow

-ow family #2:
(soft sound as in blow)
bow, low, mow, row, sow, tow,
blow, flow, glow, slow, crow, grow, stow, snow, show, strow, throw

-ore family:
bore, core, lore, more, sore, tore, wore,
score, spore, store, snore, swore, chore, shore

-og family:
bog, cog, dog, fog, hog, jog, log,
blog, clog, flog, frog, smog

-ot family:
cot, dot, got, hot, jot, lot, not, pot, rot,
blot, clot, plot, slot, trot, spot, snot, shot

-ob family:
Bob, cob, job, mob, rob, sob,
blob, glob, slob, snob

Vowel set "u"
-ump family:
bump, dump, hump, jump, lump, pump, rump,
clump, plump, slump, grump, stump, chump

-uck family:
buck, duck, luck, muck, puck, suck, tuck, yuck,
cluck, pluck, truck, stuck, snuck, chuck, struck

-um family:
bum, gum, hum, mum, rum, sum, yum,
glum, plum, drum, scum, chum, strum

-unk family:
bunk, dunk, gunk, hunk, junk, punk, sunk,
flunk, plunk, drunk, trunk, skunk, stunk, chunk, shrunk