Random fun

A couple weeks ago the boys were playing with a clay kit that Jack got for his birthday. Jack made these snakes & frogs to be played on a gameboard like chess or checkers.

Jared & Justin made these Spongebob characters and aliens.

Gearing up for a new year!

Yes, I know. It's a miracle I'm updating. I'm really terrible at the whole blog thing. I don't know if I get bored with it or just don't feel like I have much interesting to share. Either way, it is what it is. I try, but..... Oh well.

So we've had a great "summer" break, but now it's coming to an end. We don't follow the typical Aug./Sept.-May/June school year. I like to take our summer break in the nice weather months when it's actually warm enough without being too hot to enjoy the day outside. So we tend to school July thru April. Hey, if they're going to be inside all day complaining that it's too hot outside they may as well be doing something productive, right?

Our official first day of our 5th homeschool year is July 12, although we're already moving into "school mode." The boys have started back up with their chore chart, I've started limiting video game time to 1 hour per day, and they have to read 30minutes-1hour per day. It's going very well so far. No complaints & they get up and get things done early.

Jack is still milking his summer break...acting like he's dreading the start of another school year, but I'm excited about it. I think we're going to have an amazing year. I've changed some things up for this year & I think the changes are going to make a huge difference in our school days. I look forward to it! I'll try to be better about blogging this year, but I can't make any promises. It's hard for a leopard to change her spots. lol

A Baptism!

This Valentine's Day was very special for our family. It was one of the proudest moments I've had as a mother. My oldest child made the decision to be baptised!

Getting ready

Let the old life be washed away

And bring forth new life!

Valentine's Day party

My friend & fellow homeschooler, Annie, hosted our Valentine's Day party this year. We celebrated on Friday by letting the kids run around outside enjoying what was left of the snow & then they came inside to decorate & binge on cookies. lol

Destroy the Snowman!

Annie & her family had built a huge snowman before we got there. The kids all had a great time knocking it down & destroying it. LOL The blue you see is where they thought it would be fun to spray it with food coloring. lol

Let the decorating begin!

A great time was had by all. We had a grand total of 11 kids ranging in age from 1 to 10 (Jack being the oldest) and 4 moms (& 1 dad stopped by for lunch). Yes, we're a small group (at least 2 families didn't make it), but we do enjoy our get togethers. :)

Texas snow!

Yes, it's true...we actually got more snow this winter! It started in the evening Thursday. It was was a bit too dark for the kids to really enjoy it, but I let them go out for a little bit. The next morning, it was still there, although already beginning to melt. The kids had a blast, but obviously we aren't fully prepared for snow here. lol

A Texas snowman

A Texas snow angel

Just a random pic of the boys playing.

I took more, but I won't overwhelm you all with them. lol

A little bit of school

We have been doing school. I've just been bad about pictures & blogging. Jack is continuing his knights & middle ages lapbook, as well as his grammar/parts of speech lapbook. He really enjoys doing these! It seems to be a great fit for him. Jared & Justin have been learning about famous Americans. They've learned about Martin Luther King, Jr., Benjamin Franklin, Rosa Parks, John Hancock, and George Washington. Next is Abraham Lincoln. They've also been doing (and finished) a lapbook on animal life cycles. Jared is continuing to read Frog & Toad while Justin is just reading different little readers to improve his reading skills.

For any of you that doesn't know, Jack loves to draw. He particulary likes to draw things & cut them out, such as masks, faces, etc. He drew a picture of Abe Lincoln & cut it out. I just had to take this picture because I thought it was hilarious! Justin put the picture over his face & put his glasses on to hold it in place. LOL

Jared & Justin's animal life cycle lap book. They're seperated in this picture. They each made their own (with different elements) and then I put them together.

Jared & Justin each made a Statue of Liberty landscape picture last week.

Having fun with school!

After school today, Jack made this comment to me: "Thanks for a fun day of school, Mom!" That really warms a homeschooling momma's heart! Jared tends to agree with Jack. He has been heard saying that "school is getting more fun all the time!" What are we doing that they think is so much fun? Well, let me show you.

After having a "duh" moment while reading my friend Rhonda's blog at Alston Academy, I went out and bought Jared a box of play money to help him in that part of his math lessons. It's so much easier when he has something tangible to touch & use rather than trying to learn an abstract concept. Here he is counting money during a math lesson.

This week in social studies, Jared & Justin have been learning about farmers & how they serve the community. Yesterday they made a barn book with pages of different kinds of farms & what we get from them. We have pictures of a rice paddy, an egg farm, a banana plantation, an orange grove, a dairy farm, and a cattle ranch. We discussed other types of farms as well.

And here they are with a picture wheel they made today depicting the process of how we get milk...from the dairy farm to the grocery store.

I promise Justin does know how to smile & he has a beautiful smile, IMO, but for some odd reason he likes to get all goofy for the camera and just looks like he's in pain. lol

In science, Jared & Justin have been learning about the weather. Last week I shared a picture of them setting up a water cycle. This week they made a cloud in a jar (or glass in our case).

First, we poured a glass full of very hot (steaming) water & then poured out all but about an inch. Then we covered the glass with plastic wrap.

Then we topped that with ice.

And watched the glass "cloud" up. The boys thought it was super cool. :)

Just for fun, Jared & Justin sat down with a wooden gingerbread man kit & put these together.

The hole in the center is for a picture, but we haven't done that part yet.

Jack is still plugging away at his Middle Ages study & he's working on a lapbook from Hands of a Child to go along with it.

In science, he has been learning all about cactus deserts and the animals that live there. He's been working on a lapbook from Homeschool Share on desert animals, and finally finished it today.

He's very proud of himself, and very well should be! He did this lapbook completely on his own. He did all the reading, cutting, writing, arranging, and gluing himself. I'm very proud of him as well! He thoroughly enjoyed doing this project.

Now for some big news for Jared.....he finished his first whole book today!!

Just look at him beaming with pride! It took him a while. The book was 143 pages in length. But he persevered & finished it. I couldn't be more proud!