Happy New Year's Eve!

We aren't going out for any kind of New Year celebration.  New Years Eve is our *real* anniversary, this year marks 9!  This year we are starting a tradition with our kids.  A friend of mine has a wonderful Winter Solstice tradition that we love and want to adopt.  We are making "Wish Bread"!

It's monkey bread.  From scratch.  And here's our take:
Earlier in the day, make the dough and let it rise.
Punch it down, then form golf ball sized lumps of dough.
As you form the lumps, think or discuss your wishes for the coming year.
Toss the lumps into a bundt pan and allow to rise again.
Begin baking at 11pm.
Enjoy friends and family immensely during the last hour of the year.
After the ball drops, enjoy your first meal of the new year: Wishes!

If you'd like more detail, here is the recipe I plan to try.  Pictures to follow.

Getting Ready for School in 2011!

Our goals for 2011 are pretty simplistic - I need to relax.  I also need to be less lazy and more scheduled.  I'm not sure how to accomplish those two things at the same time, but I aim to try.  The problem is, I really like to sleep in.  Like, REALLY like to sleep in.  I am not the type of person to wake up before the sun, get the school materials out, have my coffee while I make a hot breakfast, and accomplish life.  I am the type that stays up until 3am on a regular basis and enjoys the quiet that a house full of sleeping people brings.  I need to rearrange my priorities it seems, as well as my sleep cycle.

First sledding in CT!

Finally, it snowed!  While everyone around us was getting dumped on, we did get a modest snowfall that was plenty deep enough to sled on.  It was insanely windy for most of the time, so we only went out for a short time but it was all kinds of fun.  Eventually, Spritely was climbing all the way to the top on her own and sledding down the entire way!  We put both of them in the same saucer a few times which was a lot of fun, and once or twice we went down with them all together.  I hope it snows again, because now it's mostly all green.

Christmas Morning

Merry Christmas!

I think they're excited!

School Pictures - 2010

I took these a while ago, and never got around to posting.  Yes, I'm back-dating...  I'm sure you will survive.  The location for these is Harkness Park, which is a lovely area on Long Island Sound...  Just beautiful.

 

Jupiter, 2nd Grade                         Spritely, Kindergarten

Let's Have Another Go...

Well, here I am again - after a two year hiatus.

I have hundreds of pictures on facebook, but I really like the organizational value of a blog so I'm going to try to post short little things here again.  I did like it, I just got WAY too busy (read: distracted) to keep up.

I'm probably not going to try and play catch-up with all the things I neglected to post about, but I hope to at least jump in where we are with the occasional update and of course photos.

Much love for you all out there.

School Pictures - 2008

All my friends with kids have been calling/emailing me telling me about their kid's first pictures... I was so excited to hear about this milestone, but it also made me feel a little sad when I realized that my kids won't ever have a kindergarten picture day!

I started thinking about that a little, and then it hit me... who says picture day has to happen in school? So today, we got the kids all dressed up and hopped in the car and started driving around aimlessly - and look what God gave us!  ***Edit:***  I'm not sure why the pictures don't show up in the post any more, but if you click on them you can view them.

Art Ideas

I subscribe to The Old Schoolhouse Magazine's email newsletter, and there are a variety of articles included each week. One of my favorite parts is the Freebie section, and this week contained quite a gem: www.artprojectsforkids.org

Enjoy! Now, pick something and get messy with your kidlets. ;)

Post #75...

Well, a new school year is starting - and as everyone probably knows, I am organizationally challenged. I've been spending a lot of time trying to figure out how to spend less time doing the stuff that I feel wastes my time... heh. I'm trying to come up with a rough routine for our day and all that good stuff, so far I have some wonderful ideas that I have yet to implement ;)

Here's a link to a site with very useful stuff: Donna Young .If you need forms for things like attendance, grades, or scheduling (plus some other neat stuff) you should go check her out, her forms are free for the printing!

Curriculum Links

These are a couple of sites that I found interesting:

Evan-Moore Curriculum Resources veeeery interesting :D

Neoscience is a complete science curriculum with experiment kits that include everything needed to complete the projects.

Moving Beyond the Page is curriculum for creative and gifted children.

Is YOUR child gifted?

Book It!

Remember Book It? Well, now it's easier for home school families to participate and I think we'll make it an annual thing, starting this year. I've enrolled and will be receiving some materials in September some time and the program runs October 1, 2008 through March 31, 2009 for K-6 (kids must be 5 by September to be eligible).

Taken Today / Announcement

Well, thought you'd all like to know...

J has become a glasses wearer! He only needs them for reading, and already I've noticed a difference in his attitude during "school". He pays attention longer, and actually reads faster - I think he can see the letters more clearly, and while I thought before that he was really having to think very hard about the words I now believe that he just couldn't see them very well. He has some worksheets to complete tomorrow so I'll know better to what extent he is being affected by his eyesight. I'm glad to have caught this now, instead of later!


J was having pics taken of him, so S had to have some taken too.

Time4Learning

I recently started reviewing Time4Learning by The Learning Odyssey for our core curriculum purposes after reading many MANY reviews from other homeschoolers at Home School Reviews. It's an online curriculum, and so far appears to be very thorough - it starts at the PreK level (still slightly above S's head but too easy for J, he placed in K/1st for math and english) and goes up to 8th grade at this point. Much of the learning happens on screen, but there are plenty of provided activities and printable work sheets to supplement the computer stuff. These pictures were taken today, the very first time we tried the site. Pricing is VERY reasonable and there is a two week evaluation period during which you can get a refund if you decide the program is not for you. Multiple children receive discounts and there is no commitment.

Independent Reading

Reading "Hello Kitty's Paper Kiss"
This book belonged to me when I was little - my Dad was a semi truck driver and crane operator and was gone a lot, the book is about a Daddy going away for work and sending a letter with X's and O's at the bottom, very cute. S is on a Hello Kitty kick, which is also very cute. She calls Hello Kitty "my hello ki tee".

Chores

How my kids help with laundry:


Actually, they *are* pretty helpful - it's nice to not have to bend down to empty the dryer, and they both help sort the laundry into categories (I use this more as an educational excersize than chore work - "make a pile of pants, a pile of shirts, and a pile of socks and undies" or "make a pile of your stuff, and a pile of your sister's stuff"). J can pretty much fold up his own stuff and put it away on his own, so that helps with the amount of time I really have to spend (even a little makes a difference).

Like Crayola?

I don't get anything if you do this, but I entered and thought that someone reading this little blog might appreciate the info...
Crayola^® Sweepstakes at Michaels Craft Store...
Tell other parents to sign up for The Knack by April 30th and they will automatically be entered into the sweepstakes. Five lucky winners will each receive over 250 Crayola products valued at over $1,400! 
Click here to see official rules.

Good Homeschool Materials Source

I'm jumping on the bandwagon - who couldn't use a little extra green? :D

The HSB Front Porch is having a contest and you can win a $50 gift certificate just for blogging about The Old Schoolhouse Magazine Spring Promo before midnight April 30, 2008. Subscribe now to The Old Schoolhouse Magazine and receive 25 BONUS gifts valued at over $550! The Winter Promo sold out, don't miss out on the free gifts this time!

They are also giving away a $150 gift certificate to the Schoolhouse Store. All print subscribers (new or renewing) between April 3 - 30, 2008 will be automatically entered into a drawing. No purchase neccessary to win. To enter without subscribing, please send a postcard with your name, address, telephone number, and email address to:
The Old Schoolhouse Magazine Spring Promo Contest
PO BOX 8426
Gray, TN 37615

Dental caries are no joke! :D

Which is why we are doing everything we can to avoid them! These pics are from the kids' first visit to the dentist.

Happy April Fool's Day!

Here, J's teeth have been painted with a "disclosing" dye, which was then rinsed off and the parts that remained dyed were the areas that had plaque build up. The hygenist was awesome, and explained to him everything that she was doing and let him ask any questions his little brain could think of.

He did a great job with the water spray, our hygenist said he was the best patient she'd had in a while, even better than most adults haha...


After brushing J got some little trays put in with a flouride foam in them. He thought he looked like a duck, it was pretty cute. S had to try it out too, her trays were empty of course.

S was pretty excited to get a ride in the chair!

And she also liked the water squirt thingy. She'll have her first real appointment this September when she turns three.

Origami Day

Crafts and projects of all kinds are much enjoyed in our house... Today, I introduced the kids to origami by making the easiest thing I could imagine... a frog. All you need is a 3x5 card and a kid (or more) who is bored :D I'm also posting directions to make paper roses, because I think they're neat. Probably too difficult for little kidlets, but wanted to post something difficult too. You can click on links in the individual instructions to see very detailed images of each step of both projects, which should make them easier to complete. Enjoy!


My bored kids ;)


S and J trying to fold their frogs... I pretty much had to do S's for her, but J did a few of the folds quite on his own (which suprised me for some reason)


Any time markers are out in our house it's cause for celebration - I tend to be stingy with them, S is messy (click the picture to see the blue marker stains on the front of her shirt). But what two-year-old isn't? I should lower my standards... or apron them or something. hehe


My finished froggie. It's supposed to be a red-eyed tree frog, but instead it just looks creepy.

Jumping Frog

From , the How To manual you can edit!
Origami Jumping Frog (click this link to see the original article, complete with pictures to help explain in more thorough detail)

Origami can be a fun activity for people of all ages. This easy-to-make jumping frog can be made in about three minutes and can provide hours of entertainment. The sturdiness of the index card makes the frog jump higher and last longer than if you make an origami jumping frog from regular paper. With a few friends and a few more frogs, you can play games like seeing whose frog can jump the farthest or race frogs seeing who can reach the finish line first.

Steps

1. Place a 3" by 5" index card on the table in a portrait orientation (long sides to the left and right).
   
2. Fold the top-right corner of the card diagonally (down and left) until the top of the card meets the left side. The result will look like the figure.
   
3. Unfold the card.
   
4. Fold the top-left corner of the card diagonally (down and right) until the top of the card meets the right side.
   
5. Unfold the card. This will result in an X-shape on the upper portion of the card as shown in the figure.
   
6. Grasp the right and left edges of the card between your thumb and forefinger at the midpoint of the triangles and fold the two sides inward (your thumbs will touch).
   
7. As the top portion of the card folds inward, press it the rest of the way down. The card should resemble a house (see figure).
   
8. Grasp the right corner of the resulting triangle and fold the "wing"upward to the top corner of the triangle.
   
9. Fold the left "wing" upward to the top corner of the triangle as well.
   
10. Fold the right edge of the "house" into the middle so that the right edge meets the vertical center line.
    
11. Fold the left edge of the "house" into the middle so that the left edge meets the vertical center line.
    
12. Fold the bottom of the card up to meet the top and then back again to meet the new fold at the bottom.
    
13. Turn the frog over; it should open up a bit.
    
14. Using the tip of your index finger, press the "butt" of the frog down slightly and release; the frog will jump.

Tips

• After completing a fold, run your thumbnail across the fold while pressing firmly to ensure it is crisp and flat.
  
• Larger card stock can be used to make a larger frog. However, if the proportions are not 3:5 trim it down using scissors or a paper cutter.
  
• Green card stock will make a more realistic-looking frog.
  
• Markers can be used to decorate your frog.
  

Warnings

• Scissors and paper cutters can be dangerous. Keep fingers and clothing away from cutting parts. Parental supervision is advised.
  

Things You'll Need

• One 3" by 5" index card.

Article provided by wikiHow, a collaborative writing project to build the world's largest, highest quality how-to manual. Please edit this article and find author credits at the original wikiHow article on How to Make an Origami Jumping Frog from an Index Card. All content on wikiHow can be shared under a Creative Commons license.