A Little of This and A Little of That

2012-01-27T11:25:00.000-08:00

I didn't take too many pictures this morning. Gavin reviewed place values to the 100s place in math. In history we learned about Paul Revere. Wednesday we had read the comic book that just focused on his famous ride, today we read a more complete biography (although still a children's picture book so it wasn't super detailed) and then we read Henry Wadsworth Longfellow's 'The Midnight Ride of Paul Revere'. We were supposed to do science today but I'm thinking about changing the plans on our weather unit. Since we finished thunderstorms we were going to learn about hurricanes and tornados and then be done, but Gavin already seems nervous about natural disasters and I started to worry that if we spend a couple weeks learning about them it might make it worse...or it might make it better, I'm not sure. I am going to try and decide what to do this weekend.

Anyway, after we read about Revere Gavin drew a Norman Rockwell inspired picture of an everyday event. His event was watching the birds at our bird feeder with his brother. It's hard to see but the feeder does kind of look like our bear bird feeder.

Then Gavin had to draw an American Revolution battle plan like George Washington (he is a little obsessed about George Washington right now). We have a book that is actually for adults that has different battles of the Civil War but for each battle there is a map of the terrain and where the soldiers were so we used this as a guide. We discussed how to show different things on a map and looked at the maps in the book. Then Gavin drew his own map.

And here it is! The red lines are 10 British soldiers, the blue (short) lines are Patriot soldiers (they are all hiding behind a fence) then there are cannons and a river and row boats on the river. Apparently the British plan to use the boats to cross the river and the Patriots are going to stay behind the fence. The orange arrows show the movement of the British troops.

These are the books we read today.

2012-01-25T10:34:00.000-08:00

This morning Gavin reviewed the capital letters he has learned in cursive. He is starting to copy complete sentences for copywork. He also practiced marking vowels long or short and underlining the blends in words.

In math, Gavin reviewed writing equations, simple addition and parallel and perpendicular lines.

Austin wrote a note to his sister.

We read these books today.

We will read a short biography of Paul Revere and Longfellow's poem about Revere next time. The book we read today was just about his famous ride through Massachusetts. I had a few more pictures but the website is having some issues uploading pictures today. Hopefully it will be fixed soon!

2012-01-24T18:42:00.000-08:00

Yesterday Gavin wasn't feeling well. Actually, after throwing up on the couch, he seemed to feel much better. As unpleasant as that was, the slipcover needed to be dry cleaned anyway and that's why I picked out a couch with a slipcover. Regardless, we didn't do school. Gavin did watch five or six episodes of Liberty's Kids, a cartoon about the American Revolution that is surprisingly historically accurate. He learned about the Stamp Act, the Intolerable Acts, Phyllis Wheatley, Paul Revere, Patrick Henry, Benjamin Franklin and the start of the war at Lexington and Concord. Then we read a book about the Boston Tea Party and another book (it's actually a comic book) about the Boston Massacre.

Today we were back on our normal schedule. In math we reviewed even and odd numbers and practiced counting by twos. Gavin laid out dot cards and had to identify them as even or odd. Then he counted them (by twos) and put the correct number underneath the dot cards.

We also did some counting by twos on the abacus. We learned that when you add two to an even number the answer is always even and when you add two to an odd number the answer is always odd.

In science we learned about thunder and lightning. We were going to do an experiment but I forgot to freeze ice colored with blue food coloring so we will have to do it tomorrow.

This book is just an African legend about thunder and lightning. Gavin thought it was funny!

And, the baby's room is finally 100% done! Here is the beautiful bookcase Steven made for her. It turned out perfectly! There are a couple things on it right now that will have to be removed when she starts crawling but it's mostly holding books and toys.

And, plan A for over the crib didn't work out, so we went with plan B. I think it turned out cute even if it was plan B. The white dresses have flowers embroidered on them and the pink dress has white lace trim. It's supposed to look like a clothesline but I used a ribbon instead of string.

Yesterday afternoon, after dropping off the couch slipcover at the dry cleaners, I stopped by the fire department to make sure the infant car seat is correctly installed so we are officially completely ready for her arrival! Gavin is counting down the days until her due date when we do circle time in the morning and look at our calendar.

2012-01-20T11:33:00.000-08:00

We don't have too much to report from this morning. Austin worked on his 'Where's My Tail' puzzle and then did snowman matching while Gavin worked on reading, cursive writing and phonics. We skipped math today but we did do another rain experiment. We put warm water in the bottom of a jar and then put a ziplock bag full of ice across the top. We put it on our table as we worked to watch as the water condensed on the bottom of the ziplock bag and began to 'rain'.

We have talked about the Beaufort Scale and have been trying to use it to gauge wind speed for our weather chart. Today we read a book about it.

2012-01-18T12:24:00.000-08:00

Austin didn't want to get dressed this morning so excuse us for the pajama pictures!

I switched out Austin's school activities and he enjoyed trying some new things and some things we have done before but not in a while. The first thing he found was the 'hammering golf tees into the styrofoam' activity. He did this for most of the morning.

While Austin was hammering, Gavin was reading and practicing capital cursive letter 'I'.

Then Austin moved on to this fun puzzle game called, "Where's My Tail?".

It's a combination matching and puzzle game. Each animal is in two pieces - a head and a tail. You match the correct animal together and they fit together like a puzzle. Austin really liked this game!

In math we have been working on finding the parts to a number. I have been showing Gavin how to find all the parts to a number by following a pattern starting each equation with 0 and going up to the number you are trying to find while the second number counts backwards from the number to 0: 0+5=5, 1+4=5, 2+3=5, 3+2=5, 4+1=5, 5+0=5. Anyway, today I had him use the pattern to find all the possible parts to the number 5. That's what he is doing in this picture.

By this time Austin was working on this nature memory game. He just used it as a matching game. It has beautiful pictures on the cards.

Then Gavin and I reviewed parts to 10. I slide some beads over on our abacus, keeping the rest hidden behind a paper, and he had to tell me what was left on the other side.

Then he used his abacus to count to 100 by 2s. He also counted by 2s from 2-30 on his own and by 2s from 1-29 on his own today.

In science today we learned about rain and what causes it and about the water cycle. After we read our books Gavin showed me the water cycle using this felt set I made for him. The water cycle is review for him since we read about it a couple years ago when we first started our garden and were learning about plants and just from general observation.

Then we did two experiments. First we put on hand sanitizer and noticed it made our hands feel wet but after a minute our hands were dry. We talked about how some soaks into our skin and some evaporates into the air.

Then we made a cloud in a bottle! We put warm water in a bottle (only about 1/3 full), put on the cap and gently sqeezed the water to see the water condense at the top of the bottle. Then came the exciting part! I lit a match (fire always makes for a great experiment!) held it inside the bottle for just a couple seconds to heat up the air, then let it drop into the water to heat the water and put the cap back on. Gavin gently squeezed the water at the bottle to create air pressure and we got a foggy bottle! We did this three times in a row because the boys thought it was so neat.

Dad was nice enough to make us a weather vane to use for our continued weather-related learning. We have been keeping a weather chart the last couple weeks with the temperature, wind speed and direction, etc. Today Gavin started painting the weather vane so, of course, Austin had to paint too!

Gavin painted his weather vane in red, white and blue stripes. Tomorrow or Friday we will paint the back side since we had to let it dry.

Here is Austin's painting...yes, he did finally get dressed!

We read these books today.

As if that was not enough for one morning...we got on the Mount Vernon website to play this really neat game I found on it yesterday. Basically you are looking for secret items around Mount Vernon (all things that are really there) but you go around asking people there, i.e. the Washingtons, their family members, slaves, servants and friends, about the object and they give you clues as to what it is and where to find it. As you go around the plantation you pick up bonus items, again all items that are actually at Mount Vernon, and it shows a photograph of the item and tells you a little bit about what it was and how it was used. It is really fun! Gavin and I both were having a great time. We saved our game so we can play some more later. So far we found a dress that Martha Washington wore when she was First Lady, an instrument the slaves played and a special lantern they used that had just been invented and gave the light of 60 candles!

What I think is neat, after seeing Mount Vernon firsthand, is that the furniture and even the colors in the rooms inside the house are exactly like they are at Mount Vernon so it gives a really good 'feel' for what it is actually like if you can't go yourself. Gavin is just happy I'm letting him play a video game!

2012-01-17T16:02:00.000-08:00

We had a new addition this weekend. Not a baby yet but a new (to us) minivan. That's right, we (and by 'we' I mean mostly 'me') are officially minivan drivers. It's a rather painful experience but the good news is now when the baby does get here we have space in the car to actually bring her home so I guess that makes it worth it!

It was beautiful this weekend (when is it ever in the 50s in January!?!) so we spent a lot of time outside. Steven started the baby's bookcase and it looks beautiful! It is still in the process of being painted but pictures will follow when it's finished. The boys helped me clean the double stroller and put it in the back of the car.

This morning Gavin worked on marking vowels either short or long in words he was reading.

Then he wrote capital cursive letter 'T'.

In math we reviewed nickel and penny values and answered word problems with money. We figured out if the word problem gave us a whole and a part or two parts and filled in our chart accordingly.

Then we practiced dividing the number 10 into parts; 0+10, 1+9, 2+8, etc.

Then we played a matching game trying to find two numbers that equal 10.

We didn't have time for any activities in history today but we did read a picture couple books about George Washington and a book that gives basic info about the American Revolution.

This is a really fun book about how George Washington found a stray dog on the battlefield after a battle that turned out to be British General William Howe's dog. George returned the dog to General Howe even though they were enemies.

We finished Ivanhoe and tonight we are starting this book about another knight:

This is the second book of the series. We read the first one and it is mostly silly but Gavin thought it was funny so he got the second and third in the series for his birthday. I'm guessing we'll be reading book number three when we finish this book.

2012-01-12T18:24:00.000-08:00

This is my second post for today so if you are just checking keep reading when you are done with this one! I just wanted to post a few pictures of Gavin making hoecakes for dinner. They are basically a pancake made with cornmeal instead of flour. I cooked them on the griddle but Gavin mixed them together. I even let him crack the eggs today. We ate them with butter and honey...just like George Washington!

They were not bad. The boys both thought they were good and wanted me to make them again. I got the recipe from this book we've been reading.

2012-01-12T14:02:00.000-08:00

This morning we had another ultrasound to see about how much our little girl weighs. Apparently I am somehow measuring three weeks behind, but, she is weighing in at 5 lbs 12 ounces, putting her in the 54th percentile so she's right where she should be! Only about four weeks left! We are all very excited to meet her!

Today was a snow day for the boys. However, since we took Monday off due to a late night on Sunday, Gavin and I went ahead and did homeschool in the afternoon while Austin was supposed to be napping. He has been trying to drop his naps but I don't think he's quite ready for it yet.

Anyway, we did our language and reading. In math we worked more on finding parts to a whole. Since that didn't take long we played a math game called 'Inchimals'. It's a measuring, addition, subtraction game and once Gavin got the hang of it he seemed to like it.

In science we finished up wind and air pressure. We did two experiments today to show how hot hair expands and cold air contracts. First, we put a balloon on the top of an empty bottle (remembering how the bottle has air in it even though we can't see it as we learned in our experiment Tuesday) to trap the air inside. Then we placed the bottle in boiling water and watched as the air expanded.

Then we put the bottle in a bowl of ice and watched the balloon contract.

Then we took the balloon off and put the bottle back in the boiling water.

Then we quickly put the lid on the bottle and placed it in the bowl of ice to see what would happen to the pressure in the bottle. The bottle collapsed on itself when the air cooled.

Gavin recorded his experiments in his science journal. He still draws pictures to record experiments rather than write his findings.

Then we made a wind streamer out of an oatmeal box, construction paper, star stickers and crepe paper. First he glued construction paper on the oatmeal box...

...then he added star stickers for decoration.

Austin was up by this time and he decided he wanted to paint.

Finally, he taped crepe paper to the inside of the oatmeal box.

These are the books we read today.

2012-01-12T06:23:00.000-08:00

Yesterday Austin colored for a little bit and then he left us to play with firemen toys. In the last couple of weeks he has gotten really into firemen for some reason.

In math Gavin worked on finding parts to a whole (addition and subtraction). First he used his abacus and tally marks, then he found the third part using his circle graph.

It was a beautiful day yesterday! Of course, today we have snow and school's are cancelled. But yesterday Austin played outside while Gavin was at school since he wasn't going to sleep during naptime. He is wearing his fireman hat but he has it on backwards. He even wore it when he laid down for a nap.

We finished Norman Rockwell. Next week we will do our art project.

We read another chapter of George Washington. Our project was supposed to be making hoecakes for dinner but since it was so nice outside I let the boys play outside instead. We may make them today.

We read two more chapters of George Washington.

2012-01-10T12:23:00.000-08:00

Today Gavin started writing capital cursive letter 'A'. We also practiced reading. I'm trying to get him to read a little faster. If I give him words to practice he takes forever to read them, but if I count to 'three' for each word he can read them in before I get to three so I know he can read faster, it's just getting him to do it!

In math we practiced showing numbers 1-10 in different ways. So I would say a number and Gavin would show me the place value card and dot card and then he would show me on the abacus and with tally marks. Then we divided numbers into parts: 5 = 4 and 1, 2 and 3, 3 and 2, etc.

Then we played a game called Animal Logic. Gavin got it for Christmas. It teaches logic skills. Here is a description of the game:

"Lions, hippos, giraffes and camels are all waiting to get to the other side of the river. The animals know they may only cross the river bridge one at a time and they must travel in the proper order to safely arrive at the other side. With sixty puzzles and five levels of difficulty (beginner to advanced), these logic puzzles have players solving the correct sequence to remove the sixteen wooden animals from the game board."

We tried the first two puzzles today and Gavin seemed to like it. The nice thing is that he can play it by himself if he wants to as well.

Here is Gavin during math.

And playing Animal Logic.

Last week in science we learned about the weather in general and about the sun and it's effect on weather. (Side note - our grapes are getting brown and wrinkly having been in the sun for a few days. Not exactly raisons but Gavin recorded his observations and drew a picture in his science journal. We will contine to monitor them for a few more days.)

This week we are learning about air and wind and how air effects the weather. After reading a book about air and a book about wind, we tried this experiment to help us 'see' air. First we put a paper towel in the bottom of a glass and filled the sink with water. Then Gavin carefully placed the glass in the water until it touched the bottom (making sure the glass was perfectly straight and not crooked). Finally, he slowly lifted the glass out of the water, again keeping it straight. We learned that the paper towel would stay dry because the air at the top of the glass kept the water out. He did this several times but started rushing and tipping the glass. When he did this we saw the air bubbles escaping and realized that the air was leaving the glass and sure enough, the paper towel was wet!

We read this book about weather last week.

Today we read these books.

We are still working on Washington at meal times. We have not gotten too far on it for some reason but we are trying. Getting back into a routine after a few weeks off is not easy.

We have been reading Ivanhoe at bed time. We have just a few chapters left. Gavin is loving this book!

The Baby's Room

2012-01-08T10:26:00.000-08:00

The baby's room is about 95% complete! Done enough to share pictures finally since we got the crib bedding on Friday. It's beautiful and exactly what I wanted so I am very excited!

I did not want a theme in the room or a baby-ish room. I wanted a room that is feminine , that works for a girl of any age and time. I went with a shabby chic look with soft colors and lots of pretty, feminine fabrics. I took lots of pictures...here they are!

The first few pictures are just general pictures. This is from the doorway looking in. I do have plans for something to go over the crib. Hopefully it will be ordered this week but it includes her name and I think it will be really nice. The green on the wall is called Guilford Green by Benjamin Moore. The curtains and slip cover to the glider I made a couple months ago. They are white with a pink toile of children playing. In the back corner over the glider is a bird mobile. It's hard to see but I took a closer picture below.

This is the wall opposite the crib (standing next to the crib).

Another thing that needs to be done is there was a romantic poem about a woman with this little girl's name written in the 1500s. (There's a clue if you really want to start researching poems written in the 1500s!) I copied it on a piece of paper with a fairy border and I am going to frame it and put it behind her chair under the chair-rail since it's for her. That should be done this week too!

And, this is from the window looking back at the door (the one on the left is a closet, the one on the right goes into the hallway). You can see the ballerina bow holder I made hanging on the door. Someday there will be a dollhouse bookcase between the doors that Steven has promised to make for her. The books you see on the floor are waiting for their home. It will also hold baskets for toys and supplies until she wants to use it as a dollhouse.

The bookcase should look something like this:

Here are some close up pictures of different things. These are the shelves on the right of the dresser/hutch above her little chair. Random baby in the picture frame. Both frames are waiting for pictures of us. I'm hoping to get a couple good pictures of the baby with her big brothers to put in them.

Here is the dresser/hutch. I wasn't going to do anything 'princess-y' but you can see that there is a picture of a pink glittery castle. The headband holder I made out of an Quaker oatmeal box is on the bottom left of the hutch (to the left of the changing pad). Most of the things in the hutch were either in Gavin's room when he was a baby (he graciously offered to share without my even asking). Some of the things were in my room when I was a little girl.

Here is a little closer of the bed although I didn't get a great shot of the bedding. The fabrics are in the blanket on the back of the bed (which will obviously not be there when the baby is put in the crib). I debated on whether or not to get a blanket but I'm glad I did because it's the size of a throw blanket so she'll be able to use it a lot when she is older, as a blanket in a toddler bed and a throw when she's bigger. I got two sheets. One is green. The green has little white polka dots that you can't see in the picture and one is the blue with the pink cabbage roses. The bumper is in four sections so we can take off just the front one and use the other three when we convert the crib to a toddler bed. The front is the blue with pink cabbage roses and the back is a really soft, pink minky material. It has a pink ribbon around it and the ties. The crib skirt has wide pink stripes and is trimmed with the blue with pink cabbage roses fabric. I also got a matching changing pad cover in the blue roses fabric.

Here is the bird mobile that is over the glider. The birds spin around throughout the day.

I picked up this lamp at a garage sale before Austin was born because I thought the bunnies were so cute and it would be perfect in a little girl's room. I'm glad I did! I added the pink flowers to the shade because it looked really bare to me and I thought it needed a little something extra. The table was in my mom's basement not being used so I spray painted it 'ballerina pink' and it works perfectly in the corner by the glider.

Here's a picture of the glider. It's a little wrinkly because I've been sitting in it!

This is a picture of the hutch. I love the print! It's Marie Antoinette and says, "Let them eat cupcakes!" Poor Marie Antoinette! But it made me laugh and I love her dress.

Most of you probably know that Gavin is obsessed with nutcrackers and passed this love down to his little brother this year. When we went to the Nutcracker ballet before Christmas, Gavin saw this pink, glittery nutcracker and insisted his sister had to have it for her room (the boys have a nutcracker that stays in their room all year). It's an ornament so it's only about six inches tall.

Here are the pictures on the wall. They kind of make the room a little theme-y because they all have bunnies in them like the lamp but I don't think it's overboard with bunnies. Although I did have a couple stuffed bunnies from when I was a kid downstairs and I brought them up and put them in the hutch but I still don't think it's an obvious bunny theme.

Anyway, I found these original watercolor paintings on Etsy from this seller: http://www.etsy.com/shop/GHART. He does beautiful work at great prices. The paintings are about 12 X 16 so they are framed with a 16 X 20 frame.

Well, there it is! I am so excited that the room is just about done. All the necessary things are done at least. All that's left is the decoration for over the crib, getting a frame for her poem and the bookcase. I hope you like it!

2012-01-05T11:54:00.000-08:00

Today we did our two science experiments. First, we laid out some grapes in the sun. We are going to try and make raisins. This might work better in the summer but we are going to try it and see what happens. We will let you know in a couple days.

Then we did an experiment to test how the sun effects things (this is the reason for the raison experiment too). We will be learning how the sun effects the weather so this is just a couple simple ways to make it something Gavin can 'see'.

First we put two thermometers in two bottles (one in each obviously). Then we covered one bottle with white construction paper and the other with black constrction paper and set them outside in the sun. We set our timer in 30 minute intervals and checked our temperatures four times this morning. We learned that the black bottle was warmer then the white bottle and talked about why. Gavin's hypothesis was the white bottle would be warmer but it was just a guess, not based on any scientific knowledge. He recorded his findings in his science journal.

I didn't take many pictures this morning but here are a few of Gavin doing math. He had to make the number I said in three ways, using tally marks, his abacus and his fingers.

I think this is the 'why-are-you-making-me-do this' look.

Today was technically history day not science day so we read another chapter in this book. It was about Washington during the French and Indian War.

We also read the first half of this book about Norman Rockwell. We will finish the second half next week and then do a Rockwell-inspired art project.

2012-01-04T12:12:00.000-08:00

We are trying to get back into our normal routine this week. As much as we enjoyed the time off I think everyone is enjoying getting back into our regular schedule.

Yesterday we started learning about the American Revolution. We are actually taking a closer look at George Washington's life first. We will probably focus on the lives of the founding fathers and reasons behind the war more than the war (battles,etc.) itself although we will read about that too.

So to get started we are reading two books. One is George Washington: 25 Great Projects You Can Build Yourself. It has some pages you read and then activity suggestions. Yesterday we started reading and then Gavin was a silversmith. We covered a plastic plate with foil and he etched a design into the foil.

It's hard to see but it's a whale swimming in the ocean when it's raining. I'm not exactly sure that would be an authentic Colonial theme but I wasn't going to be picky about it!

We are also reading this chapter book about George Washington at mealtimes.

Of course, we are also back into our reading, phonics and writing.

Austin got some nice things for Christmas that are perfect for school. He started this morning with a farm-theme felt set.

Then he played with a Thomas the Train matching game.

Then he did a snowman color matching game. It's supposed to be a file folder game. I found it on this great website: http://filefolderfun.com/. They have all sorts of free file folder games for preschool through 5th grade. But, I didn't put it in a file folder and it still works just fine!

Santa did bring Austin a few pre-made file folder games. Today he did a car color matching game.

Then he played with these linking toys. I'm not sure what they were called but Austin got them in his Christmas stocking. They are actually toys from Wendy's kids meals. We don't eat fast food very often but when we do we go to Wendy's. Depending on the toy I either tell them to not give us one or, if it's something good, I hide it in my purse and put it in the boy's Christmas stockings. Gavin got some Lego race cars and a travel checkers game from this method. So far I have gotten away with this scheme without being caught and neither of the boys have any idea that kids meals come with toys!

Anyway, these linking toys are awesome because you can build in lots of directions, not just up or across. Austin loved these! I wasn't sure he'd be able to get them together because they do require good fine motor control but he didn't have too much trouble at all. We only had two bags of them and there were quite a few pieces in each bag but now I kind of wish we'd gone back to get a couple more!

This was a 'goose'.

This was an airplane.

Gavin has started his 1st grade math book! He is very proud of himself. Of course, it starts back at the beginning reviewing Kindergarten so it's still really easy right now. Seriously, we are reviewing numbers 1-10, adding 1 and remembering how to use tally marks and the abacus.

Austin was still playing with the linking toys.

And, we have started learning about the weather and we are already behind because I am not prepared! I went to the library and all the books I wanted were checked out so apparently someone else is learning about weather right now too. And, I need a few supplies for experiments and haven't been able to get my hands on them yet. I will try to get my act together by next week! We did read a couple introduction books today.

2011-12-31T10:09:00.000-08:00

This week we have been getting our house back in order after the holidays and enjoying our new toys! The boys have had a great time playing with all their Christmas gifts. So far I don't think there's anything they haven't had fun playing with. I have gotten all the Christmas stuff packed away and the house back to it's normal look. I have also washed the baby clothes, blankets, etc. and brought up the baby gear from downstairs and washed it so we are ready for this little one when she decides to make her appearance. Only six weeks to go!

Austin has had a good time checking out all the baby gear. Every time he sees something new he says, "I like that!" I had the car seat in the school room yesterday before I washed it and I walk in to find that he had made himself comfortable in it.

Here is a little preview picture of the baby's room. Austin loves her little pink chair! He sits in it to read quite a bit. Her room is done except for her bedding and the decor above her crib. Hopefully her crib bedding will be in the mail next week and I can order the decor for above her crib. Then I will post pictures of her room. I think it's coming together nicely!

And, I took the basket part of the bassinet off to wash the cover. Austin made himself at home in the storage bin on the bottom.

Gavin got Viking and Knight stencils in his stocking and he has been using them to make neat pictures.

Austin loves his new monkey pajamas! They are nice and cozy!

That has been our week. Not super eventful. We did go to the park on Thursday but I forgot my camera. We will start school again on Tuesday and go until the baby is born. Then we will take a few weeks off as we get used to our new addition and then start up again!

Our Bible verses for January will be Psalm 23. I won't copy it here because most people probably already know it. In history we will pick up with the American Revolution and in science we will start a unit about the weather. Our artist of the month will be Norman Rockwell and our composer will be George Friedrich Handel.

2011-12-21T18:24:00.000-08:00

The Christmas season is in full swing at our house this week. We have had a couple Christmas theme meals. One was Christmas tree quesadillas:

And one was English muffin reindeer (they didn't look all that great but the boys really liked them).

We also had some Christmas theme pasta...a random find at Big Lots. It was a tri-color pasta in star, Santa and Christmas tree shapes. The boys have been very excited with their Christmas meals.

Gavin received a letter from Santa in reply to his wish list. This was also very exciting! Gavin promptly wrote a thank you note to Santa to leave next to the fireplace on Saturday evening. He is finally starting to sound out words and try to spell them correctly rather then just writing gibberish! I'm very excited about this development! He wrote a whole sentence himself and only left out the 'n' in Santa but spelled the rest of the words correctly.

Today was a super exciting, hard-to-contol-ourselves type of day at our house. It is Gavin's birthday so he knew we were having his 'real' birthday party this evening. I made Christmas cookies this morning which the boys got to taste test for me. They even got to lick the batters of the mixer when I was making molasses cookies! In short, they were super excited and full of sugar...

This afternoon Gavin went to a cookie decorating party at a friend's house...yet another excitement. Our phone was ringing every few minutes with calls to wish Gavin happy birthday and we had two neighbors stop by and bring more cookies and treats for us, even more excitement. Needless to say, we have a lot of cookies in the house right now and two very tired boys (and mom).

Gavin did get his birthday party. We had baked macaroni and cheese, steak and green beans (Gavin's request). Then he got to open presents. Usually he only gets a few presents on his birthday but this year he had quite a few for some reason. And, apparently he likes military stuff because everything was related to the military except for an 'I Spy' memory game our neighbor brought over.

But, he got seven or eight books about knights and Vikings. Mostly chapter books for us to read before bed.

He got some more Civil War soldiers to go with the ones he got this summer. These ones came with cannons! He's been saving his money to get more when we go back to that toy store next summer.

He got $6 cash!

He got a few 12 inch G.I. Joes that have realistic uniforms and weapons from different wars.

And, what he declared the 'best gift ever' a Lego Medieval Village set, complete with working mill and animals. I was kind of surprised he liked this so much since he hasn't really gotten into Lego but he was really excited about it.

And, because there aren't enough cookies in the house, he got a cookie birthday cake. I wasn't going to do anything for dessert, just let him eat Christmas cookies, but then I started to feel bad about not having a cake (even though I made him a birthday cake for his party a couple weeks ago).

Austin always appreciates the cake!

That has been our week in a nutshell. We've been reading Christmas books, listening to Christmas music and enjoying the time off from school and running around.

2011-12-14T10:20:00.000-08:00

First up, the boys' poinsettia pictures from Monday...

Today Gavin read and practiced cursive handwriting. Austin did a puzzle and then several worksheets. I gave him the cow matching because he wanted to do 'school' and then he kept asking for another one so I gave him a worksheet where he circled the smallest object and then he did a shape/shadow matching worksheet.

Here is Gavin's handwriting page. He is reviewing letters and learning how to put them together to form words.

For our '25 Days of Christmas' activity we made gingerbread cookies. I cheated and bought Pillsbury dough which I rarely do but these cookies will be gifts for teachers and our '25 Days of Christmas' activity for Friday is to take some cookies to our local fire department as a thank you for keeping us safe and working through the holidays. So we focused more on cutting and decorating then the actual mixing and cooking. First we made some reindeer cookies, then the boys took turns cutting the dough with Christmas cookie cutters.

Gavin decorated the cookies. I didn't let Austin because they were still hot. He was disappointed but happy to watch Gavin and offer advice.

Here are the reindeer.

Hard to believe this is the last week of school until January!

Yesterday we read these books:

Today we will read this book. We haven't actually had time yet but we will get to it!

In 'Boys of Grit' yesterday we read about Walter Scott (I had no idea he was lame) and today we read about Samuel Morse (I had no idea he was actually a painter). Gavin seems to be really enjoying the stories even though some of the vocabulary is a little hard for him. He gets the main story and we talk about the meanings of new words.

And, John Paul is officially a sailor now, although still a cabin boy. We are enjoying this book as well!

2011-12-12T12:39:00.000-08:00

We slacked off a bit last week it seems like so this week we are trying to get back on schedule. Gavin read a book to Jackson (his dog) this morning. He really enjoys reading to Jackson. He read the book twice and then came and read it to me. Then he worked on cursive writing, phonics and langauge.

Meanwhile, Austin colored a Christmas theme coloring book our church gave to the toddlers.

Then he played with Play-Doh. As you can see, he didn't get dressed until after lunch. I offered to get him dressed several times this morning but he just wasn't interested.

Gavin did a color sheet using a color code that revolved around place value. He is able to read numbers up to thousands place.

Then we read a couple books about poinsettias and did a craft. We used construction paper to make a poinsettia. Then used pom poms and glitter to decorate.

They are still drying due to gobs of glitter but I will try to get a picture of the boys with their work this afternoon. Here are the books we read today.

We are still reading about John Paul Jones before bed. We had several late nights last week so we aren't getting through it as quickly as we normally would (we don't read if we are out late).

At lunch today we started this book called 'Boys of Grit who Changed the World'. It's a great book, part of a series, and each chapter focuses on a different man. Some are well known like George Washington, others are not so well known. Today we read about Thomas Eaton, who I have never heard of, but we read about how he was able to start one of the most successful department stores in Canada through hard work, forward thinking and innovation. I like that the stories focus on the good qualities of the people that allow them to do great things and also acknowledges the difficulties they faced and overcame to be successful.

I thought the stories might be a little much for Gavin but he really liked the chapter we read today. We'll try another chapter or two and if he still enjoys them we will keep reading. If not, we will put it aside for later.

2011-12-11T19:49:00.000-08:00

The big event this weekend was Gavin's 6th birthday party! We rented the gym at Gavin's school and had his friends over for a soccer theme party...which means we set up a couple soccer goals and let the kids play soccer the whole time. We also got a couple soccer players from a local college to come over and they played with the kids through the whole party and the kids were thrilled! They also brought a team picture for all the kids (Gavin's was autographed) and free tickets to see an athletic event for all the kids which was super nice.

Gavin helped prepare for the party. We had pizza, black and green grapes (which he is taking off the stems and putting in a bowl), sliced plums and pears.

Here's a couple soccer playing pictures.

Time for pizza!

And a soccer cake!

That was our '25 Days of Christmas' activity for Saturday. Today Gavin's activity was to go shopping for Christmas presents. He did a great job picking out good gifts and staying within his budget. We were done in two hours and back home in time for lunch!

2011-12-08T20:03:00.000-08:00

Yesterday we learned about angels and read "The Littlest Angel". We didn't go much else just a little phonics/reading.

For '25 Days of Christmas' our activity was going to an assisted living facility to sing to the residents. Gavin actually did this with his school and it went really well. The kids had a great time and the residents really enjoyed it too, once they figured out what was going on. The French kind of threw them off at first. It was nice because after the kids sang they passed out Christmas cards they had made at school and candy canes to the residents so they got to interact with the people who live there.

We went to this specific facility because one of their residents is actually from France. She's 92 and came to the States right after World War II. Gavin had a chance to talk to her a little bit and was excited to get to talk to someone from France. Apparently, they asked if the kids could go back so hopefully they will get to do another little program at the end of the school year. After that we had a family Christmas service at church so it was late when we got home.

This morning I did the craft in Austin's toddler class so we didn't do any school at home. Our '25 Days of Christmas' activity was to make s'mores in the oven. I found this recipe on Paula Dean's website. You just put regular sized marshmallows on graham crackers and stick them under the broiler in the oven until they toast, they prepare as usual. It had nothing to do with Christmas really but they were tasty anyway.

2011-12-06T20:13:00.000-08:00

This morning Gavin read one of Austin's Christmas board books. As I was reading it to Austin the other day I realized it was perfect for Gavin to read and he likes to read 'real' books.

Austin finished his sticker sorting...he ran out of stickers!

Then he practiced folding washclothes. He doesn't quite have it down but he enjoyed trying.

Gavin added beginning blends to words and then did another review of place value to 100s place. He has the concept down but it made him show the numbers/place value in three different ways. I think it's good for him to see the same number written different ways.

Meanwhile, Austin tried to write with the big pen. It was a little difficult.

Our Christmas tradition today was Christmas stars. We read different theories as to how the star came about, then read a couple books and made mosaic stars.

Here are their stars (Gavin used white paper in the middle which is why it looks like there's a big hole in his star).

We read these books.

We didn't get to '25 Days of Christmas' today. We had our first snowfall of the season so the boys were playing outside this morning which put us a little behind. We will do two days tomorrow - both activities are fairly easy and not time consuming.

Another Project

2011-12-05T20:30:00.000-08:00

I have several projects I've been working on, some of which I can't post because they are Christmas gifts...but I thought I'd share the knight-themed play house I made. It fits over a card table.

I found one on Etsy that I loved but it cost $200. Of course, she sewed each piece on and it looks better then mine. I just used Heat n'Bond fabric adhesive because I had enough hours put into it without trying to sew each individual piece on. Also, her door opened but on this one the boys will have to lift the flap at the corner. Anyway, here are the pictures.

I also made a headband holder for the baby by covering a large Quaker Oat container with pink fabric and ribbons. It's not that exciting so I didn't take a picture of it but it works great as a headband holder!

2011-12-05T11:42:00.000-08:00

Well I'm behind again so I will try to catch up! Friday we learned about Jesus' birth and the history of Nativity sets. We read these books:

For the '25 Days of Christmas' our activity was to go to an annual Christmas event downtown. Gavin's school sang a few Christmas carols while we were there.

On Saturday our '25 Days of Christmas' activity was to go see the Nutcracker Ballet (Gavin and I). We had a wonderful time! We were supposed to do a Nutcracker craft when we got home but football was on tv so nothing else got done. Maybe we can do it another day.

Sunday morning Gavin was sick. Luckily he felt better by noontime because I thought he had caught what Austin had last weekend that lasted several days. So we were able to do our '25 Days of Christmas' activity in the afternoon - making Christmas tree shirts. Gavin painted a Christmas tree using a stencil I made...

Then he decorated the tree.

I made a shirt for Austin. Here are the boys wearing their shirts this morning. They are both very proud of them!

This morning we did more reading and cursive writing. Then Gavin reviewed beginning blends and place value to the 100s place.

For our Christmas tradition today we learned about the history of the Christmas tree i.e. how bringing trees inside the house became an acceptable practice.

Our '25 Days of Christmas' activity for today was to have a picnic in front of the tree. So, we made toasted ham and cheese sandwiches on ciabatta bread and french fries for lunch. I made the boys keep their milk on the kitchen table though...there are limits, even at Christmas time!

Austin and I read these books this morning.

Then Gavin and I read these books.

This is a really good book about how a Christmas tree farm works throughout the year with photos of a real tree farm.

I had never heard of this book before but saw it recommended on a book list. Our library actually had it (usually they don't have specific books when I look for them) but it was a wonderful book. I think we're going to have to buy it for our own Christmas book collection because it was just that good. Also based on a true story of a little girl during World War I.

We started reading a biography about John Paul Jones before bedtime a few days ago.

2011-12-01T17:40:00.000-08:00

Here are some pictures of the boys at school yesterday. Gavin worked on his cursive writing. He is starting to write more words.

Austin did a color matching puzzle.

Then he sorted little foam leaves in fall colors.

Then he sorted pink and red stickers onto the correct side of the paper.

Today we did the first activity for 25 Days of Christmas. We are participating in Holiday Mail for Heroes. Basically, it's a program where you send Christmas cards to soldiers who are overseas for the holidays. Gavin wrote, "I like you for keeping me safe." in four cards and then drew a picture. I will send them to a main office and from there they get distributed to soldiers.

2011-11-30T06:43:00.000-08:00

We had a good Thanksgiving holiday. Unfortunately, Austin got sick Thursday night and couldn't keep anything down until Saturday night. He is feeling better now though. Here's a couple pictures from Thanksgiving morning. Gavin was watching the Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade.

Monet hatched! And he was beautiful. We fed him honey water for a couple days and then let him go.

We got our Christmas decorations and Christmas tree. Gavin was actually helpful when it came to decorating this year.

Yesterday we did a little school. Just reading, cursive handwriting and telling time to 5-minute intervals. We read two books about teeth. We are officially done with the human body in science. We will be learning about weather starting in January.

Since Gavin has Awanas tonight, we celebrated Dad's birthday dinner a night early. We had Italian sausage soup with salad and bread and a chocolate layer cake with chocolate frosting. Austin, as always, was a big fan of the cake!

Here are the books we read.

I put up our 25 Days of Christmas tree this morning. We will start tomorrow. Today we will finish Colonial America so starting tomorrow we will just do a short phonics/cursive and maybe some math reviewing. Then we will do our Christmas activity which will be different each day. We won't have a poem, artist or composer this month but we will be listening to Christmas songs!

You can't tell from the picture, but there is a number on the front of each ornament and an activity on the back. Each day we will take that day's ornament off the tree and do whatever is on the back. Hopefully this will be fun and not become cumbersome. I tried to plan short/easy activities on days when I knew we had something else going on.

The boys got into their sister's hair bows this morning and were running around the house in them!

Here are the books we read today.

We are done with Colonial America! We are still reading The Matchlock Gun before bed but will be done in a few days. It's a true story about the French and Indian War.

2011-11-23T11:58:00.000-08:00

Yesterday the boys and I read some more books about Colonial America but that was all we did for school. The plan is to be done by the end of November because in December we are going to be learning about the history of Christmas traditions and doing our 25 Days of Christmas activities.

Today I wasn't going to do anything for school so I could get some things ready for Thanksgiving but Gavin kept asking to do school so we read some more books about Colonial America. While I was making our apple pie this morning, Gavin read a book to Austin and then read it to Jackson. I found a few more books for him to read yesterday. This one is about baseball and he really likes reading it.

While Gavin was reading I made a centerpiece for our table using a couple of the candles Gavin made.

And my apple pie looks good, we'll have to wait until tomorrow to see if it tastes good!

Here are some of the books we have read.

"Kids in Colonial Times" by Lisa Wroble.

This is a really cute book about an alien who crashes into Earth and starts looking for healthy food to eat.

"A Day in the Life of a Colonial Cabinetmaker".

"A Day in the Life of a Colonial Glassblower".

"A Day in the Life of a Colonial Sea Captain" about a whaling ship.

This book is about an Englishmen who comes to America as an indentured servant. It's a great book that has pictures of 18th century farm tools and equipment and describes how a farm was run.

We finished "The Wind in the Willows" last night. Tonight we are going to start, "The Courage of Sarah Noble".

2011-11-21T13:54:00.000-08:00

We are having an easy, relaxing week here (hopefully). We aren't doing much school but we are catching up a bit on a couple things and still reading. Yesterday Gavin finished his Picasso painting by gluing geometric shapes together to make a theater performer.

I've decided that from now on we are just going to do our artist-of-the-month work and not follow the Artistic Pursuits curriculum anymore. I think the Artistic Pursuits is a good program that we may pick up again in a couple years, but for right now it is too technical for Gavin. Art is not really his thing and learning about line, shape, etc. is not interesting for him. However, he really enjoys learning about the artists and their styles and I think he's learning more through these projects then he is from the formal curriculum.

We've been reading chapters from 'Everyday Life in the Colonies'. We read a chapter about making soap and a chapter about making candles and now we are reading about telling time without clocks, which of course talks about sundials which we learned about when we were learning about the sun so Gavin has enjoyed seeing how they were used everyday. So our project was to make candles. Our process was not nearly as difficult as the process in colonial times but we had fun anyway. We were supposed to do it last week but didn't have time.

I melted blocks of wax in a pan while Gavin put wicks in old jam and canning jars.

Then Gavin put a little red food coloring in the wax. It made a neat bubble effect but after it dried the bubbles streaked so it doesn't look that great.

While we waited for the wax to dry Gavin played with the Duplos.

Austin has been playing with the Playmobil knights.

Here is our finished candles. We haven't tried to burn them yet. I'll probably put them on the table at dinnertime.

Austin was napping while we made the candles but he wanted his picture taken with one when he saw me taking Gavin's picture with them.

We have read these books today.

This book was interesting because it focused more on the French settlement of Canada instead of British America.

We have read this book before and is a favorite. It's a true story about a three-year-old girl in New Hampshire in the early 1700s (before the American Revolution) who got lost in the woods after wondering off her family's farm. She was lost for four days before they found her but a black bear had been staying with her and protecting her.

And we read 'Milly and the Macy's Parade', a semi-true story about how the Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade got started. It's a cute story!

2011-11-18T12:45:00.000-08:00

Sorry for the lack of posts this week. We have been mostly reading and reviewing so it hasn't been super exciting. Here are some pictures from this morning.

Both of the boys spent some time reading.

Austin played his caterpillar sequencing game. Today he went from smallest to biggest just to change it up a little.

Gavin started telling time to the quarter hour.

Then we did some Picasso painting. We learned that Picasso spent some time working for theater groups designing the staging and sets. During this time he painted clowns and theater performers. So today Gavin painted a stage, using bright theatrical colors and blocks of color. Next week we will add a clown to the stage. The clown will be made out of scraps of paper cut into different geometric shapes.

While Gavin worked on his language and cursive handwriting, Austin and I read these books.

This week, Gavin and I read these books about the colonies.

We have also read a chapter on soap making and candle making in our "Everyday Life of the American Colonists" book. We were supposed to make candles but haven't had time so hopefully we will get to it next week.

Today we read a couple fun fiction books about eating. Gregory is a goat who doesn't want to eat trash from the dump but prefers fruits and vegetables.

We are still reading The Wind in the Willows before bedtime.

2011-11-14T12:09:00.000-08:00

This morning Gavin practiced reading for quite a while. We will be reading more as it starts getting a little easier for Gavin and he's starting to read a little faster.

While Gavin was reading, Austin worked on his caterpillar/food color matching game.

Then he did caterpillar size sequencing.

When he finished reading Gavin reviewed place value in math.

Since he saw Gavin working on a worksheet, Austin did a fruit matching worksheet.

Then he made a fruit/vegetable colors book. He colored the pictures, I cut out the pages and stapled them together.

Gavin was still working on place values.

Then Austin decided he had enough school for the day and he played with Play-Doh.

Austin has finally figured out how to use the Play-Doh press to squeeze the Play-Doh into speghetti.

Gavin did a quick phonics worksheet.

Here is Austin with his book.

In science we read more about healthy food and then Gavin had to plan a healthy meal using our grocery flyers. I drew a plate on a piece of paper and he cut out and glued healthy food to the plate. He had turkey, grapes, salad and baguette with cheese.

Austin and I read about life on a farm.

Gavin and I read about healthy eating.

Then we read about Picasso, our artist this month.

My Weekend Project

2011-11-13T11:41:00.000-08:00

For the last week I've been working on the baby's room. I've been eyeing these cute little ballerina bow holders on Etsy but they cost about $50 and I didn't want to pay that much for one. So, this weekend I decided to make one! Here it is!

Here it is with some bows on it!

I had some leftover fabric from the curtains and glider slipcover I made that I was able to use for the bodice. Steven made fun of me for it but I think it's super cute! Plus, it's useful and decoration in one.

2011-11-11T17:38:00.000-08:00

This morning Austin worked on his caterpillar sequencing.

While he did this, Gavin was working on his cursive writing and then in his phonics book.

While Gavin was working on phonics, Austin and I read "The Very Hungry Caterpillar" and Austin put the sequencing pictures in order.

Then Austin sorted his fruits and vegetables by colors.

In math, Gavin practiced measuring inches to the half inch.

For the next few weeks until Christmas, we are going to be learning more general information about daily life in Colonial times, starting after Pilgrims and ending before the American Revolution. We will pick up with the American Revolution after Christmas.

Yesterday we started a book called, "Stories of Colonial Children". We read about a little girl who was starting school and about the hornbook she used to learn to read with. So today, we made a hornbook. Instead of wood, we used cardboard, and instead of a transparent piece of horn to stretch over the paper, we used contact paper.

I obviously wrote the things on the hornbook, but we looked at pictures of hornbooks online so we could copy them (they are all very similar with the alphabet, then blends, then the Lord's Prayer).

Austin's book:

We just read fun books today in 'history'. It really had nothing to do with history at all but just fiction books about Thanksgiving. We'll get back into colonial times next week.

Gavin and I have started reading "The Wind in the Willows" before bedtime.

2011-11-10T11:40:00.000-08:00

We did a couple things a little differently this morning. Since we are coming up to the last month or so of school before Christmas break we are going to be reviewing a little bit of what we have been learning and doing some quick, supplemental activities. I think it's good to see the same concepts presented in different ways.

Yesterday we read about Moses and the burning bush, this morning Moses finally agreed to go back to Egypt. Then, instead of reading from our Handbook for Reading, Gavin and I took turns reading from this book that I found at the library.

I had seen these books before and thought they looked like fun and Gavin is finally reading well enough to read them with me. Basically, the parent reads the left page and the child reads the right page (which just has a phonetic sentence or two). Gavin enjoyed being able to read the book with me! And, he got two stickers for his Book-It chart because it was so long. He only has four more books to go until he gets his free pizza for November.

When we finished reading Gavin worked on his cursive writing. He started his nicer cursive writing book that is for his best work. The one he usually writes in is more of a practice book.

Then he did a page in Letters and Sounds dealing with beginning blends and vowels.

I had him do a page in a handbook that had him read a short sentence and write the correct word on the blank. The sentences said things like, "Is it a tug or a bug?" next to a picture of a tug boat.

Then we learned about measuring using inches.

In science we read a couple books about eating healthy. One was about why we should eat healthy and the other was about what vitamins and minerals are in certain foods. I was happy to find this book because Gavin asks me what is whatever food we are eating good for when we are eating it...like broccoli or salmon...because I tell him it's healthy and he wants to know specifically what part of his body it is helping. The second book we read answered some of those questions!

Then he looked through some grocery fliers and cut out pictures of healthy or not healthy foods and glued them on a piece of paper under the correct heading. He noticed that most of the food that was on sale was not healthy!

Here are the books we read today.

Gavin also had time to watch an episode of Sid the Science Kid where Sid asks why he can't eat cake every day - talking about nutrition.

2011-11-09T11:34:00.000-08:00

This morning Austin ran into the school room saying he wanted to do school and he stayed busy doing 'school' things all morning! He did a new game I put out for him today. I put color words on the front of four paper bags and he had to put pictures of fruit and vegetables in the correct bag based on their color. He really liked this game for some reason, I think it was the paper bags he liked.

Then he colored a picture of a scarecrow.

While Austin was coloring his scarecrow, Gavin was reading to me. Then I set him up with work in cursive writing and his phonics book and went into the living room to read to Austin. Gavin is doing a good job working independently and I'm trying to get the amount of time extended to about ten minutes. So far, he does a good job following directions and doing the work correctly when he's by himself.

The first book Austin and I read was "The Very Hungry Caterpillar" again. This time I got out some of the items mentioned in the book and Austin put them in order as we read the story to work on learning sequencing. Austin loved this too! So as we read, he set out the moon and sun, then all the food that the caterpillar ate (and we had one apple, two pears, three plums, etc so he worked on counting as well).

We ended with the butterfly! Here is Gavin finishing up his language work.

Then he added the correct vowel to make a word. Before this he has just added the final consonant to make a word.

In math I gave him a few simple worksheets dealing with telling time to the hour and half hour. Our math book was done with it and I wanted to make sure Gavin has it down before we move on.

Of course, Austin had to do a worksheet too so he circled the smallest object in the box.

Then he did the fruit sorting game again.

After math Gavin and I read a couple more books about Pilgrims and then he started adding Pilgrims to his history journal.

This page says, "The Pilgrims came to the New World from England. They wanted religious freedom." The picture is a Pilgrim going into the Mayflower.

This page says, "The Pilgrims built houses and planted crops in a new town called Plymouth."

Here are the books that Austin and I read today.

Here are the books that Gavin and I read today.

We read a chapter of Pilgrim stories at lunch. We only have three short chapters left so we will finish it tonight at dinner or tomorrow.

2011-11-08T11:32:00.000-08:00

I realized this morning that I forgot to post on the blog yesterday! I am working on Gavin's birthday invitations so I can get them out by the end of the week. I can't believe he is almost six years old! We are finally leaving the knight theme and opting for a soccer theme this year.

Speaking of scocer, Gavin had a soccer tournament this weekend. His team lost all their games but they were playing up a division so they had tough competition. They played hard and had a good time so we were proud of them. They never gave up even though they were playing older kids. Here's a couple pictures of Gavin with his team.

We did school yesterday. Gavin learned cursive letter 'q' and we spent the rest of phonics time reading. In math we reviewed telling time to the hour and half hour.

In science we learned about germs: what they are, how they work (a simple version of course) and how to keep bad ones away. We read two books about germs.

Then we watched this video I found at the library. It was made for early elementary kids and Gavin really liked it. It was simple but effective. It talked about handwashing to keep germs away and there were a couple experiments they did where you saw the germs multiply on the hands of the kids who didn't wash their hands or who just washed in cold water.

I've noticed that yesterday evening and this morning Gavin was actually using warm water and singing the 'ABC' song while he washed his hands (that's how long you are supposed to wash) so apparently the messege sunk in, if only for a little while.

After the video we did our own experiment where I put a little cooking oil on Gavin's hands and sprinkled some cinnamon (germs) on them and had him wash in just cold water and then in warm water with soap. He noticed that the cold water did not get rid of the 'germs' and his hands were still slimy from the cooking oil but after warm water and soap the germs were gone and his hands weren't slimy anymore.

We finished 'Stories of Colonial Children' last night. It had some really good stories in it, many I had never read before.

We have just a few chapters left on 'Stories of the Pilgrims'.

2011-11-04T12:27:00.000-07:00

We had a short school day today because Gavin was not in the mood to do 'school'. We have started learning about the life of Moses and we read about Moses killing the Egyptian and fleeing to Midian. Then Gavin read one page in his phonics reader instead of two and worked on his cursive writing.

Then I gave Gavin a few wooden letters and had him spell as many words as he could with them.

Austin did a puzzle and played with his balance game. Then he played with his piggy bank.

We skipped math today because we only have about ten lessons left in Kindergarten anyway. We didn't have any books to read in science so we just did one last five senses activity. We made a graph in Gavin's science notebook and recorded if different items smelled good or bad and if they tasted good or bad. Gavin had to evaluate cinnamon, vanilla, honey, lime juice and cocoa powder. Cinnamon, honey and cocoa powder all got a smells good and tastes good rating (I'm not sure he was getting enough cocoa powder to really taste it. Cocoa was the last one he tried and he was getting a little wary by that time.) Vanilla and lime juice got a smells good but tastes bad rating.

His reaction to the vanilla.

And, I made this banner on my Cricut machine for Thanksgiving.

2011-11-02T10:20:00.000-07:00

Austin participated in school a little more this morning then he did on Monday. This morning he sorted his pom poms.

Then he did a puzzle.

While Austin was working on his things, Gavin was reading. While Gavin was working in his phonics book and his cursive writing, Austin and I read two books about caterpillars.

Then Austin came back to the table and worked on a color matching game based on "The Very Hungry Caterpillar".

Meanwhile, Gavin and I worked on telling time to the half hour in math. First Gavin matched some clocks with their times.

Then we played our minute/hour hand matching game. It is starting to get easier.

In history today we continued to read Pilgrim Stories and Gavin made a model of a Pilgrim house. We also ate a potato fish chowder for lunch. It's an old recipe of mine but we talked about how it is something the Pilgrims could have eaten as well.

While Gavin was coloring his Pilgrim house, Austin colored too!

In art today we studied how artists use color by looking at the Monet painting, "Houses of Parliament". Gavin was able to identify the painting as a Monet without me telling him who painted it. We talked about how Monet used colors to show the light through the fog, but he didn't use many lines (like we learned last week) because he blended colors together.

Gavin used his red, blue and yellow watercolor crayons and blended them together to see the different colors that could be made from these three colors.

Austin painted a sun.

Halloween Pictures

2011-10-31T18:47:00.000-07:00

We had a great time trick-or-treating tonight! Here are the boys before we left.

2011-10-31T13:49:00.000-07:00

This morning Austin sorted fall colored pom poms into a muffin pan. That was all he did school-wise, then he went off to play.

Gavin read out of his phonics reader. He also read two books for Book It today. He's already halfway through with November and the month hasn't even started yet! He really wants another pizza!

In math we read another book about telling time that revolved around a soccer game. Gavin really enjoyed the book and we moved the hands on our clock to follow along and figure out the time.

For the rest of math today we focused on the concept of half. First I drew two squares on the white board and Gavin put his finger in the middle of the squares. We did this several times with the squares at different distances and Gavin did a great job with it.

Then I drew half of an object on the white board and Gavin had to draw the other half to match. This was difficult for him but we did several objects and he got a little better. But it explains a lot about his artwork...

Then we got out the geoboard. I made a shape and Gavin had to find different ways to cut the shape in half. This was easy for him too!

Then we divided tiles in half.

We finished learning about our senses today and Gavin finished his paper body by adding his face, complete with eyes, ears, mouth and nose.

He glued his face to his body...

And paper Gavin is finished! Gavin suggested we hand it up for decoration for Halloween and somehow that seems fitting.

This is the book we read for math.

These are the books we read for science.

And we are about halfway done with this book. We are enjoying it and learning a lot so I'm not rushing to get through with it.

It's not officially November but I went ahead and switched to the new month anyway. Our artist this month is Pablo Picasso and our composer is Frederic Chopin.

Our Bible verses are Psalm 100:1-5

Shout for joy to the Lord, all the earth.

Worship the Lord with gladness;

come before Him with joyful songs.

Know that the Lord is God.

It is He who made us, and we are His;

we are His people, the sheep of His pasture.

Enter His gates with thanksgiving

and his courts with praise;

give thanks to Him and praise His name.

For the Lord is good and His love endures forever.

His faithfulness continues through all generations.

These verses seemed fitting for Thanksgiving time. Here is our poem of the month:

First Thanksgiving of All

by Nancy Byrd Turner

Peace and Mercy and Jonathan,

And Patience (very small),

Stood by the table giving thanks

The first Thanksgiving of all.

There was very little for them to eat,

Nothing special and nothing sweet;

Only bread and a little broth,

And a bit of fruit (and no tablecloth);

But Peace and Mercy and Jonathan

And Patience, in a row,

Stood up and asked a blessing on

Thanksgiving, long ago.

Thankful they were their ship had come

Safely across the sea;

Thankful they were for hearth and home,

And kin and company;

They were glad of broth to go with their bread,

Glad their apples were round and red,

Glad of mayflowers they would bring

Out of the woods again next spring.

So Peace and Mercy and Jonathan,

And Patience (very small),

Stood up gratefully giving thanks

The first Thanksgiving of all.

2011-10-28T10:48:00.000-07:00

This morning we continued to practice telling time to the hour. Gavin matched clocks to the digital time shown on the clock.

Austin finished his caterpillar craft from Wednesday.

Gavin learned about how artists use lines today in art. We studied the Japanese woodcutting, "The Warrior Hero Minamoto no Yoshitsune" by Kiyohiro to see how the artist used lines to tell as story even though there is no color like in a painting.

Then Gavin drew a picture of one of his (Actually Austin's) lacing toys using lines.

In science we learned more about our five senses and learned about how our ears work. Then we made a Jack o'lantern pizza and talked about how we used our five senses to make a pizza. We smelled the tomatoes and herbs in the sauce, felt the cold, soft cheese, smelled the spices in the pepperoni and felt the heat of the oven when we put it in to cook. We also used our sense of hearing to listen for the oven to beep telling us it was hot enough and when our pizza was done.

It was a basic pizza but we put a Jack o'lantern face on top!

Here's what it looked like before we finally got to use our sense of taste!

Today Austin and I read these books:

Gavin and I read these books:

2011-10-26T19:53:00.000-07:00

This morning Gavin and Austin got to watch a video about the life of Joseph since we have finished reading about him. Then Austin and I read 'The Very Hungry Caterpillar' again and Austin painted an egg carton caterpillar. We will finish him (the caterpillar) on Friday.

Gavin worked on cursive letter 'x' and then went ahead in his phonics book since I was apparently taking too long with Austin.

In math we reviewed telling time. Then we played a matching game - matching clocks with the digital time shown on the clock. It was just to the hour so Gavin didn't have any trouble with this.

Then we did the matching game we did yesterday matching the minute to the hour like 3 and :15.

I found a book about Renaissance painters that had a few pages about Michelangelo so we read that and then Gavin became 'Gavinangelo' and had to draw a Bible scene on the bottom of the Sistene Chapel, otherwise known as a piece of paper taped to the bottom of the kitchen table. And he used crayons rather then paint. He drew Joseph of course. It was a little hard for Gavinangelo to get comfortable enough to draw.

In history we just read a few chapters in our Pilgrim book.

Today was the Halloween party at the boys school. Austin went as a little knight. He was very proud of his 'armor'.

Gavin was a Viking. Here they are together.

Gavin did a ghost craft with his friends.

Then it was time to eat! Austin decided to join the class by this time...he never turns away from a meal.

And the costume parade. Austin had pretty much decided to join his brothers' class by this time.

Then it was time for more games - like this skeleton puzzle.

That was our day!

2011-10-24T20:07:00.000-07:00

Since it was so nice outside yesterday, Gavin and Austin got to paint their pumpkins! Austin enjoyed it more this year then he did last year and they both spent a long time making their pumpkins perfect.

This morning Gavin read one and two-vowel words.

Austin worked on balancing.

Then he did a puzzle.

While Gavin worked on his cursive handwriting, Austin and I did something a little different. Since we have been raising Monet (who is still in his chrysalis) and Austin is so interested in caterpillers, we read the book 'The Very Hungry Caterpiller' by Eric Carle and then did some activities using the book as the theme.

First we did a caterpiller sequencing, smallest to biggest.

Then we did caterpiller shape matching.

When Gavin finished his cursive writing, we worked some more on telling time. First we read a book about telling time to the minutes (to five, not ones). We are working on learning the minutes so we played a memory game where you had to match the number on the clock with the number of minutes is represents, i.e. 4 and :20, 9 and :45. We used a practice clock for reference that includes both numbers today since it's our first day. It was tricky but Gavin enjoyed it as he does anything in game form.

By this time, Austin was playing with the dinosaur Playmobils.

After our game Gavin filled out a clock with the hours, then with the minutes (by five's not each individual minute).

In science we started learning about our senses. We read a couple books and then Gavin went on a 'touch' scavenger hunt. He had to find something soft,

something scratchy,

something fuzzy,

something rough (the chainmail on his Schleich knight),

something hard (his football player),

and something smooth.

So I did a little sewing this weekend too. I made a slipcover for the glider and matching curtains for the baby's room (who is still nameless, poor thing). But, the slipcover fits nicely and the curtains (I just sewed simple panels) are exactly the same size and fit the windows perfectly so I was very happy and pleasantly surprised.

Then I tried making a couple summer pillowcase dresses for next summer. I can't follow patterns so I just wing-it so my first attempt didn't come out super great but it is still wearable and not completely terrible. But, I will say, the top is not crooked as it looks in this picture for some reason, and they are both lined.

My second attempt turned out much better although it needs to be ironed. The fabric has little kites and butterflies on it and is super cute! I'm going to try and make a matching diaper cover in the pink since I used the same pink trim on both dresses.

Here are the books we read today.

In math...

In science...

And Austin and I read...

And this, just because...

2011-10-21T11:38:00.000-07:00

We worked a lot on reading one and two-vowel words this morning. In math, we reviewed the names of the numbers focusing on numbers 11-19. Then we learned the hours on a clock (which is also review for Gavin). We finished really early today so Gavin finished his painting. He wanted to use the glow-in-the-dark paints. I'm not sure the finished product really channels Michelangelo but I guess it doesn't really matter that much.

Somehow, I'm not sure Michelangelo would approve...

Anyway, Austin got to paint too. He had lots of colors but for some reason he was in a very blue mood and that's about the only color he used.

For our Pilgrim activity today, Gavin made a Pilgrim lunch. We started with cornbread. We cheated and used a mix.

While our cornbread was cooking, Gavin made succotash. Ground beef, kidney beans, corn, salt and pepper. This is the first time Gavin has gotten to cook something on the stove. When we did the fish for our Viking meal I cooked the fish after he dipped it in the herbs so we had a few lessons on cooking safety. Overall he did a good job and we all agreed that it was very tasty.

We read a few more chapters in Pilgrim stories. They just got to Holland.

Last night we started Stories of Colonial Children before bedtime.

And, Gavin read five of his phonetic readers today. He needed to read two to reach his weekly goal and three to reach his weekly goal for next week and he decided to just read them all today so he got his first certificate for a free pizza! We will try and get to Pizza Hut sometime next week.

I think I forgot to write our poem of the month so here it is:

Autumn Song

by Elizabeth-Ellen Long

These are the days of fallen leaves,

The days of hazy weather,

Smelling of gold chrysanthemums

And gray wood-smoke together.

These are the nights of nearby stars,

The nights of closer moons,

When the windy darkness echoes

To crickets' farewell tunes.