Weekly Homeschool Journal

November 12-December 1

In Our Homeschool This Week:

chocolate play-dough, chocolate pudding finger pudding, more chocolate books with vocabulary words and follow-up questions

Tornado said this about his bell pepper slice, "It looks like lungs!"

Thanksgiving morning: while I cooked, the kids colored their Native Americans and also put these hats together.

They joined us for our Thanksgiving meal.

Tornado had two big reports due for homeschool co-op: one on the state of California and one on Zebra Finches. He chose Zebra Finch over any bird in the world. Those of you who know him will understand why. He loves mixing silly things together, and it's silly to him to think of "zebra" mixed with "finch." He did a great job with his reports, although I felt like I was in college again after helping him with them. And I loved his visual aids. We printed off an actual size finch and made realistic size and colored clay eggs, picked grass, a Zebra Finch's choice for nest, and he glued it all onto a thick piece of cardboard.

His visual aid for his CA report were pages of collages - he loves making collages - including pictures of earthquakes (which is why he picked CA, of course), state facts, and one of our trips to California.

Peeking in on Sissy at Preschool:I always enjoy watching Sissy with her friends. I took several pictures of these two, whispering to and giggling with one another at their Thanksgiving feast.

She has been blessed with very sweet friends at school.

Extracurricular Activities This Week:

Dash,

Sissy,

and Tornado at homeschool gymnastics

In Roni & Ghetti's Life This Week:
The girls got cleaned up and groomed for $70. And as irony would prevail, one of them peed in their crate the very next morning, even though they haven't done that in months. Ryan and the boys had to give them another bath. Sigh.

Preparing for Christmas This Week:

I broke a door off my Advent Calendar cabinet last year, so I had to get something new this year. I looked around for the perfect one but didn't want to spend a lot of money. I have so many cardmaking and scrapbooking supplies, I was able to come up with this, only purchasing the pom pom fringe and alligator clips at Hobby Lobby with coupons.

Our fun holiday activity or gift is printed off on a card and clipped to the back of each number. I got a lot of my ideas from my sister Cary.

Every morning, they get to unclip a number, going backward, to see what we'll be doing that day. They are loving it. This was #25:

Are you as excited about Christmas

like me?

Open your first present;

it's not under the tree.

Where could it be?

My rhyming skills are impressive enough for the 11 and under crowd.

What We're Playing This Week:
I had to get permission to post this picture of Sissy because she's not wearing a shirt. I can't get her to wear clothes lately! I'm sure the childhood version of her Aunt Tracy will understand. She's always hot (but then she screams when I try to take a picture). That's why I can't post any pictures of them decorating our Christmas tree. Anyway, they are playing with first Advent gift, a Melissa & Doug wooden nativity set.

Speaking of her nakedness, this morning both she and her 6 year old brother were running around in their underwear playing "naked mole rat." They went on to explain it was really "superhero naked mole rat." And, "In our closet is our "strength" food." That helped explain why I saw them earlier go into the pantry, shut the door, then come out each with a cup of applesauce, which they ended up eating with no spoons. They were trying to capture their older brother who was also running around playing with them.

Dash came inside with two VERY sharp sticks, one sticking out at the top of his pants, as his weapons he was using one day. Yikes. I inwardly gasped, took a picture, applauded his creativity, and asked him to please find sticks that weren't so sharp to play with.

One of their favorite things to play is "Mom & Dad." But the other day I overheard them playing "Poor Mom & Dad." They said they didn't have any money or a car, they made a home for themselves outside, and they had to gather "berries, mushrooms, & other things to eat." (Of course, they didn't really eat them.)

Quotes to Share:

When I was playing with Sissy, she said, "I'm washing off the germs and chemicals...are germs and chemicals the same thing?" After I tried to explain, she said, "If you pick your boogers and eat them, you have chemicals in your mouth. And (brother) does because he does that."

My 6 year old said, "Momma, I wish I was older so I could marry you." Swoon!

While she was eating her Thanksgiving pumpkin pie, Sissy said, "Mommy, when we wake up, is it still going to be Valentine's Day?"

Linkin' up to the great:

The Homeschool Mother's Journal

Weekly Wrap-Up

Happy Thanksgiving!

We wish you all a very Happy Thanksgiving! We miss all of our friends and family we won't be with today. Hope your day is special.

And while we won't be eating the traditional "turkey" today...

Rice cake with peanut butter and agave nectar plus banana, almond, cashew, and raisin details.

Idea borrowed from here.

Part of our Thanksgiving brunch. Idea from here.

And for those of you who missed it, Sissy's preschool Thanksgiving program...

Totally cute stuff, as is everything at her school.

Have a great weekend!

Weekly Homeschool Journal

I'm catching up with last week, too,

so when I say "week," I mean "the past two weeks."

In My Life This Week:
We finished our new bedroom! I love it! (Pics to come maybe next week.) I only have a bit of organizing left to do in my closet, and I've asked for a few finishing touches (like new pillows) for Christmas.

My 6 year old turned out to be highly helpful with our redecorating/furniture assembly. He got the hang of the cordless rechargeable screwdriver, and Ryan really appreciated him for things like holding up walls of furniture while he nailed everything into place. Dash never wavered in his willingness to help for long periods and even stayed up late working with him a couple of nights. When I got the idea to take the lower rod out of my closet to make room for a scrapbook/crafting table, Ryan just asked him to take it out, which he did.

In Our Homeschool This Week:
The kids have been having fun building their own "chocolate/candy factory" as we continue on in our chocolate unit. We have been storing up (in the freezer) any candy we've been given for the past year, including our stash from this Halloween. (We don't eat it; the kids traded in their loot for healthier versions I got them. And they didn't mind because they love using the candy for this project.)

The kids were busy one day "decorating the house."

They do this from time to time, taping drawings up all over the cabinets, doors, walls, etc.

I took pictures of them all before I took them down a few days ago.

Tornado also added this sign above the dog food bowls. This is a warning to our upcoming baby to stay out of the dog food.

What We're Playing This Week:

These two spent a lot of time outside one day. Here they were making "soup" using leaves, mushrooms, pine needles, old bread, etc. Ryan and I had to come outside to "taste it."

Then later they popped into my closet while I was cleaning. They had gotten the idea to trade clothes. I don't even know what to say about this.

Papaw set up a tent for them in his backyard one day.

They planned to camp out in it one night with Daddy, but then the weather got too cold.

The youngest two came into the house on this day, telling me that this time they made me a salad outside.

The boys wanted me to come outside to see what they had planted. I guess they had found a few random plants growing in this spot, and they were pretending it was their garden.

There was much enjoyment to be had with all of the boxes from our bedroom furniture and from orders I received from two food co-ops this week.

His face was so smashed in there, and he didn't mind a bit.

Holiday Festivities This Week:
Trick-or-treating at Googie & Papaw's house: Obi-Wan Kenobi, Minnie Mouse, Fred Flintstone, and not letting my big belly go to waste, Santa Clause.

Thank you, Googie, for your non-candy treats!

I stopped by Sissy's preschool for her fall party.

Score!

hammering golf tees into the pumpkins

One night the kids and I went to Halloween parties at the downtown library and the Arkansas Historic Museum. I wish my son "Fred" knew how to loosen up and enjoy himself, ha. :) Love that kid!

throwing craft poms at the tape spider web

making a bat

Activity Going on Hiatus This Week:

Last soccer game of the season. Cooold weather. Thankful for a fun season and thankful that I now have one extra night a week plus Saturday mornings free. I NEEDED some more free time.

Sissy doesn't wear her camo pants (a hand-me-down from her brothers) very often. She was calling them her "soldier pants," and before we left for the game, she got out a fork and butter knife from the kitchen drawer. Because she was a "soldier" and needed "weapons," of course.

Field Trips This Week:
We made it to see the replicas of the Pinta and The Nina, docked downtown at the Arkansas River. We had seen these when they were in town a couple of years ago. You can't really tell that there are two ships there side by side.

We got to listen to a crew member tell us the history of the boats. The boys have both learned about Columbus this year in history at school, so this was a particularly applicable field trip.

They were surprised, of course, that the ships were so small, and they were also surprised about the size of these cannons, which were only used for signaling other ships, not for protection.

Sissy and I went on the Pre-K and K homeschool field trip to the fire station this week. Good call whoever decided to give the girls pink fire hats; she loved it. I enjoyed the field trip a lot! I saw and found out many things I didn't even know. (For example, I didn't know the search and rescue guys first cut a hole in the roof - and we got to see the saws used - to let smoke out of the house.)

Kid Quotes This Week:

*Have I shared one of Tornado's latest jokes? He makes up the weirdest jokes and some make no sense at all, but he thinks they're hilarious (and therefore, so do we, of course). This one, though, really made me laugh because "Oh, dear!" is something Tornado says in everyday conversation. As in "Oh, no!" or "What am I going to do?" kind of "Oh, dear!"

What did the cowboy say when he saw a stampede?

Oh, dear! There's a stampede!

*Dash found something unidentifiable outside (could have been from a tree or an insect egg, etc.) Ryan said he wasn't sure what it was, and my son's response was, "I don't know what it is. But God knows what it is. Because He made it."

*Sissy wanted salt on her enchiladas the other day. She said, "I think it needs a little kick."

*We were checking in on Tornado, questioning him about how homeschool co-op is going, etc. Ryan asked him a question about whether he missed public school (which he attended the past 2 years but was homeschooled before that). His response:

"Public school doesn't have Moms. Homeschool does."

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The Homeschool Mother's Journal

Weekly Wrap-Up