THMJ Week of 3/30/14

    In my life this week…
The Longest and Most Fun Day Ever!
I took Malachi and Xavier to the Fairbanks Museum and Planetarium Friday morning, then came home and got ready for the Cowboy Mystery Dinner Theater fundraiser for our homeschool co-op. I'm writing a separate post for each of those events.

Grandma and Poppa of the Forest came to visit.  Grandma April fooled the punks that she and Poppa were moving in until Christmas.  They were perfectly happy to let them.

    In our homeschool this week…
 Malachi and I started using Logic of English.  I've learned a bunch of tidbits already and we've only completed one lesson!  When I tell Micah some obscure spelling rule, he seems to not believe me.  I need to make one up and prank him. 
Xav made a compass "rose" pointing in the right direction for it's location.

    In Rangers this week... 
We all went to Rangers this week.  Rainbows are working on the bear patch.
Recent verses are
S:  Seek the Lord while He may be found.  Isaiah 55:6
T:  Trust in the Lord with all your heart.  Proverbs 3:5
U:  Unto thee, O God, do we give thanks.  Psalm 75:1

    What we're reading...
Daddy started reading Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets

    My kiddos favorite thing this week was…
Probably the Nerf war with The Bigger (who brought the bigger littles each a new Nerf weapon) and Grandma of the Forest.  Merrick also got his first very own Nerf gun this week.  Amazingly, he slept right through the war right outside his room!

    Things I’m working on…
While Grandma of the Forest was here, we got patches sewed onto vests and aprons.  I turned a renaissance fair costume into part of an old west costume.  It didn't get finished, but I had a nice skirt.  My Mother in Law made pancakes, banana muffins, and cinnamon rolls for the boys.  It isn't a visit with her without Xav at least getting pancakes.  She stitched a couch cushion for me.  We made a TON of potato salad for the cowboy barbecue dinner. 

Xav with his giraffe from Friday School last week.

    Things Dad is working on...
Micah had a cowboy costume to put together this week.  He also needed to replace the water tank.  Enough snow finally melted that some yard work could get done.  Micah and Xav burned some downed trees and branches.  And then it snowed again, covering the rest back up.

First (non-frozen) bubbles of the year.  Indoors.

    Out of the mouths of boys...
We have some Leapfrog magnet toys with letters.  Merrick is getting pretty good with letters and sounds.  One day, he sat on the floor playing and I hear the word builder singing, "The K says /K/" over and over and Merrick is saying, louder and louder, "No!  No!  /L/ /L/ /L/"  I asked if it was reading a letter wrong and Micah checked it.  It *was* wrong.  The L was in the toy, but it was reading it as a K!  Micah took the letter out and put it back in.  It worked fine and Merrick was happy.


Linking up to Christian Fellowship Friday
Weird Unsocialized Homeschooler
The Homeschool Mother's Journal

THMJ Week of 3/23/14

    In my life this week…
Micah and Mal had birthdays this week.
Much boy excitement here in the loony bin.

Mal's new baseball went missing.  Merrick finally (a day or two later) said, "Ball.  Stuck."  And there it was, under his booster seat.

    In our homeschool co-op this week... 
Merrick chose the nursery over Wiggles and Giggles this week.
Magic School Bus Class - Structures episode and made gumdrop bridges.  Some eating of building supplies may have occurred.  In fact, between second and third periods, I walked into the nursery and found Merrick and Mathias had gotten into Xav's stuff and eaten half of his bridge!
Nature - Xav made a little giraffe of pipe cleaners and clay.
Arts and Crafts -Xav made a hanging bunny basket out of paper plates.
Archery - Xav did some more good shooting.
Duct Tape Class - Malachi made maracas with plastic eggs and spoons.  We started a piece of dt "fabric" to make a bag next time.
Amazing Body - Skeletons were finished and sent home.  Woo hoo!
Merrick had fun with Mrs. T. during clean-up.  She taught him how to stack blocks with a "window" between them and then he'd drive a toy car to knock them down.  Then he surreptitiously took photos with my iPhone of the moms "doing the chatting" in the nursery.
After classes, Xav flew his RC airplane in the "big room."

Everyone was so wiped out, we didn't even go to the library.  No one complained.

    In Rangers this week... 
Rangers was cancelled because so many have had a tummy bug lately.

    What we're reading... 
Daddy is reading The Great Brain

    I’m cooking…
Kitchen weirdness.  Went to do some cooking and had static-y yeast.

    Out of the mouths of boys... 
Merrick's first knock knock joke.
Merrick: knock, knock (more like na na)
Me: Who's there?
Merrick: mommy
Me: Mommy who?
Merrick: *laughs*

    A photo, video, link, or quote to share (silly, serious or both!)…
Xav's reading is good enough to read to Merrick now.

Linking up to Christian Fellowship Friday
Weird Unsocialized Homeschoolers
and The Homeschool Mother's Journal

THMJ Week of 3/9/14

 FREEBIE ALERT! 
Family Time Fitness is giving away a PDF copy of Fitness 4 Homeschool Core 1 to anyone who wants a copy.  Offer good until Friday, March 21!


    In my life this week…
More shoveling.

Merrick escaped his crib this week.  He was so quiet, I didn't even hear him.  Just turned around and almost knocked him down.  Luckily, he's only tried once since and fell safely back into bed.  I don't think he's given it a thought since.

Our Friday School friend, Jasmine, came over.  Malachi gets  so excited every time he sees her.  "It's Jasmine!  Hey, mom, it's Jasmine!"  Then she yells back, "Boy alert!"  I didn't tell the punks that she and Mrs.R were coming over.  They were pleasantly surprised.


    In our homeschool this week…
Xav's Spelling You See books finally arrived.  He was so excited to have the books in hand.  He's like me that way.  I like paper books.  Best part?  It came with special pencils, just for him. 

    In our homeschool co-op this week... 
No Wiggles and Giggles for Merrick.  But Mrs. R let him watch Curious George on her Kindle in the nursery.
One sort of dud experiment and one good experiment in Magic School Bus Science.  We had yeast, sugar, and water in a test tube and tried to fill a balloon.  We did trap a tiny bit of gas in the balloon, but not enough to wow us.  We watched Inside Ralphie (germs).  Appropriate since 1/3 of our families were out.
Duct Tape - Mal made a bracelet and then could make whatever he wanted.  He made a 2D train.
Amazing Body -  Ms Trish was out, so Mrs. E borrowed a Magic School Bus episode, did some  exercise, then Mal talked her ear off with tales of Monster in Paris about a flea that is accidentally grown by an experimental fertilizer.  Mal's favorite character is "Catherine".  Yeh, the car.  He builds her with legos every time he pulls them out.
Nature - More birds and Xav made a paper airplane type bird.
Arts and Crafts - Xav made a name banner taller than he is.
Archery - I got a good behavior report and also heard what a terrific archer Xav is.  All he told me was that he bumped his knee and wanted a nap.

Someone asked if Mal's duct tape cootie catcher worked.  :)  Here's a pic of mine.  It's also known as a fortune teller.  It's great for building dexterity.

    In Rangers this week... 
Mal and Merrick stayed home with Dad.


    What we're reading... 
Dad read Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone.
 

    Places we’re going and people we’re seeing…

We all headed to the home show.

My ever so enthusiastic family.  Some of Mal's fun loot.  Tiny garbage cans!

 Then stopped at Walmart.  Merrick is ready to ride!

Is it just my cheap frugal self who thinks the clearance price is still too high for this game?

Speaking of "frugal," Xav got his first professional haircut.

    Things Dad is working on...
Micah made seats for two kitchen chairs and I cushioned and covered them with Jasmine's help.   We now have four matching chairs at the table again!

We also had lesson two of gEEk school with dad.  They lit the lights using a light sensor and a heat sensor.

  



    A photo, video, link, or quote to share (silly, serious or both!)…
"Television is an invention that permits you to be entertained in your living room by people you wouldn't have in your house." David Frost








Linking up at Christian Fellowship Friday, Weird Unsocialized Homeschoolers, The Homeschool Mother's Journal.

THMJ Weeks of 2/23/14 and 3/2/14

    In my life this week…
2/23  Merrick is happy in his new pullups.  He hugged them and kissed them because they have Cars on them.  He has peed in the potty several times a day for five days now.

3/2  He still uses the potty, usually 1-3 times/day, but he isn't keen on going often.  Sometimes, we may use tricks to get him in there.  *innocents*


    In our homeschool this week… 
I did the Oreo full moon thingy with the boys this week.  Fun, educational, and tasty.

*please hold for rassnfrassn no good photographs to somehow get their stinky acts together and upload correctly*

The boys had their first session of gEEk school with Dad.

    In our homeschool co-op this week... 
2/23  Magic School Bus Science: We erupted a volcano.  Not as wow as I was hoping for.  The instructions called for water.  I really don't think the water helped us.  We also made earth layers and put houses, people, and animals (including some dinosaurs!) around the surface.
Duct tape: Mal made a cootie catcher.  Ah, memories.
Amazing Body: The class is finishing up their bodies.  Next class should finish them up and we'll be bringing a lovely skeleton with his innards back home. 
Nature: Xav learned about wings, looked at and drew feathers.
Crafts: Xav made a heart mobile.
Merrick attended Wiggles and Giggles.
We had our Valentine lunch party since school was canceled last time.

    In Rangers this week...
Q verse: Be Quick to hear, slow to speak, and slow to anger.  James 1:19
R verse: Remember the Sabbath day, to keep it holy.  Exodus 20:8

    What we're reading... 
Read Aloud
Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone
Reading on their own
Phineas and Ferb: How to Conquer the Tri-State Area
The Egg-cellent Easter Adventure

For myself
IndoctriNation (It takes me forever to read a book for myself.  I don't get to it often.)

    Around the house... 
Merrick has figured out how to get in *and* out of the crib.  That will be the end of that soon.

He put himself to bed after a tantrum.

      My kiddos favorite thing this week was…
I think Xav's favorite was building this model with his dad one evening.

They ALL loved the all-out, insane Nerf Wars that have started in this house.

Xav lying in wait for Dad.

    Things Dad is working on...
gEEk school!

 

    I’m cooking…
I didn't cook it, but I mixed up some local chevre with salsa for our (delayed) co-op Valentine party.  Super yummy with tortilla chips.

    Out of the mouths of boys... 
Micah was puttering in the basement.
Xav:  I'm worried about Dad.  He's working on the Sabbath.
(Never mind that Mom was tidying the living room at that exact moment.)

Merrick in a bin.  What a goof.

    A photo, video, link, or quote to share (silly, serious or both!)…
Hilarious quiz.  Which preformed concrete product are you? (A bit of satire in response to all those, "Which character are you?" quizzes going around.)

 "You can learn many things from children. How much patience you have, for instance." F P Jones

I'll be linking up at:
Holy Splendor
Weird Unsocialized Homeschoolers
The Homeschool Mother's Journal

THMJ Week of 2/16/14

    In my life this week…
Getting some blog reviews ready to post next week.  Some pretty cool stuff to tell you all about.

I was telling Micah about an email I got from Chili's asking why I never use the coupons they email me (kind of creepy that they know), so I gave them some feedback that basically said the coupons are all dine in, they are an hour away, and I have three young boys, so we are more like a take-out family.  Micah listened quietly then told me to go look on the counter.  I hadn't even seen him bring them in...  *giddies*  My favorite southwest eggrolls from Chili's!  He's terrific!

    In our homeschool this week…
I've found that giving Xav the "job" of working the mouse for Merrick when he plays on StarFall makes for a more harmonious home.  He and Merrick are engaged and Mal is left alone.  Peaceful.
We are using a new book, Asia: Its People and History this month.

    In Rangers this week... 
Malachi said he had a tummy ache, so he and daddy stayed home.  Merrick refused to finish getting ready when it was time to go, so he ended up staying home out of stubbornness.  I headed off to Rainbows with Ms. Teri and Xav went to Ranger Kids.  He heard about Ms. Sue's daughter's miraculous recovery, came home with a paper airplane and more paper to make another because, apparently, "their paper works better than ours."  P verse:  Praise the Lord for it is good to sing praises to our God. Psalm 147:1

    What we're reading... 
Egg-cellent Easter Adventure again and again...
Rush Revere and the Brave Pilgrims
Encyclopedia Brown 

IndoctriNation 

     Fun boy stuff...
Using two adjustable rods, we put up our hall tent.

 

Outside, there were tunnels to dig.  Micah started one.  Xav and I expended the first and added the second entrance to make a tunnel.

 

The next day, Mal helped dig and they put a third entrance on the other side, digging a Y into the snow pile.  That's Mal inside the original entrance.

     Places we’re going and people we’re seeing…
The library was exciting for Merrick this week.  As well as the usual dot markers, he got to use one of their iPads for the first time.  He played an Elmo ABC game.

Listening to a family favorite, The Monster at the End of This Book

 

Saturday involved a trip to Lowe's Build and Grow.  They hadn't gone in a long while.  The project was a claw game of their very own.  This trip also involved donuts and Toys R Us.
 
    Things Dad is working on...
Being sneaky and devious.  He sent me off to the store and when I got back, he had installed lighting under the upper kitchen cabinets.  Sneaky. 

    I’m cooking…
Sunday I cooked a few meals to get them out of the way.  I made shells and cheese for Mal for his lunches.  It lasted two days.  I also made plain pasta in sauce and sloppy joes.  Xav decided he loves messy burgers and this makes me happy.  I also marinated chicken in speidie sauce.  If you are ever in western NY (anywhere near Binghamton), find a speidie.  Yum.  I like the chicken grilled with veggies or fried with peppers and onion on a nice, chewy roll.

    Out of the mouths of boys... 
Xav: Was there an actual battle from the Evolutionary war fought at our house?
Me: Revolutionary?  No.  I don't think so. 

    I’m grateful for…
OK, this was foolish, but I freaked out Monday when Xav was out digging a tunnel in the front yard and he disappeared.  I went to the door and yelled and YELLED.  Nothing.  I went in and threw on my boots, saying, "Please, God, let him be OK."  I headed out the door and there he was across the yard traipsing through the path Micah and Mal made snowshoeing.  He was around the house and hadn't heard me.  So, of course, I started bawling.  I thanked God, and bawled, and thanked Him again.  

    I’m praying for…
Friends with health issues, life changing decisions they need to make, and wisdom to deal with some sticky issues.  Venezuela.  China.  Of course, I'm always praying for my family and myself.

    We rewarded the kids this week by…
We used our Book It rewards at Pizza Hut this week.
Dad took the punks to Toys R Us with some fun money Grandma of the Forest sent out for them.  They brought home pizza and donuts.  We never eat out or get take out this much.  I'd say I was rewarded this weekend because I didn't have to cook three meals! 

    Something I am ogling or have my eye on…
UGH!  I saw a Cricut on clearance.  I've kind of wanted one for a long while.  Now I'm thinking about all kinds of things besides scrapbooking and card making I *could* do with one.  I'm hoping it's still there when I go back.  Kicking myself!
Yippee!  Wahoo!  I went back on Saturday and it was there!  Mine!  Mine!  Mine!

    A photo, video, link, or quote to share (silly, serious or both!)…
A great quote.
When you allow the wrong people into your house, stuff will come up missing, like: joy, peace, love, hope, faith... (Yes, people steal these things.)

And as a wise friend pointed out, it isn't just your house, but your life and your heart.  I just googled the quote so I could give a proper attribution.  I didn't find anything earlier than this.  I know nothing about the blog or blogger, but thought the quote was worth a reminder.


I am trying to link at the following places, but my posting schedule isn't quite working out. I end up posting a week late, if I remember.  I don't finish my wrap up on Friday because I run on a calendar week and include weekends.  It's usually Tuesday when I finish a post.  I'm not sure if I need to rethink my schedule or look for new link ups.  Do you have any suggestions?  Please let me know in the comments or tell me when you see me.

The Homeschool Mother's Journal
Christian Fellowship Friday
Weird Unsocialized Homeschoolers

THMJ Week of 2/9/14

    In our homeschool this week…
Merrick had his first school lesson courtesy of StarFall.  He loves being like the big boys, doing school on the computer. 

    In our homeschool co-op this week... 
Co-op was cancelled.  Sadly, no volcano in class this week.
In exchange, we received 18" of snow.

    In Rangers this week...
O verse: O give thanks to the Lord for he is good. Psalm 118:1

    What we're reading...
The Egg-cellent Easter Adventure

IndoctriNation

    Things I’m working on…
Xav and I made this Groundhog treat for Dad.

    Things boys are working on...
Mal made this cool Lego elevator.

Merrick helped BooBear use the Kindle.

The boys painted this cool volcano for co-op.

 

  
    A photo, video, link, or quote to share (silly, serious or both!)…
Homeschooler wins gold in the Olympics.   
Four Season FREEBIE from Homeschool Buyers Co-op and TeacherFileBox.



Linking up at Christian Fellowship Friday, and The Homeschool Mother's Journal!

THMJ Week of 2/2/14

    In my life this week…
Both Punxsy Phil and Staten Island Chuck saw their shadows this week.  They've predicted six more weeks of winter.  We all know that means about eight more weeks here.
I briefly considered buying "Robin's Nest" in Hawaii this week.  Ultimately, we decided $15M was a bit steep for a fixer-upper.

    In our homeschool this week…
Malachi is struggling with qualitative vs quantitative data, while Xavier is having an equally tough time getting carnivore/omnivore/herbivore.

Merrick is learning 1:1 correspondence.  We may have to work on that a bit more.

Merrick made this terrific work of art at the library.  I call it Cookie Monster Blasts into the Sun.

    What we're reading...
Rush Revere and the Brave Pilgrims

    Places we’re going and people we’re seeing…
Rainbows was cancelled.  Since I didn't have to teach and we had already had two very long days out of the house, we decided not to go to Rangers.  We had a nice, relaxing afternoon at home.   

    I’m cooking…
I made this yummy pancake breakfast with a bit of Nutella and banana.  We found out that Merrick likes bacon.  Mama isn't happy about sharing with him.

    I’m praying for…
My dad who is dealing with some health issues.

    Something I am ogling or have my eye on…
Spelling You See has a Facebook Sweepstakes going on to win one free level.

    A photo, video, link, or quote to share (silly, serious or both!)…
My baby has a freak finger.

Also, for fellow Sherlock fans, Benedict Cumberbatch on Sesame Street.  "Act like a super-sleuth and figure it out!"

Linking up at The Homeschool Mother's Journal (when I don't miss it), Weird Unsocialized Homeschoolers, and Christian Fellowship Friday.