A gardening Adventure!

Thanks to our fabulous public library, we had another field trip yesterday! I have always wanted to be more involved in the home school programs that the Southeast branch of the Columbus Metropolitan Library offers, but they are always at 2:00 in the afternoon and I've always had someone napping at that time, so we skipped them. But now...we get to go! We attended our second one yesterday called "Square-foot Gardening" based on the book and it was just wonderful! So much information and very hands-on.

We talked about how to mix our own soil according to Mel (the author) and how to lay out our garden so that we never have to step on the soil which compacts it and then plants can't poke through as easily. We learned how to plant plants that can be close together and ones that need more space. Check out Mel's website for more info.

The gist of it is that you chose a size based on the space you have and the size of the person taking care of the plot. The average sizes where a 3'X3' plot for a child or a 4'X4' plot for an adult. That way you can reach the middle from all sides without stepping in the soil. You can change this around some if needed depending on your space, for instance a 1'X8' plot close to the house or along a fence or a 2'x8' if you have a little more width. Just play around with what you like. Then, if you are planting say a large plant you would just plant one plant in the middle, for a slightly smaller plant, you would draw a "t" in the dirt so you would have 4 equal smaller squares then plant a seed or two in each smaller square. She went on down the line telling how to section off each square foot of your garden. It was so easy! She also suggested building 1'X1' boxes to put on steps of a deck and for planting. Using the square foot method and how to plant the seeds or plants just takes alot of the guess work out of the actual planting part. She also suggested using recycled materials which may save some money. She goes to construction sites and asks for the scraps. The wood is 1"X6" and however long you are planning to build your garden. She also talked about the benefits to putting a bottom on your box, but it isn't necessary.

At the end, the kids could fill a take out container with the special soil and choose a plant to plant from seed. Brandon chose basil which he could plant four different sections in his container; Megan chose cucumbers so she could only plant one.

Choosing our vegetables:
Laying out our garden:
Getting the containers ready for our take-home plants:
Making a hole for the seeds:
Brandon makes a hole in each of his four sections:

At the end of the program there were door prizes which were a big hit :) All in all it was a successful field trip. We hope to make it to many more next school year!

School?

We had another great day outside today! This weather is just being so cooperative that we've moved our school outdoors!

I took the kids (all of them! yay!) to the park today for a little scavenger hunt. Thank you, Jenny, for your post on this! You know I can never come up with anything on my own! We tweaked it a little since ours was in the woods and away we went! All of us had a great time finding the things on the list and just taking our time walking through the woods. It was so relaxing and actually very educational! Since the boys are studying habitiats in science (actually Brandon is done with his science book but he could do science things every day of his life!) one of the things on my list was to list all the habitats you see. There are actually many different little environments, ecosystems, habitats... whatever you want to call them...in the woods and we had fun talking about them.

Some pics from our walk:
Leading Kristen


We saw a swamp early in our walk and there were all kinds of little things swimming in and on the water there so at the end of our walk we went back over to see if we could get some pictures and one of the naturalists was there! She was getting samples of the critters to take back to the nature center so we had a little private lesson on the names of some of those little squiggly things! So fun!
In her little aquarium she had a very large orange mite (very rare), a leech (eww), and a few other little crawlies that I can't remember the names of.
We were particularly interested in all the tadpoles swimming around so she netted one for us to get a picture of!

I was trying so hard to get a good picture of all the little things in the swamp I'm surprised I didn't fall in! lol
In that picture are fairy shrimp!

No park trip would be complete without a stop by the nature center:
These little turtles were a big hit! Even Kristen wants one!

We left the nature center and drove over to the goldfish pond on the way out of the park and guess what we saw?? The biggest tadpole ever! I finally was able to get a picture!

Again we had a great time just looking around for things. Poor Meggie was getting hot and tired but she was a trooper!
Do you think he's hot?
Brandon the Science Guy
After the pond, we headed home for a fruit smoothie and an indoor craft which I will post later! What a great day! I'm not looking forward to the return of our normal temperatures at all!

Maybe for the next scavenger hunt we'll round up some friends and head over to Inniswoods. I think there are lots of things to "find" in the Secret Garden! :)

Fruit of the Spirit

But the fruit of the Spririt is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control; against such things there is no law.
Galatians 5:22-23

But now faith, hope, love, abide these three, but the greatest of these is love.
1 Corinthians 13:13

On To State!

He did it! He got up there and competed in the Bible Drill competition today! And...he qualified for the state competition next Saturday!We're so proud of his determination to conquer his fear and his eagerness to study God's word. Way to go Brandon! Keep up the good work!

Registering:
They don't allow any pictures to be taken during the competition so this is right after:

Sweetness

We had a very nice, relaxing day at home yesterday. The weather was so wonderful, we decided to play hooky from school and this is my reward:
My sweet boys just spending some time together. They were talking about what should they do next. Brandon had the book he is writing in his lap working on it a little and they were just hanging out. It was really cute when Brandon started telling Nicky what he should do if he comes face to face with a bear ;)

Then there was this going on in the back:
A tea party! With real water! I was invited to join in and, of course, I did :)

Some random pics throughout the evening:

Reading a video game instruction book to Tigress.
Helping Dad with the boat.

Our crabapple is especially beautiful this year:

Brandon's been working on this book for a while now, just adding chapters as he's feels like it. It has been a wonderful, creative project for him and it's all his! This is not something he was "assigned" which makes it so much better in his eyes :)

Keep him in your prayers this morning as we are heading to the associational Bible Drill very shortly!

Some Resources

I have a few homeschooling resources to share. As some of you know, we use Apologia science books and we absolutely love them! In order to get the very most out of each lesson, I searched the internet for ideas and found this . What a wealth of ebooks! My favorite part about ebooks is that I get them immediately (I know that patience is a fruit of the Spirit, but He's still working on me with that one ;)). Just click to buy, then click to download and it's all mine! I then print it off, put it in a three-ring binder and make copies as I need to of the consumable pages. You can sign up on their website to receive their weekly newletter which also features a free ebook each week!

My favorite publisher on CurrClick is Knowledge Box Central so these days I usually check them out first if I'm looking for something. She has great sales and coupon days and her products are so easy to use :) That right there makes me a fan. I hate when I have to do more reading on how to use something than we actually spend doing it ;) She also has a blog where she posts upcoming sales and some funny things at Redheaded Rambler . I hope you all enjoy the links!

Growing Up Kristen

So today was a big day. One of many big days around here for the next month. I guess this is what happens when your kids grow up.

Today we went to buy Kristen's dress for her spring formal. It will be her last "prom" as this is her senior year so it had to be just right. I insisted on shopping around until she was satisfied she had found THE dress. Let me just say that finding an affordable but beautiful and also modest dress is no small task! We ended up in Dublin at David's Bridal. The David's Bridal at Easton had the one she liked too, but she wasn't sure of the color so we headed over to the Dublin store to try on another color. She ended up staying with the first color, red, and she looked beautiful and very grown-up. She is such a beautiful person inside and out.

She is now on her way to a bonfire/birthday party for her cousin/best friend. She drives herself to all her social engagements these days which is kind of nice, but still...

I guess my baby's growing up. Who told her she could do that?!?

A Little Learning Never Killed Anyone...

I had been dreading this year all summer. Not only is this Kristen's last year, which has been emotional let me just say; but it is Nicholas' first year. He is the kind of boy that can't sit still so I was really anxious about how in the world I was going to teach him anything! Not to mention I haven't really taught first grade stuff yet! Brandon pretty much skipped most of it. He was reading, so beginning phonics were redundant (and skipped ;)) and he had been adding and subtracting for quite some time so his math book (second grade level) was just honing his skills.

Nicholas, however, would need to be taught all this stuff. He practiced his letters and numbers in kindergarten and he thought I was torturing him. The one thing he liked, and always has, is to be read to. He loves books! So we read...lots. It was the very best way to get him to sit still for a minute and maybe learn something!

As you know, I love teaching my kids. One of my favorite parts is learning something about them in the process. I love seeing what they liked and disliked about the year. It tells me a little more about them and helps me choose for the next year. I take mental notes all year long.

One thing that has emerged as a favorite of Nicholas' is phonics! Never in a million years would I have guessed it! I have always heard about kids hating phonics, so I was really, really surprised one day when I had set up his phonics cards, called him over and he exclaimed that he loved that part! It was his favorite!

Here are some pictures of his favorite :)
We're using Learning Language Arts Through Literature and he loves it! I've used it in the past a few times for Kristen and Brandon and neither of them cared for it much, but after searching all summer for a good phonics program, this one just kept jumping out at me, so I bought it. It has been just challenging enough to keep him interested but not so much that he is overwhelmed. There's just enough grammar sprinkled in there that he's getting the basics of capitalization and punctuation, nouns and such, but the emphasis is mostly on learning to read. And he finds the readers hilarious! That cracks me up! Who likes readers?!?

Little Builders

I've posted before about how much my kids LOVE to build, but their newest creations just had to be shown! They are so creative! Just give them something...anything...and they'll make something else out of it! lol

These are two guys Brandon made up himself with Bionicle parts:

And this one just cracks me up! Nicholas has a dragon eating his Lego people! See all their hands up? They running away! LOL He even put one poor guy in the dragon's mouth!

Here, Nicholas found something to build with his math manipulatives ;)

It's a movie theater! The little green ones are inside catching the latest flick ;)

Not to be out done by her brothers, Megan built a few things herself:
Here she is with her Bionicle.

And next is her movie theater:
But this is what she does best:

She crawled under the table to make a home for her stuffed animals. She plays constantly with them. It's so cute!

I really love watching them play and wondering what they'll come up with next!

The Spirit of Competition

The Southern Baptist churches have a program called Bible Drill. It starts at fourth grade and goes through high school. The kids who chose to participate have a lot of memorizing to do. They memorize 25 Bible verses from the King James version, 10 key passages, and ALL the books of the Bible...in order. Meetings start in October so they have time to learn it all, then there are three competitions... church, associational, and state.

Last year, Brandon was eligible to compete and boy was he ever excited! He is so competitive! He worked so hard learning his verses and Bible books. Then came the first competition...the church drill. Piece of cake :) All the kids did so well! The following week was the associational.

Brandon turned down breakfast that morning. That was the big clue that something wasn't right. That boy has NEVER turned down food! After a major inquisition, he said he didn't feel well. Oh no. After a million more questions, he finally said he was nervous. What?? He has never had any kind of stage fright?!? Piano recitals, choir, church musicals, showcase...he has never batted an eye and very much seemed to enjoy everything he did on stage. I was more than shocked. We took him down anyway thinking his nerves would calm in the presence of his friends...they didn't. He was so nervous and upset I thought he was going to throw up. We took him out of the competition. It was heartbreaking for me because he'd talked about it for weeks. He had worked so hard and he was so excited...I couldn't believe it.

Imagine my surprise when he wanted to sign up for Bible Drill again this year! I told him I didn't care if he competed at all and that the important part of Bible Drill was learning the Bible...the competition is to encourage them and give them goals. But he said he wanted to compete.

Tonight was the church drill. There are only three kids in the children's level so there's a bit of pressure! I was a little worried. There are four different rounds and each round has six questions, so when there aren't many kids, each child will get called on more often.But.....he did great! I'm so proud of him!

Good job Brandon! Next weekend is associational! I know he'll do just fine :)

How can a young man keep his way pure?
By keeping it according to Your word.
With all my heart I have sought You;
Do not let me wander from Your commandments.
Your word I have treasured in my heart,
that I may not sin against You.
Psalm 119:9-11

Your word is a lamp unto my feet
and a light unto my path.
Psalm 119:105

A Blessing

"The Lord bless you and keep you;
the Lord make His face shine upon you,
and be gracious to you;
The Lord lift up His countenance on you,
and give you peace."
Numbers 6: 24-26

My Date with the Kidlets

Friday is usually our family night. We eat a favorite dinner (usually pizza!) and play games and/or watch a movie, but tonight, half our family was gone!

Brandon's co-op friends were going bowling and I asked Kristen if she would want to go along with him. Of course she does! That girl will drive anywhere! lol Todd is at a seminar, so it was just the little ones and me tonight.

We're going to make up our regular family night, but I wanted to have a special night with Nicky and Megan. So we dined alfresco tonight for the first time this year! After we ate, they played on the deck for a bit then I grabbed a blanket and some books for some cozy, outdoor reading with them. We had a ball! Eating outside is Megan very favorite thing so it was really fun to bask in her excitement :) When it started really cooling down, we came in, played some Bug Bingo, then settled in for some icecream and a movie (The Lion King). It was very sweet evening :)

Showcase!

We had such a wonderful semester at co-op! The classes were terrific and the kids really looked forward to seeing their friends and doing some stuff each week. The boys had some super hands-on activities which I was so thankful for. Some learning is easier (and more fun!) in a group!

Brandon had 2 poster displays due this semester. He hadn't done anything like that before so it was a great experience for him! I did some guiding and helped him organize his data, but he did all the research and made the final decisions about placement and how the poster should look himself. He did a fantastic job! I was very pleased and impressed! It was such a learning experience that we have great ideas for the next time! Here are a few pictures from the showcase of his posters:
He did Mongolia for geography. I think we both learned alot about that country!
This is his poster for science. Each student was given 2 bean plants to take home and come up with their own experiment! How cool is that?! The rule was to only change one variable and keep everything else the same to see how that one change made a difference. Then document your experiment on the poster. Brandon was sick the day the plants were handed out so I picked his up for him and when I got home he went about setting up his experiment. He decided to put one in a window and the other in darkness to document the effect light has on a plant. He had to keep everything else the same which in this case meant he had to water them the same amount. At the enmd of the week, we took pictures and he typed up his data and laid out his poster. He even drew some really cute pictures on it which you can't see in my fuzzy picture. Oh and the plant that was in darkness for the week never recovered. It was interesting to see how just one week made a difference.

They both got to do some really cool art work this semster:

"Dessert Tray"

"Bad Hair Day"
Nicholas had a little cold and missed the last day so he only had one picture up last night:
I took a picture of one of my favorites he did this semester too:
I also would like to report that Nicholas' fish, Cow, is still alive! I can't believe that little feeder fish has lived this long!

Megan came home each week with all sorts of things from her preschool class! Here is a couple of pictures of her class' performance last night of the body parts in Spanish:

Megan and her friend Erin taking a break and having a snack:
Check out those dimples Erin has! Such cute girls :)

We truly love our co-op and all our friends we get to see each week. It's nice to be done, but we'll miss everyone. To all our friends: Let's get together soon!

Happy Birthday Mom!

Yesterday was my mom's birthday! We got to have lunch with her and visit for a little, but we had a few busy days this week and of course her birthday was right in the middle! (This is how my life goes! When it rains, it pours!) The good part is we get to finish up the celebrating! We haven't even had cake! Here's a few pictures of our lunch:

Happy Birthday Mom/Meemaw! We love you :)