A Little Appreciation Goes a Long Way

I had organized a service day at the church this year for our co-op. We've used that building so many years, cleaning up after ourselves of course, but I thought a service project would surely let them know how much we have appreciated them all this time.

And you know what? It did! I guess people like to know when you appreciate something. Who'd have thought? ;)

There was a good turn out and our kids learned a very important lesson; many hands make light work. They had so much fun working alongside their friends they didn't even know they were working...well until the end when they collapsed on the ground tired ;)

I told them we'd be there for two hours in the morning and we'd work on whatever they wanted us to. They chose cleaning the metal chairs and plastic tables in the Fellowship Hall. It was a great choice as they were really dirty! I had no idea there were this many! We lined the sidewalks and used some of the parking lot to set them all up and then the scrubbing began!

This little one was a hard worker! In this picture she was playing in the puddle but we were almost done at this point. She was scrubbing chairs with the rest of them!

Of course during the rinsing a few got carried away with the water hose ;) Some of us took home wet kids!

It was great to see everyone! The kids had a wonderful time with each other and so did the moms :) One thing I learned yesterday; I should have organized something like this sooner for the church. They were so thankful. The man in charge of our clean up day said we saved him an entire day of work! I think clean up day will be an annual tradition for our co-op :)

Indulging Her Inner Princess

I'm a shameless copy cat.

Last week, my friend, Angi, took beautiful pictures of her lovely daughter dressed in her ballet recital clothes IN HER YARD! They were gorgeous (and Greer didn't get dirty!) so I tucked that idea away to use this week when it was Megan's turn for picture day for her ballet class. I'm so glad I did! (Thank you Angi!)

Megan was so very excited to get all dressed up and to wear make-up. Kristen painted her fingernails Monday night. I swiped a little pink on her eyes and cheeks and some mascara (she didn't even blink!), and when we got there, I put some pink lip gloss on her. She truly felt like a princess :)

I had so much fun indulging her little-girlness :) It doesn't stay that way long around here. I'm sure today she'll be out digging in the dirt ;)

The Beauty of Butterflies

Last Friday, we headed to Franklin Park Conservatory with my good friends Jenny and Cathy and their gang of kids. It was a gorgeous day to be out and after the chaos of the last day of co-op, it was some very needed relaxation :)

We picniced and played at the playground then headed in to see the butterflies released. Every spring/summer the Conservatory has caterpillars in various stages of metamorphosis on display. At the end of the week, they release them into one of their indoor gardens and while they are doing that, they give a little talk about the different butterflies. Fun and educational!  

I forgot my camera! I know....how could anyone go someplace as beautiful as the Conservatory and forget their camera?! I blame Thursday! I was traumatized!

Anyway, Jenny had hers and she takes amazing pictures! So I swiped some ;)

This butterfly was cracking us all up! He really liked Nicholas :)

We had so much fun! We can't wait to go back!

"N" is for Nest

As I've posted here before, Megan and I are working our way through the alphabet. It has been really fun doing these little projects with her! She often asks repeatedly for work and I love it! She's coming right along and I think we'll have another reader before long.

A few weeks ago, we did "N" and read about nests. I have a kindergarten curriculum that I used for the boys that is alphabet themed but this year when I pulled it out, I decided that I didn't always like the letter theme or when they said it "should" be done so I'm choosing what we work on and when ;) I am still using several of their worksheets and book suggestions, but there are some great blogs I follow (and have linked here many times!) that have some wonderful suggestions and worksheets that I never find us short on work. The boys are studying birds for science and Brandon is working on his bird study merit badge not to mention, this is a great time to find birds' nests and eggs, so that's what we decided to do :)

Along with lots of great worksheets and wonderful books and some bird watching, we made a bird's nest. I can't remember which blog I got this from but I think it was linked on Confessions of a Homeschooler.

We started with lots of pieces of yarn and balloons blown up just a bit:

We dipped the yarn into some glue then layed it on the balloon for shape.

The kids gained a great deal of respect for the birds and how hard they have to work on their nests! They all said more than once how hard it was! Good lesson!

Next, we let it dry. Since we got busy with other things (as usual!) this sat for a few days so I'm not sure exactly how long it takes to dry, but you'll want it to dry completely.

They suggested using those blue colored malted milk balls for little robin's eggs and those would have been cute, but we stuck with using things we had here at home and came up with some pretty cute eggs made from pipe cleaners :)

The Last Day

Yesterday was our last day of co-op for the spring session. While this is usually a bittersweet day for us, yesterday was more than usual because it was our last day at our current church. We will be moving our co-op's location by fall. We've been at this same location for eight years! I know I'm not the only one who will miss it.

Our last day of co-op always has it's share of chaos with lots of extra things planned, and yesterday was just nuts! However, I was lucky enough though to witness some really cute things going on in our kids' classes at a time when I happen to have my camera ;)

Megan in Mem Fox eating her Olympic Torch:

Nicholas being "it" for red light green light in his Spanish class. They had to say red and green in Spanish.

See all those kids reaching?

This is another angle:

So fun!

Making boats and learning about buoyancy in science. I can take all the pictures I want in there because I'm the teacher!

Talking about sinking and floating:

Nicholas and Brandon's plant cell models at showcase:

We used the baggie as the cell wall, jello as the plasma membrane, a grape for the nucleus, and various other bits for all the other cell parts. They had fun and learned so much in that class!

Megan made an ocean diorama in Mem Fox. So cute!

The kids learned so much and had so much fun! Now it's time to plan the next session! ;)

Learning the Ropes

Last month, Brandon earned his "scout" ranking in boyscouts (which, along with countless other things, I neglected to blog...). He is so very excited because he can start working on all those merit badges he's had his eye on! Margot told me about a website that listed all the requirements so we are off and running!

One of the badges he's been most interested in is archery so last weekend, Todd took the boys to some sort of hunting/fishing expo thing. (you can tell I know what I'm talking about here ;)) They had a great time! Here they are learning a bit about compound bows and crossbows and having a bit of target practice:

Do You Know What This Is???

This is a letter from OSU informing my baby that she made the Dean's List for the winter quarter! Kristen, we are SO PROUD of you! Keep up the good work!

For Russ

Guess what the kids were doing first thing this morning? I mean, before I even made it downstairs! Working on their coin collections! They love having those to tinker with. Thank you!

Family

It looks like a busy day, and it was, but also very relaxing. There was much going on but at our own pace which is really important when there are little ones to consider :)

Todd's parents joined us for our egg hunt and Easter dinner. It was great having everyone here! Of course in this house that means....photo op! My dad says these have to be the most photographed kids in the world. I told him he should meet my friends ;)

A couple of pictures with my mom and dad.

And Todd's mom and dad.

Enjoying a few treats from Grandma Judy:

After dinner, Todd's dad brought in another treat for the kids. The start of a coin collection! He had a whole bucket of pennies and three collector books. The kids had a ball looking through the pennies and discovering the things about them that make them unique. We definitely have a house full of treasure hunters :)

It was the perfect day; a wonderful worship service, beautiful weather, yummy food, and a house full of family :)

Hunting for Eggs

The weather was perfect yesterday!