Keeping It Simple

I have to confess that this week is a blur to me. I have to look at my calendar to see what in the world happened. But, this is what we have. Some fall fun and working on the basics. :) I purchased a fall leaf craft kit- not the most inspiring, but the boys indulged me and made some leaves to add to our fall decorations.  And, they painted some fun ceramic pumpkins that a friend brought over for our co op kids to paint.  My nephew, CK, made this fabulously creepy snack to share on co op day.  What self-respecting homeschool family would miss an opportunity for a "field trip" to the pumpkin patch? My main goal right now is consistency . I can see it paying off in my boys' reading ability. I don't wait for big chunks of time. If have just five minutes, I take it. I hope you all had a fantastic week- and can remember it! I am linking this post to  Forever, For Always, No Matter What . You can visit there to see more weekly wrap-ups and/or to link...

Our primary reason for purchasing an iPod touch was to allow us access to our library's audio books, and we are having a great time with that. The thing that I did not know much about when we made our purchase, but are now loving are the apps. I have not had good luck through random searches at the app store- specific recommended titles have been the most help, so I am sharing a few of our favorites: tChess Lite by Tom Kerrigan This app is .99. My chess playing son loves this app. Montessori Crosswords by L'Escapadou  My 7yo enjoys this colorful app. I like the different levels and it costs just $1.99. Geomaster by Visuamobile This is my favorite app. We have the free version, but plan to upgrade for .99 The free version is just the USA, but I love the way it works. The player is challenged to fill in all the states. If the wrong state is chosen, it is highlighted with that state's correct name and the correct state is also shown with its name. That...

Whew! We made the deadline this time. :) The Lego Quest challenge for this round is to create something that reminds you of Halloween. We usually stay far away from all things scary, but as soon as James heard the theme, he wanted to make a haunted castle. I guess it is not so scary in miniature form! Anyway, he commandeered his brother's castle, made some modifications and came up with this. He was especially pleased that it looked like "real fire" from the "glowy Lego brick" that he mounted behind the castle. The knights that look like they are about to attack the castle are trick-or-treaters! All Halloween entries will be posted on the Lego Quest Blog sometime after the deadline (Monday, October 25).

As usually happens at this time of the school year, I am spending time evaluating/reevaluating how things are going, so this "Week in Review" is a little review and a little evaluation. Getting in to the swing of things: I seem to alternate weeks. One week I think, "we are finally getting in a groove!". The next week I think not so much. This is my not so much week! I need to work on a better morning routine and going to bed at a reasonable hour .   No matter how much I want the peace and quiet that is to be had only after bedtime, this has got to be a must. I am going to work on it! What We Read: This week we read "The Littles". I am realizing that our 7yo does not remember many of the "little kid" reads that we have done in the past, so I am adjusting our reading to include some the fun reads from when the older boys were younger. 3R's: I am going for consistency. Forget big plans and goals. Just do it. Each day, I try to be sure ...

Some day my children are going to be telling their children about today. I can picture it now, "do you know what your grandma did one day when we were little?".  And, I will deny it. Who are they going to believe their dad or their grandma?  Honestly, after 27 years of parenting, you would think that I would be grown-up enough to never act immature and foolish!! I guess I have a way to go. After the storm settled, we had a "re-do" on starting our day. We sat on the couch and finished reading "The Littles" while the boys drew dragons (their new favorite thing to do since seeing "How to Train Your Dragon"). Praying that the rest of you are having a calm, peaceful day!

A Few Highlights: Celebrating: We celebrated our completion of Level 1 of All About Spelling with a trip to Chuck E. Cheese. No celebration would be complete without friends, so we invited two families to join us for lunch and we partied. :) All About Spelling:  As anyone who has read my blog more than once knows, I want to shout from the mountain tops about this program. Not every program works for every family, but I am happy to have a found a one that is so easy to use and works for us! We are on to Level 2 and moving forward. Exploring: We have been learning a bit about pond life. This week we looked at our pond water specimens (collected last week) under a microscope. We were not trying to learn anything specific. I just wanted the kids to get a chance to see what is going in the water on besides what is obvious to the naked eye. My boys loved it. Even when we were done, James spent a good part of the afternoon looking at prepared slides. Creativity: Thi...

Michele at My Blessings From Above is hosting a link up for "Lego Creation Thursday" . It is late, but where we live, it is still Thursday. We did not get a chance to particpate in the Lego Quest Challenge this week (we will next time), but we have lots of Lego pictures on file. This one is just a scene that the boys took a picture of on our back porch- their goal was to make it look the the plane in the left corner was really flying over. I think they succeeded.

Even though my boys were not able to participate this week, I still love seeing the photos of all the Lego creations that the Lego Quest participants put together. They are amazing! If your Lego enthusiast wants some inspiration, have them check out the  Archeology Challenge Photos .

When I saw this craft tutorial for fabric pumpkins, I thought even I can do this! When my sister saw my pumpkin, she thought- hey, my sister can show the girls how to do this! :) And, I was happy to. The girls were happy to oblige and perfect their fabric pumpkin making technique: Place a TP roll in the middle of a plastic page and stuff other plastic bags around it.  Place the whole thing in the center of a piece of 27" fabric and begin folding the fabric into the center of the TP tube.  Continue all the way around.  Choose some twigs and leaves for the pumpkin stem. Embellish your pumpkin with the leaves and twigs as you see fit. How's that for super cute?! :)  Thank you girls!! You are always so much fun to work with. :)

This week, I am linking up on time! I should have put that on last week's goal list. :) This week's goals are: #1  Themes and Plans continued from last week. I have gathered the materials that I need to get started. Now I just need to do it. #2 Organize school room. This seems to be a never ending project. I would like to get to a point where things are manageable and regular maintenance is all that is needed. One can hope! I actually did complete my #2 goal last week in spite of waiting until Friday to post it! You can link up to This Week's Goals at LLRhomeschoolmom if you want to join in! :)

My kids love to create---much to my dismay at times! (think big mess :)) I also love that about them, and I love my hubby for helping them find a place to work at it. The boys have wanted to set up shop for while and this weekend dad helped them.  The fun for James is as much about getting to use the tools as what he is making.  Dad was there to provide mini tutorials when needed- this one is how to keep a dowel from rolling around while you drill a hole in it.  Paul has been creating since the shop went up. Today has been mostly weapons of mass destuction (maybe not mass )- swords, hatchets, daggers,... I might need to get him moving in a more postive direction after he gets it out of his system! The project that started it all. Sails and finishing touches are in the works.

After another crazy week, I enlisted the boys to help with our highlights. They were more than happy to assist. From Paul and Mark: On Spanish: All of our friends come over to do Spanish on Thursdays. We take turns going to class in groups. We got some homework- we don't like that. Senorita Joyce read us a really fun story about "el raton" (the mouse). At the end, she asked us questions in Spanish from the story and we answered them in Spanish- like how old the mouse is- "diez"- and how old is his friend. We are going to get our own copy of the book so that we can read along with her. On Geography Class: For our geography class, we went to a nearby park ; we saw a monstrous frog, 2 damsel flies, fish, several ducks, and a bird trying to steal a fish from another bird. We read Paddle-to-the-Sea, and we made our own Paddles-to-the-Sea and set them sailing in the pond. From James: On Reading: I read my book with Grandma. This story was much harder, so...

I had meant to link up to "This Week's Goals" at LLRHomeschoolmom , but I forgot to check in on Monday.  Better late than never- I hope. :) So, here goes. This week's (and next) goals are: Themes & Plans - I have been saving some posts from By Sun and Candlelight on monthly planning. I really love these ideas! There is a "how to" seasonal plan post here . And, there is an example of October plans here . Maybe if I put it in writing, I will actually do it! Living Room Organization- Take items displaced from removing TV cabinet and find new homes for them. My goals are in writing for all to see. Now I have to do them! :) Fixed the links if anyone tried and wondered "what in the world?". :)

Down the street from our house, just a stones throw from the freeway, is a little pond paradise. We visited it today for our "pond study" that we are doing with Paddle-to-the-Sea .  We arrived at the pond and the kids were impressed immediately with two things- the size of the leaves (no picture but there were huge maple type leaves) and the swans. We were also interested to see pond water plants that we had read about.  Our mission to was to "look and listen".  One of our first hidden finds were some spiders.  We sat for a while and drew some of the things we saw.  The kids who finished their drawings each chose a quiet spot to sit by themselves and observe. I was impressed by all they were able to tell me about what they heard and saw- dragonflies, bird calls, ducks,...  The turtle were quick on their feet, so we thought we were not going to get a picture, but MeLei caught these two near the end of our trip. To the right, the ki...

That's what James says anyway. As we were finishing up this leaf craft, James enthusiastically said, "You know what mom? I think you and me are artists!".  That pretty much made my day.  Not to mention, no one has ever called me an artist. :) My sister sent me the link to this craft. (thanks Jen!) You can see an excellent step-by-step tutorial here . If you decide to make these lovely leaves, there a few things I would caution you on. First, crayon sharpeners work best to make crayon shavings (potato peelers were a bit hazardous). Second, protect your ironing board cover well. :) 

Last week, we had little time to do school. This week, I have little time to post about school! So, here is our week- "in brief". Spanish:  This is my 4th year of hosting a Spanish co op at my house. The lovely lady in the back left of the picture, my sister's mother-in-law, teaches the children. We use Sing and Speak Spanish for the most part- Senorita Joyce also brings games and books for extras. My kids treasure this time with their friends. And, they love their Spanish class. Geography: New to this year, we have added a geography class to our co op. We are using the Literature Guide to Geography by Beautiful Feet books. Our first lessons will follow "Paddle-to-the-Sea", a toy canoe carved by a young Indian boy, from Lake Nipigon in Canada through the Great Lakes and out to the Sea. Above is a sampling of the maps we are working on. My youngest student is 7 and my oldest 13, and I think they are all doing a great job.  For a b...