Keeping It Simple

On break from our day at the museum, we picnicked in the park. These are some of my favorite photos from the day.  Francis Scott Keys' Memorial  Words to the Star Spangled Banner.  And dogs! 

This was a 12 hour day- and it was FULL!  Stop 1:  Of course! What would a visit to a Natural History Museum be without a requisite dinosaur! This one did not play fetch though- or maybe it does after dark!     Our anatomy lesson for the day.  Fruit bat.  I have to say that all the specimens in a jar and stuff kind of weird me out. I was ready to not give this area much attention, but Mark and James settled in and enjoyed themselves.  What was I to do but join the fun?  Walrus- I think. The boys would know.  Animal identification through prints and scat.  Cross section  of a crab.  Some of those jars I was talking about.  You never know what might be hanging out in the trees.  Part one of many! 

In my life this week... In our homeschool this week... Barton Reading Program. That's about it!  My favorite thing this week was...  All three of my boys beat the heat by playing hot wheels in their room. They are competing to see whose car has the best time on the track. I am glad for James (9yo) that his brothers haven't gotten too sophisticated to spend some time playing kid stuff with him.  What's working/ not working for us... Writing everything down (appts., activities)! And reviewing it each night. And not over committing ourselves.  Questions /thoughts I have... I can't wait to get on "summer schedule" or not schedule as the case may be- maybe "relaxed schedule". Week after next should be it!  Things I am working on... Cleaning, purging, laundry, ... cleaning, purging laundry... feels good!  I'm reading... Made to Crave . Read it before and am now joining a group of ladies to watch the DVD sessions ...

Count Your Way Through India by Jim Haskins I love counting books! This one offers a nice way to introduce India in just a few minutes. It includes some geography of India, culture, spices, animals and more. We're from India by Victoria Parker See India through the eyes of three children. Their families, their food, and their traditions (and more) are all introduced in this short book. Included are lots of great photographs . Welcome From India by David Cumming Find out about work, play, home, and school in India from Harjindar, who is ten years old. Lots of photographs in this one too. There is also a nice "India Fact File" at the end of this book. Gandhi by Demi This book, and others by Demi, is one of the reasons that I love picture books! I get to introduce my boys to this inspirational man who did so much for his beloved country through the pictures and story of this brief yet memorable account of his life. Beautiful. Mother Teresa by Demi One of t...

It really is not possible that another whole week is flown by! I have had to put our summer planning on hold with how busy we have been (not that we have not squeezed fun in!). But that summer routine is going to have to wait for July and August. Monday, we had our end of the year  Spanish class party . This event got it's  own post , so I am just including this picture for my wrap-up. Mark, whose foot was getting swollen running around on it (bee sting), sat down toward the end of the party for some R&R with my phone. This little guy (little brother of some of the students) snuggled up with him to watch. Just thought it was sweet.  Tuesday it was all about chores and school - some days just have to be that way! Wednesday was  summer fun day ! We headed to the beach in honor of my nephew's (baby on the left) 1st birthday. The other picture below shows 1st and 2nd base in a game of beach baseball (only a tennis ball was used and there is no bat- just...