Such Cuties!!!

I hate to brag, but...

I truly have the cutest little nieces!


My nephew is rather handsome too, but he is way beyond allowing me to take his picture,
never mind posting one!!! I may even get yelled at for just stating that he exists!

Science Thursday - A Little of this and a Little of That

These pics are from last week -

Our triops

were lots of fun to watch while they lasted...

and very interesting to examine under the microscope
we also managed to harvest some eggs and

will be trying to hatch these once they have dried out.



This week we had some fun with SC

First they added a little

Then they added A LOT...




I LOVE her expression in that last one!



Our unit this week was on Weather so here are some of our favorite pics from those projects...

Rather Different Choice for Lunch

not judging...just noticing!

And the winner is....

Out of the 12 entries -




there could be only one winner-

CONGRATULATIONS!!!
Thanks to all who have entered!

I have a featured interview!

I forgot - as I was letting my wonderful first giveaway have center stage for the week! - that my interview on the wonderful freedom of homeschool was going to be featured this week! You can check it out here along with many other wonderful families' experiences as well!!! And don't forget you have until tonight to enter the Spellquizzer giveaway!

FIRST GIVEAWAY - EVER!!! SpellQuizzer license

I was contacted to review this product ~SpellQuizzer~ and they have also offered a license to giveaway to a very lucky lurker!

SO COME ON OUT!!!

We have slowly but surely shied away from spelling programs as KM has gotten older, but this is far better than any other off-line spelling program that I have seen! This program allows you to create your own spelling lists, record the word so that they can hear and then spell it, and enter definitions of the words to increase vocabulary. While there are pre-made spelling lists available to use, I think one of the biggest benefits for an older child would be for them to be able to set the lists up themselves, adding the typing element to it. For younger kids it would be a great way for them to practice their spelling as well as getting more familiar with the keyboard! Though I have not tried this yet, another feature that truly intrigues me is the ability to import and export lists so that homeschool families or co-op groups could share their lists instead of having to create them independently! So whether you are homeschooling, creating your own lists, using a curriculum list, going to school and using their lists this program would surely be a safe and convenient way to encourage more spelling and vocabulary practice!


Now as for the giveaway - I am new to all this so I am going to do it the old-fashioned way - leave a comment on this message by Sunday July 26th 10pm EST and you will be entered to win a license for this incredible spelling software. Then Monday 7/27 KM will draw a name out of a bowl of some sort to pick the winner! Simple enough -

GOOD LUCK!

ADDED AFTER POST--- OH YEAH! I said I was new to this, I need away to contact you as well, so either a link to your blog, email address or something of that sort would be fantastic!!
I will of course post the winner here on the 27th as well!
Thanks!

Two very excited girls -

celebrated SR's 10th birthday a bit early this year...by going to a fabulous concert last night!

Science Thursday - Biomes?

Our topic this week from our Science Review book was Biomes - it is ironic that this was KM's strongest area last year and the books review section was only 2 pages - compared to 6-8 in other chapters - so it was a good thing that she really already KNEW the material. Anyway she did two really fun habitat builders on adaptive curriculum and then wanted to do a project. WELL I figured she already had an aquatic habitat and a tropical habitat going with the triops and the terrarium, but she really wanted to do something - so I dug out some kits that I had gotten last year at a science museum and just totally forgot about until NOW! -

Crystal growing kits - hey didn't we try this before...these are crystal growing trees so I guess they could be part of a fantasy biome right?

If you have kids who are really impatient - these are the kits to get!
This was just minutes after we filled the trays..

and this was about 90 minutes later!

The next morning they had grown to this -

Don't know why the orange one is not as puffy...hmmm?...but could have something to do with the branches not being spread out as much as the others.
Now the tray will take a bit longer but will have permanent crystals whereas the trees are the soft dissolvable variety! I will keep ya posted on how they turn it!

Enchanted Gardening

Earlier this week we went back to a magical little place, to have a magical little class, and they made magical little creations -






They had a wonderful day and I got some great pics of their beautiful gardens that you can check out on our nature photo blog!

Various Shades of Green -

We have all been truly amazed to watch how the vegetables actually grow from the plants, some of the things truly surprise me and others just look so pretty....

Eiffel Tower - KNEX

They HATCHED!!!

The Triops actually hatched - I was get a bit concerned that they were not going to, but they did!

Now they might just look like specs, but they are there and they are swimming -