Determination

She has been diligently practicing and greatly improving all on her own!

I am extremely proud of how committed she has been to this lately!
She is using the Piano Adventure Series ~ which I was very lucky enough to get from Paperback Swap ~ she LOVES it and I can see her confidence building as she moves through the units!
As you can see she has her inspirational poster RIGHT next to the keyboard!

International Children's Book Day

Since 1967, on or around Hans Christian Andersen's birthday, 2 April, International Children's Book Day (ICBD) is celebrated to inspire a love of reading and to call attention to children's books.

Here are some great sites that we will be looking into today -

• International Children's Digital Library
• Article on Hans Christian Andersen and his Fairy Tales
• Digital versions of Hans Christian Andersen's story
• Andersen's Fairy Tales
• Of course we had to track him down on one of SC's favorite sites Story Nory
• Great Resources from British Library
• Read Write Think - activities

Hans Christen Andersen stories are great for progymnasmata writing activities - which is the method that we have been implementing for KM and she has been having great success with it. Here is another article on it - here.

UPDATE - the day just got away from and after NUMEROUS phone calls, we didn't get a chance to get as much of this stuff done as we had hoped, but hey there is always next year right!!! While I was on the phone KM did spend a good deal of time on the Andersen's Fairy Tales site and played the Princess Pea Shooter game for a while - I think she liked watching her get struck by lightning the most!

Did you use of any of the resources - let me know if you did and how things turned out!

Prehistoric Study - Final Exam

We went to the Museum of Science in Boston today to do a "final exam" for our prehistoric and evolution unit!

We observed the Tamarins for quite a while and discovered that the female was predominately left handed while her father was right handed! We also learned they really like the light fixtures at the top of the trees for some reason!

We guessed and made faces to match the chimpanzees!

KM was amazed to discover how genetically similar we are to mice!

She did a fantastic job identifying the skulls and remembering facts from the Ape to Man History Channel feature that we watched on Netflix.
She matched all the skulls up correctly in order as well!



Then we sat and watched the chickens for a while - we have never seen one pop out before cause this exhibit is usually swarming and we don't have the patience, but we just happened to pick the right time and there were 4 little ones trying to get out!


We then headed over to the fish tank - again at JUST the right time to have the whole place to ourselves!!! We both made fish, but neither of them lasted for more than a minute before they were gobbled up by the big meanies!

Finally we ended our "final exam" in the dinosaur exhibit where we examined lots of different fossils and played a few more interesting games. We didn't take any pics in this area cause my batteries died and I forgot to recharge the second set ----oopsie!

All and all it was a really good day!
KM said it was the best "test" she has every taken!
Whoever said tests aren't fun -
just needs to meet more homeschoolers!

It was out like a lamb!

Here is the results from our weather watch -

The old saying seems to have held true here in New England!!!

Revamping the blog -

Spring is all about rebirth and renewal and I think that over the last year my blogging has lost it's way a little bit and I am going to get it back on track. I am going to be focusing only on our homeschooling and life as it pertains to learning around here! Of course their maybe some parenting along with it as this is all a part of learning and growing together.

I have been debating starting another blog for all of the other stuff, fitness goals and such, but I am not sure when I will be getting around to that. For now our focus HERE will be on our educational pursuits!

I will be continuing with our crazy holidays as KM really likes them and I have gotten a lot of feedback about how useful they are! If there is anything that you all would like to see here - let me know! I would love the input.

Nearly Done - Prehistoric Study

We have just about finished our prehistoric study...

KM is very proud of the lapbook that we created from various sources...

The bottom pocket holds this Pangaea puzzle which shows how the continents shifted.

This bar graph is on the back.

We have a HUGE map that I printed out from Owl & Mouse -
I love that you can print them in all different sizes, this one is 4x4.
We covered it with clear contact paper so that we can stick things to it
and use dry erase markers on it.

KM researched where the different fossils had been found and then posted them.

We got lots of printables from Learning Pages - their site is mostly designed for Pre-k to 3rd grade but you can tweak a lot of the cut-outs and murals to fit older age groups or to use with multi-age/level kids ~ which is what we did hear.

KM told SC a story as they placed the different species on the different areas of mural.

We will be ending this area next week with a special trip to the Museum of Science to spend the day going through their evolution outline. We are also going to spend a good deal of time that day studying the tamerians! I will let you know how it all works out!

Fitness Friday - UGGGHHHH

Usually I type out my Fitness Friday post on Thursday night, but I was so crazy busy last night and had this awful wave of exhaustion hit me at about 7:30, that I forgot to do it. As it turns out that wave of business and exhaustion all caused me to break my running streak - I totally forgot to even do my body test yesterday! I had this perfectly filled month and now I have to see that one blank spot---staring at me! But I will get past this, I will not let it get me down! I will continue to fill it up for the rest of the month!

I have had a good week other than that little debacle - I have been get a lot more exercise in on and off the wii. Now that the weather is warmer we have been outside a lot. Over the weekend I did a 30 minute workout each day and have continued doing using the handweights and have started to incorporate them into the yoga and strength exercises as well. I am still doing the kids yoga on Mondays and my yoga class on Tuesdays. We went on a Maple Sugaring Field Trip on Wed which had a short little hike attached to it, but the weather got so warm that day that when we got home we didn't want to go inside so we went for a long walk through the conservation bogs in our neighborhood. Thursday we had the little one and she wasn't feel to great, so we had a low key day and I think that is what made my afternoon and evening so hectic.

Anyway I have been breaking a lot of records and will reconvene on my final new records next week as I have a few more days to push them even higher! Hope you all had a great week!!!

Maple Sugaring Field Trip

We went on a fabulous Maple Sugaring Field Trip today with our local homeschooling group!

We learned where witch hazel comes from!

and that the first sign of spring in New England is the Skunk Cabbage ~
which you can make perfume from!!!

The syrup bubbling smelled SOOOOOO good!
They also had llamas and the kids had a great time feeding them!

The weather turned out beautiful and we had our first picnic of the season!!!
It was such a great day and we were all very happy to be able to support such a great local resource!

Acknowledging Changes

As most of you well know by now I am a neurotic planner! I need to know what is going on, where we are going to be, how we are going to get there and every stop we are going to make in between! I have been looking ahead to all the wonderful things we have planned to do and getting lessons plans ready for our spring and summer sessions. As I was doing this I realized that we have been homeschooling for well over a year now and it amazes me how much KM has changed during that time. We were discussing what subjects we were going to be covering and how our schedule was going to be changing the week after next and she is so excited about it! It amazes me that when given the choice in what she wants to learn and how she wants to approach it, how involved and truly engaged she becomes! The spark that I thought was going to be gone forever has been fully reignited!

We have far fewer arguments and they RARELY have anything to do with her lessons ~ they generally involve chores, room cleaning and telephone usage. Our family is a much more cohesive machine that truly works together to make our lives happier. We have time to spend together doing things that we like to do, as well as having time on our own to pursue things individually. We have been so blessed to have such a wonderful homeschooling support network around us and to have made so many extraordinary new friends. I think it is so important to really acknowledge changes in ones life, to reflect upon it and to thank those that have helped you get to where you are!

The three of us truly feel this is the life we were meant to live! To all the people who have given me encouragement, who have advised me and helped me be courageous enough to make this leap and to continue on this journey, I thank you! I thank you more than you can ever imagine! Each and every person who is in my life now is here for a reason and has allowed my family to grow into the stronger unit it is today!

I stumbled upon this again and had to share...

Ostara Blessings to All - updated

Ostara celebrates the Goddess of Renewal. The spring equinox brings renewal in so many forms. It is time to get our houses and yards in order so that we can enjoy the warm weather to come!

• Great introduction to Ostara
• Tackling Spring Cleaning
• eHow has a great list of suggestions
• Family Fun has a ton of spring crafts
• Enchanted learning has some cool activities and worksheets

If you have anymore to share - please do we will be working on spring things all week around here!!!

EVENING UPDATE ~~~~
We had an extremely productive day!!!
I collect all the remaining winter items that were around the house to be stored in the attic

I attacked and conquered our craft and future curriculum closet!!!

Everything is in a box or on a shelf exactly where it is suppose to be!!!

We made a trip to the library and remembered to stop and grab -


but to KM's delight I had forgotten to check them and there was one that was slightly cracked on the top so of course she ...
to experiment with it.

Her favorite part was when she realized that the sack really went all along the shell, but you could seperate it from the shell without breaking it.
She spent a good 35 minutes examining the shell and yolk!

CJ got home just in time to color the eggs with us and we had dinner while they dried.
We each did three eggs and after dinner we went through the Runes book to choose which symbols we wanted to wish for -
We make 2 each to go in our Ostro on the mantel.


and one each for our family basket!


All and all we had a very blessed Ostara!

Fitness Friday Week 8

This week went SUPERBLY!!!

Here is my breakdown -
Fri - about 30 minutes on Wii Fit - started a new routine of yoga and strength doing one row of yoga and the complimenting strength exercises and then rhythmic boxing, hula hoop and step. I also played Wii Sport for almost an hour with CJ later in the evening.
Sat - just aerobics on the Wii Fit and then did the Wii Sport training session.
Sun - full routine on Wii Fit for about 45 minutes including all the balance games, my high scores are TOTALLY IMPROVING!!! Some of them that I thought there was no way I was going to increase have - Yippee for Mii!
Mon - taught Yoga Kids class in the morning and then did about 30 minutes on Wii Fit in the evening.
Tue - was not feeling too hot, so I only did one set of advanced step and a few games to total maybe 15 minutes, but I did push myself - because I had already paid for it - to go to my yoga class. By the time I left there my throat was on fire and my legs felt like they were not going to get me to my bed!
Wed - I was feeling better by the end of the day and I didn't want to break my full calendar goal so after dinner I decided to do my body test, then I did advanced step, beginner rhythmic boxing ~ which with those squats is actually pretty intense for the quads! ~ and then did wii fitness on wii sports and I got my Wii age down to...Thu - busy busy again, but I did manage to get in 25 minutes after the opera and before the homeschooling support group meeting!

To intensify the workout a bit I have been using the 1.5 lbs hand weights every time I do the step aerobics and when I am doing the rhythmic boxing I do a full squat for all the blocks. My weight still goes up and down, up and down all week. I am very consistent about doing my workout within an hour window from the previous day, so that is not a factor. I actually have been getting dinner started and then going to do my workout, by the time I am done, it is usually time for me to finish up the meal or on quick cook nights, I do all the prep, then the workout and then cook. Works really well into my schedule this way cause KM is usually ready for her alone time by then as well!

Hope everyone has a GREAT Spring weekend!!!

Things have gotten in the way...

of everything lately! I am soooo sorry to all my faithful readers who have been popping by and finding that I have really not been posting anything in a while. I know I have had my regular crazy/weird/odd holiday postings and my Fitness Fridays, but I realized that I have not made an actual post in quite sometime! To everyone who has sent well wishes and thoughts for my family I thank you all so much! I have also not popped around to other blogs in quite a while and when I started to do that this afternoon is when I realized I need to sit down and do this! I always feel better when I have - it is my lack of taking time for me that gets me so crazy because I just let everything else get in the way. So I thought I would go through some recent pics and post a quick summary of some of the things we have been doing...

KM went out Jeeping with CJ and I got an entire day at my house with SC all to myself!!! So we baked...

she is very patient and listens so well!
she likes to look through the big book of recipes - I know she can't read, but for some reason she likes to look and look and look!
She even likes to help clean up!!

I love seeing her and KM interact with each other, but I really like having her all to myself sometimes as well!!!

We had a fossil dig when we started our prehistoric study...

It was not your average dig site, but I REALLY DON"T LIKE MUD!!!
and they REALLY got into it!
KM identified all the parts as she found them, what type of foods it would have eaten based on it's teeth...
guessed what it's ancestors may have looked like before the evolutionary stages.
and now has T guarding her "clicky" pencils, that SC seems to be stealing all the time!
SC spent the rest of the morning playing with the peanuts!

In preparation for spring...

We have been decorating!!!

These springs are so festive and easy to make! The kids paint them however they like and then they ~ or you ~ cut a spiral shape in them and ....

waalaa...instant spring!

I am not a huge fan of TONS of TV time, but it would be nice if every once in awhile SC would watch a little PBS or something for a few minutes during the day when we need to get something done. However she never wants to be in a different room either, but I have found the solution...

she LOVES my laptop and the headphones! Here she is watching Elmo, It's Potty Time!
She also really likes these story sites -
Story Place
Looky Book
Might Book
Silly Book
Storyline Online

That is a bit of what has been going on around here! I will be sure to hop around to some blogs and post more consistently again!