Remember to Vote . . .

Just a reminder of the brave, wonderful, God sent men that gave of their lives, time, and means to give the freedoms to us that we enjoy and sometimes take for granted.

Vote !! Make sure that your opinions and values count.

VOTE!!

Working With Dad . . .

We believe that an essential part of our kids' learning and growing is working with their Dad to learn many different things. They have loved to each take their turn with Dad in the basement, measuring, painting, etc. The older girls also like to be Dad's helper in the garage when he is doing maintenance on the cars.

A couple of weeks ago, we needed to make a bean bag toss game for a festival that our church was doing. We saw one at a museum, in their childrens room, that we really liked so we decided that would be a great family project. After a trip to the local home improvement store to buy all the necessary supplies, we gathered one evening for a little "family project".

Ky and Bugaloo were able to help with the sawing, painting, and assembly. They did a great job in listening to their Dad and he, as always, did an amazing job of patiently explaining each step; the whys, hows, and whats.

He is careful to call all the tools by their proper names and ask the kids in helping with specific tasks.


They all did a great job and everyone enjoyed working together. This will be fun to leave up in our family room for the kids to play with. Great job everyone!!

The finished product . . .

Update . . .

We have had a busy few weeks. Trying to get back to a routine has proven a little difficult. We get a few days into a great routine and then someone gets sick, we have a doctor or dentist appointment, or family comes to visit. While we love all those things, minus the sickness, it is nice when we can have a "normal" day. Here is a bit of what we have been doing and working on.

We finished reading Pinocchio by Carlo Collodi. This is the original story, not the Disney version, and I have to say that I really enjoyed this version more. It took us a while to finish it. I liked to watch the reactions of the kids to the many ups and downs of the story.


Ky, especially, was emotionally charged. She would get so angry every time Pinocchio would choose badly and disappoint those that loved him. Here is what she says about it:

"At the first of the book, I thought Pinocchio was a little stinker. Then
closer to the end of the book he learns to make good choices,
take responsibility, and to obey.I won't tell you the details or else
I would spoil the surprises this book has in store for you.''

Bugaloo's Review:

"Pinocchio is a stinker . He even ran away from his Father. I won't
tell you what happened because it would give it away.You
will love this book because I do. It is a wonderful book.
In the end, it is happy. "

Ky has been reading the Little House series and has really loved it. She is on the fourth book now. Bugaloo read Black Beauty and is now deep into the Narnia series. She is on the third book.

During devotional, we have been reading the Old Testament. We are now deep into Genesis. We have also been learning the names and faces of our church leaders (there are 15). We have been reading from American History Stories and just finished a story about the Battle of Bunker Hill. Next, we will read about and study the Declaration of Independence. We have also started a book called, The Story of Young George Washington. We have loved the few stories we have read in Mathematicians are People Too. It has really opened up the kids' eyes and thinking to math and science and it's origins.

We have spent some time baking, sewing, and playing games and have had a great time being together.

Getting Back . . . To Nature!

Oh Nature! It would seem that with the beautiful weather that we had this summer, that we would have been out ENJOYING nature more. I have no excuse why, it should have been done.


We took an outing the other day to one of our favorite, close nature areas and spent a few hours enjoying everything around us. The path was getting a bit overgrown in places, but we loved that part. We took time for a picnic and had a great lunch.

There were so many wonderful things to see and watch . . .



We had a great time. The weather was perfect, the leaves had begun to change colors in some places, and we could see signs of life all around us. We saw a cute little rabbit. It could have been a cottontail, but it was very small, maybe a pygmy. The kids had a great time and for the first time, they all tried very hard to be very quiet. Especially when we were observing the bird in one of the photos above. It kept flying between trees around us and even the "Littles" were so quiet and wanted to watch it.



So now there is no reason to delay getting back to our Nature Study and Outdoor Hour Challenges. This fall, we are going to try to focus more of Birds. Enjoy!

Constitution Day . . .

Constitution Day? Really? I have never heard of this holiday, have you?


I think the idea behind it is a great one. The Constitution of The United States of America, as well as those of the respective states, is one of the most, if not the most important and significant bits of our past, present, and future.

I decided to do a little research into this little known about holiday and found these sites helpful.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Constitution_Day_%28United_States%29

http://constitutioncenter.org/ncc_progs_constitution_day.aspx

I wonder why there wasn't a significant push to have this day before 2004. I don't think that the population of the United States as a majority knows and understands the importance of the Constitution. I don't think there is enough understanding of it's history and message.

While learning more about this day and also in other studies, I came across an amazing message given at a celebration on this last Constitution Day. The man that gave the address is described as,

"interest in and understanding of the Constitution is the product of a legal
career that spanned more than 50 years. He is a former professor of
law and Utah Supreme Court Justice and widely considered an expert
on the U.S. Constitution. "

I think he gives some great ideas as to how we, as Americans, can better know our Constitution. His thoughts and ideas are easy to understand and a great starting point for anyone with an interest in our country's legal system. Enjoy!

Fundamentals of our Constitutions

First Day of School . . . For Everyone Else!

It was the first day of public school for the kids in our area, so we thought we would take advantage of the empty streets and parks and have at it!

We took a bike ride to a local park for some fun. The kids played like crazy on all of the slides, swings, merry-go-round. It was a welcome break and the weather was perfect for it, not too hot and not too cold.



After an hour or so of them playing and me reading, we set out on a geocache hunt that did not turn out.


Next, I treated them to lunch out and then home to make homemade zucchini M&M cookies, YUM!!!


It was a great day! Enjoy!

The Compass and The Binder. . .

Today is not usually my day for blog updates. As you can tell, I haven't done that in a while, but I thought since I am having a day of this:


(a story for a completely different post , maybe, and that is also an ice pack UNDER my legs as well)

I thought I would get caught up on things.

We took a day, a few weeks ago, to put together our binders. Being A Mother Who Knows does a wonderful job of explaining some of the ideas for this and also gives some other great links to follow. I don't see the need of repeating what someone else has done a wonderful job with already, so go here to see what she has to share.

I sat down with Ky and Bugaloo to explain the theory and use of the binders and also the ideas of the compass. I gave them a basic outline of what the compass would include and asked them to prayerfully consider what they wanted to include. They spent a day thinking over this and the next day, they both presented their compass. They both wanted to type up a copy of their compass for reference in their binders, so they got that done and we put together their binders.

Bugaloo's Compass

I also sat down with Peaches and explained it to her and we put together a compass for her as well. Her compass is almost entirely Core based. I also did my own compass. So, after feeling like we all had a direction, we started our learning a new.

I do encourage anyone, whether they are learning with the TJEd method or not, to think about what you want to do over the next few months, write down your goals, and work toward them. Enjoy!