Enjoying the Chaos

We went for another check up for Little J's eyes. Unfortunately there wasn't much improvement this time. We have to start patching his eyes Mon - Friday for a minimum of two hours a day. He is being a a real trooper about it (with a little bribery) every Wednesday if he wears his patch with no arguments for the week then I take him to choose a treat. This week he chose a $1.00 pair of binoculars from the dollar store! We also have to continue our eye therapy exercises.    Here is a picture of him completing a sheet where he has to match up the upper case and lower case letters. He loves using his dry erase markers.

Boo's birthday is today and we started a new tradition of  NO-SCHOOL on birthdays. They are so excited . Anyway I decided to let kids have the rest of the week off for Thanksgiving. However I was trying to think of some things we could still learn and do. Then I checked my emails this morning and I found a blog post from one of my FAVORITE blogs. Teach Beside Me She has a post you can read  here  with some excellent Thanksgiving resources that I am planning to use this week. Here are pictures of a previous trip we had to Plymouth quite a few years ago. This is Jam and Boo on board the replica of the Mayflower. Of course on our trip to Plymouth we had to play by the beach. The kids loved the sand dunes.

Today is Boo's 10th Birthday. I can hardly believe it. She commented last night that she thought it was fun that the year she made double digits (10) her Great Nana B made triple digits (YEP 100)!! I have to add a cute picture of her on her first birthday... She is still just as cute today. However she probably wouldn't like to pose around wooden numbers anymore. This is Boo showing us a bird feeder she made just a few days ago. She is quite the little lady if I do say so myself (of course I am VERY biased)

I have just spent the last couple of evenings reading The Old Schoolhouse Magazine - November Issue . The The Old Schoolhouse Magazine is a free monthly publication written for Homeschool families. I feel I am a novice when it comes to homeschooling. Jam had finished fourth grade and Boo second before we made the jump. So after only one and a half years I still love to glean information from others I consider 'experts' in my chosen field - to be a homeschooling parent. When I clicked on the link for the magazine I was impressed to see a menu bar down the left hand side of my screen. It was an easy way to skim the titles of the articles and find those that caught my attention from the front cover. There are so many excellent articles in the November issue that I can't comment on them all. However I will mention those that I found the most relevant to me. Lately we have been working on adding more poetry to our day. Jam and Boo are both reading works of assigne...

When I look out of my window today it makes me remember all of the Guy Fawkes night I spent in England. It's grey, rainy, and cold.   So while I am remembering all of those November's where I stood around a bonfire, straining to see the fireworks in the misty darkness here's a poem to help me...  Remember, remember the Fifth of November, the Gunpowder Treason and Plot, I see no reason why Gunpowder Treason should ever be forgot. Guy Fawkes, t’was his intent to blow up King and Parliament. Three score barrels were laid below to prove old England’s overthrow; By God’s mercy he was catch’d with a dark lantern and lighted match. Holloa boys, holloa boys, let the bells ring. Holloa boys, holloa boys, God save the King! Hip hip hoorah! I am very proud to say that Jam and Boo recognized the story from our readings of 'Our Island Story'.  We watched a very cool video about Guy Fawkes  here  it is an eight part series but very worth watchin...