Enjoying the Chaos

We have been doing verbal narrations all year, with a few sporadic written ones mixed in. Our latest 'narrations' my kids didn't even realize (I don't think) that they were actually doing school work. On Friday we drove to the airport to pick up Grandpa for a flying visit and of course the kids were arguing trying to decide what music to listen too. Finally they agreed on Lambs Shakespeare (I know makes Mom proud).  We downloaded our copy from librivox.org  you can directly to Lambs Shakespeare  here  Karen Savage does an excellent job. We listened to 'Taming of the Shrew' and 'Twelfth Night' the latter finishing just as we pulled into the airport. On our journey home the kids told Grandpa about the stories they had listened too. Boo narrated 'Taming of the Shrew" and Jam narrated 'Twelfth Night' they did an excellent job and remember a lot of detail and names - I was very impressed! I was a little worried that t...

Well things here are going full speed ahead and that normally means change. The first step is the giving away of our Rabbit's and Chickens. We gave them to a friend who has a little farm  so they will be well taken care of. (Boo's highest priority!) The chickens went with very little effort. It was hilarious seeing Jam still afraid of them after years. He was in AWE with how my friend just reached in and grabbed two chickens, one in each hand without flinching. The following day my friend came back with an army to get our rabbits! We only had three; Mom, Dad, and baby. However my Husband had built the rabbit hutch in our yard and it was HEAVY our gate was also not big enough to take it out easily. SO we had a huge group of people lift it - yes literally lift it over our chain link fence. It was crazy. In the next three pictures you can see how easy  it went. 1. Position it... 2. Lift with out breaking the fence.... 3. Let go without smashing i...

We have recently added a fun activity to our school day. It is commonly known as 'lap-booking' and it has been a HUGE hit. The kids love it. There a places online where you can get a ton of free lap-books  here  is an excellent resource. However one of my favorite sources is  A Journey through learning  this is an excellent source for lap-books. Their Apologia lap-books for the Elementary Series are currently on sale for $8.00! I purchased all of these a couple of weeks ago. We are working through the Land Animals book. Boo has commented a lot that she thinks the lap-books are helping her remember the work. This is a photo of Boo with the lap-book she made about Primates. This came from the Apologia lap-book for Land Animals of Sixth Day.

William Blake Poetry As some of you know we are using  Ambleside  as our main homeschool curriculum. Boo has just finished a semester reading the poems of William Blake which she really enjoyed. A week ago I asked her to think about all the poems she had read and then see if she could choose a favorite. She thought that this would be really hard, and since I also asked her to copy the poem in her narrations book I was also worried she would end up choosing the shortest rather than truly choosing her favorite. Yesterday Boo started quoting her poem, in a singsong fashion and was so excited that she could remember most of it. By the end of the day she had quoted it to everyone who would sit still long enough to listen, including little Jam -- well he didn't sit still but she followed him around saying..."Do you want to listen to my favorite poem". She even walked around the grocery store saying the poem out loud with a HUGE smile on her face.  W...

Our new Sun Room My husband has been working really hard lately to fulfill one of my whims. Just over a month ago I said "Wouldn't it be great to have a sun room or a covered deck?"   Anyway fast forward and a lot of hard work later we are the proud owners of a new addition to our house. OK so here's a quick (looks so much easier in pictures) rundown of what my AMAZING, MARVELOUS, WONDERFUL husband did! That water bottle was refilled A LOT. A very willing helper! He loved any excuse to get on the roof! Look at our new furniture! These boards were all nailed down - he took them up and turned them over then put a clear varnish on them.  This is the new FAVORITE room. Jam's favorite place to do his work. Of course I always knew my husband can do anything he sets his mind too. I can count the times we have called a workman out or paid someone to do something for us on one h...

    My kids love that we can participate in this program as homeschoolers. The sign up day is today. So go to  http://www.bookitprogram.com/Enrollment/intro.asp  as soon as you can as it is done on a first come basis.  The thing I like best about this program is that YOU set the goals. If you have kids that read like crazy (mine do) then you can ask a lot of them to earn their pizza. If your kids struggle or are just starting out (this program is for ages 5-12) then your goal can be smaller! My kids look forward to their pizza every month! That reminds me ... I think it's pizza for lunch we have our last coupons to use from last year.

Kittens We have been on tender hooks the last few weeks waiting for our outside cat 'Black Tiger' to have her first litter of kittens. Last Monday the day arrived and what was excitement soon turned into upset. As the kids ran out to find the kittens they found four lying all over the grass in our garden plot looking lifeless. Boo was completely distract and kept saying 'Why does this have to happen to me!" After some thought I decided to leave the kittens alone as my husband (who is braver than me by far) was out. Later Boo wanted to 'check' on them - as she insisted a miracle could happen. GUESS WHAT - IT DID!! You would not believe how excited she was to come in and tell me that she saw a kitten move! I went out a little (a lot) dubious to check on her findings. She was right all four were showing signs of life - AMAZING We went inside to get some warm bedding etc... When we came back two were gone..... We realized that Black Tig...