Projects

Today I attempted to add some fun stuff to our homeschool day by allowing/forcing the kids to do a couple of projects.

One was a Mammoth Excavation Kit that I ordered months ago but hadn't found the time to bring out.

Elder son, N., is interested in prehistoric creatures so I thought he'd enjoy a little "hands on" experience. Turns out I seriously overestimated the appeal of excavating pieces of a plastic mammoth out of a block of ice :). Several of us took turns syringing warm water over the block for what seemed like hours before using tweezers to pick out the pieces. Long after our enthusiasm had waned, the mammoth was fully excavated and N. assembled the skeleton.

Our other attempt at hands on today was making butter from heavy cream. Most of you probably did this early in your educational career (more of you than have excavated mammoths, for instance). You pour heavy whipping cream in a jar and shake, long after the novelty of shaking has worn off. You end up with a lovely lump of butter and sore arms :).

I guess it's evident that we're not very project-oriented in our homeschool. My kids seem to prefer getting the required stuff done and using their free time for projects of their own design. While it's nice to change things up every now and then, I'll think we'll stick with what works for us (and causes Mom much less cleanup).

Later Days!
Kelly

All is right with the world....

It's Tuesday and yes, we DID get to go to the library! Life is good :). The kids were thrilled to get new books, the library was thrilled that we had some small fines to pay, and I'm just thrilled to be out of the house!

Once home, I threw together a quick lunch and the crew settled in with plates and books. We may not have the best table manners, but we love to read. I'm so thankful that all four kids love books. It is a wonderful feeling to see them pursuing their personal interests as well as their school topics--truly, if you teach a child to read they can learn anything.

Later Days!
Kelly

Back in the saddle....

We're trying to get back into our homeschool routine after a week of sickness. Sure, we did a few assignments while the kids were not-well-enough to be active but well-enough-to-be-bored BUT that's very different from a full-fledged school day.

In today's photo, you can see K. working on her math worksheet. She's doing some subtracting with borrowing and is using a number line as a visual aid. I simply printed off a number line and put it in a page protector so she can use a dry erase marker, wipe it off, and use it again for the next problem. Ultimately, of course, she won't be using a number line every time she needs to subtract, but using different types of manipulatives when practicing a skill appeals to her visual and tactile sides. Obviously, working with a dry erase marker appeals to M.'s visual and tactile sides, too!

In the background of K. and M.'s math work is a model of Rome. That's not really part of anyone's schoolwork today but M. found our fold-out book of facts and illustrations of Rome and E. set it up on the table for him. The kids have been studying it in a casual manner as they pass by--hmmmm...I might "quiz" them over lunch and see if they're retaining anything. I think frozen pizza and facts about Rome go together nicely, don't you?

Later Days!
Kelly

Keys, please.

So. If you've talked to me at all or read my blog or corresponded with me on Facebook, you know we've been battling sickness for a week and a half at our house. Having been homebound with four sick children during this time, I've developed a wild and dangerous look in my eye (just ask my husband).

Last night, the kids all felt pretty good at the same time for the first time since the plague began. This led us, foolishly as it turns out, to believe it would be a good idea to load everybody up in the MotherShip and go thru a drive-thru somewhere to pick up supper. Well, the first part was easy. We successfully loaded everyone in the van. We quickly discovered that we were locked out of the house with nary a key among the three key-carrying family members. Remember...all four children had been sick for over a week; they now had to sit in the van, in the dark, hungry, waiting (and complaining) while Dad and Mom tried to redeem the evening.

After several attempts at the three different doors and the accessible windows, we determined that we needed to call a locksmith so as not to damage property that doesn't actually belong to us (we rent). Fortuitously, I had my cell phone in my pocket (the only cell phone present among the three cell phone-carrying family members) so we called a friend who looked up locksmiths in the phone book for us. Immediately after placing the second round of calls to friend and locksmith (first locksmith didn't answer so we had to call friend again), my cell phone's battery went dead. Forty-five minutes and $70 dollars later, we were back in the house.

You might think we would be deterred from our original mission. No, we would not be defeated. We gathered ALL house keys and cell phones and successfully did our fast food run.

Many thanks to our friend L. who, though understandably finding our situation humorous, found locksmith numbers for us AND even sent her husband (who had not even been home yet) over to check on us and offer his mad housebreaking skilz (and also to mock us--Thanks R). She knew how absurd the situation was because she, too, has been housebound with her own two sick children for several days; she knew that getting out of the house was a Big Event. Being the good friend she is, she even suggested we two go out for lunch today since our husbands would be home and could handle the kids. Since having a 3 1/2 hour talk (and lunch) today, I think the wild look is finally gone from my eye. Though the waitress now has a wild look since we out-stayed her at the restaurant!

Later Days!
Kelly

P.S. Today, we had two more keys made and safely stowed in case (when) this kind of thing happens again.

From the mouths of babes...

I don't have much to report regarding the plague on my house, but I thought I'd relate something cute M. said tonight. While hubby went to church, the patients...I mean, kids...and I watched "Jon & Kate plus 8." That show certainly puts any struggles I have with four children into proper perspective.

This episode showed their family sitting around a fire bowl in their backyard, making and eating s'mores (which are made of graham crackers, topped with chocolate and toasted marshmallows). M. apparently remembered when we made these, toasting the marshmallows in our fireplace (featured in a previous post). Seeing them being eaten on tv prompted M. to ask for a "firecracker!" Get it...Fire-cracker?

Well, I think it's obvious that I need more sleep :o).

Later Days!
Kelly

And now for something completely different....

Thank you for your patience with my whining over the last couple of days while the family has been sick. Suffice it to say, whining has NOT repelled the germs of doom; rather, it seems to have attracted even more bacteria, a whine-resistant strain, that has invaded the bodies of the previously well.

***That's my way of saying that now I'm not feeling so great, either.***

We're going to try ignoring the sickness, blog-wise, and see if it goes away :).

Therefore, you now see before you a photo of my two boys, ages 12 & 3, equally enamored with a felt board. Little M., being so taken with the felts at the library every Tuesday, got a couple of felt story sets for Christmas (people of the world & dinosaurs). Each set came with a background-board. Today, I taped the two boards together at the top and rigged a piece of cardboard at the bottom to easel-fy it so that it would stand on the table. ***Don't feel inferior if you didn't know the word "easel-fy"--many people don't*** This simple act didn't cost anything, made it easier to play with, and turned it into a "new" toy as far as my kids were concerned. Now, my boys are doing crazy things with dinosaurs and people and I'm getting a little bit of peace== Priceless!

Later Days!
Kelly

More from the sick ward....

We're still muddling through with the little patients at our small teaching hospital :). Extensive use of Lysol and bleach wipes are sure to stop this bug in its tracks, right? Right? Oh, I must not forget the extensive use of Tylenol Cold & Cough, Motrin, Vick's Vaporub, etc. Thus, the above whiteboard with names, meds, and times of dosing on it. Hey, the head nurse gets a bit bleary-eyed in the wee hours and might overdose someone if she doesn't write these things down.

I hope everyone has a terrific Lord's Day today. Be grateful is you are able to attend services--there are many around the world who cannot and wish they could.

Later Days!
Kelly

P.S. We're supposed to get some "Winter Weather" this evening/night! I'd love to see some snow coming down :).