Egg Drop

This week I assigned Austin an "Egg Drop" project. The requirements were to use items from around the house, the egg was to survive a one-story drop, and he was to build it on his own. He was given a dozen eggs and two weeks to complete the project. Little did I know that the kid would have it done in just a few short hours. After receiving the assignment, Austin sat down and drew up a plan. The next day, he put it together in an hour. The kid was motivated.

The Plans: (Love the spelling)

From 2012.01.27

The Device:

From 2012.01.27

After surviving a one-story drop off of the deck, we took things to the next level...THE ROOF!!!

From 2012.01.27

The Drop: (Click bottom left icon for video>)

From 2012.01.27

So Proud.

From 2012.01.27

Homeschooling 2011-2012

I've had several questions on what we are doing for homeschooling this year. Don't really have time to go into it all,so hopefully, a picture really is worth a thousand words. :>)

Here we go...



Since August, Austin has read: The Box Car Children, The Secret Garden, The Black Pearl, Island of the Blue Dolphins, Where the Red Fern Grows, Orville and Wilbur Wright, Bud, Not Buddy, The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe, The Wizard of Oz, Sign of the Beaver, Little House in the Woods, Little House on the Prairie, and he is currently working on an abridged version of Treasure Island. I think there are more books, but they are likely still floating around his bed somewhere.

For social interaction...I have a small afterschool care running every day with six children here. He is also in boy scouts.

For P.E. Austin swims on the city swim league 4 days a week. He's getting quite a little bod on him. :>)

For Art, Austin attends a homeschool-group art class every Friday.

For music, we will start learning to play the piano come January, but shhh....don't tell him and spoil the surprise!

Hope everyone enjoys getting this little peek into our schooling world.
Love to all,

Taking Care of My Man

I'm heading off to California today. Not sure how long I'll be gone. Three-four weeks, I suppose. I don't like leaving Doug this long. I'm feeling terribly guilty. I decided to make a whole bunch of yummy pop-it-into-the-oven dinners for him. This way he knows I'm thinking about him and that I love him.


He'll have Riviera Egg Pies, cheesy meatloaves, macaroni casseroles, chicken enchilada casseroles, ground taco meat (seasoned and ready to throw into a shell or on a salad), and a bag full of pumpkin muffins for the mornings. Truth be told, he'll probably just grab something on the way home from work, but at least I've tried.

Tree Huggers

When I call my children monkeys, I'm really not exaggerating much.
When outside, you can find them in the trees.

Fun Little Kitchen Tip

Here's a suggestion for when those pesky onion oils are just
too much to bear.

From 2010.10.06

Faith got a great kick out of this. She ran downstairs, grabbed an extra pair of goggles and the camera. (Notice the angle and blurriness of the picture.)

Camping FUN?

This past weekend, we braved our first camping trip in nearly six years. We paired up with some good friends and headed off for a weekend adventure. I say "adventure" because this wasn't just any ol' camping trip. This was a "birthday party" camping trip. Our campsite was teeming with half-naked wild animals children, none of which could find their shoes. There was a glow-in-the-dark bug hunt, complete with bug catchers and a collection of live daddy-long-legs and stick bugs. The party also include a scavenger hunt! A middle-of-the-night downpour added a soggy element to the experience. We all awoke to wet clothing and squishy pillows. Did the kids care? Nope. This simply added MUD to the fun. Awesome. It continued to rain throughout Saturday. The boys ran the campgrounds like a pack of wild puppies while the adults stood in the rain, drinking and marveling at the child perspective. While the rain added to the childrens' fun, a much needed, command decision to "just enjoy it for what it is and to leave a day early" was made by the adults. This of course, is easier said than done, when you know how much more cleanup is ahead of you now that the rain has saturated your every belonging. (Even my purse got wet. Days later, I handed a damp twenty to a store clerk.) Still, after awhile, our forced grins weren't so very forced. By the end of the day, our spirits were high enough to wonder if maybe sleeping on wet pillows wouldn't be so very bad. We did end up leaving early, but it at least it was on a positive note.

Thursday -Game Day

For the third week in a row, we have implemented "Thursday-Game Day." Basically, once our lessons are done, we all meet at the table and play educational games together. I am on a hunt for FANTASTIC games and am open to any suggestions.

From 2010.09.23

This week we tried a new game called, "Hidden Hints." It's for ages 7+ and I rate it a 4 out of 5. I have two small problems with this game and I've docked a half point each. The first being that the clue cards offer no written phonetic pronunciation of the tested words. Austin was asked to read and comprehend the meaning of words like "picturesque" and "meticulously." He stumbled on the pronunciation and I had to help. Really this isn't a big problem, it's just that it's a bit limiting. Hopefully, he'll remember for the next time. Secondly, I couldn't keep my 4 year-old interested. I know. I know. It's for 7 and up! Still, many games offer some wiggle room in the age category. This one does not. We played this game FIVE times in a row. Austin just loved it. Faith bailed halfway through the second game. I DO like this game and highly recommend it. Just be prepared to be involved!

A big plus. The case is super fun and caught Austin's attention immediately.

From 2010.09.23

Answer three cards correctly and win a "Hidden Hint" towards finding your mystery item.

From 2010.09.23

From 2010.09.23

First person to correctly guess at their mystery item wins.

From 2010.09.23

Reading the card out loud.

From 2010.09.23

Thinking hard.

From 2010.09.23

Hooray! Austin earned all three clues and guessed at his mystery item.

From 2010.09.23