Husband, Dad, Mechanical Engineer, Bass
Player ...
Obsessed with all things Engineering.
AMY
Wife, Homeschool Mom, Webmaster ...
Obsessed with all things Political.
RACHAEL
Daughter, Sister, Sophomore ...
Obsessed with all things Geological.
NICHOLAS
Son, Brother, 8 year old ...
Obsessed with all things Historical.
(especially Egyptian!)
Favorite Books/Curriculum
The Well-Trained Mind Singapore Math Greenleaf Guides Apologia Science AIG Science curriculum Story of the World
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Winter Wonderland
Monday, June 29, 2009
The seal on our freezer is somewhat inadequate. I have to be ever vigilant about making sure it's completely sealed. In the rush to get out of the house on Friday, I guess I didn't check it, because we came home to a Winter Wonderland inside our freezer! I'm hoping that since it was almost sealed that the electric bill won't be astronomical!
Of course, there is a silver lining to all of this. As any homeschool mom knows...if all else fails, turn it into a science project! What better way to study crystalline structure! ;-D
Monday night was our HEARTH Academic Fair. It's a yearly event where the local homeschool community can get together to demonstrate what they've learned throughout the past year. Nick did a display with magnets and Rachael did a display on food contamination. She pulled information from the FDA website which detailed the contamination levels of several common foods. Her board (which I forgot to photograph!) had a graph indicating the average number of insect parts, rodent hairs, and mammalian excrement by weight in different foods. It was rather disgusting!
After schoolwork & before piano lessons on Friday, we met some of our homeschool friends at the park. Rachael brought her new kite for its maiden voyage and took a hike through the woods with her friends. Nick spent his time swinging, playing with the multitude of caterpillars he found crawling around, and finding those elusive THREE-leaf clovers. (He was beside himself with joy that he found a WHOLE PATCH of those rare finds! LOL!) What a beautiful day to spend exploring the Great Outdoors!
It just so happened that my 35th birthday fell on the same weekend as the Cincinnati Homeschool Convention. This has been our co-op's annual "Mom's Weekend" for the past few years. They all took me out to dinner on Friday, which was a GREAT time! I was also able to hear my 3 favorite speakers: Jay Wile, John Stonestreet, & Susan Wise Bauer all in one weekend! I always learn so much and get so much encouragement every year. It's exactly what I need when spring fever hits!
After we finished school yesterday afternoon, we met a group of our homeschool friends for a picnic at McCormick's Creek. The kids ate lunch, played kickball and enjoyed the beautiful day. After lunch, the older kids hiked down to Wolf Cave while the younger ones took a shorter walk through the woods and then played on the playground equipment (photos to follow). We took Alex along. He's never had so much exercise in one day! He went on the long hike and then on several walks around the park. Thomas, Ross, & Gracie came home with us. We also stopped by the vet to get Alex's 3rd set of shots (and got chewed out for having him neutered too early...oops!) After we got home, the older kids worked on a routine that they're creating for our co-op talent show coming up in May. After Jeff got home, we took all of the kids out to the Chinese buffet for supper, then Diana picked them up around 10:00pm. It was a fun, but exhausting day!
These are some photos I took during last week's art co-op. The kids were working on a still life, practicing shading and highlighting. They also worked on blending and painting skies with oil paints.
After the Valentine's Day party, the older kids began their first Art Fundamentals class. If you recall, last year we held Art History classes where we studied Renaissance and Impressionist artists and completed projects based on their lives, art, or techniques. This year, Mrs. Sanders - a local artist & homeschool grandma, returned to teach the fundamentals of art. The first class began with color mixing techniques, filling in a color wheel, and discussing color (ie: primary, complimentary, hues, etc.) While the older children were downstairs learning, the younger kids continued partying in the Family Life Center.
Diana, Darla, & I took the kids to Indianapolis for lunch at the Old Spaghetti Factory, followed by a walk around downtown and a tour of the state capitol. The architecture was beautiful and we were even able to sit in on the House of Representatives in session. We also ran into Diana's uncle, a former state senator and current lobbyist!
Our homeschool co-op had a group ice-skating event today. We ended up having around 25 kids - enough to make it fun, but not too many so that it was crowded. Nick, of course, didn't skate, but there were plenty of other younger kids there, so they enjoyed playing in the lobby area...
We're the only family in our co-op that is not involved in basketball this year. Nick is too young and Rachael has no desire. (Not a bad thing since she inherited my [lack of] grace!) We do, however, go to some of the games to cheer on our friends.
Nick has been sick since Sunday evening, which meant we couldn't go to the Homeschool Bowling Day on Tuesday. Fortunately, Rachael was able to go with friends. I asked her how she did, and she responded, "I don't know, but I had fun!" I guess that's all that matters!
Name: Amy Home: Indiana, United States About Me: I am a Homeschool Mom of 2 awesome children. This is my attempt at Project 365 - to chronicle our world through daily photos... See my complete profile
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