I'm Back!

We are officially back from Disney World. It feels good to be home and now we have a week to prepare our home for Lent. Today is our unpacking, clean-up day. I'll be catching up with the laundry from vacation and once that's done, I'll move on to preparing lessons for tomorrow and next week.

In the mean time...watch out for new Disney pictures!!

Disney World. Here We Go Again!!!

After coming back to blogging, I'll be taking another small break. We have been planning our vacation for a little bit now and things always seem to be last minute with us. Because DH's schedule is a little different, we don't always get the typical summer vacation; and it's not always a Sunday to Sunday thing. We'll be leaving tomorrow and be back next Wednesday.

During my absence, I'll make sure to take lots of pictures and chronicle every step that we take! We'll be making the trip with some good friends of ours, so the drive will be full of fun and laughter. I'm happy that we'll be doing some date nights as well. We've planned a night in Downtown Disney and are looking forward to Cirque du Soleil's La Nouba performance.

In the mean time, I hope that all visitors get to know me by reading past posts. I hope that I can generate some new and fun ideas to other homeschoolers as well.

Have a happy week!!!

Making Nature Crafts.

It's nice to be getting things back to normal around here. My morning sickness has subsided and now I have most of the day free from nausea until it hits me around dinner time. Although I am still getting sick, I'm thankful that I can function all morning and early afternoon without feeling so bad.

Yesterday the kids had their Valentine's Day party at co-op. I was upset that I forgot to take my camera and therefore can't share some of the happy events of the day. Today, however, with the beautiful weather outside. I sent the kids out for a nature scavenger hunt. We saw signs of spring everywhere! I was glad that we have been back to starting school at 8:30am.

After we finished our core lessons this morning, I decided to make the kids some paper cups so that they could collect their scavenger hunt findings. These cups are a neat little thing that I think all moms and dads should know how to do as the kids think they are the coolest thing! You can even use them as drinking cups. Need some instructions? Just follow along.

Drinking Cup/Paper Pockets

Begin with a regular sized piece of paper. I like using cardstock for sturdiness. Fold a corner of the paper over so that it forms a large triangle. You will have a rectangle shape left over on the side.

Cut the piece of rectangle. This will leave you with a large folded triangle.

Fold the right side of the triangle over.

Next, fold the left side of the triangle. The two sides will overlap.

Fold down one side of the top.

Fold down the other side of the top.

Open your cup and fill it with goodies!!

Once I did a paper cup for each of the kids, I gave them a list of things they were to find. Marco read the list to everyone and they headed out to the backyard in search of nature's treasure!

Isabella looking for acorns.

Anthony examining some wood chips from a cut-down walnut tree.

A small glimpse that spring is on it's way!

After our little hunt and running around outside, the kids brought their items inside. The paper cups were perfect for holding the small things we found outside. Not wanting to just talk about what we found, we decided to make a picture frame using the found items. Here are the results!

The kids decided to frame their favorite Valentine cards. It was a fun craft and I had fun taking pictures (as is obvious from this picture filled post!!).

Co-op Field Trip.

Today we went on a field trip with our co-op to the grocery store, Lowes. The kids really enjoyed it, although I wasn't exactly too happy with the presenter. The field trip consisted of a tour through the grocery store with stops in all the different departments. It was nutrition related, so the kids got to look at healthy food choices and even sample several food items.

We did have a pretty good size group, since all the co-op members attended. It's always so amazing for me to see a homeschool group gather with all their children. I am in constant amazement at how well behaved our group was and how all the children are able to interact with all age groups (from babies to adults!) without any problems. It makes me thankful that I do not have to send the kids to school!

Although I thought the presenter for the field trip could have been a little more entertaining, I'm glad that the kids still had a good time. At the end of their tour, they received a goody bag that included some healthy choices reading materials and a grocers hat. My kids spent the afternoon playing grocery store and enjoyed watching them!

Isabella take a listening break, while Anthony hold Melissa's hand. Melissa is our babysitter that I love and I take her with me whenever I need an extra hand!

Some of the co-op kids moving on to the next part of the tour.

The children all got to pet a lobster while on the tour.

Update on our Fun School.

It has been fun to see the kids looking forward to fun school again. The NWF Green Hour activity was a perfect way to get them out of the house with a purpose. It had been chilly outside, but as long as they are dressed for the weather, I don't think they care if it's cold, raining, hot, or windy!

As always, I love when my kids come together and help each other out without being asked. This is a great way for them to build unity among themselves and work as a family team. It also makes me think, "My kids are awesome!"

Painting is always a favorite activity around here, so the NWF activity was a perfect way to lift their spirits and make them get away from the usual core subject lessons. Since the completion of their project, the kids have made a point of prominently displaying their rock garden in the school room. They are very proud of their work! My next step? Secretly move their rock box to a less disturbing location!

Anthony loves green!

Marco concentrating on his rock design.

Isabella is always drawing happy faces.

Brothers working together on their rock box!

Isabella getting creative.

Finished products!

Bringing Back the Fun.

Today I decided to bring back our "fun school." Since I've been feeling horrible for the past few months, I've kept all school lessons to just the basics. No crafting, no painting, no nature walks. Just reading, writing, math, and some religion. But looking at my kids' faces when I pull out the books is getting pretty depressing and I have realized that I am taking the fun out of school.

Co-op has been our sanity saver lately. It is educational, yet the kids are constantly looking forward to it. They do science experiments, art & crafts, along with learning Latin and doing lapbooks for their continent studies. The day after co-op always starts a new countdown..."6 more days until co-op!" Yea...it's pretty sad that it's come down to that, when it used to be that I would have something fun for the kids to do every day.

My plans for today include doing the NWF Green Hour activity. This will include sending the kids outside to look for some nice rocks and then bringing them back in so that the rocks can be painted. To keep our rocks from ending up all over the house, we'll also be making a rock garden for them out of a shoebox.

After the rock expedition, and when most of our regular school work is done, I'm going to have the kids make some jelly candles. This was our project for Catholic arts & crafts at co-op. Marco got to make a candle and I think the activity is easy enough for the younger kids to do. This will also be something we can add to our prayer time.

Even though I still feel nauseous and out of energy, I don't want to rob my kids of having a good time while they are learning at home.

Preparing for Lent.

I have been thinking a lot about Lent lately and how it seems to sneak up on me year after year. Today I decided to prepare for it a little in advance. Today I ordered some books to help me with presenting Lent to the children. I'm thinking of making a Lent lapbook; working on small activities every day. I think this will help the children not only learn about Lent, but how it's such an important part of our Catholic heritage.

Here are the books I'm hoping that will help me prepare and guide me through the Lent season.

I really feel like I am lacking in Lent and Easter materials overall. The good thing is that my church is awesome and they have a nice little library with lots of resources that families are free to check out!

I'm hoping that between these books, the books from church, and maybe some videos thrown in there...I'll be fully prepared to present Lent to the whole family!