Dr. Seuss Party 2016

I realize Dr. Seuss's birthday, and our party celebrating him, was back in March.  But we're playing a quick game of  "catch-up-the-blog." This was the third Dr. Seuss party we've had over the years. I had the first one when Briana and Destry were little, then another one three years ago when Easton and Kiana were 5 and 6. When another homeschooling mom mentioned that she would like to do one but didn't have the house for it, I decided to do it again. Easton, Kiana, and Tyrell were 9, 8, and 5. The perfect ages.

Tabitha, Carrie, and Tami brought their kids over along with fun ideas and snacks. Sara's children, unfortunately, got sick so they weren't able to come.

We made books of their footprints, 

fish crafts (with glitter! My kids NEVER get to do that!),

read books, played games,

And ate a themed lunch: pizza pockets, fish sticks, green deviled eggs, ham, goldfish crackers, and fish swimming in hello water.

 It was lots of fun once again. I'm so thankful for friends who pitch in to make fun memories like these.

Savor: February

February was a great month to practice "my one word": SAVOR.

I think Destry is beginning to realize he won't be living here much longer, and he is being more deliberate in spending time with his younger siblings.  I treasure the moments I see him spending purposeful time with them reading books. . .

or playing card games.

My children can be the best of friends, but they can also push one another's buttons without mercy.  I savor the times I see sibling love:

Big sissy Kiana chose the girls' outfits for the day. . .

 Easton and Tyrell played happily with airplanes. . .

Easton, Kiana, and Tyell played "picnic".

A stomach virus hit our family in February, and while I can't say I appreciated it, it did remind me to appreciate our general health.  I also just had to grin that even when Mom is sick on the couch, she is still the best place for a sick boy to lie, and the preferred place for a wiggly almost-two-year-old to perch.

I am delighting in this man and in our marriage.  We got to go on the Love Like You Mean It cruise again in February (maybe I will get around to posting about it someday. . .) and my very favorite part of it was the relaxed time spent with him.

We also got to enjoy time on the cruise with these dear friends--John and Wendy and Troy and Caren.  Friendship is ever so precious to me!

I love to dwell on the relationship my two big kids have.  While Briana was visiting one day, she regaled Destry with stories from her two jobs and I sat watching them, dwelling on their laughter and joy.

 As residents of Iowa in the year of a presidential election, we enjoyed getting to caucus for the first time.

This son of mine is so weird and crazy and fun and loving. . .I'm savoring these moments of spontaneous, neck-choking hugs before he goes off into this big, wide world.

And this spunky, ornery, delightful not-such-a-baby-anymore. . .

And finally, I "tasted and enjoyed completely" an evening at Johnny's Steakhouse to celebrate the 20th birthday of my daughter in the wonderful company of my mom, sister, sister-in-law, and daughter.

The word savor is just perfect for this year!

Flying Along

I love seeing my children get to do something they genuinely love to do.  Easton has harbored a love for airplanes for a few years now.  He has talked about being a pilot, or maybe an airplane mechanic.  He's young, just 9 years old, so it's hard to tell what he'll choose an an occupation down the road.

But a friend of ours took Easton up in his plane recently and Easton has "got the bug!"

Yes, Jason even let Easton take the controls for a couple minutes!  Talk about making a little boy's dream come true!

They even had fun finding our place from the air.  That little homestead there closest to the airplane wing is our home.  You've gotta love seeing Iowa cropground from the air.

Easton is part of a team that is preparing to compete in a Lego Robotics competition in just a couple weeks.  I would guess that league and this special trip into the sky are the highlights of his school year so far.

A New School Year

It's that time of year again, time for school to begin.  This year Briana is a nursing student, Destry is a senior, Easton is in third grade, Kiana is in second, Tyrell is in kindergarten, and Aryana is "into everything".

I knew it was going to be a busy (read:  challenging) year, so I've been doing all I could think of to get ready and set us up for a successful year.  In addition to lesson planning, I made schedules for everyone and hung them on the wall, created a list of quick and easy lunch ideas, and even cooked up some hamburger, pork roast, and chicken breasts ahead of time.

Most importantly, I stocked up on Pepsi! ha!  Really, cubes were on an amazing sale (how timely, don't you think?).

I have some incredibly cute students this year, if I do say so myself.  One of the many reasons I enjoy homeschooling is because of the relationships it fosters.  My children get to learn how to work things out with one another and really are best friends (and some days, best enemies, but we won't get into that right now).

Easton has been very excited to study Spanish and he is catching on very well.  I finally invested in Rosetta Stone for him and for Destry to get his second year's credit.  Easton loves computers, so I'm not always sure if he loves Spanish itself, or the opportunity to work on the computer--and to wear the cool headphones!

Tyrell is loving learning how to read and melted my heart on our second day of school as he exuberantly cried "Mama, I LIKE learning!" at the conclusion of our day's reading lesson.  Oh how I hope I can nurture that love for learning throughout his childhood!

Briana, with her servant's heart and love for science, has discovered her niche in the nursing field.  She has completed her first CNA class (she plans to take the advanced course next month) and loved every minute of it.  I giggled at her final score of 99% as I remembered her disappointment the day she missed two questions on a test.

Destry has a full but interesting year planned with classes like anatomy and physiology, psychology, pre-calculus and of course the ubiquitous literature and music.  He has been invited as a guest speaker  in October for the 100th anniversary celebration at a congregation we used to meet with in Missouri, so he also has that to prepare.

Aryana is just as cute as she can be in her piggy tails these days, even as she is a force to be reckoned with.  Above she's pictured on our first day of school with the bag of brand new pencils.  She had a grand ole time using her teeth to pull the eraser out of every pencil and spit them on the floor.

Please excuse the screenshot above, but a friend texted me this picture of Easton with his friend at their Lego Robotics meeting and I didn't know how to remove the trappings of the screenshot.  (Hey, I only recently learned how to TAKE a screenshot--and I was QUITE pleased that I figured out how to cover my name and phone number.  Technology is not my gift!)  I'm still not 100% sure what this Lego Robotics thing is all about--Alan is taking him--but I do know that Easton is loving it.  Something about building robots with Legos, computer programming, and problem solving--right up his alley.

Kiana is SUPER excited for her homeschool tumbling class to start next Thursday.  Until then, we continue working on our other subjects.  I must insert here that I am happy that the Dianne Craft sightword cards are helping her with her reading.  I will never cease being amazed at the ways our brains work.  She is a right-brain learner and thus can "take a picture" of the card and store it in her brain.  I tried this for myself, but I see nothing.  Absolutely nothing.  It's not the way I learn, but I am grateful for others who have figured out ways to accommodate different learning styles to pave this path before us.

We now have eight days of school under our belts.  Six of them have gone well/as I planned.  The other two were pretty rough (and necessitated some editing of the schedules and perhaps a mama-retreat to the bathroom for prayer and a few tears).  But overall, we're off to a good start.  Full speed learning ahead!

Exploring Sensory Bins

I've been trying a new idea this summer in preparation for our upcoming school year.  I've been reading about sensory bins and how they are good for fine motor development, language development, open-ended play, and stimulating the senses.  I have some kinesthetic learners around here who have lots of energy and learn best when all their senses are engaged and their hands are busy.  I also have some younger kiddos who need some entertainment or breaks from bookwork-style learning.

So this summer I've been collecting a few items to make sensory bins and have allowed the children a couple of sneak peeks at what's in store.

The boys especially loved the construction set.  I used some rocks, some colored glass marbles (like you would put in a fish bowl), some small construction equipment, and a cheapo (from the Dollar Tree) travel Jenga game (to use as pieces of wood).

They loved it.  They arranged the marbles into a pool one time, pushed the rocks around with the equipment, dumped rocks from the dump truck, built towers and buildings with the pieces of wood, and just generally had a good time.

I let them play with it once together, and another time they each got a 30-minute block of time to play in it alone.  As you can see, they thoroughly enjoyed it.  They beg to play with it again, but I told them it's for school time and they have to wait.

Another bin I put together and let them have a trial run with I call a "spring bin".  This bin has grass-like stuff in it, flower pots, small toy birds, butterflies, snakes, and insects, silk flowers, rocks, sticks, pieces of bark, etc.

I spread a shower curtain on the floor, set the bin in the middle of the shower curtain, and they let their imaginations flow.  You can see here that Tyrell "planted" flowers, and Easton made a bird nest.

I let them try out a water bin filled with fish, frozen ice balls, scratchy loofas, cups, funnels, etc also, but I guess I didn't get any pictures from that one.  I've seen so many ideas out there, even down to making a sensory bin to reinforce a unit study, book, holiday, colors. . .I think we're limited only by our imaginations!  (and time, and money, and energy. . .)

I'm looking forward to implementing this idea in our school year.  I think it will help keep little hands busy while I'm working one on one with one of the children on phonics or math, or it will serve as a reward for industrious work, or it will confine play (and mess) to a small area if needed.

As a sidenote, I thought it interesting that country schools apparently used this idea as well.  I recently read Little Heathens:  Hard Times and High Spirits on an Iowa Farm During the Great Depression.  (review to come)  Imagine my surprise as I read her description of their classroom:  "Across from the bench, on the opposite side of the door, was--wonder of wonders--a shallow, strudy box on wooden legs, about five feet long, three feet wide, and eight inches deep, filled with clean, fine sand.  When you had successfully finished your spelling and your arithmetic lessons you were rewarded with some stand-up time to play in the sand.  How good could life get?" (170).

Hopefully my children will be as excited as this little girl was.

Fun Interviews

I participated in this little Facebook meme and the kids' answers were so fun, I want to save them.  It's really tempting to insert commentary, but I'm going to refrain.

Directions:
WITHOUT ANY prompting, ask your child and write down EXACTLY what they say. It is a great way to find out what they really think.

Easton--9, Kiana--7, Tyrell--4

1. What is something mom always says to you? E--Stop yelling, K--Do your school, T--Give me a hug

2. What makes mom happy? T--bring you flowers and kisses, E--get you a Pepsi, K--pop some popcorn for you
3. What makes mom sad? K--if I would die, E--when your leg hurts, T--If I did a bad thing
4. How does your mom make you laugh? (In unison--ha, ha, ha)--BY TICKLING
5. What was your mom like as a child? E--naughty, K--kind of good, T--I think you were good
6. How old is your mom? T--41 (wow, they all knew how old I am!)
7. How tall is your mom? T--about 15 feet, K--I think you're short, E--I think you're like 4 feet 11
8. What is her favorite thing to do? E--tickle or eat ice cream, K--cook, T--probably. . .go to the zoo
9. What does your mom do when you're not around? E--do fun stuff, K--buy us presents, T--lay on the couch and go to sleep or type on the computer
10. If your mom becomes famous, what will it be for? K--A ROCK STAR!!, E--your cooking, T--dancing at a party
11. What is your mom really good at? K--cooking!, T--typing and making supper, E--reading
12. What is your mom not very good at? K--making pancakes, E--running, T--doing cartwheels and headstands
13. What does your mom do for a job? E--school, and take care of us and cook some stuff, T--you just sit around and do nothing, K--watch over us
14.What is your mom's favorite food? E--ice cream, T--mushrooms and canadian bacon pizza, K--crab rangoon
15.What makes you proud of your mom? E--her cooking, K--by you loving us, T--when you hug us and kiss us
16. If your mom were a character, who would she be? K--Elsa, E--the Grinch, T--Little Red Riding Hood
17. What do you and your mom do together? K--cook, E--fun crafts, T--hug each other, give bear hugs, read books
18. How are you and your mom the same? E--we both like reading, K--we both like ice cream, T--we both have brown eyes
19. How are you and your mom different? K--my skin is sandy beach and yours is white, E--I like pickles and you don't, T--my skin is brown and yours is white
20. How do you know your mom loves you? K--because she tells me!, E--because you buys us ice cream, T--because she knows my heart
21. What does your mom like most about your dad? E--because he's handsome, K-because he gives you kisses (which is Guh-ROSS!), T--he hugs you and kisses you and takes care of you
22. Where is your mom's favorite place to go? E--Cardinal Corner, T--New York to see Misti, K--to your mom's house
23. How old was your Mom when you were born? T--1, K--40, E--33

Learning Cooperative Wrap Up

We continued to have lots of fun with our learning cooperative these last few months, but I am also rather glad to be done for the year.  The kids loved it so much, they are sad it's over, and I'm glad they all loved it.  But we moms are glad to have a break from preparing all the fun activities.

Above the younger kids learned about germs in their science class.  One of their activities included designing their own germs.  They frequently ask to take a "silly picture" after the serious one.

In their colonial American history they learned how to make silhouettes as well dye shirts with onion skins, make homemade cough syrup (honey and lemon), and they got to try steamed clams and then make floating lamps with the shells.

After teaching art appreciation to the younger class the first semester, I taught the older kids second semester.  Above are their interpretations of Starry Night as we studied VanGogh.

They learned about various bridge designs in another science class and got to design their own bridges using toothpicks and marshmallows.

 A few of the older kids painting in the style of Monet.

We cancelled coop one Tuesday in order to take a field trip day.  Destry's youth symphony was performing alongside the Des Moines Symphony and we were able to get tickets for their school performance.  It was a really neat experience for everyone.

Then we went to a park to eat our picnic lunches together and play for an hour.  I was glad we got a group shot of the kids, and then another of all the teachers.  I am SO BLESSED to have these women for my dear friends and to work alongside me in providing opportunities for our children.

Amy, Cheryl, Alana, Caren, Neisha, Mindy, and me

 After our lunch and playtime, we took a field trip to Krispy Kreme donuts!  The kids got to go in the back and see how all the machines work and watch the process of them being mixed, cooked, and frosted.  Then they got to decorate their own donuts.

 What a fun day with fun friends--and donuts just make it even better.

For next year we are thinking to add a preschool class, so at our last meeting, we had some special activities for the three preschoolers (younger siblings).  Tyrell loved this special time.

We combined the art classes as one family was sick, so I taught the students about Paul Klee and they got to experiment with abstract art and "drawing as a line going for a walk".  Some of the kids did a really great job with the abstract lines, the color blocks, color palettes, symbols, and geometric shapes.

 Others were so grounded in reality that they made realistic scenes like houses, baseball players, and rabbits.

Overall, however, they all learned something and had a great time painting on a real canvas.  I was very happy with how it went combining both age groups.

We have a pretty great group of kids and I'm very grateful for the things my kids have been able to experience through this cooperative learning class.