I'll miss picnik!

I am one of the many people that is very sad to see picnik (one of the easiest to use online photo editing websites) going away this coming April.  It has been one of my photo editing best friends.  If you don't know already, I love editing.  I also love using picnik for a little bit of creating.  I finally created a button!  I don't know why I didn't do it a long time ago.  Here's the new button:


April helped me, and she had some great ideas for it.  I might have to do some more buttons and things before it goes away.  I also made the new header up there in picnik too. 

So, so, sad to see picnik go.  But, so, so glad that I finally made a button!  If you want to know how to make something fun in picnik Joy's Hope has a farewell to picnik tutorial, and that's where I got my inspiration to make my button.

Top 10 reasons we homeschool...

I could make this a very long and inclusive list, AND give tons of explanations, but I just wanted to share some basic reasons why we homeschool.   

10.  It's right for our family

9. I know everything my children are learning

8. We can move at our own pace, and drop anything that's not working.

7. I love being around my kids and sending them away for half the day doesn't work for me.

6. We can take our time in the morning, no running around to worry about.

5. I can discover the world along with my children.

4. It's a lot of fun.

3. We can go where we want, when we want.

2. We can include religion, prayer, and spiritual activities in our day.

1. I love it!

Homeschool favorites: Pinterest

This week's homeschool favorite is pinterest.   I use it almost daily for homeschool ideas. 
 Have you discovered pinterest yet?  It took me a while, but now I'm sold.  We have been able to find some wonderful projects, recipes, and fun activities through pinterest.  Even April has discovered what fun it is.  She has her own board on my pinterest to pin things, and it's full!  I use it to organize a lot of homeschool ideas and recipes mostly.  But, I like to also pin birthday ideas, quotes, home organization tips, and things that just look neat. 

Here is a project that we did this week from pinterest.  We made postcards from recycled cereal boxes, and other various boxes.

First we have "Crunch Berries"...

And chips...

This is the back.  You simply draw lines with a ruler for the address side and a line down the center.  Oh, and round the edges.

She also made one from a lego box...

The ones that weren't cereal boxes didn't cut as easily because they were thicker.  This idea originally came from this blog.

What the kids are reading

These are the current book favorites of the kids right now. 

Update:  I have added favorite quotes from each book since I published this post so that I can participate in book sharing Monday at Canadian Home Learning blog.

Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone (book 1)
by J.K. Rowling 
April has finally decided that she likes Harry Potter.  I think a good homeschool friend who really likes Harry Potter has had a lot to do with it.  In any case she is about halfway through the 1st book, and she is really enjoying it.  For a long time she didn't have any interest in it because she did not understand a lot of what it was about.  Now she seems to be soaking it in.  It has made me almost want to pick up the books and read them again.  I printed some printables up from Activity Village for part of her school work today and she was very excited. 

April's Favorite quote:

"He pushed his trolley around and stared at the barrier.  It looked very solid.

 He started to walk toward it.  People jostled him on their way to platforms nine and ten.  Harry walked more quickly.  He was going to smash right into that barrier and then he'd be in trouble--leaning forward on his cart, he broke into a heavy run--the barrier was coming nearer and nearer--he wouldn't be able to stop--the cart was out of control--he was a foot away--he closed his eyes ready for the crash--

It didn't come...he kept on running...he opened his eyes.

A scarlet steam engine was waiting next to a platform packed with people."

Start saving, Henry!
by Nancy Carlson
Aaron has checked this book out for the 2nd time from the library this week.  He loves it so much that he has it memorized even though he can't read the words by himself.  It has inspired him to start saving.  He is always trying to figure out ways to earn money.  He loves the idea of saving, and I think this book has really helped him understand the concept so well. Oh, and it also introduced him to the concept of allowance, which we haven't ever done, but I've started to assign chores and give a small fee for so many chores done.  What are your thoughts on allowance?

Here's Aaron's favorite quote:

"He was down to five dollars.  'Henry, sometimes saving means not buying something, even if you really want it,' said Dad.


So Henry didn't buy that tube of bubble gum he really wanted."

The Golden Egg Book
by Margaret Wise Brown
I pulled this out just a few weeks ago since Easter is coming up, but it's not really just an Easter book.  It a fun little book with a little bunny and an egg, and I just love the illustrations in it.  Aric has really taken a liking to it.  He wants to read it at least twice in a sitting.  This one makes me excited for Spring.

Aric's favorite quote:

"One day he found an egg...
What  was it?
maybe a little boy,
maybe another bunny,
maybe an elephant,
maybe a mouse."

I am linking this to book sharing Monday:



Desiree