I am thankful for the beach themed activity that we had for the ladies group at church this week, and that I was asked to do the "beach walk." I am thankful for the oceans and beaches in the world and the peace they bring to us when we are there. I can almost hear the waves in this picture. What are you thankful for today?
Life this week...
I hurt myself trying to get LEGO pieces off of a mosaic that I started but decided to abandon because I didn't like it. So, I put on some gloves. It was amazing how quickly I was able to get the pieces off once I had those on! Too bad I wasted so much time struggling (and I cut my finger) before I finally tried it! I might have actually got a mosaic done tonight if it weren't for the struggle. Isn't that the story of life? Stop struggling and put the gloves on!
Homeschool this week...
Aric pulled out his Mand Labs Electrical kit one day for science and worked on this board. I don't really understand what's going on here, but he explained it all showing me how he puts the wires in different holes to make the LED light up. I love it when my kiddos do that. I love to see them get excited about the things they are learning.
I also started a new Tuttle Twins book with Alex. Messed up Market. These are great books.
Mom-school this week...
I have been really feeling the need to get creative this week, but haven't had time. That means that I'm definitely not doing enough of my own personal learning and growth for myself. I think I will make it a point to get to that next week.
Places we're going and people we're seeing...
Alex and I went to the Tulip Festival that a local farm holds every year. It's been a few years since we've been, and it didn't disappoint, as usual. I will probably make a full blog post about this.
Alex and Aric spent the night in a yurt for a friend's birthday party. I think they had a good time, and when I came to pick them up they were at the range doing axe throwing and archery so I got to watch them for a bit.
Something I accomplished...
I worked on putting all of my dots for mosaics in a different kind of storage/organization bin. These will be nice that the individual compartments come out for easy access.
What we're reading...
We started The Princess and the Goblin this week for our read-aloud. We'll see how this book goes.
Outdoor time...
We reached our 100 hours outside mark! I am excited we got to do a fire pit night this week.
LEGO...
I enjoyed making these cute little figures from this pastel fun classic LEGO set.
I'm grateful for...
The forecast for next week, warmer days! Woohoo!
We went with friends to Enchanted Forest over spring break a few weeks ago.
Life this week...
The Camellia flower was a cool part of our week. We were learning about them as the Alabama state flower, then one came home with us from Costco, and to top off the week we went to a Camellia festival about 25 minutes away on Saturday. At the festival we watched some Asian/Japanese culture drumming (because that's where the Camellia originated) and saw so many varieties of Camellias. Such a beautiful flower!
Homeschool this week...
We're dabbling in Story of the World again. Volume 4 this time. This week we read about Britain's Empire and the Crystal Palace made for the Great Exhibition of 1851. Such an interesting chapter. I really like reading aloud to the kids from these books for history.
Mom-school this week...
I started Mission Driven Mom Academy and continued working through it this week. I am really enjoying reading and listening to all of it. I am learning a lot about living a principle based life. It's an eye-opener. Sometimes I color while I listen to the recordings. I also take notes--there are so many interesting quotes and things I want to remember!
Helpful homeschool tips and advice to share...
Find learning opportunities wherever you can! I really liked a blog post from The Wadlock Way about learning in many different situations. We have learned at amusement parks, and even while playing video games. I believe all learning situations only add value to our knowledge and make it so much richer.
Places we're going and people we're seeing...
We saw The new Super Mario movie last Saturday with some friends. It is an awesome movie! Highly recommend! Alex even went to see it a 2nd time with a friend again today.
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| We love to see movies at the Canby theater. I've never been in a crowded theater there, and it's definitely a cheaper one. |
What we're reading...
We finally finished The Phantom Tollbooth this week. Excellent book, and very fun to read aloud. We also read a picture book about Queen Victoria's Bathing machine as suggested reading to go along with our Story of the World chapter.
Movies/TV we watched...
We watched A Man Called Otto. Oh my! That was way more than I thought it would be for a Friday night flick! It was good, but it was a hard movie to watch. You'll definitely need the tissues!
Outdoor time...
We are so close to 100 hours! 96 hours as of Sunday night. I wish we were farther, but it's better than where we were last year. We went on zero hikes last week due to needing to get some work done for end of the term samples needing to be turned in. Hoping we'll get outside more next week.
Games we played...
I think we played a few rounds of Uno, but that was it. We need to get back to the games.
LEGO...
Some Easter fun. Aric got the Groot in his Easter loot and built it by Sunday evening. I built the Easter bunny in the basket just a few days before Easter, so this was our Easter display I guess.
I'm grateful for...
People who organize great field trips and learning opportunities for the various homeschool groups I am a part of.
Today I am thankful for learning and knowledge. The learning that happens in my home. The learning that happens outside in the world. The choice that we can make to keep learning beyond our school years. The learning that can happen in the simplest of settings. I'm thankful for learning.
Life this week...
It was spring break week for the schools in our area, so we ended up doing some things with friends which means we had a little bit of a break this week too. I wasn't planning to take a break since we need to catch up on some things, but I didn't want to miss opportunities to get out and do some things. We ended up going to Enchanted Forest, 2 hikes, and a ventriloquist show. All of our other usual activities and classes were off this week, like all music lessons and chess club. It was a nice week off and I'm definitely excited for some nicer weather, but I am ready to get back into our stuff next week.
Homeschool this week...
We worked through some math, and did a lot of PE! That's about it for the week.
Mom-school this week...
Not much accomplished here either. Just some reading.
Helpful homeschool tips and advice to share...
Find some inspiring podcasts to listen to. Especially geared toward homeschooling if that's where you need the inspiration. I have been finding the 1000 hours outside podcast so inspiring for getting outdoors, but also for parenting and raising kids in general.
Places we're going and people we're seeing...
One of our hikes was at a place by the river where Alex likes to stack rocks. We've been there before, so this was his 2nd time stacking here. He said it was relaxing. It also gave him something to do while we were outside. Such an awesome activity!
I gave him the challenge while we were on our walk to make some art in nature. This is definitely art!
This particular walk/park is right on the edge of the Willamette River. I was thankful it was dry for the time being.
Some flowers are finally starting to bloom after our long winter.
Afterwards some of our group went over to the food trucks about 5 minutes away for lunch. Alex loved this experience, and these tacos.
A few of our favorite things this week...
Going to Enchanted Forest, going dancing for the first time in a very long time (just me and hubby), and building a new LEGO set (mom).
Something I accomplished...
I made this cute little LEGO Happy Easter sign and I'm actually loving how it turned out.
Movies/TV we watched...
I watched Where the Crawdads Sing because Michele recommended I do so. It was good but very sad and definitely one you need to be emotionally prepared for.
Outdoor time...
We are at about 80 outdoor hours out of our 1000 hours outside challenge.
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| South Falls at Silver Falls State Park where we hiked on Monday. |
Games we played...
We played Cat-opoly, and one round of Skyjo which the oldest boy joined us for and he learned how to play the game!
LEGO...
Aside from the sign I already mentioned I made this Up house set. It was so fun to build. I'm kinda sad it's done, but it looks awesome.
I'm cooking/eating...
Actually, this week it's what is Aric cooking/eating? He has been wanting to try his hand at fried chicken, and we finally got around to making it this week. He wanted to do a copycat of KFC chicken, so he found a recipe that he wanted to try.
It didn't come out quite as good as KFC. We might have to try a different recipe or tweak some things. But, overall it was still a yummy lunch. We also made shells and cheese, and biscuits to go with the chicken.
I'm grateful for...
A lot of LEGO building time this week while watching General Conference over the weekend.
We finally have our Christmas tree up! It's super late this year, but I'm thankful that it's finally here.
