Just Life

I'm so very blessed.  I need to remember this when I'm frustrated at all that I "have to do".  Amidst the clutter and chaos, I am blessed. 

A list of some of my blessings.

Lots of noise - it comes from active and happy children.

Messes - children that are busy, creative and curious about life around them.

Clutter - we have abundantly more than we need compared to most of the world.

Interuptions - God's appointments for me.  Opportunities.

We are also blessed with good health.  I'll never view that one the same again after Eliana's rough first year.  Freedom.  I'm thankful to live in a time and country where we can worship and school as we think is best.  Family and friends.  Mostly, I'm thankful for a Saviour.  His abundant love and grace are just priceless.

God give me your eyes to see things in my day to day life. 

Here are a few recent pictures to share.  Eliana playing dress-up with Rebecca.  They both have fun with this and whenever Eliana has been dressed up, she tells Rebecca that she wants to show me.  lol  They are too funny!  Isn't she just a doll?!!!  (I know, I'm biased!)

Laughter.  It does my heart so much good.  I enjoy hearing my children playing and laughing together.  (And no, they aren't like this all the time.  They argue and bicker too much for my likes - though any would be too much for me.)  Eliana is often in the midst of the laughing.  She has a great sense of humor. 

This picture is a little odd because one of my boys had turned it to night vision.  I wanted to snap the picture before I missed it and this is what I go.

We learned about grain today to go along with Climbing Kansas Mountains.  Isaiah thought it was quite funny that there was "germs" in grain.  We ground grain and then made bread.  The boys helped me to make 8 beautiful loaves of braided herb bread.  It's so yummy.  I was planning to take a picture of the finished product.  As i was waiting for it to rise, I noticed something on the counter.  An ingredient that had been left out.  *sigh*  It was the yeast.  So, the bread was a little ... dense.  It didn't stop us from eating 3+ loaves of it though. 

Hope your day is filled with blessing both small and large.  God give us eyes to see the blessings all around us. 

Blessings
Leslie

Cinco de Mayo Center

On a whim I decided to do a little bit of fun with Cinco de Mayo.  I was inspired by this website.  I set things up the night before and just decided we would do what we could with it by putting some activities in a center.

Some of the things we did today was locate Mexico on a map. 

We talked about the Mexican flag and the meaning behind the symbols and colors using information from here.  Then the children made flags using torn construction paper.  One of my boys was insistant that he couldn't tear the paper and went to get scissors (and it wasn't the child with sensory issues!).  He did manage to tear some though after some coaxing.  I thought they turned out nicely.

We talked a little about the history of the holiday.  I read some information, but would like to do a better job sharing this information.  Here is a link some of the history.

We also did an art project using "Mexican jumping beans".  We taped paper into the bottom of a box.  We then dipped beans into thinned paint and dropped them on the paper.  You then shake the box for 30 seconds or until you tire of it and you end up with an original and lovely picture.

Our little cutie pie just hanging out. 

For dinner we of course had some mexican food.  We enjoyed a Cinco de Mayo casserole, refried beans and cinnamon/sugar chips with fruit.  It was delicious!  I forgot to take a picture of the food, but do recommend you try this easy and yummy recipe if you like Mexican food.

Thanks to the internet and others posting their great ideas, we were able to have fun with a holiday that we don't typically enjoy.  We were able to do some neat things because others were willing to share their hard work.  I'm thankful for that as creativity and running on the spur of the moment as I so often do, dont' always mix. 

I think we need to try this more often.  Or at least try it again sometime in the next year or so.  lol  You know how things go sometimes.

Hope your day was fun too!

Blessings

Leslie 

Dancing Raisins Experiment

We did a fun and easy science experiment that I thought I'd share.  It was posted on a loop and we decided to try it out.  I had planned to do it with my younger boys and put the ingredients for the experiment in their boxes.  This was the same day I was doing science labs with my oldest two and the boys loved having their own "lab" too. 

It was such a hit, that Rebecca joined in too. 

Here is what you need for this experiment.

*Mason jar (I used the large size)

*Water

*Vinegar

*Baking soda

*Raisins

You will fill the jar about 2/3 full of water. 

Next add in several "glugs" of vinegar. 

Next add a few raisins.

Finally,  comes several spoonfuls of baking soda.  Add one at a time in case your experiments starts bubbling over.  We had that happen to us. 

Without stirring, wait and watch.  (My boys kept wanting to add in a couple more raisins.)  The raisins will start to dance!

What you will see is the raisins starting to rise to the top of the jar, then falling back down.  Ours had a slow start and then picked up as time went on.  The raisins continued to dance for quite awhile too!  My children loved watching this.  It made for great entertainment while we were eating lunch.  LOL

The explanation behind the experiment is that the vinegar is an acid and the baking soda a base.  When the two combine they form carbon dioxide.  This attachs to the skin of the raisins in the form of bubbles.  When enough bubbles are on the raisin, it will rise to the top of the jar.  There the bubbles pop, and the raisins sink again. 

This was a good reminder to me that I need to do this type of experiment more often.  I'm hoping I can plan at least one per week.  My children loved it!  I thought it was fun to watch too.

Give it a try - I bet you'll like it too!

Blessings,

Leslie 

 

Sports

Our week-ends are filled with sports.  We typically attend games as a family as we enjoy watching and supporting each other.  I know this doesn't work for everyone, but it works for us.  I love watching my kids play sports.  It's especially fun when they are having success as they did this week-end.

On Sat mornings, both Joshua and Christopher have football practice and games.  It's flag football with a homeschool football league.  We drive 2 vehicles (as we still don't have one that we all fit in) and I arrived a little late with the non-football players.  I was so bummed to learn that just minutes prior to my arrival - Joshua scored a touchdown!

There is an hour to an hour and a half gap between my two boys games.  I'm thankful that a sweet friend that I haven't gotten to spend much time with in the last couple of years has a son playing at that time.  It's been fun to spend time talking and catching up with her.

Last week-end, one of the moms brought a tea set for her daughter to enjoy.  As Eliana watched 2 little girls playing tea, she walked up and sat down too.  I started to take her away and the other mom said she was welcome to join in.  She even gave her some water in her tea cup to pretend with.  I thought it was sweet for her to include Eliana and she was thrilled to be playing with the other girls.

Christopher's game this week was also a fun one to watch. 

Towards the end of the game, he intercepted the ball and ran down the field to about 10 yards from the endzone.  After several attempts, it was 4th down and Christopher ran the ball for a touchdown!  It was so exciting.  I was standing there, trying to get a photo.  Here's what I got when I was too close and things were happening too fast.

After the games, the coaches have a time of devotions with the boys.  I appreciate the character building that goes on in this league!

 We left Christopher's game to head to Rebecca's soccer game.  She also had a second game today.  I teased her that she needed to score so that each person playing would score.  She didn't score on Saturday, but made up for it on Sunday.  She scored two goals today!  (Sorry for all this shameless bragging on my kids!)

Rebecca is the only girl on her team.  I'm proud of her ability to play well and to have fun on this team.  (It is a really great team.)  She played the first half of today's game for the other team because there were short a few players.  The second half she played defense, goalie and offense.

She didn't score while playing for the other team and the coach (a friend of ours) asked afterwards why she didn't score for his team.  Roger told him it was because he had Rebecca  playing defense.  The coach said he thought she liked defense.  Roger assured him that the position she likes best is offense!

This is her scoring her first goal.  A little hard to tell, but you can see the reaction of her teamate to the left.

This is a shot of her keeping the other team from scoring.

Eliana and the boys found the sand volleyball court and had a blast playing there.  Truly, fun can be had just about anywhere.

That's all for our sports week-end. 

Blessings,

Leslie 

Field Trip - Cedarock Historical Farm

This was field trip week.  One of my favorite things is to go on field trips.  We ended up with a beautiful day though it began a bit cool and overcast.  (The first pic below is from the end of the day.)  We went to Cedarock Historical Farm.  What a great place to visit and our tour guide, Harry, was wonderful!

We had a large group so we were split into 3 groups.  I enjoyed that on this outing we were able to split by family so I was able to enjoy being with all of my children.  :-)  Often we split by age and I can't be in several groups at once.  I understand the need and benefit for this, but for this outing, I enjoyed being together.

Our group started by visiting a blacksmith.  He told of his work as he demonstrated it.  He had a good sense of humor and shared a lot of interesting things with us.  My boys especially enjoyed watching him work.

 

Next we went on a tour of the site.  We first visited the original homesite built in 1830. 

Some of the original pieces were still in the house.

Next was the newer big house built in 1835.  We learned that the Polly, the mother/wife was never comfortable cooking in this house due to the wooden floors and continued to use the first house for cooking in for the rest of her life. 

While we were touring, our guide Harry told us how impressed he was with homeschoolers.  He went on to tell of a competition on their site that had been won by homeschoolers for the last 7 years.  He praised our work and told the kids what a great benefit they were receiving.  It was really nice to hear that affirmation of what we are doing.  Did I mention that we really enjoyed him?!

 

 

Also on the site were a smoke house, post office (run by one of the sons), grain shed, barn with old farm implements and some animals.  Lots to see!

Our next stop was a hayride.  This was no ordinary hay ride!  We rode for 30 minutes and not in a circle on flat roads either.  We went off-road and up and down steep hills, through the forest and close to a river.  It was so much fun!

All of the children enjoyed it and Eliana was delighted with the ride. 

The site is in a park that is about 400 acres of beautiful land.  There is a river, disc golf, canoe/kayak, playground and lots of beautiful undeveloped land.

 

After our tour/hayride, we went down the park for a lunch.  The kids played some on the playground and then a few of us decided to hike to see the Old Mill Dam.  It was a lovely view and a short, easy hike to get to.

The children liked exploring, though we were trying to limit it a little bit due to an abundance of poison ivy.

The sometimes elusive photo of me with my children - and one additional friend.  :-) 

There were so many things I enjoyed about this day.  The chance to learn about history.  I've loved learning about the history of our state in a hands-on way with my children.  I enjoyed spending time with my children and learning with them.  I had fun being with friends.  It is a nice break to hang out with other moms during the week too.

Our day didn't end here though.  A friend shared about a warehouse sale.  Since we were about halfway there, we decided to drive over.  It was the semi-annual Carson Dellosa warehouse sale.  It was amazing.  I was stunned.  (I should have taken a picture.)

There were boxes and boxes of workbooks, posters, stickers, etc all over the floor of the warehouse.  Oh, and lots and lots of people.  We arrived about 1.5 hours after it had opened and I could tell that we missed getting some of the things there.  Even still, I bought a lot of neat activity books for my children for very cheap prices.  Many of the books were $1 and some were 4 for $1.  Unbelievable prices.  I had a coupon to save $10 too. 

The children watched napped some (Eliana napped the entire time!), read and watched a movie.  They also had fun rolling down a hill just before we left.  Rebecca wrapped our little boy with sensory issues in a blanket.  They all liked this idea and all began doing it this way too.  I have pics of all of them -but this was the best of the bunch.

On our way home we made a pit stop at McD's.  Eliana had her first try of french fries!  I couldn't believe she would eat them!  We also visited Sonic.  YUM!  Love a cranberry limeade slush.  We hit some traffic and ended up at home after 8pm!  It was a fun and long day. 

I used to do long field trip outings like this before Eliana was born.  It was nice to be able to do one again and have her enjoy it.  It just felt good.  In some ways it felt like a little slice of "normal" again. 

Just wanted to share some of our fun with you.

Blessings

Leslie

Dreams

A great video about people with Down syndrome and their dreams.

Dreams

 

Math center

I've been wanting to incorporate some "centers" into our day.  A place to do something fun and hands-on.  I thought it would be a fun break for the kids and also motivate me to use some of the things I've purchased and not gotten around to using.

We had a FIAR lesson last week on balance.  I thought this would be the perfect time to get out the balance scale we have.  I bought it along with a box full of math manipulatives at a consignment sale.  I haven't been good about figuring out how to use them though.

I wasn't feeling creative or inspired by this scale.  That may be obvious since I've owned it for several years.  LOL  I asked some friends on the FIAR board for ideas on how to use the scale.  Here were some of the suggestions.

*Just free play - figuring out the scale and how to balance things.  We did this the first day and they enjoyed it.  I had a bag of unifix cubes and counting bears (both were also in the math box I bought) for them to use.  I also added in some assorted other things - paper clips, small bear, beads, binder clip, etc.

*Compare the weights of items using a standard. For instance, how many centimeter cubes does an eraser weigh? How many paperclips equal the weight of a crayon, many paperclips equal a pair of scissors? How many grapes equal a banana?

* Compare weights. Looking at the objects, which do you *think* will be heavier… put them both on the balance and see if you were correct.

*Illustrate density by using a large marshmallow vs a stack of quarters for instance. They're the same "size" but clearly don't weigh the same! 

*Measure 1/2 cup (or whatever the scale would hold) of various items and compare the weight vs volume

*Play old-time store and weigh out various things and have the kids pay w "gold" (maybe spray paint some beans or rice?) Or make your own "shekels" type of thing and weigh the "coins" for payment

*Illustrate the not so nice practice of putting the thumb on the scale or "weighted" measures that are weighted against the consumer, but for the vendor.

*Addition problems.  This fun to do with the unifix cubes.  I will probably make up a sheet for them to figure out the problems and then record the answers.  You can attach the unifix cubes together.  I thought I'd put them in groups of 1, 2, 3, 4, etc already attached.  They would then work the problem.

2+3 = _____

You would then put the 2 set and the 3 set on one side of the scale.  Then add cubes to the other side to figure out the total. 

Well, this very simple center has been a big hit.  It was even fun in ways that I hadn't anticipated.  Yesterday afternoon, the boys were playing happily in our sunroom (where I'd set up the center).  At one point, my oldest tells me that I should go look.  Indeed, my boys have made the math manipulatives toys.

My youngest boy (4) had made his own creation.

What really made me laugh though was my boy creations.  Only a boy would turn unifix cubes ... into a cannon.  And the bears were sorted by colors ... into an army.

I had to laugh.  I hope you got a chuckle out of it too. 

Blessings,

LeslieI