Breathe

Hallelulah! The weather is getting nicer every day.

Back out into the fresh air to move around.

My Day

These guys made my special day very nice. Thanks boys.

This is the special addition to the boy's room.

Grnny and Grndd installed a shelf with where they could display their mini-figs.

In our new Greek Gods and Goddesses unit we read the Pandora's Box story.

Like Magic

We had the most fun on Wednesday. Grandpa was in for dinner from out of town. We had the Nlsn family over and ordered pizza. There were 7 kids and they played together like angels.

It seems I was a little slow on the dinner preparations Thursday evening. While I was prepping the quesedillas there were three seagulls standing around the island watching for tidbits. 

+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++

The boy's bedroom is a problem for me.

I can't clean it...because I get frustrated with them and they say I mess up their stuff.

But they can't clean it....because they get so overwhelmed with the task.

It really had reached crisis proportions this week though. A friend who was over this week aptly described the LEGO strewn floor as "the spiky death floor".

When Grnny dropped the boys off she was stunned....and....offered to help. Then I was stunned.

But she gathered supplies and came Friday morning.
They worked, stopping once for lunch and to go buy more supplies, for five hours.

The photo above was taken about an hour into the process.

The photos below are after.

Note: the clean floor-the new shelves in the closet-the tidy LEGO boxes under the window

This makes me very, very happy.
And she also managed to make the boys very, very happy too....
but you'll have to wait and see the rest of the bedroom pics tomorrow.

ExtraAct

The boys have made some great friends in their Beaver/Cub groups this year.

After many missed chances due to Christmas, illness, company...we were able to have a Chess Club meeting again. I love this group of kids...such gracious winners and interested players.

 

This cracked me up today. I was sitting at the table with the boys working on our unit study when an index card landed on top of my book.

It was a note that had been passed to me....from A.

So what's a mom/teacher supposed to do?

Write back of course. We passed it back and forth until we ran out of room on the card.

Lead By Example

If dad does it................it's good.

However dad does it................is the right way.

When dad does it......the boys do it too.

Even dishes.



It's still great to lay in bed at night with the boys and read.

I hope this never gets old.

Weekend Report

This guy seems to be becoming a part-time resident around here. With his friend plans, his choir practice, his school co-ops and his Cub activities he's always on the go. Today he had a work day for his upcoming Cub Car Rally.

Which left us with A. Having E out of the house is something he really looks forward to.

He has M and I do all his favourite activities with him. While M had a nap he and I made banana bread and then played a game of Monopoly. Then I napped and he played computer games with M.

I took this picture the other day when D was over for a couple of hours. (We missed you littleA)
These cousins are so cute!











I was whining to M today that after all my exercising and cutting back it seems like I keep losing and gaining the same kilogram.
His solution to my whining......come home with a bag full of candy.
Um......thanks?








This is the new door we put in going from the kitchen to the basement. Thanks Grandad for the help.

Exactly

The best part of any homeschool day is getting together with friends to play/practice war/strategize/make home bases/form teams/develop schemes/create alternate realities and/or formulate fun.

Summing Up Term3

This is the last week of our human body unit. We've covered the eye, ear, heart and tongue. This week we had anticipated taking a week off but decided to do one more week-the digestive system.

As with everything we learn they incorporate LEGO. The apple is....an apple. The red flame is...chyme that is moving into the small intestines. The brown stick is....well I think you can guess what that is.

Today, we turned to music for our language arts class. I love how 'into' the filming A was.

Next week we start our Greek Gods and Goddesses unit as per A's request.

Splashin' Around

I was preparing to write the start of this post about how we've been just keeping our heads above water around here. I was going to explain how A is feeling much better but M fell ill with the flu this weekend. I was going to mention that E's mouth apparatus is driving him to distraction. It probably would have come up that February always feels like the longest month because I just want Spring to get here already.

 

But then I went online to get a picture to represent 'keeping our heads above water' and I found all of these great pictures.

 

This lady is keeping her head above water....in high heels...hasn't even dropped her purse and she's accessorized!!

And then there's all these pictures. They make 'keeping your head above water' look like something they do on purpose.

By the time I got done looking at pictures....I didn't want to whine on the blog anymore.



After we arrived at Cubs tonight I told E that he could go find his friends if he wanted to.

And he was off....like a shot...I think he said something like, "Thank goodness, Bye!"

But this guy is still my buddy.

There was an enormous crowd there for the potluck dinner.

This is an extraordinary group of people. We are so lucky to be involved with this.

Still Learning

We had a great time at co-op today. A is learning a lot in his weather class. And E is stretching his mind in his Rube Goldberg class.
 
Then the boys and I did an experiment. We weighed four pieces of gum. And then asked ourselves:
Would it weigh more or less after we chewed it?
The boys guessed it would weigh more....because it would have our saliva in it.

Then we chewed it. Well.....A and I chewed it.

E isn't allowed to chew gum with his mouth apparatus in. He was not impressed.

 Then when we weighed it again. And this time it was....lighter!!
What?? Surprised?
The reason why is at the bottom of this post.

Our new washer and dryer arrived today and M needed to level them.
What better way to get the job done....than with a headlight.

Your saliva dissolves the sugar in the gum. It weighs less without the sugar.