Insta-Replay #1

So I have noticed when I go through my pictures that there are many times I will "Instagram" something that I won't take a lot of other pictures of.  These are the little events in life that make it fun, interesting and unexpected.  They are also the memories I like to share with others, So here are last weeks grams and a bit in insight.

 So it's been over a week since Father's Day but the fact that my girls picked out a Darth Vader shirt for their Dad says a lot about our family.

 We have been using Focus on the Family's "Around the World in 60 Days" family devotions.  To be honest we miss days often, double up on days and simplify activities because we forgot until bedtime.  But occasionally we remember and the activity turns out to be fun.  Last week while learning about Russia, we found out that in Russian schools chess is often taught as a subject.  That inspired my 7 year old to teach her 6 year old cousin.  She knew how the pieces moved but the other rules where a bit sketchy.

 I was super excited to see Monsters U.  Our family loved the first one, love going to movies and love photo props.  What made the movie even more "worth it" was my sister paid (I'll pay her back eventually.)

So that was my weeks highlights, I'm looking forward to what next week will hold.

SUMMER VACATION!!!

We started our summer break last week and are managing to cram all sorts of fun into it.

Once  Girl Scout promotion came it was hard to keep the girls focused on school.  Since both moved up to a new level, they felt like they had finish the former grade and they were eager to work on the new badges.  (Hopefully I'll have blogs sharing that as the summer goes on.)

Our first summer trip was to the library.  My older daughter was eager for some more books, she will be spending the summer with her nose in a book.  My younger daughter needed some incentives to keep reading.  We also signed up for the Scholastic Summer Reading Challenge and Barnes and Nobles summer reading.   Keeping track of both hours spent and books read is helping me to make the older take breaks and encourage the younger to sit for a while.

 At the library we enjoyed playing in the dino themed "explorers room."  The Salem library has done an amazing job developing activities for multiple ages, which is especially nice when you come with multiple ages of cousins.

 We also enjoyed some quiet reading time.

 After the library we headed to a park to get out our wiggles.  It was fun watching my kids play on the same playground equipment I had enjoyed as a child.

 We finished off our first week of vacation with a field trip to OMSI.

 Highlights of the trip included seeing a 3D printer in action, the volunteer was very friendly and interacted great with my kids.  Merry especially liked seeing all the different items they had printed.

 Both girls had a blast playing with Google Sketch Up.  Their dad had used the program during school and I was surprised how quickly they caught on, in fact since it is a free program we might be getting it for our home computer.

The chemistry lab was fun also, if for no other reason than the safety goggles.

Our summer is starting off great, I'm looking forward to more adventures!

Spring Break

One of my favorite things about homeschooling is being able to set my own schedule.  Today we started spring break a day early.  Public schools in our area are having teacher in-services this week so my nephews and mom had the day off, which made this a perfect day for a field trip!

 The Enchanted Forest is a local attraction that is wonderful!  It is only open on weekends during the spring and then during the summer.  This was my first time coming in the spring.

 The paints were all fresh, the displays haven't had a chance to fade.  Even the manikins' wigs were fresh.

 I did my best to make the trip as educational as possible, so they had to read every story book sign.

 I grew up going to the Enchanted Forest every summer and it is a pleasure to share my fondest memories with my kids.  All of my favorite parts are still there.  The crooked house where my brother use to "accidentally" knock us into the wall.

 The singing black birds baked in their pie (I bet you can guess which song  they sing.)

 And the shoe slide.  The best part about coming during the cold spring was being able to go down the slide over and over without having to wait in line.

My Merry Quite Contrary does not think the kings notice applies to her, so much for getting her to weed.

Valentines, Romance

I never really cared about valentines.  Sure I like chocolate, and excuses to give my daughters presents, but a day to guilt you into spending money.

This was the best Valentines day yet!  Instead of chocolates and flowers we spent our money on gas and went up to the local Science Museum.

 OMSI is big.  We only had about two hours so we didn't see everything.  It was nice to spend the hours exploring and not rushing.  The girls loves looking at dinosaur bones (we even talked with a paleontologist.)  And they enjoyed looking at all the different rocks.

 OMSI is great because of its many hands on exhibits.

 Including a puppet stage.  We managed to avoid the school groups and take our time on the exhibits we liked best.

 Charity and Daddy had a balancing contest, I don't know who won.

 And I even got in on the action virtually jumping rope.

At the end of the morning we were sad to leave, there was so much more to see and do.  But Jon had to work so we're making plans for another trip before too long.

It might not have been a day of love, flowers and chocolates but it was time spent together!

Not so busy weekend

I had expected to be driving all over the place this weekend.   We had one event after another scheduled.  Instead I am sitting, relaxing, typing out a blog.  "So," you might be asking, "what happened?"

 Late night cotton candy!  My poor delicate children just couldn't handle the high-sugar excitement of a late night cookie rally!

 They enjoyed every minute at the rally, had fun making crafts, playing games, and watching a 3D video.  But when morning came and it was time for another full day, they couldn't quite make it.

So instead of being busy, busy, horribly busy we are spending the day relaxing.  Playing dolls in pajamas is a great way to spend a Saturday!

Happy New Year

 So before our Christmas break we moved to my mom's property.  I love being in the country!  Now we are finding out what "school" looks like out here.

 The desks are in the girls rooms but school is being done on a table.  They aren't quite ready to work on their own yet.

I had hoped to still have a school room set up but that room is a bit cold right now.  Maybe when the weather warms up we will move schooling into it's own room.

 Fitting four kids (when I'm watching the cousins) around the table is a bit crowded but they make do.

We are also making do with other learning centers.

New Year Parties and Plans

Happy New Year Cyber Space.

Goodbye 2012 and good riddance!

For new Year eve we had a small party with one set of cousins.  We got ready for 2013 by making a few resolutions(using a worksheet I found on Teacher Pay Teacher)

 Merry cracked me up when I realized she had stuck her pencil into her hat.

 We had a few coloring sheets too, since there were cousins over I wanted set activities.

 They played a game of Pretty, Pretty Princess.  They were all very pretty.

 Then we had snacks, including yummy brownies my sister-in-law made.

 The kids disappeared and got very quite, when I went to check on them I was surprised to find them putting together a puzzle.

 Then it was time to toast the new year.  We had poppers with crowns and sparkling grape juice.

 Instead of waiting for midnight we used Animal Crossing for our countdown and fireworks, it was great and the next day we had our other cousins over and did the countdown all over again.

This time I remembered the balloons.

So now that the parties are over I'm in planning mode.  School will start back up on January 7th for us and I want to be prepared.  No real midyear changes but I do plan on adding some daily vocabulary.  I can't wait to see if it works.