Little Masterpieces

Isaiah brought home some of the art that he has creating in class this semester at Learning Vine. I think he did a wonderful job and just wanted to share.







Karine Bauch is a wonderful teacher with some great resources. You can check them out here.

Pumpkins!

Isaiah has asked daily since we got home from apple picking if today was the day we would carve our pumpkins. We finally put him out of his misery Wednesday night. We began by reading The Pumpkin Patch Parable by Liz Curtis Higgs. Elaine from Commotion in the Ocean of Life has created a file folder game to go along with this book. You can find it here.



We looked online for free pumpkin carving patterns and found some christian patterns here.

Of course Isaiah chose a dragon pattern for his pumpkin. He has been fascinated with dragons since he decided he wanted to read Eragon.

As I was searching online, I found this pumpkin prayer:

Dear God,
As I carve my pumpkin,
help me say this prayer:
Open my mind so I can learn about You;
(Cut the top of the pumpkin)
Take away all my sin and forgive
me for the wrong things I do;
(Clean out the inside)
Open my eyes so Your Love I will see;
(Cut eyes shaped like hearts)
I'm sorry for turning up my
nose to all You've given me;
(Cut a nose in the shape of the cross)
Open my ears so Your Word I will hear;
(Cut ears shaped like the Bible)
Open my mouth so I can
tell others You're near;
(Cut mouth in the shape of a fish)
Let Your Light Shine in all
I say and do! Amen.
(Place a candle and light it.)

~ author unknown ~

I also found this poem which I decided to use as the inspiration for my pumpkin.

I am a Jack O’ Lantern
My lights will shine so bright
For I’m a Christian pumpkin
My symbols tell what’s right

My nose is like the cross
On which our Savior died
To set us free from sin
We need no longer hide

My mouth is like a fish
The whole wide world to show
That Christians live in this house
And love their Savior so!

The story starts at Christmas
My eyes are like the star
That shone on Baby Jesus
And wise men saw from far

My color, it is orange
Just like the big bright sun
That rose on Easter Day
Along with God’s own Son

And so on Halloween
Let’s set our pumpkins out
And tell the trick or treaters
What God’s love is all about!

Author Unknown



After all of the pumpkin carving was complete, we decided to enjoy some toasted pumpkin seeds. We found a great recipe here.








Enjoy these additional links about pumpkins:

Pumpkin Paper Craft

Online Pumpkin Carving

Pumpkin Lapbook Resource

Pumpkin Life Cycle

Pumpkin Pie in a Bag

Pumpkin Roll

Pumpkin Play Dough

Antarctica - Our Continent Box

A couple of months ago, I read a post on Heart of the Matter about Geography Treasure Boxes.

Since we are studying world geography this year, I thought that it would be fun to incorporate them in our studies. We recently finished learning about Antarctica, so today we took time to put our continent box together. We included all of the treasures that we have collected over the past several weeks as we learned about this icy continent.

To make the box, we found a bunch of pictures including animals, explorers, maps and scenes from Antarctica and printed them out. Then, we cut them out and decoupaged them to a white photo box.







Some of the treasures that we included in our box were:

Penguins
An Acrylic Ice Cube
An Antarctic Food Chain
White Felt to represent Snow
Continent Cards
A Baggie of Fake Snow
A Book about Antarctica







You can find the ebook here or a sample of it here.

You can find the continent cards in the geography files at Notebooking2Learn.

You can read more about Geography treasure boxes here.

We also completed our Antarctic Explorer pages. You can find them in the geography files at Notebooking2Learn.

Enjoy some of the links we used in our study of Antarctica.

A to Z Kids Stuff

Classroom Antarctica

Cool Antarctica

Kids Konnect

Wild Kids

Think - Applelicious Solutions

I found another something we had to try this week as I surfed my way through homeschooling blogs. It is a program to help kids think outside the box. You can find more information about it here.

Basically, each week there is a challenge that is to be completed using only the supplies listed.

This week the challenge is a bit different. It is less of a structural challenge but still requires thinking outside of the box. This week, the challenge is to sculpt an apple using only your teeth and 4 toothpicks. When you are done, it should look like a person, place, or thing. Snap a picture and send it in!

This was certainly a tasty challenge.

First, we used the toothpicks to carve out our design.





Then we used our teeth to eat away all of the sections that we needed to carve out. This was the yummy part.



I ended up with a flower using the toothpicks as the stamens.



Isaiah ended up with a bird. His toothpicks were used for the eye, the legs and an insect that the bird is about to eat.







We can't wait to see what next weeks challenge is.

Unplugged Project: Thin

This weeks theme for Unplug Your Kids is Thin.

We thought of things like thin ice, Thin Mint cookies and paper.

We decided to go with paper although we found a recipe for Thin Minties here that we will have to try sometime.

For our paper projects we made paper airplanes, parachutes and origami.

Isaiah received a paper airplane book for Christmas a couple of years ago and last year he received a calendar that had a paper airplane for each day of the year. We decided to use those for our project, but you will find some great resources online here and here. I also discovered that you can create paper airplanes in Publisher. Click here for details.












While we were searching for paper airplane patterns online, we found instructions to make a parachute out of tissue paper here. They were a lot of fun to make and they work really well.

We decided to go with a variation and use food coloring on white tissue paper to make ours.













I purchased some origami paper over the summer after Isaiah had taken a kids craft class at Michaels. He used the instructions included in the package to make a Viking Hat and a Cicada.















Here are some links for origami patterns that we found online.

Marcel's Kid Crafts

Activity Village

Origami-Fun

Tammy Yee's

BFS #106 — Have It Your Way!

The Memory Verse:
Comfort ye, comfort ye my people, saith your God. Isaiah 40:1

The Introduction:
“Have It Your Way” (Burger King) - As cooler weather approaches and the winter eases into our doors I like to lounge by the fire after a hot shower. I love to make soups that are brimming with a rich and full flavor. In our home there’s nothing better than a hot bowl of soup or and a hot cup of coffee or cocoa on a cold winter night.

The Assignment:
Tell us all about how your have “your” relaxing time, more especially how during the cooler months you take time to curl up with your favorite movie, book, Bible study, and what your favorite warm drink would be.

My Response:
During the cooler months, I really enjoy curling up on the sofa to read. We have a beautiful fire place where we occasionally burn a fire, but more often we burn candles in it. Unfortunately, the television is also in the family room so I end up reading nestled between the covers on my bed a lot too.



I'm not sure I have a favorite cold weather beverage, but I do enjoy hot cocoa, hot apple cider and French vanilla cappuccino. Of course they are all extra good with a bit of whipped cream to top them off.


The Word:
The LORD is good,a refuge in times of trouble. He cares for those who trust in him. Nahum 1:7

Lifting Hands Prayer for the Week of October 26, 2008

Teach me Your ways, enable me to obey Your commandments and do only what is pleasing in Your sight. May the beauty of Your Spirit be so evident in me that I will be a godly role model for Logan and Isaiah.

"The righteous man walks in his integrity; his children are blessed after him." Proverbs 20:7

Geography, Art & A Countdown Update

To complete our study of the arctic we learned about the Inuits today in Geography.

The kids really enjoyed licking their fingers while they built their sugar cube igloos.








In art, we learned about tertiary colors. The kids really enjoyed mixing paints in ziplock baggies to create the tertiary colors to paint thier color wheels. I got the idea here.

I think Isaiah is working on green-yellow in this picture.



A great resource for learning about color theory can be found at Montessori for Everyone.

You can find some great videos on teaching kids about color here.

For the art portion of our co-op, we are using How to Teach Art to Children.



And now for our 100 day countdown photo:

Fun with Bats

In science this week we learned about bats. For those of you using Flying Creatures of the 5th Day, that would be chapter 7. For those of you who are using the lapbooking templates from Notebooking2Learn, I realize that I am a few chapters behind. I hope to catch up soon as I am sure Isaiah won't want to review the entire book. LOL

Since I don't have any lapbook templates to share yet, I thought I would give you a few other ideas to help you make learning about those flying mammals a little more fun.

It was my turn to teach during science club so these are some of the things I used in class or found while I was preparring for it.



Trapezoid Bats:
As a class opener, I had each of the kids color and piece together a bat made from trapezoids. I found the pattern here. To give it a little more focus, I had them write facts about bats on at least three of the trapezoids.

You might recognize this famous bat that Isaiah put together.



The Nose Knows:
Here is a variation I came up with for the Find Your Pup project from the book.
I used a piece of black posterboard to represent the wall of our bat cave. Then I chose enough scents so that each of the children in the class would have one. I added each scent to two cotton balls. The first cotton ball was taped to the board and the second was placed in a ziplock bag. Then, using some cute little bat diecuts that I found at a local teacher store, I assigned each scent a number. I wrote the number on the back of one bat and taped it next to the cottonball that it represented. The same number was written on a second bat and placed in the baggie.

I handed each child a baggie and told them to smell the cotton ball. They were then instructed to smell each of the bats in the cave until they found the one that matched their scent. When they thought they had found thier bat, they taped their diecut next to it number side out. They had a blast trying to match them up and the curled up noses were great each time one of them took a big sniff of the cottonball full of vinegar.

Some of the scents were easy to match and some were not so easy. There was one bat that was claimed by three students and none of them were correct!





Handprint Bat Craft:
I found the template for this cute craft here. I had each of the kids write an acrostic poem using the word BATS on the belly of their bat.

Isaiah decided his bat needed a little bling.


Bat Mobiles:
I couldn't resist telling the kids we were going to make bat mobiles in class. Of course their excitement diminished when they found out Batman wouldn't be riding in them.

I got the initial idea from here. Again, to give it a little more of an academic flair, I gave each student three bat diecuts to hang from thier egg carton bat. On each of the diecuts, they were instructed to write something interesting that they had learned about bats.







Finger Puppets & Origami:
For the younger kiddos I found some cool bat finger puppets here.

For the older ones, I found instructions for bat origami here.











Another pattern for bat origami can be found here.

Another finger puppet pattern can be found here.

Bat Salad:
Although we didn't have time for another activity, I had planned to have the kids make bat salad. I had purchased bananas, mangoes and papaya to cut up and mix together. I also bought rasins to mix in to represent insects.

Here are some other links you may enjoy as you learn about bats:

A Kid's Heart
Kid Zone

Bats4Kids
Bats
Brown Bat Pattern

Bat Mask
Clothes Pin Bats
Make Learning Fun
Bat TP Roll Craft
Adopt a Bat

The Old Schoolhouse Homespun Holidays Offer

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But, you'll need the Fall issue of The Old Schoolhouse Magazine to go on this walk down memory lane.

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Normally when a person subscribes, their subscription starts with the upcoming issue which can take a while. But, TOS thought about that when they planned their Fall Special.

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• Almost 50% off the cover price for 2 years
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Unplugged Project: Wax

This week's theme at Unplug Your Kids is wax.

Last week we used wax as a way of preserving leaves. You can read about it here.

There were a couple of ideas that we contemplated when we found out that this weeks theme would be wax and as usual, we couldn't decide so we tried them all.

Stained Glass:

Our first project was to make a stained glass leaf to hang in the window.

Supplies:
construction paper
wax paper
knife, grater or pencil sharpener
crayons
scissors
glue stick
sharpie
iron
piece of cloth

To begin, print off a pattern for your "window". Paperclip the pattern onto two sheets of construction paper or cardstock and cut it out.










Using a knife, grater or pencil sharpener make crayon shavings from various colors of crayons and place them on a piece of wax paper. Cover with another sheet of wax paper and then a towel or cloth and gently iron until the shavings melt.





Glue one of the frames you made with the construcion paper or cardstock to the front of the wax paper and trim the excess wax paper. Adhere the second frame to the back of the wax paper.









If you would like, you can use a sharpie to add detail to your window design before you hang it in a window.

Custom Candles:

Supplies:
light colored candle
tissue paper
heat gun
printer or rubber stamps and ink

This is a picture that Isaiah drew last fall. We decided we would rather use it than a stamp to make our candle so we began by adhering a piece of tissue paper to a piece of printer paper and trimming off the excess.



I scanned the picture and shrank it so that it would fit the dimensions of the candle and then printed it onto the tissue paper.



Isaiah trimmed around the image and then used a heat gun to melt it into the candle. It is a little tricky at first because you have to make sure you don't leave the heat gun in any one area for too long or you will create drips.







I love the way it turned out!



Faux Wax Seals:

Supplies:
colored glue sticks
glue gun
stamps
ink



Isaiah has been wanting to make some of these for a while. They are very easy to make and I am sure I will find them on a pirate map or two.

Begin by melting the glue sticks into puddles.



Ink a rubber stamp and stamp the image into the melted glue.



We found it was easier to leave the stamp in the glue until it dried and then we could peel it off.

Haystacks:



This is a recipe for a great autumn snack that my mom used to make for me as a child. Yes, it does contain wax a.k.a. parifin. I did a little research on the use of parifin in candy and found that although it is edible, it is not exactly digestable and should be used in moderation. I also discovered that 1 Tbsp. of Crisco can usually be substituted for the parifin in candy recipes. I did use the parifin in these, but I think I will probably give the Crisco a try in the future.

Ingredients:



2 pkgs. butterscotch pieces
1 cup salted peanuts
1 large package of chowmein noodles
1/4 bar of parifin

Melt butterscotch pieces in double boiler. Add parafin and continue to melt. When bothe are melted, add chowmein noodles and peanuts. Stir until well coated. Drop from teaspoon onto waxed paper to form small clusters.

Apple Picking

We decided to go apple picking Sunday after church. Little did we know that there wouldn't be a whole lot of apple picking going on. We discovered when we got there that it was the last week for apple picking and we were only able to find about 1/2 peck of apples to enjoy. Of course, that doesn't count the one we enjoyed while we were strolling the orchard. We had fun anyway, but I guess the applesauce will have to wait until next year.







Besides the apples, we were able to find a few pumpkins to bring home. Isaiah and Logan plan to carve them later in the week.









It was really nice to spend the day outdoors with the family.

Wrapping Paper Woes

Isaiah went to a friend's birthday party on Friday afternoon. We didn't have any trouble at all choosing a gift, but wrapping paper was another story. Sometimes I think we spend almost as much on the card and wrapping paper as we do the gift and I just couldn't bring myself to do it this time.

I knew we had a roll of white craft paper at home, so I asked Isaiah if he would like to make his own wrapping paper. He agreed it would be fun and this is what he came up with.




I think he did an excellent job and I don't plan on buying much wrapping paper in the near future. At least not for birthdays.

The Polar Regions

It was my turn to teach for our geography co-op this week. We are winding down our study of Antarctica so I decided to focus on the differences between the Arctic and Antartica. Once we determined some of the major differnences in the two polar regions, we spent the rest of the class focusing on polar bears.

I found a cute arctic scene craft at Highlights Kids it uses crumpled wax paper as icebergs.







It says to have the kids draw a polar bear and tear it out of paper, but to save time and sanity for those who don't really like to draw, I found a great substitute here and here.

If your children enjoy drawing, you can find step by step instructions for drawing a polar bear here.

We talked about how a polar bear might stay warm in such a cold climate and expanded on the Blubber Glove experiment that I found here.

Instead of just having two gloves, we had four. The first was just an empty plastic bag which we called skin.





As you can see from the look on Isaiah's face, the skin didn't provide much protection from the cold.



Our second bag was filled with "fur". I made it by putting polyester fill into a baggie and then sliding another plastic baggie into it. I used duct tape to seal the bags together.





The fur did keep our hands warmer than the skin.


The third baggie was filled with blubber (Crisco). I made it the same way I did the "fur" by placing the blubber into the first baggie and then inserting a second baggie and taping it shut.







Our fourth baggie had skin, blubber and "fur". I created it by layering the baggies together and taping the top.





This one kept our hand nice and warm!


God certainly knew how to equip animals for the polar regions.





To finish off our afternoon, we made polar bear cupcakes by adapting an idea I found here.





I had planned to complete a venn diagram of the polar regions, but we ran out of time. If you are interested in using it, you can find it at Notebooking2Learn. You will also find notebooking pages for Antarctic Explorers and Antarctica continent cards.

Preserving Leaves

Have you ever wondered about the best way to preserve leaves while they are alive with the colors of autumn? If you have, you are not alone. It seems that all of my YAHOO groups are a buzz with discussions on this very subject. Since I had nothing better to do this week (HA!), I decided that Isaiah and I would do some experimenting.

We gathered several leaves throughout the week and dried most of them between napkins weighted down by the biggest books we could find on our shelves. We decided not to dry all of them so that we could see what difference it would make in the preservation process. We will have to post an update in a week or so to let you know if anything grew out of the leaves that we didn't take time to dry.

Our first technique uses Mod Podge. We simply painted a coat of it onto the front of each leaf and allowed them to dry before repeating the process on the back. Isaiah really likes the way they turned out. He said that they looked like real leaves because they curl. I agree they are pretty amazing, but this technique would not work well if you needed to adhere them to a notebook page or something similar. However, it might work if you Mod Podged it directly to the page you were working on so that it would adhere to the paper and therefore prevent curling.









Our second technique was with wax paper. This was our least favorite method for preserving leaves. The wax paper is not transparent and although you can see the leaf through it, it just isn't as pretty as some of the other techniques.





Our third technique was to send a page of leaves through our heat laminator and then cut them out leaving a clear edge around each one. We like the way the leaves look this way and it makes them durable for handling. This would be a great way to preserve leaves for use in games or other hands on projects. The only downside to this method is that the stems had to be removed.



Since we liked the laminated look, we decided to take it a step further and laminate a few leaves in smaller laminating sheets to be used without trimming. These could be used as decorations, identification flashcards, trading cards, etc.



Finally, we tried preserving a few by dipping them into melted wax. Since I didn't have any unscented candles on hand, this was by far the most aromatic technique. I really like the way the dipped leaves look. The end result is similar to the Mod Podged leaves except they didn't curl and they weren't quite as shiny.





Overall, it was a really fun experience and we will definitely be using some of these techniques again in the future.



Don't have trees full of colorful leaves to preserve? Well, we happened to find something just for you. You can find all the details at Maya*Made, but here are some pictures of our attempt at making our own autumn wonders.

Autumn Beauties

Earlier this week, we decided to complete a couple of art projects that we found online. They are similar in that each of them contains a tree made by blowing black ink with a straw, and yet they are very different. They were both fun to make and turned out beautiful.



To make the first one, we had to dry leaves in the microwave and crush them. I was a little leery of this process at first, but it actually worked very well.



First, we gathered leaves in different autumn hues and placed them on the turntable in the microwave. We microwaved them on high for 30 seconds and then turned them over and microwaved them for 15 more seconds. We continued turning them and microwaving them in 10 second intervals until they were dry and crispy.



Then, we crunched them to pieces onto a paper plate and put them aside until we were ready to add them to our tree.



Here are some pictures of the process. If you would like more detailed instructions, you can find them here.













To complete our second project we used watercolors to make a background of autumn colors and then used the same technique to add the tree.





A great tip for drying waterlogged pages is to lay them onto a baking rack so that the air can circulate all around them.



To add a little extra interest to our background, Isaiah dipped his fingers in water and flicked it onto the dried watercolors. This causes little watermarks to appear and it looks really neat. I am not sure if you can see them in this picture though.



To get more detailed instructions on how to complete this project with your child, click here.

BFS Assignment #105 - M’m M’m Good

The Memory Verse:
I will sing to the Lord, for He has been good to me.Psalms 13:6 NIV

The Intro:
M’m M’m Good (Campbell’s Soup)
The fall is such a wonderful time of year. The beautiful foliage and cool, crisp morning air is such a wonderful change from the hot summer. I also love the M’m M’m good smell of fall cooking and baking. The wonderful fall veggies, fruits and Thanksgiving foods.

The Assignment:
Post your favorite fall recipe/recipes to share. I love trying new recipes, do you? It can be baking, main dishes, veggies, dessert or anything else you can think of. There are no limits. Mmmmmm..I can’t wait to take a look at some of those recipes.

My Response:
This is a really yummy assignment. I really had a hard time choosing so I guess I will share a couple. When I think of fall foods, I think of caramel apples, caramel corn, and anything to do with pumpkin.

One treat we really enjoy is a mixture of candy corn and Spanish peanuts. I usually put it in a pumpkin shaped candy dish and fill it as necessary.

Caramel Corn:

My Friend Missy gave me this yummy recipe for caramel corn. Talk about easy and delicious.



Ingredients:
1/2 Cup uncooked popping corn
1/2 cup butter or margarine
1/4 cup Karo syrup
1 cup brown sugar
1/4 tsp. baking soda

Pop the popcorn and pour it into a large paper sack.(I used a grocery bag) Bring the butter, syrup and sugar to a boil in a medium size sauce pan. Add baking soda and stir until it thickens. Pour the sugar mixture over the popcorn in the bag and fold down the top and shake. Microwave on high for 90 seconds remove the bag and shake. Turn the bag over and microwave for 60 seconds. Remove the bag and shake. Turn the bag over and microwave for 45 seconds. Remove the bag and shake. Turn the bag over and microwave for 30 seconds. Remove and shake. Pour the glazed popcorn onto a sheet pan and cool. Break apart when it has cooled and store in an airtight container.

I made some this morning so I could share a picture and make you drool. It is really quite tasty.

I think my boys like assignments that inspire me to get up and make treats first thing in the morning. I am sure they wouldn't have complained if I would have followed the caramel corn up with a few more of the recipes I am about to share, but I will refrain for now.

Spice Cookies with Pumpkin Dip:

Cookies:
1 1/2 cups butter or margarine, softened.
2 cups sugar
2 eggs
1/2 cup molasses
4 cups all-purpose flour
4 tsp baking soda
2 tsp ground cinnamon
1 tsp ground ginger
1 tsp ground cloves
1 tsp salt
additional sugar

Dip:
1 pkg (8oz) cream cheese, softened
1 can (18oz) pumpkin pie mix
2 cups confectioners sugar
1/2 - 1 tsp ground cinnamon
1/4 - 1/2 ground ginger

In a mixing bowl, cream butter and sugar. Add eggs, one at a time beating well after each addition. Add molasses; mix well. Combine flour, baking soda, cinnamon, ginger, cloves and salt; add to creamed mixture and mix well. Chill overnight. Shape into 1/2" balls; roll in sugar. Place 2 " apart on an ungreased baking sheet. Bake at 375 for about 6 minutes or until the sides start to brown. Allow the cookies to cool for about 2 minutes before moving them to a wire rack to cool completely.

To make the dip, beat cream cheese in a mixing bowl until smooth. Add pumpkin pie mix; beat well. Add sugar, cinnamon and ginger; beat until smooth.

Serve with cookies. Store unused dip in the

Pumpkin Sheet Cake:

Cake:
2 cups sugar
4 eggs
1 cup oil
2 cups flour
1 cup nuts
1 cup pumpkin
1 tsp salt
1 tsp baking soda
2 tsp baking powder
2 tsp cinnamon

Mix ingredients together. Flour and grease a sheet pan and bake at 350 for 40 to 45 minutes. Allow the cake to cool completely before frosting.

Frosting:
1 lb powdered sugar
1 cup butter
1/2 cup chopped nuts

Mix powdered sugar and butter together until smooth. Add nuts and mix well.

The Word:

It seems like the economy is the conversation of choice these days and even I have been guilty of worrying about what we will do if gas and grocery prices keep rising. So, today as I thought about what Scripture to share for a post that was really all about food I was reminded not to worry about what we will eat or drink because God will provide as we seek Him.

"Therefore I tell you, do not worry about your life, what you will eat or drink; or about your body, what you will wear. Is not life more important than food, and the body more important than clothes? Look at the birds of the air; they do not sow or reap or store away in barns, and yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not much more valuable than they? Who of you by worrying can add a single hour to his life?
"And why do you worry about clothes? See how the lilies of the field grow. They do not labor or spin. Yet I tell you that not even Solomon in all his splendor was dressed like one of these. If that is how God clothes the grass of the field, which is here today and tomorrow is thrown into the fire, will he not much more clothe you, O you of little faith? So do not worry, saying, 'What shall we eat?' or 'What shall we drink?' or 'What shall we wear?' For the pagans run after all these things, and your heavenly Father knows that you need them.

But seek first his kingdom and his righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well. 34Therefore do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will worry about itself. Each day has enough trouble of its own.

Matthew 6: 25-34

Better than Bird's Nest Soup

We have been studying flying creatures in science and in recent weeks the focus has been birds. Isaiah turned up his nose the day we read about Bird's Nest Soup, a delicacy in Chinese cuisine. Actually, I can't say that I blame him. He didn't however turn his nose up at dining on this delicious bird's nest that he constructed today in science club:







The nest was a tasty combination of chow mein noodles and chocolate and it was filled with white chocolate covered almonds to represent the eggs.

Another highlight of science club today was trying to crush an egg by squeezing it in his hand:



I really appreciate the mom's who make science club so much fun especially when it means the mess isn't at my house.

Enjoy our 100th day countdown photo:

Unplugged Project: Smooth

I am always surfing the web looking for ways to make school fun. This week I came across a blog called Unplug Your Kids where the author challenges her readers with a weekly theme. The theme this week was smooth.

When I think of smooth, I am always reminded of the five smooth stones that David gathered before he faced Goliath. We recently used smooth stones to complete an Ebenezer, you can read about it here.

For our project this week, we used smooth stones to make magnets. I purchased clear pebbles from the craft/floral department at Walmart. Using a circle punch, Isaiah punched out pictures from scrapbook paper, comic books and stickers to create the backgrounds for the magnets. Using E6000 an adhesive also available in the craft section at Walmart, Isaiah glued each of the paper circles to the flat side of a clear pebble. Once they were dry, we added a magnet to the back of each of the stones.









We look forward to next weeks theme: WAX

Nature Faces

Since we spent most of our day outside today, we decided to have a little fun with some of the things we collected on our nature walk. I got the idea while surfing the web in search of some fun fall projects. You can see more examples of this fun project here.

Mom's Nature Face:





Isaiah's Nature Face:





Stay tuned for some more Autumn Wonders! We will share them throughout the next few weeks as we complete them along with links to where we found the ideas!

If you have a favorite autumn craft or project, please share it with us in the comments.

Our 100 day countdown chain keeps growing and growing:

In Nature's Classroom

We took full advantage of a beautiful autumn day by getting outside!

Our first stop was to a local forest preserve to observe the changing colors of the trees. We took time to make an entry in our nature journals before heading off to do some birding.





Here are some examples of the leaves we collected:





Here is one we found that has been damaged by a leaf miner:



After we collected leaves to use in some fall craft projects, we headed over to the local rookery to see if we could spot a blue heron. I had seen one earlier in the day on the river when I was walking with my buddy Missy, so I thought perhaps we would get lucky. We didn't see any heron, but we were fortunate enough to catch some Canadian geese and a few swans.











Here are some other highlights from our day of adventure in the great outdoors:











We spotted a couple of nests throughout the day:





We identified some snake grass:





We observed some fungi:





Overall, we had a fantastic day!

Taking a Detour

We are taking a detour in our history studies for the month of October. Since the elections are coming up just around the corner, we are going to spend some time learning about the history of the presidency and the election process.

We are loosely following a unit study that we purchased on CurrClick. You can find it here. Of course, anyone who knows me knows that I can't do a study on anything without adding a few elements of my own so if you like any of the lapbook ideas, you can find them on my YAHOO group by clicking here.

This week we took time to put up a timeline and add each of the presidents to it. We will be adding other important dates as we go along. We also put up a map of the US and linked each of the presidents to their home state. We will be adding other data to the map as well like the number of electoral votes each state has. The night of the election, we will even color in the states as the projected winner is announced.







We printed out our map from here.
We used the timeline from here.

To understand the duties of the president, we completed some mini books for our notebook and made a duct tape hat with labels for each of the "hats" our president must wear. We got information for our mini books here and here.





Don't forget to join us at Notebooking2Learn to get the templates for the mini books we used above.

Isaiah loves making things out of duct tape, so this was an extra fun project for him. If you would like to know how to make a duct tape top hat of your very own, click here.







Here is Isaiah wearing the seven hats of a president:










































The labels for the hats can also be found at Notebooking2Learn. If you aren't as adventurous as a duct tape hat, you can also use the labels on a paper hat like this:

Just for Nana

Here are some pictures that we took yesterday when we ventured out in a local forest preserve. Unfortunately, it started raining before we had a chance to get very far. I know that Isaiah's grandma will really appreciate these pictures, especially after looking at those crazy hair photos in my previous post.

Now, this is one cute kid!

Crazy Hair and Crafts

Last week was Wacky Week for Blogger Friend School. Since on a normal day, we aren't too wacky, we decided to add a crazy flair to our monthly craft days. This month was crazy hair day. I don't think anyone will disagree that Isaiah is sporting some pretty crazy hair.

The Product:


The Progress:


The Finished Look


Even Logan decided to join in on the fun and let us give him a crazy "Do".





Here is a group shot for your viewing pleasure:



For our craft, I decided to have the kids make Fall Fingerprint Trees. I found the idea here.







Besides the crazy hair and crafts we enjoyed some yummy Carmel Corn and the cupcakes I blogged about here.



We don't have a 100th day countdown photo to share today, but we will post a new one later this week.

BFS #104 - Never Leave Home Without It!

The Memory Verse:
Teaching them to observe all things whatsoever I have commanded you: and lo, I am with you always, even to the end of the world. Amen. (Matthew 28: 20)

The Intro:
Never Leave Home Without It (Marketing Credit: American Express) Diapers, bottles, wipes, bibs, pacifiers, extra clothing, cell phone, PDA, ipod, iphone, credit or debit cards … what would you never leave home without?

The Assignment:
In the memory verse Jesus tells us that He will never leave us, not even at the end of the world. He assures us in this verse that He will be with us and that means through everything we go through in life. I thought it would be interesting to write about the things we would never leave home without. For some it might be baby needs, others it might be a gym bag and bottle of water, and for some it might be your Bible and a notepad or small journal, maybe even your son or daughters favorite blankie! I’d like for you to write about something that you would never leave home without.

My Response:
I am inevitably leaving something behind. There have been days when I have returned to my house multiple times to grab something that I left behind.

When Isaiah was a baby, I always envied those moms who seemed to have everything they could possibly ever need no matter where they were. I was lucky to remember the diaper bag let alone make sure it was packed with extra diapers, wipes, bottles, snacks, etc. We always managed though and I don't think we are scarred for life.

More recently, the things I leave behind are quite humorous. I have been known to forget my purse which means I have no wallet to pay for anything. A few weeks ago, I forgot my recorder when I left the house to teach my recorder class. I have even forgotten the library books I was on my way to return. Just call me the absent minded mama.

One thing that has helped me lately is my handy dandy rolling cart. I put things in it throughout the week that I know I am going to need at co-op and then I am much less likely to forget them. That is if I remember to take the cart.

The Photo:
I thought I would share a few of the things I try not to leave home without. You will notice in this picture that my cell phone is missing. That would be because I left it at a friends house this afternoon. Go figure!

The Word:
Never worry about anything. Instead, in every situation let your petitions be made known to God through prayers and requests, with thanksgiving. Philippians 4:6

Autumn Surprise Cupcakes

Today we are getting together with some homeschooling friends for our first monthly craft day. We will be making fall crafts, but to make it even more fun, we have decided to make it a crazy hair day. We are supposed to bring a snack to share so we decided to make Autumn Surprise Cupcakes. I'll try to give you a step by step so you can enjoy making them too.

What you will need:

A white cake mix and ingredients as listed on the box.
White Cake Frosting
Food Coloring
Sprinkles



Mix the cake as directed and then divide it equally into 3-4 smaller bowls.





Put 4-6 drops of food coloring into each bowl. You can add more if you need to darken up a particular color. Mix well.







Line a muffin pan with paper liners and spoon one spoonful of each color into each liner.





Bake as directed. While you wait for the cupcakes to bake, add a few drops of food coloring to the white icing to make it match one of the colors in your cupcake.



Allow the cupcakes to cool.



Frost and add sprinkles.



Break them apart and enjoy the wonderful fall colors before you gobble them down.



Variation:

Use colors to match any theme you would like for a wonderful cupcake surprise.

"Mom, will you please fix you hair?"

If you have ever stopped by my house in the morning, chances are you have caught me with a towel wrapped around my head. That is why I found it odd yesterday morning when Isaiah kept asking me when I was going go fix my hair. I should have gotten suspicious after the first remark because I always have a towel on my head when we start school, but I didn't really think too much about it at the time. Finally, I went to the basement to start a load of laundry (towels to be precise) and I came back upstairs minus the towel on my head. When Isaiah asked if I was finally going do fix my hair, I simply answered yes. I wasn't sure what the big deal was, the only thing I do to "fix" my hair through the week is comb it and pull it back into a ponytail. Not a real flattering look, but an easy up-do to keep it out of my way.

It wasn't until I opened the drawer where I keep my comb that I discovered why Isaiah was so eager for me to fix my hair. There taped to my comb was an envelope that read "To Mommy." I smiled as I opened the envelope to see what was inside. Little did I know that it would bring tears to my eyes and conviction to my heart.

In youth group last Sunday evening, the kids were given an assignment to write a letter. I knew about this assignment, but I didn't know what it was supposed to be about. Isaiah chose to write his letter to me, and this is what it said:

Dear Mommy,
In youth group we were talking about who you wanted to model your walk with Christ after, and so I picked you. Because you seem (how Lisa said it)on fire for God and you inspired me to be that way too. I hope you can be my mentor.
Love, Isaiah

I am so blessed that my son sees a love for Jesus in me, yet so convicted that my walk certainly isn't where I would like it to be. I am so thankful that all God needs is a willing vessel and not a perfect one.

Building Birdhouses

The highlight of our day today was building bird houses in science club. We have a great group of parents that make learning so enriching. Thank you Mr. Greenan for all your hard work in preparing for today's hands on fun.


















Our countdown chain has grown to 25 links. We are 1/4 of the way to our 100th day of school!!!!

Thirteen years and counting.

Yesterday, my husband and I celebrated our 13th wedding anniversary. It has been a wonderful journey and I couldn't have asked for a better man to share it with.

It seems like only yesterday we recited these vows:

I promise you that I will honor and cherish our love.
I will remain forever faithful to you in times of joy and sorrow.
I pledge to help you grow in Christ as we seek the will of God for our lives from this day forward.

I have learned to cherish every moment of our life together. Not only has Hector been faithful in times of joy and sorrow, but he has been my faithful encourager in those times. I am honored to be his wife and to walk along beside him as we continue to seek the will of God for our lives.

He sent me these beautiful roses:

Hands on History

We spent the greater part of last week working on finishing the third week of our TOG unit. I had hoped to be a little further along, but we are having too much fun learning and completing some hands on projects. I figure sixth grade isn't the time to rush through it since we will cover it all again in high school, so as long as the projects are enjoyable and enhance our learning we will continue at a pace that allows us to do that.

As much as I would like to post daily about all of the fun we are having, a more reasonable goal would be to keep a weekly update going. Then if I have time to post again through the week it will be a nice surprise to our faithful followers.

The topic of last weeks history studies was the Byzantine Empire and Rise of Islam. We took time to complete the mosaic of Justinian I and we had a blast putting together a diorama of an Arabian Marketplace. Isaiah enjoyed this project so much that he worked on it each evening and over the weekend.

We thought we would try something new and share a little video tour of our diorama. We used the digital camera to shoot the video, so it isn't the greatest quality, but it was fun. I hope you enjoy it.



Here are some pictures of this project for you to enjoy as well.























Here are some pictures of our finished mosaic for you to enjoy:







Here are some of the books we enjoyed last week:



Isaiah enjoyed a previously reviewed math game so much that we played it again. That means we don't have pictures or a review of a new game to share from last week.

By Friday, our chain had grown to 23 links, that means we are almost a quarter of the way to our 100th day of school.

BFS- KEEW YKCAW …oops..WACKY WEEK!

The Assignment:

This is WACKY WEEK here at Blogger Friend School! Everything is wacky fun! This week YOU, the student, get to share something of your choice that is little “Wacky”!!!

Have you done something crazy in your homeschool? Do you fingerpaint with your toes? Do you let your children do your hair? Do you wear your pajamas during homeschool? Oh, the list is endless, but it’s up to you and how much fun you want to have.

To make it even “wackier” (not sure if it’s really a word, but hey, we don’t check spelling this week at BFS either!!!…..try and type some or all of your post sdrawkcab. (backwards!)

!keew gnixaler dna nuf a siht ekaM

(…and forwards…Make this a fun and relaxing week!)

Our Response:

One of the things that Isaiah misses most from our previous co-op are the fun theme days that they have like crazy hair day, backwards day, retro day, etc. With just the two of us at home, we don't take a lot of time to be wacky, but this assignment spurred us to change that. Beginning this month, we have scheduled one day a month to get together with some homeschooling friends for a craft day. We have also decided to make each of those days a little crazy by adding a theme. This months theme is "Crazy Hair". Stay tuned for pictures of our wacky event.

litnu txen emit! (Until next time!)