Monday, April 18, 2011
Easter!
On top of our ongoing southwest unit, we are also incorporationg a couple weeks of the Easter unit from Konos. Last week, we spent some time reading out of the bible about the last supper, we read some Passover books from the library and talked about the symbolism. Also, we made matzah and set our timer for 16 mintues all the while pretendnign to the be Israelites and hurrying around as we didn't have much time before we needed to get out of Egypt. We read about the 10 plagues and talked about different ones and how we would have felt.
Moriah and Jayden acted out, with the help of puppets, the last supper and we reclined on pillows as we enjoyed our Matzah. I am really, REALLY looking forward to this week as I do not do the Easter bunny thing. I tried it, I like it, it just doesn't ever seem to fit into how I am wanting our Easter traditions to go. We really focus on Christ, the colored eggs in symbolism of Him, etc. It's just a very sacred week to me and I can't , for the life of me, get into the Easter bunny. I have friends that do and I think it's awesome....I just can't. Anyways, we have so much planned and I can't wait to take pictures and write about it. Blessed is HE who comes in the name of the Lord!
Home, Home On The Range
Yee haw! We have been saddling up here mighty fine studyin' the southwest states. What a great week it has been! Earlier this past week we put on our cowboy/cowgirl/ train conductor ( oh, how there is always an non conformist in the group lol) outfits, placed a quilt in the living room floor and ate our cowboy grub which consisted of pork and beans wrapped up in a tortilla. We learned that the cowboys didn't use utensils much but rather tortillas for scooping and holding their food together. Austen decided he wanted nothing to do with the food and requested a pbutter/apple butter sandwich. I agreed for sake of keeping peace but then he ate a nibble of that and said he was done.
I set up a campfire and we sat around and read about scorpions, rattlesnakes, the Hopi Indians and how they had no doors or windows on their homes but climbed up to their roofs and went down the openings there. We sang home on the range and Jayden, Moriah ( who claimed her self to be a girl scorpion who was going to " peench you") and Austen played a game of charades where they acted out different desert animals. This was fun to watch because they know so many. One in particular Jayden stood up and had spikes pretending to dart out of his body as he morphed into a saguaro cactus. The kids thought I had lost my marbles when I began talking in a twisted western accent only acknowledging myself as Suzy Mae. " Mama, mama, can you not talk like that?" Haha!
Later that week, we attended a birthday party at a mountain range where it tied so perfectly into our southwest studies because after the party we all went in to talk to the ranger who spoke awhile on desert animals and their tendencies, eating habits, etc. Especially the scorpion. Blech!
Equipped with our black lights, we headed out. If you can imagine me. My ears are highly attuned to any rattle, ruffle, scuffle or slide that may encircle my ankles at any second and try to steal the life out of me. But, never fear, I forgot that due to the fact that it was ME that was hiking we would be guaranteed not a single animal sighting and yes, we found not one scorpion on the entire hunt in the dark. I was stunned, what! I never want to see one in my home but I wanted to see one in the desert. Sooo, Ben talked about taking the kids later this month to another scorpion hunt. I will probably not go so that they can have the privilege of seeing scorpions. I think I emit waves of terror through the air that send out signals to any living thing and they just hide; I have no idea.
We also made a diorama of a desert scene. The kids created cacti out of cardboard. We were going to paint them but the kids opted to color them instead which was fine with me- less mess. They took toothpicks, split them in half and stuck them around their cardboard cactus. We also read MORE desert books about drought, rattlesnakes, and the adaption of desert plant life- Saguaros are succulent plants they " suck" the water that falls on the ground around them. We talked about our trips to the Grand Canyon as well and looked at pictures. The boys have been listening to Hank the Cowdog ( a " lovely" and so " deep") audio book series of a Texan talking dog and his "wild" adventures. For as much bible, classical literature ( the real Mary Poppins series....) and quality children's literature I don't mind the occasional Hank but it kills me listening to it...its kinda like the equivalent of Diego on tv.....my mind starts to go numb. Sorry Diego!
We have also been reading a really cool series on Arizona. It is an alphabet and number books for different things that make our state unique. Learning about the different agricultural and development of the state has been fascinating...let's see if I can get the five c's right- copper, citrus, cotton, cattle and shoot can't remember! Also, reading about Oklahoma from the scholastic series of states. This is, again, a great resource when studying the states as it is a colorful series with lots of history, social factors, food ideas, and talking....although, I did talk to my friend who is from OK who stated that not all the "Oklahoman" words were used that often. Nevertheless, we are having a great time. This week will be our wrap up and hopefully just as fun! Saddle up!
I set up a campfire and we sat around and read about scorpions, rattlesnakes, the Hopi Indians and how they had no doors or windows on their homes but climbed up to their roofs and went down the openings there. We sang home on the range and Jayden, Moriah ( who claimed her self to be a girl scorpion who was going to " peench you") and Austen played a game of charades where they acted out different desert animals. This was fun to watch because they know so many. One in particular Jayden stood up and had spikes pretending to dart out of his body as he morphed into a saguaro cactus. The kids thought I had lost my marbles when I began talking in a twisted western accent only acknowledging myself as Suzy Mae. " Mama, mama, can you not talk like that?" Haha!
Later that week, we attended a birthday party at a mountain range where it tied so perfectly into our southwest studies because after the party we all went in to talk to the ranger who spoke awhile on desert animals and their tendencies, eating habits, etc. Especially the scorpion. Blech!
Equipped with our black lights, we headed out. If you can imagine me. My ears are highly attuned to any rattle, ruffle, scuffle or slide that may encircle my ankles at any second and try to steal the life out of me. But, never fear, I forgot that due to the fact that it was ME that was hiking we would be guaranteed not a single animal sighting and yes, we found not one scorpion on the entire hunt in the dark. I was stunned, what! I never want to see one in my home but I wanted to see one in the desert. Sooo, Ben talked about taking the kids later this month to another scorpion hunt. I will probably not go so that they can have the privilege of seeing scorpions. I think I emit waves of terror through the air that send out signals to any living thing and they just hide; I have no idea.
We also made a diorama of a desert scene. The kids created cacti out of cardboard. We were going to paint them but the kids opted to color them instead which was fine with me- less mess. They took toothpicks, split them in half and stuck them around their cardboard cactus. We also read MORE desert books about drought, rattlesnakes, and the adaption of desert plant life- Saguaros are succulent plants they " suck" the water that falls on the ground around them. We talked about our trips to the Grand Canyon as well and looked at pictures. The boys have been listening to Hank the Cowdog ( a " lovely" and so " deep") audio book series of a Texan talking dog and his "wild" adventures. For as much bible, classical literature ( the real Mary Poppins series....) and quality children's literature I don't mind the occasional Hank but it kills me listening to it...its kinda like the equivalent of Diego on tv.....my mind starts to go numb. Sorry Diego!
We have also been reading a really cool series on Arizona. It is an alphabet and number books for different things that make our state unique. Learning about the different agricultural and development of the state has been fascinating...let's see if I can get the five c's right- copper, citrus, cotton, cattle and shoot can't remember! Also, reading about Oklahoma from the scholastic series of states. This is, again, a great resource when studying the states as it is a colorful series with lots of history, social factors, food ideas, and talking....although, I did talk to my friend who is from OK who stated that not all the "Oklahoman" words were used that often. Nevertheless, we are having a great time. This week will be our wrap up and hopefully just as fun! Saddle up!
Tuesday, April 12, 2011
The Southwest!
Well, we have arrived. Here we are in the southwest and studying it like crazy these next couple of weeks. We are mixing in the Easter unit as well so to say our plate will be full is an understatement. Yesterday, we went to the zoo and had such a great time. We arrived before regular opening and enjoyed the peacefulness of the zoo, watching the zoo keepers care for the animal habitats, and being able to view the new orangutan exhibit with very little competition. We meandered through the rain forest area and headed to the southwest ( AZ Sonoran Desert) part. I have always enjoyed this part as all these animals are still fairly exotic to me. I love seeing the desert tortoise, rattlesnakes, coach whips, and gila monsters ( and yes I yelled Gee-la monster when I first arrived as well as JAH-valena and Sa-GUA-Ro_) Lord, have mercy!
We also observed mountian lions, a bob cat grooming itself, the rare Mexican red wolf, pronghorn, as well as prickly pear cactus blooming, prairie dogs and the sonoran toad. The desert is so beautiful right now with all of its blooming. Wow God, you are amazing! When you look at a desert, many people see cactus and brown but when you see how God dressed the cactus with a blooming period where they burst with vibrant pink, orange, yellow color...it's amazing. The wild flowers and poppies blooming at the base of the mountains is simply breath taking.
We also visited a railroad park! What a great experience. We had heard so much about it from others and were very impressed with the affordability of it, for a family our size, and all that he had to offer. We rode the train around the park, the kids rode an old fashion carousel equipped with a coach ( the younger kids and I rode in this) and Jay rode the horse behind us. Disney music from Mary Poppins and other older movies played beautifully around the carousel. It was so much fun! We also toured an old train that was like stepping back in time through the train station, seeing how the cars were organized with the guest quarters, the area where Franklin Roosevelt gave speeches and had held meetings, how the food was prepared, where they slept, went to the bathroom.
We also toured their newest addition, a model train building where the most extensive model train sets that I have ever seen were created and still being created. This opened 10 weeks ago and is free for the first year, fyi! The kids loved chasing the trains around the track and they rode in an old fashion trolley too!
Finally, we ate a picnic lunch when we first arrived and played on two different play structures. One was designed as a western saloon/general store/jail house. The kids loved running around it putting each other in jail, breaking free and making a run for it on the jail house roof. I even chased the kids with Hannah in tow around and around. I was laughing when Riah wanted me to crawl into the smallest hole with her. Many things I can do Miss Moriah, that, now that is now one of them. However, the three of us girls slid down the slide together and had a great time. It was hard to go but I think that going to the zoo will now equate making a stop at the train park too. It just makes sense considering how close the two are together and how far the zoo is from us.
We enjoyed reading and learning about the transportation that AZ used back in the late 1800s to early 1900s and how much has changed since that time. I enjoyed reading that Phoenix had quite an elaborate trolley system and for much of its earlier stages this is what helped develop and transport people back then, first by mules and horses and then by electricity. Overall, we had a great day- finished it off with a java chip frapp and made the drive home listening to Adventures in Odyssey all the way. I love homeschooling!
We also observed mountian lions, a bob cat grooming itself, the rare Mexican red wolf, pronghorn, as well as prickly pear cactus blooming, prairie dogs and the sonoran toad. The desert is so beautiful right now with all of its blooming. Wow God, you are amazing! When you look at a desert, many people see cactus and brown but when you see how God dressed the cactus with a blooming period where they burst with vibrant pink, orange, yellow color...it's amazing. The wild flowers and poppies blooming at the base of the mountains is simply breath taking.
We also visited a railroad park! What a great experience. We had heard so much about it from others and were very impressed with the affordability of it, for a family our size, and all that he had to offer. We rode the train around the park, the kids rode an old fashion carousel equipped with a coach ( the younger kids and I rode in this) and Jay rode the horse behind us. Disney music from Mary Poppins and other older movies played beautifully around the carousel. It was so much fun! We also toured an old train that was like stepping back in time through the train station, seeing how the cars were organized with the guest quarters, the area where Franklin Roosevelt gave speeches and had held meetings, how the food was prepared, where they slept, went to the bathroom.
We also toured their newest addition, a model train building where the most extensive model train sets that I have ever seen were created and still being created. This opened 10 weeks ago and is free for the first year, fyi! The kids loved chasing the trains around the track and they rode in an old fashion trolley too!
Finally, we ate a picnic lunch when we first arrived and played on two different play structures. One was designed as a western saloon/general store/jail house. The kids loved running around it putting each other in jail, breaking free and making a run for it on the jail house roof. I even chased the kids with Hannah in tow around and around. I was laughing when Riah wanted me to crawl into the smallest hole with her. Many things I can do Miss Moriah, that, now that is now one of them. However, the three of us girls slid down the slide together and had a great time. It was hard to go but I think that going to the zoo will now equate making a stop at the train park too. It just makes sense considering how close the two are together and how far the zoo is from us.
Thursday, April 7, 2011
Little Peepers
I have eczema, sometimes of the year really, really bad. I almost always have it on 2 fingers and I'm at the point now where I have switched detergents to all natural oils, done with fabric softener, eat very little wheat and working on the dairy. I am trying to figure out what is the cause. But one thing, when I am stressed, no matter what time of year I will start wringing my fingers back and forth because the itching sensation actually starts to make me feel calm. I am of a different breed, just bare with me.
The thought that Moriah was doing this blew my mind. She literally observes with blatant details my actions. The other day I was loving on Ben and Austen kept saying, " mama, mama, mama,mama,mama....." and Moriah goes, " Auten! you not keep sayin' mama, mama, mama, you say cuse me mama and den wait" - ummm, how may times have I said that to my children and here little mamacita at the ripe old age of 2.5 is reciting that. That just makes me even more , scrutinize my daily interactions with my family. It is very important for me to respect Ben as my husband, the leader of our family and a father, to love him and to serve him. I truly try to every day, and by no means am I perfect....who is....but wow, if my little chica grows up and can take an ounce of all my effort of all that I have tried to learn since we first got married and bring it with her into her marriage someday, it will be all worth it. Whether playing gobs of goopy makeup, sticky mascara, or too much bronzer over one side of her face with purple eye shadow to mimicking my tone of voice or sayings, I pray that what I'm seeing and hearing in my "reflection" is honoring to the Lord. God I bring this before you. Thank you.
Potty Train All Aboard!
Yes, Moriah is potty trained, more appropriately put Moriah trained her potty. If any of you have potty trained a child before it is a very humbling experience. I tried to potty train her at 21 months- HAHA! It was a joke. I did, successfully do it until Hannah arrived and then she resorted back into making puddles all around our home. Do we have a puppy now? So after waking up morning after morning very irritated we put her in pull ups and life became so much easier. The only problem, FOR ME, was that I felt like I failed. I know it may sound so insane, but I put a lot of effort into my children and potty training was one of them.
Jay was "p.t'd" at 37 months, Austen at 26 months ( completely I might add, meaning no accidents ever- amazing child that he is), and then there is Moriah. I had someone pose a question, what are your tips. I wish I had some. To be honest, all those potty training books out there, I am beginning to realize are just lovely references to what a perfect world would look like if we could cookie cutter our children into them.
How did Moriah finally get it? She had diarrhea the entire previous week and turned around, figured out what the sensation was to "go" and started running to the bathroom and doing her business on her own. Isn't that what potty trained really is? I mean, for them to know the sensation and just go not us always reminding them or pumping them full of juice? Yes, I have finally figured it out- just like airline ticket prices, there is no pattern to potty training with each child- To each his own, and to their mama, well it's better to buy pull ups longer and have a peaceful environment with a child that is not quite ready than to force an agenda that will come in its own time. Wow, took me 3.5 years to figure that out- yes, 3 children potty trained in 3.5 years...good, GOOD times.
Jay was "p.t'd" at 37 months, Austen at 26 months ( completely I might add, meaning no accidents ever- amazing child that he is), and then there is Moriah. I had someone pose a question, what are your tips. I wish I had some. To be honest, all those potty training books out there, I am beginning to realize are just lovely references to what a perfect world would look like if we could cookie cutter our children into them.
How did Moriah finally get it? She had diarrhea the entire previous week and turned around, figured out what the sensation was to "go" and started running to the bathroom and doing her business on her own. Isn't that what potty trained really is? I mean, for them to know the sensation and just go not us always reminding them or pumping them full of juice? Yes, I have finally figured it out- just like airline ticket prices, there is no pattern to potty training with each child- To each his own, and to their mama, well it's better to buy pull ups longer and have a peaceful environment with a child that is not quite ready than to force an agenda that will come in its own time. Wow, took me 3.5 years to figure that out- yes, 3 children potty trained in 3.5 years...good, GOOD times.
Monday, April 4, 2011
California
Phew, today was the last "catch up" day for our states. Tomorrow, we will be doing a short study on Hawaii and then taking 2 weeks to focus on the Southwest, which I am really excited about since we live here and have some awesome field trip opportunities, scorpion hunt anyone? :) But as for today, we focused on California. We have had the privilege to go to California about 5 or 6 times and I prefer northern over southern, mainly due to the congestion....but they both have beautiful things to offer.
Today, we ate some " sardines" tuna and talked about how they canned sardines along the coast in Northern California, we made comic strips of Disney characters and talked about Walt Disney; we also watched a movie on Disneyland. The kids loved seeing all the rides they went on last year and reliving the fun. WE also talked about earthquakes, what you do if you are caught in one as well as what is actually happening. We used two pillows to visualize the earths crust hitting each other and moving one plate under the other.
Surfing, who hasn't envied those surfers who spend hours in the sun and waves. We will be practicing our skateboards later as there are definitely no oceans near us but for the time being, we stood on pillows and surfed back and forth, watching out for incoming waves. I even threw out a lovely Australian/surfer accent- it was impressive let me tell you! :) We also discussed more aspects of the Redwood trees and now, even though I do not care much for California, I would like to drive to Yosemite and a little south to see the Sequoias, they look so breathtaking! On to Hawaii tomorrow!
Today, we ate some " sardines" tuna and talked about how they canned sardines along the coast in Northern California, we made comic strips of Disney characters and talked about Walt Disney; we also watched a movie on Disneyland. The kids loved seeing all the rides they went on last year and reliving the fun. WE also talked about earthquakes, what you do if you are caught in one as well as what is actually happening. We used two pillows to visualize the earths crust hitting each other and moving one plate under the other.
Surfing, who hasn't envied those surfers who spend hours in the sun and waves. We will be practicing our skateboards later as there are definitely no oceans near us but for the time being, we stood on pillows and surfed back and forth, watching out for incoming waves. I even threw out a lovely Australian/surfer accent- it was impressive let me tell you! :) We also discussed more aspects of the Redwood trees and now, even though I do not care much for California, I would like to drive to Yosemite and a little south to see the Sequoias, they look so breathtaking! On to Hawaii tomorrow!
The Pacific Northwest!
So we took the entire day yesterday and jam packed it with fun lessons geared towards Washington, Oregon and Northern California! What was so fun about these lessons is that we had just been to Oregon and N. California this past fall so the kids vividly remembered the landscape, culture and of course, the Redwood trees. We started the day off reading books on the states mentioned above, talked about apples, tall tales, volcanoes and Paul Bunyan. We loaded ourselves up with science experiment equipment, heavy "logger" attire ( and might I add this was an insane idea given it was 88 degrees yesterday) and made the long trek " through the woods" to the logger camp, aka: the park.
What a great time we had playing logger games: shimmy up trees, arm wrestling competitions, "chopping" logs and having a log( child) rolling contest. Oh how the personalities of my children come out when the word contest or " on your mark, get set, go" are stated. Austen, is so competitive that he is known to walk away and sulk if he does not win. So, we dealt with character and , oh my , cooperation as well. Funny how I mentioned that we were still on cooperation...well, I felt a little better looking at how long Konos gives to work on it and it was 30 weeks....so I guess that would be about a school year...thank you Konos now I don't feel so slow!
We also built a mountain out of sand and brought a bottle filled with baking soda, started off with 4T of baking soda but then Hannah, some how amidst eating grass, leaves and other odds and ends dumped over the bottle and spilled probably half of it...oh well, I was able to salvage most of it and our experiment was a success. It was fun to talk about Mt St Helen erupting when Nana was only 19 years old- the kids thought that age was really funny on Nana :)
We came home, ate applesauce in memory of Washington apples that are actually the apples that we receive here in AZ and took naps. What a great day! Oh, and we didnt' die of heat stroke either in spite of our heavy logger shirts.
Verse we are learning Romans 12:18 As much as it depends on you, live in peace with one another. ( Cooperation)
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| Riah rolled down a grassy hill, full speed ahead on her pink and purple bike, hit the curb, flew forward and landed on her face all in about 5 sec after arriving at the park |
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| building our volcano |
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| Mt St Helens |
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| log rolling contest |
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