First Month of School!

I can't believe we have been homeschooling for a month now!  It seems like a blur... some days forever long and others so fast.  It seems like we are always busy!  I feel like I have been learning a lot too.  I learned that I should have started with my school rules board.  If you didn't guess the first one on there has been our hardest one.  This last week was a million times better than we have been so that gives me hope ;).

Here is our wall with our big map that we talk about every morning.  We review the continents and our country, state, and city.  The kids love to help find them all!  There is also a new white board I need to put up that gives the kids a new chart for finishing each subject.  We started this chart this week.  I think the little checks help the kids feel like they are always building towards their rewards too!

The kids favorite thing is history.  We are starting with the beginning of the earth.  When we got to cave paintings we decided we needed to do some on our wall, on butcher paper of course.  When we were camping the kids were making their own bow and arrows.  They also did a charcoal drawing.  I love how much they love it and putting it into their real life experiences.

The school room!  Where all the magic happens.  We do the pledge every morning as well :)

Our most recent history project was making our own clay pots from salt dough.  Let's just say ours didn't turn out as nice as the cool pictures we saw.  We also recently discovered how people used to make tokens out of clay and such.  The kids make their own tokens today that they can use to turn in for their rewards.  

Here is Talmage's pot and tokens

Sandra putting her tokens in her pot

Grant's pot cracked in half, but he's still using it ;)

The different shapes for the kids tokens.  Mhari, Talmage, Sandra and Grant

One of the other things that we have done to make school better is put an extra lesson on Monday, Tuesday, and Wednesday so that way we have Friday's off of our regular school work.  Today we made it to the library.  In the future we will also be able to do our field trips!  Being able to have more time to do fun things has really made homeschool that much better!  
Speaking of fun things, getting out each week for co-op has been really great!  The kids all love their classes and I have enjoyed doing P.E. for the little kids!  By the end of the day we are all exhausted :).  Oh, and we have 4-H on Wednesdays as well as cubs later that night.  Some days it seems like we are so involved it's crazy!  It's a good crazy though and we love doing it all together!

3, 2, 1 . . . Blast Off!!!

Last night we had our Pack Space Derby!  It was our boys first time to build rockets and do races.  It was a crazy, fun time.  First we did our usual pack meeting stuff - awards!  Here is Grant giving me the mother's pin for earning his Wolf (which he earned like 10 months ago, but had never been awarded.  Oh and he has earned his Bear now too, but somehow we didn't get that award either... hmmm).  It will be good to get his shirt updated ;)

Talmage earned quite a few more activity pins for Webelos.  I need to buy him his colors.  Until then he has been using his collar.  It is ridiculous how much he has on there!  By the time he moves on he will have earned all of the activity pins on his own planning... he is such a dedicated boy :)

Clark went and found this shirt in his drawer so he could wear it for scouts.  I think he wanted to match me and his brothers.  Oh, man he will be a little cub before we know it!

Silly faces!

Grant getting his rocket wound

Waiting for the rockets to be released (in the background)

His first race - 2nd place - black and orange rocket

2nd race

Talmage's first race.  

Waiting

2nd place - blue and orange rocket

Close race!

Grant with his prize!  2nd place in the Bear den

Talmage with his prize!  1st place in Webelos den.  There were three boys who took the prizes for the whole pack so that helped bump up our boys in their dens.  The awards were cute :)

The boys did a great job putting their rockets together.  They even picked the paint and designed and painted them themselves.  The week before the dens helped the boys put together display stands so that really made the rockets look complete.  I think the trick to the rockets is all about how many winds do you do for your rocket before the rubber band snaps.  The boys had a really great time with all of it!

Crazy Hair Pirate Day!

Last week at our co-op we had a crazy hair day!  The boys had just gotten hair cuts so there wasn't much to work with.  Clark still asked so I gave him three tiny pony tails.  He was a baby triceritops :).  The girls let me give them "bunny ears" and Lorna got two front pony tails like a rhino!  They originally didn't want to participate, but if I make the hair styles sound like an animal they are more willing ;).  Plus it's more of a cute thing than crazy.  I guess they must think that crazy isn't so cute ;).  It was fun to have a theme day!

That was also the national pirate day.  Krispe Kreme will give away a box of donuts to those dressed up as pirates (a single donut for talking like a pirate) so we decided to make it our field trip activity for the week!

I got everyone together in an hours time.  I think they look pretty good for making pirates out of what we had lying around ;).  

We met up with cousins and other than some car troubles it was a great time!  We only took three boxes of donuts home with us, even though we could have had 7 dozen!  I figured we didn't really need that many donuts ;).  
Happy crazy hair, dress like a pirate day!

First Football Game!

Jeff got some cheap tickets to a TCU game at the beginning of the football season.  We decided it would be a good activity for the boys.  Jeff, his brother Nathan, and all their boys went to the game.  The kids all got to run out across the field right before kick off too!  They each got a shirt for going on the field.  It was a pretty hot Saturday so they only lasted the first half.  Here are some pictures from the stadium.  

The view from their seats

Looking at the field

Clark in his new shirt

They took a group picture of the boys when they got back.  Their shirts are really purple and Owen scored a foam hand that someone shared.  

Hanging out with Daddy watching more sports ;)

It was hard to be out in the heat ... relaxing time!

I think the funny part is that the boys probably like being home watching sports more than being at the stadium.  I guess it's good to know.  I'm sure being a hot Saturday didn't help.  

Slip N Slide

A few weeks ago our ward did an Elder's Quorum water family activity.  We were invited and the kids spent their time on the slip 'n slide!  It was fun to see them experience it and have such fun :).  

Here is Sandra

Lorna hung out at the bottom of the slide with me while I took pictures.  She liked it, but not enough to go crazy in the water.

Talmage, Sandra, and Grant

Talmage

Mhari

Grant going nice and fast.  He and Talmge were getting really good at going fast and making it to the end of the slip 'n slide!

Grant got bumped in his stomach one time sliding down... not sure how.  Poor guy.

Lorna having fun in the water

Mhari and Talmage

Daddy hanging with Clark.  Clark was being shy and wouldn't go down the slide.

Grant and Lorna

Lorna tried the slide a couple of times with her brothers.  She did OK, but it was a big slide... kind of scary.

She liked climbing the fence ;)

Clark found a ball and started playing a game to throw the ball to the kids sliding.  It was cute to watch.

And right before we left Clark was going down the slide!  Glad he was able to enjoy it, even if it took him a while to warm up to it.  

Oh the joy of slip 'n slides :)