School Update

We have finished the first four weeks of school. I continue to be amazed at how smoothly the weeks fly by. It is such hard work .... but it is work I enjoy more than ANYTHING I have ever done ..... ever. I am SO blessed. As we see the school bus go by each day now that the neighborhood kids have started back to school, I just thank God for the opportunity to have mine here with me.

People have begun to ask me if I plan to homeschool through High School. I honestly think most of my friends and family probably thought this was a phase that would pass. I guess when we started year two they must have thought we had "crossed over" into being THOSE people. haha

I still don't have the answer to their question. I stick with the "one day at a time" answer (Nope .... not even one YEAR at a time .... one DAY). I have been humbled by God on enough occasions to never say never. I certainly NEVER thought I would homeschool so how can I possibly say with any certainty how long I will continue?

All I know is that in this moment, I am confident that in regards to school, we are right in the middle of His will for us. That peace is what makes it go so smoothly. Of that I am confident.

Ok .... I will lighten up now. =)

Science is the most "photogenic" subject we have around here so again I have pictures from science. Bubby's latest "experiment". (Note: We have to call ALL science related projects or assignments "experiments" because he is SO jealous of all of Fancy's experiments).

This past week we were learning about solar eclipses.

Notice - Bubby worked hard to get the eclipse lined up with Texas in the second pic.

Math Manipulatives or Architecture Study?

He was supposed to be using his Base Ten Blocks to work on his math facts.

Hmmmmmm .......................

More Science Fun

Bubby had SO much fun today with his science experiment. Of course, what eight year old boy wouldn't love to burn something, right?

A Sunny Day + A Magnifying Glass + A Leaf = One Happy Eight Year Old Kid!!!

You can see the beginning of the burn in this one:
Here he is a bit frustrated at being interrupted by a passing cloud:He also learned (and journaled about) why it is unsafe to look directly at the sun. "We have a lens inside our eye like a magnifying glass. When we look at the sun our lens bends the sun rays into a bright stream of light that will burn a hole in the back of our eye."
And here is his diagram of his experiment:
Homeschool is SO fun!

Another Visitor

Bubby was SO excited to come across another Wolf Spider yesterday. This one was quite a bit smaller than our previous houseguest. She was right inside the back door in my kitchen. The most exciting part (for Bubby) was that this one was carrying her egg sac. He insisted I get "real close" to get a good picture. I overcame my anxiety and snapped this pic.

The Husband kindly scooped her up on a dustpan so she could be escorted outside and I got a couple more quick pics.

Bubby is hoping to see one soon carrying babies on it's back. Ugh! Please God, let that finding be OUTSIDE!!!

Thanks!

Thank you Debbie for the lovely flowers and balloon!

I miss you!

Crazy Texas Weather

The Husband and I took a walk this evening after dinner. We couldn't pass up the chance in the nice 80 degree weather. About halfway through our stroll, we started watching a storm rolling in. We walked very QUICKLY the rest of the way home to beat it. It was getting DARK fast ... and not from a sunset. =)

I am not much of a weather buff but I just HAD to get the camera on this one.

Amazingly, we only got a little bit of rain!

Early Birthday Fun

Someone is turning 35 this week. It certainly can't be me because I feel 25. Anyway, it doesn't matter who it is .... details are not important. =)

This past weekend, we had a little dinner at my parents to celebrate the unknown person's upcoming birthday. There were 5 cupcakes (35 was a bit much for candles .... and besides, who wants to bother the men at the Fire Department on a Sunday?).

Bubby was more than happy to blow them out for me the unknown birthday girl or boy.

Fancy had a blast spoiling and loving on her cousin!

Can I count this as Nature Study?

We had two encounters with "God's Creatures" last week. I am calling them that only to sound good. They both gave me a SERIOUS case of the creeps and after a short photo shoot I had to call in my hero to save me from them. =)

This spider was atleast the size of a half dollar and stood QUITE tall! I was NOT happy to see him crawling across my living room floor! I can't imagine why these pics are so blurry ... could have been the movement of the camera with the shaking of my hands? Hmmm......

A couple of days later, Bubby discovered this frog in my parents back yard. Both kids tried to get up the guts to catch him in the pitcher to get a close look. They both individually decided it was kinder to the frog to watch him from a distance. I'm sure it wasn't because either of them had the heebie-jeebies or anything!

After the kids thoroughly examined and photographed them, we tried looking them up in this book:

But honestly had more success at possible identifications online.

We're confident we had a Wolf Spider (Lycosa rabida) on our hands and were quite intrigued to learn that they carry their babies on their backs .... HUNDREDS of babies! GROSS! NEAT!

We never came to an official decision on the frog.

Regardless, it was fun ..... SORT OF!

School Fun

Here are some random fun things we did in school last week:

Bubby had to create a mnemonic to help him remember the names of the planets in order (closest to the sun to furthest from the sun).

If it is difficult to read, it says: "Miss Vickie Eats Marshmallow (and) Jelly Sandwiches Using Nice Plates". I was impressed!

Here he is building his Solar System with Dad:

And my favorite: I was having a hard time getting Bubby to grasp the concept of Declarative vs. Interrogative sentences. He couldn't understand why we couldn't just call it a sentence vs. a question (Honestly, I can feel his pain on that one). Anyway, one of the days I had to nap in the afternoon so I could go in to work that night, Fancy took the mission upon herself. She helped him come up with a Venn Diagram . I got up and Bubby proclaimed, "Mom, I GET IT NOW!". He took me to the diagram and explained it EXACTLY. He aced the test the next day on the topic.

Should I be concerned that my 7th grader explained it better than I could? I mean worried about ME, not HER!

I love that girl!

Bubby's Notebooks

Last year we used 3 ring binders for our notebooks. For each subject, each kiddo had a 3 ring binder for their notes, drawings, etc.

This year I decided to try 10X10 spiral bound scrapbooks similar to these. The ones I got are 10X10 and the paper inside is cardstock.

Bubby has been diligently designing the covers for his American History and Astronomy notebooks.

And yes, we included Pluto on the cover after much debate! =)

Fancy isn't done yet. She is a perfectionist and has designed and trashed several attempts over the last week or so. For now, her books remain with the plain white cover.

Another Hit Today

They had a blast with Fancy's science experiment again today.

Baking Soda in a balloon

Vinegar and colored water in a 2 liter bottle

Place balloon over 2 liter and allow baking soda to fall into vinegar water

The balloon really filled quickly and was very full - I didn't get a pic of it at it's largest.

They immediately insisted on doing it again and wanted to try different colored water this time (these experiments always take forever because we HAVE to do them ATLEAST twice!)

I just LOVE his face in this last oneWooHoo!

We're moving right along in all our other subjects as well .... they just aren't as photographically exciting.

Hope you're having a great week!