Character Day

Our homeschool group did a character day for the kids this year. They dressed up as anyone really, there was even a Disney character. The reports were no more than 5 minutes. They had fun!

Can you guess who Pooh chose to be?  No, it isn't a bible character.  LOL

Tigger chose to be a modern character.  The guy is still alive.

Meet Martin Kratt from the famous Kratt brothers (think Zaboomafoo) and Kublai Khan, father of Genghis Khan!!!

Kublai's costume is what I had around the house.  Mom doesn't get awards for costume design around here.  

Time Flies!

I spent the whole first part of January sick.  Bleh.  I'm finally feeling like a normal human being (even considering the fact that Tigger is sobbing due to having to do his morning routine-how that's different from any other day I don't know but there you have it).

This was the month that we started our drama class again.  We are doing a much shorter drama this year (thank heavens!) and so the pressure isn't as great for the instructors or the kids.  Our performance will be in May.

This past Friday we had one of our new science classes.  This year our co-op is doing 5 nature/science classes.  So far the response has been great.  I instructed this class and will try to do a post soon on how I put it together-links included.

It's citrus season around here so I am trying my hand at preserving it in different ways.  I've done some lemon curd (which prompted cooking macaroons too--gotta use those eggwhites ya know!), lemonade and marmalade.  Since I enjoyed the lemon curd so much, I will be making more.  I made 30 jars of marmalade so far but will do more as I would like to gift some of them.

In gardening news (yes, there is still gardening going on around here), I have all my patio plants in my little greenhouse.  I managed to snag two dwarf citrus trees off the clearance rack at Lowe's at the end of the season-$7 each.  Woo Hoo!  So far they are both staying alive.  The Kumquat is doing ok but the little clementine tree is loaded with flowers.  I'm using blossom set spray on them hoping that I'll get some nice fruit.  I have about 16 grape tomato plants in there too--baby ones.  Ummm, more seed sprouted than what I expected.  I managed to start about 4-5 cilantro plants and I just repotted those on Saturday.  I also put out my broccoli, cabbage and cauliflower seeds into their little containers for 'Winter Seed Sowing'.  Hopefully, that will work out.  I still have different greens growing in the garden--mustard, collards, kale.  They are under 1 light row cover--it's all I had at the time.  Thankfully our winter has been mild so far.  Today The King is putting together some trellises for me from free wood he's gathered.  I need to get more things vertical for space this coming season.  My seed stash has been replaced by an order from Baker Creek Heirloom Seed Company.  I love them and their beautiful catalogs!

A reminder of good growing to come!

Oh!  About that photo above, it's supposed to be my 'cottage garden'.  It went wild this past year.  I had overgrown everything-the echinacea was popping up everywhere as were the shasta daisies.  The irises had formed huge dense rhizome systems.  I stripped everything out-and I do mean everything except for my roses and my clematis plant (I did cut that back).  I had so many extra plants that I gave some away and if the others survive I may trying selling them this spring.  We will see....  Also, I'm really hoping the garden recovers this year to look nice--it won't look as lush but maybe, just maybe it will still be pretty?  Here's crossing my fingers!  I guess if worst comes to worst I can stick in a bunch of annuals until the other stuff fills out again.

That picket fence we put up in the spring to try to prevent the dogs from getting in there.  They were still getting in but I think with an adjustment, we are keeping them mostly out.  We will be fencing them off into a dog pen/run this coming year as I am expanding my gardening range and want to keep them out of my beds.

Ok.  Enough for today.  Hope you all are doing well!

Grandfather Mtn & Gem Mining

In early May some in our homeschool group took a trip to the mountains of North Carolina. We made it a camping trip which was 'interesting'. And only 'interesting' because of the conditions of the campground. I've never been to a group campsite before but from that experience, I don't plan on repeating it anytime soon. I much prefer the individual sites with a little privacy and room.

We did enjoy each other's company though and the activities were a blast. We hiked a trail at Grandfather Mountain and below you will see a bunch of the kids making the adults nervous by hanging out close to the 'edges'.

This trail leads you to a lookout where you can see the grandfather. It's due to the mountain looking like an old man's face as if he's lying on his back.

Too bad I didn't seem to get a picture of it. It was a windy day but thankfully not too windy. We were able to go out on the hanging bridge. That'll scare the pants off anyone who has a problem with heights as you travel across a bridge one mile high. I just didn't look down. And I'm embarrassed to admit that I crouched as I walked across. I didn't want any part of my body above the railings. You know, in case some strong gust of wind came along, picked me up and threw me off. You think about things like that when you're up there.

On a different day we made it to a gem mine. You just can't visit the mountains of NC without hitting a gem mine. The boys were enthralled finding their 'treasure'! I can see the lure of this cheap pastime. Well, it's cheap if you don't actually do anything with your stones. LOL I found a nice hunk of ruby but I didn't have it cut. Maybe for my 25th wedding anniversary or something?

You can tell here who was pretty intense. Tigger didn't let up until every last scrap of sand was sifted through. I helped Pooh make it through his bucket. He did a lot better than I thought he would. And once he started finding some gems, he was happy.
You can see the flow of water was coming along at a nice clip. It kept our work area clean so we could see what we were looking for.

Greeting Card Fundraiser

Our local homeschool group is doing a fundraiser to raise money for our yearbooks. Yes, this is our second year having a group yearbook. Last year's was great and the kids were so excited. This year they are at it again getting pages ready for printing. We've had lots of activities to record and pictures are flying through everyone's emails in preparation.

The fundraiser consists of greeting cards made from artwork done by some of the kids in the group, Pooh included. We've taken photos of sketches or paintings they have done and had greeting cards printed with those creations. Here is the watercolor that Pooh did:


Here are some samples of other artwork included on the greeting cards:





I'm not quite sure how all this is going to come out looking. I was trying to achieve a look but the photos and words may be wonky once this is published.

If anyone would like to buy a set of greeting cards to support our group, I would be happy to email you an order form. Just click on my profile and click again on 'Email' and let me know you'd like an order form and I'll get it right to you!

You may buy a set of ten that includes different cards or you can purchase all one type. However you wish to do it. There are a total of 11 different cards. All cards are blank on the inside. We have two sizes to choose from as well-- 5x6.5 and 7x10. There will be a $2 shipping charge. They do include the envelopes.

Here is what a set of 5 looks like.

Thanks for checking them out!!!

January Activities

We've been keeping quite busy in between snow storms. In keeping with the cold weather, we got with our homeschool group for ice skating.

He's quite determined.

Pooh did a great job this time. He stayed out on the ice the whole time. (before he would sneak into the warm food area where the video games are) Also, despite falling a few times, he got back up and kept on going. And stayed cheerful!

Next up is Discovery Place in Charlotte, NC. It is usually a great place (well, it still is somewhat) but this time over half of it was closed off for renovations. We didn't know that until we got there. However, the boys still had a grande time!

Tigger enjoyed the building table. Lots of little kids in those areas.

He had a meltdown once because his creation was destroyed by others but he managed to regain his control and try again. I was very proud of him!

This is a wind table. The boats are on wheels and the kids can change the direction of the wind and the sails to see how things move differently with the changes.

This table was mostly surrounded by boys and they had fun racing those boats.

More wind!!! It's a hurricane tube. It replicates the wind forces of a Category 1 Hurricane. The wind speed reached 78 miles an hour.

It's messing up my hair! LOL Bad wind!

In addition to these events, we've been working on our play for drama, doing our best to keep up with school work and generally enjoying the bursts of winter weather. I can't wait for some spring temps though!

Crazy Day and Field Trip Photos

Well, today was eventful. It started out pretty normal. The boys got their morning routines and chores done while I took care of family finances and some other computer business. We had scheduled to meet with some homeschoolers for a Board Game day (we all bring board games and the kids just play the ones they want). A friend showed up early to my house and we were getting things together for me to take off with my boys and one of hers, when my van decided to stop working. RPM is not holding like it should. So we all piled into her vehicle so she could drop us off at the meeting location. I couldn't get a hold of the King because they had rerouted his phone calls to some weird new voice mail. I finally just dialed a similar number that I knew would reach someone in the company and asked the nice lady to find my husband for me so I could talk to him. LOL Then I get there and have a 'discussion' with another mom who insisted she knew which way was North (she was wrong). ;D Her "internal compass" must have checked out for the day. Hee Hee Thank you Charlotte Mason! I'm observant of direction because I'm teaching it to the children. A Formidable List of Attainments for a child of six?!?

Anyhoo, I'm home now. I managed to avoid a Pooh meltdown too. I thought he would have a cow because he couldn't look at books at the library today (we were waiting to be picked up by the friend whose son I was watching) but he handled it. He showed appropriate disappointment and that was it. Now I need to get in gear for dinner and kitchen duty for me.

Here are a few photos of a field trip we did this fall at a local military park and education center.

All the boys preparing for their own battle.

Finding cannons in the woods.

After that we did a walk/bike ride for a few miles up and down some great hills (if you had a bike anyway).

Preparing for another battle with little men.

A little bit of nature thrown in. It was a beautiful autumn day. These swans were munching away in a pond along the walkway.

Old Salem

We headed to Old Salem in Winston-Salem, NC today. It is an old Moravian settlement. The weather was pretty icky with lots of rain but we still had a nice time. The price was right as each fall they put on a Homeschool Day with reduced rates.

A sample of Vogler House. I love sleigh beds.

The kids enjoyed some of the activities. Right here they are making what I think was called a Fraktur. It is basically a label for a book. It states who did the book. After they make the label, they went to another area to make the actual book. Folded papers punched with an awl and then linen string was used to bind them. The third portion was going to the last area where they used a quill pen to write in their book. These books were used as journals or diaries.

They had outside activities too. I don't remember what this is called but it was a very common toy in the 19th century. You try to keep the wheel rolling by hitting it with the stick. Pooh had fun with this one.

Not so much with trying to get the ball in the cup. The nice thing was that he didn't get upset about not being able to do it. He handled that well. After many attempts, he just decided he was done. He tried a lot longer than I thought he would. He's just not getting the coordinating down right.

I think Tigger managed to get his in on accident. LOL Plus, his was a tiny one with a very short string. He was quite proud though.

19th century fire fighters. Hmmm, nice but I daresay the building would still be in ruins at the end. There were kids and adults standing under the spray too. If you really look, you can see that the employees are dressed in period costumes. They are like that in all the houses.

We saw some guinea hens hanging out. They started calling loudly to each other for about 30 seconds. That was pretty cool to hear. Loud, but cool.

Tigger at the entrance to the toy museum. They have a fabulous toy museum here. Antique doll houses, circus trains and animals, boats, airplanes, dolls, etc.

We also saw a 20 minute puppet show that was based on Aesop's Fables. It was really cute! The Moravian Bakery was also rewarding. Sugar cake! Mmmmmmm.

Can't wait for the next time around! There were more places we didn't get to visit this year and each year is a different 'theme'.

A Lot Going On

Things have been very busy around here lately.

Friday we had Drama practice, a Co-Op Athletic event and Art. Saturday was our annual 'Mommy Meeting' for our homeschool group where we get together to discuss next year's activities. Ever since then, we've been getting ready to leave for a field trip/vacation.

We're headed to Wilmington, NC. One of our field trip moms organized a river boat ride and a day at an aquarium at Ft. Fisher. The boys are very excited. We're leaving this afternoon so as to have a couple of free days to enjoy ourselves.

I had hoped to leave a couple of reading goodies for you while gone, but that didn't happen. So, I'll be taking lots of photos and will get things back on track when I return.

Have a great week everyone!

Fundraising-Yard Sale

This past weekend when I had my little blog break, I was still quite busy. We were fundraising for our local homeschool group. I'm in charge of coordinating field trips and we've started this year to hold fundraisers to raise money to pay for the kids to go. We managed to have about 5-6 field trips this year where all the kids got in free! This was from one yard sale and one candy bar fundraiser. The yard sale we just completed is getting some funds together to be ready to start the year in September.

Thursday I had the boys helping me a lot. There was a lot of stuff from the last yard sale that I had saved and put into my shed. It had to come out (and nothing was getting saved this time!). Then there were tables and other wood shelving that had to be pulled out and set up. There was no way I could do it myself, so I had Pooh and Tigger helping me. They did great! It was the one day last week where it felt very warm outside so Pooh complained a bit about being hot. We took breaks here and there to ease the load.

Friday was the first day of the sale. The weather proved to be tricky. Despite the forecast the day before that it was going to rain LATE afternoon and evening, the rain started at about 12:30. We did pretty well despite only being open an hour and a half. My volunteers (which included several of the teenagers in our group) helped us cover what could be covered and bring in the rest. Shall we say it was a bit crowded in my family room/basement???

Saturday was the main day. We were able to sell quite a bit and earned several hundred dollars to help the group. We were busy constantly. We started closing up at about 3pm and took all the leftovers to one of the Goodwill drop off sites. Yeah! It's done and I don't have to look at any of that stuff anymore.

My only legacy is that I need an adjustment. I really wore out my back on Thursday so I guess I'll have to change those plans for our next one. Even with the boys helping, I did too much. I hate getting older!