Sonlight Core G-- Update

I have NOT written about the kids Sonlight as much as I had originally planned.. I hardly even did weekly sum up on it!  I so wish that I had but truthfully I was doing good to GET school work all done AND Emily's!  But we are doing better this semester... EVEN 6 weeks ago I was lamenting on how I couldn't get everything done and the kids were still doing school at night.  I am not saying it is all worked out, but it is a lot better! 

We are in week 19- a little behind my plan but we started the year later than normal I think and we took 5 weeks off at Christmas- which we will not do again.  Ever.  Unless we have  a real vacation!

Anyhoo.  The kids are on top of almost everything besides memory verse (which I admit I am allowing them to slip but I think a few of the selections are odd-I know it is all the WORD OF GOD and relevant, I guess I just wonder at a few of the selections.) I have allowed them to fall behind, but you know what they are still IN the Word and they are still memorizing the Word-- memory work is NONE of our strong points!


We were going over a few sections of questions from last week (which is ME, not the kids) and speaking about Constantinople and I got this on Itunes!


I happened to glance down on the comment section of YouTube and there is language (just FYI)

Makes me happy!  "Why did Constantinople get the works?  That's no body's business but the Turks!"

We are adding Augustine Came to Kent (it is the current time frame, but not on the Core G list)
and we are doing it as a Read Aloud with Emily. 

 

and I also found

 

Augustine the Farmers Boy of Tagaste

 

 

I also picked up Torch lighters newest video AUGUSTINE




(which BTW... second time I have heard it pronounced "Augustin" vs. "agusteen" I looked it up and it appears to go both ways, with "tin" being the most widely used."  I ALWAYS say "teen"!




I had them do a literary analysis of Black Horses for the King.

They have to write info on the 6 major literary devices: theme, character, plot, setting, conflict and point of view.  They also have write a review focusing on two of the six items. 
We also spoke about the Plot and how there are generally these FIVE things.

Introduction
Rising Action
Climax
Falling Action
Resolution

We spoke a lot about Point of View:  coming up with movies or books that used them

1st Person- Spirit
3rd Person- Elf
2nd Person- Kaitlin thought of Choose Your Own Adventure books



So that was an update.. I will try to update better in the next few weeks...

Science with Emily: Amphibians

Not sure she has this down pat yet, as she called a gecko an amphibian the other day-- but it is a journey right! 

We read the section in our book about Amphibians.

Emily drew the 3 main types of Amphibians: Frogs/ Toads, Salamanders and Caecilian

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We read The Salamander Room.

We made a frog craft.. but Emily doesn't want me to post it for some odd reason.

We read a few Internet articles/ websites on amphibians.
We watched a few YouTube video's on amphibians.






Played a few online learning games about Amphibians:

Learning Games for Kids Online

Printed out a bunch worksheets from Enchanted Lea4rning


Used this to learn about life cycle


A little bit of online learning:

Merriam Webster


We went to the reptile/ amphibian house at the Houston Zoo and I am not kidding you that EVERY single amphibian was NOT in its habitat.  We looked at the salamanders, newts, caecilians and toads... not a one of them did we see.... but all is well!  We have a good start on our next focus which is REPTILES!!!!

Fraction Fun:

Emily is working on fractions right now and I have found that introducing her to the subject-- vs. just waiting for her to learn it in the book works better.  SO Fractions unit it is... I don't want to get much ahead of her book, but we learned about equivalent fractions and have practiced with lots of online games.  We also learned about reducing (which of course falls in line with equivalent fractions).  We learned the proper way to write a fractions, some terminology and also about improper fractions.

We started by making a cookie cake and simply slicing it into parts and learning how the parts make a whole. SO it was educational and tasty.

We spent a lot of time on online games, learning and playing.

Math Is Fun. simple explanations, very visual. not really a game though.-- quickly went ahead of where she is, but I bookmarked it.
Cool Math for Kids- very visual and good explanation, liked that it wasn't just a circle but used squares, rectangles and even hexagons to show parts and wholes.
Math Play too advanced but will absolutely go back to it!
VecterKids this was simple but great practice!
Mr. Nussbaum this was really fun.. like a pizza shop and you have to make the order!
Mr. Nussbaum same as above but an ice cream store.
Oswego fun you get to design a flag using their colors and required amounts...
AAAmath comparing fractions by choosing if they are more/ less or equal to each other

Fun with Fractions  these are card games that they give you ideas for and provide a free PDF of the cards to use (remember to print the cards black and white)

We ordered a pizza for lunch and divided it fairly amongst the eaters!

We played Pizza Fraction Game

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So far it has be a fun unit!  And she is catching on well!

Zoo with friends...

Last Friday we (Brenda @ The Family Revised and I) did a double header of field trips... the Museum of Fine Arts AND the Houston Zoo.

Yes, a little crazy!

But truthfully we had a blast.  After an exciting museum tour (with a not the greatest docent) we left to see the animals!

This was Bee's FIRST trip to the ZOO and first carousal.. I was so glad to be along.. she wanted the animals SO badly...If she could have crawled over the fences, through bushes and across the water barriers I am pretty convinced that she would have... if not just to Hug it, and squeeze it and call them her very own!

 

 

We all had a really great time!  We will absolutely do it again soon!!!

American Girl Salon Birthday...

Emily is turing 10-- my last child is now in double digits.  (((sigh)))  I am having a little bit of a hard tiem with it, but alas it will happen regardless!   Emily wanted a small friend party AND a family dinner.  So we ate as a family with all the grandparents on Saturday at Texas Land and Cattle (I didnt even break out my camera, but I didnt feel good at all!) It was a very nice evening.

And today she had her friend party... an American Girl Salon/ Sundae party

Quite the combo I know, but she didnt want cake so we thought sundaes would be fun.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Father/ Daughter Valentines Dance Feb 2013

 

 

 

Kaitlin's Regions Concert Feb 2013

 

 

 

 

 

 

Getting Schooled...

at the Downtown Aquarium.  This is truly one of my favorite school field trips!  It is educational, fun fellowship and great food, all rolled in one!  I have NO idea where Kaitlin is in all these pictures.. she was totally there!  Actually she took all the animal ones.

Menu Plan Monday: March 3-17

 

 

Not going to list which day we have what here, just list meals we plan on for the next two weeks:

 

Enchilada Casserole (twice)

Roast Chicken (twice)

Beef Tips

Hamburger Helper

Hot Dog/ chili dogs
Tacos
Chicken Tiki Masala
Teriyaki Chicken
Chicken and Dumplings
Chili and cornbread
Tortellini Soup

 

 

Pleasure Pier: March 2, 2013

Mom and Dad invited us to join them in Galveston and go to the new "ish" attraction on the Island!  It was mighty cold but we had a great time!  We ate at Bubba Gump's.  We had eaten at one before in Florida, they are so fun with all the sayings and a ping pong paddle for the dessert menu, plus the kids meal come in the "Jenny" a paper boat....  lots of fun!  After dinner we hit the pier and rode rides, well the three girls did and Brian!  The rest of just watched, shivered and tried to warm ourselves up!   There is a good mix of "kid" rides vs. adult rides.

We had a great time and it was SO clean and the atmosphere was amazing!  I was leery of them charging just to walk on the pier, but their reasoning was to keep it a nice place and I am telling you they have accomplished it!  Everything was clean!  There were helpful, kind workers everywhere!  They have their own security but a cop was there after dark for a while.  It was well lighted and I felt very safe. 

The rules, which I wish I had taken a picture of.. were extensive:

No profanity
Pants must be pulled up
No undergarments can be showing

Very family friendly!

They had a candy store and it was a lot to choose from at only 63 cents an ounce-- so the kids got to pick their own which is fun and it wasn't overly expensive. 

The Bubba Gump restaurant is expensive and the kids meal is 10 and under, but the portions are large so you could share!  They also have an outdoor window that is less expensive, so that is a good option.

If you sign up on Face book they share specials for the Pier, for instance a few weeks ago the walk on price was only $5.00 and the all ride pass was 13.99 vs. 10.00. and 26.99!  Which would have been nice, although I am sure crowded!

Oh and parking is I think 10, if you eat at the restaurant you can get your ticket validated for up to 4 hours, so we ended up paying only 4.00 for parking and it is directly across the street.


We had a wonderful time and hope to go again sometimes when it warmer!

Rollin', Rollin', Rollin'... Update #1

Well we have done a lot of rollin', well hubbie has, I mostly cut in.  The living area, TV/ dining room and kitchen are all mostly done- sans one wall of a darker color.  Which will be done this week hopefully!

I am pretty well pleased with the results!  I cant wait to keep going!

Before: the before walls are a sage like green and here are our paint samples! 

more green... you can see it wraps around the kitchen furloughs... upstairs is a orangy/tan color which will be gone eventually too!  :0)

the other side of the living area.

AND NOW....

it is all gray--- I obviously had not cut in at this point.  :0)

 

the wall with the vent is going to be a darker gray (this still has to be done)

and Brenda-- I was brave!!!  This is a teal "ish" color.  Doesn't look bright though-- it is beautiful! 

 

 

 

 

 

And here is the kitchen being done:

 

and done!

 

 

 

 

 

Kate's room:   this would be Kate's room-- we stacked her corner shelves on top of each other to take up less space and moved her bed to the corner....  She has A LOT more room.

 

and in case you couldn't tell unloaded her shelves in her closet and totally cleaned it out... She is cleaning up the concrete to lay vinyl tile in her closet because we ripped out the carpet (it had a built in shoe rack so once we took that out the carpet only went halfway through the closet-- (((sigh)))

Lets just say that Daddy helped her USE fractions in every day math on this day to lay the flooring. 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Under the stairs:  Riley's station!  We moved her to the other side and put her bed there... plus added this shelve thing to the wall to hold all her stuff.  I love it!

 

 

Gung Hay Fat Choy!

Today in school with Emily we celebrated the Chinese New Year!  Gung Hay Fat Choy!!!  Which is Happy New Year in Chinese.

We read this book....Chinese New Year: Nicks New Year

and I got a few ideas from here...and here

We watched a section on Between the Lions about Chinese New Year..



We colored a picture.

We made this snake.



We ate CHINESE food... I mean really, who passes up that chance!

Reasons to get your carpet cleaned...

1. It is taking care of an investment, carpet is expensive.
2. dust mites...enough said.
3. carpet can hide a POUND of soil per square foot.  YEAH
4. stains
5. allergies, fungi and bacteria.. enough said.
6. smell
7. you have a dog... enough said.

IF those reasons are not good enough to invest 100-200 dollars on carpet cleaning... THIS MIGHT BE.

BEFORE:

AFTER:

****Yes, I am aware of how bad it was and I am just happy it is clean.  I am showing this to you for your benefit even though it might reflect poorly on me-- it IS darker when it is wet. Just FYI  :0) ***