Homemade Butter

Today for J-Man's kindergarten lesson (talking about cows), we made homemade butter! Just put a pint of heavy whipping cream in a mason jar and shake for about 20 minutes. We all took turns. It turned out yummy!

What We've Been Up To...

Over the last few weeks, we've had some fun little field trips.

We went on a tour of Raley's grocery store with some homeschooling friends--we got to go behind the scenes and see what they do with old produce, go inside the freezers (brrrr!) and see the butcher (and touch lots of meat...with gloves on) and bakery (and get free cookies!).

Here the kids are in their little hats before going behind the butcher counter:

Listening to Miss Linda tell us all about produce (she was great!):

...And getting ready to start our tour:


We made Challah and celebrated a traditional Jewish Sabbath:


We also went to the "Star EcoStation" and got to see turtles and tortoises up close, big pythons, lizards and birds...frogs, tarantulas, and fish...and lots of other cool reptiles. Here the kids are in the "trash tunnel" where they learned about what happens when we put pollutants down the drains:

I've been pushing through a ton of work trying to get to where we should be in the school year. I'm getting closer! I think in another month we'll be where we should be.

The boys have been working on the books of the Bible, and I tried to post the video, but it's not working. I'll try another day.

That's mostly what we've been up to!

Today Is Brought To You By The Letter 'A'

On letter 'A' this week...finished 'S,' 'M,' and 'L.'

Today we made homemade applesauce. Yummy!

2nd Week Going Strong!

I tell ya, I just love homeschooling! I mean, it's tiring. Really tiring. But it's incredibly rewarding! I find myself constantly thinking, "How could I make this into a lesson? What could I do this afternoon to squeeze in some learning?"

I don't know why I never felt this way when the kids were in school. Well, actually, I do. I was relying upon my own strength as a mom. The Lord completely transformed me. I had so much self-doubt when it came to educating our children that I didn't even allow room for the Lord to work. But the moment I said, "Ok, I'm willing to give it a try," He utterly changed me. I really do consider myself a different person now. A better parent. A more involved mommy. And I can see my relationships with the kids blossoming more than I would ever have experienced had I not gone down this road.

This week we rubbed the outlines of tree bark on sheets of paper...made a sundial and watched the shadow change throughout the day...went on a nature walk to collect flowers (and found none...duh, it's February!)...baked cookies together...learned all about the sun...learned all about the 7 days of creation...and watched part of the State of the Union address together:



It's all just been wonderful. I can't believe my own uncertainties almost made me miss out on this. Praise God for giving me a little nudge to step out a bit on faith!

My first day of *teaching*

I know that people teach all the time. I mean, I know like a gazillion teachers. I've always admired people who can corral a class of students and actually have them learn something. But now my admiration has turned into sheer amazement.

My first day actually went better than I had anticipated. I practically keeled over during the night worrying about how badly it was going to go. Looking at it again, I would probably not start homeschooling in the middle of the year. Now I have to do twice as much stuff just so I can catch up to where they would be in school. I don't really want to skip through since it's probably good for them to review anyway.

Mr. C did a week's worth of work in one day. He would have done more, but I just had to take a break. I guess that'll help us catch up quickly, but it sure makes it hard to plan for materials if I don't know how much we're going to get through in one day, ya know?

I really like the curriculum. I like how the Bible is weaved into the lessons, and how it's laid out pretty specifically for me. I am, after all, a new teacher. The more specific, the better.

I think the hardest part was keeping the girls occupied. I can't really sit them down and give them a project yet. But, I'm sure I'll learn tips that will keep them happy as time goes on.

Overall, I was happy with the first day. I still feel overwhelmed when I think about just how much I need to do each day. And when I think about teaching everything I need to to 3 different kids, it scares me a bit. Next year I'll actually have three different curriculum to teach...ok, deep breath. One day at a time.

Snow!

This morning we drove up to the snow (45 minutes) just to spend 10 minutes there and come back.

We made snow ice cream and then added some root beer to it for root beer floats.

I wrote in my other blog about how much I am thoroughly enjoying homeschooling so far. It's been a blast, which may be just because I've been doing fun stuff with the kids! =)

Anyhoo, we've been spending an average of an hour a day this week on academics. Once my curriculum gets here (tomorrow!) I can start spending more time on that.

Trains and IKEA

I had planned on taking the kiddos to the train museum and IKEA this morning, but completely forgot that M-Dog still has pre-k on Tue/Thurs. So, we did some math and language arts worksheets and then I told the kids their assignment was to work as a team to build the "ultimate fort" in our family room. I meant to take a picture, but completely forgot! Guess we'll have to do it again. =) It was a great time-consumer.

After M-Dog was done with pre-k and speech therapy, we headed to Old Sacramento to the train museum. They had a great time, and afterwards we went on to IKEA. Ah, I love that place. We picked up THIS easel for $14.99! Oh, and some fun kitchen food organizers. I could go for like a $1,000 shopping spree there. Or more.

Our "first day."

Today was our "unofficial" first day of homeschooling. I won't get our curriculum until near the end of the week, so we're taking it easy and just doing some fun activities.

Today we played with Shrinky Dinks for the first time. I can't believe I've never heard of those things! Then we made some marshmallow sculptures (as seen above) with uncooked spaghetti and mini marshmallows. We had recess and snack and then went to the library to pick out some train books. Tomorrow we're heading to the train museum!

Oh, and when I walked out our front door this afternoon, there was a surprise gift! Amber left us a little "goody bag" with fun school stuff. I *love* that little Silly Starters book. Check it HERE. So cool! Oh, and those rulers are *bendable* so they can wrap around things to measure!

This afternoon we've practiced math and read some of our books.