Nature Walk

I'm finishing up the final details of what I hope will be great schedule for the new school year.  Each year I have great ideas and the best of intentions, but follow through has always been a weakness of mine.  We shall see how it all goes. The plan looks good on paper.

One of the activities I have wanted to do for years is Nature Study.  I love the idea but like art and music, it has often been put on the back burner for things like learning to read and do basic math. As we've accomplished some of these basic tasks, I have been able to add in some of the other things.  I am very hopeful that this year will be one of getting the basics done in addition to some of the subjects that make our lives fuller and richer.

We will be following The Outdoor Hour, at Handbook of Nature Study.  Barb posts challenges each week that will help keep us on track and give us ideas for nature study.  We will be drawing and making nature journals.

Today I talked to the kids about nature study and what I hoped for this year.  For the most part, they were enthusiastic (there is always one that moans about my plans).  We took a walk and discussed how our nature study would go and what I expected from them.  It was a nice walk. There was a deer in the brook, Chipmunks and squirrels in the woods and tons of insects of every kind. We saw many butterflies including this lovely Great Spangled Fritillary.

I am also hoping to blog more about our school year and family life in general.

A Day on the Ski Slopes

We signed the children up to participate in a ski/snowboard program at Mount Snow in Vermont. This is the first time skiing for the children. Gabe opted to snowboard, while Rachel and Hannah wanted to ski. Dan was too young to snowboard, so he also is skiing.

It took us a little bit to get all geared up at the rental shop, but here they are all ready to go.

There was about an hour before their instruction time, so they practiced on the little hill.  They had 1.5 hours of instruction time and then they had a short break to grab a bite to eat.

Back on the slopes, the kids were able to practice what they had learned.  Whoa, Dan, hang on!  He did not fall.

Gabe's snowboard group learned how to use the chair lift, so he was able to go to the top of the slope and he was doing well by the end of the afternoon, making it all the way down without a fall.

Brian was able to go with us to the mountain which was a big bonus for me.  The extra help was much appreciated, but the hours we were able to sit in the lodge and be together was priceless.

After watching the kids, I am thinking I might try it next year.  It sure looks like a lot of fun.

Homeschool Group Christmas Party

Our homeschool group is not having a weekly co-op this year, but we have been getting together for Mom's Meetings, Field Trips and special events.

We had a great time today at the Christmas Party. Rachel, Hannah and Dan only had a half day of school today, so I decided to let them stay home and come to the party with us. They miss their homeschool friends very much and it was so fun for them to reconnect.

We spend the first part of the morning enjoying the wonderful fellowship. The kids played, chatted and ran around. We moms did a lot of talking. What a terrific group of women. I am somewhat relieved to not have our weekly co-op, but I do miss meeting with these ladies each week.


Stacy, our wonderful party/field trip planner had some very fun games organized. This relay race involved moving a balloon down the room and back to the start with a small snow shovel. It is a lot harder than it looks and the children used many different techniques from trying to carry it on the shovel to scooting it along the floor.

This relay race was totally hysterical. Bib snowpants, jacket, hat, mittens, scarf and boots were provided for each team. They had to put on all the clothes, race down to the end of the room and back; the problem being that all the clothes were men sized. The children participating were aged 3-12 and it was so funny watching the little ones trying to run/walk across the room.

Before lunch, we had a marshmallow eating contest and a Hersey's Kiss eating contest. The Kisses had to be unwrapped and eaten, but they had to do it all with mittens on. Some of the kids had big ski mittens, which made it very hard to unwrap the Kisses.

We ordered out for pizza from a local place that gives us a very good price. One of the moms made a fun punch.

Each mom brought something for dessert. We had cookies, cupcakes, apple pie, a caramel chocolate trifle...yummy!

Bess joined us for lunch after her morning class.

I so very much enjoy this group of ladies and their children. Thanks, Stacy for organizing and thank you, ladies for being the wonderful women you are.

Gabe Makes Cookies

One of the things Gabe wanted to do in our homeschooling this year as more cooking and baking. Today we had a cookie baking lesson.

He did a terrific. With only a little bit of guidance, he completed the whole process from picking out a recipe to clean up (well almost all the clean up).

He liked using the mixer. You know boys and their power tools.

I thought he might get bored after a sheet or two, but he made all the cookies with no complaint.

And finally...the taste test. He pronounced them yummy and I had to agree.

Great job, Gabe! I can see a lot more baking projects in your future.

Children's Museum of Science and Technology - CMOST

The Children's Museum of Science and Technology (CMOST) was a recent destination for a field trip with our homeschool group. CMOST is a fun little museum with lots of hands-on displays.

We picked up Ethan, one of the boys in Gabe's class to go along with us as his family wasn't going to be attending. Ethan and Gabe had a great time.

Here they are playing with a giant sized Lite Brite. I couldn't get it in a picture, but one of the highlights for the boys was a large light wall. It was heat sensitive, so when you moved your arm along the wall, it would change color, like a mood ring. We spent a lot of time hanging out by the wall. At one point, the graphic changed to the solar system with all the planets bouncing around and as you moved your arm or hand toward one of the planets, it would bounce up like a ping-pong ball...very fun.

They had a nature demonstration. The kids got to hear about several animals and touch them.

The snake was a hit with our crew.

Another fun exhibit was a green screen set up like a weather station. There was a tele-prompter and you could pick what type of weather you wanted to report on and then it recorded you and you could watch it playback.

Gabe and Ethan really enjoyed this.

Bess got into the act and did a great stereotypical weather girl impression. She hammed it up big time and had us all in tears from laughing. And yes, she is on her knees...these exhibits are made for much younger children.

Here is her recording, well a picture of it. I wish I would have thought to put the camera on video. It was very funny. Gabe was playing her assistant, being blown around by the stormy blizzard in the background.

Checking out the battery and light bulb table.

Finding out about the head waters of the Hudson.

Playing in a dugout canoe.

The last thing we did was see a dome show in their planetarium. That was really fun and is similar to an IMAX experience. We got to lay down on the floor and with the dome over us, they played this great movie on astronauts.


It is times like this that I really miss having all the children at home. I think next time we go on a field trip, I'll let the public school children have the day off from school to join us.

Art Work

All the teachers at our co-op are wonderful. We appreciate the time and energy they put into the classes for the children. Art is an area I do not excel in and I am so thankful for Deb B. the mom that teaches art at our co-op. She does a super job and the children have learned so much.

The first half of this year, they finished up Meet the Masters, which is a curriculum about many of the great artists. The second half was devoted to learning cartooning techniques.

Here are some samples of the children's work.

Year End Homeschool Event

A few weeks after Gabe broke his arm, we had our year end potluck dinner and art show for our homeschool co-op. This was a great event where the children were able to show off some of the artwork and nature journals to family. Mom and Dad joined us.

It was a wonderful time of fellowship and great food.

Gabe has made some terrific friendships this year. He has grown tremendously in his social interactions and enjoyed special times with his friends. These three boys are his best buds. They were so sympathetic and concerned for Gabe's broken arm.

The older class recited poetry they had been working on. Bess did a great job with her poem, "Twice" by Christina Rosetti. She memorized the whole thing and gave a very good presentation.

Snowflake Bentley

This spring, we completed a study and lapbook on Wilson Bentley, the man who developed the technique for photographing snowflakes. The children found it very interesting "Snowflake" Bentley was homeschooled and that his parents sacrificed a great deal to help him achieve his dreams.

Our lapbook cover

Symbols of Vermont

Our lapbook

The three middle children worked together on this project, sharing in the duties of cutting, writing, and gluing the different mini-books.

After we finished the lapbook, each child took a tray outside and brought in a mound of snow to play with. They especially enjoyed this part of the project.

Homeschool PE

We continue to love our Wii video system. It has been a lot of fun for the whole family.

We recently bought a new game called Active Life Outdoor Challenge. It is a very active game.

It comes with a floor pad with different colored squares and shapes. These are used to control the game.

There are over a dozen games and different levels that make it a game that adults and little folks can all use. Some of our favorite games are hurdles, trampoline, jumprope and mountain boarding.

This is not a sit in your chair game. You are up, jumping and running.

I would recommend this game to anyone that has a Wii. It is a very physical game that gets everyone up and moving and also works on those coordination skills.

On some of our coldest days, I get the game out and we have indoor PE. I have the kids go through several of the games and they get a good workout and as you can see, it is a lot of fun too!

Snippits from Last Week

I have been doing a terrible job of keeping up with my blogging these days. I am going to try and do better, but life sure does seem to continually get in the way of me blogging about our life!

Last week was a very full week and we only had one "normal" day and that was our co-op day. This resulted in only one semi-normal home school morning. We have always had the philosophy that most things in life offer learning opportunities, so we don't sweat the day count too much.

Monday was Martin L. King Day and Brian was home. Most times when Dad is home, we have a no formal schooling policy. We worked and played and enjoyed having Brian home.

Tuesday we had our morning circle time and did some seat work before we gathered around the TV to watch the presidential inauguration.


I enjoy the pageantry of it all and I marvel at the peaceful, orderly exchange of power that takes place in the US. I loved the music by John Williams played by the quartet. What a tremendous treat that was for me. We listened intently (well, we sort of lost the little ones part way through) to the words of President Obama and we pray for him daily. He was not my choice, but I know who ultimately holds the power of the world and I put my faith in God to sustain us through whatever comes our way.

The day was rounded out by speech class for Dan and piano lessons for Bessie.

Wednesday found us heading to a local mail to meet with friends we hadn't seen in about four years. The mall was a good half-way point for us to meet. Abby and Bessie have kept in contact through snail mail, email and most recently Facebook. The girls finally made a plan to spend some time together. We dropped Bess off with Abby and her mom Deb, after having a very nice chat and catching up a bit on what each family has been doing.

The younger children and I made stops at the Christian bookstore, McDonald's for lunch, The Christmas Tree Shoppe and Target. It is interesting how the little guys will tolerate going in and out of stores, but don't care for the mall. I guess I can understand as I am not a big fan of malls myself...too much monotony, noise and people.

The children always enjoy a few runs up and down the escalators.


We picked Bessie up later in the afternoon. Bess and Abby had a wonderful time and we are hoping to get together more often.

Hannah had another doctor appointment on Thursday. She is such a trooper about these appointments and charms everyone she meets. We have another appointment in two weeks to go over a plan of treatment for her.

Friday found us at our local homeschool co-op. We enjoy meeting with this small group. It gives the children some variety with their subjects and a wonderful time to be with friends. I also enjoy the time spent with other homeschool moms.

The children finished up the Meet the Masters curriculum last half and started working on a cartooning class in art. Everyone is really enjoy it. Art is one area that I am not strong in, so it is a real blessing that the children are getting such wonderful art instruction at our co-op.


Saturday is our normal library run day. We love our library and all the librarians and volunteers are so wonderful to us.

We stopped at a friends house on the way home and picked up their oldest son to have a play day with Gabe and left our two little girls there to play with their younger daughters. Everyone had a great time. Brian and I worked in our family room, trying to sort through bins and assorted other mess. What a chore.

Sunday we had morning worship. They had three baptisms after church. It is always such a joy to watch as folks profess their faith in Christ through baptism.

There is a very brief synopsis of our week. I will endeavor to do better with posting.