Wednesday, April 28, 2010

Academics Fair

Collasped farm
Zach


Jord


Rach


Abby
Zach - Walt Disney w/ Walt's 1st Mickey cartoons playing
Jord - Dolphins w/ our Discovery Cove DVD playing
Rach - Insects w/an ant farm
Abby - Seasons

At the very end of the fair as we were cleaning up, Abby had picked up the ant farm and then proceeded to drop it, spilling dirt and ants everywhere. We managed to round up all but one ant, who died in the mayhem. A vacuum was brought in to clean up the dirt. Some of the ants became trapped in the tunnels, but have amazingly tunneled their way back out in the past 24 hours!





Tuesday, April 20, 2010

Spring cleaning & Academic projects

Spring brings such a desire to clean and wipe away the dust and dirt of winter. The bare trees are now full of bright green color and the birds who were so quiet are now sometimes so loud that we stop what we are doing to watch them build their nests as they sing. They are such happy workers. We are trying to take the same approach and be happy, singing workers around here as we clean, sort, organize and do school.

My parents were here this past weekend and enjoyed our time with them. Nana and I took the girls to lunch at Taco Bell and shopping.....Old Navy, Kohl's & Meijer........how fun! The boys also went out to get food for a cookout. In the 2 hours they were gone they made a stop at Tim Horton's for donuts and then before heading home they stopped at Skyline for some coney's. We all went to Skyline one more time the next day before Nana and Pappy headed home.

We started some of our cleaning out of closets and changing over the clothes a few weeks ago and it has been a slow process. It is now time to pick up the pace as we may have company coming the first of May. Our dear friends, the Hutsells, may be coming back our way to stay with us for a while. Just the motivation I need to get the spring cleaning and organizing accomplished. I have started in the basement.....it is such a catch-all all year long for everything....clothes, coats, toys, seasonal decorations, games, shoes, homeschool supplies, MWAS files, books, keepsakes and the list goes on and on......I go through basement every spring and the organization falls apart as the year goes. It's my own fault......I gather things from upstairs and then tell the kids, "take this downstairs and just sit in the back room or put it along the wall somewhere......" Not sure if I will ever be totally organized for much longer than a few weeks!

Our co-ops Academics Fair is next week and the kids are busy writing reports and working on display boards. Zach is doing a Biography report on Walt Disney, Jordan is doing Dolphins, Rachel - insects and Abby is doing a report on the 4 seasons. I'll post pictures of the final reports next week.

Better get off here and get back to my cleaning and organizing......

Tuesday, April 13, 2010

Happy Birthday Kevin!


Happy Birthday to the best husband ever ~ love you more and more everyday! Here he is with his new birthday grill! He has enjoyed handmade posters taped up all over the house, a "professional" backscratch from the girls at the Backscratch Company and a mid-day shake from Steak-n-Shake. A Hershey Chocolate cake just came out of the oven and will be iced soon and we have dinner plans for Max & Erma's (kids eat free on Tues)!

Thursday, April 8, 2010

Spelling Bee












Jordy and Rachy participated in a Spelling Bee hosted by our co-op. They had studied their word lists and were ready for the "competition". Although, it was not as fierce as "Akela and the Bee", it was however scary for all eyes to be on you as you spell out words one letter at a time. The girls did great, sweating a few words here and there, but managed to be the winners in their age groups. Proud of you girls for your courage!



Friday, April 2, 2010

Happy Anniversary to All of My Parents!


My parents are celebrating their 39th today and Kevin's parents are celebrating their 50th. Married on the same day, 11 years apart! They have been such a wonderful influence on our lives. We appreciate the example they are set before us and the life lessons that we have learned from them. Love you all!