Update for May 2016

Build A Bear After Christmas Adventure

The girls were given Build A Bear gift cards from their Aunts and Uncles this year.  They were excited to go shopping but we waited until a weekday after Christmas to visit the store.  We had the store all to ourselves and we decided to make a video about it!  Enjoy!

What does you community have to offer?

So far this summer, our family has attended two annual events that we had never experienced before.  The first was a benefit car show that the main street of our town was closed down for.  The cars lined the street and folks walked around to admire the vehicles and ask questions.

Hubbie was especially interested in all the chrome shining.  The girls were interested in two small drag race cars.  Of course, you can't attend an event without getting a treat! Homemade Ice Cream was the deal of the day.

The next event we visited was an annual celebration of a local community's history.  This particular little town started in one location but due to progress, was forced to relocate to higher ground.  It was rainy the day we went but they had an indoor museum that was amazing.  I'm sorry we had never visited it before.  I hope to go back again during this school year.

Display celebrating local war veterans.

Old Time Farm Equipment

Example of farmhouse living room

Both of these events were free for us to attend.  We only had to pay out of pocket for any food or souvenirs.  By the time we bought ice cream, a couple hamburgers, and two yo-yo's, our out of pocket expense was probably only $10.  Not bad for two days of family fun and learning along the way! 

First Day of School 2015

We decided to start our classes this morning.  We have transformed a spare room we had into a small classroom.  It is above our garage so while it has a restroom, internet, and the amenities of the house, it is separated enough to cut down on distractions.  The kids really enjoyed helping clean up the room and setting it up for learning.

Abigail will be starting Teaching Textbooks this year.  She went through lesson 1 and did well.  It will take some getting used to on her part because she's accustomed to using workbooks.  I hope she'll adjust well but if not, we can always go back to book learning as we have the text book that came with the program.

We celebrated today by making pizza for lunch.  The girls love getting to help make pizza.  It turned out very yummy!  We used the dough recipe from the Dining on A Dime cookbook by Tawra Kellam and Jill Cooper.

We are all looking forward to continuing our lessons tomorrow!

How most days felt while homeschooling this year!

The kids are really good at Minecraft so I've tried to learn how to play.  This is how I feel after trying to figure that game out!

Garden Journal

Every year I write in a journal to document which varieties of seeds I start.  Here is a page from this year's entries:

I have the date started, variety, number started, abbreviation used on the cup, and the seed source.  This has really helped over the years for looking back and seeing what worked well and what didn't do well.  It has lots of dirt stains since I write as I plant.  I love my little garden journal!