Water and Insects

What do they have in common? Well, they were our last two units in Kindergarten.

Our water unit was really fun. Probably my favorite to date. Our character verse was "Jesus gives my spirit living water to drink". The week was broken down into a day for liquid, a day for solid, a day for gas, and a day for dissolving and evaporation. Toward the beginning of the week we set out two jars with the same amount of water in each. One was covered and one was not. Then we checked the jars each day to watch the evaporation. On the liquid day we poured water into several different shaped pitchers to see that liquid takes on the shape of what it is in. At the end of the day we put that water into the fridge to use for our "solid" day. We saw that the ice the next day didn't change shape when poured into a pitcher. Then we put some ice in the refrigerator and some outside to see which would melt first. On our gas day we measured out water in a pan on the stove and let it boil for a while. We observed the steam (evaporation) and then measured it later to see that it really did evaporate. We had a really fun week of learning, and we even used our "hand" octopuses from the week before for a mural of the ocean.



Our next week was Insects (which may be the kids favorite so far). We had an ant farm a few weeks back. It didn't last too long, but it was fun to watch the ants. I'm happy to say I have no amusing stories of any escapes.

We spent a day studying ants, a day on lady bugs, and a day on bees.

Aunt Teri sent the kids a lady bug land. We sent away for the larvae, and wouldn't you know, they arrived right on our lady bug day! We are having fun watching them grow and we are looking forward to setting them free in our garden once they turn into lady bugs.

Here Danny is releasing the larvae into the lady bug land. I imagine they had quite a trip in the mail and really love their new digs.


Here are my little scientists observing the larvae and making sure they are all moving. We were worried about a few at first, then read that the larvae molt, so the curled up ones we saw where actually old skins of the ones that were doing just what they were suppose to do.


Here is the larvae a couple days ago. They have grow much more... I'm so happy we don't have a snake unit (this year anyway!).

Just one more thing before I step away from the computer for the day... We went to Apple Valley last week to visit Grandma Butler's desert property. We met my cousin Christie and her family up there for a picnic. On the way home we decided to take a side trip to peak at Silverwood Lake. This is as close as we got, but it made for an impromptu photo shoot.

I'm so blessed!!

I hope to post soon about how we have set up our "little" school this year, and some of the things I've done to try and keep me organized.

Spring has Sprung

The weather lately has been beautiful. Upper 70's, even a few day's of 80's. The windows are open, the breeze is blowing, and the kids are spending tons of time outside (Praise the Lord!!). I've been very busy with typing assignments for work. I've been working on my laptop down stairs in the family room where I can be within ear shot of the constant chaos outside. Plus I'm close to the kitchen, so I can throw food out to them occasionally.

A friend at MOPs brought me a tomato plant that her talented husband grew from seed. It's a small yellow pearl variety. I took it only because this year I have a small planter in the back that has a drip system set up that is on the sprinkler timers. I've started and killed many gardens over the past several years. Anyway, getting in the swing of things we went to that local gardening place and bought two other tomatoes, a Big Boy and another cherry tomato vaierty (Emma eats them like candy). We also got a 6-pack of strawberries (which our dog Jack keeps eating), some basil, mint (summer mojitos!!), a bell pepper, and some sweet peas. Not too much, but enough that it will be fun to watch them grow and get a little harvest this year.



Tending this fun planter sparked an art day. I've been wanting to implement more drawing into my kids school days. They draw all the time, but it is usually inside. I had purchased two sketch pads for them and some new colored pencils. I sat them both up outside in front of our new garden to draw what ever they wanted to, and here's what we got...



Emma's drawing is an orange sunflower in a lavender pot sitting in the dirt.
Zach drew a tomato bush, daddy's favorite grass bush with pink flowers and the sun.

It was really good to see them taking their time and working so hard on these drawings. They have been asking to do this everyday since then, so I guess they enjoyed it as much as I did. I really think it is important for them to love and enjoy the time making "art" no matter what or how it is done. I don't see myself as an artist, but some of my happiest times is when I'm creating things. I hope I can pass that along to my kids.

No Training Wheels on the BMX Track...

...Because of this, and her obsession to do everything her brother does, Miss Emma had daddy take her training wheels off. Of course she was dressed in head to toe riding gear because, well, a girl has to look good, you know. She started just like Zachary did, running off the sidewalk so she could stop in the grass. She picked it up pretty fast.


And before we knew it she wanted to go out front where she could do longer rides. Monday night daddy took her to the track and she rode around out back while Zachary practiced. It won't be long now... just wait until she passes Zachary in a race. That will be quite the day!


Zachary has become quite fond of the scooter that Aunt Teri got for him. He loves to make up "free-style" tricks for it, and show them off. Check out the air time here!! ...and I'm not talking just about the hair : ).

MOPs Day

I really enjoy my Tuesday mornings. Tuesday's are MOPs days. A day I get to feel pampered in the midst of being a mommy. I only wish I had known about MOPs when I first became a mommy. The love and support at MOPs priceless.

Now, being a bit of a more "seasoned" mommy, I also love to see the newer mommies at work. The ones who get to bring their newborns in with them because the are still nursing. Watching those precious relationships between mommy and baby feels like stealing a glimpse of something so extraordinary. Oh, and the nursing relationship between precious baby and mommy - so special. This is probably the most missed part of having a baby for me. I loved nursing. It certainly did not come easy to me and Zachary. We both had quite the learning curve, but we got past it and he nursed exclusively for 6 months and then continued up until 13 - 14 months. Emma, on the other hand, came out knowing exactly how to nurse. She was a pro from the start (and still is a pro eater). Yes, Emma and her coveted "mommy milk"...

Just watch, and don't worry, there is no nudity here:



I had to add this one more video. Okay, now I'm done with the family movies... for now.

So tomorrow is Wednesday. Another favorite day, for tomorrow is Emma's dance day and who couldn't love watching that : )

I can already tell that this video thing is going to be fun... I just found this on my hard drive, and while I have posted it mostly for the sake for Nana, perhaps others with enjoy seeing how quickly these little boogers grow up. I can hardly remember these two so small. This video shows a small glimpse of the future friendship these two have kindled.

Happy Monday

I've been wanting to try adding video to my blog, so here's my first attempt at it.

This is last Monday's practice session at the track. I was not able to make it, but Dan took the kids over. He took this on his phone, hence the quality, but Emma's cheering is great. Oh yeah, and that kid on the bike, he is pretty fantastic too!!!



Happy Monday to you.

Big and Small, God made them all.

That was Zachary's character verse for the last unit we completed in kindergarten. We had a whole unit on dinosaurs and it proved to be one of our most fun yet. We took school outside one day and measured 110 feet to see how long a blue whale was. Then we compared it to 100 feet, which is how long one of the largest dinosaurs were. The kids each chose two dinosaurs to learn a bit more on and made stuffed dinosaurs using paper bags and crinkled paper for stuffing. Then they painted their dinosaurs.

We have moved on to "O" - Octopus and we are learning that "Even the Octopus praises the Lord". This unit is going quickly and after it comes "W" - Water then "I" Insect. We have already started our Ant Farm for the Insect unit. It sits in our kitchen, and we all enjoy seeing what the ants are up to. They are busy little guys, and I'm sure there will be more news on them later (hopefully no news of an escape!!).

Zachary is turning out to be quite the student, and he is enjoying learning to read. I think it is even more fun for me to see his excitement at sounding out words. He is so amazing, but I'm sure all mamas think that of there little ones. The other day during school, I called an Ox a Yak. He, of course, corrected me and I told him, "I'm sorry, I forgot". To which he said "You shouldn't forget, your a school teacher". I guess I have a lot to learn too.

Last weekend was quite busy. Friday night I went to a moms night out. The mommy that was hosting has a five year old and wanted to keep him busy, so I brought Zach along. That left Emma and daddy to have an evening together. He took her to "Chuck-a-cheeses" (which is how she says it - adorable) and they had a fun "date-night". She has been begging to go there and I'm just glad he caved in because I really can't handle the noise level in that place.

On Saturday Emma and I were invited to a baby shower, which left Zach and daddy to go ride the quad and go to the shop for a little male bonding time. Emma and I had a little extra time to get ready for the shower, so I put her hair up in hot rollers. She loved it. The only problem was, when it was time to take them out she didn't want to. She was sure that the rollers were very pretty and that was how she should go to the party... Well, I prevailed. She was so cute with her curls.

Half way through the baby shower she came up to me with a secret and asked when was the shower going to start. I was a bit confused until I realized she thought that the new mama was actually going to be showering. She didn't seem too disappointed in my explanation that we where showering the new mama with baby gifts instead of water : ).

I've been in a knitting craze lately. I really enjoy the act of knitting and the relaxation it provides. It is also a great way to spend the hour a week at the dance studio and the hours at the BMX track (not to mention it's a great way to keep my eyes off the road while Dan is driving). I will have to take some photos of my latest completed projects and post them soon. Here's a photo Emma took at the BMX track for me...

Not the "best" photo, but it sums up a great night in this mommy's world.