Fun Friday

I saw the link up for "Friday Fun School" at Ben & Me recently and figured that it is right up our alley for this year's school plan. So far, I have our weeks planned so that we can accomplish all of our lessons in four days, and have the fifth day of the week available for a "fun day," "field trip day," or a "Mommy needs to catch up and/or have a break" day. I think most weeks, this will fit in on a Friday, but if something comes up on some other day, I am flexible and will rearrange things.

Some ideas the kids have had so far for our "Fun Fridays" include:

1. Experiments (preferably messy or explosive ones, they say)

2. Long nature walk or bike ride to the beach

3. Visit Nanny and Poppy

4. Play dates with friends

5. Trips to the library

6. Field trip to a park with a picnic

7. Field Trip to a museum

8. Geocaching

9. Exploring our local area using our guidebook

10. Build a tree house

11. Dress up day

12. 4-H day (this will be every other Friday starting in September)

13. Movie day with homemade pizza

14. Read books all day

15. Go to Chick-fil-a (really, Cowboy came up with that one)

16. Play educational games all day (I added the "educational" part)

17. Craft/Art day

18. Educational video game day (again, I added the "educational" bit)

19. Lego day

20. Cooking day (with lots of chocolate and cookies!!)

I thought they did a pretty good job of brainstorming ideas, and this Friday, we gave it a trial run by mixing it up a bit.

Here is what we did (they did finish a few things up over the weekend, though):

To go with our study of Egypt, Tex read the kids the book Pyramid by David McCaulay. Then he and the Amigos built a pyramid of their own using Duplo Legos. We worked on it over the weekend, too, and here is the final result:

You can see that they built three pyramids, as well as the Sphynx (though Firefly says, "Spinks." It is so cute.)

 Their explorer guys are filming their finds, and the monkey they picked up at a bazaar in Cairo is climbing the Great Pyramid (they got the idea of a buying things at a bazaar out of the Flat Stanley book we read about Egypt this week).

 You can see something of their personalities according to how they decided to play with it once it was finished. Cowboy, the Explorer, has his guy checking out what is inside the pyramid (ancient tablets...ooooh, aaaaah). You see how amazed he is by the astounding assortment of heiroglyphics he has discovered (he's standing on top of the tablets, looking down at them in awe).

Firefly, the carefree one, has her monkey hopping all over the Sphynx, looking for artifacts and treasures...and bananas...the Golden Bananas of the Lost King of Egypt.

Ladybug, the organized and artistic one, has her explorer documenting everything they find on film. She is narrating about their travels in Giza and their explorations of the tombs of ancient Egypt.

I think they had fun. Don't you?

Of course, it has been a beautiful week here, so staying inside all day was not an option. I have been cleaning the garage all week, and have been trying to find things for the kids to occupy themselves with while I am working. One thing they always LOVE to do is to find bugs. Dead ones or live ones, they don't care. Ladybug has amassed a collection of the best dead ones. Cowboy, the Bug Hunter, likes to gather the live ones and keep them for a few hours in the bug house he got for his Buggy Birthday last year.

The kids found a fuzzy caterpillar right off, sitting on a red oak leaf (I think it's a young tent worm, but I can't tell for sure and I didn't want to tell them how awful those things are when they are so excited), and they each drew it in their nature journals. Since they all love to draw, drawing still counts as fun! I read the book, The Fascinating World of Butterflies and Moths by Angels Julivert to them later.

This one is by Ladybug. I love her attention to detail. The bug is in the plastic bug house, hence the green light shining at the top. They love using that thing.

This one is Firefly's. She added the same elements (fake tree, grass, light, caterpillar), and executed them with skill for a three-year-old.

Cowboy also attended to the points on the red oak leaf, and added himself to the picture, very excited! The scale is a bit off, but I love how he even got the color of his shirt right (it was red day today, Ladybug's choice...I have all their shirts sorted by color and stored together and each child gets a day of the week to pick the color. It makes folding, sorting, and putting away the laundry a lot easier...also packing for trips is a breeze with this system. I keep all of the Rubbermaid drawers with their clothes in a special closet space in our bathroom, so they stay tidier than if they were in their room.)

I had a doctor's appointment that took several hours in the afternoon, so while I was gone, Tex let them watch The Magic School Bus Butterflies and the Bog Beast video (here's a fun activity page we might do next week when we do "B" is for Butterfly in Firefly's alphabet bug book.)

They also played Amazon Trail 3rd Edition on our older computer. It was interesting that Ladybug liked to take charge, whereas Cowboy preferred to explore. She would catch the food and decide where to go when on the water, then hand over the controls to him and he'd look for new species and catalog them when they were in the jungle. The game was a good learning experience, since it challenged their reading skills. Tex had to help them with some of the odder scientific names, but usually, between them, they could guess well enough to get along. Teamwork works!

During dinner, I finished reading them Flat Stanley Worldwide Adventures: The Great Egyptian Grave Robbery (as planned earlier this week), and they are excited to pick up with the Egypt theme more formally again next week.

It was a FUN Friday!!

Blessings,

We also linked up to Read, Explore, Learn at JDaniel4sMom. Give it a try!

Flat Stanley Visits the Library

Stanley discovers one of his books at our local library. Hooray!!

He was even more excited to discover that while this was the only one

on the shelf, our library does carry others, and if they are not on the shelf then

that means that kids are reading them. Awesome!

The other day we took a trip to our local library. The kids had worked hard helping me clean our (horrendously messy and over-stuffed) garage for a large portion of the day, and I promised them a reward of a trip to the llibrary for their efforts. I love it when the lure of books and libraries are ample rewards for hard work...

Firefly is getting to be good buddies with Flat Stanley.

She asked if he could be an honorary Amigo the other day, 

and we all agreed he could.

Of course, I headed straight back to the children's section with the younger kids and Stanley, while Tex headed to the conference room to give the Chess Club a try (which he wound up loving, even if he lost quite a bit. After all, you have to start somewhere...). Fortunately for us, the Children's area was nearly deserted, so the kids had free rein over what activities they chose to do. 

The Three Amigos chose to try some of the educational computer games (Ladybug loved the DK History Explorer game...she visited the Incans, the Greeks, the Egyptians, and the Romans. She was completely disgusted to learn that the Romans ate songbirds...eeyeuw!), while Boo ran around trying a bit of everything, from some nifty I Spy blocks to the large magnetic letter board, from the wooden castle to the huge foam building blocks. Each of the other Amigos stopped their computer explorations from time to time to play with Boo and do whatever he was doing. They built several large forts and Ladybug made a play for him using the wooden Royal Family who lives in the castle.

Boo had to pose with Stanley, too. Too bad it's a bit blurry.

Stanley and Boo helped me pick out a stack of Easy Readers for the Amigos to read this week for their Reading Challenge. All summer they have been earning prizes by reading ten books at a time independently, which they record using these bookmarks we found on Enchanted Learning. Ladybug has favored using the pencil or the ice cream cone bookmark (each one has about ten lines to write on), while Cowboy has used the rocket. Firefly has the pencil, but she gets prizes according to which books I, or one of the other kids, reads aloud to her.

For each ten books, I've offered a prize. The first ten earned a full-sized candy bar for each successful participant (this is not something they usually get). The second ten eared their choice of a new book each (again, new books are not the norm around here...we usually buy used). The third ten earned a trip to get an ice cream cone. Maybe the fourth ten will earn them an I Spy game for their computer. I actually already have one I am hiding (don't tell them!) that I got on sale, and that would be a nifty way to give it to them.

My Royal Readers...gallant Prince Cowboy, lovely Princess Ladybug, 

and sweet Princess Firefly.

Our library offered an interesting summer program this year, revolving around "One World, Many Stories." This actually tied in well with our goal of studying World History this year, especially since they offered the Flat Stanley Worldwide Adventure kit bags all summer (each bag was stocked with a Flat Stanley book, several books along the same theme, an activity or two, and perhaps some sort of manipulative, such as puppets, an instrument, a cd of music, or a thematic Viewmaster set). 

This shows the contents for the kit that went with The Amazing Mayan Secret book from Flat Stanley. Not only did the kids love the story (and it had a good lesson in it, which they still talk about..."It's not what you have, it is how you use it,"), but Tex and I enjoyed watching a few movies on the Mayans and their language and customs on Netflix that week. I've always thought they were kind of gory (they are), and so never studied them, but now I find at least the language kind of interesting. Even old dogs can learn new tricks!

The kids loved reading the Flat Stanley books, then when he actually showed up in our mailbox (courtesy of homeschooling friends), they really got motivated! Unfortunately, the usual prizes of free books for reading were not offered this year. Tickets toward a bike drawing were the prize instead, and my kids did not need a bike, and frankly, even if a new bike might have been nice, I didn't feel right having them compete against kids who might actually need one and didn't already have one. That is why we started our own set of motivational rewards.

They have no problem getting through most books now.

What one doesn't quite get, the other fills in. Cooperation is great!

 In any case, the goal of interesting the kids in reading on their own daily (instead of relying on me to read out loud to them, or merely looking at the pictures), has been accomplished, and for that I am very grateful and excited! It is wonderful to see them sitting on the couch ( or my cedar chest) with piles of books in their laps, knowing that they are really reading them word for word now. Many doors to new worlds are opened to them now. What an adventure awaits!!

The kids enjoyed this visit to the library. We will have to do it again soon. We wound up toting home over forty books and one movie. Stanley insisted we see if any of his books were available before we left, and we found a copy of Flat Stanley's Worldwide Adventures: The Mount Rushmore Calamity. Of course, he insisted on posing with it (see top pictures).

"Stanley! What are you doing? Stop jumping on the furniture!"

 Overall, Stanley has been very well-behaved, as I would expect, but once I did catch him jumping on the furniture (see above). He had to have a brief time-out for that infraction, but he didn't mind too much since I made him sit in such an interesting and unusual chair...he said the chair reminds him of Dr. Seuss books, and he told me he loves Dr. Seuss. 

It's hard to be upset by having a time out when the chair 

is like something out of The Cat in the Hat...

Stanley will be with us for a few more weeks, so keep checking back here for more of his adventures!

Blessings,

Heather

We linked to The Reading Aloud Challenge at Footprints in the Butter. Check it out!!

We love to read!!

Menu Plan and a Read Aloud

My nemesis...our garage (over on the left of the picture)

Our Plan: 


The big plan of our week is to take advantage of the slightly cooler weather and get cracking on cleaning out our garage. The kids have dreams of eventually turning it into a game room/play room, and I think that is great, if it will motivate us all to get going. I wouldn't mind having a reason to get the TV out of the house, actually, so if we can dig in this week and put a dent in all the trash and junk that got dragged along with us when we moved last time, and donate what we no longer need, I will be thrilled. How do you eat an elephant? One bite at a time...

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See more menu plans at Organizing Junkie

Our Menu:

Monday--Cheesy Chicken and Rice Bake (recipe below) served with salad and fresh warm pear sauce from our trees (I plan to take a break from the garage around five and start cooking some of our ripe pears).
Tuesday--We go to the library around five and take Tex to Chess Club (lasts until eight pm), so we will pick up chicken sandwiches off of the dollar menu on the way home (we will be working on that garage until it is time to leave for the library).
Wednesday--Pizza night early...we've earned it by working on cleaning out the garage every day so far this week! I checked out the movie Shorts from the library. My son tells me it is funny. We shall see...
Thursday--Chicken nuggets, curly fries, and macaroni and cheese
Friday--Burrito Supremes (made with refried beans, lots of cheese, fresh lettuce and tomatoes, and sour cream) with Spanish rice on the side.
Saturday--Cheeseburgers on the grill served with potato salad and carrot and celery sticks.
Sunday--Chicken alfredo and salad. Perhaps some pear cobbler and vanilla ice cream for dessert...yum!

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Cheesy Chicken and Rice Bake from Campbell's Kitchen

(everyone loved this one...the chicken came out very moist)

1 can (10 3/4 ounces) Campbell's® Condensed Cream of Chicken Soup 

1 1/3 cups water

3/4 cup uncooked regular long-grain white rice

1/2 teaspoon onion powder

1/4 teaspoon ground black pepper

2 cups frozen mixed vegetables

1 1/4 pounds skinless, boneless chicken breast halves

1/2 cup shredded Cheddar cheese (about 2 ounces)

• Heat the oven to 375°F. Stir the soup, water, rice, onion powder, black pepper and vegetables in an 11 x 7 x 2-inch baking dish.
• Top the rice mixture with the chicken. Cover the baking dish.
• Bake for 50 minutes or until the chicken is cooked through and the rice is tender. Top with the cheese. Let the casserole stand for 10 minutes. Stir the rice before serving.

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Our Read Aloud:

Flat Stanley's Worldwide Adventures: 

The Great Egyptian Grave Robbers

Our read aloud of the week is another Flat Stanley book, since we are still hosting a friend's Stanley. We are studying Ancient World History this year using Mystery of History, so this particular adventure fits right in with our theme, and will hopefully gear up the kids to learn more about the Egyptians, the pyramids, heiroglyphics, and history in general. The Adventure Pack the book came in includes several books on pyramids and mummies, as well as a camel and an alligator puppet, a hieroglyphics stamping set from The Metropolitan Museum of art, and a bead bracelet craft. I will post some of  the kids' projects later. Stay tuned!

If you do not have access to an adventure pack like we found at our library, you can get some great ideas to go with this book on their website. There are even more ideas in this Flat Stanley Event Kit, which offers activities that can accompany all the books in the Worldwide Adventures series. General information on each of the books and links to teacher activities is available here.

Blessings,

In Which Flat Stanley Goes to a Church Picnic

You may have noticed that Flat Stanley is visiting us for a while. About a week ago we took him with us to our church's annual summer picnic. A kind gentleman (who lost his wife not long ago, yet still manages to be a most gracious host) sponsors our group each year at his waterfront home. This year was no exception, and as always, the kids were thrilled to be able to go. What is there not to like about a church all-you-can-eat potluck buffet, the promise of a big potful of crabs to pick, water to splash in, a boat ride, red-neck horseshoes (don't even ask) and football, and a huge bag of silly quirters, bubbles, and more fun kid-friendly games than I can mention?

In my enthusiasm to enjoy the good eats (and with the challenge of juggling plates for four young ones and a Stanely, plus a dog...yes, we took the chihuahua who recently adopted us and he was the life of the party), I neglected to take pictures of all of the food. But you can take my word that Stanley loved his burger, the ambrosia salad, the mac and cheese, and of course, the scrumptious chocolate cake that was absolutely overloaded with icing. In fact, he got some on his face, but I wiped it off.

Next, we got a chance to ride on a church member's boat. The incredible thing about his boat is that not only did he build it himself from scratch, but it runs on vegetable oil, which he gets used. Now that's my kind of recycling.

Hubby loves the water. I guess it's good he's in the Navy!

I could get used to these rides. I think we all could.

Well, all of us except for Stanley. He seems a bit afraid of the water, or maybe it was the wind. He's a bit skinny, you know. He needs to eat more. I think I saw him heading back for the dessert table. There was delicious apple pie there, too. Yum.

Definitely not seasick. Sea-exhilarated!

Boo notices that his thumb is salty. Mmmmm.

A family picture, short a few members who were having too much fun on shore to join us. Notice we are wearing Bubba's new horseshoeing business shirts. They say: No Hoof, No Horse. It's an allusion to that old saying, "For the want of a shoe, the horse was lost..." He gave us each one as a gift. I think he just realizes the kids are so adorable that they will be free advertising. :-)

I could do this for hours. Do you enjoy the water?

Cowboy was fascinated by the waves, the boats, and the many osprey nests we sped by.

On the left is a picturesque waterfront town. On the right is a lovely farm I wouldn't mind having...

Our pastor is a fun guy. His wife is as sweet as they come.

 Back at home port, we find that Peppy (the chihuahua) has been pleasantly entertaining the ladies who volunteered to babysit him. He performed his usual adorable begging poses and big-eyed mournful faces. And apparently, he missed me,, because they said he whimpered for me. Why is it that dogs always bond to me when I am just not a dog person? It's like my near indifference to them draws them in. Weird. Well, if I ever liked a chihuahua, I like this one. He is cute, quiet, and mannerly. Not to mention, he is very tolerant of the kids.

See what I mean? He even lets Boo walk him.

Apparently, Bubba has passed the time playing Redneck Horseshoes.

Don't ask. I really don't get it. It's two colored balls tied together with a length of rope, then you toss them at those PVC pipe contraptions and try to wrap them around one of the bars, which correspond to different point values (I think). Whatever it is, they seem to like it!

Then it was time for a game of Skins vs. Shirts. It appeared to be Bubba and Hubby against all the younger guys. I don't know how it turned out because I was busy watching the kids play in the water over by the pier. I heard that the "old guys" wore the younger guys out. Good on ya!

Fun in the water...a hallmark of summer days. How can playing in the water ever not be fun? It's even more fun with friends to share it with, and hard to leave behind. But all good things come to an end...

Hubby helpfully helped corral the water babies and we headed back to the picnic to get a few photos and visit for a while...as they leave, Boo chases them with a...what is that? A shark chomper? Too funny! Apparently, they had to have some "chomper battles" on the way back to the fun (sharks vs. lobsters),  with promises of a second trip to the dessert table to persuade them it was time to dry. I don't know how they can still be hungry. I am stuffed.

My boys. They grow up too quickly.

When learning is a lifestyle, you find moments to explore nature and God's wonderful fingerprints that we see demonstrated in its marvels everywhere we look, from an artistically curved, delicate snail, to a curious crab scuttling over the rocks.

 My adorably sweet girls.

A few final moments to be silly with special friends, visit with fascinating folks, and find all of our stuff that has spread itself all over the yard, thanks to Boo.

 One final picture of a dear church member who wanted a picture of the two younger boys on his lap, because one of them has his first name and the other has his middle name.  How sweet.

Blessings,

Heather

Next up: Stanley reveals a surprise. You are gonna love this one.