Hives, Hexagons and Honey...

Last week's Five in a Row book was "The Bee Tree."  (We are now on Volume III of FIAR and still loving it.)  Most weeks the book only gets read 3 to 4 times but it works for us.

The final activity we did for this book was look at actual honeycomb.  Mrs. Slocum was awesome to let me have some of theirs.

 

 We touched it, smelled it, inspected it, cut it, and squished it between our fingers.  I enjoyed squishing it.  It's like stepping on an empty egg crate with your bare feet but much softer and it's with your fingers.

The Scientist did not like squishing it.

 

Then, they put together a small paper example of a hive.  I knew that "Creative Memories hexagon paper punch" would come in handy one of these days.

Being Six...

I ended up missing the last half of the message in church today.  This has happened before but it's been awhile.  I was called out of the service because my 6 year old had become frustrated with the craft activity in his class and that was it, he was done, and the more everyone tried to help and talk to him the worse things became.  I found him in the hallway doing his best to hide from all the adults.

at home, snuggled up on the couch...

We walked over to get some water and sit.  He was still crying so it was hard to understand all his concerns.  This scenario is a familiar one but he is growing out of it.  He was able to explain that the paper boat they were making was too hard and "it wouldn't last in the water for a second!" 
I completely understood and agreed.  Those paper boats like Curious George makes are difficult to create if your hands are small and you've never made one before and your expectations are to make one just like the model and you just feel like you can't do it.

playing a game with Papa...

I don't promote giving up but that's not what this issue was about.  It was about the "purpose" of making such a craft.  He just didn't see the purpose in expending his energy into something he felt wasn't worth his time and energy.  I'm putting words into his mouth but, I think this is what he was telling me.

Harry Potter Lego game...

Without getting too much on a soapbox about homeschool philosophy I will say that in our homeschool, nearly all school work is done for a specific purpose.  There is little to no busy work.  When the kids are done with their work they get to play. Crafts are optional and they either recreate the model or do something on their own.  I try to encourage independent thinking.

neither a thumbs up nor a thumbs down - a thumbs in the middle...

I think my little guy just wanted to opt out of this craft and go and play.  He's been doing so well lately about following the routine at church and participating.  I'm not sure what was different about today.  If I could have only been a fly on the wall.  At the moment, he says he doesn't want to do church.  I hope he forgets all about today and next week goes smoothly.
In many ways, I'm happy that he stood up for what he was feeling.  He didn't go with the flow and follow the crowd.  In his own way, he stood up for his beliefs.  I'm sad it was frustrating for him and he ended up so upset.  I'm sure it was a great learning experience though, for everyone involved.

My Weekend Flashback...

Look what I found!  

My 20 + year old, Columbia Whirlybird jacket. (Remember all the fun names they use to give their jackets. Whirlybird, Bugaboo, Double Whammy.) I know, it sounds like nothing but this jacket kept me warm in some seriously cold weather up in Fairbanks.  The only reason I went poking around in the garage looking for it was because I needed a warm jacket to go skiing in.  I put it on today and went for a walk outside and thought, "this is how I was able to stay warm in below freezing temperatures and still wear shorts and little white Keds to school."  

How about those colors?  Teal and magenta!  Nothing says late 80's - early 90's like the color teal!  I don't care though, I'm wearing this jacket because I'm toasty warm in it and as long as the temperatures stay in the 30's around here I'll be the mama in the big, puffy, teal coat. 

Now, if I just had my little white CRX, I'd feel 20 years younger too.

Ice Skating...

We've gone ice skating twice in the last month.  I'm so glad we did too because my 6 year old made big improvements from one week to the next.

 I am so impressed with his good attitude even when he fell numerous times.    He could certainly teach me a thing or two about having a good attitude in challenging situations.

While I was hanging out with the little one, my other two boys were zooming around the rink with a few Cub Scout friends.  They got some good exercise in and earned the Cub Scout Ice Skating belt loop and pin.

Happiness is... a buddy to skate with.

Boys & Beans...

I don't believe we're ever too old for the sensory table.  Isn't that what it's called in Preschool?  We fill a bin with rice, sand, beans or lentils.  Sometimes it's water.  The beach is the ultimate sensory "table,"  with sand and water galore.  But, it's not in my backyard so I improvise. 

 As a family that schools at home we are in each others face 24-7.  Often, it's necessary to find activities that each child can do on their own.  This one missed the mark on individual play.

As soon as I brought it out everyone wanted to have their hands in it.  It made me think that I should have something like this out fairly often.  It's creative and constructive play that diverts their focus off each other, for a few minutes at least.

Cupcakes & Snowflakes...

We still have a bit of snow here on the ground in our neighborhood but the rain has been working hard for the past few days to get rid of it.  We are having typical western Washington weather at the moment, gray and rainy.  It's possible we'll get another storm of cold and snow next week.  We'll see.
After school today we headed over to our neighbors house for some winter time crafts.  (I would love to post more pictures of our times together but I respect her family's position on keeping pictures of their kids off the internet.  So, you'll only see pictures of my kids at these gatherings.  It kind of looks like we do the crafts all by ourselves but our friends are just off to the side.)

 Snowman cupcakes were on the agenda.  I am so glad I've teamed up with this family because making these cute cupcakes is not something I would do on my own with my kids.  Does that sound terrible?  I'm so glad they got to make them though.  These are special times for fun memories and I'm truly thankful for these days. 

The Professor is always thinking "out of the box," his cupcake snowman got in a fight and has a black eye. (Doesn't he look "old" in this picture?)  Some days I get a flash of what he'll look like as an adult and other days he can look 7 years old again.


We also made some fancy, paper snowflakes.  We've all made them on own before but this was the first time we followed a pattern and cut out specific parts.  They turned out nice and I'll be hanging them up in our school.

 

The Ice Crystal Snowflake.

 I had to help the Scientist a bit and was hoping he wouldn't cut my fingers.

The Valentine Snowflake.

Next month we'll be back at my house and I've already got some ideas for an interesting "stamping with food" craft.  I love my Family Fun magazine.

A Day of Sledding...

When someone offers their backyard sledding hill to me for the day I can't say no.  Although most of the county has canceled school due to the snowy weather we have been trucking right along with our studies.  Except for today.  End of the week tests are postponed until this evening so we can seize this excellent sledding opportunity.

I haven't know this Lynden family very long, only a month or so.  A neighbor introduced me because Mrs. S, the owner of the property, is a PE teacher for homeschooled kids.  Her own kids go to the local school and in her spare time she teaches a sports skills homeschool PE class, once a week, upstairs in her big, converted barn. (It's the building with the big "W" on it. ) My two older boys have been enjoying basketball skills this month while the younger one and I spend an hour and half running errands during class time.

We spent almost 2 hours outside before the freezing rain started coming down.  That was my cue to pack it up.  We had a great time even with the occasion tears from wipe outs.

 We thoroughly enjoyed the scenery.

Snow Recipes...

It's been a Winter Wonderland around here but today brought a serious Nor'easter.   With all these farm fields out here in the county, there is zero protection from those snow filled gales.  The Guide Meridian Road is one of the worst places to be during a snowy wind storm.
Personally, I love to drive in the bad, snowy weather.  I love the empty roads and seeing the weather up close and personal, while still staying warm in my car.  The Professor called us storm chasers today.  We did see some amazing wind and snow drifts as we drove into Bellingham via the Guide Meridian to go ice skating.  At one point, for about 3 seconds, it was actually a white out condition with zero visibility.  So exciting!  I guess it just makes me feel like I'm back in the interior of Alaska. That, and the 12 degree temperature.  Last night it was down to 7 degrees.

So, what do we do with all this pretty white snow? 
We make snow Slushies!

First, you need a bowl of clean white snow.   Thankfully we did this yesterday before the wind came.  Today, the snow looks terrible.  It's all covered with pine needles and fir branches.

Next, you need some flavoring.  Make it 3 times as strong as normal.

In a cup, alternate the two ingredients.  Stir and enjoy!

This is the only time ever you can eat yellow snow.

Lovin' the Snow...

It's been snowing for a few days now and we have a good amount to enjoy. 

 I love the snow and my boys love the snow, although we appreciate it in different ways. 

Here's a video of the boys sledding next to our house.

Little Daisy dog likes the snow too.

 Our super moist snow clumps onto her legs and she has to wait in the entryway.

She hates having her picture taken.

We Made Tamales...

Yum, yum!  They were good.

I didn't help much with the preparations but I did help put them together.  And eat them of course.

We made some of them without much spice but the boys still didn't care for them.  Oh well, more for us.

Math at the Dentist...

We had a slight disruption in our school day Tuesday.  I had to call the dentist bright and early to see if we could get in to check the Professor's teeth.  He was complaining the night before that his molar was really bothering him.  I checked it out and it looked like a filling was loose.  This seemed consistent with the four Whoppers Milk Duds candy balls he had for desert.  You know those chewy, caramel candies.  There's a site on the Internet that says they can actually pull out the sealants in the teeth of children!  This child has rationed his Halloween candy so well he still has a few items left two and a half months later.  In my opinion, he didn't have that much to begin with but he's managed to really draw it out.

So, math today was done at the dentist office.  But it wasn't the filling that was loose it was the whole tooth!  Thankfully it was scheduled to come out because one was already pushing through but I'm sure those candies did much of the work speeding up the process.  This is the 5th tooth that the dentist has had to help "fall out."  The Professor has teeth that are slow to grow in and slow to fall out even when the other ones are growing in behind them.  A couple months ago he had four loose teeth taken out all at once.  It didn't even hurt he said.

The Scientist lost one the other day too.  The old fashioned way, he wiggled it until it popped right out.

Super Scribblenauts...

We bought a DSi for the boys this Christmas.  One of the games they play on it is called Super Scribblenauts.

This game was intended for the Professor being that he is 11 and really good at spelling.  But this is a super fun game and not at all mindless.  I've spent a few hours playing the challenges and the other day I notice the Architect (age 8) working on it.

He likes the free mode of play where he can pick his own background and make his own characters.  In order to do this though you must SPELL everything.

I finally got him a dictionary to look at because it does get a bit old verbally spelling out every word for him.  During this session he was busy trying to create a knight and some armor for him.  Another time he created a couple football players and gave them separate colors to wear.  Then he made one the "receiver" and they played catch.  Today, he was busy making an old west town and needed help spelling "Sheriff, assistant, diner, big hungry buzzard and outlaw."  From what I gather the buzzard was suppose to eat the outlaw but it didn't work so he had a big shoot out instead.  Think I can count this as language arts learning time?