Yarning...

Blossom knows where I keep the yarn and the other day she asked me if she could yarn. 

 She has seen me sew a few scout patches and wanted to try.

 I found a blunt needle and let her try. 

 It held her attention for a few minutes.

Then she was done with the yarn.

The Snowy Day in April...

I am back in the groove of Five in a Row with the help of my awesome study buddies, Grammy and Grandma Patty!  Nearly every week for the past few months I've had them both each week.  It makes such a different with what we can accomplish each week with school.  Sometimes I just need one uninterrupted hour to make the day a success with the boys' school work. 

With the help of my study buddies, Blossom is getting quality books and fun activities.

I also get to read books I've never read before. 

 I just love Five in a Row and the simple yet effective activities.

Eggstra Special...

 What's eggstra special about this day?  Blossom didn't have share the coloring with her brothers.  They felt too old to color eggs this year.  She was able to color eggs to her hearts content.  I was even able to color a few. 

Gingerbread Decorating 2016...

A wonderful holiday tradition = how much candy can my kids pack onto this little house.

 DJ and AJ's roof look great.  The candy is piling on.

Blossom loved this activity.  Hopefully CJ will help her again next year.

Art in Nature...

 

 A couple weeks ago we needed to spend a whole Saturday working outside on our landscaping.  Otherwise known as reclaiming our property or beating back the forest. 
To do so, we set up some activities to keep Blossom busy.  One of them was painting.

 This old easel has been sitting in the back of our garage for 6 years just waiting for a little girl to entertain.

 Blossom really enjoys painting and has spent a lot of time at the easel. 

She's so cute and serious about her painting.

Carving Those Pumpkins...

The Professor chose a little pumpkin this year after remembering how long it takes to clean out the inside of those big ones from years past.
 

 This book has been one of Blossom's favorites this fall.  The Pumpkin Patch Parable.

Pumpkins all carved up, except the one at the end.  I saved that one for Thanksgiving decorations.

I Love State History...

I love state history, particularly ones own state history.  I know this stems from my elementary school years in Alaska where learning state history was mandatory in the classroom.  I learned about our state flag, song, bird, insect, flower and wildlife.  There was a great feeling in knowing I was an Alaskan.  I'm impressed with Alaska's educational goal in instilling this knowledge in it's young people.  

I know this is somewhat of an exception because during my elementary years I spent every winter in Arizona where I also attended public school.  I can't remember a single Arizona state fact or bit of history from the six winters I attended school there.  

Instilling state knowledge can instill state pride and that's a good thing.  I find it akin to citizenship training and being a good steward of ones natural resources.  

That's why I'm a stickler for my boys to complete their Washington State history by grade six.  The professor completed his WA state project in this blog post.

Now. the Architect has completed his project.  I'm so thankful to my friend Anna who gave me her geo sculpt kit!

Summer Crafts...

This summer we haven't taken much of a break from academics.  The boys have continued with completing their math lessons for the year.  Science has also been a priority, as well as Washington State history and some language arts.  Schooling during the summer was not my plan at the beginning of the last school year but it's been necessary.

Thankfully summer creativity has not been squashed.

 The Professor's project - made during his free time.

Very useful and sits in our school room.

Happy Valentine's Day

A little Valentine fun and some pictures I love.

The boys helped me make 42 Valentines for our friends in PE.  Each boy needed 14 to give to the other boys.  I liked that the genders didn't have to give to the opposite gender.  These are just friend Valentines, boys gave to boys and girls gave to girls.  No weirdness that way.

I saw a picture of Super Tootsie Pop Valentines in a magazine or Pintrest or somewhere.  I started working on them weeks before and worked a little bit on it each week.  The boys did a lot of the cutting which was a big help. 

Josh brought me home a very nice surprise.  I never expect anything but am pleased as punch if he's able to take the time to pick something out. 

 And these are pictures of Love. 

Happy Valentine's Day!

Trying Art Again...

I plan art projects now about 1-2 times a year and truly it seems to be plenty for the boys.  It takes me forever to have a project come to fruition.  For six months I've wanted the kids and I to paint on canvas to hang in their rooms.  I found a project that used painters tape to section off areas to paint.  Basically it looked like you could haphazardly place tape crisscrossed over the canvas, paint, remove tape and a masterpiece would emerge.  

I practiced on one canvas on my own first.  I can't even show you the result.  If you come over to the house I may show you but at the moment only immediate family has seen my painting.  It won't be hanging on any walls.  But I did learn a few things and I passed that knowledge onto the boys before they started their projects.

First, they painted a base coat with the color of their choice.

 The canvas sat for a few days to dry while they decided what design to make with the tape.

The Professor chose a yellow star on silver background.

 It turned out well but I missed getting a final picture of it.

 The Architect used a few different colors and was happy with the outcome.

 The Scientist made a green stick man on teal background by painting blue over the green base coat.

We all agreed that the green and blue combined made a great color combination.  

What I liked about this project is that they had to think about how to create the layers of colors they wanted.  They also learned what worked well and what did not.  Good stuff.