halloween { buckeye style }

We went trick-or-treating for the first time on Halloween since 2008. I could go into all the reasons why we didn't go the last few years, I could go into all the reasons why we did go this year. But I won't. Brian made a decision that was right for our family, the end.

We went Trunk-or-Treating at a local church. It was quick, it was easy, it was family-friendly, it was FREE (we didn't even buy costumes), and it was fun.

 :: happy halloween! ::


for your consideration:
Halloween - Trick or Retreat? by Tim Challies
Sent into the Harvest:  Halloween on Mission at desiringGod

26 october

little pigs, little pigs ... zach has little pigs.

19 october

he's singing. at the top of his lungs. always.

homeschooling on thursday

this picture has nothing to do with homeschooling, other than the fact that Zach is LEARNING that he likes food. Big people food.

A lot.

We spent a lot of time this week on History and Science, which we'd been neglecting. I was really taking the time to get to know our curriculum. Yes. I know it's now late-mid-October. But we're year round schoolers, so it doesn't really matter. We also got half way through Peter and the Wolf, learning about some of the orchestra instruments. And we spent a lot of time outside faking Nature Study.

We find it very helpful to use songs to help us memorize whenever you can. We listened to two songs for Astronomy this week. We also learned the states and capitals that way. And we know Veritas Press' American History and Presidents songs.

Wesley's ABCs and 123s "Copywork" using his Star Wars ABC and 123 books.

*A little reminder to myself (and some advice to share with you) would be to do something with your preschoolers first. We did not do that at all this week. And it really showed in the Littles' behavior. We missed Morning Meeting with our poems, nursery rhymes, alphabet, and calendar. And we also missed singing our Bible Song, reading our Bible Story, and the twenty minutes each morning we would spend coloring our Bible Story picture. Why?! did we not do that this week?

and Candy Corn Math

Barb, the creator of The Outdoor Hour Challenge and Harmony Fine Arts, truly inpired me today. I happened upon her Autumn Study lens at Squido ... and found it to be really amazing that anyone would spend that much time, put forth that much effort, and share it with the rest of us homeschooling moms for almost free. Can you imagine what homeschooling would be like if we all shared that way?! Go see for yourself. She has numerous Nature Study ideas with links and notebook pages. And some Autumn music selections. And Autumn Picture Study prints. And then a whole bunch of great living books to go along with all of it. Thank you! Barb!!

For our fun books, we're Reading Aloud Pippi Longstocking and Little Town on the Prairie.

We are NOT fans of Pippi. At all. Any of us. We will read the last chapter tomorrow, and even though I have the second and third books in my possession, we will NOT be reading them. She is just too ornery for us. And we don't need any extra ornery in this house. At all.

the Little Boys are not reading here. they are watching PBS. because that's what we do sometimes.

However, we all LOVE Little Town on the Prairie. Today we read the chapter where Laura and Mary Power go to their first Sociable. Tuesday, we read about name cards, and we got to see Laura and Almanzo together. Yay! We are just Little House geeks here. Just tonight my Big Boys fell asleep to Little House in the Big Woods, and my Little Boys fell asleep to Farmer Boy. Ahhh. Pa's fiddle, and Cherry Jones' voice is so comforting.

For American History, we're reading The Vikings. We are only a few chapters into it, so I really can't comment other than to say it's pretty adventurous! ... and I do know my Big Boys are enjoying it, because they're talking about it. They've already read Leif the Lucky a few times (they LOVE DÁulaire's books, and are ALWAYS reading one during Quiet Time) and they feel like they know Leif. Leif's their bud.

For World History, we're reading Adam and His Kin. I have no comment on this book yet. I might not ever have a comment on this book.

In the kithen this morning, I made french toast with Kylie's homemade bread (home ec), bacon, chocolate milk, and coffee for breakfast (while watching a very pretty sunrise). We had apples and bananas for morning snack, cut up hot dogs and ketchup with corn for lunch, Cambric Tea and Korinne's homemade oatmeal raisin bars (home ec, again) for tea time, Digiorno pizzas for dinner, and peanuts and milk before bed. We spend a lot of money on food.

Simple things like having someone inform us of what instrument is what on our Peter and the Wolf CD, Greek answer keys, and knowing that most of our learning happens by living (if I didn't know that, I'd be in trouble) make me a very grateful homeschool mom.

hurry up with the food, Mom!

please!

(some links to share):

 :: happy thursday! ::

{ pretty, happy, funny, real } on wednesday

Our morning started off with Art. Not the school kind of Art. But Art nonetheless. I cannot keep plain white paper or colored pencils in this house. Nor scotch tape. I suppose I'm happy that my children are so crafty. Because I'm not, and it frustrates me. Craft and draw and cut and paste away kids!



{ real }

Zach still takes a morning nap. And I was extremely happy to see him wake up in a good mood. He usually is NOT a happy-waker-upper. But he was sweet and smiley and playful this morning. I do believe all three of his teethers have popped through, which is a major relief to both of us.



{ happy }

When we went outside this afternoon, I did actually take my Outdoor Hour Challenge October Newsletter with me to try and plan some Nature Study. But it just confused me. So I decided to just pick a Seasons Tree for us (mind you, it's not really OUR tree ... it's a tree on an empty lot on the corner of our street. but you can see if from our deck. and it's just a hop, skip, and a jump away from our yard. so I've declared it our Seasons Tree). We will watch it closely as it changes over the seasons, and share what we learn with all of you.



{ pretty }

The boys also went Bug Hunting. They found grass hoppers, a bunch of roly poly bugs (their favorite), and a crazy looking spider that I made them release ASAP. Connor acted like I was insane for worrying that they would get hurt, and informed me (the arachnophobic mother) that it was just a grass spider because of the yellow and black stripes. Um, okay. Go let it free anyway. Thank you.

When we all sat down for dinner this evening, Wesley had snuck his grass hopper in (thank heavens it wasn't the spider), and was trying to hide it in his lap. The girls flipped out, but I made a bargain with him ... so Hopper is out on the deck until morning.

Judah quickly got bored with all the Bug Hunting, and decided to spend some time with our kitten, Mittens. He LOVES Mittens. Mittens tolerates him. She's actually very good with him. We lucked out with two good doggish-cats.

Judah shared his Kitty Nature Study time with Zach and Korinne, but Zach also quickly got bored and decided he wanted down. He's an expert down-the-lap slider.




{ funny }

 We then ended our day in much the same way we started. With books (The Berenstain Bears and the Spooky Old Tree, Freight Train, I Hear, I See, I Touch, Titch, Good Night, Gorilla, and Ten, Nine, Eight ... we highly recommend them all!) and Art.

 :: happy wednesday! ::

:: on a tuesday afternoon

We got a very, very late start today. As in we completely skipped Morning Meeting. Which, if you're a mom of preschoolers, you just know that's asking for trouble. The littles always get to 'do school' first. Always. But not today. So, we skipped Morning Meeting, and went straight into Astronomy and American History. We notebooked about the Sun and made our cover pages and notebook pages for part one of American History: History? Why? (which is why I was so quick to come up with some pretty great quotes on why History is important on Facebook today. they were right in the lesson. you're welcome Dad and Mike) We talked about the theme of our American History series, "I believe the United States of America is the most remarkable nation that has ever existed. No other nation, in the history of the world, has ever provided so much freedom, so much justice, and so much opportunity to so many people." Good theme. I'm happy, happy, happy with our History. Very happy.

Wesley refused to nap today. Wesley refuses to nap every day. So, instead we played Sorry. I have no idea how to play Sorry. But Wesley assured me he did. "You draw a card Mom, and move your piece the number on your card." Oh. Works for me. We'll just call it Sorry Math. While Wesley and I played Sorry Math, Zach played Catch the Milk Jug. Then my mom called and chatted with us for a while.

By the time I got off the phone with my mom, everyone else was up from naps and we headed outside for some Nature Study. Not really. But Benjamin and Judah were studying a tree pretty hard. We really did go outside to play Football, though. Because my sons are obsessed with Football. And bacon.

I got some really neat shots of Zach and Judah on the deck. But not of Korinne. Isn't her braid cute? My girls make me smile. Even though they won't let me take their pictures anymore.

At the end of the day, I was so tired from skipping Morning Meeting and faking Nature Study that I was only able to make my signature dish for SUPPER. Grilled Cheese and Tomato Soup. And I only did that half way, it was really just toasted cheese bread and Tomato Soup. But it was gobbled up. And I learned that half my kids' favorite soup is Tomato Soup. How?! did I miss something so wonderful as that all these years? You'd think I was preoccupied with laundry or something.

:: happy tuesday! ::