Fall Fun

Don't you love fall?

It's great to be a homeschooler.

I'm "It", Again!

I was tagged, last week, by Christina at The Story of Us , in the get-to-know-you-better, game of tag, going around the blogosphere. If you missed my last "tag" post - the game is pretty simple. Christina has asked eight questions. I'm suppose to answer them, and then pass questions along to some of you.

Here are Christina's questions:

1.How has your homeschooling philosophy changed over the years?

I'm definitely more laid back now, than I was at the beginning. I was push, push, push with my first couple, when we started. Now I'm more about taking time, and letting them enjoy the learning at the levels they are at.

2.What is one of your favorite “guilty pleasures”?

I enjoy reading Star Wars novels. They are complete mind candy, but I love reading about the exploits of Han, Leia, and their children Did you know one of their sons turned to the dark side?
See what I mean? It's completely useless information.

3.Favorite children's author?

Beverly Cleary.

4.Favorite homeschool resource?

The public library.

5.What is one of your secret ambitions?

If I told you, then it wouldn't be secret :) But, I have always wanted to rule the world.

6.What is your favorite place you have lived?If you have only lived in one place what is your favorite thing about that place?

I have lived in several different places, and our current location is my favorite. The mountains are beautiful, and the climate is dry enough my allergies don't bother me.

7.What are your top 2 reasons for homeschooling?

I always figured if I was going to have to do homework with the children anyway, I might as well teach them myself - at least then, I can make sure the homework is interesting, and fits with our schedule.

And, I really like our family mornings. The thought of pulling everyone out of bed early, and rushing like mad to get out the door, with everyone dressed, and fed, and ready to go - it makes me tired to think of it.

8.If life were simpler ;0) what would you like to spend more time doing?

Probably, more of what I'm already doing. I'm really happy with all the things I get to do now, but I wouldn't mind having even more time to do them.

Now, since I've already been tagged once, and passed the questions along, this time I thought I'd throw out a single, "hot topic" question (to borrow a phrase from Natalie of Mouse Grows, Mouse Learns), for you to answer in the comments, if you'd like.

Do you celebrate Halloween, and if you don't, why not? For instance, is it a matter of faith, habit, or culture - are you from a country, that simple doesn't celebrate it?

It's great to be a homeschooler.

Family Fall To-Do "Leaf" List

This morning, we traced, and cut out 30 construction paper leaves.

Then, we wrote one item from our fall to-do list, on each leaf...

...and taped them up to a paper bag tree, I put up last night.

Now, instead of checking items off our list, we can remove a leaf from our tree, for each item completed, this fall.

Since fall overlaps with the Thanksgiving season (we're counting Thanksgiving as the end of fall, because after that our focus shifts to Christmas), we plan to also use this tree for our count-down to Thanksgiving, turkey tree, too.

So, as the leaves come down, our thankful turkeys can go up.

And, just in case you're wondering, here's what's on our list of hope-to-do's, this fall:

• Make paper bag owls
  
• See the leaves change on our mystery tree
  
• Spot a changing larch (more on that later)
  
• T's first hunt
  
• Celebrate Columbus Day
  
• Go on a hayride
  
• "Watch Toy Story 3" (we skipped the kid's movies in the theater this summer, and are waiting for their DVD releases, this fall)
  
• Watch "Ramona and Beezus"
  
• Watch "How to Train Your Dragon"
  
• Bob for apples
  
• Make apple donuts
  
• Rake leaves
  
• Jump in a leaf pile
  
• Celebrate Mom's birthday
  
• Pull the guts out of a pumpkin
  
• Roast pumpkin seeds
  
• Make candy corn
  
• Celebrate Dad's birthday
  
• Go to a fall festival
  
• Play in the first snow
  
• Make gingerbread men
  
• Do a scarecrow craft
  
• Make zucchini bread
  
• Do a squirrel craft
  
• Do a hibernation craft
  
• Make hot chocolate from scratch
  
• Make a pumpkin pie
  
• Do a pumpkin craft
  
• Go on a fall scavenger hunt
  
• Go to Starbucks for a Pumpkin Latte (this one is for the Man of the House, and I - but since the nearest Starbucks is 50 miles away, it ends up being a fall family outing).
  

It's great to be a homeschooler.

Tag!

So, there's a game of tag going around the blogosphere. Someone tags you with 8 questions to answer. You answer them, and then tag some other blogger buddies with your own set of questions.

I was just tagged by Christy from Superheroes and Princesses. She asked:

1. What is your favorite fictional book? If you had ask me this in high school, or college, I would have instantly answered The Hitchhikers Guide to the Galaxy by Douglas Adams, or maybe Dirk Gently's Holistic Detective Agency. I still really like his satire, but now that I'm older, I have less patience for his sacrilegiousness (I'm not sure that's really a word), and assuming that he died in those beliefs, makes his humor, tragic tinged. So, I don't know. I read a lot of mysteries, and science fiction, for mind candy. But, I think I'm currently without a real favorite.

2. What was your college major? International Studies, with a German emphasis.

3. If you could visit one place in the world, where would you go? This is a hard one, too. I would love to say Ireland - I've always wanted to see Ireland. But, in reality, if I was just planning a trip for fun, I'd go to Great Falls - I don't know why, but I just love going to there.

4. What is your biggest challenge as a mom? I think maybe just trying to keep up with the day to day. Has everyone had their shots, seen the dentist, gotten their hair cut? Do they need new socks, slips, tights, belts, or things? Can they all tie their shoes, ride bikes, spell their names? All the little easy things, that aren't really easy after all.

5. What did you eat for breakfast today? Peanut butter toast, a banana, and a cup of coffee. It's the same thing I have for breakfast every morning, unless we're out of bananas, or I'm on a no coffee kick. Then, I make muffins for the kids (unless I have Poptarts on hand).

6. What kind of music do you listen to most often? Well, right now, it's kid's music - Sesame Street Fiesta, They Might Be Giants' Here Comes Science, the collected works of Veggie Tales songs. Before children, I had an eclectic taste in music - Christian Rock (Steve Taylor, Michael W. Smith, Steve Camp), American folk music, those South American groups that play at all the street fairs, really anything with a lot of emotion to it.

7. What is your least favorite chore? Maybe laundry, or cleaning the bathrooms, or dusting, vacuuming, mopping the floor, cleaning fingerprints off of doors. I think, really, I truly despise housework - it's so dirty. I often find myself using the little mantra of Dory, from Finding Nemo. Instead of "Just keep swimming, swimming, swimming..." I chant along, "Just keep folding, folding, folding" or whatever goes with the particular chore in front of me. It seems to help.

8. Pretend that money is no object, and you need a new outfit. Where would you go to buy it? Christopher & Banks.



Okay, so I'm tagging:



Phyllis from All Things Beautiful

Wonder Mom from The Fantastic Five

and, Carrie from Reading to Know

And, my questions:

1. What is your favorite children's book of all time?

2. What is it that you like most about where you live?

3. What is it that you like least about where you live?

4. Do you have any special fall traditions?

5. What is your favorite holiday, and why?

6. Do you still eat sugary kid's breakfast cereals? Do you have a favorite?

7. If you could pick any age to stay at (teens, 20's, 30's, 100's), which age would it be?

8. What do you enjoy most, and least about blogging?

If I didn't tag you, but you'd love to answer one of the questions above, just leave your answer in the comments, and we can all play along.

It's great to be a homeschooler.

Constellation Books for Children and an Activitiy

We hit the mother load of excellent, constellation themed, children's books, at the library, yesterday afternoon.

And, we had some additional, Fancy Nancy fun, inspired by Jane O'Connor's Fancy Nancy Sees Stars. Just in case you're wondering, it did not involve making star cookies (though it easily could have, as Raising a Happy Child, pointed out in the comments of yesterday's constellation dot-to-dot post).


We had actually already turned the left over yellow cookie dough, from our star chart cookie, into star cookies, while watching The Magic School Bus Sees Stars (here, on Gamequarium). It's a lot of Magic School Bus fun, as always, but with a heavy dose of big bang, and ancient earth theory thrown in, so be warned.

Besides eating cookies, Fancy Nancy, and her family, set up lawn chairs, at night, in their backyard, for their own "private" show, after missing the presentation at the local planetarium.

I would have loved to have done that, but of course, our weather, last night, was chilly, cloudy, and wet - not good for star viewing, at all. Instead, I pulled out the plastic glow-in-the-dark stars, left over from our glow-in-the-dark star stickers, that have been taking up space in our supply cupboard, for years.

They don't have any sticky on the back, so I've never been sure what to do with them - until last night. When, I put clear tape donuts on the back of each, and had G stick them to the underside of the table...


...so we could surprise the little ones, with a truly private, if not exactly accurate, star show, of their own.


It's great to be a homeschooler.

Summer Fun - Water Games

We're trying to stuff all the hot weather fun we can into our last, few, waning days of summer. We had our first frost warning last night, already! But, yesterday afternoon was plenty warm enough to pull out the hose, with spray nozzle attached, for a few quick rounds of water limbo (thanks to A Magical Childhood)...

...water hurdles...

...water freeze tag, better known as big sister's target practice...

...and of course...

...chasing rainbows.

It's great to be a homeschooler, anytime of year. But it's just fantastic, to be a child, in the summer.

Fall Favorites

Frost at sunrise.

My First Pair of Hand Knitted Socks

Okay, maybe I'm using the term "pair" a little loosely when referring to these - the first two socks I've knitted - but it's a start.

After all, they seem to fit, and stay up. Never mind, that one has a cuff, and the other doesn't (a complete mystery to me, as I followed the same instructions for both), or that one is slightly longer than the other (no one will be able to see that, when they're worn under jeans anyway).

So, after only two weeks of continual knitting, I am happy to announce, that I'm am crossing one of my life goals off of the list. I have knitted my own socks! Now if I could just master a cartwheel, and figure out how to make a train whistle sound, by blowing into my hands, my life would be just about complete.

It's great to be a homeschooler.

A Party-tastic Package From Whimsy Love

A week, or so ago, I won the party-tastic give away from the Whimsy Love blog. It was very exciting to win, but even more exciting today, when the loot arrived.

The package was opened with great anticipation by all.

Candy was snatched.

A whistle was blown.


...garlands were examined. Were they sumo wrestlers?


No, a quick look back at Whimsy Love, told us they were cupcakes. Well yes, of course they were!



Paper crowns were tried on...


...as well as hair clips...


...and a ring.


Thaumatropes were spun...


...and paper dolls cut out.



Stickers were absconded with (I don't know who took them, but I'm sure they'll turn up on my walls).


And, a twirly straw was seized.


After a crazy whirl of activity, that lasted for practically an entire quarter of an hour, I was left with the bits of paper, and wrapping, a friendly note from the Whimsy Girls herself, and one pin - just for me.

If you haven't had a chance to become acquainted with the Whimsy Love blog, then I encourage you to check it out, especially her first day back to school snapshot. It's priceless. In fact, she has the exact expression I plan to use when the kids leave home for college.

And, thanks Whimsy Love, for the little party in a box. It was great fun.

It's great to be a homeschooler!