"Bacontoad's" Wig

I purchased 'Beethoven's Wig' for my girls as a fun intro to classical music.  I always start the year with good intentions of incorporating classical music and, as to date, fall short.  Upon request from a good friend, thanks Amie, I purchased the first CD.  My girls love it!  We will definitely be getting the other CD's in this series. 

The funny part to this story, and the title of this post, is that Lil cannot say Beethoven.  She says "Bacontoad".  It is hilarious!  I laugh every time she says it.

The Garden is Growing

Last year was our first attempt at planting a garden.  We did pretty well.  This year the garden has more than doubled itself.  I think James would till up the entire backyard if it were not for the girls.  We have already enjoyed lettuce and a copy strawberries. 

This year we are going to try our hand at canning.  I'm very excited about that.  I never did it as a child.  No one around me canned, either that or I never paid attention if they were.  Some friends at church gave us three boxes full of jars.  That was a blessing!  I'm not sure how many more we will need.  I guess we will have to wait and see once we start the whole process.  I am going to try to keep my eyes open at yard sales.

Annual EXPO at Co-Op

Tonight was our annual EXPO at our co-op.  The girls have been working on their entries all week.  Lulu and Monkey entered the science competition together.  They built two greenhouses out of a crate.  They planted herbs.  One greenhouse received light 24/7.  The other greenhouse was lit for 12 hours and then off for 12 hours.  Their questions was, "Do plants need time without light?".  The result of their experiment was no.  The herbs that received constant light sprouted faster and grew much larger than the herbs that received less light.  It ended up being a really great project.

Lulu also entered the spelling bee, a drawing, and a Lego creation. 

Monkey entered a painting and baked a hot fudge cake.  This cake is very neat.  She added the mixture for the cake to the pan first.  Then she topped it with the hot fudge mixture.  I poured the boiling water over the cake.  When it bakes, the two layers switch places.  The hot fudge is under the cake.  Very cool!

Lil entered a painting, a Lego creation, and photography.  Her photography entry was from Monster Jam, of course.

I am very proud of the hard work the girls put into their projects.  They were extra excited tonight since Ms. Lana came to see all their items on display.  Thanks Ms. Lana!!!

Mom's Getaway

Last Thursday I left town with three other homeschool Moms.  We headed to Cincinnati for the Midwest Homeschool Convention.  It was a great trip.  I really enjoyed my girl time with three awesome ladies.  They love the Lord and their families.  It is so great to have like-minded women in my life.  We laughed until we could laugh no more.  We got very little sleep the first night...to the tune of about an hour .  The sessions were very informative and some were even convicting.  The vendor hall was stocked full of curriculum.

We have already made plans to go back next year.  I can't wait...

Poem Memorization

The girls are really enjoying our poet for this term, Christina Rossetti.  They each picked three of her poems to memorize.  Here are the recitations.

Our Nature Bag

I am slowly incorporating more of Charlotte Mason's teachings.  Nature study is one area I have struggled with.  I want to do it...I'm just a little intimidated because I don't know much about this area.  I cannot tell the difference between trees and plants.  We are outside all the time and the girls have nature journals, but we still do not do nature study. 

Well as spring is approaching and we are anticipating the many weekends camping, James and I decided to put together a nature bag.  Our bag is actually a soft sided cooler.  We chose the cooler over a backpack so that it could get wet and clean up easier.  Inside our nature bag are the following:

• 3 drawing pads
• 3 fishing nets
• 3 observation bowls (reusable Ziplocs with lids)
• colored pencils
• pencils
• homemade crayons for rubbings
• tube containers of various sizes
• 2 magnifying glasses
• 2 pairs of binoculars
• hand sanitizer

It is so nice having everything in one place.  We are looking forward to the many advenures we plan to have with our nature bag.  When we are sitting around camp and the girls need something to do....just grab the bag and go explore!

Today's April 7th, Not April Fools

There is something wrong with this picture.  Can you guess what it is?