Winter Wrap Up

So.....blogging about our Homeschooling adventures has been playing second fiddle to the rest of our activities. Unfortunately for my children, homeschooling itself, has NOT. They are still getting edumicated daily and grumbling about consistently. But here is a Winter Wrap Up of our very busy lives. First and foremost, the above picture took up most of our January. We spent every weekend getting ready to put the house on the market. Why is it that we always wait and do those projects, that you've been meaning to do for years, right before you get ready to sell? Hmmmm....
This Winter we watched Liam crossover from Cub Scouts into Boy Scouts. Boy Scouts will be a great experience for him. He's so excited about his first week long camp out this Summer. This will be his first time away from us without being with other relatives. My biggest fear is the education he'll get from the other campers!! After all...I still remember my camping experience when I was his age.

We also welcomed a new cousin (my great-nephew) into the world. This is Malachi John Petersen. He's perfect! We spent 5 days in Michigan with the Hansen family and had a blast. We went sledding, hiking, Mommy had a day out with sister, watched movies, laughed, played games...tons of fun. I somehow, even snuck in a nap that visit. That is an amazing feat considering how many people live there. Remember, my sister has 9 kids still living at home. Add my brood to the bunch and that's a whole lotta kids.

Quinn lost his first tooth this Winter, much to our amazement. The other boys all waited till they were 7 before they lost a tooth. Quinn, our little early bird, lost his at the age of 5.

Both Simon and Quinn took art classes this Winter at the Delaware Arts Castle. Quinn even had his picture in the Delaware Gazette during one of his art classes. Simon is so into watercolors these days that he is actually watching an instructional video about it right now!!

Whole Foods has been a great distraction this Winter. We've been taking a class there on the first Tuesday of each month. They do a great job. Each class has a different theme and the best part is......IT'S FREE!! This actually works out very well for WF because I always go shopping after the class and spend plenty of money. Maybe the class isn't free after all. In February the boys learned all about Chinese New Year and made yummy dumplings. Mmmmm

For Christmas, Simon received some Kitchen Science kits from his Grandpa and Karen. We've made hard candy, suckers and gum. Before you make gum, give me a call. I would love to help you avoid a few mistakes that just about ruined my Pyrex bowls.

In February, Liam turned 11. We've decided to upgrade all the boys' bikes for their birthdays this year. Liam is quite the stud on his new mountain bike. This is Liam with his Grandma and James.

One very warm (42 degrees) Winter day, we went sledding with some awesome Homeschooling peeps. We had Highbanks all to ourselves until the highschoolers started showing up. Darn schoolies! Just kidding.

This Christmas, my Dad welcomed help from these little hands, as he taught us all how to make Italian cookies. This is definitely an all day affair. We made two batches and used up 2-5 lb bags of flour and I don't even want to think about how much Crisco. I'll just block that part from my mind. Those of you that know me, and my blond hair and pale skin, can you believe I am part Italian? That gray hair you see on my Dad used to be jet black. Not a one of his 4 kids took on those genes. We are all pale and quite lacking in black hair. My Mom had high hopes for me when I came out all nice and olive colored. Turns out I was just jaundice.

We are quite blessed to have some tremendous chefs in the family. This is Liam learning how to make chocolate something-or-other from his Aunt Jen. My brother-in-law met Jen in culinary school (in France, by the way,...ooh, la, la!) so they are our resident cooking experts.

To wrap up our fabulous Winter, we took the boys skiing and snowboarding. And yes, Mom even went snow boarding. Quinn did a great job on skis while Liam and Simon both snowboarded. It was a great day at a not so great ski resort. You can't expect fantastic skiing in Ohio so I shouldn't complain.

Pizza!!! French Fries!!

Every Winter the boys look forward to the Pine Wood Derby race with the Cub Scouts. This was Liam's last year to race but we have many more to look forward to with Simon and Quinn. Here's Simon with his trophy and car.

So that was our Winter in a nutshell. We did many other things that kept the days busy but I can't even remember them all. The boys continue to attend Homeschool gym, have fun play dates with other homeschoolers, play with the neighbors, bake things Mommy shouldn't eat, create fun art work at home, play Play-doh, create Lego designs, and so on and so on and on. Now that it is Spring, let's hope I don't wait another 3 months to log our adventures.

Liam's journey to independence...YIKES!

Why did I choose to Homeschool? I get this question all the time, as if I could answer it in one easy sentence. I never know what to say. Sometimes I'll feel the need to clarify that I have nothing against the public school system. Olentangy schools are great...right? Other times I will simply say "It was a hard decision that we didn't come to easily." That's the truth. One thing I know for sure, is that I can NOT answer this question in a two minute chat standing in the grocery aisle. You better have a pot of coffee brewing and sit back and relax.


One of my concerns with our decision is making sure other moms know that I don't feel superior for homeschooling. Most days I feel like I am nuts for doing this. All I know is that this feels right for me. I would get a pit in my stomach every morning as I watched Liam ride away on the bus. On the first day of 2nd grade he left and I didn't even know what his teacher looked liked! I was sending him to strangers and that didn't feel good to me.


I could be damaging my children beyond repair, I don't know. But this is our journey, you all must make yours.


With that said, I am updating this blog to document a new beginning. This week, Liam will start online school at Connections Academy.


I am really struggling with this because he is essentially enrolled in a public school. Isn't this what I was trying to avoid? I thought I wanted the freedom to study at our own pace, be it fast or slow, and dive into topics that interest us. I don't want to be tied down to a curriculum that mandates what we are studying. I don't like standardized tests. I don't like having my hands tied!!! So why am I doing this?

Over Christmas break I got a call from a different online school letting us know that they still had room for enrollment. I don't remember giving this school my phone number! How did they know to call me? How did they know I was considering this option? Hmmmm......I took it as a sign. We'll give this a try.

I think I will be able to balance our desire to "go with the flow" and still meet the requirements of the school. I watch other families that use online schools and they seem to be relaxed and not on a specific schedule. This will be good for Liam as well. It comes as no surprise that he sometimes "resists" my instruction and help. What does Mom know anyway? Right? Just don't say that to Gramps, Liam, or he will regret those 5 years of Engineering school he paid for!!

So we will give this a try for the remainder of the school year and then reevaluate again for the Fall. I may want to throw in the towel after a few weeks but I am committed to this for Liam. He seems excited and eager to get started, although I still think he is mostly excited about the computer he's getting. Hey..whatever works.

100 Books in a Month...Not a problem

So we did it!! Just under the wire too. Our goal was to have it accomplished by Christmas. We read our last 5 books on the drive from Columbus to Toledo, Christmas Eve. Phew!

I thought about typing up the list of books so y'all could see what we tackled, but that just seems like too much work for this lazy holiday season. I will, however, go on record to say that they are all different books. We did not repeat any and mark them down twice, thrice, etc. Out of all this, I found some new series that keep me entertained as well as the kids. The Epposomundas books are fun. Simon loved my southern accent as I described the "great, big, hairy, Louisanana snappin' turtle." I also really liked the Dear Mrs. Larue books by Mark Teague but the boys didn't care for them. They were filled with wonderful sarcasm and witty humor that will keep the adult reader chuckling.


With every accomplishment there should be a reward, right? The kids are very anxious for their reward...a trip to Chuck E. Cheese. But if we want Mom's sanity to remain intact, we need to wait till all the "schoolies" go back to school so that we can have Chuck E. Cheese all to ourselves.

History in the Kitchen...sort of.

We have moved past the Revolutionary War (how much of that can you really cram down a 10 year old's brain) and taken a giant leap to Lewis and Clark. I was hoping this would be more interesting to a boy. There's adventure, fighting, white water rafting, Indian encounters, etc. etc. etc.
We started out with a very cool video from National Geographic that was a reenactment of Lewis and Clark's journey. Not sure what Liam thought of it, but I loved it! As a mom I kept picturing myself traveling the country side with an infant, just like Sacajawea. Really, women today couldn't do it. We would have a gigantic diaper bag filled with butt cream, diapers, assorted plastic toys and teething rings. And we would be concerned about where we could plug in the butt wipe warmer. Sacajawea travelled though rain, snow, ice, treacherous mountain climbs, dangerous river crossings....all with a baby!!! She is my new hero.

Liam also read a book titled The Captain's Dog by Roland Smith. This was a book written through the eyes of Lewis' dog, Seaman (snicker snicker). I think he secretly liked the book but would never admit it. Instead he debated that he shouldn't be forced to read books he wasn't interested in. This is when I had to bite my lip to keep from laughing out loud. This boy has a very rude awakening when he gets into high school. I had flashbacks of The Grapes of Wrath in 11th grade. What torture!

On to the fun stuff. Liam and I read a list of possible items Lewis and Clark would have taken on their journey. They didn't pack much food but instead focused on taking things to document their progress. They took plenty of paper, journals, maps, etc. They did, however, try and pack some dried fruits. They knew it would be very helpful since fresh fruit would be hard to find.
I'm not sure what brand of dehydrator they used. I bet they had one of those big Excalibur types with 9 trays. They were so lucky. All I have is my small, 4 tray dehydrator. We are really roughing it around here.


Here's the glop we made by simply cooking down some apples (actually a LOT of apples) and then running them through my handy dandy fruit strainer on my stand mixer. That device is the bomb!

I must say that I don't think I will EVER do this again. Not only did we use a lot of apples, but it had to dry for quite some time. AND...This is all I managed to wrap up for future consumption before the kids gobbled it all up. I am now convinced we would have starved if we were on that Corps of Discovery team. And I would still be looking for a massage therapist after carrying that darn baby over a mountain.

100 Books in a Month Challenge

100 books in a month. Can it be done? Quinn isn't so sure. Simon thinks we can. Mom KNOWS we can.

If you follow my blog, you know I love my Google Reader. After awhile, Google starts suggesting other blogs to follow based on the ones you are currently following. This has been great! I have found some great bloggers out there but I'm beginning to feel a bit like a stalker. I don't even know most of these people! But you never know from where your inspiration will come. I will never be so arrogant to believe that I have it all figured out. There are some incredible women, homeschoolers, raw foodies, cooks, moms out there that can teach me a thing or two.

Recently I was inspired by another Homeschool blog called Home-Grown Kids. She challenges her child every month to read 100 books. Of course I had to sweeten the pot a bit. I told the boys that if we accomplish this task we'll take a trip to Chuck E. Cheese. You know I put a lot of importance on reading if I am willing to brave that germ infested place.

Little does Simon and Quinn know, but we probably read 50-60 books a month already. This won't be hard. But 100 is a HUGE number to these boys so they will be so proud when they reach this goal. And I am going to have fun reading all these great books. I'll keep a list of the books as we go so you can read along if you like. So far I think my favorite has been Cowboy and Octopus by Jon Sciezca. That guy cracks me up!!!

Letterboxing

On Monday we played homeschool hookie and went Letterboxing instead. We love Letterboxing. If you are unfamiliar with this hobby, visit http://www.letterboxing.org/. There are different versions of this; Letterboxing, Geo-Caching, Atlas Quest, and they are all tons of fun. The idea is to hunt down a hidden box. Inside that box will be a specially carved stamp and a notepad. The boys and I have our own little scrapbook that we carry around with us as we hunt. We collect these stamps in our scrapbook as well as leave our special "mark" behind in their notepad. For awhile we didn't have a unique stamp. We simply stamped a smiley face and signed our trail name, which is 'threeboys2004.' But thanks to Quinn's boyish, immature, 5 year old mind, we now have the coolest stamp ever!! Check it out!

Science in the Kitchen - Bread Part 2 (Gluten)

Gluten. Not just a new allergy.


I've learned a lot about gluten during our Science in the Kitchen series. Let's hope Liam has also picked up a tidbit or two. So here's the low down.


Flours that are high in protein will produce more gluten in your dough. There are basically 2 proteins in dough, whose names I cannot remember, that combine during the kneading process to create strands of gluten. Think of gluten like a balloon. The gluten will hold the gas needed to make a dough rise. Therefore, you should use a flour high in protein for yeast breads. Flours low in protein are best for pastries and cookies.


For our experiment, we took four different kinds of flour; all purpose, whole wheat, pastry and semolina. We created 4 separate "doughs" by mixing the flour with water. After letting it sit for 15-20 minutes, we took each dough ball and ran them under water. We did this until most of the starch was washed away and we were left with only the gluten strands.



After looking at only the gluten strings in each ball, we could tell which dough ball had the most gluten and which had the least. I won't tell you our findings....you have to do the experiment on your own!!



Here's one of our gluten balls. I think this was the Whole Wheat.

Science in the Kitchen - Bread Part 1

Yeast. It's all yeast these days!

Liam and I are continuing our studies in the kitchen. We've exhausted our studies of the egg and we are moving on to bread! Look out hips, here comes another 5 pounds.

We started our studies by discussing leavening agents. We made some cookies and muffins using baking soda and baking powder. But everyone knows that the Mack-daddy of leavening agents is yeast. And yeast is so entertaining. First question of the day....."does yeast like sugar?"

We did a quick little experiment by using equal amounts of yeast and warm water in two separate bowls. In one bowl we also included a teaspoon of sugar. Can you guess which bowl had the sugar?

If you guessed the bowl on the left, then you are right. In the same amount of time, the bowl with sugar created huge amounts of yeast foam compared to the bowl without the sugar. So the next time you make a yummy bread, be sure to proof your yeast with sugar.

The Arts Castle - 2D

Simon and Liam took a 7 week art class at the Delaware Arts Castle this Fall. Simon seems to love these classes but Liam....not so much. I get this impression because he likes to comment "Mom, why do you sign me up for things without asking first?" My response is always "Liam, did they ask you if you wanted to go to art class in public school?? I don't think so!" Keep in mind that by the time I pick him up from class, he seems to be enjoying himself and the projects.


This session was all about two dimensional drawings. Here is Simon's glue picture (they drew the creature with glue and then filled in with pastels.) Not sure what this little guy is. I think Simon mentioned something about a hamster.


Here is Liam's creation. This one I know. A dog!!

My favorite part about Art class was the one-on-one time I got with Quinn! It was worth every penny. Sometimes we would go shopping or out to lunch. And then if I'm honest, we would sometimes go home so that Mom could take a nap all snuggled with Quinn watching a video on the couch.

Literature in the Kitchen - Tomie DePaola

No wonder I have put on 5 pounds! I've recently learned a little homeschooling trick that is not too friendly on my hips. I'll tell you my little secret but you have to promise me you'll use if for good and not evil. And you must promise to share anything you produce from implementing this little secret. OK, here it goes.........the kitchen makes learning FUN!!

I came across a Scholastic book that shows things you can do with the kids while reading Tomie DePaola books. We recently read "Watch out For Chicken Feet in Your Soup." What an adorable little book. The boys loved my bad Italian accent. Or maybe I imagined that they loved it.

In the book, the old Italian Grandma makes bread dolls for the little boys. I tried doing some research on the origin of these weird concoctions, but I didn't come up with much. They seem to be a popular bread in Europe, especially during the Easter holiday.


Here's Quinn with his unbaked and baked Bread Doll. Isn't it cute? I'm sure he named it before he ate it. He's very creative when he names things so I'm guessing it was something like "Baby Bread."

And here's Simon bo Bimon with his finished masterpiece.

Fall Time Fun with our Homeschooling Peeps

Circle S Farms...good times. The boys had a blast. This place had quite a corn maze and a very intimidating Hay Barn. Again, I am just thrilled that the boys are making friends with some other Homeschooled kids. This is really helping Liam and Simon. Liam actually came up to me the other day and admitted there were some advantages to homeschooling. Wow! This is big!! Quinn still just tags along everywhere we go and loves it.

There were a gazillion of these caterpillars at the farm and the kids had them crawling all over them. We later found out that from Grandma that the orange stripe on these critters has something to do with how harsh the Winter will be. Not knowing how long their stripes were last year, I can't dole out any Winter tips. We will all just have to wait and see.

Science in the Kitchen - The Egg, Part 3

We continue our egg investigations with a little Flan!! How could science be so tasty? So if you are wondering how flan could possibly be tasty AND educational, well sit back and learn. Proteins! I won't bore you with all the details, but it all boils down to the proteins....oh and the fat. Gels love protein and fat.

Science in the Backyard (aka- Steve!)

Look at Steve! It seems like only months ago that Steve was this very large tadpole.

Now, he is this sorta small bullfrog!!

The boys found Steve in a pond near the house this Summer. After some negotiating and some terms discussed, Steve was given a home on our deck. It has actually been quite fun to watch Steve grow and shrink. I had no idea that they were bigger as tadpoles. I'm sure Steve will grow into a healthy, large Bullfrog and go on to populate the world with many more little Steves. This all hinges on whether or not I can convince the boys to release Steve back into the WILD!! I've tried explaining to them that the aquarium will freeze solid this Winter and leave Steve with no place to hibernate. AND, under no circumstances will Steve reside in our nice and cozy home.

Science in the Kitchen - The Egg, Part 2

The Translucent Egg.
Did you know you can remove the hard shell of an egg by simply soaking the egg in vinegar? It is so cool! This is your classic acid/base chemical reaction. The egg shell is basically made of calcium carbonate. The vinegar, containing acetic acid, separates the calcium and releases the carbonate as carbon dioxide gas. You can see all the bubbles of gas in the picture below. These bubbles started happening immediately.

After soaking for about 2 days, the shell has completely dissolved away and you are left with a translucent egg. You can't tell by the picture, but you can even see the egg yolk inside.
Now you would think that the egg would be fragile without the loving protection of its hard outer shell. Not so! This sucker is durable. It has the consistency of a rubber bouncy ball. You can see in the pictures below that I'm squeezing the egg pretty hard. Next up...to cut it open and see what it looks like inside!

Science in the Kitchen - The Egg, Part 1

Liam's current interest (which changes frequently) is cooking. Uncle Jeremy would be proud! If I tell the kids they can watch a video, 1/2 the time they will pick a Good Eats video. I might need to give credit to Alton Brown for schooling my children. Even Quinn is coming up and telling me how to pickle vegetables and how to get the seeds out of a vanilla bean. There's one thing I know for certain, these boys will know how to cook for themselves. I won't have a daughter-in-law coming to me and telling me their man can't take care of himself. Next thing they will all learn is LAUNDRY!
But I digress...
With this new found love of cooking, the homeschooling Mom took over (with Dad's creative insight as well!) and decided to take school into the kitchen. First up....The Egg!

Specifically....The Egg White! What better way to teach about proteins and amino acids in egg whites, than Meringue Cookies!! Mmmm...Mmmmm
Here's Liam giving those egg whites a good whipping.

And here are the fruits of his labor, or I should say the cookies of his labor. We may have let them cook a little too long but they were still tasty little numbers. They tasted a bit like a nice toasted marshmallow. The Egg, Part 1....success!

It's the small things in life....

It is really the small things in life that bring us the most joy....right? I have been reflecting on my own blog title and realizing that I need to practice what I preach, so to say. Today does NOT seem like a gift. It seems more like a practical joke.

In the past few weeks I've noticed evident spikes in my stress level during certain moments of the day. Unfortunately, those moments are frequent and close together (I was trying to figure out the opposite of "few and far between!) Those moments happen to be........schooling my eldest!!! Particularly during times where he has to actually listen to me! He has a problem with that. We bump heads so many times during the day that it's a miracle neither one of us has a concussion.

So I must turn to the small things in life. Is it possible to find comfort in that cup of Oolong tea? Can 20 minutes of peace compensate for the last 6 hours of debates, arguements and head-butting? Or perhaps my newest addiction, Trader Joe's Non-Fat Plain frozen yogurt, can bring balance to the force. Thank you Jenilee for introducing me to this delightful little concoction. This yogurt with fresh raspberries is a little scoop of heaven. Ahhhh...I'm pretending that I don't hear any kids right now!

We're Back!

Wow! That was a very long hiatus from this blog. I have to admit, I completely shut down from all things "homeschool" over the Summer. It was a much needed break to help rejuvinate and re-energize my mind for these kiddles. I don't mind telling you....these boys wear me out!
But enough of my complaining, we are now back at it with full steam. I'm really trying to let "life" happen this year. If you know me at all, you know of my desire to have STUFF to show that we actually did something. I was this way as a kid. It wasn't enough to read a good book when I was little. I also needed to write that title down in my very cute Hello Kitty notepad so I could show everyone else I had read the book. Even though I still feel it is important to have the kids do WORK...I also want to be content in letting us live and learn through all that surrounds us. Even if it isn't something I can write down in my Hello Kitty notebook.





So here is Simon this morning...making his now famous, Pancakes. But I gave him a challenge. I asked him to make them while adding something NEW to his recipe. After a quick discussion of how Peppermint extract would make a pancake taste, he settled on Cocoa. But no pancake of Simon's is complete until a little food coloring is added. Today he chose blue, his favorite color. Now just imagine brown pancakes with blue food coloring. Yum!











A few weeks ago we blew off school to do a little Letterboxing with friends. It was very fun! The best part was getting lost in the woods. It took 3 times as long to get back to the car as it was to find the letterbox. That will teach the Moms to chat so much and not watch where we are going!

Prior to this trip, the boys took some time to carve some of their own stamps. I already knew Quinn would need a little help since I wasn't willing to let him use a sharp utensil for carving. He gave explicit instructions as to what he would like on his stamp. I personally think I did a fine job!! What do you think?



Quinn's Stamp!





















The next week we went apple picking with our homeschool group. We love this group of people! They are fantastic! I feel like the boys are starting to make "Homeschool" friends. It helps so much. Liam is having a very rough start to the school year and making friends is easing his resentment a bit.

Silly Liam

Liam loves to be silly. He doesn't always know when to stop, but he definitely has a passion for being the home clown (I can't say "class clown" since I'm a homeschooler!)
A few weeks ago we did a small study on Picasso and his cubism. We decided to do self portraits in this style. I love Liam's interpretation of cubism. His artistic side is always fascinating to me. He doesn't get it from me!


Have you all heard of the book "The Dangerous Book for Boys?" Or how about "The Encyclopedia of Immaturity?" I would have to say that these are Liam's daily reference materials. He's got them dog-eared and ready to go at a moments notice. Not sure what book this idea came from, but it was fun running into "the leg" for a few days. We never knew where it would end up. Under doors, windows, couches, desks.....