Fun projects

Rainbow biography of William the Conqueror

Botany flip book

Did you know  PEZ is from Connecticut?  That was our "recipe" for this unit---a brand new PEZ dispenser with candy included.  

In our Norman Britain unit, Tera and Daniel are learning about the "Bayeux Tapestry".  One project choice happened to be to create your own Bayeux Tapestry.  Daniel chose to create a sequential comic strip type story as a blog post for his project.  

A Bayeux Tapestry timeline project

Now that school and most of our activities are in full swing, I'm trying to remember to take moments throughout the day/week for quiet times and focus.    It's going to be a busy year, but definitely a memorable one,  IF I take the time to relish and savor the moments when I can.  

Motte and Bailey Castle model

British History has been such a joy so far.  Tera and Daniel are given choices for what projects they will complete for each unit.  We've been studying Norman Britain the last couple of weeks.  One project choice was to make a model of a motte and bailey castle.  Using only a picture, Tera spent many hours constructing her model with a working drawbridge, a motte and well that hold water, farm animals and more!

The beautiful creator....

An Adventure with Dad

I'm so thankful that I married a man that complements me and together we balance each other out in this whole parenting gig!   

A while back, my daughter had mentioned that tubing down the river was on her list of things she REALLY wanted to do.  Tubing down a river is not my idea of fun for lots of reasons.  JP and I had talked about it and we BOTH said almost simultaneously that I would not enjoy myself on this adventure.  I felt like my lack of enjoyment and stress would really put a damper upon everyone's fun.  

So JP set out on "an adventure with dad" day alone with the kids.  They had such a wonderful time.  Everyone is exhausted, yet talking of next time...

Fun Fridays: Lego Challenges and Math Games

Fun Fridays is always a "fun" time!  


Lego challenge--Build something that flies

Tenzi

Build a bridge that can support the weight of at least 5 Lego mini-figures.  When you pair the youngest child that is quite younger than his siblings with an only child, they both get quite a lesson in working together.  One reason I love our Fun Fridays time! 

Math Bingo--

Snack time!

Lego secret codes

Fraction Dominoes

We got most of our Lego ideas from these two sites:
Frugal Fun 4 Boys and Girls 
A Few Shortcuts

Mapping Postcards

As you probably have already heard, Michael and I are studying US Geography this year (and probably next year), using the curriculum, "Cantering the Country".   I thought it would be a great idea for Michael to start a postcard collection from all the 50 states and Washington, DC.  Through my Facebook connections, we've managed to get 35 of the 50 states already!!!! 

As you can see, many of my family and friends have went above and beyond in helping us! 

We decided we would use our pretty fabric map of the USA to mark each postcard and the state represented.  

I found these cute flag pins on Amazon.  Today, Michael and I "mapped" out our postcards.  We divided all the cards by states first.  Counted each stack.  Then, Michael had to find each state on the map. 

Fast facts:

• Most postcards--Tennessee at 7
• Biggest postcard--a tie between--Washington DC and Maryland
• Most unique postcard--A wooden postcard from Washington state
• Postcards with a map of the state--New Jersey, Tennessee, Alabama, Pennsylvania, North Carolina
• Number of postcards with some type of animal/bird/insect/wildlife---22
• Number of total postcards collected so far--66
• Number of states collected--35 and Washington, DC
• Number of different people that have sent cards--26

Three years later--Bedroom Reveal

Over three years ago, JP bought me a bedroom set for our anniversary.  I said I would post pictures when we finished decorating.  Well, we finally got to the point of a reveal today.... THREE YEARS LATER!  

JP bought me the really cool LED string lights for my birthday and we took the opportunity to hang those up.  One thing led to another and I ended up pulling out all the decorations I had bought THREE YEARS AGO.    (There are still a few finishing touches we need to do, like replace the stock photos in the big picture frame...ahem.) 

I love it!!!!  I feel like it's our own little oasis--a little bit of hygge!