Last 3 Weeks in Review

We've been chugging right along with school. Colin has been doing much better doing his work independently this year, which really helps since I have to spend a lot of my time taking care of our little one. She doesn't sleep much at all, but she is usually pretty happy so I can get some school done with the girls while she plays or I'm nursing her. She likes to doze off on me so I try to use that time for reading history or our current Little House on the Prairie book.

Colin has finished two modules of Exploring Creation with Physical Science. He's doing well with the VideoText Algebra. He's never done anything where he watches the lesson so I wasn't sure how it would go.
We've finished four chapters of Story of the World 4 and are studying the Civil War now.

We need one more day to finish reading These Happy Golden Years. I'm kind of sad that we only have two more books in the series. It feels like I waited forever for the right time to read it and I'm so happy that the kids liked it so much. It's been so fun to do activities, dress them up, and visit the Laura Ingalls Wilder sites. I guess I can start looking forward to doing it again when Sophie is older.



We've done lots of fun things in the last three weeks. We've been trying to soak in the nice weather for as long as it lasts because I'm sure it won't be too much longer. We had a great time visiting an apple orchard and a pumpkin patch. I have lots of pictures from those so they will need their own posts.

Another fun thing we did is an archery class with our homeschool group.

 

 

There was a cool park near there where the kids enjoyed playing for a while.

 

 

 

 

We also went to the Minnesota Renaissance Festival. Unfortunately, it started raining pretty hard after a couple hours so we didn't get to do as much as planned. The kids had a good time while we were there though.

 

Last week, we walked to the park a couple of times because it was so nice. It's 1 1/2 miles on trails from our house.

 

Sophie got to try a swing for the first time and loved it.

 

Our baby girl got her first 2 teeth, which you can see here.

 

Arlington National Cemetery

On our trip to Washington, D.C., last month, we visited Arlington National Cemetery for the first time. I could have never imagined how many graves there were without seeing it. They seem to go on forever.

The Eternal Flame at the gravesite of President John F. Kennedy

Changing of the guard

The cemetery is really beautiful with gorgeous trees and great views of the city.

Our Week: 1/30-2/3

As I prepare for a weekend hockey trip and deal with the fact that my baby boy is turning 12 tomorrow, I'm having a hard time remembering exactly what we did this week. I had to look back in my record book to figure out what we did. My sister came to visit for a few days so the kids got out of some of their normal school for the last couple days.

Science



We continued learning about the elements. We read about the final two groups, lanthanides and actinides. The only experiment we did was using a magnet to make a dollar bill move because of the magnetic ink used in them. We also started back in the RS4K Chemistry book and read about how atoms become molecules and form bonds.

In Colin's Biology class he's taking at the local nature center, they've been learning about frogs. They sent home tadpoles two weeks ago. Half the kids fed them iceberg lettuce and the other half fed them spinach. This week they brought them back to compare the two groups and found the ones fed spinach had gained weight while the others lost weight. They also dissected frogs this week.

 

 

History



In history, we started the week reading about King Philip's War. Then we read about New France and their war with the Iroquois. We learned that Louis XIV saved New France by sending soldiers to help and later sending women to be wives. We also read about William Penn and his holy experiment, which resulted in the beginning of Pennslyvania.

Everything Else



As I wrote in a previous post, we read some books for Groundhog Day and made some treats.


Part of the reason for my sister's visit was that she wanted to take the kids to the circus since they had never been. They had a lot of fun.

 

 

Caleigh's face is because she decided she had a fear of clowns and said her cup was scaring her

 

 

Our Week: Hockey, Germany, and Nativities

We've been so busy that I've gotten a little behind in doing our weekly wrap-ups. We had Molly's birthday party 2 weeks ago. My dad and sister came to visit that day and stayed for the week of Thanksgiving. We took that week off from school. We left on the Friday after Thanksgiving to go to Colin's hockey tournament in Atlanta for the weekend. After a week off school and traveling, it took us some time to get back into our routine this week.

In history, we read about the Thirty Year's War. We read some books about Germany, including some Grimm's fairy tales. Reading Rapunzel and Snow White made things a little more interesting for the girls.

Colin had his biology class this week. They got their midterm back and he did great. While he was in class, the girls had fun visiting the horses.

On Friday, we went to a nativity festival. It was really nice. They had nativities from all over the world. They also had crafts,  dress up clothes, and a nativity scene to take pictures of them dressed up.

We went to visit Santa.

This weekend was busy again with hockey. Colin had a game Saturday morning and one in the evening. Then he had another game Sunday morning.




Colin is in the black stopping the puck



Girls at the hockey game.

  

Love the missing front teeth smile



Apple Picking at Sky Top Orchard

We had a great time at Sky Top Orchard a few weeks ago. It's about a two hour drive, but those apple cider donuts make it worth the drive. It's a really nice place with great views too.