The Art of Racing in the Rain

I just finished reading the book The Art Of Racing In The Rain and novel by Garth Stein.  It was so great. I loved this book.  A great story about human life and human behavior as only a dog could tell.  I loved Enzo so much by the end of this story.  I will never look and any dog in the same way again.  Especially my older dog Belle.  I must say when I first received this book from my mom I didnt think I would like it.  Was I ever wrong.  This book was so well written.  I would recommend this book to anyone, especially to those that have a dog in their life.


http://www.amazon.com/gp/reader/0061537969/ref=sib_dp_pt#reader-link

Fish and Mushrooms. What to do?

Thanks to my wonderful dad I have been the recipient of many, many pounds of fish over the summer.  I LOVE fish and if it were not for him I wouldnt get any, as my husband is not a fisherman.  We have had several fish fries but with so much fish still in the freezer it was time to get pickling!  Yes that is right, I said pickling.  I pickle fish and it is wonderful.  So I now have the bottom of my fridge lined with several jars that will be read for us to enjoy this weekend.  I hope to eventually share the recipe with you all.

Now on to the mushrooms.  My dad called recently and asked if I wanted some wild mushrooms.  Well duhhhh, of course I want mushrooms.  My dad is not only a good fisherman he is great at seeking out edible mushrooms.  So I figured he would stop by and drop of a few.  I was shocked when he walked in my house with a cooler full of mushrooms.  It took my husband and I over an our to get them all prepared and in bags to freeze.  Some when right in our meals this week and I still have a few in the fridge. 
Here are some pics so you can get a better idea of what I was dealing with. Not that I am complaining one bit.

Volcanoes

Last week we learned about volcanoes for science here at our homeschool.  After reading several good books about volcanoes with them I decided to have them build one themselves. 

First we made a dough using flour, salt, and water. 

Second I had them each draw some pictures of houses and landscape to put around the inside of the box, we wanted this to look as real as possible of course.  The empty soup can in the middle will be the center of the volcano.

Then it was time to add the clay.  We realized we added a little to much water because the clay just kept sliding down the can.

But that didn't stop my girls from having fun.

So once the construction was complete we waited for dad to get home from work and then I began filming with my camera.  What happened was unexpected.  I didnt realize what was going on in my 4 year olds mind as I was reading about volcanoes and what happens when one erupts.  In her mind this little volcano we had made was very scary as you will see from this video.

OK I can not figure out how to flip this video but it is too cute not to share so just get over it and tip your head OK.  Thanks.  Oh, did you notice the matchbox cars the girls added for extra effect.





Learning about Inuit and Arctic Living

This week in class the girls learnend about living in the Arctic.  One of the projects for my 3 oldest girls was for them to build an Igloo out sugar cubes.  We used frosting to hold it all together.  It kept wanting to collapse so we used a small drinking cup inside to keep it from falling in.  The girls had lots of fun.

The only bad thing about making something like this is, as you can imagine, them wanting to eat it.

It is a good thing we also talked about resisting temptation this week.

Getting Ready for School

I am still working of preparing for school this year.  Here is what I have planned so far.

I will be using Christian Cottage unit studies for the bulk of our class time.  This will be the first time I have used this program.  Looking it over it looks great.

I purchased Letter of the Week and K4 from http://www.confessionsofahomeschooler.com/  I will use these with my 6, 5, and 3 year old to help them with what they are still lacking.  The 6 year old is beyond some of this but still needs help with reading skills and math.  It should be fun for all of them.

Ordered Stitches and Pins to do with my oldest daughter and myself.  I never learned how to sew well and cant wait to do this with her.  With 5 daughters I am sure there will be plenty of use for any new skills I learn along the way.

Will be using Foundations Bible Study and Building Christian Character as part of our bible study time.

I have also ordered other miscellaneous things to make our learning more fun.  I will write about those when they come in.

RUBY JANE HAS ARRIVED

Our newest little bundle Ruby Jane arrived on July 22 at 4:30pm. She weighed 6lb 14oz and was 19" long. She looks just like her 4 older sisters. A week later Bill and I still cant get over the fact that she is now here and that we have 5 daughters. Bill said to her "another one that is going to break daddies heart" you can tell he truely adores his little girls. This baby is getting tons of lovin from her big sisters as well. She is not wanting for attention and someone is always available to hold her.

Ruby Janes arrival into the world went very, very well. She was born here at home with the help of a midwife, her assistant, and of course daddy right by mommies side. The Lord surely did bless me with an easy delivery and I am greatful.

Planning The New Homeschool Year

I have decided to use my blog to track my adventures with homeschooling. I prayed a lot about what to use this year for our curriculum. I have decided to try Christian Cottage unit studies, I have been a fan of unit studies since I began homeschooling. I was going to plan out everything on my own but with a new baby in the house this year I decided this was the best option. I will also implement a lot of Charlotte Mason ideas. I have ordered the Christian Cottage study and am waiting for its arrival in the mail, hopefully it holds up to my expectations.

As I plan what resources I will be using I will post them and let you know how things go.

For my younger children I will also be using some resources from 1+1+1=1 1plus1plus1equals1.com and confessionsofahomeschooler.com

Planning

New Baby Soon

So I have 3 days left till my due date. I cant wait for this baby to enter the world. I have been trying to take it easy but I feel like I have so much I should be doing. Guess I need to find a happy medium until the big day.

Too Long

It has been way too long since I have posted anything on this site. I don't know why as I really do enjoy doing this. So now to get caught up a little (or a lot) So much has happened these many months.

I am about 3 weeks away from having baby #5. This pregnancy has gone so fast!! I am anxious to find out what it is and so is the rest of our family. The girls are hoping for a baby boy to finally join the family. We shall see. I have been feeling pretty good as far as energy, but now I have begun having ligament and back pain. I was having really bad leg cramps during the night but I am now making sure I taking calcium befor bed and that has helped out a lot. So I will have to keep up to date with this excitement.

We also moved recently. We are no longer caretakers of a nature preserve. It is a big relief for the entire family, we seem to spend much more family time together and my hubby seems so much more relaxed as he can do things on his own time. We are living in a farm house with huge barns on 3 acres. Lots of potential for the future. We thought we would miss the nature preserve but I honestly do not!!

I have been working really hard lately on planning out my girls school curriculum already. I want to be more prepared with the new baby on the way so we can have a productive school year despite the distractions that I know will occur with a baby in the house. I am looking forward to what I have planned so far.

Well that is all for now in my limited time.