A busy but good day

Yesterday was a darn cold day. We didn’t go out for the trail walk as planned due to the road conditions outside of the city. We did, however, go to Chapters so that the boys could use some of their holiday money to buy more Lego, Minecraft Lego. But, we had to finish our lessons first and I have to say, it was smooth going!

I happily wore the hat that I just finished knitting the night before. So warm. Love it!

hat

Our lessons include handwork. X is knitting a scarf on needles and L is using one of the loom kits. He is so adept at it. If I can get him to do even 15 minutes a day he will have it finished in no time!

L hat

Xman and I did some time-telling practice with this fun little book I picked up a while ago. The pages are magnetic as are the little pieces so it’s quite fun! Xman is pretty good with telling time but when it comes to analog without the numbers it takes a bit of practice.

clock clock practiceI took some time during their copy work to prepare some kale chips – so good!

kale

And these cookies…oh my goodness you just have to try them – so many good things to be found.

Pixie cookies

Lessons done and off we go to get the Lego. I have to say, Minecraft and Lego really is the perfect combination…

l lego X lego

While the boys Lego’d it up I took a bit of time to check out these new arrivals and put that Dreamscapes book to good use right away!

books

*if you do get the pattern for the hat here are a couple of corrections:

Row 17: *k5, p6, k5, p1* to end
Row 18: *k3, p10, k3, p1* to end

…little something special…

About an hour ago I received a package in the mail. The box was not the right shape for the books I have been expecting to arrive.

As I opened the box my heart warmed despite the freezing temps outside that made me shiver when I opened the door.

A wonderfully sweet package it was from a fellow homeschool blogger friend. I only expected to receive a Lunar Calendar – which is so so cool and already on the wall – so the little extras were super special gifts. L immediately put some of the salve onto a scratch on his hand (he may like it better than my plantain salve!) and Xman and I put on some of the lip balm. We all love home made anything!

Receiving the rocks was so very cool because we are big rock lovers! We will be finding a special spot for these Lake Ontario treasures. They will remind me of home as I am from southern Ontario.

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Thank you, Kim! My gratitude vibration is humming. 🙂 xx

New Year Snow!

I know I just posted but I just had to show the snow that has begun to fall. It’s our first snowfall this season as the weather has been fairly mild for the most part.

It seems perfect to me that big snowflakes should cover everything with white, creating a white, blank slate for the new year. Hushed and full of promise.

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And in only minutes…
IMG_4823I can hear the birds chirping. Can you? So so quietly.

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Happy New Year everyone. May all your dreams come true! It’s may take some sacrifices and some work, but it’s gonna be sooo worth it! xx

What are my personal dreams for the new year? Find out here. xx

 

 

Popcorn!

Yesterday I did some last minute groceries and came across an air popper. Xman just loves popcorn but we always buy the bags so I thought this would be a better way to go. And it was! They boys had such fun watching the popcorn pop from hot air, swirl around and fly out into the bowl. Even L ate the popcorn!

See those tired eyes? Ya, they thought they could stay up until midnight but were yawning before the popcorn was all eaten up!

Happy 2015 everyone! Enjoy every last morsel!

popcorn

Make your own iPhone speaker

snap-circuitsI love it when the boys bring out X’s Snap Circuits. They both love playing with it and it gets their minds working in such creative ways. It’s been one of our best purchases so far and it generally leads to other ideas such as this one:

Making your own speaker.

Snap Circuits can be put together to create a radio and speaker set with volume control which reminded L of a craft he read in a mag… The boys each have a subscription to Owl/Chickadee Magazine and they get so excited when it arrives in the mail. Suddenly, the house is very quiet as they sit themselves down to read. Then it gets a little busy here with neat experiments and crafts. Making a speaker for your iPhone (they each have our older iPhones for games) or whatever device you may have kicking around is one of them.

So L made a speaker out of a Tim’s cup – good recycling! Then he realized he could use it as a spotlight with the flashlight app. Cool! X found some a piece of red gel from a science kit and placed this in front of the light and voila! red light!

If you have an old take-out cup at home and some scissors, this will keep them entertained for a while. So fun!

Oh, and the speaker works surprisingly well!

The boys can’t wait until night-time to really try out the spotlight in their room.

Happy creating!

 

close-up cutspotlight

 

 

Rainy day cleanup leads to science fun!

It’s been a looooong time since I have posted to our blog – too long! Things have been busy here as they are in so many households but I am not going to try to backtrack (at least not yet) of what’s been happening here. I’ll just try to post more often because we do love to keep track of our experiences here online.

This morning’s circle time was cut short by rambunctious children. It was one of those times when you admit that it’s not working and it’s time to get outside and shake off the crazies! It was a tad rainy out but that was okay. We were all more than ready to go outside. The boys played some baseball in the yard while I did some clean-up of the dead hosta (so, so many!) and a lot Japanese lantern plants.

seed-podLanterns

The lanterns got the boys wondering what would happen if they were to plant some of the seed pods indoors. We grabbed some pots and the boys filled them with soil and the pods. When they went to water the pods they started talking about a Mythbusters episode where the hosts microwave water and feed it to the plants to see the effects of microwaves on ‘food’. The results were surprising and so we shall see what happens at home. We heated the water and the microwave and added a thermometre to the mug to watch the temperature go down to room temp – fun for the boys!

plant-potshot-water

First, I think we need to do a bit of research on those seed pods because I’m thinking they need to overwinter first if they are going to grow for us! 😉

Eggsperiment

We’ve been having a great time reading through The Weather Watcher’s Handbook. It has been a slow read because we keep stopping to learn more about the weather and watch some great videos online. Today we learned about wind and air pressure and did a super fun eggsperiment (that’s right) to show the effects of air pressure. Super fun!

We were left wondering how to get the egg out… 😉

eggIf you haven’t picked up a copy of The Weather Watcher’s Handbook yet, I have to ask, “What are you waiting for, Spring?” You may be waiting a while. 😉

Ice on the trail

A couple of weeks ago we went, yet again, to our favourite park for a walk on the trails. It was a mild day and the walk was very slippery but the boys didn’t mind! There were some very cool ice formations here and there and I couldn’t help but take some pictures.15Feb2014Shubie Ice_01 15Feb2014Shubie Ice_03The boys spotted this leaf below the ice. It was moving gently from the flow of water around it as the ice melted.

15Feb2014Shubie Ice_05 15Feb2014Shubie Ice_06Luckily the water here is only a few feet deep with no current. Great for safety when viewing ice floats.

15Feb2014Shubie Ice_07The boys spotted this piece floating by and I managed to grab it. It was clear as glass.

15Feb2014Shubie Ice_09Of course, the ducks saw us and thought we had food! Sorry ducks, not allowed to feed you, park rules! (although many do anyway)

15Feb2014Shubie Ice_10 15Feb2014Shubie Ice_11Bubbles!15Feb2014Shubie Ice_13The boys wanted me to take a pic of this piece as well and I thought I’d go in for a closer look.

15Feb2014Shubie Ice_14It’s amazing the forms that take shape as ice melts.

15Feb2014Shubie Ice_15Since this day a couple of weeks ago there has been snow and rain. Does not make for a fun trek. Hope to go out again soon – we all need that fresh air and sun! Come on Spring – we are ready!

 

Germs germs everywhere!

We’ve been fortunate this winter to be sick-free…until a couple of days ago when Xman got a cold. Ironically enough, in Minecraft Homeschool the assignment this week has to do with germs and this is one if the videos they watch before they build their germs and the hospitals to hold the sick. Glad to know that we’ve taught the kids to cover their sneeze the most effective way…whew!

Here’s a cute one.

Also, if interested in books we have found the Your Body Battles series to be fun and informative. Xman said between sniffles that he wants us to get them from the library again. 🙂

body battles

Make and Listen

Today I am happy to be joining Dawn for her make and listen along Thursdays.

It’s been a busy week and much creating has been done to come to the end results of these projects.

The boys have been keen on making clay animals and are loving mythical creatures right now. They finished these polymer clay figures earlier this week, with a little help from me. It was super fun and I think I want to make one too! 🙂

Feb20_2014_Make-n-Listen_05Feb20_2014_Make-n-Listen_06 L even made a holder for his sword. 🙂

Feb20_2014_Make-n-Listen_07Feb20_2014_Make-n-Listen_08 Feb20_2014_Make-n-Listen_09We had great fun mapping out the bottom floor of our house. The boys used x’s on their maps to hide word cards for me to find, to be made into a story at a later date. L decided to go freestyle and draw the rooms as he saw them and even added the toaster, cutting board, tv and many other items around the house. Xman wanted a more exact measurement so we went around and measured each room showing that one square equals two feet. It was great fun had by all!

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The boys wanted me to add this to the post: this is Burrito. He is made from a fraction of the Hero Factory/Bionicle pieces that the boys have. He is over a foot tall. Makes me wonder how big one would be using all of their pieces! Eek!

Feb20_2014_Make-n-Listen_10And last but certainly not least…dum dum dum….!!!

I finished my sock.

Proud of myself and it’s oh so comfy. It wasn’t hard at all – that is with help from YouTube’s Knitpicks sock class series. Super helpful!

Now onto sock number 2.

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Happy week everyone!