South Pole Extravaganza

Not really. It wasn't anything that big and dramatic. We just made our Northern Lights punch and Penguin Cookies and invited some friends over. We needed to see them before they left to go out of town for a good chunk of the summer.


Hannah made the cookies pretty much by herself. I helped make the frosting and they turned out quite yummy!



After our guest arrived and had some cookies and punch, we got in the pool. We regularly get in at 3:00. The pool is in the shade at that time of day, therefore no need to worry about sunscreen. And the water is so warm that it feels nice. If we were in the bright sun, it might not feel so refreshing.

Josiah enjoys going for diving sticks.

Danielle is a strong swimmer.

Elizabeth was fond of the dolphin.

Josiah showed me a most excellent float.

The littlest showed that he was not afraid of the water anymore.

And Stephanie and Hannah were found hiding under the boat.

The children all played together so well that after supper, the adults were able to sit around and chat for quite a while. Friends are such a blessing.

Explorers Come Home

We had a great year exploring God's World, but we are also glad to be done for the year 2009/2010. We spent our final week in Greece and finished on Friday. Hannah is officially through with 3rd grade! Here she is holding her certificate that was presented at the FCFE End of Year Celebration on June 2nd. She shared a poem at the event called Contentment. Great job, Hannah!

Josiah actually finished with Kindergarten early using My Father's World from A to Z. He's doing great with his speech therapy and loves it. He got a certificate at the celebration, too and is very proud of it.

These were the centerpieces that were used at the ceremony. The theme was Around the World. They could not have picked a more appropriate theme! How fitting for us.

There were also scripture cards on each table and a puzzle for the kids to color. We had a "pot luck" with a Mexican theme and International desserts while we listened to violinists, pianists, singers, and watched a very cute skit. What a blessed evening it was with fellow homeschoolers.

A Hot "Sun"day at the Park

Our church had a picnic after the service today. In spite of the heat, it was nice under the pavilion. Of course the kids are not going to stay under the pavilion, are they? And I have to go out in it to get a picture, right? Josiah looks totally unaffected by the elements.

Can you SEE the heat in this picture? The playground equipment was too hot to play on.

So, we headed down to the river where we found some relief. We did not get in. It was just cooler there.

There we found a trail and a place to sit. Josiah still unaffected, Hannah wilting a bit.

And we found animal tracks. Probably raccoon, or possum.

There was poison ivy everywhere! So we stuck to the wide trail. Some friends were walking with us and all the kids enjoyed throwing sticks and stones into the water and watching it's effect.

Hope you had a pleasant restful Sunday and remained cool. We went home and got in our pool.

Exploring Antarctica

Well, we've spent a good bit of time in Antarctica, but it has been fun. We read alot about penguins. Maybe we read too much. Hannah started having vivid dreams about clay penguins that came to life and she was taking care of them. She had to feed them krill and she had to have Skua birds around to eat the chicks that died, so they would not stink.

We have not had any special dishes, but we did read a book called MY PENGUIN OSBERT and in the back it has recipes for Southern Lights Punch and Penguin cookies so you can have a penguin party. We've thought about doing that. Maybe we will do that when we finish our school for the year, which will be in one week.

I really enjoyed learning about the land surrounding the South Pole. We also have begun our Right Start Math early and we recently got Rosetta Stone and Hannah and I using that program to learn Spanish.

Josiah was tested a while back for his speech and found that we had made no progress in the year that I've been working with him. Now I am taking him to Children's Healthcare of Atlanta for therapy. He is doing great and I am pleased so far with the therapists. Josiah seems to be more motivated, too, because he has someone outside of family that he's accountable to. I'm also learning by watching the therapist work with him how I can better help him at home.

The following is a slide show of how we spent our Friday evening after I weeded the garden.

Yes, I'm real excited about the bats, too. I've been hearing them in the box and Theron set up the video camera and actually got pictures of them using the night light feature. There were 3 or 4 at the time. Don't know how to post that on here or I would. I did finally see three fly out of the box tonight, but it was too fast for me to snap it. I'll keep watching.

Wildflowers

Black-eyed Susan

Coreopsis

Blue Cornflower or Bachelor's Buttons


The grass withers and the flowers fall,

but the word of our God stands forever.

Isaiah 40:8

FCFE Field Day

Josiah, my little sunshine boy

A turtle rescued by Kimberly from certain death on a busy road

saying bye to the turtle in a nice wooded spot

Once again, my sunshine boy

my swingin' boy

bright and bloomin' children

enjoying the games

Hannah doing her part

the other side

water balloon toss

In spite of the heat and humidity (of course some stray water balloons helped), everyone had a great time with no serious injuries. The kids enjoyed a variety of game challenges, and balloon and bubble fun. The moms and some dads, too, appreciated the fellowship with other homeschool families.

Shades of Purple

Last year there was a huge hydrangea bush in the middle of our back yard. Every summer it bore massive blue blooms for us to enjoy. In the fall, I decided to dig it up and move it. What a chore! Upon digging it up, I realized there were many sections and I could divide it into more individual plants. More work and more digging than I had planned, but my helpful husband came to the rescue.

We ended up planting a row of what looked at the time to be dead stalks along the edge of our yard where the trees begin. But this spring, they put out beautiful broad leaves, and as summer approached you could see flower buds.


As the flowers opened, it became apparent that this was not the same blue color we had seen before.

There are varying shades of blue and purple! After some research, I found that the ph of the soil affects the color. A higher ph will make the flowers pink, a lower ph will make them blue, so somewhere in between is purple.

Interesting!

Here is a row, before the flowers opened . . .

. . . and after!

A partial bloom . . .

. . . and a full bloom!

Aren't flowers fascinating.

INK

Interactive Neighborhood for Kids, that is.
This was our first time going and the kids really had a great time using their imaginations. On the way I asked them what they wanted to be when they grow up.


They both say that they would like to be some type of store keeper. They see this as a good way to make money. And they really enjoyed playing grocery store - being a shopper,

or a checker, or even a stocker. They spent the most time in this area and got a feel for how much work it takes to run a store and keep the shelves filled for all of the customers.

Josiah served me a soda in the cafe, while Hannah fixed me a hamburger and fries.

No, Hannah does not wish to be a firefighter, but it was fun to sit in the big old fire truck. She would much rather be a cook, or a . . .

. . . Veteranarian taking care of dogs and cats. So she opened her own practice and we brought our dog in.

Josiah chose a giant version of Little Lady. We waited in the waiting room.

Then we were called back to see the vet. Our dog has something wrong with it's paw.

After that was all fixed, there were more places to visit like the bank, the post office, the court house, beauty salon, dairy farm, hospital, school, lemonade stand, garden, travel agency and airport, theatre (stage with dress up clothes), and music room.

Josiah showed us his musical talent with the drums.

We may have to go back some day. There is so much to do at INK.