Español . . . Sí!

In other homeschooling news, we finally added Spanish to our daily schedule. The kids (well, mostly just Lu now) attend a weekly Spanish class with a couple of friends, and then we spend some time each day supplementing and practicing. They have both taken to it like, like, well, like the children of a linguist and a linguaphile (yes, that's a word . . . I looked it up to make sure :)

Last week the kids were introduced to the parts of the body, which was a ton of new words for them. Stayc and I came up with several activities to help reinforce the new vocabulary. This was one of the favorites . . . life size versions of themselves.


No disrespect intended. Phx is just showing you his "lengua."

Homeschool Roundup

I haven't posted much about homeschool lately, and really, if you get right down to it, I haven't taken many pictures of it (whatever "it" is) either. So here are a couple of the things that we've done.

Of course, we've taken our fair share of hikes and "nature walks," always a favorite. When things get tough, I just take the kids for a hike to remind myself that things aren't so bad . . . and that while other kids are in school, we are out in nature. That's what I tell myself to make myself feel better at least.

We are studying general American History this year, so we started out looking at the Native-American cultures. That was a fun month. We made huge pueblo houses out of stacked cardboard boxes, peace pipes, fry bread, vests, various games, and these Playmobil-sized tepees.

We've also been working on our observational drawing skills. Lu and I drew portraits of each other last week. We did them in pencil first and then we used colored pencils to add some pizazz. This is, of course, a portrait of me.

I forgot to post a picture of the invitations we made for Lu's birthday party. It was, as you may recall, a tea party. We used watercolor paper and experimented with wet washes, then cut them out in the shape of teacups. We both had a lot of fun making them.

And, of course, writing. Invitations and thank you letters count. They DO!

There you have it. Just a tiny sampling of our days. Reading over this post almost convinces me that we've had fun :) No, really, we have . . . you know, generally.

Forgotten Photo Shoot

I came across these photos the other day and realized I'd never posted them. I took them way back in June on a trip out to Camp Nelson Civil War Heritage Park. It was an ominous day, threatening to rain the whole time we were there, but giving me a lovely backdrop and good lighting for pictures.

I didn't plan to make a "photo shoot" out of it, but then remembered that Father's Day was coming up and thought, "Hey, I'll get some good pictures of the kids and have them decorate the frames." And they were dressed in matching clothes! Seriously, I didn't plan that. I don't even dress them anymore . . . or pick out their clothes. Really.

The only problem was that I couldn't get Phoenix to smile . . . or even look at the camera.

These are my favorite shots of him though. Still, I felt the need to get a smile out of him.

Nothing.

Lu is always easier.

But I like this one better.

I finally started to wear down his resistance. He's not quite as stoic here.

I'm getting something . . . I'm getting something.

Aaaaaaaannnnnnnd, there it is!

Not What We Planned

It has become a tradition in our family (thanks to Rozalyn) to go apple picking every Labor Day. We go with friends, we pick apples in the hot sun, we fill up our tummies and our bags, and we go home. This year, things did not go according to plan, thanks to a large storm system that thwarted our designs. Thank goodness for the frog umbrella.

We *did* fill up two large bags of apples before the real downpour . . . too bad we still had to walk back to the shelter. Anyway, we have lots of apples.

His Second First Day of Preschool

Because, you know, his *first* first day of preschool was last year. Doesn't he look so young in those pictures?? Oh my. Now he's so seasoned. So experienced.

Luckily, just as silly as ever though.

Derby Girl

Of the Roller variety. Lu requested and received some great new roller skates for her birthday. Stayc has been going out with her daily to teach her how to use them. I've actually been quite impressed by her perseverance and tenacity. She doesn't often want to keep at things (on her own) that are hard at first. But roller skating has been so fun for her that she keeps on practicing.

She just laughs . . .

and laughs . . .

and skates . . .

and Phoenix runs along side her.


Six is starting out well for her.

Tea Party Time

Lutece's birthday may have been last Wednesday, but the actual PARTY wasn't until yesterday, thus extending the craziness of what has fondly become known as "birthday week." Lu decided on a Tea Party Theme, although since boys were invited it turned into more of a Mad Hatter's Tea Party. . . . More inclusive that way.

We started out with a make your own tea hat station. I got the idea from here. We added many more things than just flowers, as you can see in the above picture. Lu's finished hat is pictured above.

Amanda's was the only other hat of which I got a picture, but you can see in the picture below that they actually wore them during the party (surprise!).

I always feel like if I'm going to feed kids junk food, I have to at least start them off with something healthy. One day I'll be able to kick the guilt and just go with the cake and candy.

We stuck with the tea party theme for food and had tea sandwiches and other finger food, including the above "flowers." And ironically, there was no actual TEA at this particular tea party, since, uh, we don't drink tea. But there *was* pink lemonade. Same diff.

It's hard to capture the true festiveness of the decorations in pictures, but let me tell you, it was FESTIVE! Teacups and balloons everywhere.

And tea cakes. Natch.

Presents, and . . .

Oh yes we did . . . a pinata. She soooo wanted a pinata, and I was not about to make one again. This was so worth the money, considering the only time it took was the time to place it in my cart on a standard Target run.

I'm so glad birthday week is over . . . for another year.

A Birthday Hike

With Gayle and the boys here for Lu's birthday, we wanted to get out and DO some things. A hike at Raven Run seemed like the perfect activity. As both the kids got binoculars for Lu's birthday (smart of Grandma DuBravac to sent two pairs!), they were excited to use them in nature.

Phoenix kept looking through them the wrong way and saying, "Wow, you look sooo far away!"

We took a trail we've never been on before and headed up to the Cascades at the northernmost end of the sanctuary, about a three mile hike there and back. No complaints from the kids! Wahoo!

Aunt Gayle and Lutece.

Gayle showed the kids how to "mark their trail" with various things such as stacked rocks and stick arrows. The kids really got into it. We took a different route on the way back and when we reached a fork in the path the kids were so excited to find one of their own stick arrows pointing the correct way back.

The Cascades themselves were small, but very pretty and neat, with water cutting paths into the soft limestone. We'll definitely be taking Stayc back there on another occasion.

So hard to get a good group shot. I took at least 5 or 6 pictures here and these were the best . . .

Uh huh.

Hiking on your birthday. What could be better?