Elementary Anatomy ,"cancer style"

You might be a kid of childhood cancer if...

...when assembling your body for a science project, you have to glue a pile of your organs to your hand because you don't have them in your body anymore.

This year in Classical Conversations we have been studying human anatomy.  The kids have loved this subject made even cooler by weekly dissections with our homeschool group.  As we studied different organ systems, the kids would color the corresponding organs for their own bodies.  At the end we traced them on paper and put all the organs in place.  For Julia a few of those organs didn't belong anymore.

Cancer deals you lots of crummy stuff, sometimes we just have to find the humor. I didn't know exactly how Julia would react to this project. Her first question was, "Are there any pictures of Dr. Pranikoff holding my kidney and stuff after he took it out?" No, can't say I got one of those, though it would be interesting to see. Then she had the idea to glue her organs on her hand and then proceeded to color all the fingers in rainbow colors.  I guess when life gives her lemons, this time she chose to make lemonade. Sometimes you just have to laugh at the craziness of it all.

Pumpkin Fun

Our pumpkin party with some homeschool friends.  We've caught the printing bug from Ms. Betsey and decided to try our hand at block printing.  The kids carved out their images on foam sheets using dull pencils. Then we inked them and printed.

The finished products were really cute.  (And when you run out of drying space, masking tape works great in a pinch.)

We also learned drawing techniques...

Made pumpkin life cycle vines...

Built our own pumpkins...

Read books, played games, and made a fun pumpkin snack before lunch.

Classical Conversations

This year, in our ongoing homeschooling adventure, we have joined a Classical Conversations group. CC, for short, is a group of homeschooling families who meet once a week.  We follow a classical model of education and in addition to our regular subjects at home, study specific information for each week. We teach our children the tools of learning as they proceed through the grammar, rhetorical, and logical stages. Our CC curriculum includes math, science, English grammar, Latin, history, geography, fine arts, and presentation skills.

"First day of school" picture...

Carter: 2nd grade, Julia: Kindergarten

Julia getting excited about her drawing...

Carter's class looking at the skeleton and learning the names of the bones.

Kids assembling the skeleton with a series of x-rays.

Reciting their American history memory work while having their own Boston Tea Party...

Carter's history presentation on Iwo Jima...

Learning about how tendons work manipulating actual chicken feet...

Learning about how the nervous system send messages...

Exploring sheep brains.  (It was very interesting that all the girls jumped right in and the boys all stood back)...

We have had a great first month and the kids are learning so much already.  We are excited to be a part of this group and are looking forward to many more learning adventures and fun memories ahead!

Baby Blessings

One of the greatest gifts of homeschooling (and doing it year round) is the flexibility it gives us to live out life.  Yes, school is a priority but our family, friends, and faith come first.  When a need arises or an opportunity presents itself that God is leading us to do we are free to make that choice.  A 180 day school year works out to 15 days a month.  This gives us the freedom to take extended trips any time of year, to enjoy sunny days outside while saving school for the rainy and cold ones, to say 'yes' more often than 'no', and to have school on the weekends if our schedules are more open then. We follow this philosophy, too.

One of my favorite parts of homeschooling though is that we are doing life together as a family.  My kids are a part of everything that goes on to run our house and in the process learning like skills.  I love "life school" like today...

Carter loves his time with the twins.  He is old enough now that he can really help with them- calming, feeding, playing, and carrying. It's hard to believe they are three months old already!!

We all had so much fun having two babies in the house.  How can you not smile with one of these snoozing in the corner of the kitchen...

and this sweet pea snuggled on the couch?!

And the icing on the cake, they now give out sweet smiles and coos! Such a blessing! We love you guys...

Natalie and Jenna!

(and Mia and Allison, too!)

Come back again soon :)

Spelling and math are not anywhere near this much fun!

Valentine's Day

We had a very happy Valentine's Day last week.  The kids were very excited to decorate the house.  They love looking back at their crafts from when they were younger and remember.

 Every year we excitedly prepare for making Valentines for our friends and family.  All the paper, hearts, glitter, stickers, and markers- what's not to smile about.  Yet somehow we seem to go downhill fast, every year! I keep thinking it will get easier, but it hasn't happened yet. Maybe next year we'll start in the fall :) In the end they are excited with the results and look forward to handing them out.  At least the red will hide the blood, sweat, and tears! Just kidding... mostly.

 We had a fun morning planned with some homeschool friends.  Kim and I are both past teachers and every so often our classroom tendencies rise to the surface.  We had a great morning with our friends enjoying circle time and stories followed by activity centers.  Painting heart ornaments...

 decorating cookies...

 making our own mailboxes...

 delivering homemade Valentines...

 making candy necklaces and heart mobiles.  We finished off the party with a yummy lunch together.

 It was such a sweet time.  I feel so blessed to spend time surrounded by all these kids.  It has been a privilege to watch them grow, many since they were born.  Our time together has changed through the years and now involves more questions, conversations, deep thoughts, and growing friendships.  I hope to store these memories in my heart for years to come.

After a yummy family dinner at home, it was time for our annual scavenger hunt.  The kids look SO forward to this every year.  I started doing this when Carter was very young.  My parents send a box of surprises and treats every year for the kids. I thought it would be fun to turn them into a game with homemade clues.  The kids are able to do it on their own now and love the challenge. 

 It is so cute to see their excitement!

 Happy Valentine's Day to all our friends and family!!!

You are loved!

Field Trips

Our school year has gotten off to a great start with some fun field trips... 

In January, we toured Mrs. Hanes' Moravian Cookie Factory in Clemmons to see how their yummy treats are made. 

These cookies have been popular for many years and are shipped to 39 different countries.  Their popularity soared recently when they made a certain person's Favorite Things List. They make six different flavors- sugar, chocolate, lemon, black walnut, ginger, and butterscotch.

They are one of the only companies that rolls out and cuts all their cookies by hand! They make 10 million cookies every year!!! You'll notice each rolling table has two regular -size cutters and one very small shape.  Each person must "sign" their tray with their signature miniature cookie in the corner for quality control.

When the racks are filled they slide into the oven to bake for 10 minutes.  Each of the racks spins as it cooks.

Then they head out to be packaged into tubes, tins or bags.  The mini cookie "signatures" are sold in the bags.

Then we headed into the mixing room.  The Hanes' family began mixing cookie dough by hand, then an over-sized mixer, and today they use a custom-designed version.  They can make 10,000lbs of cookie dough in one day!!

Then we watched one of the expert packers.  They stack and load all the tins by hand, wrapping each stack individually before placing it in the tin.  Here they are working on the special chocolate heart cookies for Valentine's Day...

They have kept Mrs Hanes' original wood stove in the bakery.  This is where the business began in their small family kitchen.  It was a simple endeavor to supplement the family's dairy farm income during the holidays. 

One of the best parts of the tours was the tasting.  At every stop along the way, we sampled one of the different flavors.  It's almost impossible to pick a favorite! We will definitely be enjoying these little treasures again.

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We also had the privilege of seeing the Mermaid Theater of Nova Scotia again. This time is a was a puppet show of the works of Eric Carle.  They performed Little Cloud, The Mixed Up Chameleon, and The Very Hungry Caterpillar.  They were performed by two extremely gifted puppeteers, in a multi-layered moving set, using very agile puppets and blacklights to make the colors pop as the stories came to life right before our eyes.  (We saw this company once before at the Kennedy Center performing Goodnight Moon and Runaway Bunny.)  It is an incredible experience! If they are ever in your area, be sure to attend. It will captivate young and old alike.  Seriously, click their link above and check to see when they are coming your way.

Here is a shot of one of the puppets after the show...

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We also returned to our local post office again this year.  It is one of the our favorite trips.

The kids follow the mail from the loading dock, to the sorting bins, to the mailroom, to the sorting stations,

into PO boxes, to the front desk, and out into the mail carriers' trucks for that day's delivery...

Everyone there is so personable and happily talks with the kids. It is also fun to be able to find the sorting boxes for some of our own houses.

That night we read one of my favorite children's books...

It is the true story of a family in Idaho in 1914.  They wanted to send their daughter to visit her Grandma on the other side of the mountains, but could not afford the train ticket.  So they decided to "mail" her.  Little May waas under the 50lb weight limit, so they put some stamps on her coat and sent her into the postal car (with her uncle, a postal worker) to mail her to Grandma as a surprise.  The pictures are wonderful and do a great job of showing the workings of the postal service at the turn of the century.

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Our most recent trip today took us just around the corner to Old Salem.  A historically preserved town from the 18th century.  They offer special classes for homeschoolers.  Today Carter and Lily joined some of their friends for a Hearth Cooking of the 18th Century class. We had absolutely beautiful weather.  I apologize to the rest of the country who are literally frozen solid.  I have no idea why we have clear sunny skies and 65 degree temps- not that we're complaining.  But is does seem quite unfair.

They were so excited to be stepping back in time and going to class by themselves :)

Here they are drawing water from the pump...

We didn't get to attend with them, but they had a wonderful time.  They made apple fritters from scratch and then strung their own apple slices to dry for later.  They had a chance to use a variety of tools and kitchen utensils from that time period.  They told me afterward they thought cooking 200 years ago was much easier than today.  I think they may be confusing fun with easy.  Our eager cooks returning from class...

Next time they want to try their hand at loom weaving.