Oh, I almost forgot!

I just bought Apologia's "Exploring Creation with General Science" text book to supplement with the Weaver Curriculum. I wasn't sure how they would work together. But when I began to read the first chapter, I saw  that the two would go together just fine. To make a long story short, I gave the book to my daughter and her assignment. She was was excited when she saw she could do experiments all by herself. I like it because she was able to use things that are right here in the house and nothing crazy. Here is a picture of her first experiment. I believe she was learning about the density of atoms. The layer at the bottom is maple syrup, the middle layer is water and the top layer is oil. The green is a grape. She was supposed to have a piece of cork, but we didn't have any. She was so excited about it that I had to share on my blog:

You know your child is homeschooled when...

...he can take a toy that he got from a McDonald's Happy Meal and see it as this...

I have discovered Picasa.com!

Maybe I'm late, (I am, no doubt) but I just discovered Picasa.com and I am in looovvveeee! I just redid a photo of my husband and this is the effect I have been looking for! Picasa lightened the picture and sharpened it perfectly! Just the way I have been looking for! Here's the picture....

If you scroll down a couple of posts, you will be able to see the before images.

Here's some more pictures I fixed from our recent trip to the museum...maybe there's hope for me after all!

Here's a favorite pic of my children. We helped with this exhibit. It's called the "Power of Children" with Anne Frank, Ruby Bridges and Ryan White. We were called "Power Family".
This is a Promise Tree and my children's voices can be heard when standing in the tree like they are. They made promises to take steps to avoid discrimination like the children listed above, had to deal with.
It was a very, very educational experience and we had some serious family discussions after each meeting we attended. My children are very proud to have helped with such a big project.

Oh, I had to add one more. I have been to this dino exhibit quite a few times, but I was frustrated that I couldn't get a decent pic of the dino in one shot, it would have to be taken in sections in my old camera. When we went the other day, I took my new camera and as I got ready to take this picture, I finally saw for myself, what a wide angle lens can do!

Hail

Today, the Weaver had us to make hail...hmmm, I never did that in school, so today was a learning experience for me, too. We had four cups with water and put a different food coloring in each cup. So, we poured yello water into a bowl, let it freeze, then we poured the red  water in the same bowl, let it freeze on top of the yello water, ect. We did this until all four colors were in the bowl. Then we broke the colored ice in half and the kids could see the layers we made to show how hail is made in layers in the cold sky. Here's some pictures:

Shape Book Lapbook?

I have named these shape-book lapbooks. I guess I was thinking a little out of the box (folder in this case). I really wanted to do something different with this chapter of insects. I knew what I wanted to do in my head, but not on paper. I tried and tried to find black file folders to go along with the theme, but couldn't find any. I asked on the HOAC Lapbooking group and some suggested using black poster board and cut it like a file folder. Others suggested black card stock or black wrapping paper. I appreciate every comment because they were all helpful and left me with ideas I hadn't thought of for future projects. We begin our Space and Planets chapter next week.

For this particular lapbook, the poster board worked best because of the size. I folded the poster board in half and drew on the front part, the outline of a insect. Then, I had the kids decorate the outside the way they wanted to with whatever insect they chose before hand. Depending on the insect, these are a little longer than a legal size file folder- maybe about a 4-5" longer. I plan to store them where I store all my poster size items- between the wall and the bookcase. My 7 year old did an ant lapbook, my 11 year old did a bee lapbook and my 13 year old did a lady bug lapbook. My 4 year old did one on a butter fly to keep him quiet while we worked but, there's nothing inside it. At the moment, he is not in a picture taking mood.

I don't know if you can see in the pics, but the ant and the bee have wings made out of page protectors cut in the shape of wings with brads to attach them to the body. For the antennas, we used pipe cleaners and fuzzy balls from Walmart. The kids favorite part were the "googly" eyes. (Is that a word?) Since we studied about compound eyes, my son with the bee book, put a lot of eyes to show the concept. BTW, my seven year old really wanted to make a mouth for his ant with teeth and all...and to have the smile over to the side and not in the middle.

• The most of the mini books were from : http://www.homeschoolhelperonline.com/lapbooks/insects.htm

                 It's free and came in handy on short notice.

• For the bee lapbook, I had downloaded a free lapbook from HOAC about a year and half ago. So, I used a few mini books from the packet: http://www.handsofachild.com/shop/Bees-P42.aspx

Everything else, got from either googling the words, "ants, ladybugs, or bee coloring pages" or from what I could get free from the Enchanted Learning Website.
This was different from doing regular lapbooks from file folders, so if you want to put a twist on lapbooking...this is it! My kids were so excited about it, that they worked overtime on their own and we finished it today. I was really counting on this to be a project for the rest of the week, but...I'm not complaining!

Kids...I had to share this...

My 7 year old was sitting down thinking and my 4 year old walked past him and out of the clear blue:
7 year old: Hey, do you believe God?
4 year old, without hesitation: Yes, I believe God!
7 year old: Me, too!
Now, I have no idea what was on their minds or what made my son ask my other son the question, but it touched me to know that they believe God. They weren't stressed and going around trying to figure things out, like so many of us adults do. They just simply believed God for whatever they needed.

Matthew 18:3  "And said, Verily I say unto you, Except ye be converted, and become as little children, ye shall not enter into the kingdom of heaven."

My Husband

My husband did a wonderful job preaching last night at church. His message was, "Keep Hope Alive!"
from Hebrews 11:1. I went in te room to talk to him while he was preparing his mind and he looked so studious, that I had to bug him to take a picture of him- so in the pictures, he really is studying and not posing. The other pics I took of him while he was preaching- he has no idea that I did this, so imagine his surprise when I reads my blog. : )
Oh, I finally got a better picture of him at the Ordination Service from back in August...