I feel like I'm fallin' for Fall!!

Here's some pictures of the things we've been learning in our one room schoolhouse!! There's pictures from our field trip to the Air Force Museum, our field trip to the Zoo, Abby's first book that she can read and some shots of the fun from today. At the air force museum we saw several Wright Flyers and Noah was especially thrilled for that. Boy he loved learning about the Wright Brothers and their first flights. I think he found it especially interesting because they were from Dayton. So that was a lot fun especially being Homeschool day. It's really been a huge blessing to teach my kids. I love that they are learning by doing and going and seeing, not just reading about in a classroom. Now don't get me wrong, we read a ton too. We average four books a day just on the subject of our unit study. Plus, a book here and there for fun, one at bedtime and Noah is always reading a chapter book for Book-It (Pizza Hut's reading program). I love books and the kids do too, but they just learn so much more and remember so much more by getting out and doing!! So we're learning plant/tree/leaf classification right now. I chose to do this in October when the leaves are big news. It's a two week study, so one more to go. We collected a ton of leaves at the zoo to go home and classify. That was fun. Some of the nicer specimens I laminated and plan to use in a project, just not sure what yet. I'm also working on a lapbook for this study (my first, Charity ideas would be helpful!!!). I found some websites with layout ideas, so I'm using their input as well an my own. We'll see how it turns out.

This weekend should be a terrific fall weekend. We're doing Parky's tonight too, I think half of blog world will be there!!! We always do a Friday night and next Friday we're going to Circleville for the big pumpkin show and the following Friday is the one right before Halloween, and we didn't want to wait that long, so it's tonight!! Plus it's nice and chilly, just like I like it for a nice Halloween festival!! Tomorrow, Noah has skills asessment and uniform sizing for Upward basketball and then we're going to Burger Farm, I absolutely love going there. We went there when we first moved back to Ohio and have been going every year, eventhough now it's a good 45-60 minute drive. And then of course it's church and football for Sunday!! Well I hope everyone enjoys their evening, I know we will!!



We made these today. The trunk is their arm, the leaves of the tree is their hands, the grass is their fingertips, the pumpkins are their thumbs and the stems on the pumpkins are their pinkie fingers. I thought they turned out really cute!




Abby insisted I take her picture with her new friends!!




We always have good experiences with the polar bears. It's a really good exhibit.




Hangin' out in front of the 'hive!!




The elephants were really close and we got some good pics!




Abby's first read!




A huge bee diagram in the insect house.




Would you let these two, direct your plane??




Wow, that plane is very "stealthy"!!





Both kids loved their turn in the cockpit of a jet!




Abby's proud of her paper airplane, that she made in one of the free classes.




Noah is getting answers to the scavenger hunt we did at one of the displays of a Wright Flyer.




They made gyrocopters in a class, and they worked really well, spinning all the way to the ground!




Noah's paper airplane did very well!!

Awwww, it's fall!!

Wow is the weather great or what!!! We went to the zoo today, I waited until the weather got cooler. I'm so glad I did because it was so nice. We studied bees last week, so we went to observe them in the insect house. It was so cool. I felt so proud when Noah said "look I see one's proboscis"!! And when Abby said I wonder where the drones are!! Aaah, the sweet sounds of learning!! We started our new Bible curriculum today and I really felt like it was just what we needed. I"m so glad I decided to add that to our day. I also started Abby on a new method of learning to read and I ordered it because of how many people I had talked to that recommended it and so far I think it's really cool and I like it a lot. It's a book called teach your child to read in 100 days. I got the book on sale for twelve bucks, it's says it retails for 22!! Sonya, if you're interested (Sammy may already be reading by now, I'm not sure), but if you want I'll let you borrow it in 99 days!!! It's so totally different than any other way of teaching reading. A lot different than Noah learned. I wish I had done it with him. In the beginning it talks about all the studies done using this style and that it was far superior to other methods. The reason schools can't use it, is because it's meant to be a one on one style of teaching. Meaning you and your child sit down together for 15 minutes a day and do the lesson. You can't do it with a big group of kids or even more than one unless you do it with each kid seperately. So a teacher could never have enough time to spend 15 minutes a day with each kid. It just wouldn't work. It's supposed to bring a child up to a mid second grade reading level in just 100 days!! Stay tuned to see how well it goes!! Well I just wanted to give a quick update. I would ask if everyone would keep my brother and his family in their prayers, they're having a few issues and they don't know the Lord and I would ask that maybe you could pray that it is HE that they turn to. Thanks, and enjoy this weather, it's just awesome!!

Good day

Today has been a pretty good day. Especially in Homeschooling. A lot of the time since we started homeschooling, I've worried that we weren't learning enough, doing enough or that the kids were really learning at all. I really think it stems from the fact that I feel this is such a hugely important task to undertake and it kind of scares me. Last week we studied bees and I felt like we really did learn a lot. Way more than I ever did about bees. I find myself learning so much along with the kids. Today was good because we introduced fractions to Noah and I was able to spend quality one on one time explaining them, drawing them on the white board, having him do his workbook on them and then we reinforced them with a cool maniupulative thing I got at Wal-Mart on clearance. It has several circles each divided up differently (they're plastic) and a book with a dry erase marker. It was just so nice to be able to know for sure he was getting it and that he wasn't just sitting amongst a class of 20 with 1/20th (fraction added for humor!!) of the teacher's attention. Plus Abby is really advancing in her Math skills (she's about to start adding) and she's starting to know all her sounds and her sight words. Today I gave her a sentence to read that contained sight words and she knew it. I think she was excited to be able to read. We went to the Library today too. I go pretty much every week now and stock up on books dealing with whatever subject we're studying at the time. I also found Bob books, which some of you may already know and it's basically very simple books with just a few words that get progressivly more in depth and difficult. They are for teaching to read. I got her the first four today. We also went to storytime at the library where they read lots of books about fall, pumpkins and leaves. They then did a few simple songs and a craft. They made a wreath with fall leaves and a ribbon on it. I thought since it said it was open to all ages, that maybe I'd found another homeschooler there with older kids, but not today. We were the oldest ones and the other were around 3, with one maybe Abby's age!! The kids had fun though and we'll definitely go again, gotta love free fun!!! Well I decided to order even more curriculum, because I felt like the one area we were lacking was in Bible. The Bible and Christian beliefs are scattered throughout our workbooks and our unit studies, but I really wanted the kids to learn the actual stories of the Bible more in depth and learn some they hadn't heard before, so I ordered that and it should be here this week. I remember at the homeschool convention that nearly every speaker warned us that we would worry about homeschooling on some level a lot, and now I understand why. I am loving it though, although it's hard to get up and get it going every morning!! I love how much the kids are learning already (and myself) and that I have them here where I know they're only getting good influences, and awesome teaching!!! SM

Just a few..

Abby controlling us on Dumbo




Petting a sheep at Rafiki's planet watch at Animal Kingdom




Getting a view of the Boardwalk area




An old favorite, Buzz Lightyear's Space Ranger Spin!

Swimmin' time

Here's some pics from the resort pool. It was just so nice. It was themed like an old fort, and had water cannons and things. It also had a big water slide that both kids just loved. Noah came down by himself, but we had to catch Abby at the end. It's a big breakthrough because just this summer, she threw a fit about even doing a tiny baby slide at Boomerang Bay. We were both incredibly proud of the kids. They've come a huge way in this area and we're thrilled. We probably had the most fun ever in a pool there. I think we went about 5 times.

Eating like Royalty!!

Our package for the trip included a free dining plan. We got a counter service (you walk up to a podium, place your order and then pick up your food and sit down to eat it), a table service (where you sit down and are waited on, including character meals), plus a snack (a 20 bottle beverage, an ice cream bar, a bag of chips, a bowl of cereal with milk, etc...) per person per night we stayed, so we had a total of 44 snacks, 44 counter services and 44 table services (for 11 nights). Now the counter service meal included an entree, non-alcoholic drink and desert, and the table service also included an appetizer and covered the 18% tip. All of this was free because of the plan they offered. It was incredible! We took a picture at each sit down we ate at. Well the first one doesn't count. It was our first night and we went to Beaches and Cream which is a restaurant in the Boardwalk hotel, and we just had ice cream, not just any ice cream. We ordered the kitchen sink, which is this huge silver sink filled with 24 scoops of ice cream in a variety of flavors, every topping they have including, chocolate chips, cake, brownie, snickers bars, etc..a whole can of whipped cream and a ton of cherries. It was so fun and we used that as our dinner, but still only ate about half of it!!! We truly ate like royalty, it was wonderful. It made it even harder to come home and cook our own meals!! When we got home we were shocked that Skyline actually wanted us to pay for our food!! SM




This is the kitchen sink. When they bring it out, they dim the lights, a red light flashes, there's a siren and they announce it!! It was so funny!!




This is Boma at the Animal Kingdom Lodge. It's a buffet meal with some dishes with African tastes. I didn't like it so much, but Steve did a lot.




This is Le Cellier. One of our favorites. We went there twice on this trip. It's a Canadian Steakhouse in EPCOT. It is so yummy!!




This was at Chef Mickey's. It's a character buffet with breakfast, lunch and dinner. We had dinner. It's at the Contemporary Hotel




This was at Liberty Tree Tavern in the Magic Kingdom. It's a family style meal with ham, turky, roast beef, mashed potatoes, macaroni and cheese and salad. It was very yummy. They also have the best honey butter, yummmm!!




This is the Ohana breakfast at the Polynesian Hotel. It was normal breakfast food served family style. Very yummy!




This is the Akershus Princess Breakfast at Norway in EPCOT. Again it had normal breakfast food and was yummy!




This is the 50's Primetime Cafe at Disney -MGM Studios. They have lots of homestyle foods, like meatloaf, fried chicken, pot roast, etc. It's fun in there because the servers treat you like family and expect you to follow the rules, no elbows on the table, set the table, eat your veggies! It's fun!




This is the Whispering Canyon Cafe at the Wilderness Lodge. This is another fun one where the servers play around. If you need ketchup, they yell who has the ketchup and whoever has it has to bring it your table (usually around 10 bottles!!) and then you pass it on when someone else needs it. It's really fun, I liked it a lot!!




This is the Coral Reef at EPCOT. We really enjoyed this restaurant. We sat in front of the huge aquarium and saw sharks, rays and a sea turtle. They also had lots of divers in there that waved at us. One diver even helped a man propose to his girlfriend in the restaurant while we were there. It was so cool!!




And this is Tony's Ristorante which is from Lady and the Tramp. It's in the Magic Kingdom. We ate there right before the start of the Halloween Party. I think it's so yummy there. I love Italian food!!

Lots of Babbling!!!

Whew, getting back to normal life is exhausting!! It's been really hard for me to get back into a normal rhthym. I just don't feel like unpacking, doing laundry or planning curriculum!! Oh well, it must be done!! Yesterday was fun, it was Homeschool Day at the National Air Force Museum at Wright-Patt, and they had lots of activiites for the kids to do and it was all free. I'll post more about it later this week. I still have so much to share about the Disney trip!! We ended up taking over 850 pictures!! But just one for now. This picture was on Abby's Birthday. We had her Princess breakfast at EPCOT that morning and it was scheduled before the park opened so we got in before everyone else and it was so neat to get a picture of the park with no one else in it! We felt like it was "our park"!! We will definitely do that again. We really enjoyed the breakfast and being there so early!! Today Abby had her dance class. Last year her class was the only one at that time, so there was just a few mom's waiting around and it was nice, but this year there are two classes and it's packed with mom's waiting. I bring Noah with me and he usually reads and then plays gameboy. Today I brought a notebook to work on a budget and make a list of my many things to do and while I was writing, I would hear some of what the other mom's were discussing and sometimes I just wonder if I am anything like these other people! They were talking about how their closets were laid out, where their clothes hanged, where their shoes were etc..I don't think I've told anybody that except maybe someone who asked me what we wanted when we built the house. I don't know, sometimes I really feel like I am so different than other people. One time last year I remember how two mom's went on and on about where they bought their kids clothes and it was all the expensive places and I remember a few days later I saw one of them shopping at Target and I just wondered if she was participating in that conversation to fit in or if she really was snooty like she seemed. I don't know. I just don't care about that stuff. I mean it's just clothes. It covers me so I don't get arrested!! I mean, yeah I like to look pretty sometimes (most of the time I don't really care), but that pretty outfit could come from Wal-Mart or Lane Bryant and I wouldn't care either way. Oh well, enough babbling. I need to go tackle my big to do list!! Have a great evening!!

Mickey's Not So Scary Halloween Party!

These are all pics from the Halloween party (Mickey's not so scary) at the Magic Kingdom that we went to on Friday. We dressed up as characters from Alice in Wonderland. Abby was Alice, Noah was the talking doorknob (the only character he would agree to be!! SM), I was the Queen of Hearts and Steve was the Ace of Clubs. It was so incredibly fun to all dress up together. I was a little nervous about it at first because I wasn't sure how many adults would do it, but I was pleasantly surprised. I'd say at least 1/3 dressed up. I really think our kids loved that we did it with them. What we didn't know was that Alice in Wonderland was kind of a featured film for the party. They had a big long trick or treat trail that was full of the characters from the movie. We got to meet pretty much all the characters from the movie. They all loved that we had all dressed up in that theme. All the people who were back there handing out the candy were dressed as different cards. So Steve got a picture with a heart, diamond and spade and with the Queen of Hearts, I love that picture!! I got to pose with the Queen as well and because she's so big, it makes me look thin!!! Everyone loved Noah's costume too. I made his. I got a white foam posterboard, handpainted it to look like a wood door, added real hinges that I painted gold, carved it to look like the shape of a door, painted Noah's face gold, bought a red foam clown nose and painted it gold to be his knob and ta da a cosutme!! Several people ran around us just to see the front of it. Several of the candy hander outers gave him extra candy for his cool costume. I have to admit that it felt really good to get so much attention from something I made!! I also made Steve's costume. For his I bought a white shower curtain and cut it to fit. I cut out black felt clubs and the A's, then glued and later sewed them all on. He had black gloves, a black hat and I put a club around his nose, although you can't always tell that's what it is, it smeared when he sweated so much!! Mine and Abby's were just bought. I didn't know it was going to be so much fun to dress up, I can't wait to figure out what we're doing next year. Even Steve loved it and wants to do it again. It really made the party that much more fun!!




Minnie was dressed as a Halloween princess!




Mickey was a scarecrow!




The MadHatter was so funny, he kept knocking on Noah's door and asking him if he had found his key yet!




Two beautiful Queens!!




The Queen and her Court!




Waiting for the special fireworks show called Happy Hallowishes!!




Luckily the White Rabbit wasn't too late to stop for a picture!!




We also got to meet the Walrus which we had't met before




Abby, I mean Alice posed with one of the teacups after we went for a ride on them




A pair of Alices and some other characters!!




Having fun with Tweedle Dee and Tweedle Dum!!!

quick hello

HI, just a quick note, I'll be taking the kiddies to the national air force museum up in Dayton today, so after that I'll post more pics from the trip as well as our field trip. Sonya, I'm sorry I didn't see your voicemail until this morning, I'll call you on the drive up. I hope everyone has a great October 1st, yay I'm so glad fall is here!!!