The Christmas Month!

Yes you read it right this is Christmas month in our school. Lots of fun lesson ideas and Christmas themed learning. The kids are having a blast with more crafts, baking and fun then they normally have. It also helped that we were dumped on a couple of weeks ago with two feet of the white stuff.
So many projects that encourage and make learning fun have been embarked on. We made Christmas stockings up for our swap partners. So far DS got his swap and was happily surprised by all the goodies inside. DD still is waiting for hers. The reason I joined the swap site was to encourage them to realize one that there are more home school kids and two to have geography snuck in to learning. It also has proven to be a great lesson in sewing, design and budgeting.
We also did a Christmas card exchange list. Well two of them really one for each child. Although they were tired of writing in cards after the last one was complete they are now starting to get theirs in return. Which is teaching them rewards for their effort. Again I use this to teach geography and social studies. One card even had a postcard included which will add to our geography postcard scrapbook DS started last year.
DD Sparks troop is having their Christmas party this Wednesday and she is doing a secret Santa so she had fun finding a small item for the exchange. I smiled when the leader told me they had a five dollar limit because that was the limit it was when I was in Brownies many moons ago. But she did find a really sweet stuffed penguin to give the other girl and we will likely add candy and Christmas cracker for fun.
Also of note we went to the tree farm and hunted for the tree Mom had spotted when there in the fall for a hayride. Well things look different in the snow...so we picked a tree that was fitting for our living room. Every year I make a table full of food and we snack as we decorate the tree with Christmas music in the background. Its a tradition that I got from my own parents growing up. Well this year was the same only DS helped with the food! It was so nice to have capable kitchen help and he loves to learn cooking. DD ran in on occasion to offer her 'help' which translates to helping herself. But it was all in fun. The kids were so enthusiastic this year the tree was up and decorated inside of one hour! I was impressed, but not as impressed as I will be if they help to un-decorate it later.
We are one week away from their final swimming lesson. I told them today that they were being tested which I am not sure was entirely a good idea as DS gets so excited that it manifests itself in rambunctious behaviour, poor fellow. So there he was in the pool trying his best to impress the instructor by repeatedly going under the water. And as wonderful as that was it wreaks havoc on his eyes. By the end of class they were really red from the water and burning. At least no one can say he isn't opening his eyes underwater.
DD also was thrilled she was going to be 'contested' so she actually blew the bubbles that the instructor asked her too. It was the first time I had seen her do this. Mind you being in the viewing area is hard to focus with the temperature being so high that we moms joke it's our weekly sauna. Thank goodness class is only one hour.
I am looking forward to seeing if each child did well enough to progress to the next level next term.
In 'school' we are continuing with DD's reading and DS's practice of intonation when characters speak. DS has a Christmas file folder game for multiplication and DD has one for addition/subtraction. I also made up a file folder game for them both using compound words.
The kids are learning about Christmas around the world. I read about the other countries traditions and then they each are given a flag for the country and are asked to locate it on their maps I printed. I had a really hard time finding a nice map with the countries listed. After they locate the country they glue the maps into the folder and copy down the name of the country, the language predominantly spoken, and the phrase that is said in the native tongues for Christmas. It has been fun. More countries to do still.
We also learned again about snow formation. Because DS learned about snow and Christmas last year I try to have him fill in the blanks of the lesson to review. Thus he is showing the knowledge he has retained as well as informing his sister.
We spent a day talking about and crafting snowmen and snowflakes.
Tomorrow aside from Christmas around the world and reading we will look at the tradition of gingerbread and then they will make gingerbread cookies. By that I mean DS reads and measures following the recipe and DD gets to mix as much as possible. Then I take over the mixing. We will also cut the cookies out together. And no one needs their arm twisted to be taste testers.
So this month is a lot of fun and life learning is also thrown in. How to wrap gifts is even being used as a lesson in folding and estimating. As well as learning simple skills like not needing one hundred feet of tape on one package. I am really looking forward to the holidays and all the happiness that they bring. I just wish we had more family around to visit. But God has blessed our little family with so much already I am very thankful.

Read More

Blog Hop For The Holidays Again!

Read More



DD's School Pic




DS's School Pic

So our school pictures came in. I am very pleased with the photos that were kindly taken by a local photography studio for a discounted price for the homeschooling group. My kids are growing like weeds and it is never more noticeable then when the school pictures come in.
Goodness we have been busy this past week. Unfortunately school has gotten a little off track. So now with three days left in Super Science Month it is up to me to grab the reins and get this buggy back on the path.
We have Albert Einstein and a few odd experiments to finish. And now that I have DD reading I need to make sure she practices daily. I think she is progressing really well there.
Christmas is on my mind a lot as I tidy, paint and decorate. And time to get those Christmas projects for school on the go as well. I have a list of ideas that I need to compile into a more concise school unit. And of course end of month means our bulletin board will need changing. Unfortunately I have planned an excursion this weekend which means I have no time to get any of it done. I shall just have to pour the midnight hours in to get it finished.

Read More

Flat Travelling Disappointments.

Awhile ago in the summer my kids decided to participate in a flat travel situation that was set up through a homeschool forum I belong to. Well the person, who I won't name, who got my DD's first ever flat, did not return it. She is needless to say more then disappointed. She is five here and this was her first homeschool mail lesson. She had to watch as her brothers flat was returned with great pictures and brochures. And still nothing from hers months later. To further add insult to injury it was the person who set the whole trade up that never returned her flat. The experience has left her and I feeling flat.

So a word to all who travel through flats. Please remember to return them or at the very least be honest enough to say 'hey I lost it.' Or 'I forgot to mail it.' Honesty is always better then making a child wonder.

Also too having done this now a few times I think it would be great if we looked at those flats as travellers returning home. What would you take home from a vacation? Would it be merely brochures. Or would you take a souvenir or other small memento of your trip. Perhaps something as simple as a small, unusual rock, leaf rubbing, favorite recipe the family had whilst you visited or the like. Let's remember when sending those flats back to kids that brochures are a wonderful geography and social studies tool but not all that interesting for small tots. I am not saying this to be unappreciative of the wonderful trips our flats have taken. I am saying this as a creative plea to make it more inviting for kids to participate. I am saying this from a child's perspective.

Read More

To All My Readers.

You may have noticed that things have changed here at Adventure Hollow. I am currently working on making the blog more holiday friendly. I hope you like the new layout and I apologize if you are finding it hard to read the link list. I am working on finding a way to make them more separated. However I am new to Javascript and so am having a bit of a time locating the 'magic' spot in the code to change that bit of information. Thank you for you patience and your visits.

Christmas countdown at FlashBannerNow.com

Read More

Electricity...not so much

 Electricity week left me feeling flat. We didn't cover things the way I had hoped. It was overshadowed with our other lessons that needed attention. And in the back of my mind there are these tunes playing over and over. 'Christmas is a coming, hurry up, hurry up' and by that I mean here in Canada the stores turn their merchandise over to Christmas fare right after Halloween. People throw their artificial trees up at the first snowflake or sooner. And everyone starts to talk about it. There is this impending feeling of rush that surrounds the holiday season. As I age and develop more of different view of the whole season I feel the rush more. I am less prepared then days gone by when my shopping was done early and plans were made months in advance. Now as a homeschooling mom there is more added to the plate of life. The kids age with each advancing year making them more aware of the season. I am all for youth and exuberance, I just wish I could reclaim some of that youthfulness for myself.
 All of this aside we did manage to make a few small breakthroughs. DD is beginning to read with great success. And DS is continuing his mathematical advancement learning division and is now giving himself spelling tests. He will pick a word at random and spell it for us to see if has the correct spelling. It would appear that he is very adept at it. The only thing he is getting caught up with are those sneaky, silent 'e's'. Overall I am happy with what we have covered as we near the end of our first term this year. I am also thinking of making up a test for DS who in 'grade two' should have some to prepare him for the eventuality of testing later in his in life. I would just like it to be a general knowledge test of all that we have covered. At first when I thought of the idea of testing I thought it would be to see how much information has been retained. And then I realized that was silly because I already know that from listening to him speak. So I think as said before it is to prepare him for that later eventuality.

Read More

Super Science Month Off to a Great Start.

                             

Our school this month is continuing forward with our English, Math and so on. Our unit of study though which is on top of those areas was science. I came up with some areas or subjects I was hoping to cover. And seeing as though we are dealing with a level of learning discrepancy since DS is two years older then his sister and has covered some of these topics, I tried to delve deeper into them and cover information he hadn't learned yet.
So this past week we discussed atoms and molecules. We attempted to make a buckeyball from the kitchen chemistry book mentioned in my earlier post. It was a flop but a fun flop. I introduced scientific method to the kids and we started science notebooks in binders. Included in the notebooks are lab reports, a diagram of the scientific method (taped to the inside of the binder for easy reference), and a chart to list when all experiments were completed and what they were called. It's an attempt for the kids to see how real scientists keep accurate records. Over the past week I have seen a major improvement in my son's work ethic and in my daughters ability to take dictation. She also has started to show more interest in learning to read as well as a deepening understanding of phonics. I was so thrilled to see these improvements in them and know that given more time they both will turn into gems for students.
We also had fun this week talking about the five states of matter; Bose Einstein condensate, liquids, solids, gases and plasmas. We made cornstarch goop for an experiment which my son loved playing with so much I had to pry him away from it. And we did an experiment freezing water to illustrate the Mpemba Effect on water. We also talked about physical and chemical change in states of matter.
This month is proving to be fun for all of us. And I hope to see continued improvement in school.
I also got a chance to go out with some women from our local homeschool group and really enjoyed having fun with some adults for a change. We took in the movie Secretariat and I recommend it for all families. Disney has made a come back in my books with this family movie.
My deck was stained even though the weather is turning colder. I am grateful for the brief window of opportunity I was given to get that job done so I didn't have to stare at bare wood all winter. I chose a cappuccino stain from the Behr line of stain at Home Depot. Again I am not sure how it seems to have more red then I would like but I am hoping it will fade some over winter. In any event it looks far nicer on the front with the brickwork then the other plain wood.
I managed to find at DD's request a pen friend for her and will get her started on that this week coming. I hope it turns out well. I recall with fondness some of the wonderful pen friends I had growing up and as a grown up. Unfortunately I have since lost touch with all of them. It's funny how small relationships like that throughout our lives can touch our hearts so much.
DD's Spark troop may be laying a wreath this week at the cenotaph and I would be most honored if she can attend. So I would like to end today's post with a well known and beautiful tribute to all of those who have fought and died. Not only for us in Canada but all over the world throughout the ages. Without whom we would not be who we are today.

Thanks to the man, John Macrea, who wrote this.

Read More

November Begins with A Whirl!

I love Scribd it is awesome! I found a complete book on kitchen chemistry! Mind you I had to join for a month for $9 it was sooo worth it. And yes the ink to print it out was a lot. But this book is fabulous. I think we are going to use it the rest of the year cover to cover. It has easy experiments you can do easily in your own home to illustrate the ideas behind the facts. So I was as you can tell thrilled to find it. The timing was perfect as we head into November which I have deemed Science Month. Note our new bulletin board theme.

Last year I covered both magnetism and electricity with my DS so I have developed a more complex lesson plan for him. I encourage my DD to listen and pick up what she can. I also have her lesson plan to run concurrently with DS's. Today we covered atoms and molecules. We completed one experiment and failed miserably at another. I am going to have DH look into where we went wrong tonight. We learned about the scientific method and how to organize our new science notebooks we are doing for the year. I had them tape a chart to the inside cover of the notebook to remind them of the order of the scientific method. The each had a periodic table with pictures ( link for that in my link list). They learned how to fill out lab sheets for their experiments. And yes they balked at all the writing. But in time I can only hope to instill good methodology.

I tried to compile a complete curriculum/lesson for the month. However I found that as I gathered information it was growing exponentially. So I am taking DH advice and taking the sketch of the month and compiling it a week at a time.

There are several historical figures I am hoping to cover as well. Along with science DS is learning decimals and fractions more indepth and DD is continuing to learn the concepts she needs to master. It's proving to be a interesting and busy month.

And as if all of this and housework weren't enough. I dashed outside this evening to start staining our front deck. Tomorrow is also supposed to be nice and I hope to finish then. Snow will be coming sooner rather then later and I just can't stare at the nakedness of blonde wood against red brick all winter.

That about puts us back on track for where we are at thus far.



Read More

End Of October Wrap Up.

In keeping up with tradition the kids were treated to special foods before the night of treat'or'treating. Below are witches broomsticks and monster mouths. The broomsticks we made from Pillsbury Hot Dog wraps and the mouths are apples with slivered almonds for teeth. The little mummy is a paper craft I got off the web.

Below we made mashed potato ghosts and english muffin mummy pizzas.

Of course no night of trick'or'treating is complete without costumes. DD went as a pirate princess and son went as his current favorite game characters Ratchet and Clank. Clank was hung on his back. This costume I made. Now just for those who don't know I am not a seamstress. I love to sew by hand no machines. So this was cobbled together purely from my head. I must say I am pretty happy with the results. Except next time I would make a less complex head. The head was made from crafters wire mesh wired together, filled with polyester stuffing and then I sewed in his bike helmet to hold it all in place. The chest was 'muscled' by a little soft sculpture. I sewed in panels behind the shirt part of the costume and then sculpted them with stitching. Thankfully my daughter wanted a store bought costume. The Ratchet took two and half weeks of work on and off to complete.

Our bat books were completed and we learned alot. I did have more information with the lesson I prepared but we simply ran out of time to complete. But that kind of thing doesn't bother me too much because I will simply work those ideas into a later lesson.

foam bats, echolocation, facts and baby bat mini books.

Bat wing anatomy compared to humans and birds. As well a brochure of bat facts.

We moved from that week into the week before Halloween. So I took the time to make it a literary week. We discussed folklore surrounding Halloween. The tale of Stingy Jack which the kids got a kick out of my rendition via fake microphone. We also talked about similes and then they completed their own simile pumpkin books. We looked at poetry for a bit and talked about limericks in particular. Then I had them each make up their own. Now I was impressed with DD's unfortunately DS chose to 'make his own' off of hers. But it was the idea of the pattern of AA, BB, A that I wanted to instill. So I was ok with that. I did point out that perhaps next time he could attempt a little more at originality. I do suppose it would be hard for them at their ages to not have that situation happen once in awhile since they are in the same class and usually at the same desk. All of our work for the week was put in a 'scrapbook' we made up. I bought scrapbook paper for the covers from the dollarstore and cut cheap paper for the other pages. Then we glued the work in.



DS's Cover

 


Inside DS book




Halloween math inside DD's book



Inside DD's book with her mini books on Stingy Jack, the skeletal system, creatures of the night, and her limerick.

More worksheets for DD this one was a cute one hundred chart with ghosties.



Pumpkin fractions in cauldron pocket for DD with a fun craft from the toymakers website .

What toymaker you may be wondering? Well here is the website for the toymaker.

And if you think our school sounds like fun? Well it can be. But don't let all this craftyness fool you. I am still dealing with a lot of issues. My DS is a handful and most days pushes all the wrong buttons. I think though last week we may have made a breakthrough. I am not holding my breath though. He still needs almost constant reminders to accomplish his writing. He has toned down his attitude greatly though. I hope it lasts. It can be very wearing to make it through our lessons. But as my mother loved to quote and I do now 'pound on, pound on'.  

So I end this wrap up with DD's limerick about Halloween.

This night,

something gave me a fright.

Was it a ghost?

Was it a post?

It was a scarey sight.

Not bad for five :)

Read More

The Shortest Fall and Bats.

                                                                                                     

Well I know we live in a northern clime but fall usually seems longer. This year we had a short sunny bit followed by rain mixed with snow and hail. Not too much too enjoy.

So we turn ourselves back to our lessons for enjoyment. DD had requested awhile ago that we learn of bats. She was in the I want to fly stage and had to learn all there was to learn about creatures that fly. As I have said before we do celebrate Halloween. So that being said I thought it would be good to have more indepth look at bats nearer to Halloween. So we found a tonne of wonderful information and things to look at. Books from the library which of course included a copy of Stellaluna. We used some of the lapbook resources from and we got a copy of the movie also at the library. I reread the book before we watched to movie and asked the kids to watch for differences between the book and the movie. The spotted quite a few.

We looked at the anatomy of the bats arms and fingers and how they are similar or dissimilar from birds and people.We read about bats from the Hinterland Who's Who website. We focused on echolocation, hibernation, migration, and delayed reproduction. And we made notebooking sources for each.  DS made a flip book using this. We also used the mega bat vs micro bat comic to read and discuss the differences between the two. Lubee Bat Conservatory Mega/Micro Bat Comic

Admittedly we did not even cover all that I was hoping to cover on the subject. Some more links of interest are below.

href="http://www.gamequarium.org/cgi-bin/search/linfo.cgi?id=9701" This is a Magic School Bus bat page.
href="http://www.dumgal.gov.uk/index.aspx?articleid=8588"This is a printable workbook on bats.
href="http://www.abcteach.com/free/b/border_bat_primary.pdf">This is a pdf notebooking page with bat border.

During this time we also had a field trip to a local corn maze. Since I don't personally drive one of the other hs mothers was generous enough to offer the kids and I a ride. Well we got there an hour early, a slight oversight lol. So we made our way back into town where we stopped at the local MacDonalds playland to kill time. The kids didn't mind the diversion. And before we knew it we were back on track. At the farm where the corn maze was located there was also a petting barn where the kids were able to feed some grain to the cow and goat. Of course the horses didn't need the extra feed so they had to content themselves with pets from the thirty or so odd hs kids that came.






DD and DS looking at a pygmy goat



We also we lucky to enjoy a wonderful hayride on this unbelieveably chilly fall day. Packed onto the wagon the two large horses, one pictured above pulled for all they were worth and made a wonderful ride around the tree farm and back again. From there we entered the corn maze. I was so busy trying to keep up to the eager kids I didn't think to take a picture. It was a small feat of engineering that maze. And very well done. The kids and I really got a workout trying to find the way station points. Afterward I spotted this wonderful stump near the old house on the farm. Which incidently is the oldest house from our city.

It has been a busy time of year which may be part of the reason that it seems to be a very short season. DD is a member of Sparks and has been busy selling cookies door to door and had a campout scheduled. Well she was so thrilled. Myself I was more apprenhensive afterall she is only five. However she was quite insistent that she go. So not to stiffle independence and fun I said she could. It was a job in itself packing for her from the kit list supplied. She got there on time at ten and seemed a little less sure of herself. I reassured her it would be fine. Well she made it until 10.30pm then I got a call with the smallest we voice 'Mom I can't sleep I want to come home.' So home she came. I give her a big thumbs up for trying. And the camp leader said there is another campout in the summer so who knows maybe a big six year old will make it.

Sugar Shack cabin where the campout was

Also in the past couple weeks. DH and DS have been working tirelessly on our front deck. So far it is almost complete. The stairs we just added yesterday. I am looking forward to having it finished.

Well in other news my FIL has gotten remarried and is coming for visit with the new "MIL, SM, Grandma" next week. Although it will be a short visit we are all anxious to see what she is like as it has been a sudden marriage and they live far away so we haven't met her.

The kids have been keeping up with their swimming classes and both are improving. DS has even started jumping into the pool from the side. And he is braver then I ever was and keeps his eyes open under the water. Since I told him he could be a lifeguard when he is older for a summer job he is now determined to become the best swimmer he can be. He has always loved the water so I can see that being something he would enjoy. DD is being braver now also and not just clinging to the sides of the pool. It is such a wonderful blessing to watch the people they will be unfold.

I am also very proud of my son for taking a stand with his friend. The boy came over for a sleep over and is a bit more verbal if you will, then I allow. Well I have told DS before that I don't mind friends over but it is up to him to make sure they follow the rules. And that they need to in order to be allowed to stay. So his friend was using some bad language and he said 'Stop saying that we don't talk like that in my house.' I thought it was great that he stood firm and I was happy to see he has been listening.

Read More

Celebrating the 1000th Visitor to Our Blog

Has it really been only three months since I started blogging? Time has been whizzing by as school got into full gear.
I am thankful to everyone who has come by our blog and hope that some of you have found the links helpful. And that perhaps a small percentage of you have found my blog of interest :)
I haven't recapped for the last week as it has been an ongoing unit and will likely recap that at the weekend coming up.
We recieved our first snowfall here today. Well it really wasn't all that impressive really. It's gone already although they are calling for more.
I have met a few wonderful ladies through our local homeschool group. And hope to meet some more. I am debating setting up either a craft or lego group for the winter for a small group of homeschoolers. I just have to work the idea out more and get some details before I submit it to the local group.
I also want to look into a field trip I have formulating, thanks to my wonderfully ingenius husband.
Again thank you to all those great people who have come by and made us reach 1000 visitors since we began.

Read More

Blog Hopping Can Become an Obsession :)

Read More

A Plump and Perky Turkey Thanksgiving.

                 

Well it's that time again in Canada. Turkey time or Thanksgiving :). We spent the last week of homeschool working on botany as our theme. We made leaf collection books for each child and using Kidzone we made up pages to identify our leaves and make observations. Below are images from DD's leaf collection book. The second image shows her intrepretation on what happens during photosynthesis. The words on the cover are a fancy rose font she picked out as she loves flowers.

                              

 We haven't completely finished the books as we still need to find elder specimens. Not sure if they are local or not. And a few more entries need to be completed. Below are images of DS's leaf book. He is starting to forget to hold his pencil correctly and so again his letter formation is becoming fragmented. I sat with him through his writing last year to get him to use the tripod grip and saw a remarkable improvement. One step forward two steps back sometimes. Back to reminding him. And I am just letting DD be forming her letters how she wants so as to not instill a perfectionist attitude. Next term I will try to be more persuasive in getting her to hold her pencil in the correct grip. The second image below is son's diagram idea of his own creation to show the how photosynthesis is effected by the seasons. I am not sure if it conveys the whole message. But I was pleased that he chose on his own the idea of a diagram over a drawing as it shows a more mature understanding of analytical data.

 Because we are behind I have shifted my plans for lessons for the rest of the month from my original intent of a parliamentary lesson to just fall and Halloween. Yes we celebrate Halloween here. Anywho my original method of teaching my son last year is somehow not wpanning out with two kids to teach. Some days are a struggle to maintain order in the class. Maybe I need a gavel lol. And so I am finding that instead of small weekly units sometimes there is a bit more crossover of learning from week to week. Which I guess is ok. I find it can be a little tiresome having to remember all the lessons we have going on. For term two after the new year I think I shall have to find a more defined system so as not to get too off track from the main focus areas. So aside from the leaf books we also made leaf prints on canvas and handprint turkeys.

  
Our science experiment was chromatography. We are still steeping the leaves as the color 'packets' didn't get into the alcohol as it should have after a few hours. So if it was done for someone else I would recommend beginning the experiment earlier in the week and then returning to it later after it has time to sit more.



Leaves are sitting in alcohol and warm water bath.

 For our field trip we went to a local hiking trail and enjoyed a big walk through the fall leaves.

It was also week two of the homeschool associations swimming classes through a local rec center. They split the kids up according to age and level of comfort in the water. There are 30 or so kids all told and two classes a week :) Which means somewhere in this great city there are more parents who are taking the time to homeschool. I am liking to outing during the week as are the kids. Although this time I am going to consult the bus route map so as to not be stuck on the bus needlessly long.
And also DD continues with her weekly meetings with Sparks for little girls instead of Girl Guides which is for older girls. She is loving the interaction and comradery of the group. They have a camping trip of all the strange events to undertake in our cold fall clime coming up in two weeks. I am uncertain that she will enjoy being away from us for two whole days and one night. But she is so excited and insistent that she will be ok I am loathe to decline. I want the kids to have friends and independence. Granted at five I am leaning towards calling the whole thing off. But then I think back and think that perhaps I am too protective. And there is going to be over 15 kids attending. Soooo.. I shall let her test the waters of freedom for the sake of her self esteem. And I will also have both cell phones in one hand and the car keys in the ignition. Which is kind of funny since I don't drive. But that's why hubby will be sleeping in the truck. lol no not really. But I digress. DS still hasn't found anything to his liking. Although I am not certain he ever will he is such a independent fellow with a set of ideas in his head that sometimes it worries me that he is so unwavering in his opinions. However perhaps more time is all that will be needed to see him blossom in a more team oriented group.
DH is a great man. He works endlessly to make us all happy. And he worked really hard this weekend trying to get our front deck made. He still needs some more boards on top, stairs and railing but otherwise it is shaping up really nicely. I will have to give it a stain though as the lightness of the wood is rather drastic next to the brickwork on the front of the house.
And my kitchen will need painting in the next week or so. I am still uncertain as to what color to go with although I am leaning towards robins egg blue as I have always had a liking for the color but never been brave enough to use it.
But all of this blogging me is keeping me from organizing this weeks school lesson on bats. So I shall go with a wish for everyone in the world to have a wonderful weekend as we celebrate Thanksgiving here in Canada.

Read More

Absent Now Back Again.

You may have noticed I haven't posted in awhile. That is mainly because I was so busy working on a yearly craft show and sale that I attend. I have attended it for the past fourteen years.
I let the kids have time off from formal learning for those two weeks while I prepared my crafts and baking. They spent a large portion of their time unschooling. They watched me sew webs and spiders. They made pom poms with me. And they baked and helped to package items with me. DD helped me wrap suckers the large round ones in cheesecloth and then I let her put little ghostly faces on them before I tied the cheesecloth on. These were surprisingly popular with the little craft sale goer's, much to my daughters delight as she was earning the money from those sales. They also busied themselves with drawing elaborate murals on newsprint and making pipecleaner spiders and pipecleaner playground equipment for their spiders. They wrote more then they do with formal learning lol. Asking how to spell this and that. I discovered my DD has an interest in cartooning as she made her funny pics have speech bubbles with humorous comments.

My DS helped me with making virginia creeper wreaths. I understand they are more dry in the spring to work with but time was of the essence and I needed some more to fill the small country porch I was to show out of. So he learned that the vine did the walking and your hand just follows it through to completion. He also learned how to weave the ends in neatly and start another vine intertwining.
DD contented herself bouncing on and amongst the felled birch tree in our backyard. Seemed like great fun for them both to make little dens inside the pile of branches. And all the backyard birds seemed to chirp happily there also for the week. The tree has now been removed from the yard. A sudden dip in temperatures into the near 0's Celsius has spurred us to make quick pickup of things in the yard. Snow can come anytime now here in the north. Although usually it isn't until after Halloween. There is still some cleanup to do. And a lot to finish on the deck.
So for the baking I made pumpkin muffins with chocolate chips, pumpkin muffins with Cinnamon chips, brownies, pumpkin pie blossoms, sugar cookies on sticks, chocolate fudge, peanut butter and chocolate fudge, cappuccino fudge, caramel corn and pumpkin pie taffy. The taffy was wrapped like old fashioned candies in waxed paper. I also made caramel apple and chocolate covered apples. The candy was set up on a table to look like an old fashioned candy store and then I had taste tests of the candy. People loved it and candy was flying off the table. Baking not so much. The sale is unique in that it is based in several homes around in a rural area so there is a drive to find new and exciting crafts and ideas to present every year.
It was my first time away from the kids for two whole nights and days. I left them with Dh and hoped for the best lol.
If you have ever seen the show 'the week the wives left'..welll...that will give you some idea of how things were upon my return. Hoo Boy not sure I want to repeat that. Below are some pics of the sale :)

Read More