Our Last Week of School

We took a field trip last week, which I didn't talk about last week, because I thought it would get it's own blog post, but since that hasn't happened, I'll just share it this week.

In what was our second to last homeschool field trip for this year, and possibly ever, we went to visit KLove Radio/Air 1.  This is a nationwide Christian radio station that I've listened to for years, so it was neat to get to see "where the magic happens" so to speak.

Photo above is our little group.  They broke us into 3 or 4 groups, since there were 40 of us.

We got to see lots of interesting things, and learn about the other ministries that go on behind the scenes, like a program for first responders and another program that goes into schools.

It was a really neat tour, and I'm glad the opportunity came up while we could still participate.

You know after you give blood, there's a snack lady that gives you juice and munchies while your body acclimates?  I got to be the snack lady for a couple hours last weekend.  I know several families who have adopted kids with thalassemia, and I myself carry the alpha thal trait.  It was neat to get to help in some tiny way one of the organizations that handles the blood these kids so desperately need on a regular basis.

When you find yourself a little jealous of your son's hips.

This was a collaborative artwork piece "made from Katie and Hannah."  Katie's been on a scissors kick lately in her free art times.  I like the multi-dimensional aspect her bamboo adds.

We cleaned out Jack & Hannah's binders.  Sometimes I wonder if we're doing "enough" schoolwork.  Seeing these piles made me feel better.

We took down all the Figures in History that we had up on the walls and made them into a book.  Jack is using Kwik Stix to make the cover for it.

The kids helped me by finding 2 complete ABC sets in the flat fish.  I'm getting ready to sell off a bunch of our homeschool supplies and curriculum at a local homeschool sale.

If you're interested in Exploring Countries and Cultures from My Father's World, I'm selling this as a set for $220 plus actual shipping.  Retail is over $400.

I've got 19 years worth of homeschool purchases to sort through.  I'm hoping to get some more pictures done soon and maybe make a separate For Sale post.  If there's anything you're looking for, particularly if you know we've used it or reviewed it, don't be shy about asking!  I need it gone.

I like the car ride home from the library because it's always so quiet!

Jack has discovered that we can request books, so we'll be at the library often this summer.  I already have more to pick up.

This is what I get when I try for a Last Day of School picture.

Top photo, first day, bottom photo, last day.  They've changed so much this year!

Brianna in her Rosie the Riveter pose.

While it's sad to come to the end of homeschooling (at least for now), I'm thrilled to welcome summer.  It's Bri's last summer home, and I want to make it a great one for all of us.  I know I need to be intentional about it, or else the time will slip away and we won't have done all the things on our bucket list.


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So This Happened...

One of the side effects of the San Diego trip was that it cemented in Brianna's mind her decision to join the military.  Josiah took her to meet his recruiter, and they got the ball rolling.  She spent one day at MEPS taking the ASVAB.  She spent another day there, having a physical.  Then she had a session with the recruiter again, where she selected her job.

The following week, it was back to MEPS to swear in!

It's official.  My little girl has joined the Army.  She leaves shortly after graduation next year.

I'm excited for her.  I'm glad that she can just enjoy senior year, knowing she has her plan nailed down, and doesn't need to worry about making huge decisions any more.

And on a lighter note, how many of my kids have to join the military before they name a battleship after me??


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Our Week Learning About the Human Body

Last week, I alluded to the fact that we were working on studying the human body.  We ended up having a lot of fun with it.

First, we traced everybody onto big brown craft paper.

I used a pencil to trace them, and then we went over the pencil lines with Sharpies, evening things up a bit, and making it easier to see the lines.

As we learned about our various organs and systems, we would color, cut out, and paste them onto our bodies.

I found that I'm much more aware of what can go wrong with the human body because of my involvement in the world of China special needs adoptions.  In fact, several times, I pulled up Facebook and showed my kids a picture of a child I knew with a condition relating to the organ or system that we were learning about.  I was pretty matter of fact about it, stating that "sometimes, something goes wrong, and someone's __________ is a little different."  When we got to bones, I asked the kids, "Do we know anybody whose bones are a little different?"  They all blinked at each other and shook their heads.  I got a laugh out of that, blessed by the fact that their limb differences are such a normal part of life, they don't really think about it much.  In fact, when I was reading aloud, I ammended, "You have 206 bones..." to "Jack has 206 bones."  Hannah asked, "How many do you have?"  (I think she thought maybe there was a difference between boys and girls?)  I told her 206.  Then she asked, "How many do I have?"  I explained that I don't really know, but we did some counting and made some guesses, based on the bits she doesn't have.  It was a good conversation.

The kids also read through the pile of books about our bodies, one each day during quiet time.  They would each share something they learned from their book the next day.

The patterns for the organs come from the book My Body.  We also talked about nutrition, and used some of the resources from Choose My Plate, including a set of food flash cards that we separated into piles by food groups.  We talked about "sometimes foods" and "anytime foods," as well.

I used the My Body book when my big kids were little, so I'm a little nostalgic to be ending my homeschooling days with it, too.

Of course, we did more than just study about the body this week.

Jack and Hannah are DONE with their spelling books!  Hallelujah!  Katie still has a few lessons left in hers, but we're plodding along.

Last weekend, Eli and I were part of a group that planted 13 trees with Sacramento Tree Foundation!

Bubba and I were paired up with a guy and his little girl (who is in the hole we dug, lol) and the 4 of us got 2 trees in.  Then I hauled wheelbarrows full of mulch for a while, and Eli got to help stake and tie the new trees.

I took this picture to send to Annaliese (who is currently in New Zealand) so she can see the girls are still wearing the Australia shirts she got them last year when she was there.

A panda dress for Hannah.  I think I'm going to have enough fabric to squeak one out for Katie, too.

Unfortunately, while I was coverstitching the neckline, one of the needles broke and flew into my eye.  I'm okay, but it didn't feel good.

Remember Multicultural Children's Book Day?  I read a lot of the reviews, and there was one that even had a cool art project to go along with the book.  I put the book on my Amazon wish list, thinking I'd get it "someday."

So I was so excited to walk into the library last week and spot THE BOOK!  After we got it home, I did a search, found the blog post with the art project, and we made it this week.  We used Kwik Stix for the flower stems and fingerprints for the flowers.

Miss Katie did hers later, and she used Kwik Sticks for the flowers instead of fingerprints.

Hey look!  We finished another book!  I love this time of year, it feels so good to be wrapping things up.  We're all done with Charlotte's Web from Memoria Press.  We actually reviewed the Third Grade Literature set (4 books) last year.  The study guides are really challenging!  I would recommend ordering at least one grade level down.

I have an Instant Pot.  And it's a marvelous creation.  But I'm not very adventurous, nor do I like cooking very much, so it mostly gets used for about 3 dishes.  I like to brown some sausage in it and then add beans, which have been soaking overnight, plus a little onion, garlic, and cumin, and set it to "beans" to cook.  Comes out marvelous, especially with some fresh cilantro sprinkled on top.

I taught Josiah how to make it, and he does so about once every 2 weeks because it's one of his favorites.  With so much exposure to dried beans being reconstituted, he was inspired to start a couple bean seedlings in a plastic bag in the back yard (with a damp paper towel).  The sprouting bean above has now been planted in a little pot, and we're looking forward to seeing what happens next.

This was a little bit of a crazy week for us, since we had not one, but two field trips, but we still managed to "do school" on the other days, and even played a game.

Since these guys are done with spelling, I thought a word game would keep that part of the brain active.  We used our letter tiles to play score-less Scrabble.

Another book finished!  I think I picked this one up in the $1 spot at Target.  It was kind of funny, the first few days I had her working in it, she kept saying, "Oh, Colorado like the Colorado in my puzzle."  Um, yes, Katie, all of these states are like the one in your USA puzzle, lol.  So she's had good exposure to the names and shapes of our states this year.

After our 2 field trips, we were home all day Friday, so we were able to finish up our body project.

I was able to teach the girls about their uterus, ovaries, and Fallopian tubes while Jack was off reading one of the Redwall books, his current obsession.  We had a great discussion of menstruation and how many eggs we have and other fascinating related topics.  Brianna came home from school, took one look at the white board, and said, "You taught about periods today."  I'm not sure how much Katie absorbed, but I think Hannah has a fair enough grasp on the basics that she won't freak out when hers starts.  (Hopefully not for a couple years, but I have no way of knowing how old her birth mama was when she started, so better to prepare on the early side.)  She asked intelligent questions.

Yeah, I know.  Jack's way too large for the bones in the book.  If I had been thinking, I could have photocopied them greater than 100% to enlarge them a bit.  Oh well.  I'm sure he still learned things.  

We're about to embark on the last week of school!  Actually, Brianna has only 3 days left, and Eli 4.  I really want to get through the rest of Katie's spelling book, so we'll work on that until it's done, but for the most part we should be done on Friday.


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Mandisa Out of the Dark CD

One day, in the car, I heard this song on the radio, and I really liked it.  Two days later, the opportunity came up for me to review the brand new CD Out of the Dark, by Mandisa.  With the song Unfinished on it.  Well that made my day!

I was very excited to receive Out of the Dark, and popped it in to listen to right away.  It's peppy!  You may be familiar with Mandisa's song, Overcomer from a few years ago, or the super happy Good Morning song.  This CD features 16 songs, most of them with a similar happy, peppy vibe.

Overall, I really like this CD.  Unfinished is still my favorite, but I'm Still Here is probably my second favorite.  The only thing I'm not crazy about are the spoken tracks.  The song I'm Still Here is about Mandisa's struggle with depression, and the first track is simulated voice mails from her concerned friends trying to check in on her.  While I'm sure that's very powerful in a music video, I wish they'd left it off the CD.  My kids kept asking me, "What's that talking?" when I would play the CD.  I usually skip past it now.

I like the wholesome, encouraging music on Out of the Dark, and I hope you will check it out.

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