Happy Halloween!

Last night, we had our annual Halloween party.  Hopefully you can tell, but I was a candy corn.  I made the shirt, had candy corn earrings and the candy corn slippers.  Abby and my younger sister Holly were both Snow White.  It was so cute!

For Dave, I found that spider at Target and put it on his shoulder and we called him "Spider Man".  Of course, Matthew was quick to tell us that Spider Man does NOT look like that.  In the picture above, Matthew had already taken off his Darth Vader costume, because he got too hot.  He was holding the gun from Bill's Ghost Buster costume and making a very serious ghost fighting face.  LOL! 

Abby told Heather to be a hairdresser, so she was.  She bought an apron at Sally's beauty supply and put in several hot pink highlights in her hair. 

Lastly, Andy was Thomas the Tank Engine.  Matthew wore this costume several years back, but this year Andy just loves Thomas!  He doesn't say much yet, but he does know how to say, "Choo-Choo".

We hope you have a happy and safe Halloween today!

Happy 1st Birthday

Today is Kako's 1st birthday.  Abby has been pretty excited about it, so I let her make him a birthday picture on Picnik.  She LOVES playing on Picnik and it's always hilarious to see what she makes!

I'm not a Picnik affiliate or anything, but I just love it.  Have you used it yet?

Oh and we haven't had Kako the whole year, we got him when he was 4 months old.

Snapshots of Life

I didn't get a chance to work on a Links I Like post this week, but I love this new idea from eighteen25:





Every Wednesday, they post a time for you to take a picture of what you are doing oat that time on Thursday.  The link up is on Friday.

So yesterday at 5:00 p.m. I was doing this:



Yep, getting ready to eat an Oreo.  Not just any Oreo either, the Halloween kind!  I don't know about  you, but the holiday Oreos ALWAYS taste better than the original.

To see more Snapshots of Life, head to eighteen25!

Wordless Wednesday: Zoo Field Trip

The boys are my nephews: Matthew and Andrew.

For more Wordless Wednesday, head to:

Go Graham Go
Mom Spotted
Two of a Kind, Working on a Full House

Finally!

I have waited 6 years for this moment!  Last night, I finally got to order:

Yes, a new dishwasher!  We have always hated the one that came with our house.  It was older and only had the water come from the bottom.  It was really annoying to load, as it was so small inside.  There's only three of us and we had to run it every other day.  It was also the only black appliance in our all white kitchen.  


Here are some of the features I am most looking forward to: 
 
*  PowerScour Option, Uses 36 targeted jets to scour away baked-on foods without soaking or scrubbing

*  Sheer Clean Direct Feed Wash System, powerfully clean from five different angles

*  Quiet Partner IV System, dishwashers offer five levels of quiet operation with this system of sound-reducing insulation Does this mean we might be able to watch TV with the dishwasher running?

*  Adjustable Upper Rack, Adjust upper rack to fit tall or odd-shaped items with ease 

I'm so excited that it's being delivered this Friday!  I'll be sure to take a picture when it's installed.


Speaking of installing, I'm currently reading: 


How to Uninstall a Dishwasher

How to Install a Dishwasher


LOL!  My Dad works for a parts supply company and since I'm his immediate family, I get a discount on products.  They will deliver, uncrate and haul away the old appliance, but not uninstall the old one or install the new dishwasher.  It can't be that hard, right?  (crossing fingers)

Homeschool Week 13 Review

Once a month, on Mondays, Abby and I help clean the kid's ministry church rooms.  This past Monday, was our turn and we enjoyed meeting some new people.  It's always funny when we meet moms there (or anywhere during the day really).  At first they seem a bit confused as to why Abby is hanging out with me during the day.  However, when we tell them we homeschool, they have all been so positive about it.

Math

Abby did lessons 55, 56 and 57 this past week.  These worksheets included:  Subtraction with a number line, time by 15 minutes, fractions (1/2), addition, dimes & pennies, word problems and ordinal numbers.

I'm still searching for the right math program for Abby.  Right now, she enjoys the money, fractions and word problems on the worksheets.  But when she sees a page of addition problems, she shuts down.

She did pick up on the subtraction thing pretty well though.

Social Studies

We did Heritage Studies, Lesson 13 about Indians of the Northwest.  Abby learned about the Inuit (Eskimos) and the Nootka Indians.  She did 2 notebook pages, one about time lines and the other was a page about the differences between the Inuits and Nootkas.

Science

Our life cycle theme this week was the Maple Tree:



We took a walk in the neighborhood with my Trees of Missouri Field Guide (Field Guides)
Abby and I collected leaves and identified some trees along the way.  Abby made a leaf collage with contact paper:

It's hanging in our kitchen window!




She also did two activities from the teacher's resource book I have.  The first was to color the front and back of a maple leaf print out and then I cut it out before it dried.  This made the ends turn up, just like a real leaf.   I forgot to get a picture of these, before I wrote this post. 







The second activity was to make maple tree seeds...you know the ones we call "helicopters".  This was fun.  Abby colored them and then we folded them and attached the paper clip.  I let Abby stand on the kitchen chair to drop it.  It twirled down just like a real maple seed leaf.  She loved this!

We read:




Handwriting

This is not one of Abby's favorites.  I remember reading somewhere that a child will learn how to write after they learn how to read.  I'm hoping this is true, because her handwriting is way behind others her age.  Although, who cares really?

She did do a word page for the lowercase letter a this week.

Reading

We didn't do anything specifically for this.  We are still finishing up The Littles Give A Party.  I read this when I put her to bed, but this week Dave put her to bed mostly.  She picks each night who she wants to read books :)

Field Trips

Friday, we went with my Mom, younger sister, older sister and her two boys to the Zoo.  Dave's boss told him to go home and go to the zoo with us, so he came along too!  The weather was perfect!  I also got some great pics!  I used the settings I was used to, but also tried manual again and did much better:



I only cropped this, no other editing!  I'll share more pics on Wednesday.

Exercise

Abby had her weekly gymnastics class.  However, no new developments here for me.  I did a lot of eating though :)

I have a question for you all:  How far in advance do you do your planning?  I plan a week at a time.  I feel like that gives me more flexibility in how long we spend on things.  When we first started this school year, I planned the first 6 weeks.  However, I found that either got behind or ahead in different areas and it made it confusing.

Win Your Wish List

I recently became a blogger member with:

Growing Tree Toys is a local, family owned business in PA.  After 25 years of selling toys in their store, they opened up an online business in 2003.  Growing Tree Toys offers everything from baby toys to educational toys to arts and crafts, puzzles and more!

Until October 31st, you have a chance to Win Your Wish List, up to $1,000!  Just click on the link have fun making a wish list!

Here's a few favorites Abby and I found to add to our Wish List:

Les Dollies Dolly Bon Bon Play Doll

Calico Critters Baby Play House Set

Play Parachute







Wow, Abby loved their site.  They have some really fun stuff!  Go make a wish list and don't forget to come back here and tell me if you win :)

Links I Like: Edition 24

How can Halloween be next weekend?  I just don't understand where the time goes!  I have found a few more fun Halloween decor and crafts this past week, but first have you been looking for the perfect barstool?  I like this one:

   It's the Carolina Cottage Tavern Barstool.  I will be posting a few links over the next couple of months, all leading up to something fun just in time for Christmas!  Stay tuned, you won't want to miss it!

Centsational Girl always posts beautiful things, including these gorgeous Metallic Pumpkins.  Click the link to see how she made them!

Speaking of pumpkins, I used Under the Table and Dreaming's tips for Preserving Pumpkins and it worked!  My neighbors have stopped to ask me how I got my pumpkins so shiny.

I love this idea for a Ghost Leaf Tree at Gails' Decorative Touch.

She made it with her grand kids, what a fun Grandma!

Remember my Candy Corn post?  Well, here's more awesome candy corn related links:

Write It Down made these with yarn!  How simple and creative.  I think Abby would enjoy trying this.

These Candy Corn Themed Chocolate Covered Pretzels from Baked Perfection look so yummy!

Now this is so cute!  Candy Corn Mini Trifles from Confessions of a Cookbook Queen.

How about one more:

A Candy Corn Burlap Banner from Your Home Based Mom.

Can you tell I like candy corn?  I just think it's so festive for Halloween!

Simplifying Things

Do you notice anything different? 

I've decided to simplify this blog a little bit.  The sidebars were getting very full and I was limited to the size of pics I could upload.

Now I can post pics this big:

Kako

Much better :)

At the top of my blog, under the header, you can see a nav bar with links to:

Curriculum
Blogs I Like
Disclosure Policy
Contact Me

I'm still tweaking a few things, but I don't really know what I'm doing!  I have to do google searches for "how to remove image border from profile picture" or even more fun "how to go from 3 columns to 2 columns on blogger".  LOL!

If you see anything that looks messed up, let me know.  This whole "edit HTML" thing is pretty scary.

Any constructive criticism?

Wordful Wednesday: Safety Fair Field Trip

A few weeks ago, we attended our local fire/paramedic department's safety fair.  We enjoyed the fair so much last year, that we made sure to go this year!

 It was very hot out, but luckily they moved the trucks out and put most of the events inside.  Abby and Matthew got to check out the fire trucks and ambulances, practice calling 911, get free helmets, decorate pumpkins, play games and we all enjoyed the free hot dogs, chips and soda!

Do you have safety fairs in your town?  We love going to these types of events!

For more Wordful or Wordless Wednesdays, head to:

Parenting By Dummies

Traci66

Hip Homeschool Hop

The Homeschool Chick has started the Hip Homeschool Hop.  Check it out every Tuesday, for a link up featuring giveaways, products and more.

Homeschool: Week 12 Review

This past week was another fast week.  Dave was off on Monday for Columbus Day.  

Math

Abby did lessons 50-54, which included:  counting by 10's, addition, fractions (1/4), double and triple digit addition, word problems, value of dimes, nickels and quarters.   She had a hard time counting the quarters, which I can understand.  25 plus 25 is kind of out there for a 6 year old!  LOL!

Social Studies

On Monday, we did a Columbus Day Unit from Heritage Studies.  Abby enjoyed this and Dave liked watching her do some school work.  

She also did Lesson 12 this past week, which was about the Plains Indians.  Here's the tipi she made:

Science

This past week, we finished up our lesson on the life cycle of wood frogs.  We did an ice cube experiment, that demonstrated how wood frogs keep from freezing in the winter.

Wood frogs store a lot of glucose in their liver, which keeps them from freezing.  Abby filled one ice cube tray with sugar water and the other with tap water.  She hypothesized that the sugar water would freeze slower than the tap water.   We checked in on them in the freezer several times and she was right! 

The second experiment was using egg whites and couscous to demonstrate what frog eggs look like.  I completely forgot to get the camera out for this one.  Abby thought it was disgusting though.  

Handwriting 

Abby worked on the lowercase letters: a, d and g.  She also did a word page for t, that I forgot about last week.  I'm moving slow on handwriting, because she just doesn't like to sit and slow down to think about the formation of the letters.  I figure she'll eventually want to learn to write nicely, so no use rushing it.

Reading

Abby read more books from the Amazing Animal series.  She really likes these, she even read some to baby Andy when we watched him on Tuesday.

We are on chapter 11 of The Little Give A Party.

Field Trips

We went to the pumpkin patch on Friday and to the National Weather Service open house on Saturday.



I did not have my camera at the NWS open house, but it was kind of neat.

Exercise
What's that?  LOL!  Abby did gymnastics on Thursday.  I did nothing that even slightly resembled exercise last week.  Maybe this week?

How's your Fall going so far?  I'm loving this pretty weather!  We're hoping to make a field trip to the zoo in the next couple of weeks, before it gets too cold. 

Trying Manual

I've been reading Darcy's 31 Days to a Better Photo series over at My 3 Boybarians.

Day 11 explained tips for shooting manually.  We went to the pumpkin patch today and I decided to try out what I learned.  Some of the pics I was happy with, buy most were too dark.  After reviewing the specs on them, I realized I had left Auto ISO on.  Some were taken at 1600 :(  

The lesson I learned is to not try out new settings on an important day!  

Here's some examples.  Too dark:

 

I thought I was doing it right, by adjusting until the exposure was at 0.  Obviously I adjusted it wrong.  Anyone want to tell me the right settings these should have been? 

I was more happy with this series, but the ISO was very high.
 

Here's one my sister took after I set up the settings and gave her the camera:

 

Apparently, her clicking the button is better than me?  LOL!

Anyway, that was my manual FAIL experiment. 

Do you shoot in manual?

Links I Like: Edition 24

Have you heard of the 31 Days project?  For the whole month of October, several bloggers are doing a post a day on a particular topic.  My favorite is 31 Days to a Better Photo from My 3 Boybarians.  Darcy is so smart and is explaining photography so well.  It's all starting to make more sense to me! 


I decorated our house for Halloween a few weeks ago, but I have not done any new crafts this year.  The mantle looks exactly the same as it did last year.

I participated in the Halloween Mantle Link Up at The Stories of A to Z the other day and I've had so much fun checking out the mantles.  There are some really creative people out there and they are such an inspiration!  I love Beth's candy corn garland:

I also would like to start doing some crafts with Abby.  Last year, we did lots of Halloween crafts.  Here's a few cute ones:

I like this Trick or Treat Tree from Parents.com.  

These Craft Stick Mummies from Crafts By Amanda are adorable and look so simple!

Our Homeschool Fun did some great Pumpkin Crafts this week.  I can just see a row of these milk jug lanterns lining the sidewalk on Halloween:

I only buy 1/2 gallon cartons, but I'd better start asking my Mom to save her milk jugs!

Have you done any Halloween projects yet?  I'd love to see them!

Halloween Mantle Party

Beth from The Stories of A to Z is hosting a Halloween Mantle Link Up!

My mantle looks exactly the same as it did last year, but I thought I'd share again:

I made these BOO letters with scrapbook paper and Mod Podge last year.

I just love this ragamuffin wreath.  It was so easy to make!

These candy apples, I made with fake apples, hot glue and caramel colored paint.  They look almost edible!

I also enjoy looking at these yummy candy corn and pumpkin candy apothecary jars.  Isn't candy corn so cute and festive?!

Go check out more mantles at The Stories of A to Z! 

Wordless Wednesday

My newest favorite painting:

Abby said that the duck was playing in the mud and got his feet dirty.  He then walked to the puddle to get clean.  I LOVE those footprints.

For more Wordless Wednesday posts, head to:

Go Graham Go

5 Minutes For Mom
Home Grown Families

Homeschool: Week 11 Review

I say this all of the time, but I can't believe how fast time goes by!  This past week we were supposed to get back into homeschooling after our vacation break.  Well we did some school but not much.  I was doing so well before we took a break for vacation.  I'd plan a week at a time and then get out the materials the night before.

For some reason, it's taking me awhile to get back into that habit.  Here's what we did do this past week:

Horizons Math

Abby did lessons 48, 49 and Test 5.  We usually do math every day, but not this past week.  These lessons covered:  nickels, word problems, place value, dimes, addition and the numbers 50-99.  Horizons is a spiral approach, so most of these were review.  

I'm looking into finding a mastery math program, as I think it will be better for Abby to learn something fully before moving on.  Horizons skips all over the place and she is finding it very frustrating.  

Reading

I have seen Abby read more and more on her own!  She is learning new words all of the time.  A few weeks ago, I won a set of Now I'm Reading books from Go Graham Go.

Abby read 3 of the stories this week and did very well.  She likes how these books have stickers in the front.  She can put a sticker on the inside cover when she has read it.

We also finished reading The Littles Have A Wedding:

We started The Littles Give A Party.

Heritage Studies
Abby is still loving Heritage Studies!  We did lesson 11, which introduced her to Woodland Indians.  The lesson covered how they lived, what they ate, what they wore, their tools, etc.  One of the notebook pages was a picture and the instructions were to circle the items the Indians would use for food.  When I told her to circle the deer, she screwed up her nose in disgust.  "No one eats deer, MOM!" Um, yep they do.  LOL!  I told her it's kind of game-y and we don't eat it.

She was also grossed out by the thought of them using animal hide for clothing.  Really, that is pretty nasty though, so I don't blame her :)

Handwriting
Abby reviewed the lowercase letters:  c, o, s, v, w and t.  I had planned for her to do a, d and g last week, but we didn't.

Science
Last week we started the Wood Frog life cycle.  We read the Wood Frog book from our Life Cycle series.

Abby also made a life cycle wheel of the wood frog.  I love the little froglet she drew:

We were supposed to do a few experiments for this lesson, but I didn't have the materials.  We will be doing them this week instead.

Exercise

Abby had gymnastics on Thursday.  I did not do any exercise this week.  Apparently, when I took a vacation from homeschooling, I also took one from exercising.  

We did do lots of running around this past week.  We meet Heather and her boys and my cousin and her two kids at the mall on Tuesday.  We had lunch together and then went to a few stores.  

We also went to a program at the library about pumpkins.  It said ages 2 to 6, but was really geared towards younger kids.  Abby enjoyed it though, but was obviously done with her craft pretty quickly.  We have a few homeschool classes coming up at the library.  

So, that was our week.  Not very productive on the school front, but when I start to feel guilty about it, I just remember she's only 6!  In Missouri, she doesn't even legally have to be schooled for 8 more months :)

How is your homescooling going?  If you take breaks, how do you get  yourself back on track?

CSN Stores Product Review: Virco Student Desk & Chair

Several weeks ago, I was given an opportunity to do a product review for CSN Stores. 

CSN Stores has so many products that it was hard to chose something!  After much thought, I decided on the Virco 9000 Series Chair and Open Front Desk Set.

I was so excited to find this.  I have been looking for a desk set for Abby for some time.  I've been on so many sites, but the shipping would be insane or the cost of the chair and desk was just too much.  At $64.99, this is an awesome bargain!  Plus, you have a choice of several colors.  Abby chose Purple Iris.  

The desk is height adjustable and the chair you can order in the correct height for your child.  I found a chart at Discount School Supply to help me decide on the proper height. 

After being on vacation, we are just getting back to homeschooling this week.  Abby was very happy to use the new school desk and chair.  Here she is working on her math:

We are both enjoying this set.  Abby loves hiding her school work in the open front cubby, so she thinks she won't have to do it ;)

If you have been looking to purchase a desk and chair set, I highly recommend this one from CSN Stores!  I couldn't be happier with the quality, construction, CSN Stores customer service and shipping!

Disclaimer:  I received this desk set free of charge in order to facilitate a review.  However, this review is my honest opinion.