My Poor Blog

Neglected....

That's what it is.

My poor blog!

Well, it has been neglected for good reason. Living life is getting in the way of my writing about it :-)
We have been getting through plenty of schoolwork. And I'm not going to bore you with details about math or spelling but I wanted to share some of the fun stuff we have been doing this month.
We have just finished an in depth study of the Vikings. To compliment all we have been reading about them we also...



Made viking bread.
Tasted great straight out of the oven and then quickly turned to concrete!
Those Viking were hardy folk!



We made viking weapons to add to the boys collection of medieval weaponry.



For art Ciara and Max had to design and build a viking longboat out of vegetables....and it had to float.
After a few design modifications both made something pretty cool that worked.



Jack made a viking person that he quickly decided was actually more like Matt than a Viking so it became a portrait of Dad.
Obviously Matt has some kind of vision issue that we need to check up on!



More on the creative front...



we did some painting
and...



We made cookie dough and then everyone got to add their own secret ingredients to see who could make the tastiest cookie.
Jack's had sour patch candy, sprinkles and Hershey's kisses that definitely had an...um...unusual taste to them.
Ciara went for the more conventional choc chip variety and Max created a banana cookie that was surprisingly popular.



We also joined some friends for a field trip to a hands-on kids science exhibition called " Mobius Labs".



So much fun....
and what a great way to see science in action



So I think I have a pretty good excuse as to why I haven't been blogging.
Throw on top of that working, remodelling and exercise and you'll understand why my house looks like a tornado hit it.
Hmmmm...house cleaning. That might have to be this weekends project!

Rocks, rocks and more rocks.....

Who knew that rocks and minerals could be so interesting.
The kids have been doing experiments on a whole heap of different rocks and minerals over the last few weeks.

Ciara figured out the minerals in different toothpastes that were most effective for cleaning stains off teeth..



We grew crystals with our "Magic Rocks" kit...(didn't you always wanted one of those sets as a kid???)



And we looked at rock samples to determine whether they were igneous, sedimentary or metamorphic.



I will never look upon your humble garden variety rock in quite the same way after all this.

County Fair

Friday we took a field trip to the County Fair with our homeschool group. Lots to see and do.
First off a visit to see the animals. The kids were nervous about turning their backs on these huge bulls. This was as close as I could get them to stand to the bulls and then they gave me a 2 second window to snap this picture before they took off.



The boys were a lot braver around the mechanical bull



Looking like true cowboys...



The sheep were a little less intimidating...



As were the horses...



Of course there is the obligatory silly picture...(really Mum... do we have to???...this is SO embarrassing)



A few rides....



And a fake tattoo rounded out the day beautifully.



What a fun way to spend a Friday!

Homeschool week 1

So we made it through our first few weeks of homeschool. So far so good. We have been getting through our workload and having some fun too. Here's a bit of a glimpse of what we have been up to.



Field trip to a Rock Ranch. This was organized through a homeschool group we are part of. It's fun to be able to go on these trips with a group of other families...its fun and social...as well as a learning experience.



The kids got to dig up a variety of rocks and minerals....quartz, mica, obsidian...you name it. They had a blast sorting through them and trying to identify each one.



They used their rocks and minerals in some experiments. This one is part of a series of tests they did to determine the density of different minerals. They learned how to use a triple balance beam which seemed to be the highlight...at least for Jack.



We cracked open some geodes and studied the crystal forms inside. Jack was a bit of a crazy man with the hammer. His first geode ended up as a powdered mess on the pavement. He managed to refine his hammering enthusiasm with his subsequent geodes.



For history we learned about the fall of Rome and the Barbarian invasions. We talked about the Anglo Saxons and read a version of Beowulf which inspired the kids to make their own double sided medieval axe and battle each other in the front yard.



For art we made some clay pots....



And our teenaged next door neighbor provided a music lesson for the boys



So all this plus math and language arts made our first couple of weeks a success. All we need now is to move into our homeschool room so we can have a little more space.