Wordless Wednesday 2015 - 3

A little Instagram Friday

This has been a super busy week.  We implemented a new homeschool scedule in hopes of remotivating everyone involved. I've heard from many homeschool moms that February is the worst month for homeschooling.  

Here's a little Instagram fun. The husband took this picture from the car window with his cell phone camera.  I uploaded to Instagram. I just love Instagram.  

Weekly Round up - with a science field trip

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I ♥ Instagram

You can follow me.  I'm hollyoshesky

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The Field Trip

One of the things I really appreciate about being involved with Classical Conversations this year is the community of people.  This Tuesday past a group of us went to Cranbrook Institute of Science.  Field trips add a dimension to learning that can't be gained with just books and paper.  I had never been to Cranbrook before and I would recommend it as a field trip for homeschoolers.

We experienced a planetarium show, this was the main focus as we are heading into a section on astronomy, and explored the traveling exhibit of dinosaurs.  A lot of what I know about dinosaurs comes from the PBS show Dinosaur Train.  I felt fairly educated, recognizing lots of the names as we walked through the exhibit.  We also checked out the regular exhibits.  The mineral display was rocking! (I really could not resist the pun).  It is not a big museum, but they pack a lot into a small space.

We found one of our favorite things directly after the planetarium show.  It is a model of the solar system with all the planets and moons made with gears and clockwork.  Around the outside is a clear plastic sphere with some of the constellations on it.  When one pushed a button, the planets and moons would revolve and rotate.

~Holly

{Linking Up}

Weekly Round Up - with some randomness

This has been a big week what with back to school and all.  My collage for this week is just random bits of life, and some real life learning, all intstagram pics.   {Oh, by the way I love, love, love Instagram you can follow me - I'll probably follow back}

1. We found The Garden Hoard at our local farm market.  They had this amazing selection of heirloom tomatoes.  We bought 4 different varieties to try.  They also sell seeds.  The hubs and I are seriously contemplating starting sees inside next year (which is the only way to grow tomatoes from seed in Michigan).

2. The Little Dude got some fun mail for review.  Fundanoodle has these super big pads of paper that are just the perfect invitation to creativity.  They were hardly out of the box and he wanted to try them.  The review will be coming in October.

3. I spin wool, and knit, and felt and weave and...well you get the idea.  So I was cleaning in the living room and moved my spinning wheel out from its normal spot.  The Little Dude pulled up his rocking chair and begin pushing the treadle (that is the pedal that makes the big wheel go around).  The hubs looks at me and says "This is the child you should teach to spin."

4.  The hubs labored on Labor Day, mowing the lawn.  It does not happen all that often.  I was so thankful.

5. Our Sam's Club has their automotive department right by the exit door.  Since Zippy was itty bitty she and I go over to the stacks and stacks of tires and count them while the hubs takes care of checking out.  This is a highlight of our trip.  Recently the Little Dude has joined us.  Fun real-life learning.

6. That is me.  I almost never post pics of myself.  This is a before picture, you will have to check back next week for the after.

{Linking Up}
Collage Friday at Homegrown Learners
InstaFriday at Life Rearranged

Weekly Round Up - with an MRI

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All the pictures in this post were taken with Instagram. I love Instagram. Follow me to see more great pics. I'm hollyoshesky.

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We are taking the last two weeks before school begins off.  Mostly I'm frantically planning for the new school year.  Post on what all that entails will be forthcoming.

We always know that fall is just around the corner when it is time to go Children's Hospital for the Little Dude's MRI.  Monday was the big day.  Because of his age he has to be sedated so he will hold still.  Next year, when he is five, he will be eligible for other methods of keeping still - like the cool tv goggles.  I am fervently praying that they let him.  The sedation makes me the most anxious.  Last year they had to give him extra during the procedure because he started to move, so this year they wanted to give him "real" anesthesia.  Basically it is a different medicine, but the beauty is that they gave him less.  In past years he was groggy and slept for most of MRI day.  This time it was just like he was waking up from a nap. He was totally fine for the rest of the day.  (Bottom two pics on the left side)

The kiddos also got postcards from Granddad who is in Yellowstone. The kids love getting mail.  Little Dude kept saying "look bear".   I've began {again} to try to get fit, so I am trying to walk every day.  One day I realized that I had not taken my walk and the hubs and Zippy were at a softball game.  I took the Little Dude with me.  He was very into rocks.  He even stopped to rest for a second on a big rock by the side of the street.  He also notice every pebble and rock along the way. Occasionally he would pick one up carry it for a while then set it down again a few blocks later.  He said "bye rock", then he would pick up another and do the same.

And the birthday countdown continues.  You know the funny thing is I remember doing this very same thing at her age.

{Linking Up}

Weekly Round Up - with writing

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All the pictures in this post were taken with Instagram.  I love Instagram.  Follow me to see more great pics. I'm hollyoshesky.

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This week was a balance between work and play.  As we are are ramping up to the beginning of the school year.

Some time spent at the playground. The Little Dude played so hard he had to lie down for a rest.

There was also lots of learning going on. Little Dude enjoyed legos and play dough.  He made designs, then he buried them so he could dig them out again.  He also had lots of fun with a new to us game, Break the Ice.  His sister or I have to put it together, but he loved using the hammer to break out the blocks.  The kiddos had great time with our new writing station, writing and coloring.  We also finally organized the postcards we've been getting in the last month from all over the United States.

Weekly Round Up - with hail

Another lazy summer week gone by.  The excitement of the week was a fast hail storm on Monday.

Hail

I figured out this week that I can play a slideshow of my pictures from my camera card in the TV.  The Little Dude thought it was the coolest thing. After all, who doesn't want to be on the "big screen."

Weekly Round Up with chalk and water

A week full of fun and learning.  My life. in pictures.

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All the pictures in this post were taken with Instagram.  I love Instagram.  Follow me to see more great pics. I'm hollyoshesky.

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Mornings were lots of fun this week.  Little Dude had tons of fun cutting play dough and making letters with push pins.  Zippy continues through Notgrass' American History.  

Little Dude has some fun outdoor time too.  I wrote out the numbers on the driveway in chalk.  Then I gave him a letter to squirt with this water gun.  He loved it. 

The rest of the week was uneventful.  Mostly we just hung around the house.

{Linking Up}

Weekly Round Up - with heat

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All the pictures in this post were taken with Instagram.  I love Instagram.  Follow me to see more great pics. I'm hollyoshesky.

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Bring on the Heat

If I had to sum up this week in just one word, that word would be HOT.   We had a heat advisory for the whole week.  ug.   This weather really makes me thankful for air conditioning, fans, and ice water.  Of course with the hot, hot, hot weather comes thunderstorms and we've had our share of those too.  The drain for the street is right in front of our house and when it rains bucketfulls at a time it gets gunked up with tree debris and the street floods.  The Little Dude and I like to watch the rain pour down and the big splashes the cars and trucks make as they drive through the water.  When the rain clears off I usually go and clear out the drain with a rake and been splashed myself by cars and trucks driving through the water.

On the Homeschool Front

I went to the Sub Sale to sell some homeschool books that I wanted to get rid of .  It was a complete bust for me in the selling department, but I did find a Saxon 7/6 book for only $7.  I was a super happy camper.  As so many people have said it is a complete review of Arithmetic.  This will be perfect for Zippy to practice what she knows and fill in any gaps she might have before moving on to Algebra next year.  I have only 3 more curriculum books to buy before next year now.  

The Little Dude and I are having so much fun this summer doing preschool. If the employment situation allows, I want to put Little Dude in preschool only a couple of days a week and do more at home.  I've almost finalized my curriculum for him as well. This week he cut straws, which was super fun and just right for his scissor level.

Periodically we have family game night.  A favorite is Fluxx.  It is a card game, so it is compact and can go on a road trip.  In the game the rules change and every game is a lot of fun.  There are lots of little quirks and it keeps everyone thinking.    

Moment of Joy

We do not have air conditioning in our car.  Did I mention it was hot?  So all the windows get rolled down.  This makes the back seat a little bit windy.  Zippy said it was akin to a roller coaster.  Here is Little Dude's reaction:

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Weekly Round Up - with tomatoes

This week has been full, in a really good satisfying way.  

Here is my life. This Week. In pictures:

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All the pictures in this post were taken with Instagram.  I love Instagram.  Follow me to see more great pics. I'm hollyoshesky.

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This has been a super wet summer so far.  We got so much rain on Monday the street flooded.

Little Dude and Zippy enjoyed the structure of homeschool.  It just really makes the day go smoother.  This week Little Dude worked on counting with an egg carton and with clothespins.  Both help train those fine motor muscles.

Wednesday we celebrated my Mother-in-law's birthday.  My youngest nephew enjoyed the chocolate cake a lot.  {This is my favorite picture this week}

We got our first tomatoes. In case you were wondering, they were as tasty as they look.  They lasted for about 3.5 seconds after this picture was taken.  Zippy's sweet banana peppers are also coming along great.  All that rain is really helping out the garden.

Zippy had her last appointment in Ann Arbor for her finger.  It is healing, but will take years, (yes years) to completely heal.  She can ride her bike and swim in the lake again, though, and that makes her happy.  This whole process took so much longer than any of us expected.

After we saw the doctor we headed over to Matthaei Botanical Gardens where we enjoyed the conservatory, the Bonsai garden and the children's garden.  The hubs took a vacation day, so we thought it would be a good idea to do something fun with the family.

{Linking Up}

Weekly Round Up - with sparklers

I found a great new app called Collect.  It is a photo journal meant to capture one picture a day.  The best part is that it presents the photos in a calendar format, oh and did I mention, it is FREE.  I've tried most days to capture at least one photo per day, usually on my phone.  This app gives me a little reminder at the end of the day to take a pic or at least upload one into the app.  I like it.

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Almost all the pictures in this post were taken with Instagram.  I love Instagram.  Follow me to see more great pics. I'm hollyoshesky.

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This Week:

Sunday we spent a few hours at the Zoo.  The kiddos took along with them a scavenger hunt and put stickers by each animal they saw.  Little Dude was excited to put the stickers.  It helped him to be less bored.  

We started back doing some light homeschooling the week.  Little Dude is doing pre-school stuff, counting, alphabet, calender and doing better than I expected.  It is making me re-think sending him back to pre-school in the fall. 

Zippy also started a fabulous American History curriculum.  Seriously, where was this last year when I was looking for a great American History book?  

We took a nature walk.  Zippy spotted this ladybug.  We walked our way down to the playground where we had to take cover from the rain in the play structure.  Zippy carried the Little Dude home in an effort to go a little faster before the rain started again.  

And of course yesterday was The Fourth of July.  We did not do a whole lot for the holiday, but we did break out the sparklers.  What is an Independence Day without John Sousa, BBQ, and sparklers? 

{Linking Up}

Weekly Round Up - with blackberries

This has been another one off week.  A lot of time spent cleaning, and just hanging out.

All the pictures in this post were taken with Instagram.  I love Instagram.  Follow me to see more great pics. I'm hollyoshesky. 

Next week we will begin our summer school.  A time of light learning, keeping the brain engaged while having a good time {I hope}.  Both children are going to be engaged in learning. I've spent some time this week preparing:

We spent some quality time at the playground.  {This picture is from Father's Day, but I just love it, so I thought I would share).

Zippy received her first letter from her pen pal this week.  It was super exciting. When I was young I had a pen pal.  We wrote to each other off and on for many, many years.  Zippy has been sad about not having any homeschool friends.  So when I found this great Facebook group Zippy enthusiastically agreed that she wanted to write and receive letters.  {Isn't it a great feeling to get mail.}  She wrote back right away, addressed the envelope, put on the stamp and put it in the mailbox.

Last but not least, we got our first fruits from our garden.  We have these blackberry bushes that just kind of happen in our yard.  We don't really do anything to them and in years when we have a nice amount of rain they produce edible fruit.  I really want to remove them, as they are more of a nuisance than an asset, but I suppose I'll wait until all the berries are gone.