Famous Quote

"Mama, when we move, we have to remember to turn the power off... and take it with us." ~Cyan

Our pumpkin city...

The kids decided that this city was for the spiders. This is Spiderella's Castle. See her pumpkin coach driving away? (Sometime I have to get the pictures of the pumpkin patch field trip so you can see the story behind this beastly pumpkin that my daughter brought home and designed into a castle for me.)

This is Alex's SpiderHobbit hole. He did the window with my drill due to left hand issues. But I think that he did a great job. Especially considering he didn't have a right hand!

The one on top of the other pumpkin is Cyan's jail. She said we needed one...

The two to the left are houses of Spiderella's subjects, as is the one below.

This was Alex's idea and creation, although I did the head. He wanted a sea monster in the 'moat' of the castle. So he cut these cute little pumpkins in half and then added tooth picks for spines. I was inspired and made the beasty a head complete with sharp, gnashing teeth.

Sometimes kids imaginations are the best things to play with.

Carving Pumpkins!

We got to carve pumpkins this morning... I can't wait to show you what we made. :)

Fall Foods From Scratch Day

Cyan and I are talking about fractions. Alex is working on dividing fractions in Algebra. Lets talk fraction application... ie: COOKING!

So today, I set the kids to two separate items to cook. Cyan and I had planned on making pumpkin pie from scratch (like from a pumpkin) for a few weeks now. Alex wanted to make Zucchini bread, but I asked him to make something savory instead as we already had pie, and he found Zucchini Cheddar Bread in my Joy of Cooking.

So off we went. Alex grating Zucchini

And Cyan scooping pumpkin flesh out of the baked pumpkin from last night and putting into the blender to puree.

~From Pumpkin to Pie Recipe Link~

It was a wonderful morning. I did realise though, that Alex isn't quite ready for my cook book. Which is fine. He does great with the more simple recipes (he has made pancakes three days in a row out of one of the kid cookbooks), but the more complicated ones he gets easily frustrated. Completely understandable.

The Zucchini Bread is still in the oven... but smelling OH so good. And the pumpkin pie will be perfectly cooled for the best after dinner October Dessert EVER!

Fractions? Who would have guessed?

And done!

Pumpkin Patch Trip

To the pumpkin patch with the kiddos!

Alex, Don and Logan. Dressed for the weather that is for sure. Brrrr!

This was just the cutest picture! Isn't she a doll?

Here is me... with my Canon around my neck. lol! As always.

And here is Cyan and Jacob with her pumpkin. He was so cute and chilverous to help her with it. Normally, she would not have been able to get this pumpkin, as the kids have to carry their pumpkin out of the patch by themselves... but Cyan was determined and Jacob was so cute to help her! They thought it all up by themselves. I think Jacob thought it as a challenge. He took off his shirt and wrapped it around the pumpkin... to which Cyan said "Oh! You are going to get your shirt so dirty!" and he replied "That's ok. It's totally worth it." What a sweet heart!

Cyan's review for October

Language Arts: She finished her 2nd Explode the Code book and we are waiting for the third to arrive. While we are waiting we are working through the Dolch Word lists (the most common 200 words in the English language). We have played a bunch of games to try to get her reading speed increased. She knows all the rules, very very well... but her speed is still slow and forced, so the games are working well.

Math: She is FLYING through MathUSee Alpha. We will be needing Beta before the end of the year... but, it is helping her build confidence in her math skills and that is helping with reading because she can do something, everyday, easily and well.

Science: We are working on Nocturnal Animals/wolves right now. Later this month we are going to Wolf Haven for a "howl in" and we are getting prepared. She is studying the difference between the eyes of a wolf and the eyes of a human. It has been terribly interesting.

Social Studies: We are currently studying ancient Egypt. She is working on finding places on the globe and using an atlas. She works with a map, a coloring sheet of relevant material, and a story that goes with each chapter. We have also been reading books about ancient Egypt and I got her a coloring book about ancient Egyptian fashions. She loved that and colors the relevant page nearly every lesson.

Fine Arts: So far this month we have studied both Van Gogh's life and his two most famous works: Starry Nights and Sunflowers. We have just started studying Bach as well. She has copied both works (in her own way, using specific techniques) and really is enjoying working with the different mediums.

Alex's review for October

Language Arts: Alex is still enjoying the red pen. :) Even since he broke his arm, he has been correcting others work via ABC Animal Edits and Editor in Chief workbooks. He is getting much better at it. We are working a lot in oral presentation because of his broken arm. He has been reading Runny Babbit and other poetry selections to us and has been reading aloud to Cyan. He has also been writing some of his own poetry, and that is a treat. He is actually really good.

Math: Pre-Algebra is going well. He is moving slowly, but is really getting the ideas down very well. Right now he is working on divisions with fractions.

Science: We are working on Nocturnal Animals/wolves right now. Later this month we are going to Wolf Haven for a "howl in" and we are getting prepared. He is studying the difference between the eyes of a wolf and the eyes of a human. It has been terribly interesting.

Social Studies: We are currently studying ancient Egypt. He is versed in using an atlas, finding places on the globe, and has been putting his findings from our lessons in order (timeline). In social studies he has also been working on paraphrasing different types of information. This, I think is the more valuable, for it will lead into him being able to find out just about anything he wants to. We have been working very closely with Cyan, who is following "The Story of the World", but we are also doing many of our own lessons with help of several encyclopedias.

Fine Arts: "Van Gogh is so cool." So far this month we have studied both Van Gogh's life and his two most famous works: Starry Nights and Sunflowers. We have just started studying Bach as well.

Technology: This has been put on hold as he is not allowed to use a mouse, or a keyboard until his cast comes off. But, he has been playing 'Where in the World is Carmen San Diego"

New bird friends

A few new birds to add to our list. :)

Collecting the Moments

Loving this site...

I am just loving this site right now... I will have to look at it when I am not getting sleepy, but I think I have uses for a bunch of these things. Thank you Sarah!

Montessori for Everyone

And while I am on a web surfing trip, I may as well throw this baby out there:

Make your own Wordle

Fun!

Sunflowers by Van Gogh

Alex (left handed! I think that is pretty amazing!):

Mine:

And Cyan decided to copy this picture instead:

So this is what she came up with:

What a fun lesson that was! Bach is for next week. Then we move on to Mary Cassat and Mozart in November. I love homeschool.

Fun Lunch Stuff

I am a bit of an October nut. I hate the Halloween stuff... by this I mean, I hate the freaky, fake blood, jump out and scare you, decapitated heads hanging from trees in peoples lawns type stuff. But the falling leaves, worms, bugs, bird feeders, soup, naked trees, pumpkin, nocturnal animals... well, that side of October, I can't get enough.

In light of this, I had a bunch of October food things planned. Baking pumpkin pie from scratch (meaning from a whole pumpkin.) is something we do every year... pumpkin muffins, squash with butter and brown sugar. Yes... traditions run strong this time of year for me. To throw a bit of fun in the mix, I have been adding in things like this sandwich.

The kids spent all of lunch time talking about where the worms came from that showed up in their sandwiches. They finally decided that they were martian worms from Mars, and these worms drank toliet water and ate puppies. It always helps with the gross factor to have a teenage boy in the house. lol... Fun stuff. :)

Bach and Van Gogh

This is our last study of Van Gogh (formal study anyhow) and our first week studying Bach.  My idea is to have two artists for each month.  One classical music, and the other classical art. 

When we read the book The Yellow House, it talked a lot about the way that Van Gogh and the artist Gauguin lived together for those weeks, and although their personalities were vastly different... to the point where they could never live together again, they inspired each other deeply. 

Here is a website that talks more about that and the history of the pair of friends.  Gauguin painting Van Gogh, painting sunflowers.

Today, we will be making pictures of sunflowers.  We have none in our garden after this last frost... but we do have TONS of pictures as they are one of my very favorite flowers, and I am printing some out for my kids to play with.

The picture below is my favorite sunflower picture that I have ever taken.  I know it sounds funny, but I just love the composition of this picture, and the dew drops, and even the dead ones hanging out behind the big one in the center.  It's just a wonderful capture.  :)

The book that will start off our study today is Camile and the Sunflowers.