Swimming and stuff...

Yesterday was another 'free choice Tuesday'. Sam had PreK and so Abigail was free to choose what to do for the day! She chose to go swimming as our local pool had reopened the day before after having been closed for a month! We were in the pool by 9:30 and swam until 11 and then sat in the hot tub for 15 minutes. The pool was lovely and empty which was a VERY good thing as a school class had just arrived as we did and when I asked if they were swimming I was told YES!!! YIKES!!!! Luckily they weren't swimming until after lunch :) Phew!!!

In the pool we had great fun - chasing each other across the pool and around the whirl pool - and trying to walk the wrong way round the whirl pool - which we managed to do :) not easy if you don't hold on to the sides :) We also played volleyball and catch for quite a while with one of the balls there.

After the pool we had an early lunch and then Abigail went in the playground for a while and I sat with my London Fog :)

Then we headed to the grocery store and did a BIG shop - Abigail was in charge of the grocery list and also chose quite a few things for some recipes she wants to make!!! This week we got a free dvd player!!! Then over to Dollarama where we got supplies for a geocache, some things to include with our cards for Aaron and some other bits and pieces including a recorder for Abigail and some Fall decor....

Back to pick Sam up - Abigail played at the playground for a while. Then home to pick up Susannah and unload the groceries. Then off to the school to watch Laurences volleyball game and meet Lloyd and Chris! A great volleyball game and the Mustangs won :) Go Mustangs :)

So, swimming was Abigails choice for this week! She was also happy with the trip to Dollarama and hanging out at two playgrounds today!!! Oh and she had fun at the grocery store because she got to choose a lot of things AND push the cart ;)

The finished pumpkins!!!

.....and a painting Abigail did with leftover paint!! She was happy to explain why she painted the sky ALL the way down to the grass (her art teacher has taught them all that the sky is NOT just a line of blue at the top of the paper but that actually if you look, it goes all the way to the horizon, where it meets the ground (or whatever it touches first) - I think this is an important skill to learn as an artist and she was very proud to have learned it :)

Painting pumpkins!!!

livelifecreateart.blogspot.com/

Sam saw me looking at this blog yesterday and thought it looked soooo much fun!!! So while we were at Saver on Foods, we picked up some mini pumpkins just to paint!!! This afternoon is windy and nasty outside and very Fall-like!! The perfect weather to do a Fall craft - like painting pumpkins :)

Coraline...

Last night we all watched Coraline as a family movie and Abigail, Sam and I got to compare the movie to the book!! Wow - it is VERY different from the book! It was a great movie and we all enjoyed it (although Sam was scared at the end). It was just very interesting to see how different the story was from the book. I also thought how they interpreted the characters was very interesting - especially Miss Forcible and Miss Spink - wow their show was hilarious in the movie.....and kind of odd for a childrens animation.....although I guess the kind of parents who let their children watch movies like Coraline wouldn't mind things like that anyway - I just thought it was hilarious!!! ;)

It has been an interesting learning experience anyway - to read a book and then see a movie. Onwards and upwards - we move on to 'Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs'. We have read the book a few times but this time we are reading it with 'meaning' as part of our unit study on comparing books and movies. So we will be heading off to the movie theatre this week some time!!!

Crafts with Fall leaves.....

We started with our Fall leaf crafts today but have more to do over the next few days when we have more time. I plan to do a 'mini album' or work in their art journals with them using ideas from the online workshop I am doing - some of the prompts will work well with children. I also think with the weather due to change, that it is time to pull out the childrens books we have about Fall.....poetry and childrens stories......and maybe one day this week we will go to a coffee shop for a hot chocolate/ pumpkin flavoured treat and savour the flavours of Fall! Mmmmm :) Sure beats being stuck in a classroom!!!

Leaf collecting...

This afternoon we went out and collected some Fall leaves. we tried to collect as many different types as possible - different colours, shapes, sizes, textures.....some with holes in them..some with spots on them etc etc.

We played outside for a while on the rope swing in the woods and enjoyed a Fall walk. Our pond had dried up and we talked about how our bees can no longer drink from there any more and how they need to be given drinks now. We met the school bus.

We brought the leaves we had collected back home and used them for crafts at the table.

Lunch bag puppets...

Abigail made a version of our cat Grayson - but as a puppet from a lunch bag! Then she brought it upstairs to show me her handiwork!!!

Another creation....

Using up some craft supplies from this Summers craft drawers...the blue 'thing' is actually a bone that Sam found on a walk (sigh....) and he was so thrilled with it that he wanted to bring it home, wash it and paint it!!! Anyway it made a nice addition to the little village of tipi's..... ;)

From the art class...

Here are a couple of Abigails pieces from her art class....they are from yesterdays class on Van Gogh. The second picture is based on his Sunflowers....perfect for this time of year and is now decorating the hall table - I think this is definitely one I will frame!!!! I just LOVE it!!!

Abby seems to have struck up several friendships in the class and I think i'll blame that for the fact she seems to have forgotten how to spell her name (lol) and needs to write her name twice on all her work - both ways might I add! Maybe if she wasn't such a chatterbox like her Mother she wouldn't be so distracted and would get her name right anyway ;)

Painting treasure boxes....

From one of my favourite blogs!!!

lets-explore.net/blog/wp-content/uploads/2009/09/house_count.pdf

I love having simple little ideas like this ready to give Abigail and Sam when I am busy doing other things like making dinner!! It is something that Sam can help Abigail with!!

The Lets Explore blog is a great blog with ideas for younger homeschoolers!! It also often has great links to other blogs and sites and useful online stores!!!

Thursdays - busy days...

Thursdays are definitely our busy days!! Today we headed into town as Abigail had her art class. this mornings class focused on Van Gogh. I was surprised at how much Abigail remembered about the artist and his work after the class. She is really enjoying the classes and loves her teacher, Chloe.

While she is at her class, I took Sam to McDonalds to the playplace, with another homeschooling Mom (hi J!!!) and her DH and youngest DD and my good friend Val (they are all good friends). It was a good morning and the time flew by!!

After art class we headed to Broadmoor Lake and played at the playground for a while before taking a walk and going geocaching. We found a geocache close to the fire station :) After that it was time for gymnastics class!

While Abigail was at her gymnastics class, Sam and I took another walk around the lake and went hunting for another geocache a little further afield - we found it!! :) Cache #2 for the day :) We were happy!! We played at the playground for a while again before heading back to watch Abigail in her class for a while!

The weather remains gorgeous! It has been so nice to be outside enjoying the lovely temperatures!!

After gym class we stopped off at Sobeys for a few things before heading home....to enjoy a few more zucchini muffins that we had baked yesterday!!! Yesterday we did more baking - including some oatmeal raisin cookies!!

Sam decorated a treasure box when we got home too - he has been finding treasures all over the place - feathers, lucky stones, silk flowers...all kinds of little things he wants to keep - and so I found him a box to decorate and keep his treasures in!

That was our day...our evening was fairly lazy...supper, baths....computer time and movies, relaxing - the children seem to be playing in their rooms or wherever.....someone is soaking in the bath still......someone is on the phone (as always)....Susannah went for a cycle ride to the store with a friend.....here I am blogging.....

Work...

Abigail continues with her workbooks in the mornings when we are at home. Math is either telling time/ improving subtraction/ addition facts/ speed etc etc fraction work etc etc. She continues to work on homonyms compound words, synonyms etc etc....
We are still slowly working through Coraline (the last week has been sooooo busy)!!

On Thursday Abigail started art classes in town and LOVED them! The art classes were all busy - two of them were held outside with the children painting pictures of trees....the artist they were focusing on specialised in forest scenes. I will take a picture of Abigails painting and add it here!! It's wonderful!!!

On Thursday afternoon Abigail started gymnastics classes. there are only three in her class - all girls and all the same age. She is loving that class too - VERY much!!! I may try and get her in to that twice a week after Christmas!!!

On Friday we ran the homeschooling class at the library. We did it on art journaling using composition books. Abigail was SUCH a great help and was able to instruct other children on how to make their own journals. She helped clean up afterwards and was generally my extra set of hands!!! I couldn't have done it without her!!!! I think the class went well - there were over 20 children there and I got some good feedback! I was soooo impressed with the art journals the children created - and I met some lovely families!!! It was a great afternoon!!! I hope everyone had fun!!

Photography day....

As Sam had PreK yesterday, Abigail chose to spend the day taking photographs. Firstly we set ourselves for the day by meeting a friend for breakfast!! Thanks Val :) Then we set off with our Nikon SLR's and went to a local lake. We each took photographs of everything from Fall colour, to our footprints in the sand, to each other taking pictures, to the grasses blowing in the breeze.

We stopped for ice creams in the park and Abigail spent a while texting her Dad and playing on the climbing frame. We had a long walk through the woods.

We enjoyed geocaching for the first time and generally making the most of being outside in the incredible weather!!!

Here are a few of the pictures Abigail took all on her own with the Nikon D70s

Our first cache!!

Thanks to a fabulous iphone app, we have started geocaching....and yesterday, while Sam was at PreK, Abigail and I found our first cache - right in the grounds of Sams PreK school!!!! There are actually 4 within 2km of his school so next week we will hunt for the rest!! It was so much fun!! :) We definitely need to go shopping for some of our own cache containers this weekend so we can set some out and about in places!!! Last night Lloyd and I went and found the one by the airport while Susannah was at dance - I will post the piccy of that one on the family blog though!

As you can see, we waited until Sam came out of PreK and we took him to see the cache too!!!

Very cool - a step up from letterboxing I guess :) I didn't have a clue you could geocache on your iphone!!! Very cool!!! Just another reason to LOVE my iphone :)

The bake fest continues....

I think Abigail REALLY enjoyed her day of baking, and we have a pantry full of delicious treats - her brothers and Sister were all thrilled to come home and find so much to choose from!!! Yum!!!

Skills learned? Science, math, reading, home economics, health and hygiene, nutrition......lol but most important we had FUN - the two of us together :)

Baking fest!!

Every week while Sam is at PreK and the older three are at school, Abigail and I have our 'girl's day'. Abigail is free to choose whatever she likes for us to do with our day!! This week, Abigail chose to come home and spend the day BAKING!!!!! We dropped Sam at Pre-K for 9am, then came home and cleaned up the kitchen before getting started!!

Abigail started with a simple Jello cheesecake mix from a packet which Lloyd had picked up last night - he LOVES them and had put ina request for Abigail to make him one!!! She rustled that up VERY fast!!

Cookies were next - 'wholewheat and oat cookies with chocolate and butterscotch chips' to be exact!! She followed the recipe - getting all of the ingredients out and measuring everything.....using my kitchen aid mixer (which she always loves to use). The cookies came out perfectly!!! Totally yummy!

After that Abigail peeled all the potatoes I needed to go with my pot roast for supper!

Then after lunch she set to work on making cupcakes - marble chocolate chip cupcakes - half of which she then iced in BRIGHT BLUE icing!!! Lovely ;) Sam was definitely impressed :) 4 year olds LIKE bright blue icing :)

Playing horseshoes...

After lunch we played horse shoes....

Early morning Lady Bug catching...

The weather has been very hot the last few days - around 28c.....so we have been out and about eraly this morning before it got too hot to play in the sun!! Sam and Abigail Enjoyed the sand box, trampoline and climbing frame BEFORE settling down to their studies!!! It worked out quite well actually because it gave me a chance to get dinner in the crockpot, tidy up and get other chores done and have everything organized and tidied up and they had a little less bouncy energy ready for when it was time to sit down and get started!!

they came inside thrilled to have found a lady bug and soon found a jar to put it in. They studied it for a while before letting it go on it's way.

A few weeks ago we found another fascinating bug - a Burying beetle!! To find out more about this AMAZING beetle, you can read about it on our family blog here: escapingthecity.blogspot.com/2009/09/burying-beetles.html