March Homeschooling

I'm going solo on this one! =o]

One time when we went to the library we thought it was actually warm enough to play outside on the playground because the snow was melted, but after about 15 minutes we were all done. I have decided I can handle the cold weather when it is cute and snowing at Christmastime, but once March hits it has no business snowing and being in the 30s and 40s! Bring on the 60's and sunshine PLEASE!!

This turned out to be our last visit to the aquarium. (We thought we would get to go one more time but when we showed up on the last day of the month they told us that because it was a leap year we were a day late and they wouldn't let us in!!)

We got to go to the Parana feeding. Not as flashy as I thought it would be, but still cool to see and learn about.  

Last picture by the big tank! We have loved having passes here! But we are ready to move on to the next adventure. =o]

We started a social experiment with rice in jars about emotional health. We put cooked rice into two jars. On one jar we wrote LOVE and on the other HATE. Every day (okay so almost every day) we write another positive word on the Love jar and say it out loud to the rice, and write another negative word on the Hate jar and say it out loud to that rice. We watched a couple Youtube videos of other people, including the original Japanese scientist, who have done this experiment. The results were crazy!! We read books for weeks about emotional health and feelings and how kind words really do make a difference. It is one of our goals to speak kindly as a family and I am hoping this helps. 

Here are the jars at the beginning. It hasn't been 30 days yet, so I won't post our result, but it wasn't as dramatic as some of the other jars in the videos. I attribute it to the fact that we work SO HARD to make our home like the temple that the environment is already overall positive. That and the jars are in the cold semi-light basement so Kent won't have to look at them lol!

Ah the beloved "Dinosaur Museum"!

We FINALLY found a gnome guys. After seriously a year of looking, I finally asked for a clue and found one. Partly the problem was we thought they were all little figurines but actually more than half of them are painted into the murals! 

Natalie's American Girl Book Club! Hooray for other friends who also love books!!

The kids said it wasn't fair that I get to do Yoga every day, so I let them do part of this video. It was highly entertaining!

Happy Pi Day! We made Chicken Pot Pie for dinner (but no pie for dessert) and learned about pi in math. 

Caleb came down one night and told us he had read this whole book! Sure enough he breezed through it like a champ! I am so grateful that our hard work is paying off!!

We are still doing a service project once a month with our homeschool group and I am so grateful for the opportunities we have to help those in need. I hope my kids can feel how truly blessed they are!

Hooray for the museum of curiosity! This day when we went some of the girls from Natalie's primary class were there on a field trip for school so she got to hang out with them- it was a cool coincidence! 

We had a super fun Easter activity with the Friday Friends at our house. I am so grateful for like minded moms whose kids get along with mine and who I want them to associate with! 

One of the days of "spring break" we did baking for math. It was a TOTAL FAIL. Seriously it took HOURS to make and they were hard as rocks as soon as they were cool enough to eat. Strike two, Star Wars Cookbook. Strike two!

This was before he took a bite people. Oh and he is pointing out that he did this puzzle while he was waiting for the sauce stuff to reach 270*. 

The kids were so disappointed though, so we made a batch of good 'ol trusty "Uncle Mark's Chocolate Chip Cookies" and all was right with the world again. 

We went on a field trip with our charter school to the discovery museum in SLC and it was super fun! Natalie hates going into the city for some reason, but we all had a great time while we were actually there. =o] 

We read this awesome book about bread from all around the world and then tried the express bake feature on our bread maker. They measured and put everything in themselves, which I wish weren't so nerve racking for me. I need to just let it go and let them learn through their own experience!!

Caleb doesn't like white bread so he was pretty turned off to the whole project.   

But Natalie was so proud because it turned out delicious!! 

It was a total hit! And even though Caleb isn't in the picture he did try some because it smelled too good to pass up. He had seconds along with everyone else. =o]

Another month in the books!

St. Patrick's Day!

Partner Writer for this post: Jenna!

(From fb: Happy wear green and eat sugar cereal for breakfast Day!
(St. Patrick, please accept my formal apology for what your holiday has become at my house.))

Delete this picture Mom! I don't like it because Caleb is in my picture! So DELETE!!

If only I was in the picture I would say that I'm eating cereal with marshmallows in it. 

(Turned out to be a great holiday!! We learned A TON and had so much fun!!!

After music and math in the morning, we went to the museum of curiosity. Always a hit! I got to confer with my awesome homeschooler cousin Kendra while driving there about the festivities we had both planned for the day and then totally stole some of her ideas! She is such an inspiration to me!)

We went to the museum of curiosity! And that's all I want to say, that there were play places.

Then we headed to Jamba Juice to pick up green smoothies to go with lunch. Delicious!!

We got different kinds than just green! But there's smoothies and juice at Jamba Juice!

(We learned the legends behind the four leaf clover and the shamrock and then wrote something we are grateful for on each leaf before coloring it in. Caleb's things were home, Jamba Juice, my body, and the kitchen table lol!)

Me and Seth are drawing a picture of a clover. We have FOUR leaf clovers, not a three leaf. 

(Then we read all our books about St. Patrick's Day (from my mom) and all the library books we got for today too. It was awesome! Did you know this holiday is actually about forgiveness, missionary work, and miracles? Well it is. Or at least it was. We made rainbows out of Legos, which didn't exactly turn out how I had imagined!)

We built rainbows!

(Then we did a treasure hunt! It was SUPER FUN!! The treasure was the cards we got from Grandma and Grandpa MacKay, and a certificate to go get a green dessert after dinner!)

Caleb found a big piece of paper with a clue! 

(Then what should have happened next was to clean up from school and the festivities, but instead I took the kids to spend $.90 of their dollar (a wee bit 'o green from grandma). This came back to bite me in a huge way later! But that's what we did. Then Jenna had dance class and when we got home it was time for dinner.)

We all got treats at the store that we got to choose ourself! And Mom, can I tell you something? Next year I want to get a bottle-pop from the store with my dollar!

(We had green eggs, baked potatoes, broccoli, and cottage cheese. Dinner of champions lol!)

We had dinner and that's all.

(Then after a traumatic round of clean up the house, we went out for ice cream!! All was right with the world again smile emoticon 
I am doing a sugar fast for Lent, but I added 5 extra days so that I could cheat randomly in the middle. Lame? Probably. And you know what, my mint ice cream with Oreos mixed in tasted so good I ate the whole thing and almost threw up when we got home. True story.)

We went to Cold Stone! 

(To end the day we filled out tithing envelopes. Each of them will give $.10 of the dollar they got. I also gave them each of quarter of my dollar to contribute to the missionary fund, since this holiday really is about the power of missionary work and how by small means great things are brought to pass.) 

We are holding our tithing! And I don't really want to say anything else about it. Can I play the Friend now on this computer? 

(I am so grateful to St. Patrick for the life he lead and the example of forgiveness he set! He was captured from England as a small boy and sold into slavery in Ireland where he tended sheep for 6 years until he escaped and returned home. He became a catholic priest and eventually a bishop and then went back to the very place he had been enslaved and taught them the gospel of Jesus Christ. He established the church there, performing miracles and doing good wherever he went. He stayed in Ireland serving the people until the day he died, March 17, 461. He was truly a saint! So Happy St. Patrick's Day to you! I hope you made it a great day!!)

Valentine's Day!

Partner Writer for this post: Kent!

Me: Hey Honey, what do you remember about Valentine's Day?

Kent: Um, we got all the stuff ready for breakfast and to open our valentines in the morning....and then we went about our normal day. Uh... yeah that's about it. Why?

Me: It's just for the blog. 

Kent: Oh. Yep.

=o]

(We made valentines to send to all of our extended family members! It is a huge undertaking each year but we love doing it, even if we have to complete them in many more than one sitting!)

(My valentine for the kids this year was to get them these valentine mailboxes that we could make together. It is always entertaining to see what they come up with!)

(Caleb helped Seth finish his because it was nap time.)

(We got a valentine package from Grammy with books and sugar cereal! They were THRILLED!!)

(We made our traditional chocolates. They were delicious as usual!)

From fb: Our love couldn't wait until tomorrow! Happy Valentine's Day!! 

From fb:  Lol! And isn't Kent hilarious?!? He was acting out that scene from home alone 2 where they have to get down on their knees and say we love you lol!! We were all dying of laughter!

(Look, my labor of love is complete! THREE blog books printed this year!)

(Kent always gets me a movie for us to watch after the kids are in bed on Valentine's Day. Usually it is a romantic comedy, but this year he branched out a bit.)

(Aside from a delicious dinner, I also made Kent this peanut butter rice crispy heart because he doesn't like the chocolates we make, and the kids don't like this treat so he feels special that I make it JUST for him! =o])

(I love my family!)