India Market



Today, we explored an Indian market called the New India Bazaar, in Tulsa.  Sharon was nice to explain the foods, spices, art, jewlery and the clothing that is used in India.  She was such a joy.  We bought some Indian snacks, a mango drink, and some Indian jewelry. 

Toe ring decorations

Dreamer in her Bindi art

They have a wonderful treat at a local church tomorrow called The 11th Annual Christmas Around the World at Victory Christian Center in Tulsa. We are going to experience different holiday cultures, culinerary samples and ethnic dance and music.  Sharon from the India Bazaar will be there and we are excited about seeing the beautiful holiday cultures.I will try and take some pictures.  Tonight we are going to do henna art on ourselves.  This is a body decoration that is used in India. We have some stencils to use but we may try some freehand stuff. 

Sparkles with her Bindi Art

The food was different but we really only tried their sweet foods.  The Peanut Balls are the best.  They contain Cardamom, which is a spice from the ginger plant family.  It is used in teas, coffees, baking and medicines.  It is delicious.   The following is also a sweet tasty treat but not sure about the texture.  I am a texture person when it comes to food.

It is very wet and doughy but with a rice consistancy but not bland like rice EXTREMELY sweet.  The other thing we tried was a tortilla type bread that you heat in the microwave for about 15 seconds on a paper towel.  It is very thin but dense however when heated becomes very thin and brittle.  Extremely salty.  It has a strong taste of baking soda but would be good with a type of dip or one of the curry paste.

I just love Urgent Care....I guess

Ok, we have been absent for awhile.  First we had alot going on last week with Thanksgiving.  We moved our homeschool room downstairs and doubled up the girls in their bedrooms so that Sweet Tea can move back home.  Well, since I am a person who is literally allergeric to EVERY animal, tree and grass on God's green earth (I have been tested), I really should not have pets.  But, not only do we have a inside extremely sheddy labrador, Sugar Bear, but we have two indoor cats, Toni and Smoke.  Then last week, we added a new addition to the family, Percy Jackson, the guinea pig.  Oh, yes, a guinea pig.  I guess my body decided to protest and shut down.  After moving the furniture, vacuuming and shampooing carpet, I became very ill.  It took a few days but it got me.  My asthma kicked in and with it came bronchitis.  So I was sick all weekend, again, laid upright in bed begging for air.  Equipped with anitbiotics, steriods and a rescue inhaler I survived the weekend.  Thanksgiving was a blur because I was not feeling good but my nieces kept Sparkles and Dreamer very busy and I was blessed for that. So, after another trip to doctor today, we are on the road to recovery and ready for a new week.

Geography
India  Week one 
Language Arts
Writing with Ease "Charlotte's Web" and proper nouns
Math
Mulitplication Tables for Dreamer
Addition and Subtraction of 13's for Sparkles

Operation Christmas Child

Today we went shopping for our items for our shoeboxes for Operation Christmas Child.  The girls were so excited about buying something for someone they did not know that was from a different country.  They wrote letters and sent a photo with their boxes.  If you are not aware of this organization, I urge you to check it out.  It sounds phenomenal and is endorsed by Dave Ramsey (the Christian financial author).  Hurry just a few days to get your boxes in time for Christmas.

God Bless

Thank God for Doctors

What a weekend!  I went to urgent care on Saturday feeling VERY bad.  Verdict...extreme urinary tract infection AND Strep.  I am sent home with a prescription of 875 mg of antibiotic twice a day.  Sunday, Dreamer wakes up, saying she feels bad.  Thankful she had her tonsils removed as a toddler meaning her chances of strep are rare.  As the day progresses she feels worse.  Mr. Science takes her to urgent care and finds that she has a "raw" ear which explains the headache and the earache.  She comes home with antibiotics and ear drops.  Needless to say, we need a doctor in our family.  Everyone, has been sick this week and been to the doctor. 

We did not get our Sunday Science completed this week. We will try to make it up during the week.

Dreamer is learning the Commutative Property of Multiplication  (0x4=4x0) this week.  She was skeptical at first but now says "Easy peasy, mom."  The rest of the week will be just continuing to memorize her multiplication facts. Dreamer loves the site http://www.multiplication.com/ to practice on.  The Diaper Derby Race is a riot.

Sparkles is doing so well on her reading.  She is reading alot of her Dick and Jane books.  Plus she practices at http://www.starfall.com/ as well. 

Continuing on with China this week......

Ships's Ahoy!!!

Yesterday, we spent the afternoon at Hobby Lobby picking out fabric and do-dad's for their sewing kits.  It was so much fun.  I am like a kid in a candy store.  We finally got back on track with our Time Travelers New World Explorers study. We are having the most fun with this.  We made our own Captains Log to document our travels.  Last night we tore the edges of the paper to make them look rough and dipped the pages in a tea bath.  I think our paper had a finish of some sort because they did not yellow so much but they did look worn.  We made a cover with poster board covered with some fall themed fabric (on sale at Hobby Lobby).  We then sewed the pages to the binding.  It looks cool, I must say.  Then we created a flag for each girl.  Dreamer discovered "Madison-topia" and Sparkles discovered "Australia" on their first voyages. We were not able to find a old refrigerator box so we put two dining chairs together and put a brown blanket over them for our ship. We will be adding an entry in our captain's log daily for the next few days.  Tomorrow we will be learning the parts of a ship ( for example: the crow's nest, the bilge, the bow, the rigging, etc.)  We are going to dress up as sailors and sing the the Sea chantey "Blow the Man Down" from the 1800's.  Sparkles practiced her money facts at the site internet4classrooms. 

Yesterday, we finished our China unit with going to National Geographic Kids and watched videos on the Terra Cotta Warriors, Giant Pandas, the Great Wall and the Yangtze River.  The girls loved the Chinese Horoscope and the fact that Momma was a "Pig".  Sparkles is a "Monkey" and man, did that fit her literally.  Dreamers is a "Horse" and she did not fit the description very well.  When Mr. Science came home, he explained the Three Gorges Dam in China to the girls.  He used their base ten blocks to build the dams and explained it perfectly.  That is why we call him Mr. Science....McGyver was already taken.  :-)

Have a great evening!!

Friday, Friday, Friday!!! Sewing Boxes

Oh my goodness, I am so happy it is Friday. What a "llama drama" (for those who are fans of the "Llama Llama" books.  Illness, Whining, Finances, more illness, more whining.  Last night I let my creative juices flow and found a cool blog for sewing with children Sewing School.  I love their ideas.   I am wanting to start sewing again especially since I just spent $125 on a tune-up on my machine (imagine my surprise at that bill..not sure it cost that much when I got it 10 years ago).  I found some cute Camp Rock fabric for $1/yard at Walmart a few months ago and had no idea how to use it.  So I made sewing boxes for Dreamer and Sparkles using old shoe boxes.  We are going to Hobby Lobby or Michaels today to buy embellishments for them to personalize.  We are also going to pick them up their own sewing supplies.  They suggest Chenille size 22 needles, Craft Thread, LoRan Needle Threader, pin cushion and pins with large heads. Hopefully this will keep their little hands busy while I sew too.  We may need to include a box of bandages in their sewing kits also.  I know my children.  If you have any other good tips, send them my way.  Always looking for a good idea!!!!  Have a blessed weekend!!!

Keeping Right with Nature and Thankful for our Veterans

With today's rush rush environment we sometimes forget where we started from.  I remember a time when all I wanted was a family.  Mr. Science and I were wanting a baby together,  Well, I got pregnant right away only to lose our baby somewhere within 7-8 weeks in the pregnancy.  We were devastated but something good came from it.....we got closer to God.  We found a wonderful Church with a terrific minister, Pastor Shirley.  He helped us from the first day we walked through the door.  Pastor Shirley was a Chaplain with the National Guard and is now stationed in Washington, D.C. doing something very important for our nation.  One of Many reasons I am thankful for our Veterans today!  Well, as they say the closer you get to God the harder Satan tries to pull you back in.  The doctors said we would be pregnant within a month or two and we shouldn't be worried.  Well, 14 months later and many bad choices we were still childless.  I had lost my very stressful time-consuming job, which at the time seemed like punishment but was the best thing that ever happened.  We were broke and very confused.  But as always, God provides as sees us through.  After a REALLY bad case of the flu and one week BEFORE my first appointment with the fertility doctor I found out I was pregnant!!!!  What a blessing!!  Then a year later when I was in another really bad job that I really hated, God provided again.  I was having terrible earaches.  Went to the doctor to find out that I had TMJ (from grinding my teeth from the terrible job).  He was going to give me an anti-inflammatory but wouldn't until I took a pregnancy test.  I knew I couldn't be be pregnant.  We were not planning another baby.  Well, God's time is not always our time.  We were so excited.  Afraid of losing the baby from all the stress of my job.  I quit and never looked back.  Not to say things have never been difficult but God has always seen us through. 
Now we have decided to step back and ease up on life and just enjoy the basics that God has given us.  Not the newest electronics or gadget.  We are going to help a relative of our clear her acreage and build a farm.  We wanted to buy about 80 acres of our own (found one place with an abandoned school house from 1936 on it---imagine my excitement) but it is not in our foreseeable finances. Anyway, we are going to have a garden, a few cows, chickens, a goat (against Mr. Science wishes) and some pigs.  We are so excited.  Meat without hormones and antibiotics, fresh eggs and vegetables the way God meant them to grow.  My cousin (we will call her RJ) will get her land cleared, help with her acreage, good food and help to watch her place while she travels (she is a Christian artist and has the voice of an Angel).  We into get to teach our girls how to raise animals, grow a garden, be responsible and help others.  I think things are going to be good.



Sparkles stirring the lye soap flakes. 

 We made homemade Laundry Soap today from a recipe found at the Virginia Soaps and Scents Co..  We however did not use their brand of soap because the shipping and handling was to expensive.  We used Grandma's Lye Soap made here in Tulsa, OK found at our local drug store for less than $5.  It made about 3.5 gallons of gel soap.  I am excited to try it tomorrow.  Dreamer and Sparkles helped make the concoction and that was fun too. Now if I could just get them to do the laundry!!!



Freedom

 A special THANK YOU to all the Veterans (and their families) for all the sacrifices and hard work they have provided to our country.  I am proud to be an American and I know the privileges and rights I have today are because you fought for me and my family. 

Slow Trip to China

We are taking a "very" slow boat to China the last two weeks.  We are battling an "unexplained" illness in our home which is taking us each one at a time.  Last week took a lunch outing to a new Chinese restraunt in our area and it was so much fun.  I explained what we were doing and they played along.  Our hostess spoke to us in Chinese and we were served with nice Chinese dishes (no styrofoam) and she even wrote down a few words for us in Chinese.  While waiting for our food we read A Story About Ping by Marjorie Flack and Kurt Wiese which is a great story about a duck on the Yangtze River in China.  We discussed the book as our food arrived.  We attempted the chopsticks and decided we were way to hungry to mess around with those.  Fun experiment, though.  After our meal, we read about an Missionary in China named Isobel Kuhn from Ten Girls Who Changed the World by Irene Howat.  We colored a copy of the Chinese flag we borrowed from Homeschool Creations ( I love their site).   We are going to start working on the map and the Childrens Just Like Me, hopefuly tomorrow, when the anitbiotics have kicked in and maybe everyone will be on the mend.  Pray for us!!

Where Have We Been?

Well, we have been here, there and everywhere and back again.  Many changes have come to our family over the summer.  Some good, some bad, some undecided.  We have decided to clean the slate and just START OVER!!  We are not going to worry about what we did not get completed over the summer that we wanted or should have and we are just going to move forward at a steady pace. 

We are keeping better records and trying some new curriculums and getting rid of others. I am making lists of things to do and making myself more accountable for my time and more accountable to myself.  I am a PROCRASTINATOR.  I can say it.....Procrastinator.  I always think we have plenty of time and that is never the case.  So we are off and doing well this school year. 

We have diligently been working with these curriculums:
Writing with Ease
First Language Lessons for the Well Trained Mind Level 1
Nancy Larson's Science 1 (LOVE IT!)
Jump into Math Grade 3
Spectrum Math Grade 1
New World Explorers: Time Travelers

Still working on getting Sparkles (age 6) to read independently.  Any ideas?  Husband is very upset that she will be behind. 

New Stuff!

Ok, we are back!!!  Sorry for the absentism.  We have started many new things since Memorial Day.  We are trying out many new things for the summer.  New workbooks that I got on clearance at Mardels Christian and Education (love that store) for 75% off.  Here is a list of some we have tried the last 10 days or so.
Map Skills & Geography by The Basic Not Boring Series Grades 2-3
Time & Money by the 100+ Series Grades 2-3
Month by Month Phonics for Third Grade by Carson-Dellosa
Skill-Building Science Grades 1-2 by Carson-Dellosa
and my favorite so far....  Using Graphic Organizers Grade 1 by Teacher Created Resources.

Sparkles has been doing math and Language arts using Venn-Diagrams from the above workbook from Teacher Created Resources.

While we do much more than workbooks, I give this to the children to work on independently.  We are starting a new unit on Gardening tomorrow.  This unit is going to be a wing-it type approach as I am creating it myself.  I will post anything I think might be useful.  Wish us luck!!!

Monday, May 24, 2010

What a beautiful day!  Today is Nana's birthday and we are celebrating with all the fond memories we have of her.  She was a beautiful person!  For today we have alot to accomplish. 

First we did our Bible Devotion on Gideon battling the Midianites.
Gideon Defeats the Midianites
Sing- I'm in the Lords Army
Worksheet - Gideon Goes to War
Judges 8:23

Math - Saxon Math 2 (for 2nd grade) Liberty Math Level A (for 1st grade)

Loving Movement - Daily exercise (walk around the block, jump rope, Wii Sports, etc.)

Spelling - Building Spelling Skills Book 1 (Christian Liberty Press)

Science - Our Father's World - Christian Liberty Press

Handwriting - Kid Zone Cursive Handwriting & Writing with Prayer Book 2 by Christian Liberty Press (2nd grade) or Writing with Diligence (1st) by Christian Liberty Press

Independent Reading - Shells by Betsy Franco
She Sells Seashells: A Tongue Twister Story by Grace Kim
Top 10 Fish for Kids by Dana Meachan Rau
Exploring the Deep Dark Sea by Gail Gibbons

Checked with our zoo and they have Habitat Trunks and Loan boxes to loan out for classrooms.  We are going to check out the Oceans Habitat Loan Trunk.  Inside is activities, books, DVD's and biofact sheets on all types of ocean animals.There is a deposit but it is returned when you return the trunk in good condition with all of its contents.  What a deal!! 

We are still marching along with the Oceans Unit Study.  It is going slow but the kids are enjoying it.

Wednesday, May 19, 2010

Today our focus is to work and build on our multiplication table.  I found an awesome website that does all the work for me.  For tables and worksheets of all levels visit Math Drills. We are slow going on the mulitplication as we are only on our 3's but considering our local public school hasn't even touched on it, I feel like we are doing adequate.  We plan to work through the summer on our studies so we should cover some ground then.

Our biggest struggle is to get Sparkles reading.  You know how they tell you each kid is different...well Sparkles fits in that category.  She excels with everything you give her but she has ZERO patience with reading.  We have completed an entire Phonics workbook "Adventures in Phonics Level A" by Christian Liberty Press.  She had all the spelling correctly mastered.  However, pointing to the word withOUT the picture is torture.  So, we are working on a different method.  Flash cards and a alphabet puzzle.  Sparkles uses the card and spells out the word with the puzzle (works with words without repeating letters).  Seems to be less frustrating for her but she is not as excited anymore with this practice.  So, any help or suggestions would be GREATLY appreciated!!! Keep in mind she is only 5 years old but I know she has the potential to catch on if I could just find the correct approach.

Tuesday, May 18, 2010

Today we visited the Rogers State University Aqua Lab and Reserve in Claremore, Oklahoma.  We joined our homeschool group for a field trip and it was phenomenal.  While we are studying Oceans this month, this was a great local outing to see what is native in our area.  We saw white-tail deer, geese, snakes, butterflies, tadpoles, poliwogs, frogs, turtles, mosqito eating fish, spiders, etc.  We walked down boardwalks through the wetlands, over ponds and through a nature walk with the smell of  honeysuckle filling the air.We saw many animals in the aqua lab from turtles to snakes.  The children had a blast seeing the animals up close.  The teacher, Mr. Gibbs, was awesome about explaining all the nature around us as well as why we should stay on the designated path....poison ivy (3 leaves stay away).  He didn't have to tell me twice.  I have lived in Oklahoma my whole long 38 years and never knew this place existed.  I am the perfect example as to why you should always look a little deeper for a diamond in the ruff.  This place was a diamond.  We finished up the day (after I paid the tow truck driver to remove my keys from my locked car :)  ) with a picnic at the Reserve and with practicing recycling what remained of our lunch (plastic, cans, paper, trash, etc.).

Friday, May 14, 2010

Today is the first day of the rest of our homeschooling!  I have started this blog because I have enjoyed so many of the other homeschooling parents blogs that I thought I might help give back some of what I have enjoyed.  So hang with me, as I am new to this and I am sure I will make many mistakes along the way. 


Today, we are continuing our month long unit study of Oceans.  We are using the May Book Bag by Teachers Book Bag .  This has been a very fun activity for Sparkles.  Dreamer and Grace haven't had as much fun with it.....yet.  Some of the books we are reading from are as follows:

Piranhas by Emily McAuliffe
Ruth Heller's How to Hide an Octopus & other sea creatures
A House for Hermit Crab by Eric Carle
Mister Seahorse by Eric Carle
Sea Horse: The Shyest Fish in the Sea by Chris Butterworth
Little Kippers Sandcastle by Mick Inkpen