State-by-State: Iowa

Where the tall corn grows,

Y stands for Yield.

Crops grow i the rich soil

covering the farmer's fields.

from H is for Hawkeye:  An Iowa Alphabet

This week we read about the state of Iowa.  The girls completed their scrapbook pages for the state as we read H is for Hawkeye.

IOWA FACTS

1.  The Red Delicious apple was first developed in Madison County, Iowa, in the late 1860s.  Jesse Hiatte originally named the fruit Hawkeyes.  

2.  Quaker Oats, in Cedar Rapids, Iowa, is the largest cereal company in the world.  

3.  Iowa's most famous crop is corn!

With these facts in their minds, the girls made our lunch on Friday!  We had Red Delicious Apple Bake with Quaker Oats and Corn Dogs!

While we ate our lunch, we enjoyed an old movie from the fields of Iowa....

A Day at the Park

What do you do when you beat the tennis team to the match?  You go across the street to the park if you are in Opelika!!  We  had about 30 minutes to run off some energy until Tyler's tennis match began, so we enjoyed the time at the park.  I actually had my camera with me to capture some beautiful spring moments at the park!

St. Patrick's Day

Happy St. Patrick's Day!

 I surprised the younger girls with green tutus and fairy wands to wear today!  For dinner, we had a key lime pie!  Just a little green and a little fun to add to a very happy day!

FROZEN Birthday Celebration

"Do you want to build a snowman?  Or ride our bike around the halls?  I think some company is overdue.  I have started talking to the pictures on the walls"

"For the first time in forever, there'll be music, there'll be light.  For the first time in forever, I'll be dancing thru the night..."

"I'll be doing whatever it is that snow does in summer...just image how much cooler I will be in summer..."

These are the songs I  have been hearing for months!!!  We love the movie FROZEN!  Colleen has been dreaming and talking about a Frozen party with friends for just as long.  She is so excited to turn 4!  

None of these ideas are original.  I found them all on Pinterest!  

 All the older kids and Dad were in charge of a craft or activity for the party.    We made crowns and Olaf.  We played Frozen memory.  Lauren even created a snowball catch game that was a hit.

 I made the cake from directions on Pinterest.  Thanks to JM cousin, Rebecca, I did not give up on the sugar "Ice" around the cake!  It worked the second time after she told me to just WAIT patiently!

 We ran out of time at the party, so Colleen opened presents later that afternoon.  She was excited about all her new Frozen toys which were very hard to find after Christmas!  She played in her own little Frozen world for the rest of the day!!!

State-by-State: Minnesota

V is for the Viking,

some believe they came in ships,

and left behind a rune stone

to tell us of their trips.

X marks the town of Walnut Grove.

Come and take a peek,

where Laura ingalls Wilder lived

on the Banks of Plum Creek.

Mall of America begins with M,

the place for shopping fun.

The largest in the USA,

a treat for everyone!

from V is for Viking: A Minnesota Alphabet

The girls and I read V is for Viking this week.  The rhyming helps us remember so many fun facts!  The girls completed their state worksheets and scrapbook pages.

The girls cooked dinner tonight.  They made Tater Tot Casserole using Green Giant green beans.  Green Giant is owned by General Mills which is headquartered in Minneapolis. General Mills also owes Pillsbury, and our Pillsbury crescent rolls were yummy with our casserole!

Rodeo

JM was asked to be the onsite doctor for the rodeo tonight.  This year Montgomery hosted a PCRA event.  The cowboys were really good.  There were just not many of them like you see at the big Texas rodeos!  The kids and I had a great time in the stands while JM was "working" behind the scenes.

 

Mimi visits Alabama

JM's mom came for a visit.  It has been many years since she has come to Alabama, so we were excited to hear that she was on her way!! She came during her Texas spring break which is NOT our spring break.  This worked out perfectly so she could see the kids in action!!!  She was able to go to church with JM and the kids on Sunday.  I was out of town at a friends wedding.  Then our days were filled Monday and Tuesday with the normal gymnastics, piano, choir, swim and tennis.  Mimi got to see everyone do something!!!  She even went to Lauren's 5 am swim workout!!!  Monday afternoon i took her to Corynne's school tennis match at Lagoon here in Montgomery.   

On Tuesday, I was able to take her to Tyler's match at St. James.  Tyler experienced a terrible loss to Mason that day, but he played a great game.  Mimi did see him play his game and be his team leader!

Thank you, Mimi, for coming to see us in action this week!  It was a memory we will never forget!

State-by-State: Oklahoma

Oklahoma City or OKC.

Say it either way, it's okay by me.

of course in Oklahoma, O stands for oil,

oozing from an oil well in the Oklahoma soil.

from S is for Sooner:   An Oklahoma Alphabet

"So what's a Sooner?" you may ask.  Well, in 1889,

settlers waited for the signal to leave the starting line.

They raced to claim their land without a boundary or fence.

Some were sooner than others, and they've been Sooners ever since.

from S is for Sooner:   An Oklahoma Alphabet

The girls and I read S is for Sooner this week as we learned about Oklahoma.  We enjoyed all the history wrapped up into this little rhyming book.  They completed their scrapbook pages again this week.

 For the Sooner State, the girls made Peanut Blondie Bars from The United States Cookbook.  Oklahoma produces both the peanuts and the wheat needed to make these delicious bar cookies.

Happy 16th Birthday!

The day has finally come!  TYLER IS 16!!!  Lauren made him his favorite cookies, peanut butter with Reese's cups, for a birthday surprise.  I left before the kids woke up this morning.  I am off to Texas to help with a friend's wedding.

Tyler has waited for this day for almost a year!  Now, on March 6th it decides to RAIN.  Alabama DOT will not preform driving tests in the rain.  His appointment for his test was at 8:30am, and they sat for 2+ hours waiting for the break in the rain.  Tyler would have waited all day if it meant he would have his license when he left!!!

He passed!  I now have an extra driver.  If for nothing else, he can drive himself to tennis practice which will save me some running all over town!  I left his gifts out on the table before I left, so they could have a mini-celebration!

We are so proud of the man Tyler is becoming!  Happy 16th Birthday, Tyler!!! 

State-by-State Cooking

Since last school year, we have been reading about a state every week and cooking something from that state.  The girls and I have fun doing this, but some weeks just get overwhelming with other stuff.  Those are the weeks that the cooking projects do not get done.  It is always nice when we can pick an afternoon and just cook.  Today was that day!

We are just a few states behind on cooking (eeekk...actually 7!)  With careful planning, we were able to pick out 5 states to cook for dinner tonight.  We only ended up with 2 desserts which will be okay since we are have family friends over on Saturday night.  An extra dessert when friends come over is good to have!

Dinner was a success!  You can check out what we made on our State-by-State post links below!

Kansas - the sunflower cake

Nebraska - Kool-aid

North Dakota Dinner

South Dakota Bread

Mile-High Strawberry Dessert for Colorado

If we can cook again sometime this weekend, we might just be 1-2 states behind which would be a 1st!!!

Industrial Revolution, WWI, and The Great Depression

Our 6th adventure with the Time Travelers Series from Homeschool in the Woods was The Industrial Revolution throughout the Great Depression.  This unit covers several eras from the 1860s through 1939 and we witness changes in American history as it reached a modern age.  The topics we covered included The Transcontinental Railroad, The Indian Wars, The Gilded Age, Innovations & Inventors, immigration, Growth of the Nations, People of interest, The Progressive Era, WWI, The Roaring 20s, The Stock Market Crash, The Dust Bowl, and many more.  

   The more units we do like this the better I have gotten at presenting the material through picture books and activities.  I read less of the "lesson material" to the girls, and we get the information through books we are reading.  It is so much easier and less "boring" for them!  We completed a mini-book to go with each topic that we covered.

We followed the timeline provided in the Time Travelers Series to help us understand when everything was happening.  The girls put the mini-books together into a lapbook for this time frame study.

 On the back, we added an additional "cover" to make a place for their traditional clothing dolls that they made with transparencies.  You can flip through the decades and see how the clothing changed!

Additional Books:
This is a list of most of the books I used to "tell the story".  It is not all of them, but most of them!

Buffalo Bill and the Pony Express
The Orphan of Ellis Island
Riding the Pony Express
Amelia Earhart The Legend of the Lost Aviator
Train To Somewhere
Listen Up!  Alexander Graham Bell's Talking Machine
The Story of the Statue of Liberty
The Panama Canal  by Elizabeth Mann
Who Carved the Mountain?  The Story of Mount Rushmore
Wonders of America:  Mount Rushmore
M is for Mount Rushmore:  A South Dakota Alphabet


Additional Activities:
Norman Rockwell Coloring Book
Lego Architecture:  The Empire State building

Lego Architecture:  The Statue of Liberty

Lego airplane

Suspension Bridge by Polydron Bridges

We are enjoying the Time Travelers Series!  It is a wonderful, hands-on approach to history.  It goes along with my belief that if you touch and see history, history becomes real to you and easy to understand!