La & Ly Fall Vball

When I did't let the girls sign-up for dance this year, I promised them that they would get to do other sports.  I am not so sure that was a good promise to make, but the fall is the easiest time for me to fit one more thing into the schedule!  Well, that would be 2 girls on different teams with a couple of practice times and games--not exactly ONE more thing on the calendar!!!

They decided to try volleyball.  Lyndsey has never played and it has been almost 2 years since Lauren last played.  I decided to sign them up at the CCJ because it is closer to our house than the YMCA team.  I also had this wild dream that they might have practice at the same time as Corynne's school games which are at the CCJ.  I know--it was a WILD dream!  It never happened, but the schedule seemed doable most days!

Lyndsey was one of the youngest on her team, but she played each game with determination!  She finally got her serve over on the next to last game.  I was so proud of her that I popped out of my chair when that ball went over the net!!  Then, she did it 3 more times that rotation!!!!  She also nailed a few serves the last game!  She worked so hard on her serve, and I am so happy that she got a little reward (team point) before the season was over!  Her team won their division for the fall season, and they got the awesome lime green CHAMPION shirts!

Lauren, at the age of 10, was also the youngest on her team.  There team struggled in the beginning to pull everything together.  They won a few games (no match wins), and they practiced good sportsmanship!!!  Lauren worked on serving consistently, and she did a great job returning the ball when it came her way.  She was disappointed that her team did not do better.  Most of that disappointment probably came from Lyndsey's team success :( 

Geography Fair

Last year we attended the Homeschool Geography Fair.  I was a bit overwhelmed and did not want to do anything without "seeing it done" first.  The girls and I went to scope out "how-to-participate"!  This year we jumped in with both feet!  The girls chose Australia to report on this year.  It was one of their favorite "continent studies" that we did last year, so I was not surprised.  We started on our board at the beginning of the school year.  We actually took most of the stuff with us to an out-of-town tennis tournament and worked on it at the hotel.  It was a great use of a lot of dead time that we normally have at Tyler's tournaments.  It gave the girls something productive to do while Tyler played his matches.  I think it turned out awesome!

Lauren also built the Sydney Opera House using the Architecture Lego Kit.  This was her VERY first lego project, and she loved it!  We really have not had legos in our house.  Tyler was never a lego fan, and maybe that was my fault because they seemed over-whelming to me!!!

No geography fair project is complete without a sample food item.  We prepared mini wrapped Australian sausage rolls from a food.com recipe.  The girls did a great job making them, and they were a success at the fair.  They were gone fast!!! 

 At the geography fair, the girls took turns standing by their Australia board and answering questions.  If they were not at their display, they traveled around sampling food and collecting passport stamps while trying to answer the mystery questions for each country.  At the end of the evening, they gathered together to see if they answered the questions correctly!

Coosa River Science School with Dad

 We had a great day at the very impressive 4-H center near Sylacauga at Coosa River Science School.  Lauren spent the day flirting (I mean learning) with the company and assistance of boys in the rugged outdoors.  Lyndsey was her typical ball of energy and thankfully didn't catch fire in either the fire-starting station or the bonfire.  All was good except when they were assigned to the same team in shelter building and Lauren unsuccessfully tried to take control (and that Dad didn't pack enough snacks and we had to "borrow" from friends).  Overall, we had a good hands-on outdoor learning experience. 

A Surprise Smile

I pulled up our church website today, and I just had to smile!  Apparently, our church website has totally changed since the last time I pulled it up!  I don't even remember when the last time I looked at it.  I was surprised to see these beautiful faces on the picture stream.

The date was May 2, 2011, and Lauren had just turned 8 two days ago and she was in the 2nd grade.  Beautiful picture of Jesus' gift of salvation and eternal life for Lauren!  Love my church!

On the Farm (Weeks 1-4)

This school year I signed up the girls for a farm class at Hempstead Urban/Neighborhood Farm.  I thought the class would pair nicely with our Apologia Botany Study!
Every other Tuesday, we go over to Farm Class with Farmer Mark.  (examining the flower in the bottom right corner).  He is really good with the kids, and learning is FUN!  Week #1 was a tour of the farm.  He let the kids each try a tomato (grape variety I think it was) and they picked cucumbers for the restaurant and sampled a few!  They also divided up into Chicken Care groups.  Each week the class is responsible for chicken care duties like cleaning the water jar, putting out fresh straw, feeding the chickens, and gathering eggs.

Week #2 - I really thought Farmer Mark had planned too much for the day! 

Goals for the Day:

Chicken Care

Remove weeds from Homeschool Bed

Plant crops in Homeschool Bed

August soil testing

I looked at that bed and thought, "we only have 1.5 hours left in this class!"  Many hands makes a large job small!  They had the bed cleaned out in 30 minutes flat!  Then they partnered off, made stakes, and planted their food item.  See why I chose this class!  Now, I do not have to plant anything for our Botany class!  Right?!?!  

Next, they divided back different groups (I think) and choose a bed on the farm to conduct their soil testing.  Each month they will test the same soil to chart the changes and how different weather, bugs, and crops effect the soil.  Oh my, this is so cool! 

Farm Class #3 - Farmer Mark taught us about the different kinds of farm hand tools, how to use them, and how to clean them.  Clean them -- really, there is a way to keep them clean so they last longer!  I was raised on a farm and I never did this!  After chicken care and farm tools, we did farm investigations.  We investigated and observed a soil sample for what was in it.  

Week #4 -  This week was leaf and root evaluation week.  Lyndsey perked up when Farmer Mark started talking about leave margins since we had just covered leaves for 2 weeks in our Botany course.  They went out into the farm and pulled roots to bring to the group.  Then they told the group what kind of root it was.  The kids also did a reflection time where they sat in one some and recorded their observations close-up, on the farm, and in the distance.  They will do this again later and compare how the season has changed the farm.

This class is perfect for us this year!  The kids look forward to going to the farm every other Tuesday morning.  They are a little disappointed on the weeks we have "off from farm work". (Or are they just bummed because we are in the classroom on those Tuesday mornings!!!)

Taylor Swift!!!!!

JM's CNRA had purchased Taylor Swift concert tickets for her and her niece and families.  She ended up unable to use them, so I purchased the 5 tickets from her.  Corynne and Lauren each invited a friend to go with us to Nashville for the concert!  I had a great time with these young ladies.  It was a short, fast trip but it was FUN!  After checking into our hotel, we walked and window shopped for a while.  Then we found a nice place to eat dinner.

We found our seats and got ready for the fun to begin!

 The girls all had a great time listening, dancing, and singing along with the performers!  Taylor Swift was incredible even though she was sick!  She had to stop a few times to cough and clear her nose, but the music was awesome.  I don't think I could perform like that if I was sick!!!!!

The concert lasted until after 10pm!  We were exhausted, the girls feet hurt, and we tried to wait on our hotel shuttle.  i finally gave in and payed a cab to just get us back to hotel!  We were TIRED!!

State-by-State: Arizona

Moving east with our geography study as our history study moves west!  Our next stop was in Arizona.  It was HOT!

"G is for Grand Canyon,

a mile deep and ten miles wide.

hike the trails, raft the river, or

journey to the bottom on a mule ride."

from G is for Grand Canyon:  An Arizona Alphabet

The Grand Canyon is truly grand, stretching 277 miles in northern Arizona.  the mighty Colorado River continues to carve this gorge through rock over a mile thick.  Nearly five million people visit Grand Canyon National Park each year.  We hope to go there soon!!

The girls completed their scrapbook pages and lapbook during the week.

We cooked...nothing!  

But we did go for a visit on 1/1/14!