Another Bug ! AHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!

Good morning everyone ! . I hope everyone is having a great Sunday morning . My oldest DS and youngest DD are sick this weekend with another viral bug . High fever and the yuckies - YUCK ! Well it is that time of year I guess . I have a question for all you homeschool Mommas out there . When I was in school we used to gather leaves and press them between wax paper with an iron but I read recently that someone used laminating paper too . My question is , What method have you used and which one do you think works best ? I plan on doing this with the kids this week when everyone feels better . Thanks for the input . Don't forget to join the Autumn Poetry Party I'm hosting .

Autumn Poetry Party

Just wanted to remind everyone of the Autumn Poetry Party I'm hosting at my blog . Come on over and check it out and spread the word . ~ Nikki

My Pencil Story

One of my favorite pencils is one that had an eraser at both ends . It said "Life without Jesus is like this pencil . It has no point ." Neither does this blog entry but it is a true story of me and my ongoing battle with pencils .         

1. Pencils come in all shapes and sizes . Your children will all want different kinds therefore you will have to buy 4 packs instead of one .

2. Pencils come nicely decorated for each season of the year . Unfortunately these go on sale months before you actually need them (ex. Christmas pencils go on sale on July 4) , forcing you to buy them and hide them til the correct holiday at which point you either forgot you bought them or lose them . This of course will begin a massive pencil hunt in which you will not find the Christmas ones you are looking for , although you will find the Easter ones you forgot you bought .

3. Pencils have a habit of disappearing from Mom's supply box . Naughty pencils ! Even though Mom checked her box on Sunday night and it was full , by 8 a.m. Monday morning the pencils will have disappeared and Mom will hear a rousing chorus of "I don't have anything to write with !"

4. Mechanical pencils are great ! Until you find out you are out of lead or you have the wrong size . It is a proven fact (by me) that you will buy a # 7 pencil knowing without a doubt that you have 3 new packs of lead at home only to get there and find out it's all # 5 .(Or vice versa .) Or what's worse you will mistakenly pick up a pack of # 9 pencils believing you are reaching for a # 5 or # 7 . When you go back to town to buy lead for these new pencils you will find out noone within a 50 mile radius of where you live actually sells # 9 lead refills .

5. Wooden pencils and pencil sharpeners are highly addictive . They will cause your child to lose all sense of reason (and all desire to do math) until he/she has taken a new pencil to a length of 1.4 " 

Read more pencil stories or post one of your own . More info here .

         

Hello everyone ! I hope that everyone is doing well . We were sick all last week with a terrible stomach flu . After the actual sickness passed we were left with mind numbing exhaustion . But Praise the Lord that is over ! I dressed up the blog for Fall which is my favorite time of year .Does it look ok ?  We have news from the pet world :) . My youngest son's guppy is expecting and we are excited . He is thinking about breeding and selling them or trading them to the pet store . My youngest daughter came into the kitchen the other night crying and told me she thought Dry Crabby was dead (her hermit crab) , my heart broke for her . My oldest DD and I thought that she was molting because she stopped eating and buried herself partially in the sand several weeks ago . Anyway Lil DD and I go to her room and there is Dry Crabby out of her shell , or so one would think but I turned her shell over and she was curled up inside with her new shiny pinkish , purple claw covering the "door" . Immediately there were smiles instead of tears . Lil DD was so excited . I was too of course , this is Dry Crabby's second time molting this year . Her old exoskeleton is nasty looking of course but very beneficial to her so we left it in the tank . My oldest DS is doing great with his guitar . He plays with the church band now and loves it . I was blessed by my oldest DD with the Nice Award the other day . Thanks Baby Girl ! I am supposed to pass it on of course . So I'm out of here to go check out my friends list and read and comment and hand out the Nice Award . I think everyone deserves it because you are nice enough to come here and share your experiences , ideas , tips and humor and I appreciate that .

Solar System Unit Study

I just thought I would share with everyone the links I have been using with our Solar System unit . There are tons of great books out there to use but what I will list here are the informative websites and free notebooking and lapbooking websites . For this unit the kids are keeping the planet fact sheets in their notebooks for reference but our big project is actually a big lapbook we are working on together . I bought a presentation board at the $ Tree , it is folded just like a big lapbook , and we have been using coloring sheets of the planets to color and cut and paste in the lapbook . I bought some half size index cards at Big Lots that we put the planet facts on and paste it next to the picture . We also use our encylopedias to gather facts about the Roman gods that the planets are named after ( this has turned out to be a great way to have extra Bible time too ) and paste these on the lapbook too . I wish I could post a picture but my digital camera is broken . Anyway here are the links . I hope you can use them . As always be discerning in what you choose to use for your homeschool . Some of these have some great stuff and other stuff you may not want to use .

The Learning Page - you have to become a member to access most of the themed pages but it is free . Once you join you will find the Space worksheets under the members themed sheets .

Notebookingpages.com - a couple of free sheets

Solar System Coloring Book 

eMints - A wealth of different themes , be sure to take a few minutes and check it out . There are several links for the Solar System .

JeannieFulbright.com - free notebooking pages

Exploring Planets In The Classroom - lots of stuff to sort through

Happy Birthday and 2 Day Trips

Hello everyone . Well here is what has been going on . My youngest DS had his 10th birthday on Sunday . HAPPY BIRTHDAY HOOP ! I LOVE YOU AND I THANK GOD FOR YOU ! We took a mini vacation with my parents and my Momma's sister and my Daddy's brother . We went to Cherokee , Maggie Valley and Cataloochee NC . We all had a great time . My parents and aunt and uncle had never seen elk before so they really loved it . The elk were bugling so it was neat . Our schooling has been doing great . We are all learning some neat things and everyone seems to be enjoying it . Today we went outside and built a tepee . The kids got a little annoyed trying to get the support poles to stay put but all in all it was a great lesson . We have been learning about early Native Americans and how they used their local resources for shelter . I have been scheduled for surgery on the 30th to have an endoscopy with throat and stomach biopsy and to have my esophagus stretched . I will know more about seeing a dr. about the thyroid after this surgery . I hope to be visiting everyones blog this week and seeing whats up . Sorry that I havent been commenting and blogging but it seems like time is flying and there is so much to do . I know ya'll know what that is like . :) Keep me in your prayers if you don't mind .