Capturing Nature

After our field trip this morning, we took advantage of the beautiful weather and went out for our first nature study of the year. Botany will be our area of study in science for Grace and Leah; Megan will be doing General Science, but will join us on hikes like this. This is the perfect time to capture plants in bloom or those ready for seed dispersal.

Here are a few of my faves from our time outside today.
Leah's drawing her observations of Russian sage.

Same with Megan.

At our petunia bed.

Grace measures the height of our lovely milkweed plants. You might wonder why in the world we allow such mature weeds in our landscape.....we were tolerating this volunteer crop as it grew to see if we could attract any monarchs this year. No such luck. And, in case you were wondering, we will be cutting the plants down before they send out their seeds! They are really cool to observe, though!

Leah measures the width of her flower.

Grace notes her observations.

Then tonight, we wrapped up our day by walking down the street to draw a moon flower, which only opens at night. Sadly, I didn't take my camera, but I did get a flower!

This is just one of the many reasons we love home schooling and feel the tremendous blessings to be able to do so!

~Wee

Safety Village

Today was the first "official" field trip of Leah's school career. We went to Safety Village and learned all about being SAFE! First, we spent some time in the "classroom" learning how to be safe pedestrians. Then, we went out into the village to put our knowledge into practice.

After making sure to look left-right-and left again and obeying the traffic signals, the class safely crossed Live Long Lane.Crossing a driveway safely.
After our walk around the village, each student got their own 4-wheeler to cruise around town on. Leah wasn't so sure about doing it at first, but when she realized that it didn't go too fast, she really enjoyed it. The trip started out on Safety Village Way.

Bringing up the rear of all the little travelers.

Coming to a complete stop before turning right.Crossing the railroad after stopping, looking, and listening.

Navigating the streets of Safety Village, being sure to obey all traffic signals.

They were allowed to make two complete rounds of the village before putting their vehicles away.While Leah and I were at Safety Village, Megan and Grace were right next door at the Survive Alive House (run by the FW Fire Department), where they learned all about fire safety. Here, Grace is making her 9-1-1 call and giving the proper information. Megan and Bethany wait for their turn.

It's a good trip to be reminded of every year or so.

~Wee

Look what she did....

....Leah learned to ride her bike tonight!!!!
Getting started again after running into the grass.
She was so happy!

~Wee

1st Day of School

Well, today began the first day of our 2011-2012 school year. We are heading into our 8th year of home schooling and looking forward to another great year.

Megan is entering 7th grade.
Grace into 6th grade.
And Leah into Kindergarten. She told me today, "Mommy, I just love school; especially with you." :)

~Wee

Boatin' Fun

Last night, Alex's sister Jinny called and invited us to go boating with them tonight. We had three lovely hours at the Huntington Reservoir, enjoying the water temperature at 89 degrees.

Alex's started out the night skiing to help show the girls "how to do it."

Megan tried first for awhile, then Grace. Alex stayed in the water with them to help get all things situated. After several tries without success, they switched over to the knee-board. Both girls got up on the first pull out of the water and really enjoyed it. This helped give them the feel of being pulled behind the boat.

Grace is ready to knee-board.

Then Megan headed out.

After my turn to ski, the girls tried again. This time Megan got up! Yay!

Jinny helped the girls on their second round. Grace was so close to getting up, but by this time of the evening was so tired. It's hard work!

Leah preferred to stay inside the boat, where she enjoyed watching (and getting splashed on occasion)!

Sunset skiing....
And, our generous hosts for the outing, Jinny...... and Darryl.....

Thanks so much for inviting us to join you! We had a great time!

~Wee

A "FREE" Day

A few families from our Indiana history class met at the History Center downtown this afternoon and enjoyed FREE admission. Stepping back in time, each one found an article of clothing or a tool from the past.
Locked in the dungeon. This is the holding/booking area of the original jail.

Toys and musical instruments from the Civil War era. For fun, I allowed the girls to have a brief "cram session" to study the different patterns of an Underground Railroad "communication" quilt and then gave them a quiz.....they passed with flying colors!

From the History Center, we went to the zoo.....again, for FREE! Watching the red panda sleep.

The female orangutan in the Indonesian Rain Forest. So fun to watch.

Picture-perfect lemurs. The amazing thing is that the lemur in front has a 4-day old baby attached to the front of her. I guess the other lemurs were there for extra protection!

Entering the African Journey.

Walking past a concession stand, the clerk called us over and handed each of us a bag of FREE popcorn. If we hadn't taken it, the garbage can would've!

Down on the farm, I couldn't believe Mr. Peacock allowed us to get this close to him....close enough to "freely" feel all his different types of feathers.

After the zoo, we went next door and enjoyed a FREE concert put on by Star 88.3!

The girls joined Miss Indiana down in front of the stage.

The artists for the evening....Jonny Diaz.....

and Kerrie Roberts.....

What a great day....complete with all this FREE entertainment!

~Wee