March 21st- March 27th

Sunday- Today was GORGEOUS!! We took advantage of it by getting outside for almost the entire day. We went to the park where we played some baseball then the kids played on the equipment. Amara has a knack for bringing shy boys out of their shell and she worked her magic on a four yr old boy who ended up playing with all three of the kids. We then walked to the grocery store (which is about 1/2 mile one way)and got groceries for BBQing. We had a BBQ outside and a small bonfire, while we cooked, the kids rode their bikes, played on their swing set and played fetch with the dog. We came in and watched "Old Dogs" (a really cute movie) together before bed. I can't wait for more days like today. It creates great opportunities for the kids to exercise without doing the same repetitive thing in the basement.

Monday- We used the dry erase boards to help the girls learn their days of the week and the months of the year. We had them spell them and put them in alphabetical order. After playing and lunch, we all played Hangman with each of us taking a turn to come up with a word. The kids were so cute squirming as they got close to completing a hangman. Then I drew clocks on the board and the names of money and Amara wrote down the times and how much each coin is worth. Ava worked on fractions. I went into detail about the relationship between fractions/decimals/percentages and showed her how they are all related (and how they are related to money). She shaded in correct fractions in circles and wrote correct fractions for already shaded in circles. She then wrote the decimal and percentage for those fractions.
Together, the kids and I made a rainbow cake which came out soooo cool. Look at the pics. It was super easy to do. I altered a recipe from the March issue of Family Fun magazine.



Tuesday- Today we are going to the Circus!! The kids are so excited. Because of this, it has been hard getting them to focus on any kind of school work. I did however get them to read. Ava read 7 pages out of a book series "Poppy and Max" and Amara read 2 pages out of "Sam has pizza". While Michael ran to help his mom and sister after their car broke down, the kids and I watched "The matters of Phase" Bill Nye. We then did 3 different science experiments. We got a glass of really hot water and one of very cold water, added food coloring and saw which one mixed faster. The hot water did because the molecules are moving faster in the hot water. I then showed them boiling water on the stove to show how liquid changes to gas when you add energy (heat). To kill time until it was time to go the the Circus, we watched "Farming" Bill Nye. We discussed how farming is good for humans but bad for the environment, but we can farm organically to make it less harmful. We also discussed why we buy organic produce and hormone free meat.

Wednesday- The Circus yesterday was so much fun!! The kids couldn't think of one thing they liked the best. As for today,the girls each read this morning. Ava is doing so well, she read 10 pages in 15 minutes. She hardly ever needs help sounding words out. Amara is struggling because she gets frustrated so easily. Michael does better working with her, so I read with Ava and Michael with Amara. After that, we went to the gym at the community center for 2 hours. Its amazing how fast 2 hours goes when they are running around having fun. I hope to go 3 times a week not just for the kids but also for exercise for Michael and myself. We then went to the library where the kids played on the computers and with the puppets. Once we got home, they watched "Caves" and "Forests" Bill Nye. We discussed how important forests are to our survival.

Thursday- The girls took turn playing their educational games on their V-smile and their computer. In the late morning (well like a 2 hr time spread), the kids did their own art projects from their own imaginations. They each made something original, but all were Easter related. Then they played with clay, again making Easter themed creations. The girls had gymnastics today but other than that, it was a pretty mellow day.

Friday- Today was a very "schoolish" day. Amara did a lot of math with her dad. She worked on telling time and counting by 5's and 10's, which she did with minimal assistance. She then played on the StarFall website where she read 3 "books" and practiced long and short vowels. Ava read 2 books (I am so proud of her for that!)Ava made cookies today with very little help from dad. She found the recipe online (with help from mom), read the measurements and mixed the ingredients. The only thing mom and dad helped with was removing the cookies from the oven. We also made homemade butter after seeing instructions for doing so on the Bill Nye "Farming" video. It turned out pretty good. We used the buttermilk to make buttermilk pancakes and had breakfast food for lunch.
In the evening, we watched a documentary on the National Geographic website about grizzly bears.
Saturday- We have colds going around so we didn't do much today.