It’s been a little while since I blogged about homeschooling. We just started a new study of the middle ages, and my amazing hubby found some great craft projects to go along with last week’s study of the Celts. Allen had a blast putting together the Celtic roundhouse village above.
On Tuesday, Samantha and Allen pulled out our box of polymer clay and created their own Celtic beads. Samantha turned hers into earrings . . .
. . . and Allen strung his beads together into a necklace.
My children often surprise me with their choices on things. Ray gave them a list of the projects that they could choose from for the week on Monday and let them decide which two to complete. Allen, my all-boy boy, choose the paper and glue craft at the top of this post, and, Samantha, my sweet little girl, built this working K’Nex ballista.
All of this week’s craft ideas came from the Tyne and Wear Museums site.
Friday afternoon, we had a group of friends from our local homeschool group over to sew pillowcases with us! I think everyone had a great time, and we turned out a slew of pillowcases. The kids each made two pillowcases, one to keep and one to give. My hope is that the pillowcase that they kept will remind them to pray for the sick child who receives the matching one.
(I love this one of me sewing with Jamie!)
And, the kids, each showing off one of their finished pillowcases:
We used the Hot Dog Pillowcase Tutorial with a French seam to make these, and they turned out great! The donated pillowcases will go to ConKerr Cancer’s Miles of Pillowcase Smiles project.
Fall is coming soon, and here in Dallas, fall brings the Texas State Fair! Last year, Allen submitted a Lego project in the Creative Arts Competition at the fair, and he was so excited to receive an honorable mention ribbon. He enjoyed participating so much that Samantha and I decided to join in this year, too.
Allen’s following up last year’s submission with another Lego construction. During our study of Texas state history last year, Allen especially enjoyed learning about the Alamo so he decided to recreate it for this year’s fair! Can you see Davey Crockett in his coon-skin cap standing in the entryway?
Samantha taught herself to knit this year, and now she’s always got some project on her knitting needles. She decided on this very cute beret for her state fair submission.
This was her first project knit in the round on circular needles. She did such a great job!
And, then there are my projects. I actually considered whether or not I wanted to share mine, but in the end, I decided that since the fair is actually a few months away, you’ll probably forget that I posted these by then. If I do well, I’ll remind you. If I don’t, then we’ll just forget I ever mentioned sewing something for the fair. Sound good?
I’ve been holding onto this cotton knit Texas-themed fabric for years now, just waiting for the right project. What could be a better use for it than the Texas State Fair? In the Children’s Clothing category, I’m submitting this color-blocked and appliqued Charlie Tee. It’s a size 4T, so Jamie can wear it when the fair is over.
In the Infant Clothing category, I’m turning in this embroidered Jamie Jumper in size 18 months. This one’s my favorite of the two. I’m really excited about Charlie getting to wear it this fall. It’s a little big now, so I hope it fits!
We’re delivering all our projects to the fairgrounds tomorrow. The kids will be on pins and needles waiting for the judging. The results should come around the middle of next month.
Our homeschool group had a field trip to CiCi’s Pizza yesterday, and the kids had a great time. There’s just something about making your own pizza that makes it taste soooo good! I couldn’t resist showing off some pictures of the fun.
We’re heading out to the Texas State Fair tomorrow morning, and Allen is so excited that he’ll get to see his Lego project on display! He did the whole project all on his own from coming up with the idea and design to completing the construction. We found out a few weeks before the fair started that Allen’s project took 4th Place (Honorable Mention) out of 27 entries in his age group!
The designer and constructor with his finished entry:
Front:
Back:
From above:
We’ll have more pictures after the fair tomorrow when we find it with its ribbon in the display case!
Our homeschool group is doing multiple volunteer projects this year, and we were really excited to get involved with this one! Elevate Him Ministries collects boxes filled with over-the-counter medical supplies that are often difficult to obtain in other countries and distributes the supplies through their medical clinic in Talanga, Honduras. Our youngest three children had a great time filling their boxes with everything from vitamins to antacids to toy cars.
Sorting out the supplies:
Jamie filling his box (if you look closely, you can see that Baby Charlie sneaked into this picture, too):
Boxes filled and ready to go:
I know, I’ve been missing for awhile. I always seem to have blog posts running around in my head but finding time to actually upload pictures and type them out is another story.
It’s spring here, and we’ve been enjoying the weather when it’s nice. We meet with a wonderful group of homeschoolers for park day every Friday afternoon. A few Fridays ago, the beautiful weather and a nearby creek led to some wet and muddy fun. There’s nothing like rolling up your pants and putting your feet in the water to make you feel like kid.
I didn’t have my camera on hand, but another mom snapped a few photos. Here are Samantha and Allen exploring the water with my friend, Shelly, and her boys.
Samantha climbing up the hill.
And, Allen.
Jamie really wanted to play, too, of course, so we were headed down the hill to join in the fun in this picture. Let me tell you, the weather was warm, but that water was COLD!
I’ve been sewing alot when I have free time. I was excited to get to organize an I-Spy Quilt Swap on an on-line sewing moms board last month. Moms signed up to send in 30 or 60 squares each of novelty fabric with pictures of things that kids can “spy”. I’ve been saving squares for awhile for this project, too. Here’s what I have done on Jamie’s I-Spy Quilt so far:
I also finished up two new patterns for moms to sew for themselves and their little ones! I am really enjoying designing patterns. It’s so exciting to see what other moms create with them!
The Sammi Grace Bag is a great pattern for moms to make bags for themselves, their daughters and their friends. It’s got multiple options and versions. This is the full-size shirred version:
The Patrick Curved Raglan has been a popular pattern for months now, but lots of mamas were asking for it in bigger sizes. Of course, I love sewing for my bigger kids, too and couldn’t resist enlarging the size range. The Big Kid version has a standard and a more feminine option:
For the record, I did attempt to get pictures of those two tops side by side, but . . . um . . . it didn’t work out well!
I posted a few days ago about the new CPSIA law that take effect on February 10th. This morning, I received an email from In the Hands of a Child and thought I’d pass it on. Because of the new law, they are selling all their lap book kit packs at a 35% discount. If you’ve never done a lapbook with your children, I promise you and they will love doing them! Here are a couple pictures of the lapbooks that Samantha and Allen made when we were studying the systems of the human body last year.
Dear Valued Customers,
Due to the new CPSIA law In the Hands of a Child, for the time being, is discounting our Kit Pack inventory in order to lessen our possible loss in the event that an exemption is not granted.
While we are still praying for this situation to work out for all small businesses we feel that it is in our best interest to lessen our possible loss. And what better way than to pass the savings on to you, our wonderful customers, who are praying with us through this difficult situation!!
Please help us clear our shelves and enjoy a 35% savings on all Kit Packs!! Savings will be automatic! Spread the word and help us empty the shelves!!
This sale will continue until our Kit Pack inventory has been exhausted, so purchases will be on a first-come-first-served basis.
Once they are gone, they are gone!
In the event the law is modified, In the Hands of a Child reserves the right to bring back Kit Packs in the future at full price without any discount, implied or expressed, during this sale.
Cannot be combined with any other offer, special, discount, coupon or sale.
Super Member discount DOES NOT apply to this sale.
Tax and Shipping not included in calculating discount price.
Not valid toward prior purchases.
No rainchecks.
This is the first post in a set that I hope to continue called “No Spend Fun”. In an effort to live simply, we’re always looking for things that we can do as a family that are fun and free. As homeschool parents, educational value is a bonus, too!
Letterboxing is something that we’ve enjoyed doing as a family for some time. Letterboxing North America explains, “Letterboxing is an intriguing mix of treasure hunting, art, navigation, and exploring interesting, scenic, and sometimes remote places. Here’s the basic idea: Someone hides a waterproof box somewhere (in a beautiful, interesting, or remote location) containing at least a logbook and a carved rubber stamp, and perhaps other goodies. The hider then usually writes directions to the box (called “clues” or “the map”), which can be straightforward, cryptic, or any degree in between. Often the clues involve map coordinates or compass bearings from landmarks, but they don’t have to. Selecting a location and writing the clues is one aspect of the art.”
The weather was nice, and we had time on our hands this past Thursday afternoon and Friday morning. As we made our way south on I77 to North Carolina and then back north again to West Virginia, we searched for and found six letterboxes. We found the clues to their locations at Letterboxing North America and Atlas Quest. No GPS or other equipment is necessary, just the ability to follow instructions. We have a family logbook and each of the kids has his or her own logbook to keep track of the letterboxes we’ve found. We also have a family stamp. When we find a letterbox, we stamp our logbooks with the stamp in the box, and stamp the logbook in the box with our family stamp, writing in additional details such as our family name, location, etc.
Pictures of the fun:
Our local county is giving away historic, iron bridges from the 1900’s and replacing them with new bridges. We were so excited to find out that one of the historic bridges was going to be moved to the park right behind our house. One day last week, the bridge was delivered to the site:
The next morning, we heard big trucks and headed outside to see what was happening.
Samantha and Allen brought their schoolwork outside so that we could observe.
When the workers began moving the bridge, they climbed up in the walnut tree to watch.
Things were a bit slow-moving, so we took lots of breaks.
Almost there!
All done!
This bridge will eventually be part of a hiking/biking trail that our city has planned.