Art...

art (noun):  Creative activity resulting in the production of painting, drawings or sculpture...

We ran out of time yesterday to do our weekly art lesson, so we did it as a family after lunch today...

The little one enjoyed the fact that "Dada" was doing our art project with us; making it more special...

and fun.

Our little lesson was an introduction to Georgia O'Keeffe and her artwork.  

I'm using The Usborne Art Treasury book and in the section on Georgia O'Keeffe they highlighted her painting entitled Jimson Weed (1932).  Did you know she lived to be 99 years old (1887 - 1986)?  

I really like the book, they introduce the reader to the artist, show one of their works of art and then give a project that you can do reflecting that artist; in this case it was a petal collage with construction paper.

Now the "boys" are playing downstairs and I'm getting ready to make a Peach Crumble in the crock pot from Not Your Mother's Slow Cooker Cookbook.  I make this every summer, it always turns out yummy (mine never takes as long to cook as they say it does though).

Happy Labor Day Weekend (again)!

HDP

Fall Family Day

Today we took a day trip for our annual "pilgrimage" to the pumpkin farm.  We took a hayride out to the field and picked a few pumpkins for the front porch.  While we were there, we also went through...

 a 12 acre corn maze carved out in the shape of zoo animals.  Luckily, they handed out maps for those who weren't brave enough to get lost. 

:-)

We also went to Fort Ancient, a state park and museum.  We've been studying about Native Americans in Heritage Studies and it seemed like the perfect opportunity to tie in the history of Ohio's Indian groups.  It is in the same area as the pumpkin farm and it was a gorgeous day to be out and about.

The trails were beautiful to walk through, our feet crunching the fallen leaves and the sunlight making pretty dappled shapes on the floor of the woods.

There are ancient Indian mounds throughout the park.  Some of the mounds form the walls around the site and others are burial mounds for the Hopewell Indians that lived there many, many years ago. 

Any way you look at it, it was a wonderful Fall day and time spent with my little family. 

A day to be thankful and count the blessings in my life.

HDP

Another Busy Week

It's been another busy week and September has come and gone in the blink of an eye.

We had an apple orchard tour with our homeschool group during the week.  The kids (and Moms) learned about the different varieties of apples and how they tell when the apples are ripe for picking (when the seeds turn black; just in case you were wondering).  

:-)

The tour guide told them about quality control; firsts, seconds, cider apples, animal apples and the ones you just throw away.  The kids were all fascinated with the machine that sorts the apples in sizes and in the end we all got a taste of homemade cider donuts and some fresh apple cider in which to wash it down.  

Then, dear son had his weekly swimming lesson...

and after three LONG years...

HE IS FINALLY SWIMMING ON HIS OWN!  

You should have seen the smile on that boys face!  He just beamed with delight!   

And so did I.  

:-)

This afternoon was the first day the sun decided to show her face and we took a little walk through the neighborhood...

to see what the change in seasons has brought for us to explore...

 

the Sedum is in bloom and full of gorgeous color...

and we visited with an old friend to say hi and see how she was doing....

She's still weathering the storms.

I've been working on something fun on the crochet front and I'll share that with you in the next day or so.

Until then...

HDP

Back To School...

It's Thursday already, and we almost have our first week of school under our belts... 

Phonics and Math have mostly been review, but we've had fun exploring some new subjects in the form of Science, Social Studies, and Spelling to name a few.  

Yesterday we had art class and I introduced the little one to Vincent Van Gogh's The Starry Night, then we painted our own swirling rendition; it was fun.  One of the books I'm using for Art is Art Treasury; it's an Usborne book.  Each project has a little introduction section (to the work of art), then they give instructions for creating your own artwork in the same medium.  It's a pretty cool book. 

This afternoon after school we headed to the park for a little walk and play time.  The park is an old farm that was donated to the county and they've really made it a wonderful family place to visit.  

We found an old walnut tree on the property and dear son had fun playing with the green fruit (nut).  

Summer was busy and it seemed short since we started school early.  But, I know come June next year, we'll be glad we did. 

Fall's just around the corner, and it's my favorite season.  I think I'm going to look into going apple picking this year...something to think about anyway.  

:-)

HDP

The Fisherman Wedding Afghan Tale...

An update anyway, since the story is yet to be complete...

I've actually made pretty good progress on the Fisherman Wedding Afghan although it's hard to tell as it is worked lengthwise...

I just started the middle section of the afghan...

You can just see the first rows of it emerging in the picture above.  The stitch is called "fisherman popcorn", which is basically a single crochet popcorn stitch.  The rows after the diamonds took some time as there are seven different rows of "cables" worked in there, not counting the single crochet return rows...

I have about two weeks left to complete this prior to the wedding.  I've got my fingers crossed that I'm able to meet my deadline.  

***

On a different note, we had a long holiday weekend and my hubby heads back to work tomorrow.  

It is also officially our last day of school.........

I mean...

IT IS OFFICIALLY OUR LAST DAY OF SCHOOL!  

:-)

Dear son and I completed our first year of homeschooling together, I'm proud of us both.  I wasn't sure if I had it in me.

Summer weather has really sprung up and it is starting to look pretty with the Spirea in bloom...

I'll be back with more progress on...

The Fisherman Wedding Afghan Tale...

which is...

To Be Continued...

HDP

 

Caution: Bragging Momma Post

The holidays are officially over. 

With that thought in mind, we dove right into our schoolwork this morning; head first into our books. 

I have to tell you, dear son did wonderful! 

He retained the things we'd studied prior to our Christmas break and just had a wonderful attitude toward learning today.  It was a real pleasure for us both.

We picked up with telling time in math, learning the o'clock on the clock.  He had fun with the clock manipulative that came with his curriculum, moving the hands around to show the different times.  We also continued with our counting to 50 by 1's, 2's, 5's, and 10's.  He's one smart cookie (beaming mother smile inserted here).  :-D

We also read one of his early reader books and he did great sounding out his words and asking for help when he needed it.  We played checkers at recess and had an all around GREAT morning!  I couldn't ask for more from him.     

Hip hip hooray!

HDP

Fine Arts

Although school isn't in session, there is always an opportunity to learn...

Dear husband is off work now until the first of the year.  With that in mind, we thought we'd take advantage of our free day, and have some quality family time at the Cincinnati Art Museum...

The museum is just a short 30 minute drive from our home and a nice activity to do on a cold winter day...

It was fun to introducing my son to some of my favorite artists.....Monet.....Renoir.....Cassatt.......and, 

Breton (Last Flowers - 1890).

Another one of my favorites, is the Rookwood Pottery exhibit...

And what child isn't fascinated with...

all things mummies (or a sarcophagus in this instance)...

All in all, a bright, cheerful day spent with my little family.......

Homemade pizza, a glowing fire and relaxation are in store for this evening...

Pure joy...

HDP

Winter Break, Errands and Preparations

Our little home school is officially on "winter break".  I think dear son and I both need the time away from school work.  We'll rest our minds until the 1st of January and dive back in head first.  :-)

Yesterday, the little guy and I wrapped hubby's gifts and made chocolate chip bar cookies.  You just follow the recipe for the cookies, but you put the dough in a jelly roll pan vs. making individual cookies.  They turned out good and have been placed on my Christmas goodie sideboard I'm preparing for the holidays.  

Today we have some errands to run and I want to get one last gift for the hubby.  Then we are either going to make pecan tassies or raspberry thumbprint cookies with almond glaze.  I love almond flavoring.....

We got about an inch of snow last night.  But, not sure how long it will hang around as I think it is supposed to warm up to the mid 30's today.  I'd like to have a white Christmas, so I'm hoping it all doesn't disappear.

I'm feeling more organized this week and am looking forward to my little families' Christmas celebration.  

I'm so thankful for the reason that we celebrate this joyous holiday...........the birth of Jesus.

  ¹⁰And the angel said unto them, Fear not: for, behold, I bring you good tidings of great joy, which shall be to all people.

 ¹¹For unto you is born this day in the city of David a Saviour, which is Christ the Lord.

Luke 2:10-11 (KJV)

HDP

Sweet Tarts as a Motivational Tool...

Who knew sweet tarts or "Smarties" could be such a powerful motivational tool...

As part of our phonics lesson, my son and I will review his words periodically through the week.  He'll often try to guess at the words instead of working on sounding them out and thinking the words through.....

Last week, I had an ingenious idea to give him one little Smartie for each word he sounded out and said properly......he got 69 words correct (no Smartie for guessing though).  We did the same excercise this week and he properly sounded out 94 words!  Who knew Smarties could be such a powerful motivational tool!  I think I'm going to have to try pennies next week.......not sure I have enough Smarties on hand!

Today we introduce some double "l" words with "e" and "i" and talk about compound words like sunset......

Joy in learning........for both of us!

HDP

Just a Little Update...

On the crochet front....

The body of my Fireside Cheer afghan is close to completion; I have the last two fair isle panels remaining.  Once the body is complete, I have a gazillion ends to weave in and then on to the border...

I finished the scarf that is part of the hat and scarf set I'm working on and started the hat last night.  The scarf is really pretty in the steel blue color.  I'll posts some pictures once the hat is complete.

Haven't picked up the doily I'm working on in a couple of days.  Trying to finish up the hat and scarf set.

On the homeschooling front...

Today we are introducing the letter "P" into our word families.  We'll be learning how to sound out "pit", "pen", "pet", "pin" along with "sip" and "tip".  We'll be making the letter "P" with popcorn.  :-)  In math, we are talking about the number "9".  A lot of the math seems to be review for my little guy so far.  Hopefully, we'll get into a little more meat soon.

Next week we are going on a "field trip" with our homeschool group.  We are going to tour a VERY large grocery store that carries items from around the world and then we are going to be making gingerbread houses once the tour is complete.  Should be a fun afternoon.  

Joy in progress.....on all fronts!

HDP

He's Reading!

I can't believe it......my little boy is reading! 

And, I taught him! 

The sentences are simple, "Sit here Dad."  Or, "Mom is in here."  Most of the words are from the "it" and "in" family so far.  But so exciting!  Today we learned about a "period" and that it tells the reader that the sentence has ended.  He got it. 

I really like the curriculum I'm using.  It's from Bob Jones University and it is what a lot of Christian schools use in their private schools.  It is very detailed and it gives sample conversations (with the answers) all written out.  It was a hard decision, but in the end, I kept being led back to the one I chose. 

We are heading into the end of week three and so far, this has been very rewarding. 

Joy in education!

HDP

The Little Red Schoolhouse...

Our pastor has been preaching a series on "The Little Red Schoolhouse By The Big Red Sea" for the past few weeks.  I'm going to borrow the first part of his title for my blog post today.  I don't think he'll mind, since I am giving him the credit. 

We've been doing a lot of preparing lately to begin homeschooling our son.  This isn't a decision we take lightly and felt that this year was a good year to "test the waters" so to speak. 

So we've been getting an area in our lower level all set up for the first day of school; today!

Our workspace is ready with our books and pencils......

And, the calendar is up to date (as of Sunday).

I've pulled all our materials together and even have an easy Fall craft planned.

Here's hoping our day will be filled with learning and fun; and that I'll still be able to get some laundry done in the afternoon.

Joy in the day!

HDP

WooHoo!

 THEY'RE HERE!

My son's school books arrived in the mail! 

Now to look through the material and get a plan in place.

The books I quickly glanced through are beautifully done and even the teacher's (aka Mom's) material looks interesting.  I'm so excited to be embarking on this journey!  I can't wait to get started!

My mom will be here next week, so I think our first day of school with be Monday, the 27th.   Maybe I need to get a little bell.  Jing-a-ling, class will soon be in session!

HDP