August Homeschool Cooking Class Field Trip

This was a great day away with friends. I look at the many other pictures of all of the children and I can't help but feel all gushy. After living here for a few years and seeing these kids so many times it's very easy to see how bright and wonderful they all are. Also to see them shine together when they are gathered for a field trip is priceless. Considering the young age group of this homeschool group, with the exception of a few kids, the teacher and her assistants did a superb job. The kids made their own pizzas and cupcake. They got a tour of the grocery store, during which Zoe poked her finger into some Salmon (I couldn't bare to leave it there so I purchased it and we barbecued it that evening.

"Every child born, has innate goodness.", Chinese Proverbs

Play dough time!

It has been a while. The weather is nice and we are gone out a great deal. We decided to make two colours of play dough and just create. The play dough bin has been sitting idle too long.

“Praying kneeds no dough”, Russian Proverb

Watching the Races

We participate in the races but sometimes it's nice just to watch. This is a relaxing afternoon watching the races with our favourite race uncle. LOL!! Time to soak up the sound, smell the tires, watch the clock, watch the sky/weather, and pay attention to what the cars are doing.

“People's minds are changed through observation and not through argument”, Will Rogers

Our Garden is Growing!

We harvested our pickles and I made a bunch of dill pickles. I've looked up recipes for fennel and we learned the history of fennel. Here are the start of the tomatoes. We planted our garden late. We'll have tomatoes soon! Some of them are now turning colour.

“If life deals you lemons, make lemonade; if it deals you tomatoes make Bloody Marys”, Unknown

Bird Seed?

This is the product of our bird seed falling in the spring. What a bright backyard. We also got some seeds for earth day and the wild flowers came up under these Sunflowers. We have watched bees around them and the other morning Austyn noticed yellow finches on them eating. We were thinking that the finches are yellow for camouflage while eating these flowers.

“Happiness held is the seed; happiness shared is the flower.”, Unknown

Bugs! Bugs! Bugs!

Before Summer is over I thought I'd jump ahead in our curriculum and do some Bug stuff. We learned the difference between Insects, Beetles, and Bugs again. Bugs are a type of insect/beetle. To do something interesting from this we made some modeling clay and they made bugs. I baked the finished bugs and they painted them when they cooled.

“Some days you are the bug, some days you are the windshield.”, Unknown

Summer Outings

Summer is almost over. We will miss our park days when the weather gets cold. This is our CoAnn Park group. We go to a Field trip once a month on Monday, we go to a Park Day with one group on Tuesdays and every Wednesday we meet with this group at CoAnn. What fun the kids had this Summer!

“All we need is the truth in our hands. Someone to call a friend. Never fear the darkness. All we need is just the sun in the sky. And the hope of a summer to come with the meaning of love.”, Unknown

Country Gardens are BIG!

Grandparents country garden is much bigger! Look at all of the vegetables! These are small compared to a couple of weeks after this. Some of the Zucchinis were as large as my calf!

“A family is a place where minds come in contact with one another. If these minds love one another the house will be as beautiful as a flower garden.”, Buddha

Little house on the prarie! LOL!!

This picture reminds me of Laura Ingles Wilder running through the fields on the prairie. LOL. He has collected some straw. Later that weekend we saw the same farmer bale the straw. The large round baler was an interesting site for kids from a small town suburb.

“Love flies, runs and rejoices; it is free and nothing can hold it back.”, Thomas a Kempis

Where does the Wheat go?

Well driving and harvesting the wheat was interesting but where does it go? Daddy gave a helping hand to show where it goes. The large wagon is filled up and taken to a local mill. Talk about great timing to visit grandparents! We also kept some seeds from the wagon to grow at home. What a great way to see how easy they are to grow and imagine how Egyptians first learned they could grow wheat Along the Nile (the first farmers).

“The seeds of knowledge may be planted in solitude, but must be cultivated in public.”, Samuel Johnson

Driving a Combine Harvester!

This may not be legal but WOW what an experience! While visiting grandparents the farmer who cares for their fields let Austyn ride with him and drive the combine. I'm sure this is something he will not soon forget!

“And thou shalt observe the feast of weeks, of the first fruits of wheat harvest, and the feast of ingathering at the year's end.”, Bible

Garden Senses

We need to use all of our senses as much as possible. We can smell, touch, feel, and hear the garden but we should always taste when dealing with vegetables!! Yummy fresh peas can be fun!

“The greatest gift of the garden is the restoration of the five senses.”, Hanna Rion

Lego never gets old!

Here is another creation that Austyn made. He takes breaks from Lego but always goes back to create more things. It never gets old.

“Never be afraid to try something new. Remember, amateurs built the ark, Professionals built the Titanic.”, Unknown

Poor Butterfly!

Our poor butterfly! When it decided to come out of it's chrysalis we were away at swimming. It fell to the bottom of the jar and got stuck there. By the time I found it the wings were almost dry and they didn't unfold properly. Regardless of it's condition we let it go in the garden (which is where we found it). We know that this butterfly is a female. Males have more yellow and less blue. "Mental Note... for next time... Move chrysalis to the butterfly house. It is much more safe of an environment for a butterfly to emerge on it's own.

“Happiness is like a butterfly which, when pursued, is always beyond our grasp, but if you will sit down quietly, may alight upon you”, Nathaniel Hawthorne