Night at the Museum

Lately the kids have been working on a lapbook about the movies- Night at the Museum and Night at the Museum 2. We got it from we3kids. This is a wonderful lapbook with more than just the usual minibooks with a "read and report" mentality. There are informational paragraphs (to save mom much of the research) but there are also wonderful activities to go along with certain topics.

For example in the movie there is an Easter Island head ("Got some Gum-gum, Dum-Dum?") and in addition to reading a paragraph about the heads in the lapbook, the kids are encouraged to make their own.

Boyo's Moai

Girlie's Moai

We have all really enjoyed this unit. Thanks we3kids for making it!

Our homeschool day

I love seeing how other families plan their days. What stuff do they do? How do they organize their kids? Do they ever get done with dishes and laundry?

So in the interest of transparency here is a typical day right now, in February, in 2010, with a 6 and 8 year old. Because as we all know typical changes -often!

Sometime between 8 and 9 am: The kids get up, lay on the sofa watching TV, drinking chocolate milk, eating cereal.

8:30-ish: I get up and have breakfast, cuddle the kids, review our plans for the day.

9 -ish: Pull out all the school books, make 3 piles (Boyo, Girlie, and both) and start school.

12:00 : Take a break for lunch Usually by this time Girlie is done with all her workbook work.

12:30: Back to school concentrating on whatever subjects the kids have to do together (science, unit studies) When Girlie is done, she goes to put away laundry, empty dishwasher, clean bedroom etc. then she can play. Boyo goes finishes up whatever else he has to do.

1:30 : School is usually over and we can head for the library or to speech class or run errands.

4:30: Home from errands or whatever and the neighbor girl calls. Kids go out to play and I get a break.

5:00: Contemplate dinner, clean up the house, get on the computer, etc.

6:00-ish: Kids home, Dinner time, Hubby comes home too.

8:00: Kids sent off to playroom to watch movies or read books or play quietly.

10:00: Lights out for the kids.

12-1: Bed time for me.

I am not strict about a schedule other then we have a set amount of work to get though each day. When that work is done- the kids can go play. This works for us. It may not work for another family, and that is ok too.

knitting olympic update

Ok, sorry there are no pictures. That is how I roll, I want to wait and show you the finished thing all at once. So far I have 13" done (I started at the bottom of the sweater) plus the pouch pocket is all made and grafted on. Another 3 " and I stop to make the arms. So far this sweater is going really well. Though it occurred to me that Hubby has been working out and thus has bulked up in the pecs. This might have changed his 40" chest size.

Oh well I am past the point of no return on the sweater so he'll just have to live with it if it is a little tight.

Yarn Harlot's Knitting Olympics

So I decided to do Yarn Harlot's knitting Olympics My goal is to knit a sweater for my dear wonderful hubby using the wallaby pattern (sans hood) in reclaimed yarn from the "sweater that was much too big" tm I have 17 days to get it done starting 9 pm Friday. Yay!!

So far I had Boyo frog the "sweater that was much too big" tm It was much yarn!! It is all balled up and I even did a gauge swatch so everything should work out right. Did I mention that I am changing the pattern from straight stockinette to a moss stitch? Well it gave me 8st/2inch instead of the 9st/2 in but as this yarn has a tendency to shrink when washed and hubby likes stuff big. I should be alright.

I am using lion brand wool ease in hunter green.

Feel free to join in! Click on the yarn harlot link to get full directions and all. Good Luck.

Thanks Patty

I am a crafter. I scrapbook (a little), I knit (all winter) and sew (all summer). I am content with that.

But let me tell you about my friend Patty. She is an artist. She has had her work published and is even a contributor to an e-zine. She makes amazing papercrafts. The things Patty can do with paper and a cricut would blow your mind. Each birthday, holiday and anniversary, I wait with bated breath for the next wonderful card she will send. We have actually kept some of her cards for years.

Knowing Patty's skill set, and not finding anything that I liked for the cover of our civil war lapbooks, I begged her for a favor. I asked her to make some paper dolls and decorations for the kids to use. Honestly, I gave her practically no guideline other than whatever was made for Girlie, she could assemble herself. After all Girlie is a crafty type kid. I knew Patty could come up with something better than I ever could have thought of.

And she did! Patty not only made nifty silhouettes for Boyo, but she sent 4 different paper doll soldiers for Girlie to assemble. Each came in their own envelope with a picture of what they would look like all put together, and all the bit and pieces cut out and ready to be glued.

The kids were so excited by the details and loved putting the dolls together. Girlie even let Boyo assemble one and put it in his lapbook, after they played civil war battle of course :)

My favorite part about these dolls is the attention to detail, not just historically but practically. All the pieces were big enough that 6 year old fingers could glue them without help and there were neat extras for each doll- a canteen, sword, bayonet or gun.

And if all that wasn't enough, she sent me a card in the package. it is the most beautiful thing I have ever seen! She took my "mousetower" name and made this... oh there just aren't words. It is sophisticated, whimsical, and oh- just look for yourself.

How perfect is this!!

Patty- You are amazing. Thank you for taking the time to make these dolls for the kids, for giving them something tangible to cement some of the ideas we talked about with the civil war soldiers, and for every card you have sent us in the more than 12 years I have known you. And thank you Eric for helping with the research, I look forward to seeing you in August.