A Change of Scenery

The girls got a change of scenery this week.  For about a year now, Skyeler had been wanting to give the bunk bed to Aly.  This was a big switch so we had Aly sleep in the bunk in Skye's room a couple of nights to make sure she would like it.  She did and Dan agreed to take the bed apart and do the switch-a-roo.  

Before the switch could be made, Aly's room needed a clean sweep!  Man was it a mess!  I did take before pictures so you could see the transformation, however, she begged me not to post them on the blog.  You can use your imagination and envision an unmade bed, a floor that has disappeared under dirty laundry, and piles of junk stacked in every possible spot that wasn't covered by dirty laundry.  Sadly, I'm not exaggerating.  After moving almost everything out of Aly's room, we were able to get a good look at what she had, what she didn't need, and what she was going to put back in the room.  

Moving the bed turned out to be the easiest part of the whole thing.  Putting everything back was another story!  It took all of the next day to get it put back together.  Skyeler is still not quite done because she lost more storage than she expected.  The loft part of the bunk had a desk, three shelves, and drawers.  She made need a couple more shelves for her room to complete it.  

So here are the "after" pictures.  I have to say, both of the girls are excited about the change :)

I only took one picture of Skye's room because it's not quite ready yet.  One of the reasons she wanted to change beds was the hope that her cat would want to come and sleep with her.  As you can see, he already made himself comfortable on her new bed  :)

An Outing to the Falls

Skyeler has been working on a Photography Elective this year for school.  Part of the work for her elective is actually practicing taking different kinds of photographs.  In February (yes, I am shamelessly behind on posting...if you are observant you'll notice that Aly has long hair in some of these posts and short in others *sigh*) we had lots of snow and rain.  Lots!  Skye thought that the falls would be looking very pretty and wanted to practice some nature photography.  The only problem...Mom hates being cold.  But I sucked it up and then bundled up and with cameras in hand we made a trip to the park...

so Skyeler could do this!

It was very icy on the trails and the steps, like these heading down to the falls.

Skyeler and I played around with the settings on our cameras so we could take this waterfall picture at normal speed...

and this one at super slow speed.  I'm partial to this one.

Aly is partial to this cave.  She meant to bring along her flashlight so she could explore, but forgot.  

Aly taking a break on the bench.

Aly and Skyeler with red noses, finally getting cold and ready to go home.  

Our Little Engineer

Aly likes to make a mess, um I mean build things :)  When I saw this book recommended on the WTM message boards, I just knew that she would love it.  Mini Weapons of Mass Destruction will show your child how to make a catapult, a mole gun, and many more interesting little contraptions.  These little "mini weapons" can be made out of pens, pencils, rubber bands, paper clips, binder clips, and other items you might find around the house.  Aly spent some of her own money to finance a couple of her projects and hours working on them.  We had to remind her not to shoot them at the cat or her sister.  She had more successes than failures.  I had more messes all over the house than not :)  

Wordless Wednesday ... no it wasn't staged

News Bulletin: Aly Gets a Haircut!

That's right folks! Hot off the press! Aly has cut off 12 inches of her hair! 12 inches! How does she feel about this change (that she has been pestering, um, I mean asking to have done)? She is beside herself with joy :) Three weeks she has waited in anticipation of this day. Three. Long. Weeks. that Daddy made her wait to make sure that she truly wanted to part with all that hair. She will be proudly sending off those 12 inches to Locks of Love this week.

It looks so totally adorable!

January School In Review

So I've done my job as a parent well. Aly and Skyeler are very good at sharing. With each other. And with me. Aly caught a cold (exactly when she caught it is up for some debate, but her bad days were Monday and Tuesday). Being the loving sister that she is, she promptly shared with Skye. Skye woke up Wednesday feeling simply horrid. I have had my round of sick...bronchitis...last month...I think that is my quota for the winter. I wanted it to be my quota for the winter. Skye, on the other hand, thought she should share with me. I woke up Friday with that feeling. You all know that feeling and by last night I was sick with the cold. So Aly is now bursting with energy, and Skye and I are dragging. Skye is on her second roll of tp (should have bought those Kleenexes) and I'm on my first. I don't know which is running more, Skyeler's eyes or my nose. Maybe they are competing in the cold Olympics. Bleh. So we are all a little restless and I thought maybe it was time to crop some pictures to share here.

January school went well. We are plugging away at all of our studies. Aly spent the month learning about Brazil (and South America) and the Rainforest. She is doing fine in math though she is struggling a bit with getting those multiplication facts down. I bought the full version of Timez Attack to get her practicing. It's a cool multiplication computer game and she is working through the levels slowly. All About Spelling is going well, she really seems to be a natural speller. She has just a week or two left in her Junior Analytical Grammar book and is pages away from finishing her cursive handwriting book. We have been reading "It's a Jungle Out There" for our science read aloud and we finally finished our fun read aloud, "The Voyage of the Dawn Treader." Aly read "Alice in Wonderland" and began "Through the Looking Glass" for her independent reading. We haven't done any writing or poetry since Christmas break.

Skyeler is coming along with her studies as well. She is continuing through her Truthquest Middle Ages book and reading "The Emerald Sea." Algebra is Algebra. Progress is being made at a steady pace and I'm am pleased with that. The photography unit study is getting close to completion and I need to start looking into what I want her to study next to fill out that Photography 101 credit. She has been reading "Understanding Exposure" and lots of "Popular Photography" magazines already. Chemistry is getting a little tougher. She enjoys the "Elements of Faith" book that she is doing alongside her textbook. I've also added "The Elements: A Visual Exploration of Every Known Atom in the Universe." It's a bright, colorful book with some great, as it says, visuals. She spends a lot of time practicing her piano and writing. Conversations with Jane, our Jane Austen Lit Study, is going great. That's a separate blog though, you can get there through the sidebar link "The Austen Sisters."

Since I don't usually take pictures of our normal school days, (it really never crosses my mind), I thought I would post some pictures of what has been going on at our homeschool co-op. We take lots of pictures at co-op for the yearbook, and with three co-op days in January, I have plenty to share.



Aly in Art Class. We made Yarn Bowls with knitting yarn and glue. We are doing "Global Art" this year and this was a variation of a project from Ecuador. Very messy but the end results were great. Somehow I missed taking a picture of the finished project.This little guy is a Hexbug Nano. A cool little toy that you turn on and he buzzes all around. Aly got one for Christmas in her stocking...a cool looking green one.

This is Dan the Science Man's version of a Hexbug Nano. The kids paired up and made these in Science Class. They had a battery and a motor and a toothbrush head. It was a big hit, even though some of them only went round and round in circles and some just kept falling over and scooting on their side. I love watching the kids work on these projects. They are so intense!

Here is Skyeler urging her little bug to go straight and not on its side. She finally achieved success, just not in this picture :)

Aly is working on her next "Global Art" project, a Carnival costume from Brazil. Fabric paint and pillowcases, really. They wore them the next week in Music class and danced to Samba music! I have video but not on my computer yet. It's ... loud :)

Aly with a big weird face...

Skyeler with a big weird face...

Dan. Yes, we actually let him teach our children. How to make big weird faces with a magnifying glass and put a box on their head. Enlightening. I don't know what he's doing here but the box and the magnifier are going to be put to good use roasting marshmallows on the next sunny co-op day.

We took a break from our "Global Art" book to do a winter craft I ran across on a blog. A winter tree watercolor. You make a tree with painter's tape, paint watercolors all around, and you get...

This when you take the tape off. I have to admit that I made one of these myself :)

Here is Skyeler's bodice for her Regency gown. It is almost finished, the bodice, not the gown. I don't know how Beverly does it, teaching sewing to all six of the girls. Seeing as how sewing is alien to me, I think she is amazing!

I didn't post any pictures of Stewardship (think Business Math) or Yearbook or Gym or the Patricia Polacco Unit Study or Music Class (where Aly is learning the recorder). But you get the idea of what goes on.

It's kind of nice writing this all out. I should do it more often. It makes me realize just what all we are doing. Maybe I'll shoot for a month in review from now on.

Now off to take some yucky grape medicine ... Ick!

Getting Acquainted with my K-r

I mentioned in my last post that my darling hubby bought me this pretty little camera for Christmas.

My film SLR was a Pentax and I loved that camera. Now that everything is going all digital...and I'm not entirely sure that I love that direction...I'm trying to adapt. Even though I have been shooting digital with a great camera for at least the past three years, I still have yet to find that groove and get the quality pictures that I was getting before I began homeschooling. In an effort to find out if it is me or the camera, Dan bought me a Pentax digital that will fit my Pentax SLR lenses (namely my zoom lens!).

My first practice session has left me thinking that I am totally rusty and therefore it must be me :) But getting to know a new camera, especially a digital, takes some time and practice. I endeavor to find my groove and master this new digital age. **Cool hats courtesy of Granny and Papa!