School is out

After mulling it over I threw my ideas around to my dh. He listened and then "I said I can't do that?". And he blew me away by saying " Why not?". He acutally agreed our trip was going to be very educational. He also noted that for the last couple of weeks of school ps dosn't really do all that much either. He was totally fine with it. I thought for sure he wasn't going to understand the idea of using our vacation to finish out the yr of hs.



At dinner we told the kids. They were to say the least excited. We did also state that we would continue Reading and Math throughout the summer. Conner loved the idea. Colin wasn't so sure till we said we would continue Math and Reading.



School is out. Well at least till Vacation. And we will still do our 4-H projects, County Fair, International Towne and Math and Reading. All in all I don't see a downside ....for now.

Extended Field Trips

Uhm Anyone ever take one of these? Bet you have.

Well we are ....planning a vacation that is.

Date -June 11-24
Destination- South Carolina
Purpose- Visit Chris's side of family

At first I wasn't too sure about this. The last time I was there Chris and I were still dating and well it was the definition of "hickville" . Of course I was only 17 so Im sure that had something to do with it. So with this in mind I started to venture online to see what I could find in the way of fun fun fun with my boys.
I was truly amazed at what was within a couple of hrs of driving . Some of the things we have planned so far include but are not limited to-

Dolphin boat tour
Ft. Sumnter
Tybee Island
Charlston
Charles towne landing
Charlston Ghost tour
Tybee beach
Turtle hatching
Aqarium
2-3 Lighthouses
Seeing how the south moves/lives (yes they do things much slower there)


So with this in mind I thought ok we have 14 days of School left and 14 days of vacation time. We are doing some pretty educational stuff. So what if I take off school just do some lapbooking/notebooking of our vacation so when we get there the kids can know alot of stuff about the area and life there. Of course I would still keep up math, reading, penmanship. Boy I really don't sound like I am taking off of school. I could do this right? and not feel guily? hmmm
I am considering this we are pretty schooled out at the moment. Plus vacation is only a month and a half away.
What do you guys think?
Vanessa

Colin turns 11

We have done the big horah rah with the kid's birthdays and well it's stressful so in more recent yrs and as our kids got older we toned it down a bit. We now let our kids invite a friend or two to spend the night. Our child gets to choose what to have for dinner and breakfast( if they want). Finally we do whatever the child wants, within reason. Since I'm not paying for that huge party I can take that money I would have spent on it and put it towards whatever the child wants to do.

Colin wanted German Brat's for dinner. So we went all the way to the springs to the German Store and bought the brats, the curry ketchup, the spicey mustard and of course some odds and ends. It's his Birthday so of course I got him the Kinder Uberashung- Kinder eggs. My boys looooovve these, I honestly can't emphasize that enough. In case you don't know they are little chocolate egg , I will have to take a picture for you next time, it's hollow with a small container in the inside. There is a prize inside, varies all the time. So you get to eat your chocolate and then put together this tiny toy. We got some other goodies, in my opinion german gummies of any kind put American gummies to shame. Of course I did grow up on them so , sorry.

Colin also got the day off school. He said he didn't mind doing some work, but as it turned out our german store "field trip" (geography???) took most of the day. Well not really but since I was up that way I met a friend to catch up. Colin chose to have his friends spend the following weekend so I am going to try and surprise him with some more brat's. YUmm.

He got to unwrap his presents and was thrilled with it all. It was a fairly quiet birthday. He still hasn't made up his mind on what to do with his buddies when they come to spend the night. We also went fishing , Colin has taken a liking to it. He did pretty well and caught one, his dad caught some too, he looked like a big kid too. Here are the kids with their catch, dirty. Don't you love Colin's hat,cuuute.

Vanessa

Some fun sites to look at over the summer

Summer Fun Websites!

Science Themed
1. www.nationalzoo.si.edu/education/conservationcentral (Panda fun awaits with Panda habitat games!)
2. www.paleobiology.si.edu/dinosaurs/interactives/dig/main.html (A virtual dino dig!)
3. www.headbone.com (Alot of Science + a few other games!)
4. www.kidsplanet.org/games (LOTS of animal games!)
5. www.spaceplace.nasa.gov/en/kids/games.shtml (Space activities!)
6. www.allaboutfrogs.org/funstuff/java/index.html (FROGS!!!!)
7. www.worldbook.com/wb/worldbook/cybercamp/html/index.html (Science and adventure!)8. www.gocybercamp.org/login.php (Another virtual outdoors camp!)
9. www.childrensmuseum.org/geomysteries/mysteries.html (Rocks and minerals mysteries!)

Reading/Literature Themed
10. www.roalddahl.com (Under "treats" find fun games based on his books!)
11. www.unitedmedia.com/comics/peanuts/fun_and_games/game_gallery.html (Comics, games and more from this beloved writer!)
12. www.harperchildrens.com/catalog/narnia_books_game.asp?.mc_id=NEWS_NARNIA_NL2_032708 (Narnia Games/Prince Caspian)

Social Studies Themed
13. www.timeforkids.com/TFK/kids/games/ (Lots of geography types) games and more!
14. www.childrensmuseum.org/geomysteries/index3.html (Geography mysteries!)
15. www.fffbi.com (Animal Mysteries!)
16. www.designdoodles.com/missingmasterpiece/index.htm (More mysterious stuff!)
17. www.fbi.gov/kids/k5th/kidsk5th.htm (Real detectives only! :)
18. www.cyberbee.com/whodunnit/crime.html (More crimes to solve!)

Art
19. www.wildlifeart.org/ArtTales/index.html (Be a museum curator!)

Enrichment/Brainteasers
20. www.slylockfox.com/arcade/index.html (Cool puzzles!!)
21. www.athropolis.com/games.htm ("Chilly" brainteasers!)
22. www.tvokids.com/framesets/gamePicker.html (Some games based on tv programs, but it is varied with challenging games and puzzles in many subjects!)
23. www.superthinkers.com/enlightenme/st/ (Lots to do!)
24. www.ottoclub.org/ (AAA sponsored fun!)
25. www.powertolearn.com/games/index.shtml (LOTS here!)
26. www.sunnykidsplay.com/gamesmain.php (Varied fun!)

Sports
27. www.usoc.org/kids/Athens/site/ (Summer Olympics!)
28. www.mlb.mlb.com/mlb/kids/games.jsp?c_id=mlb (Baseball!)

Music
29. www.creatingmusic.com (Making music is fun!)
30. www.nyphilkids.org/games/main.phtml (NY philharmonic!!!)

Health Themed
31. www.colgate.com/app/Kids-World/US/HomePage.cvsp (Healthy teeth and fun games!)32. www.smokeybear.com/kids/default.asp (Safety!)

Messing with my template

I was getting a bit tired of my template and thought hey I'll change it.It worked and I like the new template but now my blogroll, on our coffee table and other stuff has disappeared. Ugh.
I didn't want to do that.
Even if I go back to the other way it will have already deleted the information and it will take time to do that. Now I need to figure out if I can keep my template and have the widgets (thingys) still.
Anyone willing to pipe in here and give me some advice would have my utmost gratitude.
Vanessa

You won't believe what was in his foot

My little monkey boy/ daredevil jumped over the fence and landed on a stick. It went through his shoe and into his foot. He didn't cry, or complain. It looked like we got it all out but it was bleeding a bit so mabey we didn't see it all the way.

We called the doctor and took him in. She put him on antibiotics and told me to soak his foot in water and if I wanted Epson salt. She also said if on friday it was still hurting then to come Four days pass and his foot looks infected. Dh and I talked and we decided that he did indeed need to be taken back for the inevitable shot and lancing of his foot because whatever was in there wasn't coming out.

Colin would hear none of it. He said no. We poked and prodded a bit and it oozed out alot of "puss" (yuck). We got most of that out and cleaned it again. Dh could see something but it was really in there.

Dh: Colin you are going to have to go to the doctor's I cant get it out.

Colin: Nooooo, I hate shots, I don't want to. Just get it out.

At this point Dh asks me to poke in there to get it. I am so squimish that after the tweezers looked like they were in my poor baby's foot , I gagged and dropped them and fled. I am not good in these situations. Dh and the kids laughed at my expense. Ha ha ha.

Dh: We can't get it out. The only thing that will hurt is the shot for just a bit. You will have to go to the Dr's

Colin at this grabs the "dropped tweezers" and digs around for himself. I tried to look I really did but after feeling like I was going to puke I took leave of the room and let the "MEN" handle it. A few minutes later I was summoned and they had got it out. I never heard a peep out of colin the entire time.

Here's what was in my poor baby's foot.

Look at that. Its huge. We saved it to put in his scrapbook, how gross is that?


It's about the size of one of his fingernails. He must have been so uncomfortable walking around on it. Never complained once.


The hole left. I hope it heels up well.

Also would this be considered health class??

Making Butter

We borrowed a book from the library on science experiments. We have done a few really neat ones, while my camera was on hiatus. First we made our own disappearing ink with lemon juice. Then we played around with different jars to see which piece of steel would rust first. And then we made butter and buttermilk.

We had some whipping cream. Put it in a jar and shake shake shake, shake shake shake, shake your booty times later we had butter and the by product buttermilk. No one has been brave enough to try it yet though, not even me.

So I was able to take pictures of this and thought I'd share. Please excuse my perpetually messy house.