My Quote of the Day

"I'm thinking of at least one job for which I may be the least qualified person in the world. If we could give an aptitude test for this skill, I believe I would fall in dead last. Everyone else on the entire planet, I believe, is better equipped than I am to raise a servant of the state. I'm not the guy to do that job. I am, however, equipped to raise servants of the King."

~ R.C. Sproul, Jr., When You Rise Up: A Covenantal Approach to Homeschooling

A Primer on Global Warming: Dispelling CO2 Myths

The Primer


http://www.globalwarmingheartland.org/

Summer Mini-Lesson; Statue of Liberty

Watch this video at HowStuffWorks. (New York Up Close: The Statue of Liberty)

And these at History.com. (various video clips about Ellis Island)

And maybe this one too for fun. (Statue of Liberty laser show)

Choose a crayola coloring page for little ones - here, here, or here.

And have bigger kids do some Time for Kids worksheets here, here, here, here, and here.

Follow the instructions in Draw Write Now Book 5 to draw the Statue of Liberty.

Read The Copper Lady and "The New Colossus".





"Thanks for the free clip-art to the Just A Touch Art Studio of Jonesboro, Georgia; www.justatouch.com"

Pics for Father's Day gifts

Summer Mini-Lesson: Pollinators

It started with my e-mail from the NWF. While, I strongly disagree with their position on global warming, I appreciate their children's magazines (Ranger Rick, Your Big Backyard, and Animal Baby), love the Green Hour website and blog, and enjoy all of the information on local wildlife and children's and family activities to help them.

So this e-mail informed me that this week is National Pollinators Week and listed five ways to help pollinators in my neighborhood:

1. Use Native Plants



2. Hang Hummingbird Feeders



3. Build a Bee House



4. Plant a Butterfly Garden



5. Certify Your Yard With National Wildlife Federation

We'd just read books about bumble bees and honeybees last week. So today we read "Bad News for Bees" at Time for Kids. Brian's bringing home "A Honeybees Job" worksheet (our printer isn't working). The corresponding teacher guide has an additional worksheet as well.

Then we went to CBS and watched the video "Mystery of Disappearing Bees". We also checked out Haagan Daz's Help the Honeybees website. We then discussed the ways we could help, including the e-mail that started it all. We're planning to hang two hummingbird feeders tonight and soon buy some native plants to add to the butterfly garden.

We ended our mini-lesson with a fingerprint bumblebee craft. We stamped our bees on card stock, drew flower stems along the bottom, and added foam sticker flowers. Another option would be this cute Egg Carton Bumble Bee.

Five Things To Do This Weekend - Welcoming Summer Edition

1. Ice down a watermelon
2. Make fresh-squeezed lemonade
3. Break out the popsicle molds and freeze a treat
4. Try some new wading pool games
5. Teach your kids "In the Good Old Summertime"

New Pet Peeve

Okay, this is not a normal pet peeve like slow drivers in the fast lane or people that yell at their whining kids that they have at the store at 10 PM. This is a new one and I'm wondering if it is unique to me.

Does it drive anyone else crazy that it is all the rage to put the care tags for clothes at the bottom of the inside side seam? It makes me nuts! I am always checking care tags when I do the laundry to remember if I can tumble dry or need to hang to dry, wash on delicate, or hand wash cycle. And now I have to go fishing around the inside of skirts and dresses to find the answer to a simple question! Is it really that impossible to just put that on the tag that's already on the top of the dress??

I'm done ranting now.

So am I the only one?

Flavored Milk

Rose sent a small cookie that she'd made home from Gran's on Tuesday. She had a note with it that said that it was for Bella and that I was supposed to eat it so that she could have it in her milk. :^)

The "Almost" Perfect Weekend

You'd think I'd have pictures - but I keep forgetting the camera in the nearly-forgotten mass of baby things that must be packed when going places.

Friday night we went to a carnival. I like this one because it is a good size. It's a school carnival, and it has a few rides and a bunch of inflatables, and carnival games, and the best part - $6 wristbands for the kids to do everything. They even have free cake and ice cream. So it was a fun family night. Rosie loves to swing, so the amusement park-style swing ride is a favorite of hers, she rode it twice. She loved the circus train too. Ethan's favorite was an inflatable ring that housed a king of the mountain type game. Two kids. Two air filled platforms. Two body pillow sized sacks that they wacked each other with.

On Saturday afternoon we went to Communtiy Appreciation Day at our local library - free hot dogs, and we ran into a family from church that we'd not visited with in a long while and got to catch up. From there we decided to head to the park, and I got the bright idea (I hoped) to head to the nearest, and relatively new, elementary school to try out their playground. It was huge and the kids loved it. After they'd played, we finished off our delicious summer day with milkshakes from Burger King. And let me tell you, their Oreo sundae shakes are amazing.

Then came Sunday. The day I woke up with what I thought were really bad gas pains and turned out to be a stomach virus. By Sunday night I'd shipped my kids off to Gran's. Monday Brian stayed home with Bella and I and I felt mostly better (as long as I didn't do too much). Monday night I felt over it and the kids came home. Tuesday morning it returned with a vengeance. The kids went back to Gran's and Brian came back home after lunch to babysit Bella. I finally managed to eat some saltines and drink some water that night.

The upside? I am officially back to my pre-pregnancy weight. So I only have to lose the same 20 lbs I've needed to lose since Rose was born.

And can I tell you that I have the sweetest kids. Anna Kate made me a rainbow beaded bracelet on Sunday that I'm still wearing. All of the kids spent their own money to buy me get well gifts that they brought home Monday. Ethan brought candles, Anna Kate some solk flowers with butterflies, and Rose a flower wind twirler that she posted in the front yard inder the magnolia. Tuesday evening, Pa brought me a note from Anna Kate along with a bottle of Mountain Dew that she was sure would make me feel better. :^)

I think it worked.

Five Things To Do This Weekend

1. Enjoy a festival or carnival.
2. Cut a magnolia blossom and float it in a bowl of water.
3. Catch lightning bugs.
4. Cook lunch on the grill and eat outside together.
5. Order Father's Day gifts before it's too late to get them shipped and you have to shop at WalMart. Again. Make plans for a magical day, while your at it.