Week 8 - Canada and School on the Road!

This week finished up not only Canada, but North America as well. We will be moving on to South America when we get back to schooling. Next week, we've got a week long vacation in Alabama to get ready for a special baby shower! That has been planned for awhile, but little did we know just how much we would need that vacation at this point in our school year (God surely knows how to plan our schedules better than we do!) We got a call last Saturday night that Jeff's grandmother wasn't doing very well. Sunday, Jeff preached his sermon and we spent the rest of the day trying to figure out what we should do. Jeff had a few things he needed to do on Monday and some folks to visit, so we went ahead with school at home that day before we headed to Tampa that afternoon. We made Canadian maple cookies that were very delicious! The girls love anything in the kitchen!

We drove down to Tampa that afternoon and got to visit with Jeff's family and his grandmother. The girls got to see her and she smiled when she heard them say they loved her. Jeff got to talk to her and she told him she loved him. I am so grateful the God gave him (and us) that evening with her. The next day and evening, we saw her again, but she was much worse. On Wednesday morning, she passed away peacefully and surrounded by her family. The girls had been upset when we left her Tuesday night, but they took the news of her death fairly calmly Wednesday morning. We had brought our school work with us and I think that helped to distract them. They had lots of questions and we took plenty of time to answer them. They had some very thoughtful questions and I was so proud of the way they handled everything. I love those girls so much! They are such a blessing to us. In between questions and family gatherings, we still found time to get in our school for the week. It was a little different doing it away from home, but we made it work. Instead of everyone having their own desk, we were all at the same table. It was kinda fun! Here are a few pictures from our week at Mema and Papa's house. (Forgive the pictures with no narration, I'm tired tonight and ready for bed after our week)

We also tried making igloos out of sugar cubes. This project didn't go as well as hoped, but the girls had fun anyway.

We finished our Canadian lapbooks, which turned out great. Check out Maryella's orca she drew on hers! I love it!

And just one final picture... in memory of Mom. We will miss her and are so thankful for all the wonderful memories God has blessed us with.

Week 7 - Canada and Another Zoo Class

Time to pull out the passports again! This week we traveled to Canada while enjoying some in flight activities. Unfortunately, Elianna missed this trip because she was really tired that day and needed her nap.

They all got their passports stamped.

And found Canada on our map.

Other Canada activities we did this week... We found the words to the Canadian national anthem as well as a YouTube video of someone (the girls swore it was iCarly) singing it. We tried to sing along.

We learned about the Inuit people and carved Canadian animals in Ivory soap like they do in soapstone. This was tons of fun, but VERY messy! Kaylin did her polar bear totally by herself.

I helped Annlee draw her polar bear on the soap but she carved it.

Maryella and I worked together on her seal.

They were very proud of their work!

We studied the aurora borealis, or northern lights. This is such a cool phenomenon. The girls are really hoping to go see them in person one day. I'd LOVE that! So neat! We found a YouTube video that explained how they occur.

Then we looked at some pictures of them.

We tried an art technique called crayon resist to attempt to capture these lights on paper. First, you color the lights and the foreground with crayon.

Next, paint over everything with tempera paint. The crayon is supposed to not accept the paint like the rest of the canvas.

Then you wipe off the excess paint and Voila! Beautiful aurora borealis paintings!

We also made a family totem pole. Each of them chose an animal that they felt respresented them and made individual totems. Kaylin picked a swan because they are graceful and sometimes bossy, lol. Her words, not mine!

Annlee chose a cat because they are curious and get scared easily, bless her heart.

Maryella picked a rabbit because they jump a lot and they are sweet and cute, haha.

I made a frog for Elianna because that's one of her favorite animals right now and I didn't want her to feel left out when she woke up.

We then stacked them to make one big family totem pole.

In science, we learned about food chains. I found a Magic School Bus video on YouTube (I love YouTube, by the way!) then the girls drew their own food chains.

Part of our science this week was another trip to the zoo - the girls are loving these! I should mention here that Jeff was out of town all week and I made the drive to Jacksonville by myself with all the girls. I was scared to death, but I made it! Only got on one wrong interstate, haha. While the girls were in their classes, Elianna and I walked around the zoo with some friends. Elianna got to feed a giraffe.

She and Anderson played and had tons of fun together!

This was their favorite exhibit - the rarely seen tiny waterfalls in giant metal tubs, lol. They would have played here all day (except for when they took time out to throw mulch and pick up ants).

Kaylin's class went out into the zoo and she got to pet an alligator. WHAT?!?! Here they are coming back to their class.

Annlee's class talked about how chameleons are able to use camoflauge. They made this cute craft.

Maryella's class learned about tarantulas. When I went to pick her up, they were hiding under the table. She said she was waiting for her prey, lol. When I asked her what she learned about tarantulas, she said that "they don't actually have a poison bite. They shoot little hairs into you that irritate your skin."

Other fun pictures from our week... This is Alex's favorite spot while we are schooling. He usually lays here the whole morning.

I ordered some new pattern blocks that are magnets and made of foam. The girls have LOVED playing with these and making shapes!

This made me laugh. Maryella colored this little map and said she was going to use it to homeschool her Barbies. Love it!