Thanks Starbucks!

Kevin and I both showed our Heartland membership cards and they gave us each a free coffee! Here's the info

Starbucks Offers Free Coffee for Homeschool Parents
This coming Monday, September 29, homeschool parents will be able to pick up a complimentary tall size (12 fl. oz.) cup of Pike Place Roast from Starbucks.
This promotion is part of Starbucks “Great Start for Great Teachers” promotion, and is now open to all teachers.
HSLDA intervened when we were alerted that homeschool parents were not included in the promotion.
We are pleased that Starbucks is recognizing the contribution of homeschool parents by extending their program to us.
In order to pick up your free cup of Pike Place Roast you will need to present evidence that you are a homeschooler.
Any one item on the following list should be accepted by Starbucks:
Home School Legal Defense Association membership card.
Membership card from a state homeschooling organization.
Notification from a school district or state government recognizing compliance with compulsory attendance.
Paperwork submitted showing intent to establish a homeschool program.
Paperwork showing the establishment of a private school.
If you don’t have one of the items on this list be creative and try to provide other proof of homeschooling.
Please note: the final decision about whether to accept proof of homeschooling resides with Starbucks.We hope you choose to take advantage of this offer.

What can YOU do with a sharpie?

This is the ultimate low-cost design. It's totally amazing what this man did to his basement with $10 worth of sharpies and a lot of creativity. To read more and see more click here.

Martha Stewart Blog

Of course everyone knows who Martha Stewart is but does everyone know that she's a blogger? Check out her link on how to creat a blog. She had a whole show about bloggers and had people in the audience with laptops...cute show idea! She also has a blog contest so if you are interested take a peek! As Martha says, "It's a good thing".

Orb weaver spider

Several weeks ago I posted about a spider in our yard that the kids had found and someone emailed me about it and said that it was indeed an Argiope Spider and sometimes called an orb weaver and that they are the spider that E.B White descibes Charlotte to be in Charlotte’s Web. Well, she is still weaving her web outside of our window and has led us into a study of spiders (much to my dismay). I just loved the book Charlotte’s Web when I was in 3rd grade and now that Makenzie is in 3rd grade she loves it too. We thought it was interesting to see that there really is a spider that can weave other things (not messages though) into it's web (see the funnel in the pic). Attached are the latest picture of our Charlotte. Kylan says to tell you that she's the prettiest spider he has EVER seen. If you want to see what you are doing in our study of spiders and Charlotte's Web here are some of the links that I have been using:

http://www.homeschoolhelperonline.com/units/charlottes_web.htm

http://www.easyfunschool.com/article1682.html

We made this game http://www.abcteach.com/directory/theme_units/literature/charlottes_web/

and this one has a ton of things for kids

http://www.fsdb.k12.fl.us/rmc/content/charlottes_web.html

and we are thinking about making a lapbook similar to this one

http://www.homeschoolblogger.com/kellieann/395946/ but we haven't made it yet

Blogging for 3 years

I started this blog on Sept 16th, 2005 and I can NOT believe how big the kids have gotten and changed since that first post. Sandra is the one that reminded me to take a look back through some of my old posts. She found the one with my favorite pics and commented on it. Over the next couple of days I am going to go on blogroll and look at old posts from some of you. So, look forward to getting comments from the beginning of your blogs! My blog was set up so that our family and friends that live out of state and out of the country could keep up with what the kids are doing and see their pics. I encourage you to post why you started your blog.

Garage sale extravaganza-my latest project revealed

Oh, it looks like I need to turn the cushion around so that the prints are going the same direction but that's an easy fix.

Opps sorry this one is blurry

OK, that chair doesn't look as bad on the blog as it did in person. It was so dusty and the fabric was red velvet that was really old and nasty. Let me know what you think about the update! It turned out exactly like I envisioned it would when I saw it sitting in the driveway at the garage sale.

As soon as Kenzie cleans her room I will take a picture of it sitting at her computer desk in her room. Her bedroom is black and white zebra print with pink leopard print accents so I thought this would look adorable with all her animal prints! I know that this may not be every one's taste in fabric but it's perfect for our 8 yr olds room. She adores all thing girly so I can't wait for her to come home and see this. I will have to wait until tomorrow because she's with Grammy for a Girls Night out at the Jasmine Moran Children's Museum and then will stay the night and go to church with Grammy and her cousins.

Let me know if you see something that could improve it because I would love your constructive criticism.

Garage sale extravaganza-my latest project

I saw this chair and thought that it could be fabulous for Makenzie's room and it was only $4.00 it's horrible right now but I am working on it and will show the chair makeover in a day or so or maybe tonight because I just can't wait to finish this project. Can you guess what I am going to do? What color is it going to be? I just love working on projects and especially if they turn out to be adorable!

Garage sale extravaganza-Kylan's stuff

Since I knew Kylan was going to go with me I looked on Craig's List to see if there were going to be any good garage sales in our town. I found one that I knew Kylan would love it had Star Wars toys. After we finally found it he was so excited because I bought him the Milllenium Falcon ship that was still in the box and some characters.

We also found some camo sheets to match his room (we have been looking for some for a very long time and haven't had any luck at Wal-Mart, Target, etc.), and a couple of hats that a lady gave him because he was so adorable.

Garage sale extravaganza-my stuff

The colors are a little off on the tablecloth in this picture because it has more brown in it and that yellowish color is actually orange and the orange is actually brown and the fake pumpkin is not that bright!

I also found some cute items that I just had to get like a fall tablecloth for $1 I was just about to buy a new one, a fake pumpkin I also remember seeing it here (somehow I found my way onto this blog, she had made really cute white pumpkins and I'm going to try it), a burgundy bowl and this towel rack that's going to be used to hang blankets not towels.

Garage sale extravaganza-home school stuff

Kirsten books oh and a Samantha one by accident
Josefina books

Molly books

These are all hardbacks.




Makenzie was going to Grammys house for a "Girls Night Out" and Kevin was on the golf course so poor Kylan got stuck going to garage sales with mommy. I love to garage sale and try to find just the perfect thing for our house but today I totally hit the jackpot. Our first stop I found 65 books for 5 cents each... YES you read it correctly 5 CENTS each!!! I was amazed that hey were selling their whole collection of American Girl Books for only 5 cents each and it didn't matter if the books were hardback or paperback they were all the same price! I also got several of the Frog and Toad books and 7 of the Horrible Harry series.
Since I home school both of my children I am always on the lookout for a deal on books and this was the BEST deal I have EVER found on books.

One of my favorite finds today was a giant, magnetic, chalkboard that's so huge it almost didn't fit in the back of our suburban with the backseat folded down...BUT it did fit and it's going to look great in our schoolroom! This find was only $5.

This picture shows how large the chalk board is compare to Kylan..he's over 4 ft tall and it's almost as tall as him!

Skate Park and play dates

Most Fridays after our home school coop you can find us at one of the parks in our town and last Friday was no exception. It was such a beautiful day, the sun was shining and the sky was such a gorgeous shade of blue so we headed out for a fun time at the skate park. The moms all got to visit and discuss curriculum's and the kids skated, played with chalk, roller bladed, biked, skateboarded, played ball and rode scooters. Nobody got hurt and all the kids played hard!

Today, we went to a wonderful playground called Funtastic Island and we stayed for 3 hours and my kids came home so tired but said that they love their Friday play dates and always look forward to playing with their "home school friends".

Will Rogers Memorial Museum

Now, onto the museum part. We left Will Rogers Birthplace and drove to Claremore and we fell in love with Will Rogers Memorial Museum. The kids loved the childrens area...it reminded them a lot of Jasmine Moran Children's Museum but a much smaller version of it! They played dress up, put on a show, ran for President, forecast the news, did a puppet show, played school (what??? this is a homeschool field trip but they want to play school) and played with Lincoln Logs.

Will Rogers Birthplace

Yesterday my sister called and wanted to go on a field trip to a museum today. I have been really wanting to go visit Will Rogers Birthplace but didn't really want to go by myself so it was the perfect opportunity (of course this is not a museum but read more to find out about the museum). So, the kids and I had a dentist appt first thing this morning and we are happy to report NO CAVITIES!!! OK, let's get back on track with this field trip story....she showed up around noon and we loaded the kids up and headed to Will Roger Birthplace. First thing we see when we are driving in is the cutest donkey and he's stubborn like all good donkeys should be and walks straight toward us in the middle of the road. We notice 2 big, bright yellow school buses and realize that a Tulsa school has a field trip also. We walk through the house and then out to pet the animals when the school calls all of their kids together and has the field trip picture and then lines all these 2nd graders up and puts them on the buses and they leave. YEAH, we have the whole place to ourselves. The kids all pose for the required (by mommy) photos and have a grand old time feeding pears and leaves to the horses, donkeys, and adorable goats!!! By this time it's only about 1:30 and we were really hoping for a longer field trip so we head off to Claremore to tour the Will Rogers Memorial Museum .

North America

We have been studying North America for quite some time now. We have actually found that our unit study doesn't really do it justice considering Central America is part of North America. So, we have just been studying on our own with out the use of our curriculum for a few weeks. This will probably put us behind schedule for the year but that's ok because the kids are really LOVING what they are learning about. We are so greatful to Tim and Lori for sending us a package that had some wonderful things from Guatamala and Peru in it. I am NOT going to show anything from Peru until we get to South America but it's really cool and the kids can NOT wait to study more about Peru!
Also, thanks to Aunt Debi for the large envelope that you sent us...it's very helpful and exciting! We really appreciate all of you helping us with homeschool this year. So many of you have lived in or traveled to other countries and I fell this is a great opportunity for the kids to really make these countries come alive and not just be another dot on the map!
Attached are the books that we are reading about this week. It will change from week to week and hopefully you will see a book you have read as a child or to your children!

Korean unit study

I follow a blog called Our Homeschool Creations and she did an excellent unit study on Korea! I was so impressed with it that I had to share. I know many families that have children from Korea...just like we do and can appreciate this study. She has links to Korean money and she has links to the books that they read. For something fun and educational check out her blog and see what they are studying for the rest of this month! If someone knows how to get the little book thing that she has on her blog let me know because I would like to add it to our blog each week when we read new books! Oh, never mind I figured out it's just a widget!

Post card exchange

We are exchanging postcards this year on www.postcrossing.com and http://groups.yahoo.com/group/postcardkids/

I know some of you don't want to get into a large group like either of these but we would still love to exchange postcards with some of you that read the blog! Yes, Sally M I am talking to you and Chris B and anyone else that lives in another state or area of the country. I am even talking to you Mika G!!! So please email me if you don't have our address and send us a post card of your state, country, town, a joke postcard or just say HI, howdy, how ya doin??? We will in return send you a postcard from Oklahoma!! To check out the postcards that we have received go to http://www.exploringcountriesandcultures.blogspot.com/ We just got one from Finland today!!! Hope to hear from YOU soon!

Fire pit

We bought new furniture (last summer) for our deck and the table happens to have a fire pit in it. Well, the kids have been bugging us forever to cook in it. Hot dogs and s'mores are their pick for outdoor cooking because it reminds them of camping. Last night we decided it was finally cool enough to sit around a fire. We had such a great time and can't wait to do it again.

Kylan Rocks

Since I am newly obsessed with digital scrapbooking you are sure to see a LOT more new digi scrapbook pages on blog. So, please just hang in there until I either outgrow it or find something else to move onto! Here's my latest page of Kylan.

Digital scrapbooking

I have finally taken the plunge into digital scrapbooking! It's so much fun but I wish I was quicker at it! I always see the cutest pages on The Draper House so check out her blog and she's so funny! I found adorable paper and embellishments at The Shabby Princess so if you need some cute things check out her site! Also, some really super duper cute word art at Elegant Word Art by Bethany and I just can't get enough of her stuff! I can't wait to make something with her word art...it's so AWESOME!!! Anyway, attached is my first attempt at a digital scrapbook page! Let me know what you think.

Changing my blog

I have found the coolest website! If you want to update your blog and give it a totally cute look then check out The cutest blog on the block! They totally ROCK because they give detailed instructions and make it all SUPER duper easy!!! I have been playing around with the fall back grounds and will finally have the fall/autumn look decided when it's time for the winter look to come around! LOL! It's been so much fun playing with the look of the blog. Let me know what you think and if you have a FAV look!

Skydiving

I have the craziest Grandma EVER! She just turned 80...YES, 80 yrs old and is going skydiving for the very first time on Friday morning! This has been a dream of hers for several years and we are so excited for her! So, if you think about her please say a prayer for her!

Pioneer plasma TV's

If you are interested in buying a new Pioneer Plasma TV then give Kevin a call or email us at kenziekylanmom1@cox.net . He's now selling TV's as a side business and he can get you a really great deal on one!

Mini offices

Makenzie sitting with her writing mini office

We have decided to make these adorable mini offices for the kids' home school. We had a great time making Makenzie's. Kylan has been sick so we will have to finish his mini office later in the week. You can customize them to your child and their needs for the school year. For more info on these offices click here. We did make one change to our mini office and it worked out great for our us. Instead of using file folders we used the 3 sided boards that are used for science fairs or project boards and then I covered them with clear contact paper. One side of Makenzie's office is her writing/English side and the other is her Math side. I think we will make one for Geography also but it might be a smaller one (the file folder).

If you make a mini office please put a link to it in the comments section so we can see what yours looks like!

School letters

This year the kids are required to write letters on Fridays. So, we thought it would be a great idea to write to family and friends and also to the President of the United States. Makenzie loved this idea but Kylan didn't like it. He didn't think the President would want to get a letter from a little boy but he did it anyway. Last week the kids received a letter from the President, stickers with Barney the dog and a picture of President Bush. They are so excited asked me to post them to the blog so everyone can see them!