Sam- the transformation

Those of you that have followed us from the beginning know the struggles I have had with Sam and his behavior in the past. That was my biggest fear when we decided to pull him to home school him.
I saw us fighting to get anything done.

flying!

We have been at this since August with Samuel and he is doing great! In Fact, it's been amazing.

In August when we started Sam refused to read anything even close to grade level. He insisted he was a bad reader. He would cry at the mention of reading anything other than books the girls liked. I kept telling him how much the girls liked him reading and how great he was doing. He kept reading. Then I found him picking up other books. Now I find him reading books that surprise me.

after Quiddich 

He almost always gets his work done without and issue. Usually before noon, which is pretty awesome! He often says " I love being home schooled!"

He is struggling through some of his math though. He can't quite get the multiplication. He doesn't seem to know / understand the facts. So as soon as he doesn't get the answer right away he freaks out and cries. he is working on it slowly, but it is clearly difficult for him. I don't think it's because of the math itself but more because he is so afraid to make mistakes!

magic tree house book club

He has blossomed so far this year and I am amazed at how well he is doing.

Our Awesome Week

We had a busy week this week. But taking a minute to link up with

Marbleized painting with shaving cream for Divine Mercy with red and blue.

On Tuesday we went on a field trip to Sky Zone! So much fun packed into an hour.

On Wednesday we discovered that squirrels LOVE donuts and we worked on antonyms and reading. Nate is getting the hang of sounding out words quickly.

Thursday it was rainy and gross out. Torrential downpours and a crabby family meant art project time! We all worked on these abstract art flowers. We also colored in an immaculate heart medal. Since May is Mary's month

Today we went to the Nest to spend some time outdoors with friends. It was warm and sunny and just awesome. Until Grace threw up all over the place. So we came home.  We cleaned out the garage with the help of a giant dumpster and a helpful teen!

Then pizza and a movie before bed!

Totally awesome week until the puke. I hope the puke stays contained. This weekend we have a basement to clean out and a fence to put up!

Who wants to help?

The Rice Experiment

We did this at home
we did some things differently however.
we used the same size glass mason jars.We sterilized each one as well as their lids and collars.
I boiled the rice and placed the same amount in each jar. We covered it until it cooled and then placed the lids and collars on.

the first 2 weeks there was no mold at all. I was wondering if maybe the original experiment had worked simply because of contamination. Admittedly, we were not very good about saying things to the jars.
We got better about paying attention and speaking to the jars.
A small spot of mold developed on the I hate you jar directly in the middle.
Then some sad / negative issues came about.
suddenly We noticed both the I love you jar as well as the I hate you jar began to show signs of some mold.

4 weeks later.

The I hate you jar was covered in thick green and black mold.
The I love you jar never molded more than that small amount.
The ignore jar was not moldy but had become dried up and shrunken.

Trying Something New for Nate

Most of you know that Nate is homeschooled and doing well. He is solidly into the first grade work and loving it. Sam will come home at some point. I am just not ready yet.
I struggle with finding new and interesting ways to teach lessons. making sure we dont miss anything makes me feel a little worried sometimes too. 
So this next month I am reviewing something new . Time4Learning.

I've been invited to try Time4Learning for one month in exchange for a candid review. My opinion will be entirely my own, so be sure to come back and read about my experience. Time4Learning can be used as a homeschool curriculum, for afterschool enrichment and for summer skill sharpening. Find out how to write your own curriculum review for Time4Learning.I am going to have both Sam and Nate use it. 

No Click

I keep forgetting to grab my camera when I go out. So many missed opportunities for great pictures. I haven't posted much because things have been a little more up in the air here than usual. We have some house guests and while they have been wonderful, it's still a change.

We have had lots of fun too!

We had a pool party! A friend of ours from church invited the entire family over to play in the pool. Remember when Sam was afraid of the water?  He isn't anymore! In fact he has been difficult to get out of the water. He even went in without a giant life vest! This is the THIRD time in 2 weeks he has gone in a pool and enjoyed himself.

Some of the kids and I went off to a farm and learned about carrots. yes, carrots. We had a blast!

Then we all went to a playground with everyone but Tyler. I gave some of the kids a great lesson in what boogers are made of. It was a homeschool group meet up and it was a blast. The kids ran until they were ready to fall over. The information about the meeting talked about a big red slide. I thought , OK a big slide. I saw what I thought they were talking about and didn't think much of it.

Then I looked over at Samuel and Nate running for the break in the trees. I squinted a bit and notices stairs... and THIS

They weren't kidding about the slide. It was GINOURMOUS! The kids were using cardboard to make themselves go even faster! We enjoyed food and some great people.

Our house guests had their kids visit yesterday and sleep over (8 kids in one place) and it was great. I do enjoy all the different personalities.

Today I did laundry to make up for playing hookey all day yesterday.

Anyone want to help me put it all away?