Jack's Geography Project

This month, the homeschool group that we belong to gave us the option to complete a geography project on a country. Jack decided to research Germany. We focused on using lots of pictures so Jack could present as much of the project as possible by himself. He had a lot of fun learning about the industry, culture, and animals.

He was the only little kid to actually talk and present his project. I am so proud of him! He really stole the show. Many of the other parents complemented him too. We also brought german potato salad and sweet and sour purple cabbage. Both dishes were a hit. When I brought the left overs home, Bryan attacked the cabbage. That is the best complement anyone could ever give me!

Handy Dandy Family

I have been on a crafty roll. I really like jewelry, but it is just too expensive, so I've decided to learn how to make my own creations. I found a free pattern on Michael's website, bought the supplies, and $13 and 3 hours later I had a new necklace. I like it, but I think it's a bit too big for me. I'll have to find a friend or family member who can pull off big necklaces.

Jack and Bryan were equally busy. Last weekend, the woman at Lowes gave us an extra builder kit to make a picture frame. So Jack and Bryan went out to the workbench, suited up for safety, and built a one-of-a-kind picture frame. (Jack must have learned how to wear his goggles from one of my past students. Why is that they never put them over their eyes???) Jack had so much fun and was so proud of himself.

Oh, and I don't have any pictures, but yesterday we went for a walk through the park (bayou) down the street. It was a beautiful day, the path is nicely shaded, and there was a great breeze. Jack had fun finding all sorts of plants, spiders, birds, and even THREE ALLIGATORS!!!! This freaked me out a little bit. They were literally a foot away from us in the water! Jack was amazed and just wanted to stand there and watch them for a little while, but mom was quite ready to keep on walking. Quietly and calmly. Even if I had the camera, I don't know that I would have had the nerve to stand there and take pictures of them.

My Crazy Kids

So Audrey has a new talent. She climbs Jack's ladder to his bunk bed!!! I don't know what she's trying to do to me, but given the looks on her face she definitely enjoys it. I can't turn my back on her. I walked into Jack's room yesterday and told her she was going to get hurt. Two seconds later, her foot slipped and she fell. She cried and cried, and then two minutes later was back on the ladder! Once she is up there (don't worry, I am by her side nearly touching her the entire time), she has a ball! She and Jack just think this is the best place to play.

If any of you know anything about me, you probably know how much I love to cook (not necessarily bake). Jack has picked this up from me and every once in a while, I loosen up enough to let him help me. This is a big step for me, given that I don't even really allow my husband to cook with me. And when he does cook, I have to leave the room so I don't "tell him how to do it right." :o) Jack has this wonderful kids cookbook (Disney's the Magic Kitchen Cook Book) that he likes to page through like it's the Sears Wish Book. He keeps telling me that he wants to make things and half the time we are missing at least one key ingredient. So this week, I was a good mom, and told him that he could choose two recipes to make this week and we'd buy the ingredients. Tonight he made the "Fiesta Taco Pizzas" with a little bit of help from me. He was so proud of his dinner and it was delicious!

Birthday Party Fun

Today, the kids and I went to a paint-your-own-pottery birthday party. Jack had tons of fun. He chose a motercycle to paint. It has to go in the kiln to be fired, and then we will get it back. I will update with pictures when we get it back. Audrey also got to paint. She and I smeared some colors on a tile and then she put her hand print on the tile. She wasn't too keen on painting, but she had fun eating pizza and running around. They had a small area like build-a-bear, so she and the other little ones kept going up there and picking up stuffed animals to carry around.

I adorned the gift that we brought for the birthday girl (the pastor's 5 year old daughter) with a homemade bow. This was my first attempt at a bow, I was surprised how easily it came together. I am looking forward to making more bows!

I am also including a picture of Jack with one of his new friends, Seth. There are two boys that Jack gets along with great a church (this is one of them). I believe Seth is 9 or 10, but he is such a nice boy that you would never know there is an age difference between the two. It probably helps that Jack is pretty mature for his age also. Behind Audrey is Jacob, Jack's other friend. Jacob is the same age as Seth, and is great with both Jack and Audrey.

And one last picture for today. After we got home, I went to look in on Audrey, quietly playing in her room by herself. She was so cute, just pulling books off her bookshelf and "reading" books to herself.

Audrey's Rock Star Look

I went to the thrift store to find some tee shirts, which was harder than I expected. I only found one tee shirt that I liked. I followed the tutorial that I shared earlier. It only took me about an hour to make. The bottom of the shirt flares out too much for me. I am thinking about putting bias tape along the bottom to pull it in a little.

Another awesome giveaway

If anyone has kids who like to play in the kitchen, you have to check out this site. Click this blog to enter a giveaway for some felt food. Within the blog, there is a link to the etsy site, where you can either buy the food already made or buy patterns to make your own.

Yay! A Project Done!

Here are a few pictures of my newest project. It is from a New Look pattern. It only took me two days to complete, and I added the band on the bottom of the pants all by myself :o) My model isn't the most cooperative model, hence the three pictures.

We haven't done much this week, as it's been pretty humid here and the pool is closed during the week since the kids have gone back to school. Maybe we'll get there tonight. Both of the kids love to swim, so I'd like to get as much swimming in as possible before the pool closes for the season.