Old Pali Road Hike

Grandma came to visit us in the begining of March.  We took off the two weeks she was visiting to enjoy our time together. 

One day, we took the kids up to the Old Pali Road for a hike.  On our way there we stopped at Queen Emma's summer palace.  The summer home of Queen Emma is filled with history. She was the last of the Kamehameha line to sit on the Hawaiian throne.  Her son Prince Albert was supposed to be the next king but  died at four years old of  appendicitis.  All of her belongings on display in the museum are original pieces.  I wish I would have brought in my camera.  Inside were some of the most beautiful furnishings I have ever seen.  There is a baby cradle, hand-carved in the shape of a faberge egg-beautiful. 

After we finished in the museum we drove to the Pali Lookout.  It was incredibly windy!  The air temperature dropped 10 degrees when we reached the parking lot. If I would have to guess the wind speed, I'd say it was at least 50-70 mph gust.  We started walking and laughing because the wind was blowing us everywhere.  When mom turned around, she yelled out Silly guys name.  I turned around and he was hanging on to a wall afraid because he couldn't walk against the wind.  We grabbed him and held on to him tight.   

We walked down the old road a little ways where the wind let up and enjoyed our hike.  The great thing about this hike(especially when dad is at work)is, it's paved.  It is an easy trail for strollers or toddlers and great with a pet.  Here are some pictures from our hike.

  

"The wind"

It was so strong we didn't even have to walk.  It pushed us right up the hill. 

Silly guy hanging on for dear life.  He picked up a walking stick on our way back anticipating the wind.  This face isn't an exaggeration. 

You know me....  I can't help myself when it comes to flowers.  We've been on this island for 3 1/2 yrs and I have never spotted this flower before.  I just love surprises! 

 

Matter of Fact

The kids attended a Mad Science workshop with our homeschool group.  It was called Matter of Fact and was very educational.  The kids experimented with chemistry, learned some of the elements, matter, atoms, molecules, and made some goop  to take home with them.  It was a great class!  We've enjoyed them all.  Our next one is coming up in a few weeks:  Black and Blue Oceans.  Can't wait! 

Sweet girl in her googles

Silly guy being well my silly guy.  I think this is his mad scientist impression:)

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Rain Forest Lapbook

I have made a Rain forest lapbook to go along with Silly guy's study of the rain forest. He loves to complete lapbooks and I enjoy creating them for him. This lapbook concentrates on the major rain forests of the world; the Amazon and the Congo. It also includes a map book, vocabulary pages, animals of the rain forest, and a few general pages. I wanted to share the link to my page over at HSlaunch if you would like to download the lapbook for free. You can also access my other downloads in the blue box on the side bar.

Click here: The Rain Forest Lapbook

We have also been adding in some hands on activities to go with the study. He made this Amazon village this week. We used egg cartons cut in half for the houses. We made glue by mixing 1 cup of flour mixed with water until sticky. We then dipped newspaper strips into the glue and applied 3 coats of paper. After it was completely dry he painted them. We used paper towel rolls wrapped in construction paper for the trees. Then we painted the rain forest floor adding salt to the paint for texture. It was a messy project but a lot of fun.
When we start studying the Congo, he will be making some jewelry using dried noodles.

An Eventful Weekend

We have had quite the eventful weekend. We live in Hawaii.On Saturday we had a tsunami warning. We have tsunami warnings often, but this time they were taking it very serious. It all started....
Saturday morning, about 5 am, my husband's cell phone was ringing. He woke up and checked his voice mail. My mother called him and told him about the warning(she is on the east coast). He woke me up. "There is a tsunami warning. We have to get up." I really didn't think much of it because like I said we get these warnings a lot. "I am going downstairs to turn on the news." he whispered. A few moments later, he came back upstairs and told me it was expected to hit the islands around 11:15 a.m. "I think you need to get up!", he was very serious so I got out of bed. I came downstairs and we were watching the news. Immediately, we started thinking about where we were going to go and what we needed to pack. On the news they said we would need 7 days of food and water, light clothing, first aid kit, flashlight, radio, important papers, etc. My husband decided he would go and fill the van up with gas and I told him to go to the atm and pull out cash. I was thinking if the power went out for a few weeks the atms wouldn't be working. So, he left and so did everyone else. The lines at all of the gas stations were long. They even had the police standing guard.
While he was gone I started packing up food and filling every possible container with water. Meanwhile the sirens were going off outside.
The sirens woke the kids up. They came down the stairs and asked me what was going on. "Why was your phone ringing all night? Why are there sirens going off?"When I told them, the look of fear came over their faces. I told them we would be okay and that we had plenty of time to get somewhere safe. After the initial shock, I had them collect blankets for everyone and spare clothes. I thought it would be better for them and helpful to me if I kept them busy.
My husband came home from getting gas and we started packing the car with everything.
Then he told me on the radio they were asking people to stay home if they didn't need to evacuate. I called the Civil Defense because I wasn't sure if we needed to evacuate or not. We can see the ocean from our neighborhood but I wasn't sure how far a tsunami wave would travel. They told me we would be safe at home. When I told the kids we were going to stay home they didn't believe me and kept insisting we needed to leave. Finally, I explained to them that it would be more dangerous for us to be on the road.
Just as a precautionary, we decided to take all of the food and water upstairs on the second floor of the house. We told them at 11:00 we would all head upstairs and stay until it was over with.
It was 7:00 am and we turned the t.v. off. I just felt to have it on was not doing us any good. The constant reminder of what was coming was exhausting emotionally and physically. We were ready and we knew around what time it was going to hit. We decided we would turn the news back on at 10:45.
After breakfast, I vacuumed the house and cleaned the bathrooms just to keep mind busy.
Around 9:00,we took the kids outside and played on the playground for a little while.
Although, it was kind of eerie outside. Everything was quiet besides the sirens.
We came inside and turned the news on again. We watched as the big island, Hawaii, prepared to get hit first. It was now 11:05 which was when the big island was supposed to be hit. As we watched on the news, you could see the water being sucked out (you could see the reef)and rushing back in, but no big waves. It happened again and again. Each time faster then the time before. We were waiting for this monster wave to come into the camera's view but thank God it never happened.
So, it was quite the scare but we were safe!! We did learn that in an emergency we pulled together as a family. We all took on a job, completed it and were ready to evacuate with in an hour. It amazed me!
After all of that, tonight we went for our usual nightly walk. I somehow lost the garage key and we were locked out for about an hour and a half. It just happened to be a really chilly night too. Luckily, my neighbor brought jackets over for the kids and shortly after the locksmith was at our house. I was suppose to be doing my midterm tonight for the class I am taking, but I decided I would blog about this crazy weekend instead. After a good nights sleep, midterm tomorrow night!!

Sociology Project

Sweet girl finished up her Sociology unit in History last week. This was a big project she worked on for the unit. The purpose of the assignment was to experience one of the jobs of a Sociologist, taking surveys. She surveyed 20 people and asked each 10 questions. After she gathered all of her information, I had her take the assignment a little further. I had her analyze the information and write a report about her findings. I also had her make graphs for each question so she could visually compare the results of the survey. Here are a couple of pictures of her finished project.

Reading With Big Sis

Little man loves to be read too. He will sit for hours listening to stories over and over again. He has a very good memory. He will memorize the book and then read it to himself or to us. It is the cutest thing and the older kids get a big kick out of it.
This is something new he has started. Sweet girl enjoys reading her books(during school) under the school table on the dog bed. She usually has a dog curled up with her. Anyway, Little man waits for reading time grabs his book and goes under the table with her. When I saw him do this I just had to grab the camera.

Starting a Physical Education Class

I started a Physical Education class with our homeschool group about three weeks ago. Many of the parents wanted a class where all ages would be welcome to participate. Everyone is having such a great time and my kids look forward to Tuesday. It has been nice to break up the school day with some exercise too. I will admit that I was a little nervous when I first started because I scheduled the class from 10 a.m. -11 a.m. but the kids come home from P.E. ready to get down to work. It is convenient that the class is held at a community park in our neighborhood so it is just a minute drive home.

We have been using the curriculum Homeschool Family Fitness by: Bruce Whitney. It is a great program to do as a group or a family.

Usually, each week I have the kids warm up, stretch, we do about 15-20 minutes of exercise,the lesson and then fit in 1-2 games.

Week 1- we did fit testing so we could see where everyone was and so the children could each make goals for themselves. We also played a game of 4 squares which was fun. I hadn't played that game since middle school. Week 2- we learned some football techniques , played a game to practice the techniques, and freeze tag(which is always a big hit). Week 3- we learned soccer techniques and played a soccer game. For our exercise this week I changed things up by adding in hurdles and sprints. This was fun because I set it up like a relay race-boys against girls. This week(4)- we are going to be jump roping. We will be learning basic jump roping and adding a few tricky moves-fun. There is also a game of Tiger Tails on the lesson plan. I have decided to add in some yoga this week as a part of our stretching exercises to keep things interesting.

Anyway, just a little preview of the curriculum. It is great and covers everything; dancing, swimming, snow activities, golf, juggling. You name it.

Making Time-An Answered Prayer

Making time for yourself is a challenge I think for every homeschooling mother. I know if I find an extra moment it is spent catching up on the laundry, cleaning, preparing meals or lesson planning.
One of my homeschooling friends invited me to a Zumba class at her church. I really wanted to go but I didn't know how I was going to fit it into our already tight schedule(sports 6 days/week, along with homeschooling and other activities/field trips).
I was sitting in my car waiting for my son to finish soccer practice. I opened up a devotional I receive through email from AOP called "Timeout for Mom". I actually giggled because this email came to me shortly after I told my friend I wasn't sure if would be able to go.
I read..."If we want to stay emotionally and spiritually healthy to enjoy homeschooling our children, then we must make taking time for these moments a number one priority. Without them, we shrivel up and die within, and homeschooling becomes one repetitious day after the next."
Then it went on to say how Jesus needed timeouts to get through his day as well. It also stated we should let go of the false guilt we feel when we give ourselves some time and that we should learn from Christ's example. For me this was a light bulb moment.
I read on...."Is today your day to rejuvenate and find yourself again? Don't wait for the help to fall from the sky. Humble yourself and ask for it."
Wow, I never thought of it that way...."Humble" myself? While I continued to wait for practice to be over, I humbled myself and prayed. I prayed that I would be filled with the Lord's strength and that I may find some time to be rejuvenated again.
Practice was over. As I walked over to my son , coach called out to me,"I am going to have to change practice day to Friday, instead of Thursday." I looked at him and smiled . This change meant that my Thursday night was now free and I would be able to go to the Zumba class.
On Thursday, I went to the class and it was so much fun. I felt great, rejuvenated and blessed for the opportunity to go. I am looking forward to the next class:)

The Rainforest

Silly guy just began studying the rainforest. Him and Little man created these creepy crawlers as an activity on Friday. We used air drying clay, pipe cleaners, beads, and floral wire. They turned out adorable.

Little man's "snake" has spikes on his back. He was very proud.

Electricity and Magnetism

Silly guy is finishing up his study on electricity and magnetism. He has enjoyed this study and it was filled with a lot of information, many hands on activities and experiments. I posted a few of his experiments. Above: He was learning about wet cells. When I first pulled out the lemon, he was really excited. He thought he was going to blow up the lemon, lol.

Above: This experiment was to show him how electricity and magnetism are related. We created a magnet using this dry cell, wires, nail, and switch.

The Three Year Swim Club

A few weeks ago we went to see a play presented by the Honoulu Theater for Youth called "The Three Year Swim Club". The actors were wonderful and the content of the play was inspiring.


The play was set on Maui in the late 1930's. It was inspired by a true story about coach Siochi Sakamoto and his three year swim club. In the play, the three year swim club was made up of four high school students(3 boys and 1 girl). They began their training in the irrigation ditches of Maui's sugar cane fields. Coach Sakamoto used nature to encourage and inspire his young team. Coach Sakamoto went on to assistant coach the U.S. Olympic Swim Team from 1952-1956. He is also a member of the International Swimming Hall of Fame.
Here are the members of the Three Year Swim Club. I have hyperlinked their names if you want to read about their individual achievments.
Siochi Sakamoto
Bill Smith
Keo Nakama
Bill Woolsey
Ford Konno
Evelyn Kawamoto

The Last of the Machines

Silly guy finished his Machine study in science this past week. It was a great unit with lots of fun experiments and information.

On our last day of the unit, he made this catapult out of Popsicle sticks, a rubber band and masking tape. I also had him write a short paper about how the catapult reduced work during battle. You can find the tutorial for How to Make a Catapult here. It was so simple to make and a lot of fun.

Little man always likes to join in the fun.

Pulley experiments

Now he is moving onto Electricity and Magnetisim. Ooooo! He has been waiting for this study:)

Le Nozze di Figaro

Last week, I took my two oldest children to the Honolulu Opera Theater. We saw Le Nozze di Figaro by Mozart. We had never been to the opera before and it was a wonderful experience for us. I wanted to take them to this particular opera because we will be studying Mozart in Music History this year.
The kids enjoyed getting dressed up from head to foot. It was the first time my daughter wore heels(small ones but they were still heels). Her father was a little frightened but I am happy to report she did survive.
Once we arrived at the opera it was packed full of people. We were running a little late, so we rushed to our seats and sat down. A few minutes later, the lights dimmed and the music began to play.
The orchestra began playing and their beautiful music filled the room. Some of the music was so moving it touched your soul. It was a great time and I am looking forward to taking them again.

A New Project

I keep reading about felt food on all of the blogs, especially Confessions of a Homeschooler. She has all of the tutorials or links to tutorials on her blog. I just think it is precious and really wanted to make some for my Little Man.
I pre-cut all of the pieces and they are patiently waiting in my closet. I thought I would get the project finished in a weekend but that didn't happen. I am okay with that. If nothing else it will become a summer project when sports are over.
When I was cutting all of the pieces, Little Man was very eager to play with them.
I am planning on making felt pizza, strawberries, cheese and bologna sandwiches, doughnuts, and raviolis.
Cute!

The Critter Sitters Part 2

My Sweet girl is a natural entrepreneur. The wheels are always turning and she is always trying to find ways and coming up with ideas to start a business.
A couple of years ago she came up with a plan to start a pet sitting/dog walking business. It didn't work out in the neighborhood we were in. She was disappointed but has re-evaluated her business plan and is trying again.
This time she lowered her fees and hired more help.
She has pulled in three other girls from the neighborhood who share the same love for animals.
She has been busy all weekend making contracts, animal care survey's, flyers, and applications/hiring list.
The four girls had a meeting yesterday to come up with a mission statement and rules of conduct between The Critter Sitters. They all came up with a promise between them and everyone had to sign it. They decided they would have a business meeting every other week to evalute progress and things they may have to change.
I am very impressed by their proffessional behavior. I am so excited for them and hope it works out!!

A Beautiful Poem

I Took His Hand and Followed

Mrs. Roy L. Peifer

My dishes went unwashed today,

I didn't make the bed,

I took his hand and followed

Where his eager footsteps led.

Oh yes, we went adventuring,

My little son and I....

Exploring all the great outdoors

Beneath the summer sky.

We waded in a crystal stream,

We wandered through a wood...

My kitchen wasn't swept today

But life was gay and good.

We found a cool, sun-dappled glade

And now my small son knows

How Mother Bunny hides her nest,

Where jack-in-the-pulpit grows.

We watched a robin feed her young,

We climbed a sunlit hill...

Saw cloud-sheep scamper through the sky,

We plucked a daffodil.

That my house was neglected,

That I didn't brush the stairs,

In twenty years, no one on earth

Will know, or even care.

But that I've helped my little boy

To noble manhood grow,

In twenty years, the whole wide world

May look and see and know.

I Think I Will Be A Toy Maker

Silly guy has been learning about machines in science. He wants to start a tool collection of his own. I bought this kit for him to use some of the simple machines he has been learning about; screwdriver and screws. He really enjoyed putting this plane together.

He was so proud of himself too.

He told me when he was finished ,"When I grow up I think I will like a job where I can use tools. Maybe a mechanic or a toymaker." I just smiled. He then thought of a problem he might have if he becomes a toymaker. "Mom, there is one problem with being a toymaker." I looked at him puzzled because I couldn't think of a problem with being a toymaker. It sounded like a fun job for a 9 year old. So I asked him "What kind of problem?" He looked at me very serious, "Well, I will have to go live in China." I just had to laugh.

The Past Few Weeks

The past few weeks have been pretty busy around our house. I realized yesterday I hadn't blogged in a while. I thought I would catch up a little.....
Well, spring sports are in full swing at our house. I have been working on getting some field trips scheduled for our homeschool group. Also with our homeschool group, one of the other moms and myself have decided to put together a P.E. co-op. As homeschoolers, sometimes our kids miss out on playground/p.e. games because you don't always have enough people to play. I have found some great ideas at this website and I am pumped to get started. We are also going to be signing up for the Presidential Fitness Challenge. Did you know as a homeschool you are eligible to enter the challenge? What a great way to get kids active.
In History, Sweet girl finished up her Anthropology study and is now beginning a Sociology study. She has been writing so much and just enjoying herself. Silly guy is still studying Grasslands in history. He has learned about what grasslands are and why they are so important to us, the Ukraine(The Breadbasket of Europe) and is currently learning about Kenya. He has found interesting the different governments in these countries and has been expressing his opinions and thoughts about the differences.

The kids have been working very hard at keeping up with science projects. Luckily this year(I think), I went all out and bought all of the recommended supplies from Home Science Tools. Oh yes, I bought all of the bells and whistles. Both kids have had an experiment just about everyday. In one hand, it has been a little exhausting for mom but the kids are really able to experience science this way.
Sweet girl is still learning all about space. This project was to chart the phases of the moon.

Silly guy is still learning about machines in science. This experiment was to show him how a screw is a wedge.

I didn't understand this experiment at all, but good thing Sweet girl did. I guess that is what is important. I told her to get the teacher guide, so I could see if we were doing it right. She got all of the answers correct and completely understood the concept. Sometimes I feel like...Good thing I am not in the 7th grade,lol :)

More machine experiments for Silly guy. This one he was observing how an inclined plane reduces work for us and how it can be used as a tool.

After all of those science experiments we found a little time to relax on our favorite beach last weekend. In my opinion it is one of the most beautiful beaches on our island. I can just stare at the beautiful blues and greens of the ocean all day. Absolutely fabulous!

A couple of weeks ago, I decided to cut my hair. I told the stylist I needed something different and I love how it turned out. Every time I looked in the mirror I was feeling run down. After this hair cut I gave the stylist a hug and told her ,"Thank you. I feel pretty again."

Day at the Museum

We took the kids to see the Dinosaurs Unearthed exhibit at the Bishop Museum. The dinosaurs were so life like it was a little scary. There was one woman in the museum who kept screaming every time they moved or roared. It was so funny!
Little man loves dinosaurs but he was not taking his eyes off of these big guys. They moved and made noises and even their skin was leathery like a real lizard. It was wild! We actually went through the exhibit twice because the kids enjoyed it so much. The second time around we took more time to read all of the wonderful information.
Now every time we get into the car Little man says," Go see the dinosaurs!" Sadly we waited until the last day to go and it has left the island. If this exhibit comes to a museum near you it is worth the trip.
Here are some pictures of the trip....The Triceratops is Little man's FAVORITE dinosaur.

An Allosaurus skull. Look at those teeth!! Yikes!

This guy is a Tyrannosaurus Rex juvenile. Some info.. recent findings show that the T-Rex

was warm blooded like a bird and had hair. Very interesting.

A fossil of Triceratops horns

Digging for fossils

Little man had so much fun digging in the rice for dinosaur bones.

I am going to make a mini dino dig for him to play with at home. I think

this will be a great activity for him during school hours:)

Peering through a lava tube.

Grassland Lapbook Assembled

Here are pictures of the Grasslands lapbook put together. Center top: Holds all of those wonderful maps. You can find many maps at

Enchanted Learning. National Geographic also has a map of the grasslands.
The countries included in the lap book are the Ukraine, Kenya, and Argentina. Click on the name of the country for a map. We also cut and glued some

pictures we found to the inside of the cover.

The center is the animal spinner and vocabulary. I had to print off

more copies of the vocabulary page and he stapled them together to make a book.

To the left is the Ukraine page.

Center is the Kenya page. Right is Argentina's page.

He is so enthusiastic about this project I have decided to make another one for his next study-The Rain Forest of the World.

In Full Swing

We started back to school this week after a nice long break. The kids were practically begging me to get back. The last few days of our time off I would find them researching climates all over the world and comparing them(they even made a chart), writing and journaling, making their own science experiments, practicing handwriting(silly guy-he just loves writing in cursive), looking through their curriculum and quizzing each other on math facts while playing at the playground. I said to my husband we have definitely have had enough time off!

Sweet girl started studying an Astronomy unit. This week she learned about the Sun's family; the inner and outer planets, comets and asteroids. One of her projects was to make a scale model of the solar system. As she learned about the planets, she kept a data chart with the information she obtained through the reading. Once her chart was complete she was ready to construct her model. She used the equation: scaled diameter= D/10,000 scale=(10,000 km =1 cm). The curriculum(AOP Lifepac)gave her the the average distances (in cm)from the sun. This was a BIG project. The problem we had was finding a wall in the house that was 589.0 cm long(distance from Sun to Pluto). We improvised and used two walls in our school room. We have a hallway upstairs that would have workedbut she wanted to be able to gaze upon her hard work, :).

Here are pictures of the Solar System. It was really neat to see how small the planets are in comparison to the sun and also how close we actually are to it.

Sweet girl constructing the Sun.

It took 35 pieces of construction paper.

This is the first half of the Solar System. The Sun, Mercury, Venus, Earth, Mars

Jupiter, and Saturn

Little lonely Pluto. Two wall lengths away from the Sun.

Here is the second half of the Solar System. (Uranus, Neptune, Pluto)

A close up of the first five planets.

In Bible, she had to develop a plan to study the Bible over the next six months. We found a Bible reading schedule over at The Teaching Home website . We decided we would do this as a family so we could discuss and reflect about the scripture we will be reading.

On to Silly guy. He started his new unit in geography/history this week: The Grasslands. I made him a lap book to change things up a bit and he is having a great time assembling and learning. He looks forward to history so he can add something to his lap book. I am loving his enthusiasm.

Before our break he started a unit about machines in science so we got back to that. He made this chart for an I Spy game throughout the unit. This unit will give him many experiments which he will enjoy. In language arts he started to learn about taking notes properly. What a great tool!

His I Spy Chart!

All in all it was a great start to the new year and the second half of our school year.

Grasslands Lapbook

I have designed a lapbook for my son's unit study " The Grasslands of the World." I think it will be fun to change things up a bit and lapbook. I have found it keeps him interested and more engaged if I keep things fresh, especially in History. I will post pictures soon of the completed lapbook but for now please enjoy the free download. Click here!

If you would like to check out my other free downloads check out my page. Other downloads include: State History/Geography Notebook, Desert Notebook, and a couple Nature Scavenger Hunt activities. Click here to view my page over at HSLaunch.
Happy Homeschooling!!