A Morning Bike Ride

One morning we went for six mile bike ride along the Coconut Coast. We got off and explored the tide pools.

Nature's Treasure

Kauai Sunrise

Wailua Falls

We went kayaking for 2 1/2 miles up the Wailua River and then hiked a mile and half to see this beautiful waterfall. The Wailua Falls are 120 ft. high. It was a little to chilly for us to go swimming, but we still enjoyed ourselves.

Kauai Alarm Clock

Sunset at Spouting Horn

Kilauea Lighthouse

Big Mama!!!

We were walking along the beach one afternoon and Mikaela spotted a Hawaiian Monk Seal. The Hawaiian Monk Seal is an endangered species and there are only 100 left in the lower Hawaiian Islands(only about 1,000 total). After talking to one of the locals, we found out she is pregnant and has been visiting this stretch of beach for a few weeks. It was magical.

Our First Day on Kauai

After three years, we are officially on vacation. Our first day we just hung out at the house which is located on Anahola Beach, Kauai. The surf was wild. We were tired(waking up at 4:00 am) but we enjoyed every moment.

My three babys

Some photos of the kids.

Do you know someone who has an interesting job?

We are going on vacation for two weeks Sunday. I didn't want the kids to start a new week in Tapestry of Grace. They would have to stop in the middle of their reading assignments and not pick it back up for two weeks. So, this week they have been just doing Math, English, Vocabulary/Spelling, Reading( I chose books they could finish this week;Mikaela-Call of the Wild and Blake-James and the Giant Peach)and Writing( I pulled out some writing prompts).
Today, Blake's writing prompt was: Do you know someone who has an interesting job? Write about the job and why it is so interesting.

This is what he wrote.....
My mother has an interesting job. Her job is to be a teacher. She does a really good job. She teaches me Math, English, Reading, and many other interesting things. I love my mom and she is a good teacher.

Normally, I would have told him to write more, but it melted my heart.
Sometimes I wonder .... Do they appreciate my staying home and teaching them? Well, he answered this question today. I was surprised.
1.That he sees my teaching and being his mommy as a job.
2. That is was an interesting job.
3. That my job is important to him.
It is these moments that I feel blessed and grateful that I am able to be at home and teaching them.

Sketch Tuesday: These boots are made for walking

This weeks assignment was to sketch a boot of any kind. Well, living in Hawaii we only have one pair of boots in the house(dad's work boots). So the kids sketched their version of a "Hawaiian boot" and I sketched Jason's work boot. We really enjoy participating in Sketch Tuesday. The kids look forward to the slideshow and the sketching assignments.

Baby Buzz needs a bath

Today, Ethan was playing with his Buzz Lightyear and was pretending Buzz was his baby. He wrapped him in a blanket, rocked him to sleep, and kissed him goodnight. When Buzz woke up he said, " Buzz...bath." So, he went outside to his water table and started washing him. Next thing you know, we turned around, and he had climbed into the water table with Buzz. Silly boy!

We have winter too!!!

This morning we woke up and the house was freezing. We were all bundling up on the couch together trying to get warm. We looked at the thermometer and it was 68 degrees inside the house, Burrrrrr!! I grabbed the camera to take pictures of the kids all bundled together under the blankets(four of them). Of course they started getting silly when I pulled out the camera, but we were having fun taking pictures.

Happy Birthday Roxy!!!

Today is Roxy's one year old birthday. Mikaela made her a yummy cake. While she was baking it, Roxy was whining it smelled so good to her. bottom-is the masterpiece, middle-her birthday feast, right-her gobbling it up, YUMMY!













Roxy's Birthday Cake recipe:
2/3 cup mashed bananas
1/2 cup softened butter
3 large eggs
3/4 cup water
2 cups whole wheat flour
2 tsp baking powder
1 tsp baking soda
1 tsp ginger
2 tsp cinnamon
1/2 cup chopped pecans

1. Beat together mashed banana and butter until creamy.
2. Add eggs and water. Beat well.
3. Stir in dry ingredients. Beat until smooth.
4. Add nuts.
5. Spoon batter evenly into oiled and floured cake pan.
6. Bake at 350 degrees for about 35 minutes.
7. Cool on a wire rack 5 minutes, remove from pan, replace on rack and cool.

More Poetry-two word poems

Here are two more poems the kids wrote today. I love poetry and it really gives them a chance to be creative.

Dogs by: Blake

Loyal friend
Likes running
Playing tricks
Sit, stay
Howling, barking
Licking faces
Chewing bones
Come home

The Ocean by: Mikaela

Surfing waves
Taste salty
Loud, crashing
Dangerous storms
Sunken ships
Sea turtles, coral
Refreshing, beautiful
Swimming, fun

Two-word poems

We started a poetry unit in Tapestry of Grace's writing curriculum this week. We did an exercise today which was fun and ended with them writing a two-word poem. Here are their poems....

New Puppy by: Mikaela

Bought Roxy
Cute puppies
In cages
So cute
She licked
Best one
Took home
Very late

My First Guitar Lesson by: Blake

To lessons
Really fun
Parts, strings
Tune it
Felt good
Sounded awesome
Went home
Practice a lot

Who put that hole there?

Well to answer that question...Roxy. Our dog has been digging holes in our yard recently and I can't figure out how to get her to stop. Yesterday, Ethan was playing in the yard and fell in one of her holes. We all started laughing and I ran inside to get the camera. He waited in the hole until I took his picture-what a ham!! He loves to make people laugh.

Colonial Diorama

Yesterday the kids made these dioramas. They really enjoyed this project. Blake wants to make another one and has been carrying his around with him.

Mikaela(top left)-She decided she would make a colonial farm scene.

Blake(right)- He made a battle scene from the Revolutionary War. The Patriots are blue and the British are red.

Day at the Park

Last week we went to the park and I remembered my camera. Mikaela brought Wally with us and Blake brought his Ripstick. In this first picture, Ethan is telling me no. He didn't want me to take his picture...funny. Ethan LOVES walking

Wally. This picture is of Ethan playing in the water fountain. If there is water he will find it.

The next two photos are of Blake zooming around the park on his Ripstick.

Mikaela loves her doggies. The first photo is of her trying to get Wally to run.

Agnes Portuguese Bake Shop

Today we went on a field trip to the Agnes Portuguese Bake Shop in Kailua, HI with our homeschool group. The owner of the shop taught the kids about making bread and showed them how all of the machines worked. Afterwards he gave the kids some delicious HOT malasadas. It was a great time.

Making a Fossil Egg

We are using Apologia Exploring Creation Zoology 1 for Science this year. This week they have been learning about Pterosaurs. Today they made these fossil eggs and it was really neat. They used Play-doh for a mold. They took a hard boiled egg, cracked it and rolled it in the dough to make some egg impressions. Then they pressed some sticks and grass into the dough to make it look like the nesting material. Then they had to make an impression of a baby Pterosaur in the Play-doh. We poured plaster-of-paris over top and waited for it to dry. After it was dry, we used a toothbrush to take out the Play-doh. To complete the fossil egg we stained it using tea.

Blake's fossil Pterosaur

Mikaela's fossil Pterosaur