A Message to Grandma!!

Here is a video for Grandma V!! I know you are missing your little bubalas(don't know if I spelled that right!) For some reason I couldn't send this through email. We miss you and love ya!!

Double Oat Breakfast Cookies

I am planning on making these cookies this weekend. They are going to make a great snack for my three cookie monsters.
Double Oat Breakfast Cookies
from: Better Homes and Gardens

• 1/2 cup butter, softened
• 1/2 cup smooth peanut butter
• 1 1/4 cups sugar
• 1/2 tsp. baking soda
• 1/4 tsp. salt
• 1/4 cup water
• 1 egg
• 1 tbsp. vanilla
• 1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
• 1 cup rolled oats
• 1 cup golden raisins and/or milk chocolate chips
• 3 cups round toasted oat cereal(Cheerios)

1. Preheat oven 375 degrees. Beat butter and peanut butter with mixer on med. to high speed for 30 seconds in a large bowl. Add sugar, baking soda, and salt. Beat until combined, scraping sides of bowl. Beat in water, egg, and vanilla until combined. Beat in flour until combined. Beat in as much of the rolled oats as you can with the mixer. Stir in any remaining rolled oats. Stir in raisins and oat cereal.
2. Drop dough by scant 1/4 cupfuls about 3 inches apart onto an ungreased cookie sheet. Flatten slightly. Bake 10-12 minutes or until edges are lightly browned. Cool on cookie sheet for 5 minutes. Transfer to wire rack and let cool completley. Can store in a tightly covered container for 5 days or freeze up to 3 months. Makes 24(2-cookie)servings.

I Want to be a Navy Diver When I Grow Up...

The kids went on a field trip to the Navy Dive Locker last Thursday. I had to drop them off because I didn't think it would be a good idea to take Little Man. It was a two hour tour and many things for him to get into. Anywho...
They had a blast! As they were getting into the car they were telling me about their experience. They learned about and operated some of the tools used by the Navy divers. The divers took them onto their boat and showed them around. The kids were able to do a science experiment learning about water pressure and the effects it has on our lungs. The divers kept their interest and let them explore what it would be like in their underwater vocation. Silly guy told me "It was the best field trip EVER!"
He was just learning about underwater exploration in history and found this subject facinating.
When we came home, he was building some of the tools he learned about with his Lego's; an underwater camera and a robot (which had hands on it to pick things up-they were able to play w/ this one). He brought his creations down to me and was explaining (in depth)how they worked.
Before this field trip my Silly guy wanted to be a Marine when he grows up. I asked him why he wanted to be a Marine and he said," I want to protect my country and my family." AWWWW! This made me a very proud Mama!
After this field trip he informed me he wants to be a Navy Diver. So cute! That is how you know- it was a great trip!
Sweet girl had a great time too! They snapped off some pretty good pictures too.

The kids wearing dive mask

Mom's Notebook-Record Keeping

Mom’s Notebook-Record keeping

What you will need: a 3 ringed binder, dividers, a 3 holed pocket folder/child and the following print outs from http://www.donnayoung.com/ .

1. Attendance Record-I keep my kids a r in their binder-they track their own attendance daily.
2. Class Schedule-I don’t do well w/ schedules. However, I think it is a good idea to make one up just as a guideline on how you want your school day to run. I don’t put specific times to keep us from feeling like we are getting behind.
3. A Course of Study- At d y.com you can print off your own typeable course of study.
4. Grade Sheet-If you keep grades dy has some wonderful resources for tracking them. She has an Excel program that will calculate everything for you. You can also use homeschool tracker for this. For me it is easier to do everything on paper. If I use the computer that is just one more thing I have to make time for. My oldest child records her own grades on the sheet after I have graded it.
5. Reading List- This helps me to keep track of the books read. We use edhelper’s lit unit along w/ reading in our curriculum. So, lots of books. Keeping a list helps w/ the end of the year evaluation. My children track their own reading list.
6. Field Trip Log- I keep the ftl to track out field trips. It also helps me to keep a homeschool budget. It helps with writing an end of the year evaluation too.
7. Extra curricular activities log- I use this form the same as the field trip log.
8. Important Websites- I keep this on my desk to jot down important websites. When it is full it goes into the Mom Notebook. I started doing this because last yr my computer crashed and I lost all of my favorites. Yikes!
9. Mom's Notes- I take Fridays to journal how our week went. Goals achieved, things we need to work on, etc.
A. Inside the Mom notebook are all of these forms separated by dividers(easy to find). I also keep a divider for extra printouts-planning sheets etc. a scope & sequence of our curriculum, a 3 holed/pocket folder per child, and their NOI’s.
B. The 3 holed pocket folder: This holds all of their completed writing assignments.
C. A divider for Math test.

And there you have it the Mom notebook.
Now, at the end of the year I clean it out(leaving dividers) and put everything into an accordion file along w/ test scores and end of the year evaluation.

Morning Walks

We have started taking walks in the morning before we start our school day. As we walk we spot beautiful butterflies warming their wings, flowers opening up for the day, and little birds twittering all around.
As we walk my little man calls out all of the colors of the flowers; pink, white, purple, and red. He just loves the little birdies and butterflies.
This morning the kids thought we needed to collect some of these wild flowers to brighten up the school room. I agreed! So, we took scissors and a cup of water with us on our walk.
Silly guy is learning about flowers and plants in science, so as he was collecting, he is naming all of the parts of the flowers and leaves.
Sweet girl was helping me chose which flowers would match in our arrangements.
We arrived home and the kids helped me to separate the flowers and make the arrangements. We had enough to fill three vases. One vase for the dining room table, one for the boys room, and one for Sweet girl's room.
I love these moments with my children and feel so blessed to share them together!

Pulling out the Sewing Machine

I have been finding all of these wonderful sewing project ideas on other blogs. I thought I would pull out my sewing machine and give them a try. I went to the craft store to pick out some fabric and now I am all set to go.

I have three projects in mind: The Camera Strap Cover-From Cluck Cluck Sew, The Sandwich Wrap and Placemat-From Frugal Family Fun Blog, and some Alphabet bean bags for my little man.

My Sweet Girl's Blog Time

I wanted to give my Sweet girl a little blog time. She hasn't had many hands on projects(yet)this year to take pictures of and post. She has been working very hard though. She has been writing A LOT! She has had at least two writing assignments/week. She has written three reports in our three weeks of school and several short essays. One was about what the world would be like without noun labels, a research report on Galileo, and a research report on George Washington Carver. Writing is an area we needed to be working on, so this curriculum is working out well.

She is such a hard worker and I am so proud of her!

Exploring Our World

Silly Guy is learning about recent Explorations of the Earth. He found this to be

very interesting. He was getting so excited as he was reading

through his lesson.

He was learning about "man's first" for

exploring the oceans. He was facinated to learn that we

live on the top of an ocean mountain ridge. Over the weekend

he made a submarine out of a gatorade bottle,

put his soldier action figures inside, and took them for a swim. He is

really enjoying school this year and told me yesterday, he can't wait until Monday.

He made this underwater explorer from Legos.

In the Clouds

Tonight, after reading Goodnight Moon, Little guy wanted to go outside and look for the moon. We went out on the back patio and saw some beautiful clouds. One was in the shape of a whale. Sweet girl said,"It's a message-Save the Whales!"
Hawaii has some of the most beautiful clouds I have ever seen. The way the light reflects off of them is breathtaking(the pictures don't do justice).
Once I grabbed my camera and started taking pictures, Little guy ran inside to get his camera too. He was telling the clouds to say cheese.

Little guy taking pictures of the clouds.

This is the cloud we thought looked like a whale.

Beautiful!

Say Hello to Supermom

Tonight I had to be supermom.

I was giving Little guy a bath when I heard screaching followed by "CENTIPEDE!" There was a centipede on the towel hanging on the rack. I swooshed in, grabbed the towel, ran, and threw it out my bedroom door onto the deck.

When I came back inside they asked me,"Is he gone?" I didn't see them because they were hiding. I think they thought he was going to come and get them.

If you have never seen one of these Hawaiian bad boys, they are huge!! This one was about 6 inches long. Creepy little buggas!!!

Motherhood-The Roller Coaster

Motherhood can be such a roller coaster sometimes. First you are going up; still calm waiting but anticipating the excitement. Then you’re zooming down feeling like you are going to throw up and the world is zooming past you and you are feeling out of control. Then calmness again; butterflies, bubbles, and silly songs. Wait here comes the part where you are zooming and spinning in circles (planning, activities, laundry, cooking, and more laundry). Not done yet next you have the waterfall of spilled milk, juice, and cookies all over your freshly mopped floor. At the end you have the sweet moments of cuddles, story time, and bath time.

Today, I thought my boys were out to get me. I am talking they argued and teased one another. Were just really loud (or I am getting my hearing back, not sure). Just running around like animals. LOL! I sound like such a horrible mother right now and can’t believe I am writing this. I have a point here!

So, after this very exhausting day, I am giving Little Man a bath. Silly guy says to me,”Mom, I am going to save all of my soldiers for my son.” I said, “That is a good idea.” Then he said,” I am going to save all of my pet shop’s for my daughter. I started a journal about them too.” I said,” What do you mean a journal.” He said,” Well, I am writing down which ones are my favorites and which ones are rare. That way I can remember and then they can compare my favorites to theirs.” I was surprised by this. I said, “I think that is a great idea.” Then he said,” Well, that is if I have a girl and a boy.” I said, “Well, you never know what God is going to give you.” He said,” God is full of wonderful surprises!” At this moment I have to admit I melted.

Can you tell by my post I have had a rough day? Well, the point is, the moment you think your children are trying to drive you to the crazy house they can say the cutest, sweetest thing and melt your heart. While motherhood can be roller coaster sometimes, it is such a great ride!!

Nature Scavenger Hunt at the botanical gardens

We went on a field trip to the botanical gardens in Honolulu with our homeschool group. It was a fun little trip to get the kids into nature and to observe it. I made up a list of about twenty things to find. For my daughter I created an assignment that was a little more challenging. She is learning about classifying in science so I thought why not. I had her find five flowering, five non-flowering, and five trees. She had to either sketch or take a picture of the plant and write any information she could find(common name, scientific name, purpose, where it originated). Then I had her classify them. I think everyone enjoyed the day!!

Here is the link for our Nature Scavenger Hunt list I created. There are two activities: one is for younger children and the other for older children(my daughter's assignment).
http://savefile.com/projects/808788277

Inside the trunk of this huge tree.

Silly Guy sketching something camoflauged. A little lizard on a branch.

Foster Botanical Gardens-Flowers

Some of the flowers and trees we saw at the botanical gardens. I have some info on some of the plants.

Birds of Paradise is native to South Africa. It is such a beautiful flower!!

The Pineapple. It is not native to the Hawaiian islands. It is actually native to South America and was brought to Hawaii by Captain James Cook in 1770. In 1903, James Drummond Dole began canning pineapple, making it easily accessible worldwide. Hawaii produces 10% of the world's pineapple crop.

This interesting tree was called the "Sausage Tree". It is named for its unusual, long and woody fruits. It is from tropical Africa. Pendulous scarlet flowers bloom at night and in it's native habitat are pollinated by bats. Many animals such as baboons and giraffes rely on the "sausages" for food.

A flower from the "Cannonball Tree".

The Cannonball Tree is from South America. It sprouts flowers and fruit right from the trunk. The cannonballs are filled with a foul smelling blue pulp that attracts peccaries, pigs and chickens.

A Little Spicy

Silly guy is learning in history about why the Europeans wanted to travel to the Far East. His assignment was to choose spices we had in the house. Then we went to the store to see how much they cost and figure out how much they were per pound. I will say we went to Costco so the prices were much lower than they would've been in the grocery store. Wow, were we surprised at how much they cost.

If you can't read the picture:

Cinnamon-$4.64/lb

Basil-$15.68/lb

Salt- $0.21/lb

Pepper-$21.28/lb

Vanilla-$6.28/16 fl oz

Parsley-$21.52/lb

Paprika-$21.52/lb

Oregano-$22.32/lb

Rosemary-$16.87/lb

Volunteering

We started volunteering at the Oahu SPCA last week. They were recently involved in the rescue of over 400 animals. This number includes 133 dogs and their puppies, and 115 cats and their kittens. Their goal is to have all dogs in foster homes or to be adopted in the next few weeks. However with so many animals so fast, they are in need of volunteers! We saw the flyer at the pet store and immediately called and got on the volunteer list. We have been there twice and are trying to make an effort to get over there once a week.

The kids have made me so proud!! They have been working so hard caring for the animals and cleaning up at the shelter. They have swept, did laundry, washed bowls, cleaned cat boxes, and fed the animals. They never stop when we are there. They go to Ms. J and ask,”What can I do next?”

Ever since we have started volunteering their attitudes have changed. They are working so hard on their school work, completing their chores, and just seem to be in better spirits. So us volunteering not only has helped the Oahu SPCA it has blessed our family as well.

http://www.oahuspca.org/

I just love flowers!!

I love flowers and the great thing about Hawaii...they are everywhere!! Beautiful!!

Saying Goodbye

Being a military family you find yourself saying goodbye often. It doesn't get easier to say goodbye to dear friends. I just hope that my children will keep an open heart and not be

afraid to make new friends knowing that they will one

day have to say goodbye. I pray that they will enjoy

the time that they have with their friends while

they are around.

To not take for granted the time we have with the

special people who enter our lives.

And to feel blessed with the gift of friendship.

This breaks my heart...