Statue of Liberty Art

We are keeping with an American theme in Art this year since we are studying American History.  I found this idea on Deep Space Sparkle and thought it would be a great kick off for the year. We are still in the Pre-History of the United States but while drawing her we had great discussion.
I am thinking our next project will be to either use oil pastels or paints(haven't decided yet) and draw the Grand Canyon.   
First, we drew the Statue of Liberty, buildings, etc. in pencil.  Then, we used sharpee markers to outline everything.  Next, we used markers to color everything but the Statue of Liberty.  Last, we painted her using watercolors.  I enjoyed joining in with the kids.  Art is a great way to spend time together.  We were happy with the way they turned out.   

Sweet girl's

Silly guy's- He decided it would be the Fourth of July. 

He painted a night scene and used glitter for fireworks.

Little Man's

Mama's

My Travel Journal Notebooking Pages

I am trying to find different ideas to keep the kids occupied during our move. 

• Thekids will be without their toys/belongings for about two months. 
• We'll be staying in a hotel for about 1-1 1/2 months. 
• A 5 1/2 hour flight from Honolulu to Oakland. 
• Because our van is only being taken as far as Oakland, CA, we'll have a  five hour drive to our new home. So, we decided we would take a sightseeing tour along the way. 

We went to Target and Walmart this week and bought a few travel games.  I have found some other ideas from the internet too.  I am going to buy freezer bags and fill them with different activities.
A few websites I found for activities: 

• Momsminivan.com  
• Activitiesforkids.com
• Familyfun.com
• FamilyEducation.com
• Trekaroo.com

One idea I found during my search was to have the kids make a Travel Journal.  What a great way for the kids document the trip and adventure that lies ahead of us.  I made some Travel Journal notebooking pages and wanted to share.  These pages would be great to journal any kind of vacation/trip, just journal, or even some pages could be used for a nature study.  They turned out kind of cute.  I am also going to have them collect brochures, tickets, etc. along the way to include in their journal.  You can download them on my page at HSlaunch:  My Travel Journal .  Enjoy!!

Traveling with Pets

Our move date is coming up fast.  It is a BIG move from Hawaii to Nevada.  There are so many things to schedule and co-ordinate:  pack dates, plane tickets, check outs, check ins, hotels, shipping two vehicles, finding housing, getting rid of things, etc. Just when I think I have it all figured out something changes. 
It is a bit stressful and exhausting.
We are also bringing our pooches along with us.  This seems to be adding to the stress. Finding a hotels that will take dogs, vet appointments for health certificates, flight regulations, etc.  I thought I would share a couple of websites I have found useful for traveling with pets. 
One is Petswelcome.com .  On this website you can find information about all types of travel with pets.  You can also find hotels all over the country that accept our furry friends.  It has great information!  Another is Petsonthego.com .  This website also includes a lot of useful information.  You can also download the Air Travel Consumer Report which has all of the incident/accident reports for each airline.

I am praying this transition will be not to stressful for Wally and Roxy.

Our furry loved ones...

Wally- Reading up on his breed history. 

Roxy- She always strikes a pose for the camera.  Such a beautiful girl!

Lately...

I haven't blogged in a while.  We finished our 2009/2010 school year the first week of June when the public school year ended.   Many of the kid's friends were off of school.  Since we'll be moving in a couple of months I felt it was important for them to soak up the time they have left with them.  Anyway, we took the first couple of weeks to relax a bit.  We went to the movies a few times, bowling, the pool, the mall, etc. Pretty much just chillin.  It has been great! 

In between chill time, I have been gearing up for our next school year.  I hit a couple of the used curriculum fairs. Which I am happy to say I made out.  I saved our homeschool budget about $500.00 by sorting and picking through many many tables and boxes.  It took quite a bit of organization and planning on my part but with that kind of savings I have to say it was well worth it.

I have decided to have the kids study American History this year.  Since both children would be studying the same thing I thought it would be best and probably more fun if we did it together.  We'll be using the Joy Hakim series A History of US  as our main text.  Adding in various literature selections, poetry, and music to co-ordinawith the study. Sweet girl will have three current event assignmets per week.  I am hoping she will post them on her blog but we'll have to see.  She doesn't like when I tell her what to post on her blog;). 
Science- Silly Guy Christian Kids Explore Biology , How Nature Works   and library books. 
Sweet Girl -Apologia's General Science.  I decided to go with General Science because after looking through the table of contents she covered a lot of Physical Science last year.  She is excited about Apologia. 
Math-  Both kiddos will be using Saxon (Silly guy- Saxon 6/5 and Sweet girl Saxon Algebra 1)
Bible-Both kiddos AOP Lifepac Bible
Language Arts- Silly guy-BJU English 5, Wordly Wise, and Spelling Power.
Sweet girl- Sonlight Core 100 writing, Spelling Power, Wordly Wise, , and
Easy Grammar 180 Daily Teaching Lessons
I plan on doing some nature studies once we reach our new home. We can't wait to explore!
Art- I am going to be pulling lessons/activities from various websites.  I am trying to stick to an "American" theme.  Deep Space Sparkle , Art for Homeschool, Artyfactory, Captain Watercolor, and Sketch Tuesday all have great ideas and lesson plans. 
So, needless to say we are most definitley eclectic homeschoolers. 

I have decided to start our school year next week since we will be moving in September.  I would love to take a couple more weeks off, but with moving the kids will be taking off quite a bit.  I want to get in a solid six weeks before getting on that big bird back to the mainland.  I am planning on having them continue Math, Language Arts, Literature, and possibly History while we are in transition.  Our household goods could take up to 45 days to get to our new home. 
Along with all of this planning comes organization.  But I will have to post about how I've been tackling that later(maybe tomorrow).  I just peeked at the clock and well I have to go to bed!!