How can this be?! Our last week of summer vacation is almost over! It's been fun, but B-U-S-Y! Yet not so busy that I missed the first signs of Autumn! The cooler evenings, showers of dry pine needles falling around the chicken coop, and that one broadleaf out back with red leaves have announced Fall's arrival. Soon we'll be sporting jackets and actually wearing sneakers again. Another season finishes with the hope of an exciting, wonderful school year ahead!
Red Leaf Found By the Garden
Red and Yellow Leaf Stuck in the Elderberry
In Our Homeschool This Week
Weather! On Friday we started preparing for Hurricane Irene. Hurricanes of ANY strength aren't a common weather phenomenon here and add a little excitement to our weather watching. Irene left behind lots of tree branches scattered around the yard and 34 hours of no electricity. The kids were AWESOME during the power wattage! Very go-with-the-flow! Me? Not so much so! Sometimes I learn the best things FROM MY KIDS; this time a lesson about positive attitude and patience!
Clouds ROLLED in Saturday Afternoon
Totally GRAY on Sunday
Crack! Tree Branch Snapped, Resting on Garage and Power Lines
Another Angle of Cracked Tree Branch
S and C Ready to Face the Storm
C and S found a BEAUTIFUL White Admiral butterfly on the road while biking. With a damaged wing, it's unable to fly. We researched on-line and created a butterfly habitat. Butterfly lived for 3 days. The kids LOVED watching its proboscis!
Top Side of Our Rescued White Admiral
Bottom Side of Its Wings with Damage Back Wing Flopped Over
C's flower garden continues to sprout BEAUTIFUL blooms! I think her Glads are a little confused! Aren't they spring and early summer flowers? LOL
Her First PINK Glad
C and J finished up their 4H Outdoor Recreation/Education club posters for the agricultural fair in early October. They came out GREAT!
Backyard Botany
Square Foot Gardening
J has spent an INCREDIBLE about of time doing this:
And we reviewed WonderMaps! from Bright Ideas Press from Timberdoodle. Check out our review by clicking here!
Places We Went and People We Saw
S and C, the sons of our "old" neighbors, came over to visit again Saturday afternoon. It's nice seeing them again!
Lunch at Applebee's! (I wish they wouldn't put the calorie count of my favorite SALAD on the menu! Yikes! But S ate most of the chicken and I didn't finish it all. Phew!)
C, S and I went to the PO (where I couldn't mail my package because they still didn't have electricity back), the hardware store (for pine shavings) and the library (for new books).
J's friend C came over Wednesday afternoon to "hang out". They shot A LOT of hoops, biked and watched a movie.
B and C, J and C's friends, came over on Thursday and they went froggin' and biking and built with Legos.
My Favorite Thing This Week Was
Returning to our MOSTLY unplugged-under-scheduled-outside play-few sweets-and-earlier-bedtimes routine! While my family visited we didn't follow what we've called "our detox" of the previous 2 1/2 weeks and within a couple of days the kids' NEGATIVE behavior changes were incredible and QUITE obvious!
What's Working/Not Working For Us
We had a blast playing Uno, Sorry!, Yahtzee, Trivia Pursuit, and Skip-bo by candlelight during our power outage! It was hard to even see the cards or boards, but it was a GREAT way to end our evenings!
Photo(s), Video, Link, or Quote to Share
S hasn't had a hair cut in a few months. The vibration from trimmers bug him. But combing out those curls was poor torture! (Things that seem "every day" for us aren't so for kids (or adults) with SPD.)Out-of-the-blue, DURING Irene's arrival, he asked for a hair cut. I LOVE the curls, but he's cute either way!
How great to have had the chance to observe that butterfly my kids would have loved that were were lucky enough to spot Monarch and a Buckeye butterfly.
1) I can't believe you guys lost power too! You big wimp! ;p
2) Those posters are AH-mazing!
3) NO YOU DID NOT! You cut of the curls! Tsk tsk tsk... ;) Actually, as much as I love the curls...I always think little boys look so cute with fresh hair cuts.
I'm SO happy to be back in the groove too. Of course, the first couple weeks is always bumpy as we figure out the scheduling again. But still...it feels good to be in a routine again.
Hey thanks for stopping by my blog and being my newest follower :) I love your Sorry picture! I hadn't seen the modern version of Sorry before! We played Sorry a lot this summer with my mom while she was in the hospital after her surgery, but the game we have is from when I was a kid, so it's pretty much an antique! Love the see-through pieces!
Ha Ha...I got you confused with someone else who told me they were my newest follower...I just realized it wasn't you. Sorry about that, but feel free to follow me if you want...no pressure :D I still appreciate you stopping by and commenting just the same!
Love your update! I also liked hearing how you embraced the hurricane time. I love that as homeschool families we already like each other and when we get stuck together it can be fun!! Hope homeschooling goes well!
Great posters! lovely flower- glad ya'll are ok on your side of the mountain - I just about fell out of the bed when I saw that bucket on her head! very funny-
Ooops. You may get two comments from me here b/c I am not sure my last one wen through, Anyway, love your pics and think it's so true that our kids have much to teach us. Mine teach me to roll so often. Also, had to laugh at the haircut thing. I was sad to see my son's curls go, too. He fought me over a haircut for months and, then, when I finally dragged him to my sister the hairdresser, his reluctance turned to zeal. she told him that birds love hair for nest. He kept asking her to cut more and more and then threw all his beautiful curls into our garden like tumbleweeds for the birds.
Glad you were safe in the storm. LOVE the picture of C and S with the bucket and the bike helmet! :) I followed you here from the Science Sunday link up.
I'm with you on power outages. We were without power for three days in 2007. I lasted about 9 minutes and the kids and I packed up and drove 4 hours to my parents. The kids would have been fine. Me, not so much!
Sounds like a great week, despite the power outage. So nice to see your kids involved in 4H. It's such a wonderful organization. One of my nephews is performing with the 4 Leaf Clovers this year and it's been a great experience so far. Thanks for sharing the Wild Wednesday Hop. Not sure why the button code won't work in your post html but does on the side bar. Probably just a fluke :) Happy hump day!
Looks like u did have a busy week!! Glad u got to post some awesome pictures!! Hi, Im a new follower, loving the blog! Stopping by from the Wednesday Blog hop I would love to invite you to follow me back, J'S REVIEWS AND GIVEAWAYS Thanks so much! have a great day!
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How great to have had the chance to observe that butterfly my kids would have loved that were were lucky enough to spot Monarch and a Buckeye butterfly.
ReplyDeleteGreat job on the 4h projects they look great
Too many thoughts!
ReplyDelete1) I can't believe you guys lost power too! You big wimp! ;p
2) Those posters are AH-mazing!
3) NO YOU DID NOT! You cut of the curls! Tsk tsk tsk... ;) Actually, as much as I love the curls...I always think little boys look so cute with fresh hair cuts.
I'm SO happy to be back in the groove too. Of course, the first couple weeks is always bumpy as we figure out the scheduling again. But still...it feels good to be in a routine again.
...danielle
Your children's 4H posters were awesome-- you can tell how much work they put into them! :-)
ReplyDeleteWhat a wonderful lesson they learned about the butterfly and taking care of it. Awesome!
Hope you have a great holiday weekend,
Lisa
Love those posters! Great work!
ReplyDeleteGlad you all survived Irene without too much damage. It wasn't bad here at all. Rough seas and traps dragged around some but otherwise fine.
Have a great last weekend of summer!
The posters are fantastic! It's our final week of summer too. I love all the outdoor things you do. Sure looks like a lot of fun!
ReplyDeleteGlad you were safe and sound through Irene. I love the posters the kids did of gardening and botany! Stopping by from the HMJ linky! come say hello!
ReplyDeleteI love the picture where they are wearing the helmets! CUTE
ReplyDeleteGreat 4-H posters!
ReplyDeletethose are great pictures of butterflies. My daughter loves all things bugs
ReplyDeleteThose trees were a-blowin'! Wow. I am glad that you came through it okay in spite of the power outage.
ReplyDeleteGames are a great way to pass the time. Those are some of our favorites as well.
The posters turned out fantastic. Your kiddos should give themselves a nice pat on the back for their hard work.
Hey thanks for stopping by my blog and being my newest follower :) I love your Sorry picture! I hadn't seen the modern version of Sorry before! We played Sorry a lot this summer with my mom while she was in the hospital after her surgery, but the game we have is from when I was a kid, so it's pretty much an antique! Love the see-through pieces!
ReplyDeleteHa Ha...I got you confused with someone else who told me they were my newest follower...I just realized it wasn't you. Sorry about that, but feel free to follow me if you want...no pressure :D I still appreciate you stopping by and commenting just the same!
ReplyDeleteI am so glad Irene didn't mess around with you guys too much! It sounds like you guys had a great time un-plugged!!
ReplyDeleteThe 4H projects look amazing, was your whole garden this summer in that square set up? That glad is just beautiful!!!
We love board games! I am so glad that you didn't have any major damage from Irene. :) I am also glad that you were able to use it for education. :)
ReplyDeleteLove your update! I also liked hearing how you embraced the hurricane time. I love that as homeschool families we already like each other and when we get stuck together it can be fun!!
ReplyDeleteHope homeschooling goes well!
Blessings!
Janelle
Whew! What a week!!!
ReplyDeleteGreat posters! lovely flower- glad ya'll are ok on your side of the mountain - I just about fell out of the bed when I saw that bucket on her head! very funny-
ReplyDeleteOoops. You may get two comments from me here b/c I am not sure my last one wen through, Anyway, love your pics and think it's so true that our kids have much to teach us. Mine teach me to roll so often. Also, had to laugh at the haircut thing. I was sad to see my son's curls go, too. He fought me over a haircut for months and, then, when I finally dragged him to my sister the hairdresser, his reluctance turned to zeal. she told him that birds love hair for nest. He kept asking her to cut more and more and then threw all his beautiful curls into our garden like tumbleweeds for the birds.
ReplyDeleteGlad you were safe in the storm. LOVE the picture of C and S with the bucket and the bike helmet! :) I followed you here from the Science Sunday link up.
ReplyDeleteBEAUTIFUL butterfly! Love it!
ReplyDeleteI'm with you on power outages. We were without power for three days in 2007. I lasted about 9 minutes and the kids and I packed up and drove 4 hours to my parents. The kids would have been fine. Me, not so much!
Sounds like a fantastic week with lots of learning, despite it being summer vacation. Good luck getting started back.
ReplyDeleteSounds like a great week, despite the power outage. So nice to see your kids involved in 4H. It's such a wonderful organization. One of my nephews is performing with the 4 Leaf Clovers this year and it's been a great experience so far. Thanks for sharing the Wild Wednesday Hop. Not sure why the button code won't work in your post html but does on the side bar. Probably just a fluke :) Happy hump day!
ReplyDeletelove the shots...i totally understand about learning things from kids...especially during adventures :)
ReplyDeleteGlad the tree branch didn't do anything worse, and looks like you had a lot of great learning this week!
ReplyDeleteLooks like u did have a busy week!! Glad u got to post some awesome pictures!! Hi, Im a new follower, loving the blog! Stopping by from the Wednesday Blog hop I would love to invite you to follow me back, J'S REVIEWS AND GIVEAWAYS
ReplyDeleteThanks so much! have a great day!
Great post!
ReplyDeleteNew follower from Wednesday's blog hop! gotomommy.blogspot.com