Go Away BIG, BAD Germs! : November 5 - 11

In My Life This Week
((sniffle)) ((sniffle)) A cold. ((shiver)) It's that time of year, isn't it? At least in our "neck of the woods"! Things were a bit slower this week as I tried to rest. ((cough))

(Psst! Don't forget to enter my FIRST EVER giveaway - My Memories Suite Digital Scrapbooking Software - if you haven't! I'm lovin' the software! A winner will be chosen through www.random.org on 11/18. Click here to enter!)

Oh, and I was nominated for the 2011 Homeschool Blog Awards! Please vote for me under #20 Nature/Field Trips here! Thanks! So exciting!

Whatcha Makin' Wednesday

(Link up YOUR fab recipes with the kids by clicking on the sidebar button)

Sugar Maple made a family favorite this week: Toll house Cookie Bars.  Look at the chocolate! Yum!

Homeschool Happenings
Sugar Maple's friend C__ joined us the Maine Wildlife Park on Saturday. (We LOVE visiting the park in the late fall when it's less busy!) This park rehabilitates sick or hurt native animals then releases them back into their habitats IF they can survive. We saw white-tailed deer, an albino raccoon and porcupine, a moose, a tailless Mountain lion, a Canada Goose with a broken wing, red and gray foxes, 2 Black Bears, a Golden Eagle and Bald Eagle with damaged wings, a turkey vulture, a Peregrine Falcon, different species of owls, and watched a raven taking a water bath. It was a beautiful day at the park!

Sugar Maple, Balsam Fir and I continued on with their Apologia Astronomy studies. We finished up Venus this week and started Earth. The Trees spent a couple of CHILLY nights outside with Blue Spruce looking at Jupiter and a couple of it's moons through the telescope. Pretty cool stuff! And White Pine finished up Chapter 4 sections 2-4 in Earth Science on Plate Tectonics.

Did you see our first week of Thanksgiving studies? We didn't have as much time this week, but we wrapped up our "background info" and started our PAPER DOLL PLAY! Parts and lines were given out and the younger Trees started to make the set! This is going to be a FUN project...if we can pull it off. (Did I mention that I've never been in a play and I've only been to a couple?)

We got off on a tangent with American History, watching "Liberty Kids" and "Schoolhouse Rock" on the Boston Tea Party. Balsam Fir especially like the videos.

On the Bookshelf

Place We Went and People We Saw

White Pine "hung out" at his buddy T__'s house overnight.

White Pine helped a fellow Boy Scout with his Eagle project.

Sugar Maple had "girl time" with her friend C__.
Balsam Fir ran around with the boy's from next door.

All the "trees" had Scout meetings this week.
Sugar Maple went to the state house with her troop.

Sugar Maple had a Clarinet lesson.
White Pine and Blue Spruce headed off to MA for an overnight.

Our Favorite Thing This Week
The unseasonably HIGH temperatures! We saw 65 sunny degrees and spent hours and hours outside. (If only the sun didn't set at 4:20pm though!)

Helpful Homeschool Hint

Recycle! Reuse! Reduce! Repurpose! Look at these handy-dandy containers with handles! All from household cleaner containers! Just wash out the containers, cut out an opening (leaving the handle), and ta da! Perfect for markers, crayons and manipulatives! (Thanks MIL!)

What's Working/Not Working For Us
Extracurriculars! I'm on the search for another, NEW activity for the kids, something that we can do together that isn't MILES and MILES away.

Questions/Thoughts I Have
So, I've decided - I think! LOL - on a high school Biology curriculum for White Pine next year, but he DOES NOT want to do the dissections. Any suggestions for virtual labs? And is Biology LAB considered LAB without the dissections even if other (microscope) experiments are completed?

Photo(s), Video, Link, or Quote to Share

Our hens Sassy and Roadrunner decided
to fly up and roost on TOP of the playset!

Linking Up To: