Weekly Wrap-up June 23 - 29: The One at Home...Mostly

In My Life This Week

We were home! Whoop!  OK, I know...it's fun to visit family and friends and go camping, but after a while it's just WONDERFUL to be HOME! Would you believe that I was home Sunday afternoon through Thursday afternoon?! But I'm still waiting on those "lazy days of summer" to show up! How about you?

Peas Gone Wild

What's for Dinner or Dessert?
Blue Bayou Monte Cristo Sandwiches from Disney.  Orzo and Pea Salad from Mr. Food.  Mini Quiches from Cares Kitchen.  Sweet and Spicy Cucumber Slices from Our Best Bites. Strawberry-Lemonade Bars from K & K Test Kitchen.

Homeschool Happenings

So, who schools year-round? Although I wouldn't consider us "year-rounders", we have continued with a couple core subjects, product reviews and simple unit studies. All 3 Saplings have continued on with Math studies this summer (since none finished up their curriculum from last year). But this week we started our summer study of Ancient Egypt and hieroglyphics. Summer is a GREAT time for us to get to those unit studies I can't seem to fit in September-May!

AE Books

AE Netflix Videos 

Our AE Folder Lapbooks
(See highlighted links in Helpful Homeschool Hints for Mini Books)

I wanted to make manilla envelope books like Jimmie from Jimmie's Collage, but my search for envelopes didn't turn up any and I was bound-and-determined NOT to drive into town this week. (Staying home or at least close to home was my goal this week, and I WAS stubbornly sticking to it!) So, I pulled out some brightly colored folders that I had gotten free from Staples and made them work for this study.

On the cover the Saplings glued a title and a map of Egypt from Map Trek. (Map Trek review coming up next month!)  We'll be filling out more of this map as our unit study moves along.

We watched "Egypt's Golden Empire" and educational videos from Zane Education and read some fun children's books. (Zane Education review coming up next month too!) And filled out some lapbook mini books that we attached to our folders.

(Oh, and I haven't taken photos, but I'll try to for NEXT week! LOL)

What We're Reading
Sugar Maple and Balsam Fir signed up for the Dream Big Summer Reading Program at the library this past weekend. They will be able to earn weekly prizes for reading. Sugar Maple's goal is to read 1440 minutes this summer and Balsam Fir 300. White Pine doesn't need any encouragement to read. ((wink))

Balsam Fir read Green Eggs and Ham by Dr. Suess and Danny the Dinosaur by Sid Hoff. I think we're all familiar with the whimsical, rhyming stories of Dr. Suess, but Danny the Dinosaur is a fun "I Can Read Book"  written 54 years ago about a boy and a dinosaur spending an adventurous day together. Grades K-3


Sugar Maple read Black Beauty by Anna Sewell. Have you read this classic horse story from the late 1800s? This is an incredible story about the life of a horse from his perspective; a life full of love, cruelty and devotion. Grades 7+


White Pine read 1634: the Baltic War by David Weber and Eric Flint, the 8th book in the Ring of Fire Series. This historical fiction book chronicles the lives of people from a West Virginia mining town when they are "dropped" into 17th century Europe. Adult

I'm still reading Holes by Louis Sachar to the kids.  The Saplings are enjoying listening to Stanley's stay at Camp Green Lake, digging holes with other boys who're in need of "correction"...and figuring out the connection between WHY the warden wants them to dig holes in a dried out lake bed and  Kissin' Kate Barlow. Grades 5+


And I'm reading Last Child in the Woods: Saving Our Children From Nature-Deficient Disorder by Richard Louv, and joining Nicole from Journey to Excellence on her literature discussion. I'm a little late getting in the discussion and several chapters behind, but I'm getting caught up! See if your library has a copy and join up!

Places We Went and People We Saw

• Grandpa and Nannie Lobster • Mimi and Pop with Cousins Luke Skywalker and Obi-Wan Kenobi  • T__ and White Pine biked to the library (8 1/2 miles) then T__ stayed the night • White Pine hung out with A__ •  Sugar Maple and Balsam Fir swam at the lake while I read on the shore • 

Helpful Homeschool Hints

Have I got a list of stuff for you! I found LOTS of mini books and ideas for Ancient Egypt and hieroglyphics on Pinterest! Favorite resources this week!

• Middle School Egypt Study and a NEAT Way to Create a Lapbook at Jimmie's Collage

• FREE Ancient Egypt Lapbook Printables and Lessons at Homeschool Helper

• FREE 3D Ancient Egypt Lapbook at Practical Pages

• FREE Ancient Egypt Coloring Pages, Activities and Crafts at Activity Village

What's Working/Not Working?

Having a slow week! ((contended sigh))

Ponderings

Poor ducky! How did she ever get this out? Our first double-yolk DUCK egg and it was a HUGE one!  It had to be stored in a bowl because it wouldn't fit in a large-size egg carton!  Balsam Fir fried it up and had an egg sandwich on toast.

Double-yolk Duck Egg, Regular-sized Duck Egg, Large Chicken
Egg, Average Chicken Egg

Photo, Video, Link, or Quote to Share

Linking to

 

Our Camping Trip

Our first camping trip in 2 seasons was a success! And although the kids and I enjoyed TENTING, we're not ready to give up our pop-up camper! LOL

We arrived on Monday afternoon and set up our site in 30 minutes flat! (But we're SPARSE campers compared to some.) Having 3 "older" kids to pitch the tent, blow up air mattresses and set up camp chairs made for a quick camp set-up! Lovin' the teamwork!

Our LL Bean Ultimate 6 Person Dome Tent

Our Air Mattress Beds with a Sleeping White Pine (Left Side) 

Our Camp Closet for Clothing (Right Side)

Our days were spent swimming in the pool since we had several SCORCHER days! We're all tanned up (despite sunblock) from HOURS and HOURS swimming. And I was excited to see that Balsam Fir's ability to swim has come along by leaps-and-bounds already this summer!

We enjoyed evening walks after campfire dinners along the brook and pond. We saw turtles, a Luna Moth and dragonfly, and a PORCUPINE...and heard several different kinds of birds and frogs.

Balsam Fir Sitting Atop a HUGE Tire at
the Playground by the Brook in PJs

Brown Saddlebag Dragonfly - Identified by Entomologist
Nick B (who at 9 Knows More Than I Will EVER Know About
Insects LOL)

The Brook that Meanders Through the Campground 

Dusk at the Pond

And we enjoyed quiet evenings around the campfire, reading and talking and listening to birds.

((sigh)) And now back to MOUNTAINS of dirty laundry! LOL

Island Adventures: June 8-16

It's early morning on Sunday. (Happy Father's Day!) And most of my "woods" are sleeping. Only Sugar Maple is up, having breakfast and reading. I've been up for almost 3 (productive) hours. The chickens and ducks are out-and-about. There's laundry on the line. Macaroni for pasta salad is cooling in the frig. Hard-steamed eggs are sitting in an ice bath. Idahoes are boiling. And dishes are starting to pile up as I work on getting our camping grub prepared. It's quiet, except for Opal and Olive, our Pekin ducks, quacking outside and the fish tank bubbling away.

A perfect time for a breather and to share with you our week with my family. I grew up on a small island off the coast of Maine. It's a fishing village of several tiny towns and a population about about 2000. My Dad as been a lobsterman for 44 years. And we've all worked at "sternmen" aboard his boat over the years. (My "sternman" experience was brief...I kept getting motion sick on the boat!) We reach the island via a 80-plus-year-old suspension bridge and a sandbar causeway.

Atlantic Ocean

We spent a lot of time at the rocky beach, playing in the Atlantic Ocean and salty breeze with seagulls squawking overhead and a lighthouse nearby sounding its warning.

Sugar Maple's Sand Castle

Enjoying the Shade

Playing in Briny Mud Flats at Low Tide

Cousin Noodle Thinks Mud is Fun

Balsam Fir Burying in Truck in the Sand

Taking a Breather

Seaweed Hiding Fun Animals

Crabs from Under the Seaweed

Pebbles Along the Beach

We enjoyed seeing lots of blooming flowers.

We took a 2 mile hike up B__ H__ Mountain on a warm, sunny day...and almost got carried off by little black flies. But the view was great!

On Our Way

Interesting Lines on a Dead Tree 

Granite

Cooling Down in the Evergreen Shade

More Up 

My Sister with Cousin Noodle

Granite 

Look! White Pine DID Go on this Trip
With Us

View from the Top

View from the Top

We played with Mom's 3 2-week-old Cuckoo Maran chicks. Marans lay chocolate-brown colored eggs. We tried talking her into letting us take them home, but it didn't work. LOL

We had ice cream from local drive-ins!

Whoopie Pie Sundae

And now it's time for me to get back to cooking and baking...and laundry. Tomorrow we're off with friends on our first camping trip of the season!