Wednesday Hodgepodge: Every Day New Beginnings

 

1. Share a winter memory from your childhood.

The Island Country Club has this HUGE hill perfect for sledding. I remember my mom, my sister and I trudging through the snow to the hill (as it's a bit of a walk from the road), and sledding lightning-quick down that hill with other families. I couldn't have been older than 8 or 9, but I still remember how exciting it was.

2. What was on your blog this time last year? (Besides the Hodgepodge of course!) If you weren't blogging, what in the world were you doing with all that free time? 

Last year's post AROUND this time: http://oursideofthemtn.blogspot.com/2015/01/six-word-saturday-finding-feng-shug.html. (A blog hop I couldn't keep up with despite the simplicity of it.)

3. Ellen Goodman is quoted as saying, 'We spend January 1 walking through our lives, room by room, drawing up a list of work to be done, cracks to be patched. Maybe this year, to balance the list, we ought to walk through the rooms of our lives...not looking for flaws, but for potential.' 

Do you see more flaws or more potential in your life at the start of a new year? Have you done anything specific this month to address either one? Does the new year truly begin for you on January 1, or is there some other month of the year that feels like a fresh start and new beginning?

A "new year" starts every morning when we wake up, a new day, a new beginning, a new chance to make a change, to move forward. Change doesn't need to wait for a specific date!

4. Who's an athlete you admire or respect and why?

Is it bad that I can't think of one? I'm don't really follow sports, especially professional, nor do I have cable to see games or news regularly. And nothing has come across my Facebook newsfeed lately about something awesome an athlete has done. :: wink::

5. Do you like cream in your coffee? Whipped cream on your pumpkin pie? Cream cheese on a bagel? Sour cream on a baked potato? Cream of wheat for breakfast? Have you ever had a scone with clotted cream? Of all the creamy foods mentioned, which one sounds most appealing to you right this very minute?

Oh, whipped cream on a homemade New England Pumpkin Pie would be awesome! Now, who'll bake it?

6. Where were you last kept waiting for 'hours on end'? Or for what felt like hours on end? How well did you cope?

My husband and I are waiting for one more thing to fall into place before taking a step towards a DREAM of OURS. The waiting and not knowing is tough! I'm impatient! But if everything works out as we hope, it'll be worth it.

7. Believe it or not, when next week's Hodgepodge rolls around it will be February.Huh?!? Bid adieu here to January in seven words or less.

In with a chill, out with a thaw.

8.  Insert your own random thought here.

Join Joyce from From This Side of the Pond for Wednesday Hodgepodge. Share in the randomness!

Happy Hodgepodging!

Explorers Blog Hop: Meandering Essentials

I'd never call us hard-core hikers. We're just a family who likes to get out for long walks in the woods, sometimes through marshes and along lakes and sometimes up small mountains. We meander. It's not about making the summit or finishing the trail, but about exploring wherever we are. But some things can make that exploring much more enjoyable.

Our Top 5 Meandering Essentials...And Some Extras

1. Backpack

It's simple! Choose a backpack that feels comfortable and holds what you need to bring. You don't need anything fancy or expensive (unless you're doing more than meandering through the woods for a few hours). And your little kids? Get them one too! They'll love wearing one like everyone else! And having them carry their own water, snacks and jacket will lighten your load.

2. Footwear

Depending on where you hike, you may need some sturdy hiking boots with "grippy" soles, but if you're on flat, "park" trails, then supportive sneakers will do the job. I wouldn't recommended open-toed sandals or flip fops.

3. First Aid

We have yet to use our first aid kits, but they're there and they're important. Don't leave home without them! I purchased EACH OF US a Johnson and Johnson Mini Kit from Walmart for $1.20 and then added some other things such as antihistamine, mole skin (for blisters), tweezers, and a tick remover. We also have small bottles of DEET and sunscreen as well as unscented baby wipes, Duct Tape and a Swiss Army Knife. (Obviously don't give young or untrained kids knives. All my saplings have had supervised training with their SMALL, simple knives and understand that they are only used in emergencies.) Oh, and don't forget a map of trail, compass (if you know how to use it) and your cell phone. But as important as these supplies are, don't forget to tell someone where you are going and when you anticipate returning.

4. Layers

Certainly dress for the weather, but be prepared for sudden changes. We have LL Bean waterproof jackets OR cheap Dollar Tree rain ponchos in our backpacks in case of a pop-up shower as well as long-sleeved fleeces or thin sweatshirts for temperature dips. Depending on the season, we have hats and gloves or baseball caps. And bring an extra pair of socks, preferably wool or synthetic, because wet feet are the worse.

5. Energy Builders

Water, water, water! In addition to water, bring some snacks. Everyone has their favorites, but make sure it's something that can take bumps in your backpacks as you meander along. I often pack our stuff in small reuseable plastic containers with locking lids so I don't have to worry about something getting crushed to crumbles.

6. Extras
My saplings like to bring binoculars and some hand lenses along for viewing wildlife and plants up close. Field guides help to answer those probing questions about what a plant is called...or, in our case, who "pooed in the park"...and nature journals can be a fun keepsakes of your adventures. And I never meander without my camera.

But no matter what you bring or where you meander, it's the having fun and enjoying your walk in the woods with kids that's the best!

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Explorers Blog Hop 2: Self-Directed Survivalism

We live surrounded by evergreen and deciduous forests: fir, spruce, pine, oak, maple, beech, and birch. Trees make for such wonderful, creative play structures. And although I wasn't too too pleased seeing that Sugar Maple and Balsam Fir "tipped" (i.e. broke ends off branches) some firs to make a tee pee shelter in the middle of our yard, I was impressed with their ingenuity and and resourcefulness.

They started out by scrounging some rope from the garage and collecting fallen tree branches from the back yard. Then, using a method they watched on Netflix's "Man, Woman, Wild" they bound the branches together then flared out the ends to create a free-standing tee pee-like structure with a wide "door". 

They collected "tips" of fir trees around our property and covered their structure with boughs until few holes were visible. And finished off by gathering some granite rocks and creating a "pretend" fire pit. 

But they decided it wasn't a PROPER camp, so they made a 2nd smaller tee pee and moved the fire  pit over, building a "hanging pot holder" over it for "pretend" cooking. It's a whole tee pee "town" now!

Unfortunately I don't have many "in progress" photos to share with you as they did this early one FRIGID, but sunny morning before starting school work. While they were "tipping", I was getting the washer going, making bread, vacuuming, and feeding/watering animals. ::wink:: But they were super excited to show me their tee pee shelters, saying, "Now we can get out of the cold!"

Yeah, it's been a COLD winter! ::shiver::

Notice all the brown ground? dried brown leaves? Not anymore! On Friday we were hit with the biggest SNOWSTORM of the season. And the saplings had to get out in THAT too! But I'll share those explorations next hop! ::grin::

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A Peak at Our Week: Session 3 Week 6 - The Calm Before the Storm

In My Life This Week / Things I Worked On
✔ Organize Session 3 Papers in Portfolios
✔ Declutter the Downstairs
✔ Walk Every Other Day With Rosie
✔ Clean Up and Organize the Garage  

My Favorite Thing This Week
Our garage has been SERIOUSLY buggin' me. ::sigh:: With a HUGE (embarrassing) pile of trash filling up one side, and outdoor toys thrown every-which-way, and Balsam Fir getting into and not putting back our tools, and old hay scattered across the concrete, I couldn't even get the van into it! On Saturday we ALL worked together and got it cleaned up...and Mama is happier!

Homeschool High School
SOMEONE has worked diligently this session! With only 1 week to go before our vacation break, White Pine doesn't have much work to do before meeting this session's goals. His big focus this week was finishing up Biology textbook and lab work, his Cather approach paper, and doubling up some Algebra and Biology Coloring pages. Next week? A few more math lessons and coloring! I suspect he'll enjoy a few extra days of sleeping in! ::wink::

He also started playing Ultimate Frisbee. Something totally new for him and us! 

Accomplishments
Vorpal Blade, Cather Approach Paper, Square Roots, Decimals, Additive Property of Inequality, Domain, Radical Expressions, Weighted Average, Complex Fractions, Trinomials, Probability, Pyramids/Cones, Bio Ch 20-21: Fungi/Protista, Mold Lab, Frisbee

Homeschool Elementary
Balsam Fir (finally) located a Nerf gun with foam darts from the garage, and I could (finally) make a Shooting Range Word Wall for him. I saw this idea at Life With my Giggly Girls a while back, although I can't find the exact post right now...Anyway, I wrote words that he struggles with (from his reading) onto index cards and then taped them onto closet doors. If he remembers them or can sound them out correctly, he gets to try shooting a dart at it. He thought it was my coolest idea in a while! ::wink::

I was going to wait until NEXT WEEK to start Story of the World Volume 2: Middle Ages, but the saplings didn't want to wait. How could I not start it, right?

And I took them ice skating for the first time this season. I don't enjoy ice skating so I read in the warming room around a wood stove, watching THEM through a viewing window. They had a wonderful time despite the slips-and-trips and want to go back. Fortunately it's a FREE rink (in a BARN) and has skates available. Nice!

SM Accomplishments
Creative Story (3000 words), Spelling Days ,Vitamins/Minerals, Digestive System, Fractions/Decimals, Fall of the Roman Empire

BF Accomplishments
Lionel in the Spring, Flat Stanley, Sight Word Flashcards, Writer's Notebook, Word Builder, Dollar/Coin (Count/Exchange/Change), Skeleton, Fall of the Roman Empire

Books, Books, Books!

We're reading about the "far land of Spare Oom...around the bright city of War Drobe" in The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe. Have you read The Chronicles of Narnia by C.S. Lewis to your kids? I'd most definitely recommend it! Both Sugar Maple and Balsam Fir give it two thumbs up! 

People We Saw, Places We Went
☃ Cub Scout Pinewood Derby (WP/BF) ☃ Hanging Out with Buddies (WP) ☃ Scouts (WP/BF) ☃ Ultimate Frisbee (WP) ☃ Basketball (SM) ☃ Clarinet/Band (SM) ☃ Library (SM/BF) ☃

Something Silly to Share

As always, thanks for stopping by Our Side of the Mountain. We're glad you came! We're linking up to these awesome blog hops this week. Why not head over, link up, or just read some more homeschooling happenings.

I also shared our Featured Feathered Friend here.

And don't forget this Sunday is our 2nd ever Explorers Blog Hop! We'd love for you to link up your outdoor adventures. Check out last week's hop here. Thank you to all those linked up last week!

History and Geography Meme 61: Sharing Resources

We're wrapping up Story of the World Volume 1 with Augustus Caesar, the first emperor of Rome...only the Romans called him the First Citizen. We're excited to start Volume 2 and the Middle Ages which is an era that we haven't delved into much. But in the meantime, I thought I would share some of our favorite links for History and Geography resources. And if you have one, share below! Thanks!

Outline Maps - World, US, Historical, Community

Geography Games - European and US

Hippocampus HIstory - American Government and History

Sheppardsoftware - US Geography Games

Sheppardsoftware - World Geography Games

Choose A Country Lapbook 

Liberty's Kids

Notebooking Pages - Look Under SOTW Resources

Jessy from Our Side of the Mountain

Sweet Phyllis has asked me to co-host the History and Geography meme with her for a bit as she goes through her cancer treatment and recovery. (To see how she's doing, visit her On the Mend blog here.) Please keep her and her wonderful family in your thoughts.

I hope that you will continue to link your new (and old) posts with any history and geography topic to this meme every Thursday. Please include this button on either the post you have linked or your sidebar or mention All Things Beautiful History and Geography meme in your post with a link. All posts that do not link directly to a history or geography post will be deleted. Remember that I am pinning all posts to Pinterest.

Explorers Blog Hop 1: Even in Rain...

...it's fun to get outside!

Overnight the winds blew and the rain fell in what sounded like sheets against the windows. By morning it was foggy and soggy! (Like that? ::grin::)  But it was warm, around 50 degrees, and for January in Maine that's a very nice break from the negative temperatures we've been shivering through.

At 7:30am I filled waterers, grabbed the feeder and headed out to the chicken and duck run. A swollen, bubbling brook was enough to get the ducks excitedly (and continuously) quacking. Perfect duck weather! How could I not let them out to explore? 

Then, Balsam Fir headed out because he's drawn to the water too. Nothing more exciting to an almost 8-year-old then muddy water (if you know what I mean). He traipsed through the woods surrounding the brook - I don't think his sneakers will ever be the same! ::sigh:: - and had grand plans on making a bridge. His search for discarded wood in the garage didn't turn up enough for a proper one though.

And 2 hours later, with damp hair stuck to his forehead and a soaked jacket, he rounded up the wandering flock and came inside...to put on SHORTS and a T-SHIRT. 

If you're wondering, spring has NOT arrived in Maine! On Friday we were below freezing again, but it was a nice preview of what is coming: MUD SEASON.


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History and Geography Meme 60: A History and Geography WALL Center

Have you ever considered creating a History and Geography CENTER? It doesn't have to be anything complicated or even take a lot of space, but a simple world map and a timeline  ON THE WALL can make for a very interesting and engaging learning resource.

I've had some questions about our History and Geography Center at Our Side of the Mountain, so I thought I would share my resources with you.

So, on the left is our WALL CENTER. Our school room is actually our 10x10 diningroom. A wall resource works best for us because it doesn't take floor space. I found Story of the World timeline strips and cards from Tending Our Lord's Garden here. It's a FREE resource, folks! Isn't that awesome? The strips are even color-coded for different time periods and the cards are varied enough that they can be used with other curricula too. Don't use SOTW? No problem! Did you notice the HOT PINK Post-its? We've been adding additional events to highlight events we've read outside of SOTW as well.

We added a world map. It's hard to see here, but I cut strips of Post-its to "point out" the areas we've studied. Although SOTW has great black-line maps, they don't show the areas in a WORLD CONTEXT. I feel it's important to see the "whole view" for a fuller perspective. 

And the best part of this wall center is that I find the kids reading the cards and searching for areas on the map all on their own! It's there for when they want to use it! 

Do you have a great resource? Link it up below!

Sweet Phyllis has asked me to co-host the History and Geography meme with her for a bit as she goes through her cancer treatment and recovery. (To see how she's doing, visit her On the Mend blog here.) Please keep her and her wonderful family in your thoughts.

I hope that you will continue to link your new (and old) posts with any history and geography topic to this meme every Thursday. Please include this button on either the post you have linked or your sidebar or mention All Things Beautiful History and Geography meme in your post with a link. All posts that do not link directly to a history or geography post will be deleted. Remember that I am pinning all posts to Pinterest.

Are You Linking up? Explorers Blog Hop Starts on Sunday!

I've been pondering a while about having a blog hop. I've always enjoyed linking up to other hops and reading other blogs, especially the homeschooling and cooking ones, but I wasn't sure about doing one myself. Until now. Why not! 

I'm kinda nervous no one will link up though. Will you? ::crossing fingers::

On Sunday I will be posting (sometime in the morning) my very first blog hop! Anything OUTSIDE goes! Gardening, sledding, swimming, playing in mud, running through the rain, nature journaling - it all works. A weekly blog hop to share our outdoor adventures and nature studies!

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(I hope my button works. Could you let me know if it doesn't? I think I've worked out all the "button bugs"...)
Please include my button on your post or link back to Our Side of the Mountain or mention us in your post to spread the word. And we hope to "see" you on Sunday! (I hope I figure out how to do the inlinkz! LOL)