Botany

A new school year has started!

We are very excited to get started again.  There are a lot of changes for our second year.  One of them is the topic we'll be studying in science: Botany!

One of the early exercises we did was shoe taxonomy.  We learned about how scientist classify plants, and then we got to try it for ourselves using all the shoes in the house.

We also learned a lot about seeds.  I'm amazed by how much I learn every day.  Hurrah for homeschooling!

Summertime

While we intended to continue school through the summer, we've ended up doing a little school and a lot of non-school.  Here are a few of the things we've done so far this summer:


We spent 4th of July at Magness Tree Farm in Sherwood.

We planted a garden.

We rode our bikes.

Kyler went to his first overnight camp.

Portrait of a Family

It has been a while since we've had some nice pictures taken of our family, so we went to campus and my parents took a few of all of us.  We also snapped some of the kids.  Here are our favorites.

Teacher Loekie

We are very fortunate to have learned, several years ago, about a local preschool taught by Teacher Loekie.  All three of the kids attended, though Brennan was the only one we decided to let go an extra year and do Loekie's kindergarten curriculum as well.

One of the fun things about this school is that the kids get to bring special snacks once a month.  I made turtle cookies for Brennan's birthday month snack.

They also get to participate in a number of fun field trips.  Here are a few:

February: Fire Station

March: Champoeg School House

April: Tulip Fields

May: Farm

And no preschool or kindergarten school year would be complete without a graduation ceremony.  Brennan's main part in the ceremony was to read aloud, as he was the best reader in the class, and Kyler played Pomp and Circumstance on the piano as the kids walked in.

It's a little sad that we won't have any more kids in Teacher Loekie's class, but we have lots of great memories.  Thanks Teacher Loekie!

We're Busting Outta Here!

I've always thought it funny that one of the prettiest towns in Washington has the same name as a famous prison. Of course, we thoroughly enjoyed our visit to Leavenworth, WA, and were in no hurry to bust out.

But first, the real reason we went to Washington was for Mariah's 8th grade graduation.  She ended up not being able to participate in the ceremony because of illness, but we still enjoyed watching the ceremony and hanging out with the family for the rest of the weekend.

For the last day of our Washington weekend, we joined the Haverlys and Brownlees in Leavenworth.  It's a quaint Bavarian village filled with interesting shops and surrounded by snow-capped mountains.

Makes me want to go to Europe!

The Most Important Meal of the Day

Mmmm....breakfast....my favorite.  Nothing beats pancakes, waffles, sausage, cinnamon rolls, coffee, orange juice, etc.  Not all at the same time, of course.

This year, the kids each chose a menu for their special birthday breakfast.

Brennan chose pancakes and sausage...

Kyler chose French toast and bananas...

Ella chose cinnamon rolls and oranges...

Mmmmm....delicious!

The End of History

We're nearing the end of our history studies for this year.  We've really enjoyed learning about early civilization.

Here are a couple of recent projects...

We made Trojan horses out of Legos...

We carved Jonah's whale out of soap...

Along the way, we've constructed a timeline of the historical people and events we've studied.  Here is just some of it...

We're looking forward to adding to the timeline when we resume history next year.