Turning Cluttered and Chaotic Into Organized and Useful

What is it about turning a cluttered, chaotic drawer or shelf into an organized, useful space that is so endlessly satisfying for me? Part of the thrill might be the instant gratification - the feeling of "Look, I actually DID something and I can see that it's DONE." I just can't stop smiling everytime I open one of the drawers or cabinets in our master bathroom.

For years, our cabinets and drawers in our master bathroom have been a total disaster. They really haven't been cleaned in years and they've never been organized. Really, it's been years since they've been cleaned. My youngest is 8 1/2. One of the items I threw out yesterday was cracked nipple cream for breastfeeding mothers. Since, I stopped nursing when Duncan was about one year of age, it's been at least 7 years since the bathroom has been de-cluttered and organized!

After spending years on my endless "to-do" list, I finally buckled down yesterday and cleaned all of the drawers and cabinets in our bathroom. The task was long but hugely satisfying. I discovered that I will probably never have to buy disposable razors again - I couldn't believe how many I found lurking in the backs of drawers, hiding from me, laughing at me. Sadly, I could never find them before and kept buying new packs. Sneaky little hair removers - they can no longer hide from me.

I just love the cluttered, chaotic BEFORE pictures followed by the organized, useful AFTER pictures. With no further hesitation, here are the highlights in photo form...

I stacked all of the towels in a square laundry basket so they are no longer falling all over. I also established a central area for our supply of shampoo and other essentials. I hate going to Super WalMart so I stockpile items like shampoo, deodorant, toothpaste, etc.

This drawer filled to the rim with odds & ends and junk became a central place for combs and brushes. Yes, this was the drawer in which I found the cracked nipple cream for breastfeeding mothers.

I used a lot of shoeboxes (I save them - they're handy) in my bathroom organizing efforts. I transformed this mess into...
a great place for odds & ends that I want to keep and a central place to keep travel-sized items. Since we travel frequently for swim meets, it will be great to have travel-sized items in one place that is easy to find.

This drawer, though, is my favorite transformation. I took this haphazard drawer and made it into...

a central storage area for soap, deodorant, toothpaste, and razors. I LOVE this - now I can quickly see if we actually need something - and I can stop buying razors that I don't need!

Yes, those were the highlights. I think I'll go look in one of my organized and useful drawers now and smile.

Review of Atelier Art Level 5

I am writing over at Curriculum Choice today with a detailed review of Atelier Art, The Video-Based Art Program for the Home Educator Level 5. If you are looking for a wonderful art program that can be used with multiple ages in your homeschool, please head over to Curriculum Choice and read my review.

Cave Canem

Cave Canem

"Beware of the Dog"

As I was taking a little break from cleaning the refrigerator today, I walked through the living room and saw our dog, Hershey, lounging on the couch in front of the fire. The Latin words "Cave Canem" immediately sprang to my mind and I had to grab my camera.

In our homeschool we are using, "Latin Everywhere, Everyday" by Elizabeth Heimbach this year. Each day we learn a Latin phrase. I have been finding it incredibly interesting to learn how many common phrases are actually Latin phrases. An added bonus is that learning Latin phrases makes me feel incredibly clever!

What's Inside the Workboxes for Third Grade?

While we are still on holiday break (yea!), this post gives you a peek inside my 3rd grade son's workboxes on a typical school day a few weeks ago. I have been using workboxes with my boys since we started school back in August. I am absolutely thrilled with the workbox system and how it is working in our homeschool. I have found many advantages to using workboxes with my boys and will continue to do so when we start back to school in January.



Both of my boys usually have 10-12 workboxes on a typical school day. As a family, we complete geography, Latin and Greek roots vocabulary study, art, science, and history. The boys complete math, spelling, reading comprehension, grammar, writing, handwriting, phonics, and typing independently (for the most part) with their workboxes. They also often have workboxes that reinforce the work that we are doing in our current science or history unit study or review boxes.



Box 1: Spelling Workout C - complete one page and do "Test Me" on Spelling City. I recently started using Spelling City for spelling list practice with the boys and I highly recommend the website. On the first day of the week, they can use Spelling City to do the pre-test and I no longer have to spend time reading the words to them. They also do their final spelling tests on Spelling City so, again, I no longer have to spend time reading the words to them. Throughout the week, they are assigned games or other activities from Spelling City to help them study their words.

Box 2: Daily Handwriting Practice, Evan-Moor

Box 3: Assigned pages from "The Velveteen Rabbit" along with a reading comprehension activity from Fortunately For You Books.

Box 4: A Christmas tree colors and shapes activity that I printed out from Enchanted Learning on cardstock. After coloring the tree's decorations according to the directions, Duncan painted the entire tree green using watercolors for a crayon resist effect.

Box 5: Spectrum Phonics 3 - one side of a page.

Box 6: Calendar project - Duncan is creating his own calendar for 2010. The calendar project is a fairly big project that I am breaking up into little chunks for him. At the end, he will have a calendar for 2010 that he has made himself and he will have learned more about holidays throughout the year.

Box 7: FOCUS on Understanding Main Idea and Details - reading comprehension. Duncan completes one lesson per day.

Box 8: Typing Instructor for Kids Version 4 - practice for 15 minutes.

Box 9: BrainPop Jr. video - Silent e and read a book/take the quiz on Raz-Kids. Both of these activities are completed on the computer.

Box 10: Writing With Ease Level 1 - completed with me.

Box 11: Grammar By This Book from Fortunately For You Books - The First Thanksgiving Day. Duncan completed two pages in this grammar activity book per day.

Box 12: Teaching Textbooks Math 4. Duncan completes his lessons on the computer so I put his math notebook and the multiplication table he is currently using in his workbox.

Christmas Eve - A Perfect Day at Home

Our family had our own Christmas celebration on Christmas Eve. My husband had to work all day on Christmas and some of our extended family were coming over on December 26th for a Christmas party so we decided to have our own family celebration on Christmas Eve. We had an absolutely perfect, low-key celebration.

When my husband got home from work around 1:00, we quickly finished preparing our special Christmas dinner of ribeye steaks on the grill (soaked in marinade over 24 hours), baked potatoes with butter rubbed into the skins, and steamed broccoli. We had chocolate covered cream puffs and cheesecake bites for dessert (both from the freezer section at the grocery). Kev braved the cold weather to grill out the steaks and they were quite yummy.

After eating our special meal, we opened our presents. The children had been waiting all day to open their gifts so they were definitely ready! The children received lots of great gifts and they were really excited about all of their new presents.

Duncan was MOST excited about his new DOMO stuffed toy! I picked Domo up on clearance at Target months and months ago. I knew Duncan would love him!
One of Amber's favorite presents was her new "oh, crab" beach towel. The towel matches her adorable "oh, crab" flip-flops that she wears on the pool deck every day. She assured me that her "oh,crab" towel was far and away her new favorite towel to take to swim team.Kevin gave me a Temo's chocolate tree filled with chocolates. Yummy! I absolutely adore Temo's chocolates.Amber knitted Kev a hat in her swim team's colors. The hat turned out really sharp in maroon and gold. After opening all of their presents, Duncan and Mason had to play one of the games that Mason received for Christmas - Simpsons Scene It.

While the boys played their game and Kevin took a much-deserved nap on the couch by the fire, Amber and I played the game she received for Christmas - New Moon. After seeing the movie twice and reading the book twice, I felt I was quite prepared to dominate in the game. Of course, Amber beat me.

Our family Christmas celebration was perfect - it was a relaxed day with a wonderful meal that didn't require hours of preparation in the kitchen. Amber and I watched "Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince" later in the evening (it was even better the second time). After that, Amber opted to read in bed and I watched "Toy Story" with the boys. We had never seen it before and enjoyed the movie tremendously. "Toy Story" was a perfect ending to a perfect day!

The 50 Book Challenge Wrap-Up and Review

In 2009, I participated in the 50 Book Challenge through my local library. Over the course of the year, I more than met my goal and I re-discovered the simple joy of reading simply for the pleasure of reading. Losing myself in the world of a good book for a little while before I fall asleep at night, in between events at a swim meet, in spare pockets of time, or while waiting for the children at swim team has been absolutely wonderful this year.

In my reading, I don't always get to choose whatever mystery, romance, or thriller interests me. I do read some books specifically for the purpose of preparing to discuss the book with one or more of my children for school. For example, I read "Johnny Tremain" by Esther Forbes over the summer so that my daughter and I could discuss the book when she read it during our American Revolution unit study. I also read some non-fiction - usually related to homeschooling or some aspect of managing my home.

I had thought about setting some more specific goals for myself this year regarding the types of books that I read (for example, more classic books or a certain number of non-fiction books) but then I decided, no. Reading is one of the great joys of my life and I will leave it at that...in 2010, I will just continue to READ to prepare for teaching my children, to better myself as a manager of my home, and (most importantly) for the sheer pleasure of it!

Each month I post the books and movies I read and watched that month along with my reviews. As an end-of-the-year wrap-up, I'm including my full list of books that I read in 2009, along with my reviews which range from 1 to 5 stars. I will be clearing my Shelfari shelf located in my blog sidebar on the last day of December to make room for the books that I will read in 2010!

The 68 Books That I Read in 2009

1. Definitely Dead, #6 in the Southern Vampire Mystery Series by Charlaine Harris ****
2. Night Embrace, #3 in the Dark Hunter series by Sherrilyn Kenyon
3. Dead as a Doornail, #5 in the Southern Vampire Mystery Series by Charlaine Harris ****
4. All Together Dead, #7 in the Southern Vampire Mystery Series by Charlaine Harris ****
5. Dance with the Devil, #4 in the Dark Hunter series by Sherrilyn Kenyon ****
6. Eclipse by Stephenie Meyer ****
7. Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire by J. K. Rowling, audio CD read by Jim Dale *****(This is the second time my daughter and I have listened to this book - I can't recommend the audio CD enough - it is wonderful!)
8. Men in Kilts by Katie MacAlister ****
9. A Girl's Guide to Vampires by Katie MacAlister ***
10. Dead End Dating by Kimberly Raye ***
11. One Bite with a Stranger by Christine Warren *
12. Seducing His Wife by Janet Chapman ****
13. Death of a Dentist by M. C. Beaton ****
14. High School at Home, You Can Do It! by Diana Johnson****
15. Kiss of the Night by Sherrilyn Kenyon (Dark Hunter series) ****
16. Booster Shot - How to Energize Your Homeschool with Unit Studies by Kym Wright *****
17. Swimming to Antarctica by Lynne Cox ****
18. The Dangerous Days of Daniel X by James Patterson ***
19. Best Practices for Planning Reading and Writing Instruction by A. C. Fornshell **
20. Johnny Tremain by Esther Forbes - **** (I read this because it will be an assigned book for my daughter during our American Revolution unit next school year. I was pleasantly surprised by how much I enjoyed this book. The historical references were well-done and interesting and the character development was excellent.)
21. Night Play by Sherrilyn Kenyon - ***
22. Seize the Night by Sherrilyn Kenyon - ***
23. Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix by J. K. Rowling (audiobook) *****
24. Kitchen Organization Tips and Secrets by Deniece Schofield ****
25. Sins of the Night by Sherrilyn Kenyon ****
26. Mother's Day Murder (A Lucy Stone Mystery) by Leslie Meier ***
27. Taming the Scotsman by Kinley MacGregor ***
28. From Dead to Worse by Charlaine Harris ****
29. Killer Mousse by Melinda Wells ****
30. Managers of Their Homes by Steven and Teri Maxwell ****
31. Death Takes the Cake by Melinda Wells ***
32. The Organized Homeschooler by Vicki Caruana *
33. Unleash the Night by Sherrilyn Kenyon ****
34. Candy Apple Dead by Sammi Carter **
35. Relentless by Dean R. Koontz ****
36. Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince by J. K. Rowling (audio CD) *****
37. Dark Side of the Moon by Sherrilyn Kenyon ***
38. The Husband by Dean R. Koontz ****
39. The Swimsuit by James Patterson *
40. Organize Your Corpses by Mary Jane Maffini ***
41. The Stranger in Her Bed by Janet Chapman ****
42. Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows by J. K. Rowling (audiobook for the second time!) *****
43. Charming the Highlander by Janet Chapman ****
44. Sue Patrick's Workbox System, A User's Guide by Sue Patrick ***
45. The Death of a Scriptwriter by M.C. Beaton ***
46. Moonlight Warrior by Janet Chapman ****
47. The Ligtning Thief (Percy Jackson and the Olympians Book 1) by Rick Riordan ** (The audio book is quite disappointing.)
48. Loving the Highlander by Janet Chapman ****
49. Chocolate Chip Cookie Murder by Joanne Fluke ***
50. George Washington's Socks by Elvira Woodruff ***
51. Gregor the Overlander by Suzanne Collins ****
52. Catching Fire by Suzanne Collins *****
53. Wedding the Highlander by Janet Chapman ***
54. The House of the Scorpion by Nancy Farmer **** - Favorite Book of the Year
55. Strawberry Shortcake Murder by Joanne Fluke ***
56. Tuck Everlasting by Natalie Babbitt ***
57. Highlander Ever After by Jennifer Ashley ***
58. Penelope and Prince Charming by Jennifer Ashley ****
59. The Thief by Megan Whalen Turner ***
60. Deep Trouble (Goosebumps series) by R. L. Stine ***
61. The Maze Runner by James Dashner ****
62. Beyond the Highland Mist by Karen Marie Moning ****
63. A Christmas Carol by Charles Dickens *****
64. Twilight by Stephenie Meyer ****
65. New Moon by Stephenie Meyer ****
66. The Hunger Games **** (My daughter and I listened to this on audio after reading it - loved the book and loved the audio.)
67. Black Ships Before Troy: The Story of the Iliad by Rosemary Sutcliff ***
68. Tempting the Highlander by Janet Chapman ***

Because Nothing Says Christmas Like a Swim Meet

I spent Friday through Sunday at the Trees Pool in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania for the 48th Annual Christmas Meet Invitational. This was the first time that my daughter attended this meet and it was an incredible experience. We will definitely be coming back next year! The swimming pool deck was decorated for Christmas - there was even a wooden Santa in shorts and sunglasses...because nothing says Christmas like a swim meet!

We stayed at a Residence Inn minutes from the pool and were quite happy with our hotel choice. The rooms were very clean and comfortable. I particularly liked having a kitchen in the suite so that I could keep my swimmer fed! I spent quite a bit of time cooking the Thursday before we left and I was so happy to have yummy meals prepared and ready to heat-up when we got back to the suite after finals on Friday and Saturday. Kev and Aunt Kim drove us down on Friday, stayed for the prelims and finals, and then drove back home. Kev came back on Sunday morning and took us home after finals that evening.

The Christmas Meet was the fastest meet that my daughter has attended. I was amazed by the times that the young people were achieving at this meet. I mentioned to her coach that this meet seemed faster than the Central Zone Championships and he said that it was - several zones were represented among the swimmers attending the meet. There were swimmers attending the meet from Massachusetts, New York, Virginia, West Virginia, Ohio, Indiana, Michigan, and Pennsylvania.

Overall, the meet was exhausting for Amber over the three day period. The hardest part was that the meet was a preliminaries/final format each day. Amber swam 8 individual events over the 3 days and 2 relays. She made the finals in 7 of her 8 individual events. The 12 and unders swam in the afternoon so she really had no time to rest in between the end of the prelims and warm-ups for finals. Even with her grueling schedule, Amber had an absolutely fantastic meet and performed exceedingly well! Amber cut time in ALL of her events over the course of week-end, set new team records, and came home with 4 pieces of hardware (medals).

Friday Prelims

• 200 Free 2:03.33 (seeded #6 for finals)
• 200 Back 2:20.96 (AAA, new USC record)
• 50 Fly 27.10 (AAAA, seeded #1 for finals)

Friday Finals

• 200 Free 2:02.31 (AAAA, new USC record, 5th place)
• 50 Fly 26.76 (AAAA, new USC record, new Lake Erie record, 1st place)

Saturday Prelims

• 100 Free 55.91 (seeded #4 for finals, new USC record, AAA)
• 50 Back 28.93 (seeded #1 for finals, AAAA)

Saturday Finals

• 100 Free 56.30 (placed 5th)
• 50 Back 28.92 (new USC record, AAAA, placed 2nd)

Sunday Prelims

• 100 Back 1:03.94 (seeded 4th for finals)
• 50 Free 24.89 (seeded 1st for finals)
• 100 Fly 1:01.65 (new USC record, AAAA)

Sunday Finals

• 100 Back 1:03.35 (new USC record, AAAA, placed 4th)
• 50 Free 24.76 (new USC record, sectional cut, placed 2nd)
• 100 Fly 1:02.14 (AAAA, 3rd place)

We are so very proud of Amber! Her hard work, dedication, good attitude, and natural talent are serving her well in her chosen passion of competitive swimming.

Pudding-Chip Cookies

Amber and I spent most of the past two afternoons in the kitchen baking Christmas cookies and other goodies. We wanted to make a nice selection of treats to give to the swim coach and his assistant. We also wanted some goodies for ourselves!

We made:

• Peanut Butter Blossoms
• Homemade Caramel Corn (this was absolutely delicious from The Happy Housewife's blog - we need to make some more again soon!)
• Pretzels dipped in white dipping chocolate with Christmas sprinkles
• Cupcakes from the Funfetti Christmas Cake Mix
• Pudding-Chip Cookies

I acquired this recipe over 16 years ago from friends when we were living in Arizona. Pudding-Chip Cookies are wonderful - crispy on the outside and soft on the inside. They are incredibly yummy and you can vary the flavor by using different kinds of chips and pudding mix. For the cookies we made yesterday, I used butterscotch chips and butterscotch pudding mix and they turned out great!

Pudding-Chip Cookies

• 2 sticks butter - softened
• 3/4 cup brown sugar
• 1/4 cup sugar
• small box instant vanilla pudding

CREAM ALL ABOVE TOGETHER WITH MIXER.

Add:

• 2 eggs
• 1 teaspoon vanilla

CREAM SOME MORE WITH THE MIXER.

Add:

• 2 1/4 cup flour
• 1 teaspoon baking soda

Beat with mixer. Add 12 oz. chips (vanilla, chocolate, butterscotch, etc) of your choice. MIX and chill dough for 15 minutes. Keep dough cool as you work. Drop by tablespoonfuls onto an ungreased cookie sheet. (I use parchment paper on the cookie sheet). Bake 10-14 minutes in a 350 degree oven. Let them sit on the baking sheet after taking them out of the oven to bake a bit more.

The Positives and Negatives of Homeschooling

I am writing today about the Positives and Negatives of Homeschooling from the perspective of my almost teenage daughter over at The Homeschool Classroom. Click over there to read the article and learn about the good, the bad, and the ugly of homeschooling from a homeschooled student's perspective!

Easy Gingerbread Houses

One of our traditional holiday activities is decorating gingerbread houses. Since I am not known for my prowess in the kitchen, we use an idea for making gingerbread houses that I learned years ago at our former homeschool group's Christmas party.


To construct the gingerbread houses, you need 4 whole graham crackers - 2 for the sides and 2 for the roof. The only preparation needed is to cut 2 whole graham crackers for each gingerbread house as shown below. The cutting can be a little tricky - purchase an extra box of graham crackers, just in case.
Icing is used as the glue to hold the house together and to hold the decorative elements in place. Royal icing works well, but we use the fluffy, Wilton-style, fancy buttercream-type icing. While I have made it lots of times in the past, I now simply purchase it from our local cake shop. This is the type of icing that is thick in consistency and could be used for making icing roses, for example. The icing from the can in the bakery aisle at the grocery store is just not sturdy or strong enough to work well with this project.


Purchasing the bits and pieces for the gingerbread houses is the fun part. This year I purchased (or gathered from my pantry) the following items:

• gingerbread men cookies


• mini rainbow vanilla wafers


• gumdrops


• red and green M & Ms


• mini candy canes


• fruit and toasted O's (generic Froot Loops)


• Twizzlers NIBS cherry bits


• Necco wafers


• Peeps snowmen


• sugar wafer cookies


• cinnamon decors


• 1/2 sheet cake boards (one for each child)

My daughter prepared an icing bag for each of them using a sturdy ziplock bag. After putting the icing in the bag, she snipped a small amount off the tip on one end. My youngest did need help with constructing his gingerbread house. I have heard that some people use a small carton or other base to build the house around to make it sturdier, but we have not done that. It does sound like a good idea, particularly if doing this project with younger children.

Then, the fun part - the decorating! I am always amazed by the creativity of my children in making their gingerbread houses.Amber's gingerbread house and yard... Duncan's gingerbread house and yard... Mason's gingerbread house and yard...

Graham cracker gingerbread houses are also a fun project for other holidays. Last year, we made Halloween gingerbread houses instead of doing the project at Christmas. With all of the cute Easter candy, cute bunny houses could be made as well.

Easy graham cracker gingerbread houses Work for Me! If you would like to see what works for other bloggers, check out Works for Me Wednesday at We Are THAT Family.

Being There

I spent all of yesterday afternoon into the early evening at my middle son's swim meet. Now, this is not unusual for me at all - I attend my children's swim meets almost every week-end.

The unusual part was that I was extremely uncomfortable. Now, I don't like being uncomfortable and I have a whole system for being at swim meets. Usually, I arrive at a swim meet over an hour before it starts so that my swimmer(s) are there in time for warm-ups. I am always able to choose a good seat with back support. I also have time to spread out my swim meet survival kit (books to read, grading to do, iPod to listen to, drinks, snacks) and settle in to reading a good book after highlighting all of my swimmer(s) events on the heat sheet.

But, yesterday, the meet was at our home pool so it wasn't too far from our house. My middle son was swimming and my daughter and husband were both timing at the meet. So, my youngest and I drove separately and came to the meet right before it started.

The stands were PACKED! It was HOT in the stands! I absolutely couldn't find a seat for Duncan and I. We ended up wedged back in a corner, sitting on the floor, barely able to see, and I was unable to proceed with my normal swim meet routine. I was uncomfortable, really uncomfortable. I sincerely considered just leaving. What did it really matter, anyway? Duncan seemed to be OK, though, he's smaller and had made a little nest for himself and was playing his DS. So, I decided we would stick it out.

I moved to another location right before Mason's first event (100 Free) so that I could actually see him swim. Then I noticed that he was in line in his lane and he was desperately scanning the crowds. Then I realized that he was looking for ME. I thought about how incredibly fortunate I am to have a son who loves me so much that he desperately wants me to see him swim his events. I began to jump up and down and wave to attract his attention. He finally saw me, his face relaxed, and he smiled. He knew I was there, in the stands, watching him, being proud of him, cheering him on.

After his event, I went back to my uncomfortable little spot on the floor by Duncan and was just happy that I could be there. After all, it's not about me, it's never been about me. Since the moment my first was born, it's always been about them.

The Magic of Motherhood

My daughter (almost 13) and I enjoyed an absolutely lovely day out together today. We sent to see the first showing of the day of New Moon (again) at the movie theater. Then we had lunch at Cracker Barrel (one of my favorite restaurants). Finally, we stopped at the library for the monthly book sale and I purchased a huge bag of books for $3.15! In between, we laughed and we talked and we listened to a new book on tape in the car.

And I was overwhelmed, completely and totally overwhelmed, by the fact that sometime along the way...in between nursing, potty training, swim lessons, and teaching her to read...my beautiful and precious little girl grew into a beautiful and precious young lady. I was struck by the fact that I really didn't want to be with anybody else for a girl's day out than my daughter. I was struck by the fact that I LOVE to be with my daughter, I love to talk to my daughter, I love to be loved by my daughter. She makes me laugh, she makes me smile, she brings such joy, pride, and warmth to my life.

Time goes by so very fast, it takes my breath away at times. One day I was nursing her, then I blinked. The next day I was potty-training her. Then I blinked. The next day, she could read and we were discussing books. Then I blinked. The next day she was taller than I am and I realized that her time at home with us is limited. Soon, I will blink again and she will be spreading her wings and starting out on her own to live her own life.

And that is the magic of motherhood. Time goes by in the blink of an eye and in between all of the work and exhaustion of motherhood, you realize that you have fallen completely, totally, irrevocably, and forever in love with your children. The love you feel for them is so real, so complete, and so tangible, it feels at times that the power of it will sweep you away and leave you adrift in a sea of emotion.

But then the laundry, dinner, a question from a child, the dog, or a thousand other tasks call us back to the day-to-day existence. I am so thankful for today and the reminder of just how much I love my daughter...and all of my children!

Week in Review - Minoan Frescoes

We started a new unit study this week - Ancient Greece and Greek Mythology. I organized this unit study myself, pulling from many resources. I put the main books that we are using in the sidebars but we are using many more books and other resources as well. I am really excited about this unit as I did a lot of planning and organizing for the unit over the summer (while I waited for my daughter at the long-course pool that is quite a long drive from our house). I have lots of hands-on projects planned for this unit, too, which are always enjoyed.


This week we discussed the 5 eras into which Ancient Greece history is categorized. We learned about the Minoans and the Myceneans who lived during the Bronze Age. During this time period, beautiful paintings were created by painting on wet plaster. After learning about the Minoans, the children created their own fresco paintings.


The idea was taken from the Hands On History Ancient Greece kit. Each child first prepared plaster in a square foam container. Then they picked out the acrylic paint colors that they wanted to use and thought about what they would paint.

After 30 minutes had passed, the children removed the outer foam of the container. The plaster was hard, but not super hard. The plaster was also cool and damp to the touch.

My youngest, 3rd grade, made a painting of candy and ice cream.My middle son, 5th grade, decided to paint goodies as well. His fresco is decorated with ice cream cones, ice cream sandwiches, and licorice.

My oldest, 7th grade, decided that she wanted her fresco to resemble the painting that was shown in one of the books that we are using for this unit. Inspired by the dolphins and fish in the paintings at a Minoan palace, her fresco was filled with sea creatures.

I think they all did a great job on this project!

We also started studying Greek Mythology - a fascinating subject. We are using the excellent book by the D'Aulaires and the Memoria Press workbook to go along with the text. All of these resources are in my sidebars. I am so thrilled with the workbook! The book is divided into 25 lessons with comprehension questions, vocabulary, facts to know, and a pronunication guide (quite helpful). The workbook has taken the overwhelming task of studying Greek Mythology and made it very manageable.

The children are all progressing well in their independent work. I did decide to start my youngest in Growing With Grammar 3 since he had completed Growing With Grammar 2 - so far, so good! I do think everybody is getting a little anxious for Christmas break and a nice, long break from their independent studies. Next week is our last week, and then we will be on break from school until January 13.

We ended our week with a project that is always enjoyed, making gingerbread houses. Last year, we made Halloween gingerbread houses but we usually make them for Christmas each year. The Christmas gingerbread houses definitely deserves its own post so I'll be writing about that separately.

One more week until Christmas break! If you would like to read what other homeschoolers did this week, check out the Weekly Wrap-Up at Weird, Unsocialized Homeschoolers.

Our Newest Competitive Swimmer!

Duncan will finish the "Shark" swimming class at the Recreation Center for the second time next week. Last time he finished, his teacher wrote, "Swim Team" at the bottom for the next step. We decided to have him take the class one more time before starting swim team. So, after a break for the holidays, Duncan will be starting in the Beginning USA Swimming group in January!

He is very excited about joining the swim team as both his older brother and sister are competitive swimmers. A few days ago, a box arrived from Swim Outlet with his swim gear that I had ordered. Amber let Duncan use one of her USC caps for the pictures. We all thought he looked adorable and very swimmery!

Swim fast, Duncan!

Week in Review - Finishing the Human Body Unit

This week in review covers two weeks, Thanksgiving week and the week after Thanksgiving. We only had school on Monday and Tuesday the week of Thanksgiving - the break was enjoyed by all! The week after Thanksgiving was a busy week as we finished up the Human Body Unit Study.

To finish our study of the human body, we covered the digestive system, urinary system, lymphatic system, endocrine system, and the immune system. We also briefly touched on the reproductive system through an educational video and we covered how a baby grows within his or her mother.

The children also finished their human body models. While I am very happy with the results, it was a very time-consuming and often tricky model to put together. The models are really great, though. The lungs, heart, digestive system, and urinary system are all included, layer upon layer. To really do these models justice, I plan to do another post with more detailed pictures of each layer.

We RARELY do anything fun and hands-on for our ongoing geography study of the United States. Last week, we were studying Iowa and learned that Iowa is a favorite of rock enthusiasts due to all of the geodes. I decided to "dig out" the geodes kit that I purchased a while ago and add that to our geography study for the week.
The boys, in particular, were thrilled about the opportunity to hammer away at rocks for a surprise inside! The geodes were a lot harder to crack open than I had anticipated. I would recommend definitely placing each geode in an old sock to break it open. Also, I would highly recommend NOT doing this activity on your picnic table! Before I came to my good senses, the children had already put some hammer marks in the table. I guess I will have to view them as keepsakes of our activity!
After damaging the picnic table, we moved to the concrete floor for breaking the geodes - a much better choice. The boys were so excited when their geodes broke open! My daughter was slightly thrilled, but mostly just cold so she went back inside after successfully breaking one geode.Here is a picture of one of the geodes that broke in half almost perfectly. After they were broken, we washed them and they became more sparkly in the middle.

Our art lesson last week was "Shape to Line." This will be the last art lesson for my children from our curriculum, Atelier Art, for several weeks. This coming Friday, we will be making gingerbread houses and our holiday break is coming up. I thought the Shape to Line project turned out great! Basically, I set up a still life for the children.

Then, using different colors of construction paper, they tore out the basic shapes of all of the objects and glued them on their papers in the proper places, according to the still life.

Finally, they added in lines to finish the project. All three children did a great job!

Amber - 7th grade...Duncan - 3rd grade...Mason - 5th grade...

If you want to see what others homeschoolers did this week, check out the Weekly Wrap-Up at Weird, Unsocialized Homeschoolers.