Itasca State Park

Two Saturdays ago we made the drive to Itasca State Park in Minnesota.  It was a long, boring drive.  OK, so it was only long for me and boring for a couple of the kids.  Our plan was to drive over there, look through the park, then find a place to eat lunch on the way back.  Sounded like a great plan, except we changed it mid-park viewing.  We decided we would head over to Grand Forks and stop by Cabela's to exchange a coat that didn't fit Stephen.  That added a bit to our drive (yah a long bit!) and also eliminated the chance for lunch.  We finally ate again at supper time, but it was worth the wait as we ate at Culver's.  That is Brech Earl's favorite.  :-)

 You can just barely see the water behind the kids, mostly Gianna.  That is the start of the Mississippi River.  We have crossed the Mississippi River more times that I ever imagined we would.  We have crossed it in numerous states and used it as a landmark for drives.  I am glad we were able to see where it started.

Why when you say, "Look at me and this will be over sooner," does there have to be ONE or TWO that just won't look at the camera.  This is a particularly telling picture on how many pictures it took to get the kids to look at the picture.  In the above picture Blase is smiling.  In this one he is doing the "death to the picture taker" glare. 

 We got to the open area just in time to see a riverboat turn around and head back down the river.  As you can very well imagine - that was followed by many requests to ride on the boat.  That's just what my stress level needed to send me over the edge.  We did NOT take a boat ride.

 There again - look at me...at me....AT ME!!!

 Gianna and the twins hung out with me while the boys and Darren did a bit of hiking.  She was being a ham for the camera.  She was also every person's best friend that day.  I'm sure she made the day of at least three old women and one dog that stood taller than she did.

 This tree was just hanging out over the road.  Can't say I was excited to see that.

 Thanks for the "nice" picture guys.

It was great to see fall colors and clear skies.  Oh and a few hills too.  

More One Year Old Pictures

Brigid 

 Kiara, Brigid

 Kiara, Brigid

 Kiara

Brigid

Our mommy is a survivor!

What School Looks Like Here

So this blog has been very quiet lately.  Did I mention we had a HORRIBLE start to our school year?  Did I mention that I actually looked into other schooling options?  Did I mention we are now on a fairly rigid schedule that gets ignored more than followed this past two weeks?  Things are finally starting to look up though.  The routine has helped some.  The kids have gotten the very vocal hint that Mom will not put up with excuses.  We just may survive this year after all.

 Cormac and Rex were going to make clouds for science.  Rex is manning the hot water while Cormac had ice duty.

 Our clouds were weak and short-lived, but cool nonetheless.

 I've made it a point to do art and music on Fridays this year.  The kids begged for art last year and I was not in the state of mind or body to worry it.

This was Letter B week were we learned about brushes and how to use them.

Brech is doing a "new to us" English program this year.  It is very interactive.  The kids were having to listen to a fragmented word and act out what animal name it was.

On Letter C week he colored the Columbine fairy picture.  I thought he did a great job.

Sometimes....

school gets interrupted by a huge plane flying overhead.

This was Letter C week art.  We were learning about Dr. Seuss and color mixing.

Cormac and Rex combined their efforts to make a history project.  They picked the 4th Day of Creation.  Cormac was in charge of the land, while Rex did the water.  Then Cormac did the night and moon, while Rex did the day and sun.

Blase helped Cormac form the land pieces and gave advice on colors for painting.

Rex painted the water and the sky by himself.  I did give him pointers on making clouds (which I am completely not qualified to do).

I thought the boys would enjoy something fun about the project so I bought glow in the dark paint for them to use as the stars.  Cormac had a blast making the stars.  I had to remind him to be a bit more random in his placement of them.

So we had this brilliant idea of making the moon and sun light up with a flashlight.  Here is the night time in its glory.

The sun was a combined effort of Rex and I.  We used tissue paper that he colored "sun" colors on.

A close up of Cormac's land, complete with island, volcano, mountains, lake, sandy beaches (with real sand sprinkled on the paint, and a river.

To make the moon we used half of a Styrofoam ball. Cormac made "craters" in it and then colored it grey, black, and white.  He did a great job of making it look like a moon. 

This is what happens when someone leaves a blue colored pencil on the school table - the baby tries to eat it and ends up with a villain mustache.  Kiara is so stinkin' adorable with a mustache! 

Letter D week art was di Vinci and drawing with a pencil.

This was Cormac's first drawing.

This is a start to Blase's Lorax trees.

Cormac's finished picture.

Brech and Gianna love to dance to any music we play during school.

I have to remind myself that school should be fun for them so I allow a few dance breaks during the day.  They are getting quite coordinated.  I think I may get them dance lessons when they get older - if Brech doesn't object.

Yesterday Blase made supper for us.  He picked two recipes to do for his history project for the week.  He made the most amazing lentil stew which we ate on toasted tortillas triangles.  He also made "locust" biscuits with almonds in place of locust.  They were also tasty.  We decided that the lentil stew will be a new Friday/Lent favorite.

Yesterday's art lesson was fun and I can't wait to take pictures of their pieces.  I hope to get more random pictures of school around here.  In all this frustration to get school going I find it very good for my heart to see them working and creating, enjoying and learning.  I need to focus more on these accomplishments and less on my shortcomings as a teacher and (yes, I'm going to say it) mother of many.  I know, I know - I'm doing great according to everyone else.  According to myself I have a lot of growing I need to do.  I am capable of being a better mom and definitely a more patient homeschooling mother.  These pictures are my proof that I can do a few things correctly.  They are more for me than for you....so bear with our schooling pictures this year.