Ian's Birthday

Ian's birthday was last Sunday.
He wanted to have chicken noodle soup.
We added homemade fries & pringles to round out the meal.

15 candles!
I told him to blow them out fast so the wax wouldn't melt onto the cake.
He did it so fast that we didn't even get a picture!

It's hard to believe he's 15 now!

Art Class

Claire Harvey has been teaching the kids an Art Class on Friday afternoons with Isabelle Harvey as her assistant.  This past Friday evening, they had an Open House.  Each child took turns explaining some of the artwork and the things they had learned.

School work

Hard at work!

Coyote likes to join school. He especially likes to lay on top of books and papers.

Animal Experts

What do kids do when they're not in school? Look at animal encyclopedias and compare facts! What do you do for fun?

Bow and Arrow

One of Ian's birthday presents was a bow and arrow. He's has surprised us with his good aim. :)

New Outfits

I had new outfits made for the boys, and I made a matching dress for Isabelle. They weren't very excited about them, but I thought that they all looked nice in their matching outfits.

Preparing Presents

We prepared presents for the ladies who cook, clean and do laundry for our family and guest housing. The kids helped put a dishcloth, coffee, milk, and sugar into each bowl. It gave us a chance to talk about loving and serving others at Christmas time.

Merry Christmas

Merry Christmas!

These are a few pictures from our Christmas Eve party for the mission staff.

Ian, Isabelle, and Caleb recited Luke 2:1-20. They did a great job!

The Lookout Tower

Time for another activity from The Ancient Chinese Treasure Chest.
We worked on putting together a watch tower from the Great Wall of China. It looked fairly simple, but turned out to be a bit complicated. Isabelle and Caleb helped up to a certain point (pictured above) but the lost interest.
I persevered, and twenty minutes later, with Coyote to keep me company managed to complete the tower.

Meanwhile, the kids took the figures of soldiers included and made a tower out of blocks.

Like all the great historians, they melded facts with their interpretation and imagination as evidenced by the large hammer and the giants (paper dolls) that were involved in the battles.

Chinese Chess

Another activity from the Ancient Chinese Treasure Chest was Chinese Chess. The boys both know the fundamentals of chess and were really excited to try the Chinese version.

Climbing Trees

Calligrapy

We have been studying the Eastern Hemisphere in history. One of the books we are using is the Ancient Chinese Treasure Chest. It comes with activities that the kids have been really excited to try. The first one we did was calligraphy with a brush, ink stone and ink stick.

It's not all fun and games

Isabelle and Caleb are helping Grandpa Wegner with the frame for the screened in porch.

Isabelle isn't working, but she's modeling surgery gear.

Caleb helped me varnish some wooden squares with numbers to use at the hospital.

The kids helped find some new plants to put in the pots in the chapel.

Ian

The Great Horned Owl
It's big; it's strong; it's nocturnal! The great horned owl is the master of the night. A sharp beak and strong talons make it gophers and skunks worst fear. It flies without making a sound.
It's harmless to humans except for when it's driving humans out of its property (its tree.) To me the great horned owl is a sign of power and respect.

This was one of Ian's last papers for school. His was not a research paper; he was supposed to write about something he already knows. He followed five steps: prewriting, drafting, revising, proofreading, and publishing.
He just has one more paper to go, and then he is done with Language Arts for the year.

St. Patrick's Day

We've had sick kids for the last week and a half, so I decided not to try to do a St. Patrick's Day Party. We did manage to have a little fun, though. :)

Animal Party

After Isabelle had a princess party, Caleb decided he wanted to have an animal party. I kept putting him off until we had a chance to get some animal crackers.
All of the homeschool kids- plus a few others- came to enjoy playing, watching a movie, having a snack, and doing a craft.
As an extra special treat, Becky brought some animal masks. Even the kids enjoyed those.
Check facebook for more pictures.