Homeschooling X3

Tidbits From the Week

Well this week we spent on a trip back home - New Orleans, Louisiana! See that seafood up there? That is nothing! We also had gobs of crabs, sausage, and appetizers galore. We New Orleanians know how to eat, baby. The whole family - 22 of us - spent our entire first day hanging out at my cousin's house, chatting, laughing, catching up, and cooking. Then chatting, laughing, catching up, and eating.

The next day, we threw all of the leftover seafood into a big pot of gumbo. We also fried softshell crabs, shrimp, and crawfish, and had po-boys. We made potato salad with the red potatoes that were boiled in the spicy seafood boil. Oh yeah cher, that's some good eatin'.

 

Here is a photo of the whole family with my grandma sitting in the middle. We all went together as a surprise for her, since this is the first time in six years that the whole family has been together. Before hurricane Katrina sent us in different directions, we all spent every holiday as well as many crawfish boils together.

 

We spent a day at the Audubon Zoo, of course. The zoo is so beautiful - full of oak trees and so many different plants and trees. I could just spend the whole day there even without seeing the animals. They added a water park since we were there last, which is a great thing because Louisiana summers are H-O-T!

 

After the zoo we rode the streetcar all the way down St. Charles Avenue, perhaps the loveliest street in the New Orleans area. It is lined with massive oak trees and mansions of an incredible variety of architecture, and gorgeous gardens. In order for a business to get the opportunity to be located on St. Charles, it must meet strict aesthetic guidelines. Even the McDonald's is in a unique structure, neutral colors, and no obnoxious signage. I took this shot of the Borders bookstore, because it is certainly unique and representative of the way businesses blend into the beauty that is St. Charles Avenue:

Anyway, awesome good times in the Nola. Wish we could have stayed longer, as always. As they say, "there are 49 states in America, and then there is Louisiana."

 

Laissez le bon temps rouler!
(a famous saying in New Orleans, aka let the good times roll)

5 Ideas for Travel Fun

Photo from our last trip home - at the Audubon Zoo

 

We are finally taking another trip back home. We are from New Orleans, and moved away with hurricane Katrina. We have been back to visit a few times since; we still have plenty of family and friends there. But this is the first time that the family will all be back home together - my parents, my family, my sister's family, and my brother's family. My parents came up with the idea of planning a big trip all together to surprise my aging grandmother. She is going to be soooo happy!

It is a very long car drive, so I have been preparing for things for the kids to do in the car. Here is what I have come up with so far:

 

 

Last time we took a trip, I made these folders for each kid. I went online and printed road trip bingo, a tic tac toe board, mazes, word finds, find the differences, a map for the route of our trip, dot-to-dots, and travel scavenger games. I put it all in page protectors and into a folder. They each decorated their covers. I bought dry erase markers and we were good to go! I also had found a travel Connect Four game at our dollar store.

 

 

This time I found a travel Trouble game at our dollar store. They also had travel Battleship, which I almost bought, but I realized that the real thing was pretty small and portable, so I will just bring the actual game.

 

 

I went online with Jill and downloaded some new songs for her mp3 player for the trip. I did the same with Jack for his 3DS.

 

 

I went online in search of children's stories on audio that I could download and bring to play in the car for everyone to listen to. I found several Robert Munsch stories - he is so fun! I also found more children's stories on audio at Story Nory. All were free, by the way!

 

 

For snacks, I am bringing: dried fruit, snack mix, fruit juice gummies, applesauce, goldfish crackers, and I bought a stainless steel water bottle for each of us. For fun, I am stringing anything that will work, onto a "snack necklace"!

We are still getting ready, so there may be more to come. If you want to follow along our trip with us, follow me at Twitter.

 

Tidbits From the Week

For starters, this is what I get when I go to my computer to start blogging. My cute Snickers.

 

Here she is again, watching the birds out the kitchen window. I put up a new bird feeder in the backyard and she is enjoying it very much.

 

One more pet photo and that's all, I promise! I had to take this shot of the two chihuahuas - they look like the yin yang symbol! Ha ha! By the way, they are rescues and now need a home. Any takers in TN? I will bring them to you!

 

My sister is a baker, and here is her newest creation - a cupcake bouquet for spring! So cute!

 

I took my girlie out for lunch. She and I share a love of sushi - look at this deliciousness from Little Tokyo!

 

So I spent most of the week painting. So tired & sore! I painted the den rhododendren green and the kitchen a golden brown to go with the red wall. I still have the halls - a light light yellow, and the kids' bathroom - yellow. Finished and before/after photos will eventually find their way to the Home & Garden section.

Have a Fantastic Weekend!

Today's Posts

In Homeschooling - Teaching Reading: Letter Sounds

 

In Cooking - Quick Recipe-Holder Tip

 

In Homeschooling - Fun Mommy: the Cool Stuff Table

 

In Cooking - Recipe for Chocolate-covered Macaroons

 

In Inspiration - Paul's Recipe for the Good Life

Field Trip With the Kideos

We recently took a family field trip. First we stopped at the Sunsphere. We pass it all the time when we are driving, and the kids were absolutely thrilled to get to go inside it! And it was free! Here is the outside view:

One of the floors inside is an observation deck.

 

We brought a friend, in case you are wondering who that is all the way on the left.

Now the view of the river is really nice, but check out this view of World's Fair Park. As you can see, there is a huge green for kids to run around on, families to picnic on, couples to snuggle on a blanket on. On the cement that you see are rows of fountains. During the summer, water shoots out of the ground for the kids to play in.

Then we went to the American Museum of Science & Energy. They had a free week for spring break, so we took advantage of it! It is located in Oak Ridge, also known as the "secret city", home of the Manhatten Project. I, for one, was fascinated by all that we learned at the museum!

The facts about the Manhatten Project were actually quite frightening. But two of my fave facts from the atoms room were:

1. We know that atoms actually consist of mostly empty space. But check this out: if you were to remove the empty space from all of the atoms in your body, you would be the size of a grain of sand. Hard to wrap your mind around, right?

2. Almost all of the weight in an atom is found in the nucleus. If we could enlarge the nucleus of an atom just to the size of a bb, it would weigh more than 3 million tons!

 

 

 

 

 

Kids Gardening: Keeping a Garden Journal

Keeping a gardening journal with kids for their garden is great for incorporating math, science, language, and even art! Find out how to keep a garden journal with your kids and what to put in it:

Read more in Gardening . . .

Cooking: Strawberry Bread for Spring!

It's been a long, cold winter this year. And I, for one, am thrilled to see the longer, warmer days starting to settle in. If strawberries are ready near you, this bread is moist, delicious, and sweet - perfect to usher in spring. If not, come back soon and try it out!

Click for the recipe in Cooking . . .

Cooking: Adding More Veggies and Fruit to Your Days

About a month ago, the new RDA guidelines came out that said that we should be eating 2 1/2 cups of veggies and 2 cups of fruit each day for optimum health. I have a post on easy ways to incorporate lots of veggies into your days, and one on two easy ways to get lots of fruit each day.

Click here to read more in Cooking . . .

Home: Fireplace Makeover

See this cute little artificial fireplace that a boyfriend made me years ago? This photo is from last fall. I am currently redoing my den and decided to update the fireplace to match! 

Click to check out the changes in Home & Garden . . .

Homeschooling: Hands-On Geography

When Little Bill was working on learning the continents and oceans, things started out with the usual memorization. I had a little notebook map next to his bed at each night we would review, with me pointing to different things on the map and Bill naming them.

Then it hit me that we could be having some hands-on fun with this rather than going for dry memorization! Check out what we started doing instead! I think we'll be using this new method with all of our geography memorizations!

Click to read more in Homeschooling . . .