Come Visit the Ranch

Pepper

 Wind

Shadow

Hijinx

 How bout some apples?

The lounge, coke machine and all!

Be sure to check the bulletin board for winners and other announcements!

Clean up!

Cowboy Jack is on the move!

Kelsey, reading the daily news.

Y'all come back now.... you know the rest ;)

Winter Walk Part III

Winter Walk Part II

Winter Walk

Food Groups Lesson - Pizza and Little Nino

We also sorted construction paper toppings and placed them in the correct food group.

Pizza Party

There are lots of action words in Little Nino's, as well as another title we read, Pizza Party, so I took advantage of that and  made a " verb pizza".  Everyone took turns picking a topping (with an action word written on each).  At first, the kids were just doing the action  (chopping, grating, mixing) and taping the topping on our pizza, but then it turned into Charades! 

We also had our pizza bagels that have become a Friday lunch tradition.

Little Nino's - Math

Fractions, Adding, Graphing

Little Nino's -- one last time

We rowed this a while back, but I really wanted to review this book.  I also wanted to end our "school year" with a fun title.  Also,  this may be the last time we ever row this one :(   Maybe not.

A lot of pizza making was going on here---

 Acting out some of the action:  chopping, walking away feeling sad, picking up plates----

Crafty Girl

Always makes me smile!

As of today, it is ours!

Special gift from a penpal

all the way from Sri Lanka

Priceless!!

As I mentioned before, we have been cleaning up a good part of the week in preparation for the house showings.  We have had our house on the market since June.  As many of you know, each showing is frantic-getting everything perfect is nearly impossible, especially when you have kids at home all day, everyday.  The craziness of getting our large dog down the street (to the neighbor's backyard) and four cats to the van, etc. just really gets to be too much.  But, this just made my day, reminding me to stop and enjoy the great life I have, wherever we live--


I (5)-- "Mom, do I need my shoes for this?"  (while helping mop the floor)
Me --"No, you can just be in your bare feet."
I (5)-- "Bear feet?"  "I don't have bear feet, I have human feet."

Priceless :)

The Saturdays, Beyond Five in a Row

This was not the plan.  I planned on rowing, Marie Curie.  We read the first few pages and I realized that we had the wrong Marie Curie book :(  Oh well.  So, I think The Saturdays will be a great row!  I am hoping to spark some new interests.  I think it will suit both J12 and J11.  There is opportunity to explore classical music, which I think J12 will enjoy since she has been teaching herself to play the keyboard.  I hope to share more later.

Henry the Castaway - Our Latest Row

I was excited to row this book, Henry the Castaway.  It has been reprinted!  Despite spending two days getting the house ready to show (two showings in two days!), we were able to do all the lessons.  For math, we practiced tally marks and graphing.  The kids also painted and colored water pictures.  I would like to review this title again and do some exploring! 

Brit - I was thinking  of you while we were doing the art lessons and using the cool watercolors :) .