07-26 Homeschool

I've been working on our upcoming school year schedule.  Typing the kids core subjects into Homeschool Tracker Plus.  Makes it easy to print out the kids daily work and keep track of grades.

07-25 Sold!

Made my first sale on Craig's List.  Sold the math program that Michaela did last school year.  It helped to pay for this years math. Yay!

And I can't find the photo.  Oh well. =)

06-05 Venus Transit

We wanted to view the transit at home but at the last minute we decided to head east away from all the clouds.  We got to Old Settlers Park in Round Rock Texas just in time and, to very few clouds so the sun wasn't covered up.

Here Brian is taking pictures, Mic is viewing through the binoculars, and Gabe is using the projector.  We bought special covers for the camera and binoculars so we could view the sun.  We had hoped to have one for the telescope but those covers were sold out.

Brian made a sun projector using the telescope and some cardboard and paper.  It worked great.  You can even see some of the sun spots.

Here is a better photo of the projected image.

And these are the photos Brian took with the camera.  If he had had more time to practice (it was cloudy most days before this event happened) and a better camera the photos would have been of better quality.  However I think Brian did a great job up until the sun went under some storm clouds.

05-23 Museum

We took a trip to the Mayborn Museum in Waco Texas.  We had 3 teens and 6 elementary from our Eagles homeschool group.  

There were sixteen themed Discovery Rooms with hands-on activities, these rooms were designed to invigorate young imaginations and introduce them to the worlds of Vertebrates, Invertebrates, Communication, Health, Water and Bubbles, Energy, Optics, and Sound, among others. We walked through a model of the human heart, we learned how to "communicate" in hieroglyphics, we played a tune on the walk-on piano, and tried  reporting the TV news and weather.

Gabe thought he heard a toilet flushing in the shell and Mic enjoyed the typing on the type writer. Not sure if she had ever seen one before.

Then we explored along the Crossroads journey which was made up of traditional and walk-in dioramas as well as exploration stations-this interactive experience guided us through the natural science and cultural history of Central Texas.  The walk-in dioramas included a Limestone Cave, a Texas Forest, and the Waco Mammoth Experience. At the Waco Mammoth exhibit, we walked on a see-through floor to look down upon casts of the Columbian mammoth bones displayed exactly as they were unearthed at the Waco Mammoth Site, just 5 miles from the Baylor Campus.

Lastly we explored Governor Bill and Vara Daniel Historic Village.  We saw and old lawyers office, walked through a general store, sat in an old school house and an old church building.  A fun time was had by all.

05-18 Eagles

The final get together for the Eagles Homeschool Group.  Perfect weather for a picnic, hanging out, and games in the sand.  Some even enjoyed the water pad near by.

03-01 Kite Flying

Michaela and I went to a local park to meet up with some of our homeschool friends (3).  The wind wasn't great but it worked for the most part.

02-22 After Jog

I made the kids do a jog for P.E. today.  This is Mic afterward. A VERY unhappy camper.

And poor Gabe ended up with a blister.

02-17 Mad Scientist

I enjoyed a Friday off of work today.  Awesome day full of rain.  We could use more but we almost have an inch.  Too bad most of the rain will fall to the east and not the west where it would fill up the lakes.  Oh, right.  You want to hear about today's photo.  Couldn't get the little scientist to smile.  He wanted it to be a creepy photo.  He began another science project today.  He is holding the knife for creepiness. The chicken bone in the jar is the experiment.  Michaela can't wait for this experiment to be over and done with.  She freaks out every time she sees the chicken bone.  It has been out on the kitchen counter drying.  But now it's in a jar of vinegar. This experiment will show Gabe what makes bones strong.

02-15 Titans Valentine Party

Mic and a few friends hanging out after passing out some Valentine cards and eating some goodies.

02-10 Eagles Teens

Gabe and I went to an Eagles Teens Fellowship last night.  It was a game night.  I got a picture of one group playing a board game here.

Gabe preferred his electronic game and the company of Ethan. =)

02-06 Field Trip

Today we went to Inner Space Caverns in Georgetown TX.  Met our Eagles homeschool group there.

When we first arrived we had a picnic lunch and played on the playground.

And finally we headed down into the cave.  There is usually a train that carries everyone down but the car was undergoing repairs so we got to walk down. Walking up was the work out part.

We enjoyed our one hour tour in the cave.  Saw many stalactites and stalagmites and even a few bats that were hanging around.

01-31 Science Experiment

Gabe had to set up a science experiment today.  He's growing bacteria.

01-20 Eagles Teen Disc Golf

Photos for today are from our Eagles teen event.  We went to Brushy Creek Park and played frisbee golf. 

Here are the girls.

The boys trying to get a disc out of a tree.

Everyone trying to find a disc that sunk to the bottom of this water hole. Yes, the disc was found.

It was a lovely course with lots of trees and water hazards. =)

We had a great time playing and then went to CiCi's for pizza.

01-19 Eagles Basketball

Eagles homeschool basketball.  They play every Thursday night in Jonestown at a church.  It's an outdoor court and they do play when it's cold.  They play a few games and afterward one of the boys will do a short devotional and then there is a prayer.  The coach chooses a player that does really well each week. This player is called  Ice Man.  Tonight Gabe was the Ice Man for getting a lot of steels in the first round.

I took a picture of Gabe making a shot on the left and on the right Coach is going over a play with them.

01-11 Making Fire

It was another beautiful day here in Central Texas.  High of 77.  What did we do?  Built a fire!  We climbed over the fence in our backyard to find sticks, twigs, and bark.  "Someone needs to fill the bark bag." said Michaela.  Once we had all our goodies we went back over the fence (climbing up and down ladders) and began stacking what we needed for the fire.  Just kindling, sticks, and twigs.  NO paper. NO matches.  We only used a spark stick to get the fire started. It took several tries but eventually we had fire.  Did I mention it was 77 degrees?  We kept it small and only let it burn long enough for Mic and Gabe to burn a few small marshmallows.  Yes. I said burn. There was no roasting to it.  See what you get to do when you homeschool?

01-02 Homeschool

Our first day back to school.

  No one really wanted to get up early so we slept in, 8am wake up call instead of 7am. ;-)  We also did just half a day of work.  I let the kids pick out 4 subjects to get done today and they have to finish up work not done, on Friday.  Friday's are usually free days unless there is makeup work.  A plus to homeschooling. =D

Yes, I did two photo's again.  The kids were doing their electives.  Gabe is practicing guitar.

And Mic is learning Japanese.

Brian has been taking down the outside Christmas decorations, and watched some Ohio State football, and I did a little house work and graded the kids school work.  Now I'm off for some more fun with Mic and her History. :-/