Collage Friday is here again. This is officially the 36th week of this link up, and it's my favorite time of the week.
Looking back on all of the posts I've felt blessed by the many blogging friendships and inspiration I have gained through sharing some simple photo collages.
If you haven't joined, I'd love to have you!
The title of today's post, "Crazy Makers, Curious Kids, Coloraodo", wasn't too hard to come up with this week. Let's take the C's individually:
Crazy Makers
Do you have people in your life that just seem to exude crazy? By this I mean those people that are ALWAYS busy, ALWAYS complaining about they have no time, or just never seem to sit still? I've come into contact with a couple this week and I decided they make me crazy, too... and not in a good way.
I am all too available and flexible sometimes... never wanting to disappoint people or put them off. I'm learning how to say "no" to the crazy makers and put my own sanity first. I'm not naturally a crazy maker, but recently they've been rubbing off on me and it's NOT a good thing.
I so enjoy people that take TIME to listen, TIME to follow through on commitments, and TIME to be present when they are with you. This is rare in our world today, and I want to make an effort to be one of those people, and surround myself with those people, too. I am thankful for a few dear friends this week who know me and know my heart. Friends like that are a GIFT.
Most of all, I'm trying to remain steeped in God's word so that I have the patience and stamina to deal with life's every day issues... of which crazy makers are one!
Curious Kids
1. It's CURIOUS to me that neatness eludes my oldest -- I know it's totally normal, but for this Type A mom it drives me kind of nuts. We finally put a bookshelf in Anna's closet and she is on the path to better organization. I have to remember that her version of "put the clothes away" is different from mine, as well as "pick up your room". I need to be more specific and lead her through the steps of organization. She enjoyed organizing just a few of her many books and getting her sewing area back in order this week.
2. Curious about an anthill - After reading about ants in The Storybook of Science Anna found this anthill at the car wash. So, as I'm vacuuming the van the kids are playing in ant hills. It was pretty cool to hear words like "larvae", "tunnels", "queen", and "chambers" in their discussion!
3. Curious about Pinterest- Anna has been curious about what all the fuss is with Pinterest. This week she made a wonderful Chocolate Chip Cookie Delight she picked from Pinterest. It was delicious!
4. Curious about the Oregon Trail - A very sweet librarian at our local library knows we are going out West on vacation. She brought in a huge box of resources about the Oregon Trail for the kids to borrow. What a blessing! One of Anna's favorites this week was Bound for Oregon.
5. Curious about Georgia - A co-op class about Georgia History has been another blessing for us. Anna is enjoying this class and brought home a clay model of our state... showing the capital, our city, and the rivers and mountains.
*Curious that I forgot to number a picture!! Did you notice that? Yep - the picture in the upper right is Anna skating on Sunday afternoon. Her sweet dad took she and a friend to a new skating rink... laser tag, video games, and a sore wrist were on the agenda!
1. A Curious Looking Boy - Thursday was Wacky Tacky Day at our co-op. Grant was looking pretty tacky in LEGO class.
2. Curious about The Oregon Trail - Tons of reading was done by both children this week. Grant has been enjoying the My America books about the Oregon Trail and also One Step at a Time.
3. Curious Weather - The beginning of the week was full of strange weather. It rained all day Monday and then in the evening we were actually under a tornado watch. It was mostly just lots of rain, but the boys played baseball in spite of that. Since their field is turf and not real grass there was no worry about mud, so they played on and had a BLAST.
4. Curious Wagon - Of course LEGO learning was a huge part of our week. Every type of covered wagon was built (thank you Oregon Trail Wii game - we love you!), and this particular wagon Grant showed me was a "prisoner wagon". Hmmm....
Colorado
Next week we will be heading to Denver and then on to Wyoming for a little Oregon Trail fun. We're very excited about visiting Fort Laramie and Ames Pyramid, along with a trail ride and other fun things. Mostly, I'm looking forward to the fall colors and some time out of our normal routine enjoying God's creation.
To prepare the kids have completed state studies of both states (thank you Notebooking Pages for the beautiful state studies) and done a lot of reading. We're also watching Ken Burns' The West on Netflix.
The downstairs of our house has been taken over by notebooking pages, books, and resources for learning about our trip. I AM FINE WITH THAT. This is LIVING!
Finally, some miscellaneous photos from the week:
1. Friends enjoying dinner on the night of the Presidential Debate. My very clever friend invited us over and had debate BINGO games for us to play. It was a late night, but the friendships and fun made it well worth a little missed sleep.
It's going to be an interesting 5 weeks, isn't it? Make sure to vote and make your choice known!
2. Once we return home we will be using The Why Box from Discovery Boulevard. This is a monthly science subscription that I'm so happy we're getting!
3. While running to and from activities this week we have been listening to a lot of Adventures in Odyssey episodes. We ALL enjoy them. I purchased the CDs on Respect, Responsibility, and Truthfulness. (We're working on some heart issues with our kids recently.)
Did you miss a post this week?
- Homegrown Learners Recommends - a list of some of my favorite things!
- Schedules, Assignments & Lists - how we are scheduling and doing assignments right now
- SQUILT Lesson 4 - Go West! with Aaron Copland
I'm taking a bit of a break from the blogosphere next week... no posting or online activity. Please check back, however, for another Collage Friday! I'll try to put something together quickly so we can all gather again.
October 15-26 there will be a series here: The 10 Days of Reading Aloud. I hope you'll put this on your calendar and join me as I try to inspire you to read aloud to your children!
Please join me for Collage Friday. The rules are simple: Use photo collages in a post about your homeschool week. Grab the Collage Friday button (in my sidebar) or text link back to this post. Visit other bloggers in the linky to offer encouragement and gain ideas!
