End of the Week Wrap-Up {Week 3}

This slow weekly wrap-up is getting to be a bad habit, eh? My excuse this weekend is that we've been busy celebrating my birthday! :)

Our highlight this week was a field trip to Ft. Donelson, Tennessee. I didn't realize that we had a Civil War battlefield so near to us. I have visited quite a few of them and they are always so interesting. This one did not disappoint either. The grounds were beautiful and well-kept and the rangers were very helpful. We enjoyed the museum, the car tour, and a fascinating tour of the nearby US National Cemetery. We had a lovely day for our visit--cooler temps and perfect picnicking weather! I definitely recommend visiting if you get the chance! It's in the quaint little town of Dover, TN which is actually over 200 years old.

Friday was our third co-op meeting for this semester. I taught about Jackson Pollock in our art class. Then everyone got to splatter paint their own canvas--lots of messy fun!! Each art class period seems like a stressful whirlwind to me as I attempt to talk about the artist for a few minutes plus have plenty of time to create our project. I'm always worn out afterwards, but the kids seem to love it and I'm so glad.

Our other co-op classes went well also, especially Buzzwords where my friend Brandi has managed to actually make spelling FUN! This week they were divided into teams to write a short stories using words from their spelling lists (which they are busy studying, btw, to prepare for our upcoming very-first spelling bee!). Below is a picture of Mr. B's team reading their story aloud.

The weekend has been fun and relaxing with my family as they blessed me with lot of fun birthday surprises: cookie cake, Panera's, a new Keruig, a lovely monogrammed wooden pumpkin for my door... It's been a great birthday!

And now I'm off to lesson plan and get ready for school to begin all over again in the morning!

This post is linked to The Weekly Wrap Up at Weird Unsocialized Homeschoolers.

The Making of an Egyptian Death Mask

We are learning all about the ancient world this year with Story of the World I and loving it! We've been learning a lot about Egypt, of course, which is completely fascinating. Most recently we have studied the New Kingdom of Egypt, which includes the story of King Tut. So we decided making an Egyptian death mask in the style of King Tut's would be a fun project. First since it was too cold at the time to paper mache in the garage (it probably would have frozen instead of dried-ha) and it was too messy to do it in the house, we decided to pick up a couple of cheap craft masks at Hobby Lobby. Next we cut out cardboard shapes to complete the shape of the death mask, attaching them with hot glue. Vince even put a little detail on the *beard* with the hot glue per The Princess' request. Then the kiddos started to paint them with this metallic gold tempera paint. It worked okay for the cardboard, but would not coat the plastic of the mask. We thought maybe a second coat ...

Door Hanger Chore Charts

My kids have had a chore chart for a while. It's one of those magnetic boards and they share it. However, it's not by their rooms and often they (and I) forget to update it. Plus it's a little bulky. When I saw the concept of a door hanger chore chart on Pinterest, I loved it! It was compact, right there were the kiddos could see it coming out and going into their rooms, and it costs almost nothing to make. I headed over to one of my favorite stores: Hobby Lobby, of course. They have these little wooden door hangers for .79. I also grabbed a couple of packets of decorative buttons for $1.99 each. I already had the clothes pins and the paint so those cost me nothing. I began by painting the door hangers (I used tempera paints because that's what I had). Then I grabbed a fine point Sharpie and the clothes pins and started writing chores on them, making sure to write them correctly so they will ...

Fun With 4th of July Crafts: Part 3

I love my new patriotic front door wreath!! I had fun putting this together, although I must admit this is more of an adult craft than one for kiddos. I was inspired by this article in Family Fun magazine. I didn't have quite everything I needed for this one, but all I had to purchase was a few sheets of scrapbook paper and some double-sided tape. Then all I had to gather up were some scissors, regular Scotch tape, a ruler and some cardboard. First I cut four (5"x 6") pieces of each paper. Then by placing a piece of double-sided tape on one of the short ends of the papers, I rolled them into cones, pressing the seams together well. Then I cut a 10" circle out of cardboard and began to stick the cones on it. I used another piece of double-sided tape to stick the cones on, arranging them in a circular pattern. Next I used regular Scotch tape to attach them on the back to the back of the cardboard. After getting all the cones on, I was ready for my centerpiece. He...

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