Make It Monday

So we are doing pumpkins again - I know I told you I'm obsessed with them :)!  I used to teach preschool and this was a favorite project from the Mailbox Magazine.  First we picked one of our pumpkins and set it aside.  We painted and glittered the others :)

Once again - shirtless!  UGH what's a Mama to do?!

Next we looked at the pumpkin we had set aside and guessed how many seeds were in the pumpkin (Predicted) - I wrote down each persons answer.  Then we cut the pumpkin open and pulled out all the seeds.  Looking at the pile we made another, more educated, guess (Estimate) and wrote those numbers down.  Finally we counted the seeds and got the Actual account.  **You need to set the seeds aside to dry and do the project part the next day or used package pumpkin seed**

Then we recorded our findings in a fun kid friendly way :)

 We glued a few seeds (dried out) to an orange circle

Then I recorded our findings onto pumpkin leaves (estimate and prediction) and the Actual amount onto a stem.

So much fun and learning too :)  Have a great week!  Thanks for stopping by - you know your comments are always read and very much appreciated!!

Gunny Sack, Today's Creative Blog,  Lines Across My Face, Fun to Craft, I heart Naptime
For more information about my 11/11/11 SALE and 3-day Thanksgiving Sale see post here.

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Some Heart 2 Heart

Heart 2 Heart this week is Back to School.  If you have not checked out my backpack that I made earlier this month for a blog hop you can view the post here.

Since I already made this I was tempted to enter it into Heart 2 Heart but decided to do something else with the "back to school" theme.  We have just begun the homeschool journey in our family.  I believe each family, each child and every year is different and so my husband and I decided we would take our schooling a year at a time.

I have gotten our material from Sonlight and have been very happy with it.  As a lover of books, I was impressed and pleased with the high emphasis on literacy with this program.  I am happy to say that both my boys (and even my little girl) love books!  Reading happens in our home all the time and I am super excited for the time when my kids will be able to read for themselves.  For now my husband and I are the official readers and I really don't mind (I secretly LOVE being a reader - don't tell my husband or he will make me take over the bedtime routine more often!).

This week the boys and I made bookmarks.  I used the FREE typset stamp set from Close To My Heart.  As a side note there is still time to get this set for free along with the August Stamp of the Month, and the Double Pair-a-Phrase stamp set all for only $5 with a qualifying purchase!  That is $60 worth of product for only $5 - contact me for more information or shop here.  I used the same technique used to make this alphabet card.

 

I got the idea from Janette Lynton (love love love her blog!!).  Her card with this looks so much better but I'm aspiring to someday be like her!

First I lined up the letters using the backing for the stamps that come with the package.  

Then I removed the R, E, A, and D

I stamped the letters with Outdoor Denim

Then stamped READ with Autumn Terracotta.

 I word of advice.  Make triple sure you are not spelling inappropriate words by mistake.  As you can see in the above photo my "read" spelled something that as just plain wrong but I did not realize it right away.  After stamping I looked at my card and thought it was very possible that I had spelled a word.  I searched the internet and found this word just would not work on our bookmark so I had to make another square - lesson learned!

My finished book mark with the quotes  "To Read is To Fly" and
"Today a Reader, Tomorrow a Leader"

Inside the bookmark (which stays together with magnetic strips) I put a book list.
Together the boys and I will write down the books we read after we are finished.

Hope you all stay safe this weekend - we are preparing for a big storm.  If there are not posts for a while you know we have lost electricity due to Irene.

Schooling options - Already?

I remember the first time I had a "play date" for my son with friends of mine and their kids.  He was not quite a year old and the conversation turned to schooling.  What are you going to do for schooling?  I remember thinking "what am I going to do for schooling?  I'm still wondering what I'm going to do about this small child that demands so much of my attention.  Not to mention the fact that I am pregnant again with a surprise - yeah I'm still trying to figure out what I'm going to do about that!  Schooling?!"  This is my son at the time of this discussion.

 Well here I am just a few days later (or at least it feels like that) and my oldest is ready to enter Kindergarten in the fall.  What am I going to do about schooling?  My family now . . .

There was a time in my life when I believed the words "homeschooling" and "me" would never be in the same sentence!  But now my husband and I are giving it some serious thought.  For those of you who do homeschooling and those of you who don't, for those of you who are thinking about it and for those of you who know you will never think about it I recommend this post by Ann Voskamp, Why Would Anyone Be Crazy Enough To Homeschool?.  I found it very helpful for me, hope it helps you!