Owlowiscious Girls

This week for our cooking class we made Spider Web Soup from our October Raddish Box theme Fright Night Feast.  Ariana is getting better at chopping veggies!  It is still hard to chop onions because- ouch!- they make your eyes burn and water.  We tried goggles but she said, "They did nothing!"  Ah!  That reminds me of a Simpson's episode.  Any way, on this recipe card we also learned how to make basic soups, the nutrition of black beans, and the science of spider webs.   This recipe was fun, but the sour cream web made my daughter nervous about getting it wrong so I ended up having to do that part.  She is excited to make it again because    Taste: Ariana said this was the best thing ever!!!  She even ate Hermione's and Lucy's share because they still wouldn't eat much because they said they don't like beans.  I thought it was also delicious especially for beans because sometimes those are hard to get tasty som...

For Ariana's 7th birthday this year she asked to learn how to cook.  I am no stranger to the kitchen and I don't have a problem with kids in the kitchen I honestly didn't know where to start!  It is so overwhelming because there is so much to learn....enter  Raddish !  I stumbled across this website while on vacation this summer.  It is a box subscription to teach kids how to cook.  It costs $25 a month.  Every month has a new theme, a patch, a kitchen tool, 3 recipe cards, a ring of table talk cards, and an extra activity.  On the website there is a link called Bonus Bites which includes a playlist which goes along with the theme!  I love themes so this is perfect for us. Our first Box was called Bites From Brazil  because this year the summer Olympics was in Brazil.  It was great that since we don't have TV channels that conveniently  we were on vacation at a hotel so we were able to watch the opening ceremonies. ...

Here is a very quick look at what we are doing this year: Hermione is back at Aumsville Elementary in 4th Grade with a teacher she really likes this year!  She is currently reading The Sister's Grimm and says, "It is the next best thing to Harry Potter."  Also she says, "If you don't like bacon you are a special kind of weird or the absolute weirdest." Ariana and Lucy are still at home.  Ariana is using  Easy Peasy .  Lucy is VERY flexibly working on Little Hands to Heaven .  She doesn't really want to listen so far, but you never know.  I let her play educational games on the computer when Ariana is working on non-computer things.  Also every Friday will be Field Trip Friday.  I will be taking the little girls to fun places around our area which is Salem, OREGON and the closer to home areas of the Willamette Valley.  Our first stop was the Travel Cafe visitor's center.  There is no coffee here (at least I didn't see any)...

This week Lucy and I have been studying the letter L.  Much like last week- nothing too exciting- she has been like a roller coaster when it comes to "doing" school.  I don't like to push it too much at this age because learning should be fun, but she has been pretty crazy.  Her attention span has been about 2 minutes lately.  I am not complaining but it sure makes teaching pretty much all over the place.  She did sit long enough to make a letter L out of blocks so...progress.   Ariana has been learning about DNA and reviewing organelles.  We did a fun activity to teach how DNA sends messages to make different characteristics on dogs.  We are on Day 78 of Year One Easy Peasy .  We even got Lucy to participate.  I had to draw the dogs so don't make fun of them (my kids did enough of that already).  It is hard to get them to be confident.  I don't know where all the insecurity comes from *cough *cough probably myself. ...

It has been a long time since I have done a school update.  We haven't gotten very far in our letters but we keep plugging away so now we are on letter K.  Sorry I don't have anything super exciting or fun especially picture wise, but I have been feeling guilty about nor writing.  Here is her favorite one: Ariana has been just finished learning about Ancient Greece and we just started The Cabin Faced West  but our big project this week was making a  cell cake .  I love learning using food.for learning!  I learned a lot myself.  I don't remember ever learning about cells and organelles in school so this was super fun for mom, too. Hermione is still in public school.  I am having a hard time pulling her out, they are all personal reasons, but still- I am praying for bravery and direction in this decision that is always looming before me.  She is doing alright in school but still not talking to the teacher.  Currentl...

 What?  School on Saturday!?!  NOOOO!  Just kidding!  That is just the update title and so I can keep the alliteration going.  I have been so super super blessed to homeschool not just my preschooler and a friend this year but to also have a first grader at home and by Christmas my prayer is to have all my children home.  But I am going to try to tell you what we are learning about and the curriculum choices I have made and how they are working. We will start with Preschool.  I use  Little Hands to Heaven  and  Letter of the Week .  The simple idea of one letter a week with a week of review after every 4 letters is so fun.  We have a friend who joins with us a couple times a week.  We are going at a slower pace because of lack of consistency but life is never consistent so we just roll with it!  This week we have been focused on the review and sounds of A, B, C, D.  And we have started putting all our wo...

I am still reading Ester Ried .  It is a fun read.  Like I said last time I could totally see this as a modern movie.  Ester would work at a family business probably a diner.  She gets an e-mail or call or text from her cousin that she is getting married.  She gets to see New York city but her cousin is all "religious" and getting married to a youth pastor.  Ester always thought of herself as a Christian but not like her cousin.  Abbie goes to all the prayer meetings and volunteers for everything.  Meanwhile her sister is being influenced by a horrible guy back home in some small town in Ohio (?) maybe.  Okay....in reality Ester works with her mom at a boarding house and there is no e-mail or texting it was all done through a letter, but pretty much the same thing. With the girls, we just finished Little House on the Prairie .  I am excited to introduce them to the show.  Since we just a finished a book we jumped right into the ne...