A Smile Says it All

This morning, to my delight, I found Matthew

sitting at the kitchen table

w r i t i n g

a "Bob Book". 

 

My 7 year old son,

without any

prompting,

                pleading,

or pushing

from me,

is 

w r i t i n g

 for fun.

 

Yes, he has a way to go with spelling and grammar

BUT

in a classroom he might be starting to get the idea

that he is

getting behind

and that he

CAN'T

write.

 

Reading and writing at home though is fun and low-key. 

I'm proud of him

and

I'm also proud of myself. 

My natural tendency is to look for mistakes

and figure out how to fix them. 

Today, however, I smiled and simply enjoyed the thrill of his accomplishment.

His smile says it all!

Matt's Bob Books (with Mommy's Edited Version for ease of reading)

Bob Book
I begin ....
(his way of "starting")

Bob sat  It was hot
Bob had a tall hat
but Bob was hot
Bob had a big "X"
on his hat        the end

(The little man has a hat with an "X" on it!)

Next bob book

Sarah

had a big

pool  Sarah

went fishing

the end

by Matt

Unexpected Treasures

We were cleaning Bekah's room the other day and I found a little pile of "treasures".  Unbeknownst to me, my sweet 8 year old has been writing lists to keep herself organized.  Hmmmm, wonder who she learned that from??!!!

Fun with Art!

On the weekend we enjoyed rendering some artwork in the style of Georges Seurat using Q-tip Pointillism 

(on our "100 Things to do this Summer" list).

 Samples of artwork from the "big girls".

  The "little girls" tired easily though and simply used the Q-tips as paintbrushes.

This simple activity of drawing a lion was also surprising delightful.

 Bekah's Lion

 Matt's Lion

Sarah's Lion

Reading with Matthew

Matt just finished reading this book to me.  He has been reading Bob Book readers for a while now but this is the first book he was able to choose off his bookshelf and read.  Fun times!

Frogs!

We recently became part of a rescue mission to save some tadpoles when their home (a fountain in a housing complex) was being emptied. 

Matt made a new home for them to live in.

And then we got busy reading,

learning about the life cycle of frogs,

and comparing amphibians with reptiles. 

Matt's work:

 Bekah's work:

Amazingly, the tadpoles soon began to grow little back and front legs

and now they've almost lost their tails.

Here's what Matt thinks they are going to look like:



Bekah couldn't resist colouring a more "lady-like" version!

We're still not sure what kind of frogs we have but we know we are going to have to find them a permanent home that is more suitable than the lettuce box on top of our kitchen counter!  They are currently enjoying the change in diet from frozen lettuce (tadpole food) to frozen blood worms (yuck!).



Go, Canucks, Go!

Canucks fever has hit our household during the race for the Stanley Cup
but Mommy didn't realize how this would enrich our schooling!

All photographs taken by Matt.

Music

Multiple opportunities to sing our national anthem with pride!

Math

Number of flags spotted on vehicles .... 394 and counting...

(Mental math that gets challenging when a car has multiple flags on it!)

More Math, Home Economics, and Art ...

Personalized cupcakes ready to play!

More Interior Decorating ....

Reading!

Here is Matt reading "Summer" from the Bob Books Series (set 3).

Choir

Bekah was thrilled to be part of a homeschool choir this Spring.  Their semester just finished with performances at Simpson Manor (Langley), Magnolia Gardens (Fort Langley), and Calvary Christian Church (Fraser Heights, Surrey).

Awesome God

During her summer break Bekah has decided to run her own choir and is currently accepting applications!

Butterflies!

We started with creepy, crawly caterpillars

(in a sterilized container filled with soy and wheat food)....

Who pupated about a week later and then we had chrysalides ....

Who emerged as Painted Lady Butterflies ....

Who mated ....

And then flew away into the great big world.

A special thanks to Flutter Buys (Butterfly Release)

 at www.flutterbuys.ca for this special experience.

A Creative Afternoon

On the weekend we had one of those lovely, leisurely kinds of days.  The kind when the sun is shining (finally!), the kids are all getting along, we all slept in and, to top it off, some creative projects happened.  It all started when I lugged out the sewing machine to finally make some duvet covers for the kids.  Before I knew it Bekah was at the sewing machine doing a project from her new book:

Hard at work

The product of her labours (a book bag for her little sister)

Meanwhile, Matthew had other plans.

He combined two different kits and ended up putting together a circuit which made a horn blow and then another one to make a fan turn on.