Sunday, September 25, 2011

The Bean museum has no beans...

I am an idiot.  Really, an idiot.  We started a little neighborhood preschool group for Simeon and we go on lots of fun field trips.  This field trip was to the Bean museum.  On the drive there the kids kept asking me what the "bean" museum would be like, I obviously had no idea and wondered if it would indeed be full of beans(like unusual ones or something).  To my and the kids' delight, it was not full of beans, but full of animals- stuffed animals.  They also had a reptile show (which seemed kind of random, but good)  where we met a turtle,
 held some snake skin,
 felt some strange things,
 and found a trumpeter swan!!!  Because of one of our favorite books, this swan was a huge hit.

I would absolutely recommend a visit to the bean museum at BYU, and just across the parking lot is the creamery where they have delicious ice-cream.  Perfect field trip.

Harvest time

Petter decided he wanted to make grape juice. (I did it last year and was more than happy to let him do it)  So we spent a little while picking the grapes at his parents house (they have way more than they can handle) and he and the kids made it into juice while I was at yoga.
 Of course, Simeon was shirtless.





Petter did a great job and ended up with about 25 bottles worth! Pretty great for free juice.  Next harvest: apple pears.  We are going to make apple pear butter.

Sunday at Cascade Springs

We took a drive to see if we could see any fall leaves and to visit one of our favorite places.  Cascade Springs is such a cool place to stroll around and enjoy.  We parked at the upper parking lot this time and hiked around a bit- it was a beautiful day and a great time spent with my four favorite people on this planet.



And of course, we got some learning squeezed in as well.  We learned all about stinging nettle and the plant that helps take the itch away (lambs ear), thankfully we learned about it by past knowledge not by any mis-haps on this outing :)

Simeon's Gold Medal

Simeon took a few swimming lessons like last year.  As usual, they were amazing.  I think it helped a lot that we swam so much over the summer and keep swimming as much as we can (3 times last week, 4 the week before)
 The little guy earned his gold medal
 and made me so proud!

New pictures

My little brother, Geoff has a girlfriend (wait, now she's his fiance!!) who does some photography on the side and took my kids pics for me.  She was so great!  The kids were pretty good and we did it at Petter's parents house- their yard is amazing.

Can't wait to see the finished product!

Sewing school

School is in session!  We started our new school year the day after Labor Day.  So far so good.  We have added some different curricula to our load this year which has been a bit stressful for me, but overall great for the kids.  We decided to focus on some homemaking skills this year so we are doing a lot of sewing, knitting and cooking.  I think that following a pattern or recipe is a great way to practice following directions and paying attention.  We bought a sewing book Sewing in a Straight Line, By Bret Bara and so far the girls have each made a skirt.  Olivia was the first so to practice we cut up some old drapes and made her skirt out of that (I might have watched The Sound of Music a few too many times) and I think it turned out pretty cute.

 Jayda needed a bit more help with hers and we used some other fabric we had laying around.

They have each picked their next projects: Olivia will do another skirt, and Jayda a dress.

Just keep swimming, swimming, swimming

In my effort to prolong summer as long as possible, we keep going swimming.  




It might be my favorite thing about homeschooling.  We have done school at the pool a few times but mostly we get everything finished and then spend the afternoon playing.  We might need to move somewhere that accommodates our habit.

Hike...

We decided to show the kids one of the places we liked to hang out with our friends during high school.  So we took them to Pepperwood Falls (I don't know it's real name, that's just what we call it)



It's a perfect hike for kids with plenty of rocks for climbing.

Thursday, September 22, 2011

Staycation without kids...

The week before homeschool started, my parents took my kids with them to Lake Powell- without me!  I was actually thrilled because I was starting to feel stressed after having such a fun summer and I needed to learn the new spelling program we are doing this year and get everything organized.  It turned out to be just the perfect thing- 4 days with no kids and all day to myself.  I cleaned like crazy, studied the new program, listened to the cd's for the new program, went to the pool alone, got a pedicure and spent a lot of time with Petter.  I think retirement will be pretty fun!  We went on a nice hike (after I spent the day at the pool and the library) and went on dates every night!

I was happy to have the kids come home when it was over, and I missed them a lot, but it sure was nice to have a little me time!  We will have to do this a few times a year- it was the perfect recharge.

Friday, September 16, 2011

Model Simeon

My sister in law, Sonia asked me to take her "before" pictures for a fitness thing she's doing (I have promised not to show them)  and as soon as we finished taking her pictures, Simeon stripped off his shirt and started posing- I couldn't resist snapping a few pics.


I'm not sure exactly about this last one but he thought it was a great way to show off some of his muscles.  Silly boy.

This is the place...

We love visiting This is The Place park.  It is a great way to see what life was like for the early settlers of our area and to get a taste of their daily lives.  Every time we visit, they have different buildings open so we can learn something new each time.  This time the one room school house was open.  We visited after school had started for most kids so the crowds were down.  
 The kids got to write on real slate tablets
 We also learned a whole new alphabet that made it easier for people who couldn't speak/read english.
 Our teacher was very nice and treated the kids like they were a real class- they loved it!  When we left Simeon told me that the man smelled like Norwin (his new bff)- so cute!

 They got to do a pony ride
 and pet some pigs and goats in the petting farm
 we rode on the train
 visited a mini version of a boat a lot of the pioneers came across the ocean in
 and the highlight of the day: Panning for gold!

 They each got to keep 5 pieces of gold (which they put in their pockets and lost in the laundry).

 They also got to do some old fashioned chores.  I think we all decided we are glad we live today and appreciate all the pioneers had to go through.