Our First Lapbook...

Over the past two years of homeschooling, I've learned that there are two types of homeschool moms. The first type has their curriculum bought, paid for, and mapped out by mid-July every year. They write a Mission Statement every fall and name their homeschool after either some famous Reformed Minister or in tribute of a deceased loved one. These are the women that come up with amazing, creative ideas to enrich their children's lives and, in the name of community and cooperation, share these ideas online. The other type barely makes it from one day to the next and is always amazed when their children recall a random fact or use a vocabulary word appropriately. I'll let you guess into which category I fall... (Y'all thought I'd end that sentence with a preposition, didn't you??)

However, it is the painstaking archiving of various projects that make me love these Type A moms. As I can copy just about anything, I decided a few weeks ago to use this mimicking talent to enter the formidable world of LAPBOOKING... For you non-homeschoolers, a lapbook takes a manilla folder, folds it like a pamphlet, and then fills it with all kinds of wonderful information. Think "Scrapbooking meets a data dump". I have found a wonderful website that provides templates for just about any topic. If you design your own lapbook, you can submit your work for other moms to use- stay tuned for the Lindsey Lohan Trial Coverage Lapbook!!

We had just finished a unit on animals and were headed to the beach, so the boys and I researched sharks and created a darn good lapbook. Thanks http://www.homeschoolshare.com/ and whatever anal-retentive mom put the template together!!

Five Question Friday

One of the blogs I follow has started posting "Five Question Friday"... If you blog, I'd love for you to play along!!

1. Do you collect anything?
Besides positive pregnancy tests, I collect the Dicken's Village Chirstmas houses. I used to put them up every Christmas but as the pregnancy test collection grew, my discipline about putting them out waned. One day...

2. Name 3 celebrities you find good looking-
Showing my age here... Harrison Ford is super dreamy! Also, loved Tom Cruise in Top Gun- not so much anymore. I'm also a fan of Ashley Judd- I think she is natually beautiful!

3. Do you have any scars? If so, what's the story behind them?
Just chicken pox from the 2nd grade- nothing any more exciting...

4. What is a food that you like but others might think is gross or weird?
I love cream chipped beef, as do my kids! (My hubby calls it "creamed chip barf") I like my chicken salad to have pineapple, but that's about all- I'm pretty mainstream :-)

5. Have you ever seen a tornado in real life?
I've not even seen the movie Twister. I try to stay away from Kansas and trailer parks...

Why Being Fat is a Good Thing...

About three days into our summer vacation, Hub came to me with the complaint he was bored. I knew I needed to find something that could hold the interest of both older boys (finishing K and 2nd), but wouldn't throw us off track if we didn't get much done. Enter SCIENCE!!

I know lots of homeschool moms swear by their favorite science curriculum, but I honestly haven't found anything I could stick with. Last year, a woman blessed me with over 100 used elementary school textbooks! Some of you would tell me I'm "selling out" and now doing "school at home", but for us, especially for our esteemed principal (love you, honey!!), this is the style that we need.

We dove into a Harcourt Science book the second week of June and are thrilled with what we found! The first unit was on plants and the boys did some great rubbings, as well as helped me in the garden (I'm so sneaky!!). That was, of course, PBD (pre-blog days) so it never occurred to me to take pictures...

This week, we are studying animals. Our lesson today was on mammals and after all the giggling about live birth and breastfeeding was finished, we focused on the purpose of fur. Or for humans, FAT!

Here's a quick experiment that you can use in any argument- a child that doesn't want his coat in the snow, your Weight Watchers nazi the week after Christmas... you get the picture!!

Method- Take two metal cans (we used Mason jars- hey! I homeschool- it's what we have!) and wrap one of them in cotton batting, a towel- any thick fabric to symbolize fur or fat. Fill them with almost boiling water and record the temperature of each. Record each temperature reading every ten minutes for the next thirty.

Here's the Investigation chart we made:

1. Temperature at start for Naked can _____ Furry can_____
2. Temperature after ten minutes for Naked can_____ Furry can_____
3. Temperature after twenty minutes for Naked can_____ Furry can_____
4. Temperature after thirty minutes for Naked can_____ Furry can_____

Hub came up with his own hypothesis: "I believe that the naked one will cool off first"

Sure enuff... At the end of the thirty minutes, the "fat" can held it's temperature better- only dropping 33 degrees, compared to the 64 degrees that the naked one lost.

THEREFORE, fat is NOT a bad thing:-) In support of science, I'm off to eat some ice cream-

Snakes & Snails & Puppy Dog Tails...

Greetings from my couch, this lazy Sunday afternoon...

My cankles and I have just returned form Walmart, my favorite store in the world, and I'm now eating chocolate chip cookie dough. Right from the wrapper. I love being pregnant.

Most of you know that Aaron and I have decided, again, to wait to find out what we are having. We have three boys between us (Hub-8-mine; Jackson-6-his; Gavin-2-ours) and everyone keeps asking if we are trying again for a girl. Honestly, the thought of a smart-mouth, sassy, mini-me scares the hell out of me. When I was pregnant with Hub, I really wanted a girl because I have a great relationship with my mom. When we were pregnant with Gavin, we kind of wanted a girl because we HAD two boys.

Now, I'm thinking back on the past 8 years of parenting a boy and really hoping that God gives me the chance to do it ONE MORE TIME...

• For those of you with girls, this is what you're missing;
• For those of you with younger boys, this is what you have to look forward to;
• For those of you with older kids, I hope this will remind you of some of the great conversations you've shared with your boys...

Feel free to weigh in with your opinions...

1. In a battle between Yoda and James Bond, who would win?
2. If peeing is #1 and pooping is #2, does #3 and 4 exist, and if so, what are they? This is one of my favorite in-the-car talks...
3. Why spitting is never appropriate indoors
4. How far you need to get from the house, car, pool, or family before you pee outdoors
5. The necessity of tissue (both clinically and socially) during cold and flu season
6. Why yelling "butt naked" in a public restroom or dressing room is inappropriate, even if you are, in fact, "butt naked"

I'd love to hear some of your all time favorite kid conversations...

Til next time-

So we got married in June, 2007, in the small community where my dad grew up. We had about 20 friends and family members there- most importantly, our two boys. Hub was 5 and Jackson was 3, and every anniversary since then, we have reminded them that June 23, 2007 was the day they became brothers! My sister-in-law made a beautiful cake, my sister sang, and all the kids got to run around and climb on tractors when it was over- a real family affair!

Jumping on the Bandwagon...

So... those who know me know that I have a lot of opinions. I used to get paid to talk and while I'd never give up my super-glamorous stay-at-home-mom life, I miss having a captive audience. I was a trainer for a medical sales company for about three years. Once a person was hired by my company, they spent about 20 days listening to me wax poetic about EKGs, heart disease, and pacemakers. These new employees loved spending time with me, so much that one of my new hires went so far as to marry me. So we agree.... I am usually not at loss for words.

I just set up my background to be green and blue- I'd like to think of this blog as a pretty soapbox where I will expound on all kinds of important and provocative topics. I'm also planning on boring you all with my homeschooling, gardening, and parenting (STEP-parenting-yikes!!) trials.

Mostly, however, I hope that this will give anyone interested a glimpse into our lives. We are currently expecting our fourth child and are hours away from family. While this is hard, we've been taught the lesson this year that "Your calling is where your provsion is". While earning a paycheck back in South Carolina would sure be nice, God has us in Pitt County for a reason right now. It may be hot and flat, but I hope you will enjoy your time here, as well.