New Beginnings

Its been a really long time since I wrote anything of our escapades in this space.  Many things have happened since my last post...  Too much to document here, in this post. 

Its July 2013 and both of my monkeys will be in the school system come September.  The girl was in all year and had an amazing teacher and learning experience.  The boy was home most of the year but attended the last few weeks of school to get acclimated to the flow of school once more.  He jumped in and seemed to be happy.  It's been 4 years and having him away those two weeks was... quiet :)

We started homeschooling because I had a young boy who needed a different way to tackle information as well as a quiet space to think and learn.    He seems ready now though... and excited at the prospect of new things like school sports and activities.  So I am excited for him.

We set off on this adventure without a clue as to how to do it the 'right' way.  In the early days it was such a struggle and a stress to ensure that what I was doing would help rather than hinder.  Hours spent creating learning experiences and ways in which the information would stick and sustain.  With the help of a few key ladies we were able to see and do things other children will never hear about. 

I got to know my child in such a way that most parents wish they could.  I feel grateful that we gave homeschooling a try. 

So its with that I sign off, for now now anyways, and see where things go from here.

Woo Hoo the boy is 11!

The Boy is 11!!!

Luminada

Our city put on an outdoor movie for the community so we went to check out the festivities!  They had a scavenger hunt, games, prizes and of course the movie!  We had a good time!

Ping pong was tough LOL

They got to be fire fighters, it was pretty funny LOL

She was very happy with her butterfly!

Basketball with some older kiddos

Jusst before showtime!

Homeschool End of Year Barn Yard Dance!

We are lucky to have such a wealth of different families to connect with.  One of them owns a lovely farm and they opened it up so we could all have a End of Year Dance!  The boy was hard to get pictures of as he was everywhere, but Little Miss had her dancing shoes on most of the night :)  A wonderful time was had by ALL!!

Yee Haaawww

Totally danced out LOL

Raising Monarchs ~ Happy Re-Birthday ~ Canada Day

Our Monarch made its debut on Canada Day!  It was beautiful and the kiddos were pretty excited!

Just about to pop out

Drying

This one is female, the dark lines on the bottom set of wings are one way to tell.  The males also have a dark oval on each bottom wing which this one does not have :)

The Release of our Canada Day Butterfly :)

Raising Monarchs ~ Chrysalis is Formed

We noticed today that the caterpillar had formed the 'J' formation and was only a matter of time for the Chrysalis.  So a few hours later we were happy to see everything was right on schedule!

I took this though the netting so its hard to see but if you click on it you will see the caterpillar in J formation.

The chrysalis :)  The gold flecks on it are never shown as nice as they are in real life!

Newest Critter!

The children and I volunteer at the local cat shelter each week...  As you can imagine (if you are an animal lover like us) it is very challenging going in there and not taking them all home!  We have been talking for some time about getting a friend for our Siamese cat Oreo.  So last night we went and found the perfect crazy addition...  He's affectionate and a little nuts, fits in perfectly.

His name is Sweetie!

He found the boy's math book wonderfully fun!

Nom, nom, nom...

Little Miss can't escape his clutches either...

Her new baby...

A rest after all that chewing!