Happy Halloween!!!!!!

Our Family wanted to wish everyone a happy halloween. The boys wanted to share some of their halloween activities. First of course is their Trick or treat costumes.
Sam saw his costume in the family fun magazine this year and immedietly said that this is what he wanted. Here is a link if you want to see some directions. It is called tricky gnome on a toadstool.

Gabe has been having a hard time making up his mind but he finally decided to be an Ancient Egypt Pyramid. Very cute, just hard to move in.

Also included are some videos of the boys and their dad bobbing for apples. The boys had never done this before. Gabe did not really care for the activity but Sam loved it. Sam was very funny because he is missing his two front teethand that made it really hard to get it.

Hope everyone has a happy and safe Halloween!!!!

Look what I made.....

I got this idea from one of the many education books I have lying around here. The book suggested a Lion, but the favorite animal of choice right now is a panda so that is what I went with. It is designed as a phonics game. You tell the child a sound and they have to feed the panda. It can also be used for many other games. Just use your imagination, the possibilties are endless. We even used it for a bean bag toss. So much fun. The kids love it.

Some things we have been up to and a mini book list

It seems like I have been in a little bit of a rut lately. Thankfully I seem to be coming out of it and getting my butt back in gear on getting things done. The boys have been doing really well on there school work this week so that definetly helps. I have pushed off doing any cleaning in the morning and only focusing on school work with the boys. It helped so much that the boys have been getting their school work done by lunch. No more spending all day doing it. That is really nice. Much happier people all around. Gabe spent some time playing in his bean bin for Sensory. He loves to put his whole body in the bin even though he is getting way to big to do that.

The boys sewed pumpkin mats for their sewing projects this week. Sam as usually did a fantastic job all by himself. Gabe did a wonderful job to. I helped him alot with his though because it was his first time not using a plastic needle. The was a point that tears did flow, he got himself with the needle. I had to help a lot to keep him going. All and all the projects came out great.

I had Gabe work on a puzzle for math. This was our only problem so far this week. Normally he is really good about puzzles. He loves doing them, we open the puzzle bin up and he can sit for an hour putting them together. Evidently it is different if they become the school assignment. He fought it the whole day. He ended up finishing it this morning.

For Sam's spelling class we played Hangman. Can you guess what his word was. It is only missing the first letter. It is........Hates. As in he hates having to spell. He loves the game though. LOL.

We are trying to work on his multiplication and division this year. He is having a little bit of struggle with the times tables though. We have tried to have some fun games for him to learn it. He loves any game that he can beat his father or I at, so this is one that I came up with for him. It is Multiplication war. It is played just like regular war with a couple of changes. In order to get the cards he has to multiply them together. He gets one chance. If he gets it right it goes to him, he gets it wrong it goes to us. Most cards at the end wins. He loves it and asked for it again in his lessons.

Gabe has been working on a letter book. Each week I give him a page to color (like in the picture). He colors it than cuts it out and glues it on to a piece of construction paper. Then for a second page he takes a cookie cutter of the letter and uses it as a stamper. He also gets a couple of stampers starting with the same letter. When he is finished I add the new pages to his book and he loves looking through it.

The boys also worked on weaving. They made these great placemats.

For our last Chinese art project (we start Japan next week) I was supposed to make paper with the boys. Unfortunetly I did not have the supplies ready so I asked Sam if he had any ideas to do instead. He suggested tanagrams. Great Idea, so that is what they did.

Space Station Mars by Daniel San Souci. Another recomendation from Sam. He has loved this series of books. The kids at the clubhouse have so many adventures together. This time they thinks that a flying saucer has landed in the neighbors yard and they have to make sure just what it is. Check out www.clubhousebooks.com for some fun activities about the books.

SCOOP! An Exclusive by Monty Molenski written by John Kelly and Cathy Tincknell. Sam recommended this book for the list this week. It is a really cute story about Monty Molenski trying to find a great Scoop for the newspaper. He goes on an investigation following his co-workers. He wants to see what they are up to. See what mystery he digs up on them.

The Only Boy in Ballet Class by Denise Gruska.... Ok so when I saw this book I had to get it. You see Gabe is the only boy in his ballet class. (which he loves that by the way). The book ended up being great though. It is just a wonderful book that shows the child that if you love doing something you should go for it no matter what. You never know what will end up happening if you do.

Unplug your Kids.....Thin

Ok I have to admit when I first saw the theme for this week I was not really sure what to do. I mentioned the theme to DH and Sam and they both thought of spaghetti. Great idea. We needed pasta for supper one night so they ended up making pasta from scratch. Since pasta is thin, it was a yummy and fun project.
Here they are gathering up all of the supplies with their dad.
Each boy has their own rolling pin, so they went about making sure to roll the dough out nice and THIN.

After rolling it out nice and THIN, it was cut in to THIN strips.
Here is the final product. Some really yummy pasta. Make sure to check out all of the other projects over here. Check back in for next weeks project.

Some Random Shots

We have been busy doing alot of different things. I thought that I would share some pictures.
There was pyramid exploring going on. (It is actually his costume. I will show a picture later of the completed look.)

We did a field trip to Mcdonald's one day. The boys had so much fun doing this. It is a definate trip to do again sometime.

There has been lots of Studying going on. Sam was very happy to study some of his family his history. (He looks like such a big boy in this picture) Gabe was very happy making some art. He is showing off his map of China.

How a Florida boy......

Makes a snowman... LOL

Fact Time

So sorry that I posted just pictures at first. I accidently hit enter after putting the title on so it posted just the pictures. Now I have updated and added the facts. I hope that you all enjoy it.

1.) When an eagle loses a feather on one wing it loses a matching one on the opposite wing so that it can stay balanced.

2.) A Bald Eagle can reach a speed of up to 200 miles per hour when diving through the air to grab a meal.

3.) The Largest known eagle's nest was found in Florida. It was 9 feet across, 20 feet deep, and wieghed over 2 tons.

4.) When chosing a mate, Bald Eagles perform a dance in the sky. They lock on to each others talons and tumble and twist in the air. At the last second they will let go just before reaching the ground.

5.) Bald Eagles can only lift half their body weight. If they find a fish that wieghs more than that they will hold on to it with their talons and "swim" to shore using their massive wings.

6.) Bald Eagles occasionally hunt cooperatively, with one individual flushing prey towards another.

7.) Both male and female bald eagles will take up to 5 years to get their white head. Once they have their white head, they are considered to be mature or adults. Young bald eagles are brown or blotchy brown all over.

8.) Bald eagles are large birds measuring between 31 and 37 inches in height with a wingspan of six feet or more! An adult will weigh between 8 and 12 pounds.

9.) The birds' scientific name, Haliaeetus leucocephalus, means "white-headed sea eagle".

10.) One to three eggs are laid, hatching in about 35 days. Normally, only one chick survives to fly from the nest. When food resources are abundant as many as three eaglets may fledge from the same nest.

1.) Elephants drink 30 gallons of water a day. That would be like us drinking 480 glasses of water a day. Hope you are thirsty.

2.) The Largest elephant on record was an adult male african elephant. It weighed about 24,000 pounds and was 13 feet tall at the shoulder.

3.) The calls elephants make can be heard up to five miles away.

4.) Elephants have been relentlessly hunted for their tusks, even they are made of dentine-the same as our teeth.

5.) Elphants get plenty of fiber in their diets. They eat 220 to 440 pounds of vegetation every day. They like grass, fruit, leaves, and even tree bark.

6.) Stomach growls are welcome in polite elephant society. Their stomachs make loud rumbling and growling noises that signal everything is good.

7.) There are more than 4o,ooo muscles in the elephants trunk. An elephant's trunk is so strong it can push down tree's yet agile enough to pick up a single piece of straw.

8.) Elephants can poop up to 80 pounds a day. So glad that I do not have to change their diapers. LOL

9.) Elephants can run up to 24 miles per hour. For short distances only though.

10.) Elephants demonstrate concern for members of their families they take care of weak or injured members and appear to grieve over a dead companion.

1.) Horned Lizards squirt blood from tiny blood vessels in their eyes to scare away enemies.

2.) Several types of lizards are able to escape from an enemy by breaking off part of their tails. The tail will grow back over time but never look the same.

3.) Geckos make chirping and clicking noises to defend their territory or attract a mate.

4.) The six-lined racerunner holds the record for the fastest speed reached by any reptile on land: 18 miles per hour.

5.) The heaviest lizard is the Komodo Dragon and can weigh up to 176 pounds.

6.) The lightest lizard is the dwarf gecko, it weighs only 120 milligrams.

7.) The Madagascan Chameleon has a sticky tipped tongue which it can shoot out farther than the length of its body.

8.) Marine Iguana's spend most of their lives underwater. They sometimes come out though to rest on the sandy beaches.

9.) People of Central and South America eat the native green iguanas. They are called Gallina De Palo, or "Chicken of the Tree".

10.) The Komodo dragon can consume up to 80 percent of its body weight in one meal.

Check in next for the 2 new animals. Know anything about turtles and scorpions. Come learn with us.

A book List

So I am actually on time for something, Wow! Here it is my new book list for you all. Hope you enjoy.
The Shivers in the Fridge by Fran Manushkin. The Shiver Family lives in the cold and dark. Always on the watch for the monsters and earthquake. Until one day they decided to try for a better life. See what happens and if they find that life. There is a nice little twist to it..
Grandpa's Teeth by Rod Clement. Possible one of the greatest mysteries for a child, LOL. No really grandpa's teeth go missing. Someone stole them. The whole town goes into a panic over it. You have to read and find out who stole them, very cute.
The Dream Shop by Katherine Kenah. "Once upon a while, on an island above the ice and below the stars, there is a small shop made of wood....where one can purchase dreams." This is a story that Sam picked. He liked the fact that you can make dreams the way you want. Not so scary that way.
10-Step guide to living with your MONSTER by Laura Numeroff. Ok first who does not love a Laura Numeroff book. This one is no exception. Very cute and well written rules on how to deal with your pet monster (or in Sam's case little brothers).
Henry & the Buccaneer Bunnies by Carolyn Crimi. Ok if you have a little one that likes more adventure than books, you might just want to check out this book. It is about a feared set of pirates (bunnies so they are not scary). The captian feels bad that his son does not want to learn how to be a pirate. All he wants to do is read books. The Captian does change his mind when they get shipwrecked and Henry shows all of the amazing things he learned from the books.

A little delayed fact list.....

Oh when things get out of control all kinds of things get left behind. I really have not ment to neglect the blog but I have. Sorry. It has been a lot of fun doing these fact list and since we feel a little behind on them I get to play catch up. So this entry and the next one I do will have three animals instead of two. Then I will go back to doing just two at a time again.

1.) A group of monkeys is called a Barrel.

2.) The tip of a spider monkey's tail can support its entire weight.

3.) All monkeys like to be clean so they have a barber monkey who cleans out their fur. The barber monkey's reward is the bugs from the other monkey's fur.

4.) There are about 125 species of monkeys.

5.) Patas Monkey's can run up to 31 miles per hour on the ground.

6.) Allen Swamp Monkeys lay leaves on top of the water to catch the fish that hide below.

7.) Rhesus antigens found in their blood enabled doctors to identify the different human blood groups.

8.) Monkeys do not catch colds, but apes do.

9.) Monkeys don't eat the peals of their bananas. They peel them before eating them.

10.) Among leaf-eating colobus monkeys, like the Angolan black-and-white colobus Colobus angolensis, burping is a friendly social gesture.

1.) Lemurs are a special kind of primate called prosimians. Prosimians are the oldest primate group. Prosimian means “before the monkeys.” The eyes of prosimians are close to the front of their faces. This allows them to see better and control things.

2.) Lemur's fingers and toes have flat nails, except the second toe, which has a stout claw.

3.) Lemurs were the first primates to evolve.

4.) Lemurs are the most endangered primates.

5.) There are 32 different kinds of lemurs that exist today. Sixteen species have become extinct.

6.) Baby lemurs stay with their mom for two years. Half of all lemurs born each year die.

7.) The male lemurs have scent glands in their armpits and their forearms. They rub their tail on the glands until it is smelly and then they wave the tail at the other lemur. This is a nice way of fighting without the lemurs getting hurt. This is called a stink fight.

8.) The largest lemur is the Indri and it weighs about 15 pounds. The dwarf mouse lemur is the smallest primate.

9.) On Africa, Prosimians were forced to go out at night to avoid smarter primates. Lemurs went to Madagascar to get away from the smarter primates. Lemurs crossed to the island on ‘rafts’ of plants and wood. The island was hundreds of miles away from Africa when they started their journey. On Madagascar, lemurs did not have any predators until humans came and hunted them.

10.) On Africa, Prosimians were forced to go out at night to avoid smarter primates. Lemurs went to Madagascar to get away from the smarter primates. Lemurs crossed to the island on ‘rafts’ of plants and wood. The island was hundreds of miles away from Africa when they started their journey. On Madagascar, lemurs did not have any predators until humans came and hunted them.

1.) A new born giraffe measures about 6 feet.

2.) The tongue of an adult giraffe measures 27".

3.) Every step a giraffe takes is 15 feet in length.

4.) Giraffes sleep for no more than 5 to 30 minutes in 24 hours.

5.) Neck wrestling matches are often held to show authority in their herds.

6.) A large male giraffe can eat up to 100 pounds of food in a single day.

7.) A giraffes age can be calculated from its spots, as the darker the spots, the older the giraffe.

8.) A giraffe's heart is 24 pounds in weight and 2 feet in length.

9.) The giraffe's scientific name is camelopardalis. This is the Latin version of cameleopard.

10.) Have a four chambered stomach and will regurgitate their food for additional chewing – similarly to a cow.

So the lucky three for next time is going be lizards, eagles, and elephants. Can not wait, hope you check back in for it. See you then.

Time to play catch up. Oh yeah and a book list.

I know I was supposed to post this yesterday, sorry. I was not feeling to well yesterday so I did not get around to posting. I am feeling better today so here you go. First up is the recap of the our week. I do not have to many pictures because we went away for a few days so we did not do much school work. We did have lots of fun though. LOL
This picture is actually from about a week ago. We went to the local zoo for our field trip. To try and change it up alittle so that we do not get bored all the time we go, we did a scavenger hunt. Rob and I split up, each taking a boy, and we had a list of animals to find. Once they were found we needed to take a picture to prove we found it. Gabe did get a little easier list to find, so that it would actually keep him interested. He found the praire dogs. The poor guy is all muddy because it had been raining. Gabe wanted to give him a bath badly. LOL. The boys had a great time woth the scavenger hunt and can not wait to try it again.
Our big thing for school this week was that Sam learned to use the sewing machine. He is so excited about it. His first project was to make his Mimi a travel pillow. It came out great. My boy is growing up so fast. :(
To top off the crazy week we went over to the Tampa area for the weekend. My Grandmother came down from Maine for the winter. While we were there we went to the The Florida Aquarium. The boys loved it because they have never been to an aquarium before. Gabe saw this penguin sign and wanted to play with it. Of course Gram had to join in, she likes to have fun like that.
There was lots of fun areas for the kids to play on. For example these Hermit Crab Shells. They had to smaller ones to that Gabe loved to curl up in.
The boys posed with their Uncle Matt on the entrance sign. It was a giant sting ray above them, really neat.

This sting ray impressed Sam the most out of all the animals. It was so large.
The Storytelling Princess by Rafe Martin. There is a princess and prince that are told that are to married to each other. They both do not want this to happen. They want to marry someone of their own choosing. Finally the prince agrees but only if someone can tell him a story that he does not know the ending to. The princess says that she rather be washed overboard than to marry someone she does not choose. Guess what that wish comes true. Do you think they find their true love, you will have to read to find out.
Moonpowder by John Rocco. Sam asked me to post this one because he thought that it was really sweet. In it young Eli Treebuckle could fix anything. The only problem was he was having problems sleeping. He would bad dreams every night. So he stayed up all night fixing things. That is until he finds out that the The moonpowder factory had broken down. This is why he is not having sweet dreams. There is no moonpowder to make good dreams. Only Eli can fix it, or can he. Read it to find out.
The Hungriest Boy in the World by Lensey Namioka. Jiro is a little boy that would put anyhing in his mouth. One day he even put a hunger monster in his mouth. Then the trouble begins. He can not get enough food. He would eat thru fishing nets, his blanket, everything.
Find out how his family ends up fixing this problem. Hotel Jungle by Donna Jo Napoli and Shelagh Johnston. A very cute story about slowing down and going with the flow. Two kids go on a vacation at Hotel Jungle and they write to there friends to tell them how wonderful the hotel was. The friends decide to convince their parents to take them there, and they agree. In the meantime everyone leaves the hotel that is there, including the staff. They go on a cruise for a whole week. This leaves the hotel unattended and the Baboons take over. When the new family shows the baboons have completly taken over and show the family the time of their lives.

I hope that you enjoy all of these books. Have a great day and I will check in with you all tomorrow.

Unplug your Kids

Ok I hope that I was not missed to much (hehehe). Well I am determined to get caught up on all of my entries by the end of the week. So what better place to start than today Unplug your kids project. The theme for this weeks was smooth. The boys actually came up with their own projects this week. Sam is up first.

He built the Temple of Zeus out of Clay and tongue depressors. I love when he gets up early and does these projects. He wakes me up to show me and there is such pride. Just look at the photo below and see.

Well little Gabe decided to do something with yarn. Do you see that little sneaky grin. He was making a Giant cobweb through the whole apartment. Here are a couple of shots below of some of the areas that he got. He actually hit both bedrooms, the hall, Livingroom, and managed to tie his big brother up. Needless to say Gabe had a good time.

Hope that you enjoyed our projects. Make sure to check in next week for the new projects. The theme is wax. Until then check over here for everyone else's project.

Also I will be back tomorrow with a book list and some photos from the last week to share, if you want to see.