Sick

Sorry about the lack of posting lately.  All my guys came down with a nasty cold last week.  So it has put me behind a bit.   Gabe was put back with his breathing treatments.  He gets so bored sitting there that he starts to get a little silly.  Thankfully he is back as well as my other two guys.  I am trying to work on a few new post to share with you.  Until then just wanted to say hi and let you know that we are still here.  Have a good one.

Ducks!!!!

Look at our new little friends.. The Duck Family!  The other morning I noticed a duck laying in the bushes right below our apartment.  I thought that I saw something moving below it but I was unsure.  Later when I was outside I saw this by the pool.  She did have babies, Yeah!  They are so cute.

She lead them over to the bushes below our apartment again.  I was able to get pretty close to them too.  Here are a couple other shots.  I took a bunch but I thought I better limit how much I put on here.  Enjoy!

Don't you just want to snuggle them?

I LOVE that we live in the middle of the city and the boys get to experience baby ducks.  They are loving checking on them every day.  Homeschooling at its finest!

A Halloween Craft

Ok so I am super excited for Halloween this year.  I have already started putting together some crafts for it.  I wanted to share some of them with you as I finished them.  I found some little coffins at Micheal's the other day and I thought that they would be really cute all decorated up and filled with candy.  Here are some shots of the finished project.

I painted the outside black and and the inside silver.  There is a sound box on the inside that sets off an evil laugh every time you open it.  I painted a cross on one and the other I put circles like it was nails in the coffin.  Also to give it something a little more I Mod Podged the outside edge with some cobweb and spider ribbon.  I love how these turned out.  I can not wait for Halloween.  I would love to see what everyones else is doing for Halloween. 

Make sure you head over to Mind Games and sign up for the Halloween swap.

To make a snake...

One of the lessons that I do with the boys is have them sew as a life skills lessons.  They actually have their own sewing machine that they got for christmas last year.  Sam is becoming really good with it.  Gabe is good as long as he realizes that it is not a race car.  Well I am always trying to have some fun projects with them to sew.  Recently Gabe started to become really interested in Snakes (he watches alot of Jeff Corwin).  I saw this project and I thought how perfect it would be for them to do as a joint project.  I was actually sewing something on my machine at the same time, more on that at another time.
Being the smart momma that I am (hehehe) I actually thought to document their process in photos for you.  Hope you enjoy, I know that I did. 

First step.  Pick out the material and cut out your pieces. Side note, The helmet is on because he recently started learning to ride his bike.  He has gotten obsessed with the helmet, wears it all the time.

Step two.  Get pins in so you can start sewing.

Then big brother realizes that you are big enough to start sewing on your own.

After you get it all sewn together, it is time for stuffing it.  Phew that sure is a tiring job, LOL!

Once you get all of the stuffing in that you want, it is time to sew it closed.  Look at that concentration, he is just to cute sometimes ;)

There you have a super easy and cuddly soft snake made by two brothers.

the full snake

I just gotta wear shades

We just got them some new glasses.  Look how handsome they are!



A picnic with friends

Labor day weekend we got together with some of our friends for a picnic.  The best part of the picnic was that Sam planned and put the whole thing together.  He did such a great job.  Here are a few pictures from the day.

Connor resting up before the picnic (I guess he would not take his nap after, oops)

Picture was taken by Sam

Sam with Carl and Li Mei.

Connor Having a blast playing in the dirt.

Picture taken by Sam

All the kids having some food.

 

My monkeys hanging out in trees

After lunch we went down to the water and the boys had so much fun with the buckets of water.

You can not see it in this picture but Carl had just thrown a bucket of water at him, that is why he looks like that.  LOL

Sam had some fun playing with Connor in the water too.

After the water we went up for the kids to play on the swings.  Look at that smile, he is just to cute. :0)

Picture taken by Rob

Sam, Li Mei, Connor, Gabe, and Carl at the end of the day.  It was such a nice day.  Good job on your planning Sam.

(Sorry about the darkness of the picture, we were right under a big tree)



A common view...

I thought that I would share a picture that is becoming more and more of a habit around here.  It is just the sweetest, don't you think?

A little spell building...

So I am always on the look out for new and fun ways to teach my kids.  Well one topic that I find kind of, well boring to teach is grammar.  Then I saw this idea on Filth Wizardry.  What a great idea, I mean who does not have a ton of big legos lying around.  What not put them to good use and teach your kids something with them.

He was so excited to show what he wrote.  He loves making up sentences this way.

Make a Didgeridoo..

With our studying of Australia, one thing we had to make was a Didgeridoo.  I was so excited to find this link on how to make one. We gathered up the supplies and started making it.

First step is to get a three foot of pvc pipe.

Then we spray painted them all one color so that it would look like wood.

Then you let 2 very excited boys design up one each, with aboriginal style paints of course. :0)  Once they finish painting DH melted down the beeswax and made mouth pieces for them.

The finished products.  Gabe made the one on the left and Sam made the one on the right.  The boys love having them.  They love to put on little shows with them.  Thank goodness the noise level is realitvly low on them. LOL :0)

Halloween Box Swap for Kids...

My friend PisecoMom over at Mindgames is trying to put together a Halloween swap for all our cute little kiddos out there.  If you are interested you should make sure to go sign up.  Deadline for signing up is September 24.  So either click here or on her button in my sidebar and it will take you there.  So what are you waiting for, go sign up!

Edited to add... I was having problems with the button so I took it down.  Just click on my links instead.

Back to school...

Ok we never really stopped schooling over the summer.  It is that time of year when all of the kids are heading back to school.  Since we homeschool the kids do not get to participate in the shopping for new clothes and supplies.  Last year we came up with a fun tradition for them.  We get them a new toy or game that is educational, something to make learning fun for them.  Then to cover the new school clothes we get them a new "school uniform", pajamas. 

For Sam we got a new Geography book beacause he is so good at geography and needed something to challenge himself.  He got the GEOGRAPHY BEE, it is the study guide for the national geography bee.  He has decided that he needs to be the champion of it in the next few years.  We also got him the Brain Box All Around The World, what can I say my boy loves his geography.  Gabe continues to follow in his brothers foot steps and is also very good at geography so we needed to get him a new book too.  We got him The Everything Kids Need To Know About Geography.  He is very excited about it.  We also got him a brainbox game.  His was about the U.S. Presidents since I am woking on it with him this year.  Now here is a little photo shoot of them in their new outfits (their dad made the shirts and I did the pants).  Sorry for the poor shots.

First up Sam, his theme is the frog prince.  It is hard to see what the pants looks like but the frog on his shirt looks just like the ones on his pants.

Next is Gabe, his is Curious George (he is a little ham for the camera)

Now for some joint shots

The boys are having a great time with school and are staying very comfortable with their new outfits.  Hope that everyone is doing great with their school activities.  I can not wait to read all about them.  Until then have a great one.