We're Reading!!

Steven has been learning to read this year and I am amazed at how fast he is picking it up. He really enjoys reading. We started in September with Hooked on Phonics, which I really hesitated using because of the whole, "I learned to read with Hooked on Phonics" saying. But I do have to say it has really worked and I have liked it up until we hit the first grade. Now we do the lesson and when we get to reading the book it comes with it throws words and blends or ending they haven't taught. So I have decided to take a little break and just have him read some "real" books. After spring break we will start back up with the Ordinary Parent's Guide to Teaching Reading by Jessie Wise from The Well Trained Mind, just to give him more of a foundation.

Steven is so excited to read "real" books. Here is a couple of pictures of him reading his first "real" book, "Hop on Pop".

Then the next night he read "Ten Apples up on top".

Austin has been practicing writing his letters lately. He was really happy that he finally learned how to make an "S". YEAH! While teaching the others one morning I look over and see Austin practicing his writing on the window.

Flying the Kite

We have been remodeling and spring cleaning and in all this Steven found our missing kite. Amazing what you find when you clean out everything. LOL

It wasn't much of a kite flying day, but the boys decided they were going to try it out. To my surprise they did quite well. It was a good lesson in teamwork. Sorry the pictures aren't great, it was getting dark and I was trying to play around with my camera and just couldn't get it right.

Happy St. Patrick's Day

Saint Patrick’s Day or St. Patrick’s Day, holiday honoring Saint Patrick, the patron saint of Ireland. It is celebrated annually on March 17, his feast day. Saint Patrick was a missionary in the 5th century ad who is credited with converting Ireland to Christianity. St. Patrick’s Day is a national holiday in Ireland. It is also celebrated by people of Irish descent in many other countries, especially by Irish Americans in the United States.

One popular St. Patrick’s Day tradition is wearing green clothing. Green, the national color of Ireland, symbolizes the island’s lush landscape. The main symbol associated with the holiday is the shamrock, a small three-leafed clover or clover-like plant. According to legend, St. Patrick used the shamrock, because of its three leaves, to explain the Christian doctrine of the Trinity to the Irish people. The shamrock is now the national emblem of Ireland.

Today we are celebrating St. Patty's Day by having Lucky Charms (breakfast), Bagles with green cream cheese, green grapes and keylime pie yogurt (lunch) Irish Stew, Irish soda bread, and Lime sherbet Irish drink (dinner).

This morning the kids had to figure out how many marshmellows were in their bowl of Lucky Charms. We discovered the marshmellow that showed up the most was the leprechaun hats and the least were the hearts.

Both of the boys counted theirs one by one and marked them on the piece of paper. While Abbigail decided to sort hers first and then count them.

Pirate Abbigail making us Irish Soda bread. Boy was it yummy!!!

Stick Bugs

About 4 or so months ago we got 3 stickbugs. Can I just say they are the best pets. If your kids want a pet and you don't want the hassle of a pet...get a stick bug. There are very low maintenance, you give them some blackberry, ivy leaves or the green tips of romaine lettuce a couple of time a week and mist them daily and they are happy. The kids can pick them up, they don't bite! Their lifespan is about a year, so it's not something you will have forever. We just love them. The funny thing about stick bugs is they don't need a mate to reproduce. However, they will only reproduce if you put dirt in their area.

The kids have been asking to put dirt in so we can have babies (mind you they will make lots and lots of babies), so I finally gave in and we did it. Within a day we had three eggs! The eggs will take about 2-3 months to hatch, but they kids are very excited!

I have read a few different articles on stickbugs/walking bugs and you will find that some are more green and some are more brown. They adapt to their environment, so after a couple of them hatch we are going to do a little experiment. We will put a couple in a container that is painted green and we will put a couple other one in a container painted brown and see what happens. It will be awhile, but I will keep you updated.