Antioch Sprint Races

My AWSOME Aunt invited us out to the Antioch Sprit races.

The boys had a blast and our adopted son DJ came too.

Hot dogs and loud buzzing made for a GREAT Sat

Pineheaven Farm

Our AWESOME Co-Op visited a self sustaining farm today.

here is the link

http://pineheavenfarm.wordpress.com/

The farm has bees, chickens, 4 goats and a large organic garden.

It was GREAT to teach the kids about the cycle the farm goes through in order to sustain on their own.

The kids were the most surprised about the composting.

Parker: "You mean to tell me you put the goat's poo in your dirt?"

The kids all had a chance to milk one of the goats. After two of the goats were milked (each yielding a half gallon WOW) Jeannie the, farm owner, had the kids make butter.

She used cow's cream and put it in jars and for the next 30 minutes or so kids and parents alike walked around shaking the mason jars.

Wah La ... butter

he kids gathered on a set of stairs and spread the butter on crackers.

My boys were so confused when they realized it was not whipped cream.

The butter was so soft and fluffy, absolutely delicious.

BUT...

The most fun was the chicken coupe.

The boys LOVED running around and catching the chickens.

They were so gentile and determined to get those fast suckers.

Next we roamed the gardens and Jeannie allowed the kids to pick and eat, ending in some severe dislikes and some surprising likes.

GREAT day on the farm.

After it was over I received a huge hug from Parker and he said

"I love you Mama, thanks this one was the best"

I am guessing he meant out of all the field trips so far.

YAY

Thanks Co-Op

Enjoy

My FAVORITE picture of the day

milking

Goats Milk

The farm had the biggest fattest worms we had ever seen

Shake that butter boys

Butter on crackers

Bees

Boys

Cole, Lucas and Cohen

We ended the day at this awesome park in Montclair

THE END

School

SCHOOL

Bow and Arows

The boys and I were looking for a fun and easy project and we found this.

PVC Pipe bow and arrows

We started with a list of what we would need and I found that here along with directions

http://youcraftmeup.blogspot.com/2010/07/pvc-pipe-bow-and-arrows.html

We took our list down to the good 'ol Ma and Pa hardware store

down the street from our house.

The teenagers working there were very eager to help the boys

find everything on the list and even allowed them in the back to help with measuring the pvc pipe and dowels.

They ended up being pretty awesome and can send the dowels pretty far.

Just need to remind the boys humans are not our target.

CLASSROOM PROGRESS

Okay, the classroom is SO close to being done and after all the research I have done to pick a working space that is good for Parker's needs I have chosen this.

FULL OF STRUCTURE

Here is the link for the super interested, but the rest I will explain

http://www.workboxsystem.com/

They start their mornings with these charts and the number's match their bin.

Each kid has 12 bins and four help cards. They follow the order 1-12 and when they need help and it is not a designated "work with Mom" activity they can use a help card.

The cards are laminated and attached with Velcro to the colored paper.

This way when the child is finished they can remove the card from the chart and place it in a small basket placed at their desk. Thus giving the children a clear idea of how much is left and what is coming next.

There are a number of things in their bins

EX: Phonics Cards, computer games cards, circle time cards, regular curriculum, board games, Lego time, and timed cards to let them know how much time for each thing they choose.

If Parker gets a 30 Minute card and books he is expected to

set a timer and take himself to a quiet reading area.

This way of running our home classroom also promotes Independence, responsibility, and a sense of accomplishment for the child.

If the child has a "Work With Mom" card I make sure the other child has an independent task in their tub during that time.

Most everything they need in already placed in their tub when they pull it. That way little to NO questions need to be asked about what is expected of them.

I keep things in reach and allow them to pull more supplies if needed.

This is what the system looks like as a whole

(A WHOLE LOTTA WORK FOR ME ...)

Initially it was a lot, but now that we are set up and running for our first week I am SOOOOOOOOOOOOO

thrilled with the out come and the boys are doing fantastic.

This is Parker's side

Here is Cohen

Charts hung and ready for tomorrow

GOD BLESS

SUE PATRICK'S

AWESOME WORKBOX SYSTEM

and AUNT DEBBIE AND TUTU'S

FUNDING

Let's Go Rockies ... Let's go

We have a pretty good Pee-Wee Team

Yeah boy

Coach Micky has great aim and the boys are smackin balls left and right.

We have about three older boys who are really good and a lot of good in betweeners. The rest (Cohen included) are still learning that playing with the grass is not as fun as throwing the ball.

Cohen LOVES it though!!!!

These pictures are from the second game and I think we lost, but tonight we played and they won by one point. GREAT game and the coaches were awesome about getting the kids HYPED.

I LOVE BASEBALL

GO ROCKIES AND #5

Tonight as we were putting the boys to bed Cohen's prayer went something like this...

"Dear Lord Jesus please help the Indians teach the pilgrims to plant corn. Lord please help people face their fears and just walk away and Jesus help the universe fill their hearts with hope... oh and next week help me get the game ball."

NO JOKE

The game ball part was the ONLY part that I was expecting

AMAZING BOYS

Neuro-Fit

Hi All ...

Well, the classroom is still under construction and I can't wait to share the final results.

I was working all weekend and I am maybe half done. Still remaining enthusiastic and excited about the progress made though.

ANYHOO, I just wanted you guys to take a look at what Neuro fitness looks like for us.

We Skype with Dr. Jim in So Cal twice a week and Parker does 15 min of brain exercises, mapped out for him by Dr. Jim, the other days of the week.

As you can see he LOVES the silliness of it all and let's just say I am excited to see what changes occur for him.

For those who are unfamiliar with Neuro-Fit here is Dr.Jim's link

http://www.neuro-fit.com/

It basically strengthens certain parts of the brain used for focus and Parker's ADHD stuff.

ENJOY