Bloggy Break

I have decided to take a bloggy break.

I'm not sure how often or when I will post. I have been spending most of my "on-line" time on Facebook. (I am hooked!)

Have a great Summer!

Wordless Wednesday

Ten on Tuesday: Homeschooling in April/May

Ainsley has finished Kindergarten!

Here is an overview of April/May and a few of the things Ainsley did/learned:

1) Memorized three Bible verses:

"Pursue peace with all people, and holiness, without which no one will see the Lord." ~ Hebrews 12:14

"When I am afraid, I will trust in you." ~ Psalm 56:3

"A man's gift makes room for him, and brings him before great men." ~ Proverbs 18:16

2) Read the books "Storm in the Night" and "Lentil" .

(We did activities with these books using "Five in a Row".)

3) Covered the letters "K", "Q", "J", "X", and "Z".

4) Learned odd and even numbers, began subtraction and learned the concept of symmetry.

5) Discussed the subject of environmental education. (How to keep our home, neighborhood and town cleaner and healthier places in which to live.)

6) Looked (in books) at examples of using italics for emphasis and quotation marks.

7) Discussed onomatopoeia, personification and similes.

8) Discussed Memorial Day / Veterans Day and the importance of recognizing soldiers who have fought to protect our country.

9) Discussed taste buds and the four taste groups: bitter, sweet, salty and sour.

10) Ainsley memorized the poem "Trees" by Joyce Kilmer.

(She recited this with her class at her Kindergarten graduation.)

"I think that I shall never see
A poem lovely as a tree.

A tree whose hungry mouth is prest
Against the sweet earth's flowing breast;

A tree that looks at God all day,
And lifts her leafy arms to pray;

A tree that may in summer wear
A nest of robins in her hair;

Upon whose bosom snow has lain;
Who intimately lives with rain.

Poems are made by KIDS like me,
But only God can make a tree."

Wordless Wednesday

Ten on Tuesday: Homeschooling in March

Here is an overview of March and a few of the things Ainsley did/learned:

1) Memorized four Bible verses:

"If any of you need wisdom, you should ask God, who gives generously to all." ~ James 1:5

"You, O Lord, are our Father; Our Redeemer from Everlasting is Your name." ~ Isaiah 63:16

"For I was hungry and you gave Me food; I was thirsty and you gave Me drink." ~ Matthew 25:35

"So in everything, do to others what you would have them do to you." ~ Matthew 7:12 (The Golden Rule)

2) Read the books "Papa Piccolo" and "Grandfather's Journey". (We did activities with these books using "Five in a Row".)

3) Covered the letters "P", "V", "W", "K" and "Q".

4) Learned the concept of nouns, verbs and synonyms.

5) Continued counting by 5s, 10s, and learned to count by 2s. (Learned even vs. odd numbers.)

6) Introduced cylinders, spheres, cones and cubes.

7) Found Italy on the map (looks like a boot) and learned about Venice. (streets of water and gondolas)

8) Discussed the culture of Japan. (kimonos, clogs, fans, construction of homes, origami) Ainsley made a heart using origami.

9) Talked about the concept of peripheral vision. (Ainsley practiced looking out of the corner of her eye.)

10) Discovered birds native to Tennessee. (Ainsley's favorite was the chickadee.)

Easter 2009

We had a wonderful Easter this year!

The weather was beautiful and we had fun with Easter activities.

We attended a Spring Egg Hunt with our church family at Great Oaks.
Mrs. Kelly paints a chick on Ainsley's hand.

Ainsley made a bunny windsock.

Ainsley found a lot of eggs filled with a lot of goodies.
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Ainsley also decorated eggs at home.
Dan and I surprised her with a Star Wars Clone Wars decorating kit.

Ainsley making her "Star Wars" face.

Star Wars Clone Wars eggs

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Our Easter Sunday was spent attending services with our church family.

We love to spend time together.

Dan and Ainlsey ~ Best Buddies

Ainsley and I

Our Easter photo

Resurrection Rolls

Ainsley and her friend Ashley made "Resurrection Rolls" for Easter.

We started by reading John 19:38-42.

"Later, Joseph of Arimathea asked Pilate for the body of Jesus. Now Joseph was a disciple of Jesus, but secretly because he feared the Jews. With Pilate's permission, he came and took the body away. He was accompanied by Nicodemus, the man who earlier had visited Jesus at night. Nicodemus brought a mixture of myrrh and aloes, about seventy-five pounds. Taking Jesus' body, the two of them wrapped it, with the spices, in strips of linen. This was in accordance with Jewish burial customs. At the place where Jesus was crucified, there was a garden, and in the garden a new tomb, in which no one had ever been laid. Because it was the Jewish day of Preparation and since the tomb was nearby, they laid Jesus there."

Ainsley and Ashley each had a marshmallow...which represented Jesus.
They dipped their marshmallow in butter....

...and cinnamon and sugar...which represented the spices used to anoint the body.

They wrapped the coated marshmallow tightly in a crescent roll...which represented the wrapping of Jesus' body in a cloth.

We placed the rolls in a 350 degree oven for 11 minutes. The oven represented the tomb. We pretended it was three days.

Here is what one of the rolls looked like when we took it out of the oven.

After the rolls cooled, Ainsley and Ashley opened their rolls (cloth).
EMPTY! Jesus is no longer there.

He is risen!

Origami

After seeing origami in "Grandfather's Journey" , Ainsley wanted to make something using origami.

I found THIS book at the library. After looking through the book, Ainsley decided she wanted to make a heart.

Here is her first origami creation.

We had fun! We plan to make more creations using origami soon.

Wordless Wednesday

Magic Tree House: The Musical

The Magic Tree House books are Ainsley's absolute favorite books. They are written by Mary Pope Osborne...or as Ainsley refers to her..."the author of my dreams". There are 41 books in the series and Ainsley has read almost all of them. We have most of the MTH books and Ainsley reads (and re-reads) at least one of the books a day.

Last Saturday, Ainsley and I were excited to join our friends ~ Kristi, Zach and Zaylee~ to see a musical based on the Magic Tree House books. The musical was held at The Orpheum Theatre.

Zeb, Zaylee and Ainsley were excited for the show to begin.
The musical was a hit for the kids! There was singing, dancing, excitement and humor. Ainsley's favorite part of the show was "the fire breathing dragons" and "getting to see Jack and Annie save Camelot". She also liked "when Jack was dancing and couldn't stop."

Click HERE for more information about "Magic Tree House: The Musical".

Bell Horses

Ainsley is enjoying Kindermusik. She has learned to read music (notes: C, A, D and F) and play the glockenspiel.

Here she is playing "Bell Horses".

A "sick" joke

Ainsley has been sick this week. She has had strep throat and a strep rash.

Even though she has not felt good, she has still kept her sense of humor.

Here is a joke she shared with me yesterday:

"A pony came to see me today. He said he couldn't sing.
I said, "That's ok. You're just a little 'hoarse'."

ha! ha! ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha!!!!!

Harlem Globetrotters

On Sunday, March 15, Dan and I surprised Ainsley by taking her to see the Harlem Globetrotters. (It had been years since I had seen them so I was as excited as Ainsley was to be at the game.)

Ainsley thought watching the Globetrotters was "very fun." Her favorite parts of the game:

~ "when (it sounded like) one of the guys from the Globetrotters pooted."

~ "when the referee was coming to see a 'baby' (one of the Globetrotters was holding) and got sprayed with Silly String."

~ "when one of the players couldn't get down from the hoop...he was holding on to it...and then one of the other players picked him up and he started crying like a baby."

~ "all of the Globetrotters' tricks."

Happy St. Patty's Day!

An Irish Prayer

May God give you...

For every storm, a rainbow,

For every tear, a smile,

For every care, a promise,

And a blessing in each trial.

For every problem life sends,

A faithful friend to share,

For every sigh, a sweet song,

And an answer for each prayer.

3 years ago today...

...I began my journey in blogging.

Click HERE to see my first post.