Our Celery Experiment

Here is a very simple yet fun experiment. With the flu going through our house this was perfect!
First put some water in a glass. Put some food coloring in it. Preferably not green. We had some red left over from Christmas cookies. Take a couple of stalks and place in the water in some sunlight. (Try and choose stalks that have leaves.) Leave for approx 4 hrs.
The leaves are full of red inky water. Plants suck water up through the stem into the leaves. They need water to grow and keep healthy.
Cut a slice from the stem. Tiny red dots show the tubes that carry water up the stem.
Am I this creative? NO. You can find these simple experiments in the book "The Usborne Book of Science Activities..Volume Two.
I would have taken pics of the kids with the celery but they are in bed now. No worries..the experiment is not over.

Here is our kidney beans. We have been reading about what is happening every few days. Soon we will be planting them in some pots. It really has been a joy watching these grow!

Cohen's turn to be sick

My poor Coco is sick. Last night he got sick all over our bed. Needless to say..our day has been fairly unproductive. Right now it is more important to be there for our baby.

Smoothie Treat

The littles LOVE smoothies.
We put milk, yogurt, frozen berries and bananas in a blender and VOILA!

At my homeschooling meeting there was a suggestion to get the kids to help put laundry away. I laughed at the thought of a tornado flying through all of my folded piles of laundry.
The girls are actually putting it in the right places and LOVE doing it. Not as much as the smoothies though.

Reagan's Milestone

This picture is showing Reagan's milestone! Can you guess what it is?
She reached and grabbed her toy! Oh they learn so much and so fast.

Amelie's Shopping List

Amelie LOVES to write out our shopping lists. Sometimes while out it takes me a while to figure out an item. Can you figure them all out?

Ready for Grocery Shopping

Here the girls are ready to go grocery shopping with me.
At the store they had miniature shopping carts for them to help out with. It was adorable. Of course they were attracted to all the cookies.

String Art

Here the girls are using strings to paint.
They were excited because they were mixing colors and making new ones. Look how clean they are! Not a bit of paint on them YET.

The Girls Making Art on Themselves

WE TURNED OUR BACKS!
I believe the color of this paint is fitting. Are you looking for the horns? We cropped them out. Haha

Amelie is squishing the paint between her fingers and letting it fall into her other hand. I love the amazed look on her face here.

THE ART SPREADS

Distraction

Do you honestly think we would have the courage to let Cohen at all that paint?
We don't mind mess but that is capital MESS!

Here is what Cohen was watching. Leap Frog DVD's. If you do not have this series and you have a little that is learning the alphabet..GET IT!! I would love to take the credit for my girls learning their letters but it isn't so. This one is called The Letter Factory.

The Kidney Bean Saga Continues...

WOW!! Last night these beans were just starting to grow out of the jar. Let's see if we can grow them to the ceiling!

Video Games with Dad

The girls and Ron are playing video games. Ron's scruff fits in with the picture don't you think? Don't worry all! The game is educational. Hehe

And here is the educational game they played...Wink

Miscellaneous

I am sorry all. For the past couple of days I have been busy. (When am I not busy right?) More busy than usual. I wish that I would have taken pictures of the girls making their jewelery boxes today so I could post it here. All day they carried around their decorations.
Cohen and I made it over to my parents this evening. It was nice because we don't get to spend much time alone together. He felt very special. You could see it in his eyes.
We got wonderful news today. Ron was laid off for 3 weeks a week and a half ago. They called today and need him back on Monday. YAY! That is a relief!
Tomorrow the pictures and posts will continue. You should see how much our kidney beans have been growing. They are actually out of the jar now.

Snow Day

OK..I am going to let you guys in on a little secret. I am pregnant.
I am kidding. Now that my family has gotten over their shortness of breath I can tell you the real secret. I am not the picture perfect mom who throws on winter clothes, makes snow angels, pulls the littles in the toboggan, has snow ball fights or even considers going out to play in the snow. I am the mom waiting for them to come in (Ricky is usually first) with hot chocolate, a kleenex and a cozy hug.

Dancing Before Bed

Instead of tidying up our mess...we danced in it!

Our Ricky is Sick

I asked Ricky if I could take her picture while laying on the couch with the flu.
She whispered yes.
Our poor little Ricky is not eating and is drinking very little.
I must say what Ricky did today! She said "I want 2 and 2." I had no idea what she was talking about and then repeated herself "I want 2 and 2," with a little more persistence. So I say again, "I don't know what you mean!" Ricky: "2 and 2 is 4." Apparently she is grasping the Math Amelie is learning. My little wizard.
Today Ricky read her first word. C-A-T. She sounded it out twice and read it. You should have seen the Kodak moment look on her face! She called Grandma to tell her the news. She is such a pleasure!!!

We have lost our son to this magic train table

This train table has kidnapped our son. If anyone has seen an adorable little Cohen please contact us. We miss him terribly.

Science

Look at this sprout grow! This could mean Amelie or the Bean. They are growing at the same speed! The shoot is starting to grow up.

My Homeschooling Meeting

Tonight was my night to go out ALONE. Alone meaning..NO CHILDREN! Guess what I talked about all night. MY CHILDREN.
Once a month I get together with other local homeschooling parents. We usually have a topic we would like to tackle. (this week being Organization) This was a MUCH needed week for me. I do believe it is next to impossible to be thoroughly organized with 4 littles but I can attempt it. I got some good ideas tonight. Now I just have to implement them..Ahhh.

Making Rain Sticks

Well I woke up this morning to a MESS! Usually this means clothes strewn about and dishes on the counter. BUT NOT TODAY! The girls and Ron were in the middle of making Rain Sticks. The pictures are a bit dark but I want to emphasize their art. Amelie is decorating hers with rice. Ricky wanted hers made into a party hat. Dad is so creative..giggle.
I should give a mention to where all of the insides of Ricky's rain stick ended up. Our couch, carpet and table in the living room. They had a lot of fun. 10 points for dad!!

Ricky and our Kidney Bean Experiment

Throughout the week we have been checking on our Kidney Bean experiment. The roots have really been growing. We are just waiting for the shoots to grow up. Tonight we did some journaling in the Science Journals.

A Day With Friends

Look at how these homeschoolers socialize! Horrible! "roll eyes"

Science Vocabulary Readers

Here are a set of vocabulary readers that Amelie got for Christmas from her Aunt. They sit in our bookshelf for the kids to look at at their leisure. Today Amelie picked out The Earth and we took turns reading the pages. I find this Science Series very productive. Not only am I reading information to them but Amelie can have the satisfaction of learning on her own.
The series is by Scholastic.

Summer Berry - Fruit dip mix

This mix of Summer Berry definitely deserves a mention! I ordered this mix from Epicure and it has not let me down. In the background you will notice a bag of oatmeal. Mixing this blend into our oatmeal is delicious. Throw out the brown sugar! I am always looking for healthy alternatives and this one is perfect. It can also be mixed in with Pancakes and French Toast.

Baking with Grandma

Cohen had an appointment today so Amelie and Ricky got to stay at Grandma and Papa's house. They have a cookie and fudge making business so the girls got to make their own. I am sure Ricky ate 98% of the ingredients before they made it into the cookies/fudge. But really..it happens to us all!

Oh the Memories

This picture was a must!
Oh the memories.
When I was young I used to help my mom bake. BUT WAIT!! Was it really baking? As I got older I started to bake. I thought to myself..Why didn't I like this before? And then it all came rushing back! This was my job. Washing, Washing, Washing and more Washing!!

My Little Bakers

When we walked in the door the first thing we heard was "WE MADE COOKIES!!" They wanted us to try their homemade cookies. As we all know cookies made by littles can be a bit risky (lost boogies or gum or other unmentionables) but we decided to dig in. They were delicious! Thanks girls!

Cohen and his passion

Cohen had his speech appointment today. It is not very often that we get JUST Cohen and Reagan. In the past we have had the girls with us and the thought of stopping at train tracks and letting em all out is just EXHAUSTING! So here was our chance. We took Cohen out and put him on the tracks. Here he is pointing and saying track. He was so excited to be actually seeing them in person. Next we will be upgrading to an actual parked train.

Our Reagan

How could I not add a picture of Reagan? Her mind is growing every moment. In this picture she is looking at Grandma.

Learning About Coconuts

Ron bought a coconut for us to explore. We got to touch it and smell it. Next came the adventure of trying to open it! We used a knife, wine bottle opener, plastic ruler, hammer and what finally got this coconut open was.....DRUMROLL PLEASE....
a drill.

Our Coconut kissing our Coconut

WOW!! Look at the Coconut Juice!!

The girls knew that milk would come out of the coconut but when we poured it out..they were AMAZED

The Taste Test

Amelie and Ricky taste the coconut juice. Guess which one wasn't too ambitious about it!

Delicious

Alas, we get to eat the coconut!!

Our Beauties

I just loved these pictures so much I decided to share them with you all.

What is this on Ricky's face you ask?? It is red magic marker. Not only is it just on her face but it is on all of her fingernails too.
Could I categorize that as Art class??

A Couple Days Break

On Saturday I got some devastating news and haven't had the motivation to blog. My face has also been aching from a much needed root canal. Tomorrow I am going to continue with our homeschooling adventures.

Today Amelie was interested in the direction we were driving. N, E, S or W. Dad helped explain it to her. They also had a talk about the weather and the temperature.

When we go to the chiropractor they tell the girls to listen for the popcorn. (The cracking sound) We just realized all this time Ricky thought she had popcorn inside of her.

Here is a picture of Dad and Amelie. I LOVE moments like these. They happen in little moments throughout the day and it warms my heart.

I am sad

Germinating Kidney Beans

Here are my little sillies with their Science experiment. We are germinating kidney beans. They are going to learn that the shoot grows up and the root grows down no matter which way jar is laying.

We are writing their observations in their Science journals.

Cohen's First Painting

Today was a lazy day. Well for the kids anyways. While trying to clean (trying being the key word) Cohen was VERY interested in the paints on the table. I continued to ward him off until I gave in. Maybe he IS ready for paint?? So I place him in his chair with the paint and a piece of construction paper. He is very excited to be making paint fingerprints. I see this as the perfect time to get some dishes done. I look over and see he is not only making art..he is eating it too. He won't eat vegetables, meat, well pretty much any food but he will eat sand and paint!

Cohen has a fascination with letters lately. Anytime he sees letters he starts excitedly yelling A, T, B etc... I put on Letter Factory by Leap Frog and he was enthralled. So I am going to be helping Ricky and Cohen learn their letters and their sounds and Amelie will be learning how to write lower case letters.

The girls were bouncing off the walls today! Mom needs a much needed break.