Our week, April 6 to April 12, April 13 to April 19, 2014

Sunday, April 6, 2014

We celebrated Easter with my family, previously blogged about. 

Monday, April 7, 2014

Our local homeschool group offers the Iowa Assessments every year.  We've done them in the past but opted out of doing them this year.  However, we were able to do some practice tests at home to see where the kiddos are at, etc.  In case you were wondering, the cereal box is so that the girls don't look at each other's paper!  

Tuesday, April 8, 2014

This was our 14th Wedding Anniversary.  To celebrate we were going to go to the local restaurant in Fremont to celebrate.  And wouldn't you know it, they changed their hours *again* and now aren't open on Mon/Tuesday.  So, we headed to Asian Buffet.  Here's a look at our dinner dates!

Wednesday, April 9, 2014

More standardized testing!

Thursday, April 10, 2014

A highlight of our homeschool year is art class every Thursday in April, led by a local artist.  Here are their works of art from the first week.  It is an apple and a lemon on a table.  Clockwise from top right:  Eden, Eliza, Ephraim and then Emmet's.  

Sunday, April 13, 2014

On Palm Sunday, all the children ages 3-6th grade stand on stage and sing.  I was in nursery so my mom actually took this photo!

Monday, April 14, 2014

This month for Supper Swappers I made Chicken Pot Pie.  I only had to make it for 3 other swappers, but I made 4 extra for myself.  We like it as pot pie or just warmed up and enjoyed with homemade biscuits.  

Tuesday, April 15, 2014

Ephraim had his music concert at the local school.  He played Yankee Doodle on the recorder and sang a patriotic song.  They sounded pretty good on the recorders!

Ephraim is in the middle, back row.  

Also on Tuesday, we had Clover Kids and it was a clown theme!

Wednesday, April 16, 2014

We visited a local historical museum that was having a traveling quilt display.  One quilt displayed had all the blocks used by those on the Underground Railroad.  We went specifically to see that quilt but enjoyed all the permanent exhibits there as well.  We even saw some family members' pictures on the wall.  I had given the children a checklist of all the quilt patterns we had studied and they had to check them off as they saw them on the quilt.  

Thursday, April 17, 2014

More art class masterpieces.  This time they used pastels and watercolors.  Clockwise from upper right: Eden, Eliza, Ephraim and then Emmet.  This is a bridge reflecting in the water and trees in the background.  

Friday, April 18, 2014
Ephraim had 4-H in the morning and they had to do their bi-annual "ditch pickup".  After that, we had our meeting and it was Ephraim's turn to do a presentation and provide snacks.
He wanted to do a presentation on Rabbit Treats.  We worked on his step-by-step directions earlier in the week and I think he did an excellent job at the meeting.

Stirring the mixture that would be the treats. He did a nice job with his presentation!

For snack we served cinnamon rolls, bananas and little smokies.  It was a morning meeting and everyone was hungry after walking the roadway for trash.  

In the afternoon, we loaded up the chickens and met my mom since she would be taking the children for the night and the chickens for the rest of their lives!

I would be attending Secret Church by David Platt, a simulcast event from 6pm until 1 am.  I hope to blog about this separately.  For now, suffice it to say that it is an intensive Bible study, with an emphasis on the persecuted church, the cross and our everyday life.  

Saturday, April 19, 2014

Our journey to get Ephraim's bottle calf, the start of his herd, previously blogged about.  

VZ Easter

On Easter Sunday, we gathered with Seth's family after church for lunch and an afternoon of family time.  

First, we took time for a family picture.  We tried hard to get the cows to be behind us.  And they were. Right behind us so you can't even see them.  :)  Except for that one that is off to the side.  

Grandma planned a simple egg hunt for the cousins.  Each child had to find eggs of their color.  Of course, Eliza was purple and Eden had to find pink.  

Searching high and low for eggs.  

Uncle Paul filled one egg with special money from Honduras.  

 The girls were lucky enough to get a Jeep ride.

Everyone took a turn in the kayak.  The weather was perfect for being outdoors!

And the girls enjoyed getting their toes wet in the pond.  

All in all, a blessed Easter day.  

Four cute stories

I've got 4 cute stories I want to post before I forget.
First, on our trip to get Ephraim's bottle calf we had stopped at a gas station within 30 minutes of our destination.  It was called Sparky's One-Stop.  We proceeded to get our calf and are headed home.  We go past Sparky's One-Stop.
Ephraim's speaks up from the back, "We can't stop there, Mom."  Me, thinking that I know already we're not stopping there, ask why.  Ephraim says, "Because it says 'one-stop' and we've already had our 'one-stop' there today!"  That was funny, buddy!

Second, also on our trip to get the calf, we had to go through a very small town called Jamaica.  On our way back, we noted that we were going through Jamaica again.  Eden pipes up from the very back and asks, "Are we in a different part of America?"  Apparently 3 hours in the car is was enough for her to think that we'd left Iowa!

Another time, I've been known to tell the kids to dress nicely since we'll be going to town or have something to do where we'll be out and about.  I tell them to dress nice and not in their farm, grubby clothes, like they just came off the farm.  Emmet is quick to reply, "But, we did just come off the farm?"

Lastly, also from the mouth of Eden was a quote on Sunday . . . at church on Easter Sunday.  The service was a bit longer than usual.  There was a lot of sit down, stand up action.  Towards the end, Eden asks, "Are we in 2nd service now or is this still 1st service?"  Oh honey, you even made those in the pew ahead stifle a laugh!



Seriously, never a dull moment with my kiddos!

Easter Sunday

Easter Sunday this year was Sunday, April 20, 2014.  It turned out to be a beautiful day weather-wise.  We attended first service at church and had to be early since Seth had to usher.  It was a beautiful service with some traditional Easter hymns and some praise songs.  It was the culmination of our previous services where we focused on different characteristics of Jesus: obedient, compassionate, humble, glorified, zealous and lastly ALIVE.

"He was wounded for our rebellious acts.  He was crushed for our sins.  He was punished so that we could have peace, and we received healing from his wounds."  Isaiah 53:5

After church, we typically have a family Sunday School activity on Easter.  This year we glued the various names of Jesus on a cross.  It was the perfect family activity to keep our focus on the true meaning of Easter.

The children are showing off their cross and their "Easter outfits".  I don't really buy into the need to get everyone new clothes at Easter.  Ephraim's shirt is new but that's it and it was a good deal for a nice shirt.  He's constantly outgrowing his clothes, so it is bound to happen that he'll get something new.  The girls have gotten taller and not wider, so their Easter dresses that I made for them in 2012 still fit!  Click here for the 2012 trip down memory lane.  Click here for 2013's Easter photos.     (Sorry girls, you are wearing the same dress three years in a row.  I suspect you will not be forever scarred by this.) 

This was a nice picture outside--love these children and how they are developing!

"The angel said to the women, don't be afraid!  I know you're looking for Jesus, who was crucified.    He's not here.  He has been brought back to life as he said.  . . . They hurried away from the tomb with fear and great joy and ran to tell his disciples."  Matthew 28: 5-8

Bottle Calf in the Van !?!

Saturday, the 19th, three of the kiddos and I loaded up and trekked to Manning, IA to pick up Ephraim's new bottle calf.  We (Ephraim was paying for a portion of the calf) were buying a nice Hereford heifer for Ephraim to show at the fair and to be the start of his herd.  This year it'll be a bucket/bottle calf.  Next year a return calf and the third year will hopefully be a cow/calf pair.

Emmet stayed behind with Daddy since he had ball practice and they would be getting a pen ready.  

We arrived just after 11.  

Here she is!  Meeting his calf for the first time.  She was weaned from mama cow because she was a twin and mama couldn't keep up with two.  

Who needs a cattle trailer when a mini-van will do?
 Seriously though, we had planned to pick up the calf with the van.  It gets better gas mileage and would be a warmer, smoother ride for the calf.  We put Emmet's seat in the stow-n-go and the calf had a nice space to wander.

The calf was a little antsy for the first 30 minutes (of the 3 hour trip) and I was thinking that this could be a long ride if it keeps trying to climb in the back with the girls or sticking her rear end up in the front seat, but she soon settled down and relaxed the rest of the way.  

On solid ground at home!

Taking her to her new home.

Her first bottle from Ephraim.  

We made Ephraim do the business deal when we picked up the calf.  He had to ask about the calf's health, genetics, feedings, etc.  Instead of writing a simple check for the calf, we paid cash.  We wanted Ephraim to see the money exchanged and he had to count it out to the seller.  He did a good job with all of this.  The seller also asked that Ephraim call him when we arrived home and had gotten the calf settled.  Ephraim did a nice job on the phone, too.  

Ephraim has named his new calf Flame so look for us at the county fair!  Everyone is pretty smitten by her and she is a cutie.

VW Easter

We spent Sunday, April 6 with my family to celebrate Easter.  Mom fixed a big lunch for us all and then the children were treated to an Easter egg hunt.  They each had to find 6 eggs of the same color. 

Searching the yard for eggs. 

Another teeter-totter picture.  We're never sure when the last picture will be--that board has seen better days and is getting rotten.  

At this point the kiddos are ages 10, 10, 8, 7, 6 & 6.  

The kiddos were excited to open their eggs and see what Grandma & Grandpa stashed in there.  They got some gold coins, M&Ms and some Jersey Freeze bucks to spend later.

After all that fun, it was time to go to Grandpa's shed and use the sheller to shell our popcorn.  Garret & Alyssa got a lesson on where their popcorn comes from.  We husked the corn and tossed it into the sheller.  The kernels come out at the bottom!  We ended up with a big bowl full, enough to last us a year or more.  

That rim and belt were moving pretty fast so we were pretty diligent in watching the kiddos for loose clothing or loose hair!  Thankfully, no accidents since we were all careful.  I think everyone enjoyed the popcorn shelling experience!

And we can't get together without playing a couple rounds of Spit!

With that many players, it can get pretty fast and intense, but we're all good sports and have a good time!

What we're reading . . .

Another look at some of the resources we've used in the past couple of weeks:

An 8-CD set of Civil War stories, a thumbprint art book, Bible stories on CD, a Harriet Tubman DVD and book.

For history, we've really enjoyed using a unit by Beautiful Feet.   All the books below are a part of the set, along with the teacher's guide in the lower left corner.  We read books to learn about history.  We started with Leif and the Vikings and then moved on to Columbus, the Pilgrims, George Washington, Benjamin Franklin and Buffalo Bill.   

Typically we would read these books and then check other related literature out from the AEA or local library.  I would also find more information from the Internet or Pinterest for additional activities.  

Here we have a book about nouns, elephants and the Pony Express.  

We've discovered that the AEA has Reading Rainbow on DVD.  We like them!  

Emmet enjoyed the book Old Blue, a true story about a steer that led several cattle drives.  

That's it for what we're reading/watching lately.

Pinterest projects

I've had a couple of Pinterest projects in the works lately.

 The first one is a relatively easy, free one to do for beginning readers.  Eden is almost past this point or she is picking up on them quicker when we do them.  Eliza needs some more practice, so I know these will get some good use.  Check out my Reading Pinterest board for more ideas.  I used paint strips for the beginning consonant sounds.  The ending sounds, the word families, are written on construction paper and then I made two slits so the paint strips can slide through.  We have most of the easy ones done so now we will start on some more difficult ones for Eden.

A sewing project for me, literally.  Check out the website at www.littlehouseliving.com for the pattern and details. I pretty much followed the instructions.  There is another pattern and instructions here.  Again, this was a nearly free project since I had all the scrap fabric and I just had to buy snaps.  I borrowed a friend's snap pliers.  They don't take very long to make but it is a matter of finding the time to make them, especially when curious children are wondering "What in the world are you making?"  Finding the time to sew after they are all in bed just wasn't happening.  I finally caved and did all the snaps while the kids were awake.  And there, off to the side, is Eliza making a garland by snapping them all together.  *sigh*

Can I just say that after using them for a while I am never going back to the store bought ones?