And the cute baby award goes to....

ME!!!

Our New Blog

Well, I have put it off long enough! I am just going to have to just jump in there and do it. Mine and my mother's blog "On The Road Again" is now up and running. I will probably just post once a week or so on there depending on how crazy our week is...and by that I mean, if our week is crazy I will have more to tell you about! HAHAHA!!

So check it out here or by clicking on the picture.

A Different Kind of Book Report

Mari Cate had another project due for the 6 weeks of school. A book report. Not your ordinary book report. Not the boring old kind that we used to have to do when we were young (that I absolutely hated doing--of course I have never been a big reader either unfortunately.) But this book report is a really cool way of getting kids to enjoy reading the book and then putting this project together.

At both the elementary school and the middle school, parents are encouraged to help with the projects. First I will say that I think this is wrong because some children do not have parents around that will/can help them, so you can definitely tell which ones have had help and which ones haven't...and I think that is wrong. I do help my children with their projects, but I definitely encourage them to do most of the work themselves. On a project like this that we can use the computer, I take the opportunity to teach them how to make "pretties" with the computer. I like teaching them how to change fonts, colors, and add pictures to their projects, etc. So I use it as a teaching opportunity. Conner has learned a whole lot on the computer using this technique.

So anyway, they call this project "The Cereal Box Book Report". The idea is to design a cereal around your book. You take a empty cereal box. On the front they had to come up a name for their cereal, a picture to describe the cereal. Mari Cate chose the book "Hank the Cowdog--The Garbage Monster from Outer Space". So she named her cereal Monster Crunch and we came up with a picture of a garbage can with monsters (pacman looking monsters) coming out of it.

On one side they were to list the "ingredients" which were the main characters and a brief description of each and what type of book this was. On the other side they were to write a summary of the book.

On the back they had to make a game to go along with the story/theme. Mari Cate wanted to make a word search puzzle since they are her favorite. We made this one here. You can type in your own words, make it the size you want, color you want, etc. This is a really cute idea.


On the top they had to include the title of the book, author, illustrator, # of pages, type of genre, and their name. Inside the box, they had to put a prize that related to their book/cereal.

For those homeschool moms, maybe you haven't heard of this and are looking for an new idea for book reports...drop me a note if you would like more info on it or how it was graded.

Another Contest from Vanilla Joy

This blogsite has some of the BEST contests! I can't wait until I win one and can share my awesome goodies with you too!! hehe!!

So here is the latest from Vanilla Joy . Vinyl Wall Graphics by Single Stone Studios. The winner of the giveaway will get $75 to spend in the Single Stone Studios store. Wow!! Check out the awesome wall graphics here! What a great Christmas present--yes, I am already thinking of Christmas!! You have until Saturday, October 11 to enter, so get yourself over to Vanilla Joy and get entered!!

Congratulations Conner!

Saturday, Conner received "ribbons" at Young Marines for (from top to bottom in the picture) Advanced First Aid, Basic First Aid, and CPR. He had completed the courses back in July but just now received the ribbons. We are very proud of him completing these courses! I will have to take a picture of him with his uniform on showing off his pins the next time he goes to Young Marines!

Fun at the Pumpkin Patch

Today the 4th Grade went on a Field Trip to the Pumpkin Patch. We had been there before when Mari Cate was in 1st Grade (I think), but this time we got (or should I say HAD) to do the big Corn Maze. Let me just tell you, the older I get, the more chlostrophobic I get. When we got in that maze, all I could think of was "how do we get out of here!!" And I had 4 little girls who were running all over the place!! Eeeeek!! Anyway, it made for some pretty pictures and we got some pretty little pumpkins too. They could choose any pumpkin they wanted, but we chose smaller ones rather than ones that we couldn't carry.

Take time to laugh

“A smile starts on the lips, A grin spreads to the eyes, A chuckle comes from the belly; But a good laugh bursts forth from the soul, Overflows, and bubbles all around”~~~Carolyn Birmingham



Hayden absolutely adores Mari Cate. She was trying to show him how to crawl, but apparently he was just getting a good laugh out of watching her.