Today was a momentous day for our ds, 11. He is our "minimalist" child. Mr. Athletic will however, learn (like all of us) what he is interested. This prompted me to ask him at the end of last year, what HE wanted to learn. First he said Ancient Greece and then Ancient Rome. We used Heart of Wisdom's study for this, since I am trying to get him to be a more independent learner, instead of trying to depend on me for everything. He finished his Ancient Greece Study yesterday and today was assembly day. It is the largest lapbook we have done so far but I am so very proud of Mr. Athletic.
Here is what the cover looks like (excuse my foot, but it wouldn't stay closed otherwise). We used a blue file folder. Took painters tape and tapped out the parthenon, and spray painted it and then removed the tape. The figures are from a Ancient History pockets book and laminated!:

Next is the back of the book. I found figures from online and other resources and he colored them and laminated them. We used scrapbooking, ZOTS to adhere them on.

Here is the first folder open. To the left flap is a travel brochure (I found a 3-d parthenon at Michael's) and flaps of contributions that Ancient Greece has made to our world that we use today. The inside flap is two booklets with flaps. To the left is the Greek Alphabet and to the right is about Greek Gods and Goddesses and talking about Religion in Greece (they were polytheistic). When you open it, there are strips and for example on the alphabet there is a letter and behind it is the english translation of that letter. To the left fold is two quilt squares and a laminated picture of Alexander the Great. The quilt squares comparing the differences between Athens and Sparta.

Okay when you open the center flap to the right, there is an envelope fold (cootie catcher) with Philosophers in Ancient Greece (their pictures were printed out as thumbnails on sticker paper!) and inside he wrote about what he learned about them. To the right is another envelope fold, but he talked about the Father of medicine and the herbs they used to treat people medically. Below it he wrote what he learned about pottery in Ancient Greece (also found online the shape).
Okay now I unfolded the inside flap (which serves as a double flap), and on the left I made an envelope (folded 1/4 a piece of paper and glued the sides). I put in there the following: Map of Ancient Greece, his typed 5x7 narration of the Children's Homer and a newspaper article he did pretending to interview Archimedes. to the right (center, top flap) the top is a postcard from Ancient Greece from the History pockets book and the bottom is a tab book where he talked about the different architectural styles in Greece and gave examples (Doric, Ionic, Corinthian and Modern). The pictures again, were on my favorite Sticker paper!
Now that I have opened the left hand double-sided flap, you see two mini books. One done on the Olympics and the other on Mount Olympus. I used handwriting paper from www.donnayoung.org for their copywork, btw. Just to the right is another envelope fold, but this time he talks about the scientists of Ancient Greece.

Okay now I have unfolded the center-top flap (adhered with clear packing tape, btw. To the top left, is a booklet he did talking about the funerals in Ancient Greece. The bottom right is a Timeline of Ancient Greece, using thumbnails from www.homeschoolinthewoods.com . This is done with an accordian book made out of 11x17 paper. The bottom center flap has a layer book, about the roles of men in Greece and then a mini book with copywork of an Aesop fable (who was Greecian, btw).
Now you are looking at the bottom flap unfolded (the back of it) and the center of the folder. On the center of the folder, you see a three section book with the Kings from the Bible that were during Ancient Greece. Below that is a booklet on the parthenon, from our History Pockets book. Below that, Mr. Athletic designed a Greek wedding invitation (he was studying Weddings in Greece), and below that are the women's roles in Ancient Greece. Here is what it looks like all folded out. NOW if you would like me to unfold a specific booklet, please let me know. I will be glad to unfold it and take a picture for you and post it! We are proud of him! Congratulations, Mr. Athletic. Our trip will now take us to the city of Rome, Italy, in 33 b.c.

WHEW!
Have a terrific weekend!
Southern Belle

Well, I am making due on some things I have promised some more of my cyber friends. I am posting copies of our Civil War Scrapbooks. Each child developed a scrapbook and had a few different sections.

The first section were the field trips that we have taken to the battlefields and sites. As we visit or find battlefields to go to, we add to it.

Since I am involved in genealogy of my family, I have a lot of information and pictures on family members and the second section is "My Family in the Civil War". We included things like pictures, information on which side, battle and commander that they were associated with and a couple of them we had their enlistment and discharge papers.

The third section is their favorite people in the Civil War. They participated in a Living History day while in AL and we enclosed pictures from that and their reports.

Well, whatcha think? Hopefully you like it! Let me know if there are any questions! I will be glad to answer.

Southern Belle

Here is Lover of History and Science's narration of his dissection of the Starfish from Monday. Enjoy!

Yesterday, we dissected a starfish. We did a had a hard time cutting the rough skin without going too deep.


It was cool to go deep inside and see the mouth inside with 5 teeth and turning it over and seeing the mouth's outside.

We went inside and saw the digestive glands where they process their foods.

Have a GREAT day! I will be posting the CW scrapbook pages and other lapbooks later today!

Southern Belle

It has been a couple of days since I have posted. I have had requests from some of my cyber friends to post some of my childrens lapbooks. Basically, for the family and friends, lapbooks are a way, as we go through our subjects to portfolio the kids work and they can "own it". It is also a great way to keep it, as apposed to putting it into a notebook, etc. The first ones I will post, we actually did last year. We studies the Civil War over a year time and the boys LOVED it. We also did a scrapbook and as we go to different CW battlefields, we put them in our "Field Trip" Section.

First one is Joshua's: Grade 6th:
Front cover of Lapbook:
I allowed him to design his own lapbook and the cover. This was our first real one, eventhough it took a while. As we covered highlights in the Civil War, we put it into our books. Also I allowed the children to make a list of the things that THEY wanted to include in there.









This is the inside open:



In here, we did mini-books. In each one, our 11 yo wrote about each battle (narrated) as we studied it. He put specifics in there like, the battle name, the commanding officer, location, number of soliders lost and the significance of that battle.

Here is another fold to the left hand side:
Here our son did two accordian books. One was on the surrender itself and we used pictures off of the internet from the surrender (the real letter, copy of the painting of the surrender) and printed them off on STICKER paper that we got at WM. The other booklet is done on the life of Abraham Lincoln. He did that and illustrated it on his own. It is about 8 pages long.
The fold below has a map that I printed off the internet of the USA. Our son mapped out all of the Civil War Battlefields.

Here is another flap:

This is an envelope fold. Both boys did this for each the Confederacy (gray) and the Union (blue). The pictures you see (above) are the famous generals that they picked. Again, we found pictures of the generals online, and saved them. We printed them off as thumbnails on our favorite, sticker paper. On the inside of each fold, details important bullet points about each person.

This is the inside of his lapbook. On the left is his vocabulary (our other son did the statistics for each side). The center was used with a template and made to look like a whip. He decided to do that and talk about the slavery. The right hand side is his Civil War Battles map.



To the right is our other sons inside page. To the left and right talks about his statistics for each side. Then the inside layer book is his vocabulary. He was 9 when he did this.





Well I guess that is it for the Civil War Lapbooks. On my next post (probably tomorrow), I will post pictures of our latest dissection and one of the boys' Civil War Scrapbooks. Have a great day!

Southern Belle

Hello there. It was a beautiful day today. Lover of History had his art co-op today from a lady that is WONDERFUL!! Friends from AL, Logan Martin lake is named for her daddy (who was a local judge in that area!). She meshes Chronological art history, timeline and the bible (with verses and vocabulary) plus art. She is top notch!

Since it has been requested, I thought I would post my favorite bread recipie. Now, I do grind my own flour and I do have a Bosch mixer (Kitchen aid will not hold this recipe btw). I love this because you can do ANYTHING with it. Smaller loaves will weigh about 1 lb 11 oz.

6 c warm water
2 tbsp salt
2 tbsp dough enhancer (optional, or you can use lecicitin)
10 c freshly ground whole grain flour (I use 1/2 hard red and 1/2 hard white)
3/4 c olive oil
3/4 c honey
3 1/2 tbsp yeast
4-6 extra c extra ground flour

Add water, oil, honey, salt, dough enhancer and 10 c flour (NO YEAST). Mix well at speed 1. Add yeast and extra flour. Let sit for 10 min (After that you will have a "Lucy moment", so be careful!) Turn mixer on to setting 2 for 6-8 minutes to activate the gluten. Pull out and pat out the bubbles. Divide into loaves. You will get approx. 5 smaller loaves and 3-4 large loaves. Let rise for 30-40 minutes (I put pans on a warm oven (on top) and put a towel in hot water and ring out. Put it over all the loaves, followed by a dry towel for warmth) Bake for 30 min at 350 degrees. MMMMMMMMMM~!!! ENJOY!

Have a great day!
Southern Belle

Well today was okay, but we are blessed. Hairy-Dawg and Mr. Athletic has a sinus infection. Hopefully, they will recover well. The Georgia Bulldogs won (YEAH!) and Traveller had another great game in Soccer. He was actually starting to come out of his shell and get a little more involved in the game this time.He was THRILLED that he got to become the goalie!
Then Traveller had Hairy-Dawg
jot down there and try to help
Coach him on the proper way
to stand to be a goalie. Here
is that fun part. Aren't they cute?
That was one of those moments I
was glad to get on film (or card, lol).



We spent time with Hairy-Dawg's parents afterwards to finish watching the Bulldog game! Go Dawgs!

A few days ago, we found out that one of our Realtors' children (that we had been praying for) had passed away. His name was Cooper and he was only 6 years old. He died of a brain tumor and was well loved. Please remember his parents, Ben, Donna and his little brother, Parker in your prayers tonight!

God Bless!
Southern Belle

Well what do you get when you have a 12yo, that is LOVING Marine Biology (from Apologia) and wants to do it all? Well today was our first Dissection day and he was SO excited! We got the other two involved to, eventhough they stood back at a distance, lol. Today was the clam and it was interesting. Brought me back to my Biology class in the 10th grade in High School (We didn't do a clam though). Here are some picts from that:
This is Lover of History (and Science) getting his tools ready to dissect his clam today.

Lover of Science with his clam and tools

Lover of Science with Traveller in the background analyzing the anatomy of a clam!

Well the kitchen smells like formaldahide, but the boys learned ALOT and enjoyed themselves, so it is SO worth it! Oh, what a great school day!

Southern Belle

Well, Hairy-Dawg had told Traveller that he had left some residue on the Toilet and Traveller needed to clean it off. When Traveller told Hairy-Dawg that he couldn't get it off, Hairy-Dawg told Traveller to use some elbow grease. Well, the next thing that Hairy-Dawg knew, Traveller had disappeared. He found Traveller in the kitchen looking under the sink. Hairy-Dawg proceeded to ask Traveller what he was looking for? Traveller said, "Well, daddy you told me to get some Elbow Grease, so I am looking for some!" It was SOO Funny. Oh what a sense of humor!

Have a good one!

Sunday night, we had the opportunity (again) to see one of our favorite contemporary groups, Big Daddy Weave at a free concert of a local church. We only have a few groups that we just LOVE and this was one of them. (Unfortunately, one of our main favorites will be making one more album and then that is it, and it makes us so very very sad! We have loved them from the beginning and they are GREAT!) Any way here is a pict from the concert:










Well this happened the other day, but not very often do we have some drama around here. Well try this equation! Take one sweet, but STUBBORN Bulldog+ water (which she HATES!) and give her a bath! Well she wouldn't stay still, and kept running away. The result was a recycle bin and a dog. We got the job done, but now she needs another one :o) She was one wet, but clean and sweet puppy!

Just wanted to update you guys on that! See ya!

Alot of my friends and I love to bake things including using freshly ground wheat. Here is another one of my favorite recipies. It is our homemade pizza recipie and doesn't require any rising.

Pizza Dough
1 c. warm water
2 1/2 tsp yeast
2 T. olive oil
1 T. sugar
2 1/2 c freshly ground whole wheat flour.

Mix water, yeast, oil and sugar. Add flour and mix. Roll out and bake at 400 degrees for 20 minutes.

Southern Belle

Let The Games Begin!

Well, Mr. Traveler, has been begging us for atleast 1 year to play soccer. We finally, since moving have been able to sign him up for Upward Soccer and he is having a blast! He was able to play on both offense and defense. Also he was excited because his Nana and Papa were able to come up and watch him play. There were about 4 games going on at the same time. Here are a few more pictures from his game:

Here is Traveler going after the ball to kick it. He was a little timid at first, but it won't take him long to figure it out.







Their team name is the Jazz. He is on the 2nd and
3rd grade team. They won their game 6-2. It was
fun to watch them. Everytime Traveler, would hear us call his name he would start to giggle. He is such a sweetie and funny too.









After the game, we came back to our home to spend some R & R here with Nana and Papa. It was a good time to relax and spend time with them. Here is a picture with the boys and Nana and Papa.


We are thankful for our Godly heritage and the influence that our parents and grandparents have on our lives.

Hope you guys have a great one!

We had a great holiday with family members coming over. My parents were away in the North GA mtns but Hairy-Dawgs family came over. We grilled out and played some games and just visited. Here are some pictures from our day.
This is the boys in our front yard with Princess Leia:


















This is our boys with Great-Grandma










The Boys with Hairy-Dawg's parents

Hope you all had a great relaxing weekend with family or friends. We did and wish you the best!

Southern Belle

Well it is favorite recipe time!

We decided, since we were having family over for the holiday that we would make some ice cream. Southern Belle's parents best friends have these AWESOME recipes for ice cream that he has concocted. The first one tastes JUST LIKE the Wendy's Frosty. Here is that recipe (I told him he should patened this puppy!)

1 6 oz package of Yohoo chocolate milk ( OR if using cans, use the equivilent of a 2 liter soda or 67 oz)
2 cans of sweetened condensed milk
2 8 oz pkgs French Vanilla Cool Whip
optional: 2 tbsp Hershey's chocolate syrup

Directions: Mix Yohoo in container with condensed milk. LIGHTLY fold and cut Cool Whip into mixture (do NOT mix too much or it will deflate the cool whip to cream!). Pour into Ice Cream container and mix. IF you use crushed ice with salt, it will be ready in about an hour.

NEXT: Orange Creamsicle Ice Cream (This is AS CREAMY as an Orange Creamsicle)

1 2 liter of Orange Crush
2 cans sweetened Condensed Milk
2 8 oz tubs of French Vanilla Cool Whip

Mix Crush and Condensed milk. Cut in Cool whip and churn. Same directions as above!! Enjoy!!

If you make this, let us know how you liked it!!! We would love to hear from you!

Well, over the last couple of days, Hairy-Dawg and Lover of History embarked on a project. Since we have lots of trees around, we decided to purchase a "Tree Hugger Bench" for when friends and family come over. Here is what it looked like when it came out of the box:

We didn't expect it to be in so many little pieces but to top it off, the directions were sketchy at best and not very specific. How frustrating is that. Well, we were able to figure some of it out and here is the progression.

Here is the finished product:













What a good job by Hairy-Dawg and Lover of History!
Have a great day!

Another Nature Study Day!!

Well, today we were doing and finishing up school, when Hairy-dawg was outside taking care of some business (he has been working from home lately, Yeah!!). Hairy-Dawg summonds us all outside to let us see what is so exciting. He called us out to our beautiful Hybiscus tree with about 10 blooms, and this is what we saw. Lover of History (and Nature) got his butterfly net, and we caught it and brought it in the house.

It is an Eastern Black Swallowtail. So, of course, we looked it up, illustrated it and had the boys write down the Animal Classifications. Well, Lover of History (and Nature) went back out, after being summonds by Hairy-Dawg again. This time he caught the following: A Common Sulfur and a Cloudless Sulfer, which we were very familiar with because it was our first butterfly to catch in Alabama. Here is a picture of the Cloudless Sulfur:

Here is our Lover of History (and Nature) with his Catches of the day and butterfly net.

The Princess of the House did some Nature Study of her own, by finding and pouncing on some grasshoppers, lol.

Have a blessed Day!

NATURE STUDY!

Well, as some of you know, some of the best learning is done the hands-on way. We were outside riding bicycles and playing when I saw something crawling across the sidewalk. This is what we found.

I had the kids look it up, identify it, illustrate it and look up the Animal Kingdom classifications. It is a black, spotted salamander. It was quite cool to see this, seeing as if it is really a nocturnal critter. I am just glad our bigger critter, Princess Leia didn't find it first!!