Slices of Life

As we wrap up all of our schoolwork for the year the boys have more time than ever to sit and read.  They've all had a lot of fun picking and choosing their own books, once again, this month. A to Z Mysteries Colossal Fossil-- Ian finished up another Super Edition in his favorite series.  This time the kids have to solve the mystery of who stole from the museum during their sleepover.  Ian did tell me he often solves the mystery long before the gang but he still enjoys them anyway.  I even got him to read an entire chapter aloud to me and he really is a great reader. Joshua Dread The Dominion Key-- We all listened to the third book in the series while driving around.  We love having a family audiobook going and the boys all enjoy this series.  Joshua and his friends must stop Vex from making the ultimate weapon so they must find the dominion key before Vex.  Filled with action and a few plot twists this was a fun book. A Legend of Starfire-- This was...

Thanks for stopping by and joining us again this week as we host another virtual refrigerator arts and crafts link up. I've been wanting to teach my boys how to sew but they have very little interest in learning.  I figured I could get the younger two boys to give it a try if we made some stuffed animals and boy was I right.  They had a great time and completed their projects in an afternoon.   Aren't they adorable? Click here to read more about our projects and were we got all of our supplies. Now without further ado I invite you to grab a "magnet" and link up your arts and crafts or how- to posts below and visit some other bloggers to see what they shared on their refrigerators. <div class="homeschool-coffee-break-button" style="width: 300px; margin: 0 auto;"> <a href="http://kympossibleblog.blogspot.com/" rel="nofollow" target="_blank"> <img src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ...

I've been wanting to teach my boys how to sew for at least a year now but I knew they weren't really interested in sewing. I knew the first step in teaching them to sew was to get them to WANT to sew so I had to pick the right project. I looked up a lot of beginner projects and thought that perhaps they'd enjoy sewing stuffed animals since my younger two still collect so many of them. I knew that I needed a simple project so they would be successful at it and have a good memory associated with sewing. I knew I wanted to start with sewing by hand so I needed lightweight fabric that wouldn't be hard to sew, large needles that would be easy to see, guide, and thread, and thicker thread then normal so they could keep track of their stitches. They LOVED it and completed their projects in an afternoon. I found this wonderful kit on Amazon that included all the supplies needed to make 5 felt animals and it turned out to be a wonderful first sewing experience.  I let each boy d...

We had the opportunity to go and check out an alpaca farm this month and we had an amazing time!  The mother daughter duo who run the farm and store are wonderful and were so super sweet with the kids.   We learned so much and might have found a new hobby too! Upon arriving we went right to the fenced areas that hold the male and female alpacas.  Once the whole group was assembled we learned about alpacas, the history of alpacas in the United States, and our host was more than happy to answer all the questions the kids asked.  We soon learned that all of the alpacas have their own personalities too!  Some were quite shy and stayed far back from the fence while others walked right up to us.  One even gave out little alpaca kisses, nuzzling his soft nose against the forehead or cheeks of some of the kids.   We learned that alpacas are part of the same family as camels and llamas called the camelid family.  While camels and llamas are often...