One of the coolest field trips ever

Okay this really was like the coolest, most amazing field trip that I (and I have been on some in my lifetime) have ever been on. I ended up taking over 80 pictures during it. I of course tried to find the best and share them here. I think I have a pretty good selection. We went to Infinity Art Glass in Benton KS. We were given a tour of the workshop and studio, then were given the treat of watching the artist work on a piece. He gave us so much more. He not only showed us how he makes a piece but also showed us actual blown glass (any hand craft glass is considered blown glass, even when there is no actual "blowing" involved in the process), and how molten glass looks right out of the molten glass furnace (I know this isn't the actual name of the the apparatus but I come to a blank when I try to remember what he called actually called it). I would recommend visiting this type of business, especially if you can see the artist at work. I must admit that this gentle man was very engaging with the children and kept their interest through out the whole presentation (he even included some humor), you could tell he was a dad and had shown several children his craft. He was more than willing to answer any question the children had, even silly ones.

                                  Lil' Man standing in front of some of the pieces in the studio, wish I
                                         had tons of money to buy some of these beautiful pieces.

                                                            Starting with molten glass

              Rolling in some amber colored glass (he first rolled it in white glass, then heated it).
                He did this process 3 times, then rolled the top half again another 3 times.

                              Putting the hot glass into a cone form, to help give it a little more shape

                            Rolling it on a spiky plate, which will in the end give the glass bubbles in it.
                                               This process will give the glass uniform bubbles.
            We learned that a baking soda/water solution will give the glass non-uniform bubbles.

                                   See the waffle pattern in the glass, this is from the spiky plate.
       Working the glass some more (he has to constantly keep moving and working the glass, 
                                                          or it will have fallen off of the rod).

                                   More molten glass added, you can still see the waffle pattern.

                                                    This wooden bowl, is called a "block".
                            He uses it to help him start to shape the glass into the shape he desires.
                         It is kept wet in a bucket of water, if not the glass would eventually burn it
                                         and the ash would get into the glass and discolor it.

                                                               Some "free form" shaping.
                                                This was the starting point of the final shape.

                               Torching the glass which helps to keep it at a workable temperature

                               This is what it looked like just before he started swinging it
                                          to mold the glass into it's final desired shape

                                                           Swinging it into the final shape.
                                      He started standing on the floor and then when it grew to long
                                       and was at risk of hitting the floor, he moved to the platform.

                                                                     Desired length

                          Heating the glass to work it a little more before achieving it's final shape

                                First, let me appologize for the blurriness of the photo,
                                  had to take the picture over little heads popping up.
    Final shape (this is 1 piece (he made the first piece of the set for the 1st half of our group,
   we had to divide up into 2 groups)of a 3 piece set that he calls "Transparent Embrace")

                           Showing the kids what molten glass looks like right out of the furance

                                               I think this looks like a big dribble of honey.
                      Molten glass as it the heat lessens (it starts out at about 2000 degrees)
                                                 and works toward becoming room temp

                                                      Demostrating some actual glass blowing

                                      Final product from the glass blowing demonstration

Showing the kids how pliable and fragile the blown glass actually is.

A little hard Spelling Lesson today!

See March 15th's post to learn about this weeks Spelling fun!

1st year PASS Testing

We recieved Lil' Man's 1st PASS test (for him to take) today. He took the placement tests today. We are very proud of him. He placed in the middle for reading (he struggles with reading, so I was pleased that he placed in the middle, I was sure it was going to be on the lower end), top of the testing in math and language (language shocked me a little, I was so sure it would have been more towards the middle. He'll be taking the actual tests next week. I like that he can take them here at home and take as long as he needs to complete each section, no pressure. No, I don't help him. I found other things to do this morning while he did the placement tests. The tests will be sent in after the end of the month, then we'll hear back in about 6 to 8 weeks (I believe) the results. It will be helpful information, knowing what to work on during the summer. On a side note, he's already asking to do the reading program through our local library again.

Todays Spelling Lesson

"Target" Words (various Lesson 1-13 words from All About Spelling)                                

        

                                               Getting ready to "shoot" the "target" words                                                   

                                                             Aiming at the "target" words

Disappearing "target" words equal correct "aim"

I saw this idea on Pinterest and just knew that Lil' Man would love doing it. What a great way to review words and improve reading at the same time. You can use this idea for more than just spelling words.

Crazy Hair Night at Awana

 Tonight was crazy hair night at Awana. Lil' Man decided that he wants to have Silly String hair. He had a blast with the Silly String and getting it sprayed on his head. Well, it didn't last long. Once we got to Awana and he saw that one of the Awana Directors had colored hair spray, he wanted it off (plus it was making a mess all over the place). I helped him remove it and he had orange hair after that. Sorry no picture of that, I didn't have my camera with me as I wasn't expecting a change. I wore a green wig that we have from a couple of St. Patty's days ago. Nope, no pictures of that either.....sorry!

Awana Games 2012

               The Co-ed Awana Games Team from GCC.
                  We also had a all girls team.
              Both teams placed 2nd in their group.
           I had a hoarse voice from all the yelling. 
           Lil' Man had a blast, as did all the kids.

Rolling Hills Wildlife Adventure Field Trip

                   Lil' Man posing on a tractor in the kids area of the zoo.

                     A close up of Lil' Man on the tractor at the zoo.

          Lil' Man posing with the Rolling Hills Sign in the kids area of the zoo.

Dad (a.k.a the principle of Little Shepherds Academy) checking out a docile cow. That is until we bought some feed to feed it, then he became very lively.

                     Black Swans. Oh my, these were so funny to watch.
           They would bob their heads up and down, sometimes at the
                                      same time and squawk.

              Lil' Man with a Camel. We took this picture for Lil' Man's Grandma,
                                     she collects camel things.

                                        Close up of the camel.
                         
                     A Deer! As close to shooting on as I will ever get
                               --- sorry couldn't resist the pun!

                  The beautiful Kansas Plains on a partly cloudy day.

        Cool picture of the moon in the middle of the day behind a cloud

                           --- just one of God's Amazing Creations!

We had a beautiful time. It was so great getting out of the house and being around God's creatures. It had been a while since we had gone on a field trip, especially as a family. We were so happy that Daddy (a.k.a our school's principle) could get off of work to go with us.

Valentine's 2012

I found this idea on Pinterest and loved it. It was a great way to start a Valentine's Day. Lil' Man loved them and asked for more.

A boy and his Dino's

Lil' Man has a collection of dinosaurs from T-Rex Cafe in Kansas City, KS. Kirk brings him back one everytime that he comes back from a meeting in that area (which is about once a year). He has also received some in person from a couple of visits there. All his dino's names start with the letter E -- Elmo the Great, Emma, Elvis, Ezekiel, Edwina (just to name a few), like his name. His first was Elmo the Great (he's the blue one in the front), he received him the first time we visited T-Rex. Elmo the great has been quite a few places with us since he was adopted. He went to Vegas twice, Washington state a couple of times, and on all our road trips to OK and KS. He has been such a loved compain by Lil' Man. And even though his herd has grown to 8, Elmo the Great is still amongst the favorites. Ezekiel (his latest adoptee), seems to also be among the favorites. Some may say Lil' Man is almost 9 and it's time to put away the stuffed animals, I don't agree. When he's ready, and only when he's ready, we'll put these beloved stuffies loving away for Lil' Man's children to enjoy when they come along.

Planning a summer of science fun

We've been doing Physics, Chemistry and Ecology in Science (God's Design by Answers in Genesis) this school year. There never seems to be enough time in our day to do everything that we want to do, like awesome science experiments. So this coming summer, I decided that it would be fun to have an at home Science Camp (We're calling it Mommy's Mad Scientist Day Camp). I have been searching places like Pinerest for ideas of experiments we might try. I also have some books of science experiments. My plan is to do 2 or more experiments a day with Lil' Man. I think he'll have a great fun doing them. I know I will have fun doing them with him. Look for blog posts this summer on our experiments.

Officially in 3rd Grade

I can't believe we on our 5th year of our homeschooling adventure. My Little Guy just started 3rd grade at the beginning of this month. He is doing wonderful so far. We haven't been struggling and school is being completed in a reasonable amount of time. Of course his favorite subjects are still Math, History and Science. He is improving in reading, thankfully. I was so concerned about issues with that. He's been reading Flat Stanley by himself at night for a half an hour before bed. We made a Flat Stanley of our own and is currently off on it's first adventure with my Mother-In-Law. I am hoping that this proves to be an adventurous year for him and myself.

Excited about 3rd grade

is enjoying seeing Lil' Man's face light up as he is getting out his new 3rd grade books and

 seeing ones that he loved from 2nd grade for 3rd graders. He is so excited and actually

 jumping for joys, hugging me and say I LOVED THIS BOOK, I am so glad that they have it

 in a 3rd grade edition Mommy.

Sum, Sum, Summer Time!!!

Okay once again time has just gotten away from me. I will have to go back when I have some downtime (ROFLOL, what is that???? not sure what downtime is anymore). Who would have thought that homeschooling 1 would be so time consuming? I guess you could say that busy is an understatement. My health for the past year has also played a huge part in my downtime. I have another blog about that subject, so I will digress. Lil' Man has grown so much this past year. He turned 8 in May. Hard to believe. He had a Phineas and Ferb birthday party with his friends at a local park. We did some science experiments, in addition to the just plain playing and having fun. We finished up Sonlight Core C at the end of May. We will be doing Core D in the fall. We have been wrapping up all our other curriculum as the summer has progressed. I am a stickler about finishing all the workbooks and completing all the assignments. We basically school through out the year, a littler lighter in the summer time. I like to do a bridge program with him, to help keep things fresher for him. This was recently shown to be a positive thing to me, we took off the first 3 weeks of June for a surgery and recovery time for me and then we had company. After just 3 weeks of being off, it was just way to hard to regain focus and get back into the rhythm of things for Lil' Man. He finished his 2nd year of tap dancing in May. He took his first year of Piano this past school year. His teacher offers summer classes for the months of June and July, so we continued with them. He'll have August off. Swimming Lessons are planned for this month. He is in a Bowling League for the summer. So far he's been enjoying that. This is his first experience without bumpers. He's also been taking a monthly 2 hr Monart Workshop for pretty much the past year (only missed 2 months -- 1 because he didn't want to draw bugs and the other because there wasn't enough interest). We're going to be beginning a lapbook next week about Chocolate. We are looking forward to that. Of course there will be tasting the different types of chocolate, cooking with it and we are even going to be making chocolate from scratch (found a really neat Make Your Own Chocolate Kit). Who says science has to be boring? He is signed up for another year of Tap. He finished up Sparks (Awana's) and will be starting the TNT (Truth and Training) Awana's Series in the Fall. He completed 2 Awana's book last school year. He was so excited to have made such an accomplishment. We have been doing History Pockets this summer also Life in Plymouth Colony and Native Americans, while we have been reading American Pioneers and Patriots. I choose to do a summer history lesson with him because he was so upset when we end Mystery of History vol. II. We are looking forward to starting Mystery of History vol. III in the fall. Of course he was also upset when Math-U-See was completed. Luckily, we had a few other Math workbooks to complete. This seems to have kept him happy. However those are almost completed now too, so I will have to print of worksheets from Math-U-See's website. Well that about it in a nutshell for an update. I hope to be able to go back and put in some more specific updates from the past year. God Bless!

The Big 8

Lil' Man turned 8 a few weeks ago. Today we had his birthday party with his friends.

Phineas and Ferb was the theme (of course!!! LOL!!!) He loves this show and so do we, it's very creative and I must say that we've only encountered 2 episodes that we deemed unwatchable.

Playing in the sand together! They were building Kidsboro (Adventures in Odyssey) 

Blowin Out the Candles

Soda Gyser (need I say more -- as you can see by the picture we did more than one. This one was much better than the first. The bottle was agitated a little before it was loaded, it seemed to increase the effect of the gyser going off)

Worms (Science Project)

Showing off one of his worms

Some of the kiddos with their worms