Wordless Wednesday

G is for Games

I've been trying to do this blogging through the alphabet link up over at Ben and Me.  I missed a few, but I'm trying to stay on top of it now.  I'm just really bad at figuring out a topic for each letter! 

We are a family of game lovers. We've spent many evenings playing games just as a family or with other families who also share a love of games.

We play games more for their entertainment value more than the educational content.  There are a few that have obvious learning points though.  This is a list of our current top ten.  They are in no particular order and only count the ones we own, not ones that we love to play at friend's homes.

1. Blokus ~ Strategy, Planning and Geometry. This game is fun with two or three players (or four I'm sure, but we've never tried that).  It's a fairly quick game, which makes it perfect for those few minutes before bed.

2. Bohnanza ~ The Bean Farming Game! This is an odd game that most have never heard of. The rules are a little complicated at first, but once you get it the pace goes pretty fast.  It's a great game for a large group (up to 6 or 7) and is a favorite when we get together with friends.

3. Quiddler ~ A bit of scramble and a bit of rummy, you don't have to be able to spell long complicated words to be able to play!

4. Yahtzee ~ This classic is popular here.

5. 10,000 {Farkle} ~ We don't actually have Farkle, just some dollar tree dice and an index card with the points on it.  It's fast-paced and exciting!

6. Rummikub {or just Rummy!} ~ The tiles just make it more fun! My DH is much better than the rest of us at spotting how they can be rearranged!

7. Scrabble ~ Another classic.  We will often make this one cooperative as we help with spelling and ideas to use more letters.

8. In A Pickle ~ I think the kids are actually better at this than the adults as they can think outside the box better! Another fun group game that can get quite a few laughs!

9. LEGO The Hobbit ~ With a house full of LEGO and Tolkein fans, this was a no-brainer. Turns out, the game is actually pretty fun.  It's memory, with a twist.

10. Bible Challenge ~ For a fun way to inspire some Bible discussions, this game has got questions from the simple to the obscure.  With scripture references for answers, we always have our Bible handy when playing.

This was just a sampling of the many games we have in our game closet.  

What are some of your family's favorites? 

F is for Field Trip with Friends!

We were blessed to go on an amazing field trip with friends last week.  Amtrak has a special deal that allows educators to book a train car for their students for inexpensive prices.  In our case, the train trip was from Portland to Seattle for the day.  We left early in the morning from Portland, spent 3.5 hours riding the train up to Seattle.  We then got just over 4 hours to wander around Seattle on our own and then another ride on the train back to Portland.

The group we went with was large, we actually had two full train cars of homeschool families.  But there were three families that we know well.  One of these families contains Bug's best friend.  We don't see them very often, so they really enjoyed spending hours together on the train ride and then again while we wandered around Seattle. 

In Seattle we didn't do much.  We walked from the station down to Pike Place Market.  I was able to get the fish market guys to throw a salmon around for us.  We wandered in out of some shops, grabbed some lunch and just enjoyed being in a different city. 

We then walked back toward the station and checked out the cool buildings and fountains along the way.  It was an amazingly gorgeous day and we enjoyed just spending our time with friends. It's not always necessary to have every field trip be highly educational in the academic sense. It's important to nourish the friendships that will sustain us through life! 

B is for Bob's Red Mill

One of the really fun things about homeschooling is the opportunity to take an afternoon and go on a field trip.  It's especially wonderful if you can go with friends!

One afternoon last month we joined a group from our local co-op and headed to the World Headquarters of Bob's Red Mill.  I was looking forward to this tour. I knew it would be educational to find out more about this local company that supplies healthy grains & goodies to people all over the country.  From a mom who is trying to get her family healthy, I knew it would be good for both Bug and I to get a better understanding of where this part of our diet comes from. 

We started the tour with a video about the history of Bob's Red Mill along with the process from field to package.  There was a table set up in this room to feel a variety of different grains.  The kids thought that was very interesting. 

We then walked through the tour and peaked in their viewing windows to see how the processing worked.  Big bags of grain filling up little bags. Plastic bags going down a conveyor belt. Boxes and Forklifts. 

At the end of this part we were in an area with some old milling stones.  One of the things that makes Bob's Red Mill unique is that everything is still stone ground.  This makes a higher quality product which is great for us consumers! 

The kids also got to try their hand at taking a stalk of wheat and turning it into wheat flour.  They threshed, chaffed and then ground the wheat. Hands-on is the way to go! 

After our tour, we were given samples and tokens for free cookies from the Bob's Red Mill Store that's just a mile or so down the road.  We headed over there for some lunch and shopping!  They have some great gluten-free items on their menu. We brought home a 25 lb bag of oatmeal along with a few other items. Bug talked me into some flax seed because it was his favorite to touch.  Little did he know that I needed some and it's good for him! 

Have you done a field trip at a local company?  What did you learn? 

Menu Plan ~ April 14 - 20

With baseball starting up this last week, I need to start planning easy meals for Mondays and Fridays.  It's a struggle to find something that I can eat but that can be done in a slow cooker.  Most slow cooker meals are full of grains! So I may not be eating the same thing as the rest of my family. You'll see my meals after the // if I'm eating something totally different, otherwise you can assume I'll just leave off the grains when making my plate!

Sunday:
B: OYO {on your own}
L: OYO
D: Chicken Burgers, Onion Rings & Salad

Monday: 
B: Oatmeal // Green Smoothie
L: Egg Salad Sandwiches & Veggie Sticks
D: Slow Cooker Shepard's Pie & Salad // Baked Sweet Potato, Salad & Hamburger Patty

Tuesday: 
B: Muffins & Smoothies
L: <SCHOOL ON TRAINS>
D: <SCHOOL ON TRAINS>

Wednesday: 
B: Yogurt w/ Granola
L: Leftover Shepard's pie // Green Smoothie
D: Salmon Patties, Green Beans & Couscous

Thursday: 
B: Cream of Wheat // Green Smoothie
L: Dad - Canned Soup; Bug - Quesadilla & Veggie Sticks // Salad
D: Baked Potatoes w/ Broccoli & Cheese // Salad w/ grilled chicken

Friday: 
B: Egg Sandwiches
L: Turkey Sandwich // Salad
D: Balsamic Roast Beef, Veggie, & Challah Bread

Saturday: 
B: French Toast // Coconut Flour Crepes
D: TBD > We might have company or might be at a friend's house.

Linked up to: Menu Plan Mondays

Homeschool Mother's Journal ~ April 13, 2013

In my life this week…
This week felt pretty 'normal', if such a thing exists.  Most days I felt pretty good. Wednesday was pretty rough in the health deptartment, I had stomach issues all day and just felt blah. I've pretty much determined that it is an overload of grains, wheat, carbs. Something in there.  I woke up starving and nothing sounded good.  So I had some cereal. It made me feel horrible the rest of the day.  I won't be doing that again.  My days are pretty awesome when they start with a green smoothie.  I'll stick to that instead of the carbs, thank-you-very-much.

In our homeschool this week…
It was a good week!  We got quite a bit done. We're plowing through spelling, doing two lessons on Monday because they were so easy.  Trying to plow through some easy math to get to more challenging & fun stuff.  I don't want to push too hard for fear of missing something along the way, but he's not really learning anything new right now. 

History was fun this week.  Last week we started reading about the first kings of England. This continued into this week as we learned about life in England after the Norman conquest.  We are having a lot of fun reading Castle Diary. I'm really glad it ended up on this list for this year! 

Helpful homeschooling tips or advice to share…
Take the rabbit trails!  You never know where you'll end up. We spent 15 minutes going around from William the Conqueror to Prince William and the royal family (including Princess Diana, Princess Kate and the new baby) to English government to Windsor Palace (and other royal residences) back to William the Conqueror who built the first part of Windsor Palace. Thanks Wikipedia for easy rabbit trail following!  

Places we’re going and people we’re seeing…
This week's co-op was Science Day.  We learned about the surface tension of water by doing an experiment of dropping water onto pennies. 

Bug also started baseball this week. He plays in a relaxed homeschool league.  This is his first year playing in the 9-12 yr old team with player pitched and real rules! We are looking forward to seeing how his skill advance with this higher level.  First game is in a couple weeks! 

My favorite thing this week was…
Seeing Bug's maturity.  Although he doesn't always show it, I see these hints of the man he will become and it makes my heart happy.  

My kiddo's favorite thing this week was... 
Starting baseball! He's looking forward to the season too! 

What’s working/not working for us…
Mornings. We have a hard time getting started in the mornings. It's on my list to think and pray over as we start a new week. 

Questions/thoughts I have…
Is there anyway to stop a boy's need for constant noise? 
Should I be worried that at 9.5 he still reverses a few letters and numbers? 3's and J's are definitely problems, can't remember what other ones are. 

Things I’m working on…
Preparing to teach Poetry to our Little Ones Book Club at WAHF next week.  Organizing the geography fair. Staying on top of life. 
I’m reading…
Just finished up Book 12 of the Wheel of Time series!  Immediately started Book 13.  I've also got Drop-Dead Healthy in the library basket that I read on occasion. 

I’m cooking…
Lots of smoothies! I joined the 14-Day Green Smoothie Challenge over at Heal Thyself. I didn't get a straight 14 days done, but I've had a green smoothie for breakfast (or brunch/lunch) ALMOST every day.  The days when I didn't, I could feel it. Starting my day off with all those nutrients really helps my body! 

I’m grateful for…
Access to the internet and all the information contained on it.  I have to use a lot of discernment as to what is factual, but almost everything I need to know can be found! 

I’m praying for…
All the ladies that are starting on a Bible study with me tomorrow.  There are about 40 women in a FB group that will be studying the book of Ephesians together over the next 12 weeks.

Something I'm ogling or have my eye on...
Hubby and I went to Ikea last Sunday.  We had a lot of fun just the two of us.  We bought new dishes and silverware and ogled the Billy line of bookcases.  We really want to redo our living room with these! 

A photo, video, link, or quote to share…
We've had some instances of dealing with the world lately, and this quote really struck me. 

See what other homeschoolers are doing this week over at:
Weird, Unsocialized Homeschoolers 
iHomeschool Network

Menu Plan ~ March 31, 2013

I can't believe it's the end of March. Spring snuck up on me! I haven't gotten out in the garden at all this year and tomorrow is going to be April! That's just wrong!  Maybe this next week I can get out there and see if I can still get any spring veggies planted! {Sugar snap peas, anyone?}

Yesterday and Today's weather has been amazing.  We've hit record highs (low-to-mid 70's) for this time of year.  It makes me hunger for grilled food.  Unfortunately, it's not going to stick around long enough for me to put anything on the menu plan! In my searching for menu ideas for this week, I came across a few recipes that I can't wait to try!

Sunday:
B: OYO {on your own}
L: OYO
D: Potato Pancakes & Asparagus

Monday: 
B: Eggs, Bacon & Unleavened Bread
L: Picnic lunch @ Church for last Holy Day {smoked salmon, spinach dip, nutella cookies, etc}
D: Slow Cooker Taco Soup

Tuesday: 
B: Oatmeal (eggs for Mom!)
L: Leftover Soup
D: Chicken Stir-Fry w/ rice

Wednesday: 
B: Yogurt w/ Granola
L: Daddy - leftover stir-fry; Bug - fried rice; Mom - salad
D: Stuffed Squash & Salad

Thursday: 
B: Cream of Wheat (eggs for Mom!)
L: Leftover Squash
D: Grilled Cheese Sandwiches & Tomato Soup, Veggie Sticks

Friday: 
B: Eggs & Toast
L: Turkey Sandwiches
D: MM Sandwiches - PW Style, & a veggie/salad

Saturday: 
B: Pancakes
D: Slow Cooker Sloppy Joes, reheated veggies or a salad