Ocali Days

In November or October, I am not sure the month's are all running together, we went on a really neat field trip to Ocali Days. It is a pioneer village set up to represent that time period in Old Florida. We went on a Wednesday as a home school group and it was not crowded at all. The kids dipped candles, talked with civil war soldiers, sat in a one room school house, and ground sugar cane. I love these type of field trips since this is one of my favorite time periods. That is to visit, not to live in. Too much work!!














It was so funny to watch Maddy use the washer. She has done this type of thing so many times on field trips that she was instructing the helper girls as to how they had set up the washer incorrectly. You wouldn't wring out your clothing and then put them back in dirty water...

And one of our close friends, who is in LOVE with this time period and wishes she was born into it had a little trouble doing some of the chores. I think if she went back she would need to be born wealthy and on an plantation... Or she would starve and be running around naked. Love you H!!!

And it all ends with school

Schedules

I have a friend that has asked me about our schedule. When you come in my home there is a pretty colorful board on the wall that looks organized and well put together. In fact putting together the pretty schedule board was the easy part. The funny thing about the schedule board is that it won't institute itself. Just because it says 8:00 bedtime, the kids don't listen to it very well ;)

When I first started using it I thought it would be utilized more by the children, however after tweaking it and using it for a few months, I realize it is primarily for me. It reminds me of the days events, what should happen, and it keeps me on track. I find myself checking the board and staying much more focused with what "needs" to happen during my day.

My board is set in 30 minute increments, it is divided into two columns for each day, and runs Monday through Saturday.Maddy is the first column and Liv is the second. You could add a third as needed. I use post it tabs to customize it for my day. I like being able to see how much school time we are getting in and chore time.

This is a mixture of my friend Debi's schedule board and MOTH.

A day that will go down in history...

It has been a cold, cozy day where you want to stay curled up on the couch in front of the fire. Since we woke up this morning we have watched Inauguration coverage. The kids don't realize the importance at their age, but one day, I hope they can look back on this picture and remember where they were when America swore in their first African American president.

Each generation will have events that they remember where they were when..this or ..that happened. We will remember 911 and where we were, when the Challenger exploded, my mom remembers President Kennedy's assassination. And now something joyful to be able to relay first hand about our nations history. I hope everybody is enjoying this little piece of history. I love to see all the different branches of government and parties come together in unity for this event.

It's HOTTTT

It's hot today, and muggy! We have had four weeks of beautiful, unseasonably cool weather and have had our windows open since middle of October. Well today is not cool, or dry by any stretch of the imagination. However I am not willing to give up on a reasonable power bill, so we are in our bathing suits doing school. During breaks they can jump in the pool to cool down....

On a side note with all the beautiful weather we have been doing school on the back porch while Ethan has been building a geo trax city! You gotta love homeschooling...

Ok, it is hot and a little bit of air circulation might help! Mike found 4 oscillating fans on clearance at Lowes. So, now we will be all nice and cool, right??? Right Tiffany?? Right?

Lighthouse Field Trip

Our local lighthouse put on a homeschool day. It portrayed the life of a child of a lighthouse keeper in the early 2o's. The kids learned about washing, gardening, sewing, and keeping the light.

We Have Tadpoles

You can find this frog habitat at Target for 14.99 . We have a ton of tadpoles to give away from our neighbors fountain. Call Me

Last Day of School

When Olivia's lunch box came home yesterday it was a sad reminder that I won't be packing anymore lunches. Preschool is over for Liv. We have lots of memories and I am getting ready to start her preschool scrapbook.

Today is the last day of school. Liv bounced down every stair excitedly exclaiming it is "carnival day".

Momma Rhonda and Mark popped in for coffee and breakfast
The carnival had a bounce house....

and snow cones.....
and cotton candy.......
and a kissing booth.......................
and the kisser.....
Ms Shawnie......

And then we were back home for an end of the year pool party.

Game night with the girls and then I AM SLEEPING IN, so please do not call to ask me if I am driving in the morning!