Just Humming Along

We've been super busy lately, doing some not so super things...like baskets full of laundry and taxes. But we've also been doing some super fun things...like watching our little hummingbird family grow. Meet Mama Hummingbird, who is enjoying the hospitality of our lemon tree for her nest this year. She fastidiously guards her nest- and is getting more and more protective everyday, so I think the time for hatching may be getting near.




It's been a great learning opportunity. We've spent several days talking about hummingbirds. We measured out grains of rice to see how tiny the babies will be, and how little they will weigh- less than one gram! Along the way, I found this great little Hummingbird Craft, which we had a great time doing.

Monkeying Around

We took a little field trip last week, with some of the other homeschool kids, to the San Diego Zoo. In fact, I think we might have even done a little learning. (Sshhh! Don't tell!) Trevor worked on a "shutterbug safari" which had him finding and photographing all kinds of different animals throughout the day. We'll get to work compiling all of the papers and pictures from the safari this week. I think the Big Kids enjoyed seeing how excited the little kids were, and the little kids were enjoying getting lots of shoulder rides. (I'm pretty sure Braden only walked for about 5 minutes the whole day.) What else can I say? It's always a great time at the zoo!

Mt. Hannauea

Here is our first big science project for school. Okay, okay...technically it's not our project. It's not really our project in any way at all. The volcano was crafted by a friend at church, who invited us to watch the eruption. But we did talk about the scientific principles behind how the volcano works. So it totally counts.

What are School Days Made of?

Practicing B's (To write his name),





Eating green O's (From the color wheel game),














Dressing like the samurai (a japanese warrior),

























Hanging carp kites (or koinobori). Oh,


That's what our school days are made of.

Pucker Up!

The way they tie into real life is just one of the things I love about unit studies! Last week we studied Lentil, which referenced the way that sucking on a lemon can cause another person to pucker-up. So we tried it out!

Today we had rice cakes, in honor of Ping the duck. They were a lot more popular than the lemon!

School Days

After weeks of anticipation, and Trevor asking , "When's do we get to start school, Mom??" We finally started. And I'm proud to say that we all survived. Not only did we survive, but we had a great time. We were both up early this morning, ready to do it all over again. If we can only keep this enthusiasm for the rest of the year! Braden was only slightly less excited, and was glad to be able to wander off whenever he was bored with our activities. We'll be sure to keep you updated as we go along!