Sweet!

In preparation for a bee farm fieldtrip (mom and Gary, you will be surprised I even entertained the thought!), a woman at co-op who keeps bees allowed us to have some chunks of honeycomb. We examined it first, marvelling at the fact that bees can make such perfect little hexagons-no rulers or anything! :)

We then cut off small pieces and chewed on them, letting the honey gush out into our mouths. Matthew didn't like the honeycomb, but loved the honey. Both Stephen and Timothy swallowed the whole kit and caboodle after munching on it for awhile. Rachel got a few licks of straight honey. It felt to me like chewing on those wax lips, so I sympathized with Matthew! The honey was tasty, though...

Sunrise

I got up with Dave a few days ago and was greeted with this about 6 a.m. Beautiful, isn't it?

Schooling

Sometimes, when Matthew is doing a project of particular interest, all the boys crowd around him at the table to see and/or "help out". I sure don't expect any of the younger ones to do schooling and Matthew is still quite young to be really pushed. I am attempting to find the right balance between pushing enough and too much. I think we're doing alright so far! I have been playing around with different types of schooling to fit what Matthew needs best. After all, it isn't so much how I learn best or how DAVE learns best, but what is going to get through to Matthew. Right now, Sonlight appeals to me a lot, because we are great lovers of books and SL requires quite a bit of reading. We could sit on the couch half the day reading! We are already going through SL's p4/5 curriculum and I think I am going to order the kindergarten curriculum very soon, as well as their science curriculum as the kids all love science. The best part of Sonlight is that you don't really need to go by "grade" as it is made up of really great books that appeal to a wide age range. I can get the K curriculum and teach both Stephen and Matthew at the same time.

Part of me really, really likes classical education and Tapestry of Grace. I do own year 1 of that, and we have been doing it, but I sort of feel bogged down, teaching one area of history for such a long stretch (at least at this point!). I mean, if I myself am getting itchy learning about ancient Egypt for the second or third week, how do my kids feel? I don't have energy to make an Egyptian feast or clothing at this point! Maybe it will change later, so I am definitely keeping that option open.

I just realize I probably lost half of my relatives with that diatribe! ;) For my friends, how is it going with your homeschooling?

Rachel and Daddy

Rachel is the cuddliest baby we have had so far. She gives the best, tightest little baby squeezes, and she loves her daddy.

Kids Bein' Kids

Here are some random shots around the house of our little monkeys. :)


Big Girl!



Cookin' up some trouble!



Playing nicely together. I needed documentation of this!



This photo is too cute. In the not to distant future, their legs will (hopefully!) be much longer than mine and I won't see this anymore. I better capture it now... :)


I just love the sticker...and the cheesy grin!



Timothy had to join in on the sticker fun.

Helpful Helpers

It must be an inborn thing for males to like things with a touch of danger to them, you know, electricity, scorpions, those sorts of things. We are always pleased when our kiddos ask to help out all by themselves and then follow through. Matthew and Stephen spent a good 30 minutes shredding old papers for us. Stephen would neatly fold them so they'd fit into the shredder and Matthew would seriously operate it, every once in awhile sternly warning Stephen and Timothy not to touch it AT ALL.

Fire Department Homeschool Field Trip

We set out on a blistering hot, humid day for a homeschool field trip to a local fire department. There were a few activities for the kids, the hit of the day being able to aim the huge fire hose at wooden cutouts of flames!

As we were standing in line for the flame-shootin', Matthew turned around to look at people coming out of a small trailer. With them came billowing smoke. This was the place where we could go in a see how it is to be in a burning building and how easy it is to get turned around. We would also be able to hear what a hurricane sounded like (useful info for Florida, methinks!) However, Matthew's eyes got as big as dinnerplates when he saw the smoke. He seriously asked just what was going on in there. I told him, then asked, "So, do you want to go in?"

"NO!"

I knew the others wouldn't be up for it, so I hustled over to let the leader know the Marble family would NOT be participating in that activity!

The boys also enjoyed being able to climb into a real firetruck and poke around. The FD didn't offer free rides, which I was glad of, because, again, my kids would not have enjoyed that. Well, Rachel probably would've! :)



The offending smoke-filled trailer. Wouldn't it freak you out, too?




Setting up the wooden flames for Matthew's turn up to bat.






Matthew was the only one who was brave enough to shoot the flames, but Stephen supported him with lots of cackling laughter!



Rachel sweatin' it up in the stroller.






Junior firefighters!



Matthew front and center during the talk.



A thermal "gun" to locate bodies in smoke-filled buildings.




"Jaws of Life"



Timothy inspecting for safety!

What is this, Mama?

That is the question Matthew asked me as he pointed to something on the floor a few weeks ago. I was washing dishes and turned around to see what looked like a scorpion. I tried not to drop my dish and kept my composure as I told Matthew to not pester it.

"It is a bad bug, Matthew, called a scorion. Where did you find it?"

"It was on the computer desk, then it fell on the computer chair right next to Stephen. I picked it up by the tail and it dropped down on the floor."

(silently shrieking in my head that he picked it up BY THE TAIL.)

I found a small glass jar to capture it in and tried to take the best photos I could. Sorry for the quality, but I wasn't about to let that thing out!

After looking it up on the internet, I found out that the only type(s) of scorpions that are deadly to people are located west of the Rockies. The other types, however, deliver a sting similar to wasp's but a touch more painful. So I have heard!

Hurricane Ike

These are really late in coming, but here are some photos of BEFORE Hurricane Ike touched down in TX. It was such a massive storm that it caused quite a bit of storm surge around here. Thankfully, no water entered our house.





Looking to the right from our backyard.



Timothy checking out our backyard. The water came up a little higher than this, almost to the bottom of the top portion of the birdbath!



Boys checking out the water in the street.



In the back of our home and neighboring homes. See how the bay just oozes into our backyard?






Our house is the one with the blue van. :)