Sere (Kenya)

Sudie (Lithuania)

Jaa nee (Japan)

Auf Wiedersehen (German)

Joi gin (China)

Good Bye (America)

Yep. This is it. The last post. It’s been a fun ride. My first post was in May 2005. Hard to believe that I blogged for 7 years. Wow! A huge thank you to all of you who took time out of your busy lives to check in on what our family was doing. I’ve had a few of you ask me why I’m ending this. There are several reasons. One is that I have very few readers. I think I’m down to about five. My original hopes for the blog were to not only keep friends and family updated on what our family was doing, but to also be a resource for those looking for craft and schooling ideas. Since my following has dwindled so drastically, being a resource is not feasible. Also, keeping up the blog is a lot of work for only five people to view. Am I sad? Yes. There is a part of me that is very sad to see this chapter of my life close. Blogging is something that I really enjoyed. In my blogging break I have found some fulfillment in just doing some of my picture and ideas on Facebook. It is indeed a lot easier and a lot faster. Again, a huge thank you to all of you who took an interest in our family and visited our blog.

Good bye.

Cohen made a robot table. Anything you need comes out of the table.

Alina made movie glasses. Just put the glasses on and you see your movie.

Contraction surgery. I found this idea on Pinterest. Alina had a card that had a two words written on it like “how is”. She had to use scissors to cut out the letter “i” and then use bandaids to piece the word back together to make the contraction “how’s”. Lots of fun.

In learning about verbs we played verb charades. They really enjoyed this.

You can find the recipe here.  I did not use the brandy this time and it turned out just fine. In place of the brandy I used 1/3 cup water and 1/3 cup sugar. I also added just a little bit of extra honey.

They learned about how the Ancient Greeks made mosaics out of broken glass and tile. They got to make mosaics out of construction paper.

We looked at a bunch of Greek statues online. It amazes me how the Ancient Greeks were able to carve statues and buildings out of marble! Alina and Cohen got to carve their own statues out of Ivory soap. They REALLY enjoyed this.

They got to play this game about the Peloponnesian War. It’s played a lot like the game Sorry.

In our family room there is a door that leads to the sunroom. Here is what I put above the door.

Here is what I put in our dining room.

Here is what I put in the guest bed room.

Here is what I put in the guest bathroom.

(don’t know why the orange smudge looks like it is on the wall above the verse because there is not one) :0)

This is in the hallway in between the girl’s bedroom and boy’s bedroom.

This is in the master bedroom.

Just for fun Cohen spent a couple of hours making an Alabama section for Wes to see when he got home from work. Such a sweet boy.

You may remember me telling you that Eli got a cool riding toy for Christmas. I didn’t take pics on Christmas Day because we were recovering from the flu and he hadn’t figured out how to use it, yet. Well, he has now figured it out and is really enjoying it. The way you make the car move is to move the steering wheel from left to right. There is no engine and no peddles. It all has to do with physics. If you have ever seen the Flying Turtles, it’s the same concept except in a car form. It’s big enough for everyone to use, even adults!

Cohen got this cool inflatable football set for Christmas from Papa Gene and Grammy.

Here’s Cohen’s.

They also had to make a model of a digestive system theme park. I think they did a GREAT job! I had to help them with cutting stuff out but all of the ideas were theirs.

Alina and Cohen had a project of setting up Olympic games for the family to participate in. Cohen fully understood the competition part. :0) However, Alina (not being competitive at all) set up food and crafts for us to do. :0) It’s really interesting to see their personalities come out.

When we came into the room, Alina had these Olympic rings set out that she had made.

Here’s the snack area that Alina set up.

Cohen had weight lifting for us to do.

Cohen also had mini golf set up. I love that he used Easter grass. :0)

Alina had a Bible story for us.

Here are the craft supplies that Alina had set up.

Craft time.

Eli didn’t get to play with us. This was when he was running his high fever for three days.

They ended their evening “ice” skating races.

During our school time we read this book. I really like this book a lot.