When We Get the Gift of Time...Twice.

After two weeks of being really stressed out, and trying really (really!) hard to keep things together, I finally received the gift of time :)  We had two cancellations, which left me with time to catch up on things around here and even have a little fun!

Here's what we did this week:

Monday:

Millie had co-op.  I really love it!  She's really expanding her horizons, and doing some really great creative writing.  I guess having a little positive peer pressure is a good thing!  While she was at co-op, Elise had her first Jr. First Lego League meeting.  It was so fun!  We met at a playground, where the kids got to know each other, read It Stinks, picked a club name (The Lego Reusers), did a recycling sorting project, and selected a piece of garbage that we're going to focus on this year.  It was really fun!  Afterwards we came home and vegged out for the rest of the day.

Tuesday:

We had a nice slow morning.  Our afternoon playgroup was cancelled because most of the group was busy.  This was our first gift of time.  I spent the afternoon catching up on things, doing homework, and taking a break from my super hectic life.  It was sad for the kids, but fantastic for me!

Wednesday:

Wonderful Wednesday is what we're calling Wednesdays from now on.  This is the day where we spend the entire afternoon doing super fun subjects; science, history, and sewing.  We started out by reading about early people, and the art and inventions that they made.  A little pre-history, per-say  ;)  After our lesson, we did some art from Artistic Pursuits.  The girls did some cave paintings with crumpled up packing paper and oil pastels.  The picked colors that would be similar to what the early people would have been able to make from items found in nature.  After that we learned about galaxies. We read, the girls journaled, and then we did a super fun project, galaxy tee shirts!  It was fantastic.  It led to a lot of design exploration by Millie.  She repurposed quite a few of our tee shirts.  So much fun!!  After that we read the intro to our sewing course (Nest of Lydia).  We love Wednesdays!!

Thursday:

In the morning we did all of our general work.  In the afternoon I had class.  We took a field trip to the Minneapolis Institute of Art and saw some really amazing antiquities.  After I was done with my class tour, wrote an essay, and did a little in-museum assignment, I had a half hour to kill before taking the big yellow bus back to school.  I used my half hour to get a chai tea and sit and relax.  It was really great.  While I was gone, the girls did the work I set out for them, and then binge watched The Munsters.





Friday:

Our other gift of time happened today, when the person who was going to teach our fishing clinic cancelled.  We were all so bummed :(  We used our afternoon to go to the mall and do a little retail therapy.

It was a great week to re-establish our routine and get in the groove.

Co-op, SciGirls, and Natural Fabric Dye

This was our first full week back.  It feels so good!  School is going great so far.  Here's what we were up to:

Monday:

We woke up bright and early for piano lessons at 8 AM.  It was Elise's first one!  She did great. Afterwards was Millie's first day of co-op!  She's taking cooking and creative writing.  I think I was more nervous about sending her off to "middle school" than she was, but she had a great time.  She met a few new friends, learned a lot, made fruit and veggie sushi, and is super excited to go back.  While she was co-op, Elise and I had a playdate with some friends her age.  We're working on putting together a Jr. First Lego League group, so the grown ups had some quality chit-chat time while the kids played.  When we picked Millie up, we had a little impromptu trip to Snuffy's Malt Shop for a late lunch and ice cream.  Millie chatted our ears off about the proper care and keeping of knives and other kitchen utensils.  :)

Off she goes!  Middle School.

Her very first piano lesson!

Tuesday:

In the morning, we did our regular school work.  Elise really loves Saxon Math, so she saves that for last.  Millie is hodge-podging her way through school at this point.  She did some of her co-op homework, fun math games, and literature.  She finished reading her first book of the year, Bridge to Terabithia.  She didn't like it, too sad.  In the afternoon we had playgroup, which led us to a spontaneous trip to the Como Zoo.  It's so nice to be back in our regular playgroup routine. I love my quality mommy time!

Wednesday:

What a big day!  Elise turned 7, Bud and I celebrated our 15th anniversary, and we had our first day of SciGirls!  It was absolutely amazing.  I love SciGirls so much.  While Millie and I did that, Elise spent the day with Grandma Suzie.  They had Chinese food, ice cream, and a shopping spree at the mall.

Thursday:

Today we did our regular school work in the morning.  In the afternoon, I had school, and Millie was my hired governess, and taught Elise her lessons.  They read together, and did some worksheets.  They were very brave, considering there was a storm happening while I was gone.  Fortunately, Bud came home and had lunch while I was gone.  I'll write more about our governess program, later ;)

Friday:

One of the challenges I face right now, is trying to find friends for Elise.  Millie has been the focus for so long, and now it's Elise's time.  So, I started a field trip club called "It's Field Trip Friday."  We had our first event today, which was a class at Silverwood Park, where the kids all learned about natural fabric dye.  They did some art, dyed some fabric, and went on a nature hike.  It was SO great.  The kids in the group were amazing.

That's it!  Our first full week :)  Next week I'm going to work on making notebooking a priority.  We started last week, but kind of gave up this week.  My goal is to make it a habit.

To see what other homeschoolers were up to this week, click here.

First Week of 6th and 2nd Grade!

It was a great first week of school, at Two Cowgirls Homeschool!

On the first day of school, everyone was very attentive, and got their school work done promptly (never mind that we overslept by an hour...).





We started out with a little photo shoot in the park:

 Went to the park with friends for playgroup, and had ice cream.

We finished off the day with rides at Nickelodeon Universe and dinner at Hard Rock Cafe Minneapolis.

So much fun!!

The rest of the week was very...umm...unschooly.

I'm a little overwhelmed with my school, the kids school, work, my field trip club, SciGirls stuff, and Jr. First Lego League stuff.  I've got a lot of stuff on my plate.  :(

Anywhooo, we're on a long weekend getaway right now.  I'm loving it, and really looking forward to starting back up with a new EXCITING week next week.

Find out what other homeschoolers were up to this week, here!

The Final Days of Summer, 2015

Well, here we have it!  Summer is coming to a close.  It went by SO FAST this year.  Millie said she's really going to miss it because she loves having long lazy days of just playing and having fun.  I'm glad/relieved/shocked that she feels that way, because I didn't feel "lazy" at all!

Here are some pictures from the last half of summer.  You can see the first half, here.

Washington County Fair

Lots of beach time

Searching for milkweed

When we see this guy, we have to buy ice cream!

Playing in the Mississippi

Monarchs, monarchs, and more monarchs

Finally paid a visit to Wild Rumpus Bookstore

Her first trip to the Clinique counter.  You know, Middle school...

Fun times at the farm

Historic Forestville

Day trip to Duluth

There we have it!  School will be in session in 3 days.  Weeeee!