Muffin Tin Monday--Circles and Sunshine

It's Monday again already! There is no theme this week for Muffin Tin Monday, so I created my own. May I present: Circles and Sunshine.



I had the circle idea, but once I put it all in the pans, the colors reminded me of sunshine, which we are greatly lacking again today.

Here is a close up of Kutey's:


And a close up of Kiddo's:


This is such a fun way to serve lunch. The kids are really enjoying it. Kiddo perked up when I said it was Muffin Tin Monday. He asked what we would be eating today. This one was a little heavy on the fruit, so if we do circles again I'll need to add some other items. If I had planned ahead, I would have had sliced hard boiled eggs. Maybe after Easter. The kids really enjoyed the rainbows last week, so I am betting we will do that one again.

Hope your day is full of sunshine!

Kid's Geography books

When I was preparing for St. Patrick's day (I know I said I'd post....), I stopped by the library to pick up two books I had on hold (Jamie O'Rourke and the Big Potato and That's What Leprechauns Do). While I was there, I also picked up a couple of geography books about Ireland. The thought was that we would study Ireland for the week, read the books, and do some crafts. Hmm, well, that didn't exactly happen. I spent St. Patrick's day cooking. Making a green lunch isn't as easy as it might seem! And then I moved straight into making Irish stew and soda bread. There wasn't as much time as I had hoped that day. And the next day I was exhausted...how did those pioneer women do it!?!? So we are picking up bits and pieces of it this week. I pulled out one of the geography books this morning, and I have to say I am totally impressed and I will look for them for all the countries we study in the future. What book, you ask? National Geographic's Countries of the World: Ireland. Brief but broad information, lots of beautiful pictures, and great maps. It is FANTASTIC. There is a whole series of them, and they are rolling out more.

What passes for planning

I like to make lists. I like to find resources. I just don't always follow through on my plans! As a mentor of mine once said, "A list is just a suggestion of what could be done until something better comes along!" I tend to follow that philosophy. In homeschooling, however, there are times when I need to plan. While I was without computer this weekend (hubby and Kiddo took it over to use Lego Digital Designer. It's very cool, but it left me without computer for the better part of the weekend!), I started jotting things down for school. I went through a stack of books and listed a bunch of things I wanted to do. So this is currently what my planning looks like:



Now, I just have to implement....

Maybe I should reconsider those workboxes...for me, not the kids!

Muffin Tin Monday

Her Cup Overfloweth hosts a weekly blog gathering for meals served in a muffin tin! My mom used to remind me how my friend J and I liked to have our lunches served in an egg carton when we were little. That method required the foods to be dry (raisins, crackers, etc.). The muffin tin idea is a really great one. You could conceivably serve just about anything for lunch!

The blog gathering is often themed and this week it was rainbow! With the rainy weather we are having (and we are forecast to have for the next few days), it was the perfect day for a rainbow in a muffin tin!

Here's Kiddo's lunch:


And here's Kutey's:


I only have the two muffin tins. If we keep doing this, I'll get the kids their own. Here is what my lunch looked liked:

I hope there are rainbows in your world today!

Signs of spring

We have been having quite a warm spell. With that warmth, come all sorts of signs of spring. In order to encourage Kiddo (and Kutey) to notice the subtle changes as the seasons change, we have been spending a time looking for signs of spring. Since we have been able to get out and walk many days, we have had a variety of bird sightings in addition to our cedar waxwing sighting of a couple weeks ago. The red wing blackbirds have come back in force, and we have had at least 4 cardinal sightings (3 in one walk!). Kiddo has enjoyed watching the snow melt from one day to the next ("Look, that pile was a lot bigger yesterday!"), noticing what causes ripples as the water flows down the gutters, and watching for buds on the trees. He has, of course noticed some things that are not in nature. The first day I was able to hang my laundry outside to dry, Kiddo proudly proclaimed "A sign of spring!"

Used Curriculum Sale

A local homeschool co-op had their annual used curriculum sale today. It was apparently the first time they had opened it to people outside of their co-op. It is also the first time used curriculum sale I have been to. I have been looking for math, science, and reading pieces, as you well know, so I thought I would hit the sale and see what they had. I had hoped to get there when they started, but that didn't happen. I was a bit disappointed when we did get there. The sale was in a smallish room at a local church. There was not enough space for everyone to move about easily and having Kiddo and Kutey in tow was a bit of a trick. Kutey actually spent some time sitting UNDER one of the tables. I figured at least there she wasn't in any one's way. There was a ton of stuff, but little in the way of what I would call curriculum. Books, yes, by the box full. Curriculum, well, not so much. There was a set of cuisenaire rods that I looked at, but there seemed to be an awful lot missing, and there was no price on it (one of my pet peeves...you want to sell it, put a price on it!)

Still, I walked away with this:
And I spent less than $15. Not too bad. Not as good as Ami's haul, but still. The Explode the Code is only book 2, we are actually on book 3. Since I haven't ordered it yet, I figured at least he could use this one to review a bit more while we wait for his to come. It was $1, brand new. It was also the only curriculum thing I picked up. Space and animals are interest areas of Kiddo's, Madeline is just a good book, and the recorder songs, well, since two recorders have found their way into our house, I figure teaching them to play some actual songs might be fun sometime!

Are all used curriculum sales like that? Is there a better way to spend less on curriculum?

St. Patrick's Day

It's tomorrow, ya know. I have big plans. I'll post about them tomorrow, when I stand a chance of including pictures. In the meantime, I thought I would share this great freebie that someone from the Homeschool share forums pointed out. Shamrocks and Shillelaghs from CurrClick. I am excited about all the shamrock in the back. I don't have to make my own! YAY!