MFW K: Kangaroo/I am safe in God

87th day of school: Breakthrough! All of a sudden J5's attitude toward school (& life!) switched gears  & he's all in! :)

I cut a few foam sheets up & hole punched around the sides & set them loose to "sew" their pouches,

add a lego man,

 (See?? Look at the excitement & participation!)

 (ignore the mess in the background- hey, I'm still trying to move in here! :))

 and hop around protecting their cargo :)

Next, did you know kangaroos can travel around 30 feet in just one hop?? So we measured it out on the driveway, then measured how far we could hop,

 which, of course, was waaay short of a kangaroo's ;), so we counted how many times it takes for us to jump in a kangaroo's one jump, which for J it took 17 (he's my hopper :))

Also with a foam sheet, I cut out 2 hands which I sewed together but left the top open for a pocket. The boys each decorated a foam strip  & I drew a person on another. As we read our daily Bible story,  we put the person card into God's hands recognizing God had kept them safe (think Daniel & lions den, Joseph, Paul being shipwrecked) & then J and Z would put their strip into God's hands while we talked of their fears and prayed over them.

And, of course, we had to try our hand at drawing one :)

MFW K: elephant/I will remember what God has done for me

The elephant was one of our hardest drawings yet...and it shows! I am proud of the boys for persevering, though, & doing their best :)

We also attempted to sculpt an elephant...by we I mean Z6 & I :)

We're still working on J5's ability to follow directions- best to do it in kinder than later on, I say :) He skipped the elephant & made a space ship instead...

After watching this video, Z & I decided it would be fun to try doing it too! Whew! It was hard! Z6 is  such a good sport :)

One activity I did manage to get all 3 to participate in was using a straw as a trunk to wash objects around the yard. It's weird how some things they'll do & some are just refused...

We didn't do a specific Bible story this week, but we did keep sticky notes of what we're thankful for each day. It's good to remember God's goodness in our lives! :)

MFW K: Penguin/Love/Valentine's Day

It might seem odd, but Valentine's Day hasn't really been celebrated in our home until this year. C & I would rather go on a quieter date than jam into a full restaurant, we're both not huge on gift giving, & if he only shows up with flowers this one day out of the year, I'm honestly not going to be happy (coerced?). 

But remembering back to my childhood & all the fun I had making valentines for classmates & card holders to hold all the ones I received from them, I decided maybe we should broaden ourselves a bit & give the boys some culture, if you may. So I emailed all the close family & asked if they would be interested in a card exchange- & all accepted :) Mind you, when I first thought of it, it didn't occur to me how many cards that would entail...

or how many hours it takes to make unique cards... (Z6's variety)

(S2's variety)

(J5's variety)(sorry, I can't get the pic to turn?)

 Yep! By the time all 3 made close to 20 each, we were pretty sick of making cards! :/ But! It really was a good lesson on sacrifice & blessing others and then reaping the rewards later when receiving all the cards in the mail :) I'd say it was a success & learning experience all in one! :)

(The guys decorating their bags)

 So once we finally finished making cards, we turned our attention on penguins- they are amazing Fathers! They love & take care of each other so well- just like our Heavenly Father does for us :)

 So after we researched them & mapped them out, we, of course, had to do some hands-on activities :) The boys were surprised how challenging it was to walk and keep the "egg" balanced on the feet

 and for some reason they chose the RockHopper as their favorite so we had to do some hopping races, too :)

 I filled a bowl with an oversized ice cube (baggie with water frozen overnight & then peeled out) & a few regular ice cubes  & we talked of ice burgs and how cold the penguin's water is. Then I filled a bag with crisco & demonstrated how similar it is to penguin's blubber & also their feathers (repel the water). I honestly wasn't optimistic about them putting their hands in the bag (texture thing), but they (as you can see) were extremely excited & fascinated about it and played with it till the ice disappeared & my counter was a small lake :)

After all the valentines we made, we just didn't have more art left in us! So we took the week off from drawing class & "cheated" with Target dollar spot foam penguins the boys cut, glued, & added a "scarf" to.

 Bible- wise, I had them focus on Jesus when they picked their daily Bible reading & we talked on how He showed the people around Him love. It's an important subject- one we'll always be learning until we reach Heaven :)

MFW K: Cow/Bible

This is Z6's favorite week so far:

As we studied cows, we played worked hard making a playdoh farm

 and then we broke out the serious fun: "milking" a cow (water in a disposable glove with a small hole poked in the fingertip). All 3 kiddos absolutely loved this! 

 Then the gloves came out & we played "cold potato" as we made ice cream in a bag. One huge necessity with this: make sure you have a good quality bag! Yep- our "storage" bag opened on a toss & salt & ice went flying! Always an adventure, I tell ya! :) After that, we used a freezer bag with much better results :)

 Z gets a crazed look in his eye as he waits to try it...

 and it's a success! 

 You  could even call it "plate lickin' good" :)

Aren't their cows the cutest?? We have found some great "teachers" on youtube & even I am surprisingly really enjoying the "art lessons" each week :)

Every afternoon, we all lay down for a quiet time & read separately then we come together & I read to the boys a story they each pick from their Bible. On specific weeks I will also have a special Bible story picked out to read to them & tie it to the point of the week, but this week, as the Bible is our soul's nourishment, any story they picked worked :)

MFW K: water

This chapter, of course, was fun :) We had a warm week & we played with water, what could be funner? 

We floated things, sank things,

 dissolved things, realized oil & water don't mix :),

 and even enjoyed some lemonade :)

 After tying the oil/water not mixing to ducks, we decided a visit to the ducks was in order, with lunch with Papa, of course :)

Then we studied how currents carry things

We also filled balloons with water and froze them. We were hoping to make a snowman but it wouldn't stay up :(, such is the life in Cali :) Anyway, we estimated how long it would take for them to melt, 

and then we watched the liquid turn to steam, measuring the remains.

I love the boys' drawings this week :) Z6 (top) drew his with color & then watercolored over it. J5 doesn't quite like to do what others are doing so he opted to just crayon and not paint, too. As frustrating as it is sometimes, I was just glad to get a drawing out of him :)

Water. It really is amazing. In fact, we can't live without it. Same with our spirit. We just can't live life to the fullest without God filling & quenching our souls. Eventually, we'd just dry up like a leaf disconnected from it's tree :/ It's a good lesson to learn :)