Off Topic: Addiction

Addict: to devote or surrender (oneself) to something habitually or obsessively.

So this may be off topic but I feel like I need to share. I am addicted to Facebook. Everyday I check Facebook more times than I can count. I feel like I am consumed by it. Last night I decided that I would be fasting from Facebook indefinitely. Today has been proven to be difficult. I know this sounds very silly but throughout the day I find myself thinking of status updates (For instance, I just had some tasty snacks that I bought yesterday, so I thought to myself, "Kristin 'Burnett' Mortensen just ate Jalapeno pepper appetizers and they were YUMMY!"). It is a compulsion! Facebook is getting in the way of daily tasks such as homeschooling. Thankfully, when I am not home I don't feel the need to check my notifications, however, I'm sure it would be different if I had a smart phone. Hopefully, I can find a happy median so that I can stay connected with friends and family but not be consumed by the compulsion to check it. 


Sincerely,
Kristin

Past Two Weeks Thrown Off

Ending the third week, I'm looking back over the past two weeks. I feel like we didn't accomplish as much as we should have. Last week Drew's sisters visited, which was nice and I was able to do things with Emma for learning, but it wasn't our routine, so it felt off. This week, we were driving home from my parents house on Monday and I had my wisdom teeth out on Tuesday. Drew was able to stay home Tuesday and Wednesday, thankfully, and work with the kids, but again not our routine. 

Some learning time included, painting, going to the zoo, Bible time, social skills, reading, writing, math and riding bikes. It sounds like we did a lot but not as much as I would have liked. Thankfully, we did get ahead of schedule in the first week which helped to be more relaxed these past 2 weeks. 

Playing a math game.

Looking for rocks and shells at Presque Isle.

Bonus Picture. I just love it!

Socializing with a friend at the park.

Riding her "new" bike at Grandma and Grandpa's.
They bought it for only $3.54.
We took the pedals off so that she could ride it like a balance bike.
So far so good. She's getting the hang of balancing.

Emma's only spill. She got back up and tried again right away. 

Success! Once she gets used to the balance we'll put the pedals back on for her to learn how to pedal as well. 

Riding bikes at home. Now they each have their own. Hannah's bike is not pictured. Benjamin has 2 bikes now.
Thanks Grandma and Grandpa for sending the bikes home with us. They are very happy!

First Week of Kindergarten

Our first week went very smoothly. Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays are our scheduled learning days. The rest of the week is kind of take it as it comes. Our goal per week is to do 20 hours of learning time. That's in order to reach the goal of 900 hours for the school year (PA requirements for elementary grades). In this first week we completed 30 hours of learning time. Now, before you say, "They are crazy!", we include things like, going to the park, zoo, playing with friends, watching educational shows, playing computer games and so on. Anything that is educational we are including. The subjects that we are keeping track of are Bible, Fine Arts, Home Ec., Language Arts, Math, Phys. Ed., Science, Social Skills (sharing and such), Social Studies, Spanish and Technology. Anything else goes into Miscellaneous. Yes, I know, a lot of subjects but we don't do all of them every day. We mix and match.

When I asked Emma what her favorite thing she learned this past week was, she answer the Praying Mantis. Let me tell you about this. Thursday night I came home from MOPS and as I was waiting for Drew to open the door, I looked to my right and saw a praying mantis on our tomato trellis. I was so intrigued. I tossed the idea of waking the kids to see it but I decided to just take a picture of it to show them in the morning.

When I first found the Praying Mantis

The next morning I showed Emma the picture and then I showed her where I saw it. Then I decided to see if it was still around. Low and behold it was hiding in the lily plant just a foot away from the tomato plant.

The next morning in the lily plant.

After we found it again, Emma was asking questions about it. So we did research on the computer and learned all about them. In doing research we learned that they are not protected in the US other than in Connecticut. So, we got a clear container and gently scooped it up with some leaves from the plant and studied it. We kept it for maybe 6 hours. Long enough for Drew to see it when he got home. Then we released it.

In the container that we caught it in.

The kids studying it closely.

  

I never thought I would grow attached to an insect before but I have to say, ever since we released it, I have been concerned for it's safety. Especially since, the very next day after releasing it back onto the tomato plant, the landscapers trimmed down the lily plants. I can't help but think that it got thrown into the trash right along with the trimmings.

Releasing it back onto the tomato plant.

Climbing back up the trellis, free.

We had a great first week. This coming week we'll have guest teachers :). Drew's sisters are coming to visit and they both happen to have their teaching degrees in elementary education. How perfect right?

Emma is a Kindergartener!

Yesterday was Emma's first day of Kindergarten. We made it a very special day for her. It started with giving her a shower so that she was all fresh and ready for learning, just as if she were going to school. Then she got dressed in her first day of school outfit. Came down for her first day of school breakfast of her choice, pancake and eggs. We took photos of her in her bookbag and outfit and then got started with her learning time. She chose to do her spanish first but we had to load the program so we read first instead. Then she did 2 sections on Rosetta Stone Spanish edition. The rest of the days learning activities included playing with blocks, doing math worksheets, Bible lesson, helping with lunch and dinner, drawing and going with me to Hobby Lobby and learning how to read prices. We picked up a box for her to decorate and put her school papers in once completed. On the way home from Hobby Lobby, Emma said, "Mommy, we had a very good day!" which I agreed.

Her total hours for yesterday came to just short of 7 hours.  In Pennsylvania we aren't required to report to anyone until the child is 8 years old or in 3rd grade. Right now we are trying to do what we would need to if we were reporting so that we can get used to it and start good habits. We can either report the days spent on school or the hours. We'll be recording both but will report the most impressive one. 1 day or 7 hours down.

First day of Kindergarten breakfast of choice.

Ready for learning.

Using blocks to add and subtract.

5+1=6, 4+1=5

Counting the blocks.

First day of Kindergarten lunch, toasted cheese sandwich.

Practicing her writing outside.

Benjamin and Hannah playing with the blocks outside.

Our Summer of 2011

Beginning our school year this coming Monday is forcing me to look over our very, very busy summer. I can think of many educational activities we did with the kids.

Zoos that we visited include, of course the Erie Zoo, as well as the Lehigh Valley Zoo, the Nashville Zoo and as posted previously, the Cleveland Zoo. The kids also enjoyed going to the Tom Ridge Environmental Center, the Presque Isle Beach and the Roger Tory Peterson Institute. Other activities include their first visit to the Atlantic Ocean, reading the bible together, swimming in pools, playing at the park, doing random school activities and doing crafts. I'm sure there are things that I am missing but you get the point. We've been busy!

On top of all of those activities, one of the most important things that we did was spending time as a family as well as spending time with several members of our extended family.  To end this post I'll share photos from throughout our summer. Enjoy!

Caves that are naturally air conditioned. You could feel the cold air coming from them.

At the Lehigh Valley Zoo.

Spending time with my sister and her family again, this time at the Lehigh Valley Zoo.

Getting ice cream where my niece, Alexis, works.

Visiting with old friend, Melissa and her family in TN.

Opryland Hotel in Nashville, TN with my sister and her family plus two.

Our kids at the Opryland Hotel.

We were at the Jersey Shore and found a grasshopper.

Benjamin's turn to hold the grasshopper.

Playing on the beach at the Jersey shore.

Learning time and numbers. Please excuse the jammies and messy hair :).

Playing a Smurfs Dance game for wii.

Cleveland Metroparks Zoo

As you might have guessed by now our kids love animals. Since we have the membership to the Erie Zoo we have the luxury of going to the reciprocal zoos as well. One of my goals for the summer is to visit all of the free zoos within 2 hours of us, my parents house and Drew's parent's house. First on our list was the Cleveland Metroparks Zoo. It's much larger than our zoo here in Erie. It was well kept but for our first time there, confusing.

At first, I felt like I was in the labyrinth. After we went further into the zoo it got better. Exhibits that stood out were the elephants, the Sarah Allison Steffee Center for Zoological Medicine, the sharks, and the seals. Something else that we loved was the African drumming and dancing in the Elephant's Crossing area. Benjamin was so intrigued with that that when we tried to leave he grabbed onto a pole and wouldn't let go. As we went through the exhibits we read about the animals; where they live, what they eat and other random facts. I am sure that we missed some animals but at least we'll have something to look forward to the next time we go. One thing that I am sure we missed was the rain forest. We actually didn't see the building until on our drive out of the zoo.

The Sarah Allison Steffee Center for Zoological Medicine- Looking at x-rays of a turtle and a snake carrying eggs.

The surgical room that you can actually sit and watch them do procedures. We thought that was awesome! Emma would like to be a zoologist and so we thought this was great for her!

Colobus Monkey Statue- The kids are pretending to pick bugs off of it :)

The Elephants- Emma was so excited to see "real elephants"!

Benjamin feeling how an elephant's tusk is heavy.

The African Drum and Dance group.

P.S.- You can usually tell when I (Kristin) am posting because of the surplus of photos :). I hope you enjoy!

Names, Pizza and Zoo

The kids and their friend Cooper coloring the letters in their names. Then I had them lay out their letters to spell their names. Emma learned how to spell our last name that day.

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Making pizza for dinner. The kids were learning how to stretch and press the dough.

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Socializing in front of the tiger's cage. There was a daycare group there also and the kids were being loud. For the first time we heard and saw a tiger in action. It was roaring and pouncing on the window. I have to say, it was awesome hearing the powerful roar of the tiger, but at the same time, we didn't want to stick around to allow the kids to be frightened by it.

Little buddies. In nursery, these two are usually sitting together.

Friday was my first venture taking the kids to the zoo to meet friends without Drew. Much to our surprise, it worked out very well. All of our kids were well behaved and we all had a great time! We will definitely be doing that again!

Early Father's Day

Friday, the kids and I worked on getting gifts ready for Father's Day. Little did I know that Father's Day is next Sunday instead of today. So, since the kids can't keep secrets yet, we celebrated Father's Day early. As soon as Drew came home Friday from work the kids spilled the beans. There was no waiting. Within minutes Drew was on the couch being showered with gifts.

Emma painted an American Kestrel (her favorite bird)

Benjamin painted an Eastern Bluebird

Hannah just painted

Emma's finished project. Framed and ready to be hung on Drew's wall at work.

Benjamin's Bluebird completed.

Hannah's abstract bird completed.


Squeeze hugs!!!


Daddy Pile!!!