Friday, 11 November 2011

A very hot, hot school week!!!

This week we read about Moses leading the Egyptians out of Egypt. The book we are reading, and that I highly recommend, is Tirzah by Lucille Travis. It is a narrative that follows the events of the Israelites in Egypt and their escape. Both my kids and myself are thorougly enjoying reading this Biblical narrative.

This week the I typed up a research sheet with the questions suggested in the Heart of Dakota manual. The kids found out all about the crook and what it was used for and by whom. They also drew themselves holding the crook surrounded by sheep.

Not only did they research about the crook, they also created one of their own this week. Both kids had to roll up some paper and use tin foil to create the hook at the top. Then they painted them with blue and yellow stripes.






As this project didn't take all week, they had an extra project to make Egyptian breads. All the kids got involved in this process, mixing and adding ingredients, then rolling out the dough. Unfortunately we managed to burn them a little, so I think we'll have to make them again.(lol)




The kids were instructed to draw Joseph and a Sphinx this week. I was impressed that there were no tears of frustration from Adele this week. She must have got used to it, at last!



Poetry went well this week with both of the children creating their own poems about the moon. I have been really impressed with how they have taken to learning poetry and really impressed with their own efforts in writing poetry.

Night time Moon

Here she goes up and around,
like a night light in the sky,
her glowing face,
her glowing arms,
what a nice time!

by Adele


The Shiny Moon

Shiny is the moon and far she glows,
Through empty dark without fright, and on the clear dark night,
more bright than sparkley eyes,
She moves around the world like she is walking,
When the light comes, the moon will lose its' sparkle of the night.

by Damon

And also by Damon some photography.


This week both my older children decided to play the teacher. They decided to teach their siblings and myself about something that interested them. Damon created worksheets about some of the birds that interest him. He read to us about these birds and helped us fill in the information on our sheets. We also had to draw a picture! The he marked them!!!




Adele created a worksheet for Avril, with tracing activities and math problems.


The littlies this week spent time playing and reading with mum. As it was hot they spent time playing in the sprinkler.


In HOD this week they did a jumping activity to see how far they could jump.




And she also did some book work.

As it was a hot week we had a couple of trips to local pools. Our favourite was the one with a small water playground. It had two small slides, a huge bucket that tipped over every few minutes, water guns and fountains. It was a real relief to cool off and have some fun with the kids.










Monday, 7 November 2011

Made With Love.....Review and Give Away!!!

Made With Love is a company wned by a lady named Tayla Goding from Coffs Harbour, NSW, Australia. She hand makes cards to suit all occasions, invitations, embossed brown paper gift bags, party favours and lucky dips plus gift tags.

Tayla was very kind when I was offered this review. She informed me that she had designs that I could view on her facebook page,

facebook.com/MadeWithLove.CardsAndCrafts

Or if I had a particular idea or theme in mind, I simply had to contact her and she would make it. I asked her if she would mind designing some more traditional christmas cards, and she happily obliged. I was very pleased with the product that I received. It arrived via registered post and was beautifully packaged in a cardboard box, tied up with a red and green ribbon. Below are photos of the cards and tags that I have received.






All of the cards and gift tags are beautifully handmade. All came packaged in a plastic sleeve, with envelope.

I would encourage you to take a look at her facebook page to see the full range of designs available. tayla offers obligation free samples if you want to view these wonderful cards yourself, just drop her a line on facebook or call 0447 426 860 or e-mail tayla.goding@gmail.com. They have a deal if you buy four cards then you receive your fifth free.

If you want to get your hands on one of these products free...then I am giving away 2 of my cards and gift tags. Just leave a comment below explaining to me your favourite family christmas tradition. And I will announce the winner on the 30th of November.

Below are the products that I am giving away:




Thursday, 3 November 2011

Neilsons' Park Bay (Shark Beach)

Wednesday was my nieces birthday and we were lucky enough to be celebrating it with her. She was allowed to pick the day's menu and we headed off on an outing - 11 kids and 5 adult - all one family :) It was great!

We started the day off with sausage bake. It tasted similar to toad in the hole (the english version) but instead of yorkshire pudding, the sausages were surrounded with bread, egg and cheese with a splash of worcester sauce.

Then it was time for our outing. Off to the beach we went! All the kids were so excited! I thought it looked a bit cold for a swim, but Avril told me she prayed that it would get warmer and you know what!, her prayer was answered! It warmed up just nicely.

So we piled into 3 cars and started the game of follow the leader through Sydney. Thankfully the traffic wasn't too bad and we didn't lose each other.

We arrived at the bay and we all piled out of our cars. We watched the kids charge down towards the bay. It was beautiful! I hadn't realised it was a bay on the harbourside. It was breathtaking.











The kids spent the time belly surfing, building a sand pool for the littlies and much to my surprise, they decided it would be the right thing to do, to save the blue bottle jelly fish! They dug a pool for these stranded jelly fish, filled it with water, then picked up the jelly fish on sticks, and revived them in the water! I bet all of those swimmers were so grateful when the waves washed them back into the bay! Thankfully they were retrieved and then buried!











If you ever visit this bay, please beware of the seagulls and ravens! They are vicious! When eating a picnic stay close together, and be on your guard! As soon as you leave your group with food on hand, along comes a gull, swooping in, pecking your head and then will try to rip your food out of your hand! And please guard your food as the ravens wait until the food is left, then swoop in, pick up light packets of food, fly off, land, then open and eat the contents! LOL never experienced anything like it!








After a lovely afternoon spent watching the kids swim and relaxing in the shade of our beach umbrella, it was time to go! Now Rebekah had forgotten her shoes. After being piggy backed over the bindi's on our way down to the beach, Adele and Rebekah came up with a new idea! "Let's share shoes"! So they both wore one shoe each! And we avoided the bindi's by taking the road!



On the way to the road we had a spillage of food. Talitha thought it would be fun to help! She picked up the Nutella, but the lid was off! And it was just too tempting, so she decided hand fulls of this lovely, chocolately substance would be just perfect in her mouth, lol.


But we made it to the car all sandy and warm, but tired from a fun afternoon. We headed off with the anticipation of a lovely roast lamb dinner followed by birthday cake, pavalova and choc ripple cake.

Wednesday, 2 November 2011

Another review :) Avery Peel and Stick Erase Sheets and Decal

When I received this sticky lined sheet I had many uses for it. As many mums do, I was always writing lists, timetables and reminders. I used lots and lots of paper, always re-doing all of these lists, over and over. So I had lots of paper wastage!

This Avery product has enabled me to stop using so much paper. And it has helped me to reduce the amount of paper wastage in my home.

This product uses a white board marker which can be easily erased, so enabling me to change the use of my peel and stick lined sheet. Also it doesn't have to be placed in one spot as it easily peels and sticks elsewhere for a new purpose.

The purposes I have used it for are as follows:

It serves as a great timetable for homeschooling. The kids have used it to help guide them through their day, ticking off what needs to be accomplished.



It has been a reminder board. I had a birthday present to buy and a person to phone, so I rubbed out the homeschool timetable and added the reminders.

It can also be used to encourage and leave notes for your loved ones. The great thing about them is they are can be moved into other rooms and onto a variety of surfaces to reach the person that you are trying to communicate.

This lined sheet is a great practice template for my kids handwriting and so can be easily used for homeschooling. This sheet was lined with handwriting guide lines.

If you are like me making amny notes and timetables, I would highly recommend this product.