God's Beautiful Creation

We saw this beautiful, clear, double rainbow (the 2nd is hard to see in photo) while in Oklahoma. I was amazed at the strong colors in the rainbow.

Then, I went in the backyard and saw this beautiful sky. Wow! The night before had been beautiful, too, but by the time I'd gotten my camera it had changed. I was glad I got these photos (I actually took a lot more).

Lightning Bugs!!!

As a child, I loved catching lightning bugs. We would go outside and fill up a Mason jar. My family tells me a story from when I was very little - probably 3 or so. My big sister and I had caught a lot of fireflies and my mom let us bring them inside. Next thing they know, the jar is empty and they asked me where the fireflies were. I told them I'd "set them free".... down the toilet! (Oops!!!)

We don't see lightning bugs here in TX, so we were excited to see some in OK. This is only the 2nd time Alexandra has gotten to catch some. We only caught 4, but we had a lot of fun! And, we set them free... OUTside.

Lots of Rain, Means Lots of Mushrooms!

While we were in Oklahoma recently, they were receiving LOTS of rain. And, around the house, there were LOTS of mushrooms! The last day we were there, about 30 new mushrooms popped up! Alexandra and I were just amazed at the size of this one! If we would have stayed around longer, we would have loved to study them some more. They were beatiful!

Beach Finds

We recently went to the beach with some friends. We had a great day that ended all to soon. There was an unusual amount of seaweed on the beach. But, with the seaweed came some interesting "finds."

There were 2 large branches (trees?) that were in shallow water. We waded out to them and were surprised to see them covered with barnacles. I was showing the girls how you had to be careful around them or you could get a cut, and I got a small scratch myself when a wave came in.

The girls found several small crabs. I found one that a bird dropped as I approached. But, our neatest find of the day was this strange looking fellow with a red stripe down his back. While at the beach, I really was pretty clueless as to what he was. When I got home, it took quite a while for me to figure it out, but I believe he is a shrimp! And, the girls found another one, too - both alive! I've never heard of finding a shrimp on the beach. It was very cool to watch him. I held him and he has very small pinchers that he tried to pinch me with - but it only tickled. What a great way to learn!!!

Campaign Trail

Once again I'm sorry that it's been so long since I blogged. I guess this is just how summer will be this year. I also haven't been reading blogs like usual. Guess I'm just taking a break! I have started our Japan KONOS unit and I think we'll be using the online co-op next year. I'll try to post more about that tomorrow.


Last week, we helped a relative on the campaing trail. One of my relatives was running for office and we went to lend support and help out. I helped phone potential voters, stood at an intersection holding a sign and waving, and went to several rallies.


This was my first political experience. I am now more aware of how a campaign works (and so is Alexandra!) and will be kinder to those who call me about campaigns and will wave to those who are campaigning. I also just plan on being more informed and supporting the candidates that I agree with more in the future. Unfortunately, our relative lost, but it was a wonderful race and I am so proud of everyone who worked so hard.

Preparing for Japan

We are doing a 3 week trial of a KONOS online co-op group as we are considering it for the fall. We'll be starting Japan a week from Monday, but we were doing some planning today - and, we kind of went ahead and started on a few things. Alexandra has made lots of dolls from Making Friends, so we made these Japanese dolls today.

We are planning on making a kimono for Alexandra to wear. I am VERY new to sewing as I've only made one dress (for my niece about 8 years ago with LOTS of help from my mother-in-law) and a tote bag (a few weeks ago with a friend). So, I decided to start by using some scrap material and making a kimono for Alexandra's doll. The material we'll use for Alexandra's kimono is above (grand total of $9 at Walmart!).

And, above is her doll in her kimono - it looks more like a robe because of the material. We're planning on making her a nicer kimono from Alexandra's scraps. And, I figured out a few things I can do to make the "real" kimono nicer. But, I was pretty proud of the job we did!

I'm very excited about the online co-op. You are able to view a video each week that guides you as to what you will do the following week. It also lets you know what materials you need for the week, and for coming weeks. And, you get to join a yahoo group to talk with other moms who are doing the same unit as you are. I'm loving our group! I've already gotten some wonderful ideas. And, I like that this will keep me more on tract and I'll get to get ideas and share ideas with other moms. If we do it next year, we'll be doing studies from Volume 2 with an emphasis on early American History, which was my plan for next year anyway. I'm very excited and we both can't wait to really get started with Japan!

Summer Incentive Charts

We haven't been "doing school" this summer, but I did want Alexandra to continue to work on her math facts and reading. So, after a couple of not-so-good weeks, I came up with the above "incentive chart." We are using Quarter Mile Math, which Alexandra really enjoys. Each box represents one "race" - both for addition and multiplication. And, each box under "reading" represents 10 minutes of reading. Her goal was to complete this chart during the week and then she'd get her prize: movie (at home with mom), pizza and popcorn. She finished Saturday and got her reward. We'll be doing this again this summer, but I think I'll add typing to her list.

This second chart is one my friend, Ms. S, made for me. Her girls are doing this 1000 minutes of reading chart this summer, and we saw it on their fridge. So, here we go! Both of Ms S's girls chose a Webkinz as their prize for when they reach their goal, and that is what Alexandra wants, too. She's really motivated - she's completed 3 hours of reading in less than 48 hours!!! And, this is amazing as she hasn't been reading much for the past few weeks.

So, I hope these chart ideas might help someone! I'm thinking about using something like this all year long. We'll, see!

The Aquarium

On Saturday, Alexandra and I went to The Aquarium.

We rode the ferris wheel twice, the carousel, and she rode another ride 4 or 5 times that is just too much for me. The lift you up (in a "chair") and drop you over and over - kind of makes you tummy fly.

It was a hot day and Alexandra cooled off in the sprinklers - she didn't get too wet, though.

We toured the aquarium and saw lots of neat fish, etc. I liked this exhibit - Alexandra crawled under the exhibit and came up in the sting ray touch tank. We also saw a live feeding of some archer fish that was really cool. I got a video that I might try to put on the blog tomorrow.

We rode on a train ride through a shark exhibit - the train actually goes through a building and stops in a tunnel where the tank is on top of you and beside you. Our favorite was this sawfish. How do you like that face? (I mistakenly identified this as a swordfish earlier. Oops!)

From this website: Sawfishes are a group of extremely large shark-like rays which haunt the muddy shallows of tropical bays, rivers and lakes. Though fearsome in appearance, sawfishes are very docile. Due to decades of incidental capture in nets set for other species, sawfishes are in serious trouble and populations worldwide are severely depleted...

Dance Mat Typing

I guess we are kind of unschooling this week. I haven't had an agenda and I'm amazed at all Alexandra has been doing.

On Sunday and Monday, she was my teacher and taught me subjects like math, spelling (and I was impressed at the words she spelled!), drawing, etc.

The only work I did have her do was Quarter Mile Math 2 days to brush up on her addition and multiplication facts. But, both days she wanted to also work on her keyboarding skills so we did.

Then, yesterday and today, we re-discovered Dance Mat Typing (someone recommended it on their blog - thank you!! I just don't remember who right now) which is a free on-line typing program. She spent about an hour on it today! She really wants to learn to type. Then, tonight, she spent an hour writing me a letter on Microsoft Word.

So, I'm impressed at how she can lead me to where she wants to be, and I also wanted to share about this typing program that she's really enjoying. Hope everyone has a good weekend! - Dana

Irwin Family Weekend

Animal Planet is having "Irwin Family Weekend" which starts tonight. Tonight they're showing My Daddy the Crocodile Hunter. Saturday is the first episode of Bindi the Jungle Girl. Then on Sunday they'll show Planet's Best with Terri and Bindi. We watched some preview clips on Animal Planet's website and they shows look great! I'm setting my DVR and hope you can catch it, too! - Dana