Homeschool Page - October

We are in our third month of homeschooling and have had an opportunity to do some fun art projects, ecology projects with plants and animals, and field trip experiences. Bryce and Griffin enjoy getting to go along for the ride and even contribute some of their own spice to the experiences and projects.


One of my most impressive faces lately.



My European map keeps getting more complex each week as we add mountains, rivers, and cities to our previous bodies of water and countries.

I enjoyed following the story of the Chilean miners, here is my rendition of the rescue. There is something familiar between the Chilean flag and the flag of Texas (my observation while watching Game 3 of the World Series).

I took a sampling of the leaves in our backyard and made some impressions.

We began our butterfly project this month with caterpillars and watched them transform into butterflies!

On the day we released our butterflies, one of them wanted to hang around for a while and say thank you.

My brother was really excited to see the butterflies up close, but he was really sad to see them go...he was afraid they wouldn't find a nice home to stay at that night.

Bye-bye, butterfly.

I finally consented to letting the butterflies go, because it was such a beautiful sunny day.

Mommy and I made a great journal that helped me learn lots of facts about butterflies.

Our butterflies started out as caterpillars in this little box with food in it.

Our caterpillars formed their chrysalis and so were ready to be transferred into their new home.

My brothers and I loved the fresh apple cider from Cover's Apple Ranch...more please!

We watched some of the apple processing, boy was I tempted to reach up and grab one to eat.

Do I look like a worm...where is my brother for the other hole?

We had school with Noah and Brianna and we all made a pumpkin face...I think Mommy might have "helped" Bryce out quite a bit...

I recorded my observations on the celery absorption of different color dyes.

I also got to do a lego unit, where we learned the history of legos and then designed some of own creations. Here we are building the flag of Denmark, where legos were invented.

Bryce and Daddy joined us for this activity, and boy did we make some cool stuff.

My first trial with pasta art, I made sure my guy had five fingers on each hand!

This is called PE: parental extermination, wrestling style. Works pretty good 3 on 1.

My artistic rendering of the apple ranch.

Venn Diagrams with army men; the categories were green, carrying a gun, and standing on two legs.

October 2010

Alright, so we more than made up for September with a crazy busy October. Brett and Joy completed the Tough Mudder competition that we had been training for over the past 5 months. We attended pumpkin patches and halloween parties; all the while enjoying the Giants march through Orange October to the World Series. We completed Garrett's soccer season and embarked on many homeschool outings and field trips. You even get a glimpse into some of Garrett's projects from school. Come in and take a look.

Garrett 5y 4mo

Garrett has now completed a month and a half of his first year of school. It is amazing to see the progress he has already made in his learning. He enjoys seeing his brothers, along for the ride, learning too. He has discovered kickball, an elementary school staple for both Brett and Joy. And he has become quite competitive in it, often challenging Daddy to games when they lose their teammates (Bryce and Griffin) early on. He has enjoyed utilizing math and language and memory skills in playing new board games.


I gave myself Scout Walker legs, which is the only part of this art that wouldn't be truly inspired by Klimt.



Daddy gave us this huge box and it has become one of our forts in the backyard.

I'm not done yet, please don't disturb the artist at work...

I'm hard at work creating this new masterpiece...it'll be up for auction on EBay in about 30 years...

Mommy bought us popcorn at the Nuts game, yeah we scored.

I've got three jet fighters ready to buzz over the top of our pizza creation that I helped make. And I found out I get science credit for baking...

Do I get credit for coming up with a totally delicious chocolate beard?

We just finished watching Truck Tunes, so I had to get out my construction vehicles and designing a job site.

Mommy and I made some really delicious cupcakes for my soccer team--can you see it--they are soccer balls!

Bryce 3y 2mo

Bryce is enjoying more activities that are designed for him. He is getting to attend Awana for the first time. He has decided he never wants to wear diapers again and has declared himself a big boy in one more way. Now he is trying to convince his little brother Griffin to become potty trained too (we'll see if a little peer pressure helps). Bryce has taken to playing games with Mommy and Garrett and sometimes Daddy (when he's not working) and has actually found that he can win some of these games (Chutes and Ladders and Connect Four being the latest). As he does battles with his brother Garrett, his imagination is continuing to grow and he has new ideas how a battle should happen and how a base should be setup.


I'm not sure why I am wearing girl's shoes in this picture that mommy designed, but I guess that I have been seen wearing them before...




These are my transformer legs, when you put a straw in my head, I transform into a capri sun drink.

Check out my setup, Daddy. I am unstoppable.

Okay, so I probably wasn't supposed to taste the green paint, sorry.

I enjoyed some one-on-one art time with Mommy. Then I wanted one-on-one lawnmowing time with Mommy...that's another story.

My big brother and I get to go to Awana together! I'm a cubbie and he's a spark.

Griffin 1y 5mo

Griffin is getting close to being a year and a half, but he would still try and convince you he is at least two. Besides practicing his batting stroke off anything that resembles a tee, he now is kicking anything resembling a ball as if he were dribbling a soccer ball. He wants to feed himself now, and will often complain if help is offered. The main thing suffering is his clothes at this point. He also wants to jump off of anything he figures he can land without hurting himself. We began to question his logic circuits when he began getting Bryce to catch him...




My big brother made this artwork of me after he was inspired by studying Klimt.




I know everyone has needed a lot of kleenex this month, so I just figured I'd pull them out all at once, so it was easier for everyone. Or I could just blame it on Anakin's Jedistarfighter.

I won't admit that I was the one who knocked the watermelon off the countertop...but I will say that enjoyed the easy access to the spoils. I will assure that Mommy didn't just show us a Gallagher video prior to this.

How do you like this hat, Mommy?

Yuuuummmmmyyyy, I love chocolate popsicles. Can you imagine me about 20 years from now with a similar looking goatee?

I've still got that blue-eyed, innocent cuteness factor. Yeah it's workin'.

I'm havin' a wild and crazy hair day!

I had a lot of Mommy's undivided attention at the Nuts game. Of course it was nice that my brother Bryce was spending the night with Grammy and Poppy.

Garrett and I try to convince Mommy that we both need haircuts.

Soccer Season Starts

Garrett is enjoying his second season of youth soccer (ages 4 and 5). He is no longer the child who is wondering around the field picking up grass and staring off into the great blue sky looking for the next airplane to fly overhead. He now focuses on the ball (for the most part) and has successfully passed to his teammates (intentionally) and plays pretty solid defense.


Noah and I are finally teammates!





Noah and I seem to have received different play calls, but the good news is that both of them mean the same thing: score a goal!

You're not scoring a goal on this one, I'm kickin' it out of bounds.

My little brother Griffin was the halftime entertainment, kicking a few goals of his own.

Noah's dad successfully coached the Tow Mater Hawkeyes to their first win, but we weren't really keeping score...

Fortunately for my brothers, they both had a nice spot in the shade for my game.

Boy, that guy in Daddy's chair sure looks pretty short, and a lot like my brother Bryce!

September 2010

September was not a typical month for us. We battled illness as an entire family for most of the month. This kept us away from some planned events and kept us home a lot more than usual. So we had a lot of really good homeschooling time. Goodbye summer, hello fall, or autumn depending on your preference. Brett and Joy did get away for one of Brett's second cousins' weddings without the kids. We enjoyed dancing, eating, and uninterrupted adult conversation. Wow, it was quite refreshing and fun to see Brian and Karin get married. Hopefully we'll be watching some playoff baseball this coming month, since the 49ers are nothing to watch at this point. Welcome to hockey season also--good luck to the Sharks as they open their season in Europe. Joy would like a shout-out to the Redwings as they add more future hall of famers to their roster for cheap.








Some more of my artwork inspired by studying Klimt.

The four of us boys have spent our fair share of time with runny noses this month.

Mommy and Daddy with Karin and Brian on their wedding day.

In honor of Daddy who worked on Labor Day this year, we made this banner.