In Ground Trampoline

This is our in ground trampoline. This was not my idea originally. We original got it from a do it yourself book in Lowe's/Home Depot. When we decided to proceed with said project we googled it, gotta love the internet, and came up with this guy. He did such a wonderful job of laying out the step by step directions. I might have been able to figure it out on my own but he made it sooo much easier. Except for digging... the website didn't help out much for that one, he hole was already dug.... LOL. Yes, I did dig the hole myself... why was I that crazy... same reasoning I do everything else. I worked with what I had and a shovel was what I had to work with.. not a back hoe.

This guy did a good job as well, a little cheaper then the way we went. Not as labor intensive.

This was also a good school project, (this is were unschooling comes into play) Lil Momma went through and did the math (with me)  to figure out how to build the wall supports.  While digging the hole one day we had an entire conversation about probability.  Which started from the question, "Mom are you really gonna be able to dig this hole?"  She also designed a sand box... had to do something with all that dirt...learned how to drawl to scale, had a chance to apply all those boring multiplication tables to real life stuff, perimeter, area, etc...  

Enjoy,
Momma

P.S. The gap is not as big as it looks but it can be fixed... go here to see how he did it....besides it helps with the air flow and as soon as grass starts to grow and mulch gets put down around it... it wont look so ugly.  I also didn't follow his steps completely.... that using what you have thing, well we didn't have all that he had...and still we got it done. 

Disclaimer

You might also find that people disagree with the in ground trampoline idea because of "safety" for the trampoline.  There is the chance of wood rot, which would weaken the walls that hold back the dirt.  My opinion, it's the same kind of maintenance you would preform on any structure you build.  There is also complaints that it cause "Dead Air" underneath the trampoline which decreases the ability of the jumper.  I have to agree, I have noticed that, but it's not a bad thing.  Hubby can still get on the trampoline and do a front/backwards flip.  I also choose to not use a net, that's just me, not saying it's the smart thing to do or that you should do it.

Fire Pit

This was another rabbit trail... or in my opinion buried treasure.  I found these stones buried around the house as I was cleaning up to paint.  The house I moved into is absolutely adorable, with wood floors and beautiful ceiling flans but it's a fixer up and needs a lot of love... which is what I'm good at.  You can see another project here, my in ground trampoline.

Anyway,  we are big country folks stuck in the city so we had to have a fire pit.  We had a little one at first but when we put in the trampoline we had to move it, which of course was a good reason to make it bigger.  It's not finished yet though.  I had this brilliant idea to mosaic the whole fire pit, using the stones.... then after I had started making it..... I found out concrete can explode when heated to much... So I have to alter my plans a little, wait for some more spending money to come my way and then I can finish it but so far it's only cost me a couple bags of concert.  I am debating on wither to spend the money on fire clay or just mosaic the sides of the pit to keep the walls from caving in. I have also never worked with concert in a mosaic before so in the process  the stones dulled out a bit. The stones are porous so they absorbed the concert.  The kids had fun busting up the stones and play with the wet concert. Would have taking a pic with the kids but something about touching my camera with concert all over my hands....

Enjoy,
Momma

Dino World

This was a way cool field trip. We went to Dino World while Hubby was on vacation... it was right in the middle of our Dino Unit.  I plan in the near future to load what worksheets and pictures we used so you might benefit from them....  Anyway, there were life size dino's at this place.  Lots of little things for the kids to do: fossil dig, play ground, touch and feel things, a bone yard, etc.  Way cool...  check it out

Enjoy,
Momma

Us in a Nut Shell

This blog was original gonna be just about Homeschooling, to help hold myself accountable for what we do everyday.  But then as I got to playing around with it I realized all the endless possibilities that were available. So this blog will no longer be just about homeschooling. Instead it will be about us and what we have learned as people and as a family over the years and the years to come.  I will soon have our school projects up both past and present. Ideas that I hope will get you out of the box on homeschooling.  I hope to show you and hopefully help you with some house hold projects; some wthat are quite large.  Field trips, free stuff, fixer-uppers, ideas, rants, bible questions and studies.  I hope to have a blog that will be packed full of information by the time I am done with it.  So bare with me as I am under construction. 

So about us.  Starting with Momma.  I am a creative, hard working momma of 4 God given kids that I could not live without.  I all to often follow the little white rabbit where ever he may go. So, be warned.  I try hard to stay on task and schedule but most of the time I fail. I love arts and crafts as well as making something from nothing.  So does Hubby and he's good at it. You will soon see how deep that rabbit trail goes. I love to work hard.  Hubby and I often disagree with that... why work harder if you can work smarter... well I would agree but if you don't have what you need to work smarter then time to break out the shovel and get a little dirty.  No pun intended Hubby... I love you!!  Besides there are a million and one quotes in the Bible that says working hard is a good thing...  Proverbs 13:4 "Lazy people want much but get little, but those who work hard will prosper." God blesses the works of your hands.  Anyway, that's enough about me, here are my kids and my whole world....

This is Lil Momma, my angel and my saving Grace... besides Jesus.  This was my gift from God; He gave me her to straighten me up.  She is the most giving and heartfelt child I have ever met and yes I am biased. She plans to be a missionary when she grows up.  She is constantly wanting to give to her children's' ministry.  She is a blessing to this world and can light up a room.


This is my Stud Muffin... He is such a cuttie, like he's Daddy.  He likes army dudes, cars and spider-man.  He is smart, funny and has the cutest little dimples. He hates chores doesn't want to do school work and loves to irritate his sister. The typical boy with beautiful eyes and cute dimples who stole my heart the day he was born. His working career changes by the day... depending on his mood.....  lol.

This little beauty is Marylin Monroe born again.. (M&Ms for the purpose of this blog) or at least that's what she thinks. She is gorgeous and she knows it.  Rock star, actor, dancer, singer... she's got it all... but you better believe we are claiming in the name of Jesus that she will sing, dance and perform all for God's glory and no one else. Do you have one who is so adorable that you can't get mad at him/her? Yep, I'm in trouble, she is my handful, the one that will make me pull my hair out.  But I wouldn't trade one curl on her head for a peaceful nights sleep when she because a teen.  Might give her some of mine... as I pull it out....



Anyway, last but not least.  Is my second chance (a.k.a. Cutie Pie).  I had hit a downward spiral after Marylin Monroe was born, took the pregnancy real hard and when I had pulled myself out of it, I felt really stupid and immature for acting the way I had acted.  So, God being the God of second chances (and sometimes a lot more chances then that) he blessed me with another.  I got a second chance... so I didn't have to end on such a nasty note.  She is just as beautiful as the others, with a smile that can light up the room. I am very thankful for the chance to try again, to be a mom again and to watch another baby grow up.  She is walking now and she wont let me rock her to sleep any more... it's so sad how time flies.

Shaving Cream

This was also a couple years ago and it's just as messy as my flour expeditions. So beware, I will not be held liable for any heart attacks on the other side of the computer screen.  I am not sure what this was, some kind of goo, goop or slime; maybe a failed attempt at one of them that turned into a learning tool.  The kids thought it would be cool until they stuck their hands in it... but momma made them do it anyway... it was ssssooo much fun watching them freak out.  Is that bad??  Anyway, amazingly the girly girl of the family had the most fun playing with the stuff.

Just like with my flour post you can use this stuff for all the same reasons plus color combining.  Which is what we did here, then we played with spelling words.  The more I think about it, the more I think it was just a thick flour and water recipe because we were doing it to mix colors and practice spelling.

Enjoy,
Momma

Fun With Flour

 Ha... more reasons I love to homeschool... 'cause you can do stuff like this... if you have a sensory kid or hands on child, this project is perfect.  This is not for the faint at heart.  Not all people are ok with doing this in their homes but I am kinda a unschooler at heart who chooses a "schedule", sort of, to help us stay on task... Anyway here are some ideas:

• Spelling words
• Letter recognition, -anything from 1,2,3 to 100 and 1000. 
• ABC practice - I give them a sound they write the letter, I say a letter they give me the sound while writing the letter. 
• Math problems - verbal give them a math problem/word problem and they figure it out in their head and write the answer or they write the whole math problem.  
• Definitions- give them the definition and they write the word down

Enjoy,
Momma

The Water Cycle

This project is a couple of years old... when we moved into the townhouse, we had a lot of wall space. The school room was 40x20. It was huge... lots of space. So began our life size wall projects.

This was a cute and simple project. It can tie into a lot of different grades. The mountain is a triangle, the sun is a circle, the cloud is an oval, rain drops, waves etc... as well as the life cycle of water... storms, hail, weather in general.


Some helpful websites... Kid Zone, Teachers, weather unit  Books/Movies... Magic School Bus Kicks up a Storm MSB Inside a Hurricane, Magic Tree House, Twister on Tuesday    Finally these are worksheet creators for crosswords, word searches, word-scramble, etc.  This site go to Printable worksheets and then Make your own puzzles.This site is neat for making your own sheets to go with the unit. These little raindrop things and the arrows hanging from the clouds were a pain in the >>>!!! I had such a hard time with these but I had to do it the most difficult way possible... they are glued onto invisible string and then the back of the clouds.  I would suggest not doing it this way or summing up all your patients before the task at hand, 'cause your gonna need it. 

Over all though, it turned out pretty cute I think.  If you do figure out how to add the raindrops-without pulling your hair out-leave me a comment and let me know. Also the blue tags are labels for each stage: runoff, evaporation, precipitation....

Enjoy,
Momma