"You mean caterpillars turn into butterflies?!"

For the past four school days we have been studying about butterflies and focusing on the letter Bb. We learned all about how the butterflies lay eggs (Just like chickens!), that hatch into caterpillars that eat and eat and eat and never sleep, that sheds its skin several times before it finally turns into a chrysalis, and then turns into a beautiful butterfly. For those who want a simple, yet very informative, book about butterflies, I highly suggest getting Watch me grow: Butterfly from DK Publishing. You can probably find it in the library.


As part of our study, we painted butterflies and made caterpillars. The girls had a great time using finger paint to paint the wings of their butterflies. Here they are: this one is Brianna's
And this one is Kirsten's

I wish I had pictures of them painting, but I never seem to have it around at the right moment. Ah, well, I will try to get better at it.

Today was also the day for memory verses to be recited without peeking, and Brianna nailed it! Yea! She likes to pick out the sticker that we put on the page once she has recited it to me by heart. Then we punch holes in it and put it in her notebook.

Well, thunder and lightening tell me to wrap it up, so until next time: How much can a caterpillar eat, anyway?

PS Please leave comments. I love to hear from you!

Side Note

Yes, the background has changed again. The background I made won't grow with my posts, so it ends up in the middle and nothing at the top and bottom. If anyone knows the HTML to make it grow with my posts, I would greatly appreciate it.

This will do for now. Maybe.

New Discoveries

We had a pretty good day in school today. We got a late start, and that always makes it harder. The girls want to go outside or play or watch a movie... I need to work on not starting late.

I have to brag a little on Brianna. Starting about six weeks ago, I started picking a Bible verse to memorize that goes along with our lessons. We go over it every day for two weeks. (I like this because it gets me memorizing, too, and I have been sorely lacking in that department!) Anyway, Brianna is doing so well that she usually has them memorized long before the two weeks is up, and she remembers them better than I do. I usually have to ask her, "Brianna, what was that verse we learned in Matthew, again?" I have done that so often now I think she is starting to roll her eyes at me. "Mom, can't you remember???" Maybe I need three weeks per verse.

Not to leave Kirsten out, she is learning them right along with us. She is so cute when she says the verses. She doesn't know them well enough to say them by heart completely, but she can say it with you. She does that with the Pledge, too. She can even tell you where your hands go and where you are supposed to look. They are both so cute!

The verses that we have learned so far are 1 Corinthians 13:4-5, Hebrew 4:13, and Matthew 16:26. My greatest hope is that these will stay with them for life, and become part of their beings. I know that God's Word does not come away empty, that it will accomplish what He sent it to do. (Isaiah 55:11)

Now, for those family members and friends who have not been able to come by the house for a visit, I have a couple of pictures of the classroom. Just in case you were curious.

Believe me, it is almost never this clean. I just couldn't bring myself to take pictures of it with books all over the floor and papers from craft projects strewn everywhere. What looks like the grocery store run amuck under that desk happens to be a grocery store. We use those in math when we are learning about money. Don't you remember playing store when you were in school? I do, and I always thought it was fun.

And, I have discovered something very fun and exciting that has been around forever but I had no idea it was out there: Lapbooking! For those who don't know what that is, don't worry, I didn't either. What it is is a file folder that has been folded in such a way that the tab and it's negative meet in the middle. Inside are all kinds of fun activities for the kids to do. This is the one I have started for going to the grocery store. Heaven knows that can be a challenge even on the best day with the children. Hopefully, this will help keep them occupied. This picture is of the basic folder. I have cut a second folder so that I could have a flip-up center to put more stuff on.

Here is some of the stuff.

And here is where I am trying to decide where I want all that stuff to go. You can see that I have the flip-up part, well, flipped up. ;-)

OK, well I guess that is enough for now. Maybe I will get a chance to post tomorrow, and you can see some other things that we have been learning about. What is a "pupa", anyway?

Tweeked Enough For Now

Well, after many hours of pulling my hair out, and realizing I didn't need the book after all, I think I am finally satisfied with the way my blog looks. I am proud of myself. The background I made myself with some wonderful elements I found on the web. Thank you to those who are creative and tech savvy enough to make them and post them for us less savvy to be able to use!

For now, I hope to just post about our adventure. But don't be surprised if you check back one day and it is all rearranged again! Ooh, I just remembered I wanted to make a special signature. Oh, well. A little more tweeking wouldn't hurt, would it?

A Work in Progress

I don't really like the way my blog looks. I am working on learning how to change things, and I got a book on HTML and other computer letters from the bookstore today. I guess I will be schooling me, too. (I knew that was going to happen, anyway! I love getting the refresher along with the girls learning.)

Anyway, keep posted and see if I can get the changes to actually work! LOL

The Beginning

After enjoying a few fellow homeschoolers' blogs, I have finally decided to join them. I am not sure how this is going to go, or if I will have much to say, but I thought it would at least keep the family updated as to what we were doing. So, stay tuned and we will see where this takes us!