Fun Friday: The Last Day of School

 Today was our official last day of school.  Really all that means is now we can take time off and I don't feel guilty about it.  We will still be doing things throughout the summer but it won't be so formal.  Because Jay's schedule is so crazy we sometimes "do school" in the evenings or on the weekends and take a weekday to do the fun stuff.  It all evens out.  (By the way, have you read this article?  This:  "School requires everything in the house to revolve around school, which makes it very difficult to be a parent with a big career and a parent who is taking care of school needs.  Once you're homeschooling, the family can accommodate lots of different interests." is so true.  If our kids were in regular school Jay would have to switch jobs or I would probably go nuts.)

 We took our traditional last day of school pictures.  (Here's how they looked at the beginning of the year.  And now I realize Alice's signs don't match.  Oh, well.)

 We went to see Epic and got our pool passes.  We didn't actually start school until about 3:30.

 Boris seemed to be low on motivation this morning.

He eventually perked up and I found him working on this puzzle.

Happy Friday!

May 20

 (Photo from KFOR)

By now you've seen the pictures.  We drove down this street almost every single day.  Jack said, "Hey, Cougah!" to the mascot on the sign every single time we passed.

 The hospital where we became a family of four is ruined.

 The bowling alley is decimated.

 We watched as they built "our" park and were there as soon as it opened.

 We spent hours and hours there with friends.

 Even after we moved, we went back.  And now it's gone.

 Next to the park, our first home, almost certainly destroyed since it's literally right under the red line on the map of the tornado's path.

And worst of all, so many people who can't hug their loved ones tonight.

From the end of the earth will I cry unto you, when my heart is overwhelmed: lead me to the rock that is higher than I.  Psalm 61:2

Crystal Bridges Museum

 Today Jay didn't have to work so we went to Crystal Bridges Museum to see the Norman Rockwell exhibit.  What we didn't realize was that it was International Museum Day.  The place was so crowded that we had to drive around for a while to find a place in the overflow lot.  We had a bit of a hike to get back to the museum, but it was beautiful outside!

 Alice was interested in this tree in front of the museum.

 I also didn't know that we needed to buy tickets for the Norman Rockwell exhibit ahead of time, so when we got there we found out it was sold out for the day.  There were a couple of them in the regular exhibits, though, so we got to see Rosie the Riveter.

 They also had Sick Puppy on display.  We did an artist study on Norman Rockwell a while back, so it was neat to get to see his work in real life.

 I was excited to see this picture of the White City from the World's Columbian Exposition.  (If you haven't read The Devil in the White City or Fair Weather, you are really missing out!)

 We got to see a Remington!

 And a Warhol!  They even had a couple by our current artist for May, Mary Cassatt!

 I don't know who this is by, but we all thought this cranky looking girl was funny.

 They had an area outside where kids could do their own chalk art.

 They also have an art studio where kids can make things--they made tiny treasure boxes today.

 You could listen to a description of a painting and draw what you thought it would look like before you actually saw the picture.

 Alice had to try it out, too.

 More fun in the art studio!

 There are also trails all around the grounds.  We didn't walk much today, but we are planning to go back again and do some more.

When we left, we stopped by Copeland's to eat before heading home.

We had a great time and we will definitely visit Bentonville again!

Fun Friday: Gearing Up & Winding Down

 We spent the day at home today.  Jack is gearing up for his birthday when he can read the second Harry Potter book by listening to The Sorcerer's Stone on CD while he builds on his Diagon Alley set.  (If you clicked on that link, no, we didn't pay that much for it!)

 We're winding down with school.  Many districts here are already out, but I think we're going to go all of next week.  We made cookies today to go along with the books the kids are using now.

 For your enjoyment, some pictures Alice took of herself this afternoon.

Happy Friday!

Learning Together: Weather

 When I was sketching out plans for the spring I decided it would be a good time to cover weather.  (I wrote a post about it for MetroFamily, too.)  Jack started with The Gullywasher.

 We also used The Bravest of Us All, illustrated by Brad Sneed, who we got to meet at Books to Treasure a few years ago!  Alice really liked this story.

We also read Flash, Crash, Rumble, and Roll, The Cloud Book, and watched some Bill Nye videos.

 Alice started with A Rainbow of My Own.

 We also read The Storm Book.  (Ours is a used copy and it took me a long time to realize someone had put a smiley face sticker on it because I just glanced at it and thought it was the sun!)  I pulled several of the same weather books that Jack used when he learned about weather at this age, too.

 We read Planting a Rainbow and Alice made her own rainbow garden.  Her favorite rainbow book is What Makes A Rainbow?  She read it to me every day!

 We tried making our own rainbows (from this book)--You can read more about it here!

 We made rainbows using black glue and salt.

 And of course we talked about Noah (and worked our Noah's Ark puzzle and watched Minnesota Cuke and the Search for Noah's Umbrella)!

 We had a rainbow lunch one day.

We even had rainbow shakes for tea time!

We're done with our combined units for the year but I've been thinking of a few ideas for next year!

Artist Study: Degas

Our most recent Artist Study was on Edgar Degas.

 We read through the Getting to Know biography (and watched the DVD version since it was a little different) and just used parts from Edgar Degas: Paintings that Dance.

 One week we read Degas and the Little Dancer, which tells the story of his famous statue.  We also read Marie in Fourth Position which is the same story, but we enjoyed the Anholt book more.

 I recently bought this book that has projects to go along with all of his artist books.  I wish I had gotten it earlier to use with Jack, but I will use it with Alice when she's older.

 I really enjoy this series, but they are a little more detailed than I want for just sitting down and reading straight through with the kids.  I usually pick a few pages that deal with a specific piece we're looking at.

Even though Alice is going to be learning about these artists again when she's older it's nice to find some art books for little kids so she can really enjoy it now!

 In the Anholt book we read about how Degas used all kinds of odds and ends to make the skeletons of his statues.  We tried our own using pipe cleaners, which I hot glued to their bases.

 We covered the pipe cleaner with model magic and then painted it.  Alice's isn't pictured here because I'm still trying to figure out how to make it stand up again.   Model magic is lightweight, but it is still heavy enough that her dancer won't stand on its own.

We also tried this project from Dream, Draw, Create.  I think they turned out nicely!

 Alice did this all by herself!

We tied in some Oklahoma history by reading about Maria Tallchief and visiting her statue, too!

We're finishing up the school year with Mary Cassatt!