Going to the Mall

Both my troops have had recent mall experiences. My Cadettes earned a mall overnight with approximately 750 other girls in their council. We arrived at the mall just before 9 pm and after the stores closed down the council offered all kinds of activities like crafts, games, juggling shows, movies, nail painting, yoga, dancing, video games, and more. The girls got about an hour of sleep each with Lisa and I staying up all night. They girls had a great time and LOVED this event.

My Brownie troop went shopping at the mall tonight. They broke into small groups and had a budge of $10 per group to spend on toys to donate to Toys for Tots. Different moms led each group and the girls did a great job, picking a tea set, a baby doll, accessories from Claire's, and a stuffed giraffe. After the big unveiling we went to Target and purchased some food for our pet food drive. I was very proud of how the girls did on this trip.

Field Trips, New Members, and More

It has been a whirlwind few weeks for us. We've been helping out with recruitment nights, going to meetings, and trying to keep up with all the other activities in our busy family's schedule.

I am happy to say we finally have enough girls to be an official Cadette troop! Hip hip hooray! We went on our first field trip this week, a corn maze, since we have just started the aMaze Journey. A couple weeks ago we talked about first impressions and what is on the inside, and made some awesome T-shirts. I was especially happy to do this because my goddaughter has expressed interest in fashion design, and I want to make sure we are pursuing her interests!


Brownies is continuing to go wonderfully. A few weeks ago we had a police officer from our city come in and talk about bike safety, and at our last meeting the woman who runs a local bike clinic came it and showed the girls how to do some basic work on a bike, like taking off, patching, and putting a tire back on. They LOVED this. I don't think I could have predicted how much they would love this. They were super engaged and even started the closing ceremony without me while I wasn't looking, because they were so excited to share it with their new-found friend.

This past weekend we finally set out on our bike trip to a local trail. I was disappointed with the attendance on this trip, but right now it seems like sports is a big conflict for lots of families. The girls who did come had a great time and I was really glad to see my own daughter having a blast.

We have three new members who will join us at our next meeting bringing our Brownie total up into the teens. Hoping everything will continue to go smoothly with a bigger group!

Poor Poor Poor Poor Poor Poor Esme

Esme thinks we're working her too hard this year. We have stepped up academics a bit and are focusing pretty intensely on her Math skills. She also had to work with me to create a web of her experiences at The Big E and is now working on a rough draft of her writing assignment. Frankly, we don't feel bad for her. She has no idea about waking up early, going to school 30+ hours a week, etc.


Right now she and Ethan are finishing up The Knight at Dawn and she designed her own coat of arms. She's also enjoying her swimming and ballet lessons.

First Official Brownie Meeting!

I wanted to jump right back in to Girl Scouts so we had our first meeting today! We met at a local mountain to start our Animals Try-It. We hiked around the lake and found lots of bugs, squirrels, two lizards, and three frogs. We saw evidence of beavers and chipmunks too. I even managed to keep my cool while a huge, fuzzy, yellow caterpillar crawled up my pants leg!

It was so good to see the girls again! Seven of the girls from last year were able to come, and and we had one brand new members. I am looking forward to lots of great activities this year!

Our family has discovered how fun gallery walks can be! We went on our first one Saturday night and had a great time. Esme got to see a wide variety of styles and types of art.

Esme's first official day of school for this year was Thursday. She reviewed a bit of math, and got back to her Bob Books. She is super interested in space so she will begin her Solar System/All Things Space unit tomorrow. I can't wait to see all of her projects!

Another Educational Family Trip

As part of our family vacation we visited Plymouth. We stopped and took a look at Plymouth Rock and the Pilgrim Memorial, and saw the Mayflower II. We thought this would be a great way to kick off the social studies unit we're planning to do this Fall. Esme will officially go back-to-homeschool this Thursday. She'll be studying reading, writing, math, science, social studies, art, music, sports, and of course many other things. She'll also be continuing with lots of great group activities like Daisies, soccer, and more! Please wish us luck as she enters First Grade!!

A Summer of Learning

Esme has had quite an exciting summer. Her dad and I are both working, so she's been having lots of adventures. She spent several days with Grandma, traveling and visiting. She has been to work with her dad a couple days and it sounds like she is ready to take over the library. We took her to New York City last weekend on a mini-vacation and highlights for her including visiting Central Park, The Metropolitan Museum of Art, and seeing the Statue of Liberty from a distance. Probably what Esme has found most exciting though is her three weeks at Girl Scout camp. At camp she's had the opportunity to participate in a wide variety of activities including swimming, playing group games, making fairy houses, learning all kinds of arts and crafts, and so much more. She's also accomplished some goals like learning the pledge of allegiance and has even taken an active role in the flag ceremony three times. She has made lots of new friends and is having a blast! It has been a very positive experience for her.

This coming school year is the first time I will have to report our homeschooling activities to our city. I am feeling semi-confident, probably only semi because this is my first time. I spent a long time working on my letter of intent, and researching exactly what I need to include, etc. Ethan and I are really looking forward to getting back to our regular routines!

Whirlwind of Educational Activities Last Week

Tuesday morning Esme and went to her first marionette show. The puppeteers performed Cinderella and were lit up so that the audience could see the show and how they make the marionettes move.

Friday, the most exciting day, we took our first family trip to the Boston Museum of Science. We decided this would be the perfect way to end our Human Body unit and segue into our dinosaur unit. Even though we've really been studying dinosaurs all year, it will be official for the next few weeks. The museum was WONDERFUL!! Our family universally agreed that it was a fabulous trip. Esme particularly enjoyed the senses room and of course the dinosaur section. She also liked the classification room and the anatomy room. She was disappointed that we didn't get to see every singe exhibit, but we have assured her that we will go again very soon!

Saturday Esme and I attended an all-day Earth Day celebration with Girl Scouts. Esme made her own applesauce over a campfire, cleaned up a campsite, made her own paper, went on a hike, explored wetland muck for life, made lip balm, sang Native American folk songs, beat a drum, and had a yoga session with a professional instructor.

Although Sunday wasn't an official homeschooling day, we did get a chance to spend some time at the beach and explore some things we don't see around our town every day. We waded in salt water and searched for hermit crabs with Esme's cousin, Dylan. Esme and Ethan made a great sand castle, and later we climbed on some very cool weather-beaten rocks.

Today Esme had her regular Girl Scout meeting and had her first TBall practice. It has been a whirlwind, but wonderful!

Pumpkin Time and Jumping in the Hay

Every year we take Esme to the same spot to choose a pumpkin for our jack-o-lantern. Today she learned that pumpkins are actually a fruit and that the average pumpkin weighs twelve pounds. Last year was the first time she was big enough to jump in the hay pile, and today she had it all to herself. I think that was her favorite part!

First Day of Spring at the Sugar Shack

Esme and I went on a tour of a local sugar shack today to celebrate the first day of Spring. We learned how maple syrup is made, from the tree to the bottle. We got a try a sample and oh my goodness was it sweet and delicious! Have a pancake was Esme's favorite part! My favorite part was meeting and talking to other homeschooling moms. It's amazing how each family's process is so completely different.

We've been spending a lot of time at the library lately. We've been meeting up with other homeschoolers to share books, do crafts, and last time we had a singing circle. We're hoping to get involved with more families as time goes on and do more cooperative events.

Our Aquarium Visit

We visited the Aquarium to celebrate the end of our ocean unit! It was a wonderful and very satisfying experience to watch Esme move through the exhibits and see all the different animals she'd learned about. Her favorite part was touching the starfish. We had a book from the library about Starfish that we must have read fifty times, because she loved it so much. I think what caught

her attention and held her rapt the longest was the Beluga whales. We stopped and watched them on our way in and went outside again to watch their feeding. It is amazing how close they swim to where you're standing. She also really enjoyed the penguins and sea lions, as well as the florescent fish, clown fish, octopus (which she named Ursula), and a moray eel which Ethan and I both found disturbing. It was great to see how much she's really learned, and see her make the connections between the books we've read and the real live animals.

Eric Carle Museum

To celebrate finishing our bug unit, we visited the Eric Carle Museum of Picture Book Art today. In the last six weeks we'd used The Grouchy Ladybug, The Very Quiet Cricket, The Very Lonely Firefly, The Very Clumsy Click Beetle, and The Very Hungry Caterpillar, so we thought this would be a fitting tribute. We saw the process he uses for his illustrations, saw some work by Leo Lionni, heard Rosemary Wells speak, visited the library, and made our own magical creatures in the art studio.

This was a wonderful first unit for all of us. Using the bug lessons by The Mailbox made planning the lessons easy, and we were lucky to have so many books we love on the subject. We're taking two weeks to study Halloween, and after that we'll move on to studying the ocean - Esme let us know that is what she is interested in next.

Thanks to everyone who has supported us in our homeschooling adventure so far!

Amazed by Butterflies

We ended our study of butterflies last week with a trip to the butterfly conservatory. What an amazing place! We saw many different kinds of butterflies, and got to reinforce all the interesting things we learned last week. Esme and I were delighted that one landed on Ethan and started to walk around on his head, until it walked into his eye. Shouldn't have taken those glasses off! Ethan has recovered but I think he may have been a little traumatized and I'm not sure we'll get him near any kind of bug conservatory anytime again soon.

This week we are studying Spiders. Our book of the week is The Very Busy Spider and our words of the week are to and said.