Weekend of 4/28 - 4/30... Chickenque & more...

Saturday - we caught up on some homeschooling seatwork... C.O. did 2 pages of math, 2 pages of spelling/vocabulary work, and a coloring page on U.S. geography, while C.J. sorted shape tiles by color and then counted by group. She also practiced writing her name (still trying to get her library card!). Then, we baked a gorgeous cake for the 4-H Chickenque: dark chocolate with orange buttercream frosting, chocolate sprinkles, and mandarin orange slices spiraling on top. I spent some time in the evening going over lesson plan ideas for next fall, like looking at library books on prehistoric people, looking through Story of the World, and glancing over Story of the Orchestra (library copy). C.O. has decided to finish out this school year with a study of dinosaurs, so I put 14 dinosaur books on hold at the library, both fiction and nonfiction. We already have Eyewitness Books Dinosaur, so we can use that for reference. I was reading over some of my older posts last night too, and realizing that some of the fun we used to have isn't there right now, partly due to my lack of organization, and not having new topics to get excited about. The dinosaurs got C.O. eyes lit up again!

Sunday - Chickenque day! This is the big, yearly 4-H fundraiser. C.O. wore his outfit for the first time, and looked very spiffy. Anyhow, we arrived a little after 11, went to turn in our cake, and C.O. was thrilled to see his buddy Cameron.


So, they played together for a few minutes, then Cameron went off to get in parade formation, and the rest of us played until the parade started. Just after it started, a really nice dad from our 4-H club asked if C.O. would like to join the parade, so off he went! He looked great marching for the few minutes it lasted, helping hold our club banner (which by the way was the most attractive banner there!).


After that, we went off to meet my dad, had lunch and cake with him, checked out all the booths and the animals. C.J. had to climb into the haybale pigpen. Both kids made felt beads too. Eventually, my dad tired out, but then my MIL showed up, so while Grandpa went home, we stayed.... and stayed. C.O. had trash duty late in the afternoon, so we ended up being there the whole day. Needless to say, the kids were exhausted by the time we got home, but it was a good day!

Today was much calmer. I had work, the kids slept in. When I got home, we watched an episode of Planet Earth, and the kids colored in pictures of safari animals. C.O. played with some Learning Wrap-Ups for math, and his Phonics Notebook again for an hour while I finished a paper for my anthropology class and C.J. watched Little Bear. After that we ran off to Aikido, where C.O. got to be the 4 elements - Earth, Air, Fire and Water - loads of fun! He never stops smiling in that class. Now, C.J. is replanting some weeds on the back patio, and C.O. is at my mom's house for a sleepover. I have leftover chicken in the oven heating up, so it looks like a relatively peaceful evening.