Easter Hike

What a spectacular day! We took at hike at a nearby state park and enjoyed seeing The Mountain (Mt. Rainier) so up close. It is almost startling when it peeks from around the trees! My plum tree out front is in full beautiful bloom!

Backyard Adventures

OK, so the last photo is out front across the street (not in the back). I'm sorry there aren't any cows out there. The horses next door are so fun to watch. It was a gorgeous day and we had C over for the afternoon. Several horses came to the fence to check us out and we fed them our long weeds (they have no weeds and no long anything on the other side of the fence)! Dan and I staked out a few raised beds the other day. I'm loving it here!

She's At It Again

We've been here under a month and Sarah is already into the cardboard again, today is a car. I don't seem to have good after pictures, you can't see the wheels and some of the cool details.

Gamestar Mechanic

Oh my. I think I found this fantastic educational tool on someone's blog...Gamestar Mechanic. It has opened a whole new area of education for our family.

My kids have gone crazy for it. It is an online game community designed to teach the guiding principles of game design and systems thinking and the kids both LOVE it!

The kids do not need an email to sign up. There's a free version allowing access to most everything except the paid "Addison's Quest", which was quite enough to get started for us. If you want to pay for a homeschool, you pay $2 per student with a minimum of $20 at this time (which is the price for one student to do the paid quest, so it is a bargain to sign up as a class or homeschool).

I really view the computer as a tool, a means to an end and I like to limit its use for "just playing games", but this is different. The skills needed to create a game and write the comments and earn different skill levels involves many different thinking processes. Both kids have been asking "Mom, how do you spell "blank" and have been doing LOTS of typing. I like that they enjoy completing a game creation and encouraging one another.

The timing of finding Gamestar Mechanic couldn't have been better, they've been playing a lot during our move. I'll be cutting back on the time spent on it next week as we get back to the academics and routine we set aside in order to pack, move and unpack. I think Dan has pretty much plumbed the depths of the quests. Both have entered their games in a contest that ends April 24th. A great find for our family and good timing as we've had less structured time during our move!

Worm Bin Project

This will allow us to deposit our kitchen scraps and allow the worms to make compost tea (natural fertilizer) and SOIL. I've always wanted to do this!

Here's a tutorial:
http://whatcom.wsu.edu/ag/compost/easywormbin.htm

I Love Being Outside

A wet day here on the farm. I like the sound of that. We really aren't a farm, but we are surrounded by horses and cows (across the street), lots of frogs and chickens and a rooster next door, so it feels farmy.

Sarah took great delight in this water droplet today. I take great delight in her.

Oreo Kitty Portraits

I love how these turned out. I just put up the curtains to give us some privacy from the street and noticed how it matched Oreo's eyes. He was quite excited to play with them!

Literature For Lunch-The Trumpet of the Swan by E.B. White

We are not ready to dive back into our routine as we are still unpacking in a major way, but why not an audiobook? This sweet story has been on my list for awhile and who doesn't love a story read by the author?

There's a surprising about of information about swans and nature (and business dealings!) in this story which is delightful. Both myself and my 13 and almost 10 year old enjoyed The Trumpet of the Swan by E.B. White.

St Patrick's Day Costume

Sarah loves to decorate for each holiday. Here she is with some decorations (she made a shamrock to hang from the ceiling out of that green yarn) and a costume. Can you see her headband and matching earrings and bracelet (not to mention the shoes!!)?

Let's Get Electricity to the Barn

Dan noticed the table in the barn has an electrical strip and decided it was necessary to run all our extension cords down the fence. He did an awesome job being careful not to get them dirty and made sure there was enough to reach. He likes to hardwire stuff including the computer. Love my almost 13 year old boy!

Dan's Campfire Pit

Dan is very excited about being able to have a campfire in his own backyard!

We Did It!

We did it! The old house is empty and the new one is FULL! We are here!

I will miss our great private wooded backyard and the view of the changing seasons from the dining room. But there are great new memories in store!