Week 5- Madeline and more

 I'm posting this a week late due to my leaving my camera battery in Tennessee- and not being to upload the photos! Last week, we focused on the book, Madeline. I don't at all remember the book being about appendicitis when I was a kid, but that's really the story line. Of course it has a lot more to offer, too.

 For math we lined up our little people 2 x 2 just like Madeline and her little school mates.

 For art, we tried to construct the Eiffel Tower with marshmallows and toothpicks. Despite following the YouTube video we found, it was kind of a bust. The kids did learn about cubes, though, and did a pretty good job of following the directions. Chloe was most interested in this project. I realized perhaps the marshmallows needed to dry out for a day and they would be sturdier- didn't really work that way : ) It was fun construction time anyway.

                                The kids loved singing along with a counting in French video.

 Chloe decided to design her own Eiffel tower with other shapes. Way to take initiative : )

 Here is what Colin does during Math and Spelling for the girls. For his birthday, Grandma and Papaw offered to purchase several ipad games for him, so he has a lot of fun with those, and it's great that they're mostly educational.

 Underneath Colin's new loft bed has become a great new place for quiet learning. Chloe was working on patterns.

 

For Science this week, we did a very quick lesson on the parts of the flower- Madeline's friends bring flowers to her in the hospital. Since I didn't want to dig up the very few blooms we had, I grabbed the garlic we have curing on the deck. I didn't gauge how hot it would be outside, so we made it quick.

 

 

 We used the chalkboard for a nice large diagram and they found all the parts coordinating with their garlic plant and went inside to cut and glue a diagram of their own. Hannah insisted I add the veins on the leaf just like her friend Phoebe draws them, which is more accurate.

Somehow we managed to keep school going even when Dax's family came into town for a visit. Boy was Nana excited to have all her grandkids in one place- and extreme rarity! The had a full three days and the kids loved playing together.

 

 Hannah was especially interested in meeting her new cousin, Jacob who recently turned 7 and therefore would be closest to her age. They're chatting a little at the Fort Worth Stockyards.

 Colin was thrilled to suddenly have tons of wrestling buddies- 5 more to be exact.

 In Fort Worth some of us tried out the maze- which was fun to watch, but didn't seem too fun to complete in that heat!

 Weston and Colin show their serious side- the oldest and youngest Stokes grandsons.

 Chloe was most interested in hanging out with Weston who was willing to act silly with her- what a great cousin! But she also loves her Uncle Alex a lot and held his hand as we walked around.

 After the family left, things died down only a little bit. Since we ended up canceling our original plans for renting an RV and camping this summer, we offered each of the kids a "Special Day" where they get to pick a few things to do. Chloe picked Chuck E. Cheese, her favorite place in the world. On Sunday we went to our first Minor League ball game and had a great time. We called it Colin's Special Day and he was really proud to say it all evening. Tomorrow, Hannah has requested to eat lunch at Cracker Barrel so she could eat her beloved mac n cheese. She also wants to try the bungee cord at the mall- at as low a height as I can get them to make it! I love that their ideas are so easy and doable at this age.  This past week we are finishing up our last week of the 6 weeks! We're learning about the church days of the week as I want to make sure we're always learning about our faith and don't let it take a backburner to everything else. I'll post on it soon. As always, thanks for visiting with us!