Dinosaur Exhibit at Space and Rocket Center

This was really quite amazing to see - sooooo big!

                                       

I was quite disappointed in the dinosaur exhibit. I'm not exactly sure what I was expecting but it just wasn't that much to look at or do....

Geography Scavenger Hunt using a Compass

I designed a backyard Scavenger Hunt for the kids in which they had to use their compasses to navigate.  After the first few steps they got a lollipop reward.

When they got to the end of the course, the final treasure was gummy snacks - my kids love those things!  And mostly it was fun to do the hunt and good practice in using their compasses!

Dinosaurs Galore

E and Z are doing a fun Dinosaur study.  We discussed plates on a stegosaurus compared to other kinds of plates.  So we graphed party plates and their uses, made our own custom plates and made a picture with a stegosaurus and gave him funny plates.

Z arranging dinosaur bones by length and alphabetizing them, too!

Also, N and E mapped their rooms today as part of our geography lesson by measuring and using graph paper.

Apologia Science Co-op

 Our Group has really grown this year - it is so exciting to have so many families coming together to teach our children!

And the moms even get a few minutes to enjoy lunch together while the teens supervise the children in some games.

Fun on the First Day

 Place value with the days of school.

 Setting up the calendar and weather.

 Critical thinking with 7 sided blocks.  Cool but hard!

Patterns and building!

First Day of Grubbs' Boys Homeschool 2011

Really, I need to remember to take our pictures earlier because of the sun!  It was never a problem when we were in public school because it was so much earlier..... anyway...

 Zeke felt he needed to stage his picture with his backpack even though he won't be using it for school!  Too funny!

Moving to a shadier spot so I can maybe get their eyes!  And no, you don't need shoes for homeschooling!

See more first days :

N's First Days
E's First Days
Z's First Days

35 .....and holding!

I turned 35 today.  I've been really busy so haven't had any of those "deep, reflecting on life moments", but I do think I will stop having birthdays now....35 is old enough!

Here is a pic N took of Tony and I.  I have now celebrated more birthdays with Tony in my life than before Tony in my life... that makes a girl feel really old!  But I've been so lucky in love!  Tony is an awesome man who loves God, me and kids dearly and faithfully.  I couldn't ask for any more in a husband!

I chose lunch at Chuy's - a yummy Mexican restaurant that I really enjoy.  The food was great but we were there a long time!  Then we were off to a pool birthday party for one of Z's friends.  After we put the kids to bed, Tony went to Arby's to use my free milkshake birthday coupon that they emailed me.  Of course, he got one too!  So I enjoyed a Jamoca shake to wrap up my day!

And tomorrow is our first day of Grubbs Boys Homeschool!

Homemade Tomato Sauce

After putting up quite a few tomatoes with peppers with onions, I decided to attempt homemade pizza sauce.  After finding how much we all liked it I decided I wanted to put up marinara/pizza sauce.  Now my garden is about done on tomatoes so I went looking for another source.  I bought 50 pounds of tomatoes from a local farm stand and got started. 

First, I washed my kitchen sink really well and fill it with tomatoes while I brought a big pot of water to boil.  I poured the boiling water over the tomatoes.  This will help to make the skins peel off easily.



 After peeling, I sqeezed each tomatoes to get out a lot of the seeds and juice.This will make the sauce thicker and help it to cook down to the consistency I want much quicker.  I decided to use the crock pot and the a big pot on the stove since I was doing so many.  The crock pot was slower, but it worked!

 The peels went to the compost and to the worm bin!

 I pureed the tomatoes to get the consistency I wanted and then cooked it down.

I added garlic and basil from my garden and cooked until my desired consistency.  After it reached the thickness I wanted, I poured it into jars and used my pressure canner to properly can the sauce, including adding lemon juice as recommended.  I also canned some of the tomato juice that I squeezed from the tomatoes.  (I strained it first through a fine mesh strainer to remove the seeds.)  I'm thinking maybe I'll use the juice for soups - so wishing I could get my kids to eat more soups!

When it was all said and done I had 9 quarts of tomato sauce!  It looks so lovely and I can't wait to eat it!  My kids would happily eat spaghetti every week, so this won't last us through the winter.  However, since I had to purchase the tomatoes it really isn't cost effective to make the sauce this way.....but if I can grow more tomatoes next year, I know how to put them to good use next year!

My pantry, garage stockpile shelf and freezer are all brimming over, so the jars are stuffed here and there in various places!  These were the ones behing the chips and bread in the pantry!