Rock Hounds

I am so thankful to my dad's wife, Mary, for putting tons of hard work into planning and teaching my boys an amazing unit about the Earth. She is a real rock hound and when she saw this topic in our curriculum, she volunteered to tackle it with the boys. It ended up being a really great help to me since I was in bed sick most of the days she was here. They learned about the Earth's layers, plate tectonics, volcanoes, geysers, kinds of rocks and minerals, and crystals. Here are some awesome pictures from their studies ---

Mary made amazing binders for each of the boys. They include information, worksheets, activity directions, etc. She covered a lot of it with them, but there is extra stuff for them to return to when they're older and this subject comes around again in our curriculum.

Making Model Volcanoes --

Geysers

 

Rock Sample Kits

Yummy Plate Tectonics Lesson

"Layers of the Earth" Cupcakes --

They had fun taking "core samples" from the layered cupcakes.

Crystal - Growing Kits

The boys had so much fun and learned a ton! I am so thankful to have had this help with schooling, especially at this time of year when things seem to drag on and we just want to be "done." Thanks again Mary and Dad! 

Happy Mother's Day!

A Mother's Day surprise from my boys!

Happy Mother's Day to my sassy, classy, beautiful mom,
my kind and thoughtful mother-in-law,
and all the wonderful moms I'm privileged to know as sisters and friends.

I learn so much from all of you
and I love being able to share all of the ups and downs and joys and challenges of motherhood
with such supportive, wise, and funny women who "get it."

What a great and awesome privilege it is to be a mom.
I never knew how deeply I could love until I held my sons.

Thank you, God, for my sons...
for giving me the opportunity to love and serve you by loving and serving them.
Help me to be a good mom to them always.
God bless my mom and all moms.
Fill us with your grace, wisdom, and love
so that we can be mirrors of you for our children
and we can all journey to heaven together.

Blessed Virgin Mary, Our Lady of Fatima, Our Mother in Heaven, pray for us.

Amen.

I love you Mom!

"The mother's heart is the child's schoolroom."
Henry Ward Beecher
US Congressional Clergyman

Metamorphosis

Over the past few weeks we've enjoyed observing the metamorphosis of caterpillars into Painted Lady butterflies. My sister had given the boys a butterfly garden kit a few years ago and we never actually ordered the caterpillars until now. It was a fun process to observe! And yesterday we released four new Painted Lady butterflies into Central Ohio.

Happy 6th Birthday Adam!

Adam turned six on May 1st! We had a party for him last Sunday. (It was that day that I began to feel sick... and I'm just now "living to tell about it.") ;) It was actually a very nice afternoon. We celebrated Adam's 6th birthday and my sister Reenie's 39th birthday! My mom made delicious spaghetti and meatballs. The kids and dads played outside. Here are some pictures ---

The kids had a great time playing with Silly String in the backyard.

Adam created this party game --- "Pin the Mustache on Mario."

Life since this party has been a bit of a blur, but I know Adam had a great birthday celebration and he's proud and happy to be six years old! He is such a sweet and interesting little boy and I'm so very blessed to be his mom. May he be holy, healthy, and happy and have a long, long life!

A "New Room" for Adam!

I can't believe that my baby is six years old! It seems like just a short time ago that I found out I was having a second boy and I was freaking out because our final bedroom had purple carpet. I remember how excited I was to find "boyish" jungle wallpaper that would match with the purple carpet. It makes me laugh now that I thought that was so important. This snapshot of my dad holding Adam as a baby gives a glimpse of the wallpaper and the curtains my mom made to match.

I wish I had taken a picture of how Adam's room looked a few weeks ago. He has his own artistic sense of style. He likes to collect junk. He likes to draw lots of pictures and hang them all over his walls.

Well, we stripped down the walls and took off the wallpaper. Then, Pappy and Mary came in and redid Adam's room as a special birthday gift for him.

I have to admit that I struggled a bit with their plan. We have been dealing with a Mario-obsessed boy.... and we've cut Wii time back to Saturdays only. But the kid LOVES these characters. He draws them and writes stories about them and plays "in Mario world" all day long. So, in the end, I allowed the "Mario room plan" to go forward.

And it turned out really cool.... and I have a very happy six year old boy with a "big boy" bedroom! Check it out ----

The fresh paint job is awesome... and the wall stickers are totally removable (for when/if he outgrows this Mario thing). Thank you Dad and Mary!

Next, we went furniture shopping. Adam never really had a bed... just a mattress and box spring on the floor. Now he has THIS -----

We looked at several bunk options. Adam fell in love with this one because of the drawers and shelves. (My little junk collector!) The double bed below is on casters. We put Ray's mattress on it and for now Ray is sleeping there and they are loving "sharing" a room. When the novelty wears off we'll take the double bed frame and mattress back to Ray's room and Adam will have that extra area for playing. We liked this bed because of the options/flexibility it provides.

Mary finished off the look with the new Mario sheets and blankets. (Thanks!) All we have left to do is have my mom design some curtains. And yes, we still have the purple carpet! ;) And we have two boys who have been sleeping great as well!

Bosco Boys Club - "Responsibility" and "Patience"

Greetings faithful readers! I am FINALLY back from the crazy foggy-headed land of bronchitis. I can't believe how long it has taken me to get some energy back. I am anxious to catch up on some blogging!
First off.... Bosco Boys Club.

The virtue for March was responsibility. Ironically, I decided to shirk my responsibilities and skip that meeting! ;) That ended up being the week that my mom and I took the boys to Indianapolis. Fortunately, my faithful assistants stepped in and held a wonderful meeting. They made beautiful Saint Joseph plaques and enjoyed yummy Italian bread and treats.

April's virtue was patience. Those of you who know me will understand how perfectly appropriate it was for me to lead this meeting. (Ha ha!)

We began with some playtime. The boys are really interacting and enjoying each other more and more each month. This month's big hit was "Bey Blades." They had a blast battling each other with the spinning tops.

We then learned a bit about Saint Frances de Sales and talked about the ways we have to practice patience in our lives. The boys hunted for Easter eggs and worked in color teams to put together quotes about patience. Then we enjoyed a yummy snack.

Next we headed outside. I had frozen little plastic sea creature toys in cups. Each boy got one to "excavate." They loved this! They began working with the play tools I brought.... but quickly figured out how to smash the ice on the pavement to free the toys. I didn't get many pictures because I was laughing so hard. This was pure fun for them. Gotta love boys!

What a privilege it is for me and my boys to have this time each month with some really great friends!

Busy... Busy... Busy... BAM!

Sinus Infection.
Bronchitis.
Two days flat in bed barely able to lift up my head.
Yuck!

Fortunately, my Dad and Mary have been here teaching the boys an awesome unit about rocks, volcanoes, layers of the earth, etc. They've been having fun and learning a lot.

Today Ray seems to have a low-grade version of what I have.... as well as my mom, sister, and nephew. I feel so bad to have infected them! And I'm hoping and praying that Jon and Adam aren't the next victims. Today was the first day I had any energy to be up and moving around... and I still had to take a two hour nap.

There are lots of fun things I want to post.... most importantly, ADAM'S SIXTH BIRTHDAY! We had a party for him on Sunday afternoon and it was then that I started feeling sick. His actual birthday was yesterday and I pretty much missed the whole day, but he had fun with his Pappy and Mary and Ray. Wait until you see what he got for his birthday. So cool! That's a teaser to keep you reading my blog.... even though it's been so long since I've posted. ;) Hopefully tomorrow I'll have time and energy to edit the pictures and get some posts up here.

God bless!