Magic and Mayhem

1.  Daryl ordered some free educational DVD’s (I’ll find out which ones, but in the meantime here and here are some sources of others) and he watched one on glaciers with the kids.  Afterwards, he kept quizzing Jack and high-fiving him when he answered right.  It was very cute, and Jack learned some impressive knowledge in the mere 8 minutes of the DVD!

2.  We had a snowstorm over the weekend and Victoria and I took Alex in the sled to get the mail Monday morning, since we still hadn’t dug the van out of the driveway. 

3.  Jack, Anna, Victoria and I watched The Princess Bride.  We love that movie, and it was so fun to introduce the kids to it.  They love it too now!

4.  Daryl and I took turns playing Hive with various children.  I like the game because it’s a strategy game for older kids, but Alex and Jack can also use the pieces for manipulatives of all sorts.  I’ll write up a post about it soon.

5.  Victoria taught a friend binary online through chat.

6.  Anna is reading a book she got to review before it’s even published! She’s very excited.  She’s supposed to read it and review it, and then she’ll get a signed copy of the final book when it’s released.

7.  Jack, Anna and Victoria have been playing math apps on my iPod.  It’s very effective for getting kids to do math!    They particularly like a bubble math app and rocket math.  Alex has been playing a free app he loves that’s called Glow, and I’ve been playing Pocket Frogs (also free).  It has no educational value, but it’s fun!

8.  We’ve started making ornaments to replace our missing boxes of Christmas ornaments.  Our Christmas tree is utterly ridiculous this year — mismatched lights in patches, almost no ornaments, and it’s frequently got a very annoying cat hidden deep within, threatening the few ornaments the poor tree does have.  We poke at her with a broom handle and the whole tree shakes as she dashes around inside it, and then the lights go out in the mayhem…  It’s magical, I tell ya. 

9.  We made a fabulous, colorful mess with snow.

10. Anna’s playing Cyber Nations, so she’s learning lots about running a country.  She’s been playing since she was up north, so it’s been a few weeks now.  She’s in an alliance with Daryl and with Guy and Val (the family friends she visited up north).  I hear she owns all of Hawaii now!

I’d post more, but ten’s my limit, and a very loopy 12 year-old is waiting to yap with me downstairs.  That’s one of the coolest things about homeschooling, if you ask me.  That, and sleeping late.