Friday's Homeschool Feature - Friends

Getting together with friends is always a great idea with homeschooling. Not because I believe in "socialization" but because I do believe the more the merrier. Friends are important to kids (and grownups as well).

Here are a few pictures from or recent adventures with our friends.

Trip to "Greece"


Super Science Extravaganza


Awesome Field Trip Adventure


The cool thing about having 3 boys is that, when friends aren't available they do always have eachother.









And they really are the best of friends. They play and tussle all day and swap man stories at night. I'm pretty sure they are planning world domination. But at least they will do it together!

Do you have a homeschool feature to share with us? Maybe a product review or just a random tip that makes your day? Blog about it and then come back here and add the link to your blog post in my Mr. Linky at the bottom of this entry.

Be sure to link me in your blog post. You can use my handy dandy banner if you'd like.

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Thursday Tips - Bunny Care

Do you have a house bunny? Does clipping her nails terrify you?



I used to be afraid of clipping my bunny's nails. But it was a necessary evil. Pepper is about as placid as a bunny can be as long as she doesn't think you want to eat her. If you get clippers near her toes...she assumes you want to use them to eat her. I learned a new trick and I'm not afraid anymore.

First you wrap your bunny up in a towel like a burrito. It's a good idea to get someone else to help you in case you need a second pair of hands.



Then you lay her gently on her back. It's very important to be gentle and move slowly. Your bunny's spine is extremely fragile. One wrong jerk of the leg to break free and your rabbit can snap her spine. When my bunny is in a burrito wrap she doesn't fight. Her arms and legs are completely held against her body. It's also good to have your helper hold her down firmly during the process. I've gotten quite good at it, and she stays pretty still now.

I gently pull one leg out of the wrap at a time and gently clip the nail with giant toenail clippers (the fingernail clippers don't open wide enough). Be extremely careful not to cut bunny's nail to the quick. This could cause bleeding and your bunny doesn't have a lot of blood. It can also be difficult to stop the bleeding once it starts.



Once you get into a routine with your bunny she will no longer be frightened. I still burrito wrap my bunny so that I don't take any chances with her spine.

If your bunny gets away from you, you can catch her by throwing the towel over her. This will cause her to pause. Then quick as you can scoop up your bunny, towel and all.

After it's all over, be sure to spend some time rubbing your bunny down. She will associate the burrito wrapping with good lovin' and will look forward to her next mani/pedi.

Express Yourself

I should have taken pictures when the haircuts were fresh.

The boys get their hair cut pretty regularly. Sometimes they go to the barber and sometimes Daddy does it. In this case they went to the barber and picked out their own cuts.





I love that the kids are comfortable expressing themselves.

Perfect Day

The weather could not possibly BE any prettier than it was today. We've all got spring fever something terrible! I can't think of a better cure than an evening spent outside. We flew kites and walked the trails (I walked they rode their scooters).

Jeremiah had a handmade kite that didn't make it.




Calvin took this picture of me (it was very windy). I like to play with my kids. I don't usually just hang back and watch. There's no fun in that.

Friday's Homeschool Feature - Organized Supplies

There are lots of days that I would not survive the school day if it weren't for my organizational skills.



This is our desk. I haven't decided whether or not we are keeping it. But the spirit of it will remain with us...on bookshelves.

I love these lock boxes. They are the PERFECT size for colored pencils and markers. The magazine files keep our papers, workbooks, and teacher books together by subject.


I keep a plethora of pencils sharpened and ready to go. I purchase them in bulk when all the school supplies are ridiculously cheap in August. Once a week we go through them and add eraser tops and sharpen as needed.



Join me in this week's Homeschool Feature. Blog about something that helps, inspires, or motivates you in your home education endeavors. Link back to me in your post and link up to my Mr. Linky.

Totally Awesome Field Trip

We met up with friends in our state capitol. First we spend some time touring the history museum.



This exhibit is dedicated to David Marshall "Carbine" Williams who designed designed firearms while in prison. His is a pretty cool story.

November 13, 1900–January 8, 1975 Carbine was an American designer of the short-stroke piston used in the M1 Carbine as well as the floating chamber operating system for firearms.

This nice lady had some neat Native American artifacts. She took the time to explain what she has to the kids.




The kids were so receptive to her teaching that she stopped and told them a short story about the oldest artifact in the entire museum. This is a very old canoe that Native Americans made by hand using fire and handmade tools. Our nice lady even pointed out the old burn marks from the process of burning off branches.



The kids all jumped in the kid friendly replica for a picture. It's a Museum of History "must do".


And of course we had to flock to the Sports Hall of Fame.


There was another volunteer demonstrating cloth weaving.


After the Museum of History it was on to the Capitol Lawn for a picnic lunch.








After lunch we squeezed in a tour of the capitol building.

(I never remember to take a picture of the outside of the building. This picture is not my own)


The inside of the dome is incredible.








Some of us had a little more time to kill so we went on to the Museum of Natural Science.





As we were leaving we passed by the bell. The kids stopped to investigate.



Elijah was the only one brave enough to ring it. And boy howdy! It was LOUD.


It was a great day, full of adventure!

WFMW - Computer to TV Hook Ups

I'm going to show you how to connect your pc to your tv...this will work even if you don't have a plasma tv.

Many newer plasma tv's have the VGA connection, which allows you to plug your pc directly into your tv. The VGA cable plugs into your computer monitor. It looks like this:


My computer does not have this connection but there is still a way to make this work.

This is called a VGA converter. I call it my magic box. It allows me to connect my computer to my tv (you can find them for about $30).


You connect your VGA cable into this box then plug in the composite cable into the back. The composite cable connects to your tv. It should be included in the box with your converter and looks like this:



You will simply plug this yellow cord into the back of your tv marked "Video 1"...the outlet should be yellow.

Now the VGA cord that came with my converter kit had a split on it that allows me to also plug up to my monitor. Which is really cool since it lets me have both screens connected at the same time.

Now that you have your wires connected you need to adjust the settings on your display. Here are some simple instructions for Vista users:

1. Right click on your desktop.

2. Click on "Personalize"

3. Click on "Display Settings"

4. Set your resolution to the lowest setting and "Apply".

Power-on your Converter box and then your TV. You should now see the same images on on you monitor and your tv.


You might be asking "Why would I want to do that?"

Number 1: You can streamline movies, tv shows, and videos to your larger screen for the whole family to enjoy.

Number 2: You can keep an eye on what your kids are viewing from the comfort of your favorite spot.

For me this also saves lots of space. I no longer need  a desk for the computer. The kids just pull out the personal tables when they are doing school work or playing games.


I love this set up. It really "works for me".