still kicking

Last night, Annie had what was probably her personal best game of the season so far. Still it was a losing effort overall for the girls, but I think they're smart enough to realize that what was really important was how well they actually played.

in uniform

Three games down. One win, two losses. But still in good spirits.

the final weeks

I'm getting so far behind in posts for this blog, but I'm going to try to catch up with a few for today. Annie had her last two Camp Arrowhead classes for the school year. Two weeks ago, they had their big camp out. Annie was a bit nervous about it, but ended up having a ball! (As we knew she would.)


This is the before photo. In typical empty-headed fashion, I forgot to take the after photo.

And then this past week, they had a Civil War reenactment group come in. They also tried out a few crafts of the era, such as quilting and tin-punching. Unfortunately, no pictures from that. But Rich got a few shots of Annie at the end of year party thrown after the day's classes.

teeth and potatoes

I've been a bit lax here about getting photos posted...combination of laziness and forgetfulness. Here's a few from last week:

First, we've got Annie doing a mammal skull lab in which she is examining mammal skulls and trying to determine the animal's diet:





No surprise that Annie is really enjoying our mammals unit. We're using David Attenborough's Life of Mammals as our unofficial textbook, and we've been watching the series on DVD as well. And though we've done it before, we'll probably do some live small mammal trapping in the yard, and head out to somewhere to make some plaster casts of mammal tracks. I'm personally looking forward to Annie's power point presentation, where she can teach me a bit about one of her favorite mammals, the Canadian lynx. A field trip the American Museum of Natural History sure would be a fun culminating activity, but I'm not sure if we'll be able to swing it.
















And here she is cooking up a recipe, potato pancakes, for Idaho:



They were quite yummy, but not nearly as much as that apple pie! Annie and I are a tad jealous...we'll soon be moving on to New Mexico, but while we're reading and watching videos and cooking, Jean will actually be there in person! Not a chance we can fit in her luggage either.

Oh, and I almost forgot to mention that Annie had her first soccer game of the season last night, but her frazzled old mom had forgotten to take the camera.

these glorious spring days

One of the many benefits of homeschooling:



Ahh, who wouldn't love having class outside in this beautiful spring weather, especially with one's trusty beagle at one's side.

In other news, added to the old phys ed column, was an all day archery class last week, and the soccer season officially started last night.

O.K., now we're off to watch another episode of The Life of Mammals.

trash collectors

Yesterday was another Camp Arrowhead day for Annie, and again she had a ball. Hiking day is always one of Annie's favorites, but today there was a bit of a twist...they cleaned up the woods as they hiked. They managed to gather up over 100 pounds of trash!

Click here (and scroll down a bit) for a picture of Annie and the rest of the class with their haul.

making friends

Sometimes the highlight of a day is making friends and learning to lean on others. Yesterday was another Camp Arrowhead day for Miss Annie. And I think she had more fun there than she ever has before...and believe me, that's really saying something!

"Working Dogs" and "Community Cooperation" made up the schedule. Annie was most excited about "Working Dogs"...anything involving animals always gets a big thumbs up with her. Yep, she's a typical kid on that one. But it turned out to be the "Community Cooperation" class that left her full of excitement for the rest of the day. It simply involved solving problems as a group. This was not only a great life exercise, but it allowed Annie to finally feel a part of this group. Since her birthday, she was moved up to the older class and just really hadn't felt like she belonged yet. Now she most definitely does. She talked a mile a minute all the way home and for the next hour or so after. I think she may also have gained a little admirer...we'll have to wait and see on that one. But he made of point of getting Annie a chair at lunch and then asked for her phone number at the end of the day. (It was really sort of cute, though Annie might kill me for saying so.)

And then last night, the kids had their final swimming lesson of the current session. Annie wasn't so sure she would "graduate" and get to move up to Level 4, but she did. It's truly amazing to see how well she's swimming these days, after refusing to put her face in the water for so many years. :)



We were so proud of Gray as well...he "graduated" and gets to move to Level 2. He was so worried that Max would get to move up and he wouldn't. (No amount of reassurance from us could convince him that that wasn't going to happen.)



Max didn't "pass"...he won't jump into the pool, which is one of the requirements for moving up to Level 2. Luckily, he was not upset in the slightest...Whew. He just has a ball while he's there. And he's learning water safety and how to keep himself afloat, and that's all we really care about.



And to celebrate everyone's success, we went out afterward to the local ice cream shop!

on the go

Yesterday was a fun, busy day in Annie's world. Unfortunately one devoid of photos though. Well, photos of Miss A anyway.

Yesterday was another Camp Arrowhead day. The morning was spent in a hiking class, and the afternoon in a calligraphy class...Annie enjoyed both immensely. And she made new friends as well, since she has now moved up to the next age group.

After supper came swimming lessons. Annie is really enjoying diving. Just one class left of this session. She's not sure if she'll be moving up a level or not. But we probably won't get back to swimming lessons until the fall anyway, as soccer is about to start.

And finally, last evening she headed out with Rich to view the annual salamander migration. It was harder to pinpoint "the perfect night" this year as the ideal weather conditions haven't really presented themselves. Yesterday's weather was close, so they headed out to scope things out. And sure enough, they were rewarded for their efforts.



Not sure how easy they are to see, but there are three salamanders in this photo.

They saw three species of salamander this year, fewer than last year (but that is probably because of timing, not because of a change in populations).

for the brain and the body

Camp Arrowhead is an area YMCA that offers classes for home-schoolers throughout the traditional school year. Annie absolutely loves attending! They do offer some pretty fun, interesting stuff. (Unfortunately, we can only afford to send her to a few each semester...but I think that helps her appreciate them even more.)

















It really is a beautiful place, set out in the woods, which allows them to offer all kinds of camping, hiking, snowshoeing, and other outdoor activities.

Yesterday she took a full day class about the Olympics. Along with learning a bit about the history of the Olympics, the passing of the torch, etc., they also competed in their own mini version of the games. Annie had her first exposure to throwing the discus and heaving a shot put. They had relays, and obstacle courses, and long jump contests, plus a variety of "silly" games.


And here is Annie (in one very blurry photo) with her Olympic medal :)

on the ice

An afternoon of ice skating made a nice addition to the old phys ed column on Saturday. Unfortunately we didn't get any photos.