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Highlights of the Week May 14-20

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 In no particular order, some of the highlights of the week

Hubby preached a sermon in this church again.

New roof put up on one of the rabbitry buildings.   I had gone into the rabbitry on Wednesday or Thursday this week to do something and spotted one of my girls panting, so promptly removed the winter covering tarp.  This necessitated a building of a wooden roof.   We’ve done tarps one them for the past few years, and found last year the tarps were ripping.  This one was the worst so we did it first, I hope to do the other in two weeks.   I put the lattice sides on it last year and it greatly improved airflow which was a good thing.    Good to have the rabbits cooler again. We worked as a family to put it all together… cutting, drilling, moving etc.  busy hard work.  Hubby put up a “thing” to help with taking the bed off the truck as well…that was hard work man…digging post holes…he has way too many blisters.

My buttercups are blooming!!!!

We’ve been working our way through the human body and we often add videos.  Currently we are on the teeth.  So we watched what the lad said “this was a good video mom, I learned a lot and do a bunch of things wrong”.  We totally ignored all the product placement stuff.

Working on our Physics STEM kit.  We learned about plumb lines and the center of gravity.   It was rather neat to teach about how a person’s center of gravity changes how they move and how that affects doing things like Karate, adding stability and such like.   Seeing the practical use of science in everyday life was a “wow” moment for the lad and provoked great discussion.

Have you seen my beautiful lilac bush?

Working our way through the Hawaiian Frog from ArtAchieve.  Next week we are going to add colour to him.  Hopefully he’ll turn out well, I’m a bit concerned that I made him too small.  The lad wasn’t ready for me to take a picture of his rendition.

Anyways, those are the highlights of MY week, what were the highlights of yours?

Reviews
Secrets and Sequences.    A graphic novel with an interesting approach to coding.
Stick it To ‘Em.   A fun book teaching about stickers and how to make them.  Sass and Style.
Tournament of Champions.   A Rip and Red basketball story.

Everything Else:
Truth – a five minute Friday word prompt post, a poem.
All are treated the same, sharing the inheritance.   Ezekiel 47 devotional.
Cherry Jello Cheesecake.. mm.. YUM!!!
R is for Raving, Rabid, Rabbits.   An alphabet blogging post. 
Keep Living a Life of Faith.  Ezekiel 47 Devotional. 
Taking your camera to Canada.   A fun book on Canada.
Praise to the Lord, the Almighty.  A hymn Study.
God’s Continued Protection.  Devotional on Ezekiel 46.

Linking up at the Following:

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Canada Book: Taking Your Camera To Canada

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Today for my Canada Books I have a small book about Canada, the lad and I read it over the course of three nights I think?  

It’s written for perhaps grade 2-4 what this book does is give a good overview to Canada.

Each chapter is only a couple of pages long with tons of images.

 It’s a fun, quick read with more information than you would think. I was actually impressed!  32 pages in this thin, softcover book.  Maps, religion, science, school, all the different things that will intrigue children from different walks of life.   The close of the book leaves us with quick facts about Canada. 

You can find it here: Taking Your Camera to Canada Sb.  

This post may contain affiliate links – using affiliate links from A Net in Time helps fuel this blog and our homeschool – thank you!

©2006-2017 A Net In Time. All rights reserved. All text, photographs, artwork, and other content may not be reproduced or transmitted in any form without the written consent of the author. A Net In Time/

A Day in the Life – May 11

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 Normally I do review of the entire week but today was such a good day I wanted to share that with you.    

It started with a shock!
I was having a marvellous dream after having a hard time getting to sleep the night before.   Snoozing and snoring away when suddenly “Good morning mom!”   I about jumped out of my skin!  OH MY.. not good.   This was followed by “sorry, sorry mom!  I thought you were awake!!”

Apparently the lad had been up since 730 had some of his schooling done and wanted to touch base with me before moving forward.   GACK!!   Never wake up the mom!!   🙂

Anyways, I managed to drag myself out of bed, and down for breakfast of cereal and a muffin, the lad and I chatted about day plans and all was good.   I took care of the bunnies and noticed the lad had already cared for his mice.

I wanted to get working on the garden, but needed to make sure the lad was well situated with his schooling.  He needed some help getting going with Unlock Math, and mentioned how another math program we are using is WAY too easy for him… so could I contact them and tell them that?   So I have an email to write later tonight asking about course placement.

While he worked on his math, and later his typing, I got some seeds planted in the garden.  YEAH!!!   I got one garden done.   Then I pulled weeds out of another garden that already has peas in it (but needs something more).   OH!  And I hung out a load of laundry to dry.

I heard a “MOM!!!   I need you!” just as I finished so went in to find a lad wondering if we were doing ArtAchieve today or if it was going to wait til Friday.    Friday it was.   He grinned, so then the rest of the negotiating started.   Could writing his story wait, what about not doing science or apologia or …..   🙂     We settled on videos for science and history, and apologia will wait til next week where if he reads two pages a day it will be completely finished.

Lunch (I had soup, the lad had a bagel with cheese) and freetime for 1/2 an hour and then “lad, can you give me a hand?”  He was happy to help.  We built a small herb garden out of some old lumber we had laying around.  

Unbeknownst to the lad I tossed in a wee bit of math… the lad thinks he’s horrid at estimating so I asked him how much dirt he thought it would hold and he found out he’s not so horrid at estimating!  WOOT WOOT!   But we had a seriously good time working together, the lad had fun holding wood, using a drill and saw and dumping in dirt.   Did you know that working out clumps with your bare feet is the fastest and bestest way to do it?   AND it feels really good on your feet apparently.  🙂

While the lad and I were working hubby was busy fixing the riding lawn mower for the church.   It was a bit of a frustration BUT at the end… isn’t it great to learn new skills and have success?  🙂

After we got this done we did a touch of shopping, I was out of feed for the bunnies and Hubby needed to pick something up. 

Upon our return (having had a break from the heavy work) we set out to do some more.  We moved the snowblowers out of the garage into the back yard (to make room in the garage).   Not the best place to store them but hubby is looking at erecting a small shelter for them and the riding lawn mower to protect them in the summer.  

Anways, moving the snowblowers into the back yard had necessitated moving a few other things. All of which needed a good hose down me thinking “do I want to move this or do I want to sell it?”  I’m
leaning toward selling it… but that might require some discussion with family.   The lad repotted his catnip plants (he sells it and makes crafts from it) and repotted a hosta for me.  So his garden bed this year holds amaryllis, a small flowering plant and all his catnip (he wants to move it with us).

We had an unpleasant surprise in a finding my rubbermaid tote (that I use to store supplies for the rabbitry)  full of water.  Everything was soaked and was quite the mess to clean up.  We even found a lightbulb full of water!!! (made us laugh and totally surprised dad)   But the pleasant result of it was my lad making his first terrarium.

Admittedly by end of day I was getting pretty tired… and then I needed to make supper. GACK!!!   It was the lads turn to cook but he was pretty wasted by then as well.

We ended up doing mac and cheese.. YES from a box as it was downright quick and easy!  I much prefer homemade.. but annie’s does make a decent boxed mac and cheese.

We quickly got the laundry off the line, garbage out to the curb, read our bedtime books, played a round of Clash Royale together and then the lad was off to bed.

Hubby and I watched Star Trek and Crimes Beyond Borders together and then it was getting on time for bed.   I talked with a friend for a while and then ZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZ  🙂  I had tried hard to finish this post last night but at the end of it all.. I was just fried!   

Sharing this post over at Kym’s (when she gets her highlights post done).

This post may contain affiliate links – using affiliate links from A Net in Time helps fuel this blog and our homeschool – thank you!

©2006-2017 A Net In Time. All rights reserved. All text, photographs, artwork, and other content may not be reproduced or transmitted in any form without the written consent of the author. A Net In Time/

Art Series: A Boy Named Giotto.

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 I want to thank Kirsten for coming to my rescue this week with another guest post with an art book.  I am SO pleased to have learned about this neat book.   Won’t you join me in learning about it?

This is a wonderful treasure of a book that tells the
life of Giotto and explains his drive to create art that led him to
become one of the greatest painters of all time.

This is a book that tells most in its pictures and has
little text, although the reading level is beyond the reach of little
ones. It is a perfect book to give to older school-aged children and even
teens. But I used it as a read aloud book so my children could listen,
look at the glorious pictures, and discuss ideas that came up along the
way.

You can pair this book with a number of other activities
like painting with egg (as Giotto did), reading a short biography of
his life, and perusing a book by Madeline L’Engle that is filled with
his pictures telling the story of the life of Jesus.

So pick up “A Boy Named Giotto” at a bookstore or library today and open up a window to the past for your children.

Additional resources:



Egg painting activity – just like Giotto

The Glorious Impossible by Madeline L’Engle:A retelling of the 25 important events in the life of Jesus in a beautiful picture book.

Title: A Boy Named Giotto
Author: Paolo Guarnieri

Where can you find it?
Amazon.ca: A Boy Named Giotto

Amazon.com: A Boy Named Giotto

Kirsten West is a Christian Homeschooling Mom who blogs at DoodleMom’s Homeschooling Life.  Isn’t she a delight?   She found time in the midst of a crazy busy week to share this lovely find with us.  THANK YOU Kirsten!  🙂

Learn more about Giotto, through Amazon.com:

This post may contain affiliate links – using affiliate links from A Net in Time helps fuel this blog and our homeschool – thank you!

©2006-2017 A Net In Time. All rights reserved. All text, photographs, artwork, and other content may not be reproduced or transmitted in any form without the written consent of the author. A Net In Time/

Q is for Questions.. questions about Canada

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I put the question to the crew.
What questions do you have about Canada.

They came up with quite a few!

Join me and Amanda as we walk through Blogging the Alphabet “Q”, me with your questions and seeing what Amanda comes up.  🙂

Have I ever seen a glacier (no) and where to go to see one.  Here’s a list of Canadian glaciers!   🙂  
When we do have winter?   
Generally from December to March, though the latest I’ve seen snow fly was mid-May and the earliest was in October.   Our last couple of winters have been downright pitiful and both my guys are getting annoyed!   One winter we had snow up past my head!  IT WAS WONDERFUL!!!   🙂   We have four seasons: Spring, Summer, Fall, Winter.  Each with it’s own beauty.

How does one pronounce Iqaluit

How about special holidays and celebrations there? My son got curious about that when he found out people in Canada don’t have
Thanksgiving in November like we do in America.

 Canadians have thanksgiving at a reasonable time…not rushing Christmas!  🙂  Check out Kym’s post.
 We also have Canada Day (July 1st) and various other statutory holidays. 
Holidays we do in Ontario: Christmas, Boxing Day, New Year’s Day, Family Day (February) not a mandatory day off though, Good Friday and Easter, Easter Monday. Civic Holiday in August, Labour Day and Thanksgiving (October), and Remembrance Day (November).  

What is the political system like? is there a president?
No president, we elect a prime minister.  We have three main parties, the Conservatives, the Liberals and the New Democratic Party.   Currently the Liberals are in power (don’t ask me what I think about that!).  🙂   Currently some localities are testing a ranked ballot system for the next elections, this system only kicks in when the winner of an election wins by less than a certain percentage (can’t recall what that is right now). It then takes into account the popular vote.   We do not vote on a regular schedule, there is a time limit to when the current government MUST call a vote, but there is no set schedule in place for when they can choose to call it.   As long a party is in power…more power to them.   Sucks at times but hey.. there it is.   For more information on how our government works check out this site.

How much of Canada is inhabitable?
This site is REALLY helpful in seeing the population densities of Canada.  I do hope you will go and look.   The image below comes from that page.  Current population of Canada (as of the 2015 Census) is 35.85 million.

Can we learn more about Quebecois music? 
Honestly… haven’t a clue!   🙂  BUT I did find this video on Youtube. 

Does pokemon go have any special pokemon you can only get in Canada?
Nope. 🙂

How about please explain the whole prime minister thing
   How about you explain the whole president thing.. TRUMP….  REALLY?????:)

What part of Canada do you live in?
 South Western Ontario, near London (not in England).

Do wives all over Canada not take their husband’s last name or is that just QC?

Personal choices, and they vary by region.

Are there any foods unique to Canada?
Nanaimo bars…many people love them, me.. meh Too sweet UNLESS they are frozen, then YUM!!!
Poutine
Tourtiere (meat pie)
Maple syrup.  🙂

What are some Canadian traditions?
Canada Day (Dominion Day) celebrated on July 1st.  Parades, picnics, fireworks.
Thanksgiving at the proper time in October (Americans are so mixed up).  🙂
Family Day is kinda new and makes people ask questions.  It’s a fun day though filled with tons of family activities in almost every part of Ontario.
I dunno though… we are quite similar to Americans but we LOVE snow (for the most part) and do a lot of winter activities, and if you don’t like hockey there’s something wrong with you.  (not really, we are pretty laid back and we’ll apologize if we’ve offended you (or think that we have).  🙂

What type of animals are indigenous to Canada that aren’t in the US? 
 Polar bears.  Seriously LARGE bears.  Don’t want to mess with them.
Canada Lynx
Moose
Beluga Whale
BigHorn Sheep
Canada Goose (though I know you see those down south as they migrate)
Beaver
Tailless frog
There’s a tiny black and red snake found up north but I can’t recall it’s name.
Here’s a video on the loon.

Do you have tea time, like the British, or do you do three meals a day
like most Americans…or do you do something totally different?
Three meals a day plus snacks.  🙂  At least in Ontario and travelling west.  Quebec… might be more French in it’s outlook but I’ve never been there.  French people don’t snack.

The relationship between Canada and the UK. What power does the Queen
have in Canada? What power does the UK have in Canada? (so maybe you
could explain the Lieutenant General to our American friends. And why we
pronounce “Lieutenant” and other words the British way. LOL)
Oh heavens, I hardly know where to to begin. I think perhaps I should do a whole separate series on Canada eh?  🙂  A BRIEF explanation.
 Each province as a lieutenant general who is the nominal head of state for the province and acts as the go between.  We also have a federal lieutentant general who is the president of the senate and resides over the chamber.  Here he/she handles debate and how legislation moves through the chamber. 
 The queen is the official head of state, and comes to visit and honestly.. has nothing really to do with the running of our country.  We love her (really we do as our Queen and there remains a strong interest in the goings on of her family) but our day to day lives are unaffected by her.  🙂

The British pronunciation of the French word “lieutenant” (as “lef-tenant”) is used by the Canadian Armed Forces, but the American pronunciation of “loo-tenant” (which is closer to the original French pronunciation) is sometimes heard as well.  But really to be proper it’s lef-tenant.

 My daughter would
like to know if you still call the police force in Canada constables. 
 Yes, we call them constable… what do you call your police officers??
 We also have mounties…but not in my area. We have a regular police force since we live in Ontario.  But for instance we’d say “Constable Stewart” not officer .. though they do respond equally well to officer.  🙂  For more about the RCMP (the mounties) see here. If you ever have a chance to see the mounties in action you should do so.  Seriously cool to see their mounted musical rides.  Saw them one year but can’t find a picture right now.

How Yellowknife, Northwest Territory got its name.
 The name Yellowknife comes from a Dene band, the Yellowknives, now long
gone, who once lived on the islands in the East Arm of Great Slave Lake
and carried knives with yellow copper blades.   Cool eh?  🙂

Do
people really call Prince Edward Island PEI, like in the Anne books?  
I call it PEI, as does everyone else I know.   The folks I know from out east call it that too, so I don’t see why your children shouldn’t.  🙂  Call it as you will.. I hope to visit it one day.  I’ve been through the west, someday I’ll go through the east. My mom and sister went out last year and they said it was simply marvellous.

If I missed anyone’s questions.. SORRY, not intentional, just how life happens eh?

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The Week of American Goldfinches in Colour

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Check it out… my Spring Bed is out in good form this week.  Must like all the rain we’ve been having!  I just love walking up and seeing them all in bloom… just makes my heart smile!

Saturday:
I brought this cutie to London.   DaisyHawk in one of my favourite does, but it was time for her to find a new home.   She’ll be living on a farm in St. Thomas. 

Sunday:
Headed off to Kingsville so hubby could preach in the church of some friends.  Then had a lovely visit in the afternoon with them.  We went for a walk and my son was able to see Cactus growing in the wild in Ontario.

Monday:
We planned to go to London, but the lad developed a sore throat and was acting a touch troubled, so we called gramma who said “I’ll come your way”.  Once she arrived we headed out so we could get our taxes done, have a lunch out with hubby and so I could sell this cutie.

I bought a slingshot…
Tuesday:
 The lad’s sore throat has resolved itself into a cold.  It’s a bleak rainy day.  We did some schooling with emphasis on “school should not cause tears” and chilled out in the afternoon doing laundry and watching movies.

Wednesday:
 The lad was not feeling okay this morning yet, draggy and more apologetic than normal.  So he stayed home to do minimal schooling (just on-line stuff needed for reviews) and his reading.   I headed off to the

We had lunch together and chatted. I cleaned the fridge (being fairly brutal) and by the end we had a half empty fridge!!! 

Finished the laundry from yesterday, did some blogging and the lad made me supper (eggs/bacon/cheese scramble).  Took pictures of my bunny babes and then decided to cut the lawn.  Not the smartest idea as now I’m really tired and sore.   BUT HEY!!   The lawn is done and now the rain can come again and it won’t be a jungle when it stops again (apparently not until Monday!!!!).

Hubby pointed out that our Regular Pairs of American Goldfinch are back and … are almost back to breeding plumage.  

Thursday:
Today we did things differently than normal.  We made muffins, made the Millenium Falcon, built a hydraulic claw and made a simple drawing for art on Friday.   The lad did do his devotions and his Veritas Press History lesson.

Friday:
Dad had a funeral to preach so we dropped him off  as we headed off to visit a friend and do an art project.   Linoleum Printing.   It was rather fun to do!   Look!   I did a budgie!

Reviews:
Mission to Pluto.  A neat trip with a scientist to Pluto.
ArtAchieve.  A neat art program that we like. 
Millennium Falcon, Star Wars Builders.   A really neat kit for building a replica Millennium Falcon.

Homeschooling:
Art Class, different than one-on-one.  This post part of a crew round up post.
Art Book Series: Spot the Differences.  Guest post about a neat art book
Prickly Pear Cactus.  ABC blogging post, native cactus to Canada.
Books Read in April.   The books we read in April.  A link up post.

Everything Else:
Recipe: Rice-Cheese balls.  An interesting new recipe.  A link up post.
Springtime, a poem.  Just a simple poem about spring.
The Prince’s Portion.  Devotion on Ezekiel 45:7-25
The Greatest Should.  Word prompt on the word Should… what is the greatest should?

Linking Up at The Following Places.

This post may contain affiliate links – using affiliate links from A Net in Time helps fuel this blog and our homeschool – thank you!

©2006-2017 A Net In Time. All rights reserved. All text, photographs, artwork, and other content may not be reproduced or transmitted in any form without the written consent of the author. A Net In Time/

Review: Millennium Falcon, Star Wars Builders

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My lad has been waiting for .. what seemed to him like forever…until we could build this lovely kit that came our way via Raincoast Books.   Little did he know I had an agenda.

First… work through his Apologia Astronomy book and read through the book on Pluto. Now admittedly he’s not completely done with the apologia study (but he’s close), but he’s got a cold, it’s a blah rainy day and I thought.. why not today!  So that’s what we did. 🙂  We opened up the kit Star Wars Builders Millennium Falcon.  Oh my, did the lad have fun!

What do you get?
This kit comes as a complete unit, a box attached to a book.

A clear direction sheet that has instructions on both sides. One to show the numbering, the other to show how to put it all together. 

The book is a nice one with good quality paper and full colour pictures throughout.  The text appeals to a variety of ages.   64 pages of good information for the Star Wars fan. 

The build is made of cardstock that is very thick and sturdy.   It has layers in it, but they are held together well and do not separate when putting it together.  One piece buckled a little when being bent to form the curved lines…but that was more a learning how much pressure needed to be applied.  It did not affect the integrity of the finished product.

An easy to put together 3-D puzzle.   Follow the instructions or it won’t go together well.

My Thoughts

I have to admit that it was hard to not want to do the build myself or to offer help.  I contented myself with reading parts of the book out-loud to my lad and asking him how he thinks it reflects real life (as movies are supposed to reflect life right?).   It was enjoyable to listen to his thoughts.

New Horizons is a real spacecraft from Pluto Mission

Concern:
 
I
can’t say the box is very sturdy as it came to us ripped although it
was in secure packaging and taped closed. None of the pieces were damaged as they were
tightly packed, a good bit away from any damage to the box.  So I can’t say the damage was really worth anything, just spoiled the initial look of the kit is all it did.

My Son’s Thoughts:
My son loved this.  Oh my!  He had fun building it.  He thought it was one of the best builds he’s ever done.

Kit Synopsis: 
Discover what makes the Millennium Falcon the most famous ship in the Star Wars
galaxy with this awesome master builder kit! Featuring a 64-page book
detailing out some of the ship’s most daring adventures and introducing
members of the crew, Star Wars fans will enjoy learning more
about one of the most legendary starships in the galaxy. When fans
finish the guidebook, they can follow the included instructions to build
their own to-scale replica Millennium Falcon with the included cardstock model pieces. It’s everything Star Wars fans need to begin an adventure in the galaxy far, far away. 

Where can you find it?

 Amazon.ca – Star Wars Builders: Millennium Falcon

 Amazon.com – Star Wars Builders: Millennium Falcon

Just so you know.. if you want to teach your child astronomy, SchoolhouseTeachers is having a sale right now AND it’s an really great sale.  The sale price for the monthly membership is $9.95, and the sale price for the yearly membership is $99.   Not only can you take the everyday astronomy course but you can use all the interactive elements of the World Book Encyclopedia.   AND you could even make Hans Solo’s Sound Blaster!

This post may contain affiliate links – using affiliate links from A Net in Time helps fuel this blog and our homeschool – thank you!

©2006-2017 A Net In Time. All rights reserved. All text, photographs, artwork, and other content may not be reproduced or transmitted in any form without the written consent of the author. A Net In Time/