Outside our window . . . .

at this moment . . . .

Sisters

This was from Halloween, but I just ran across it on my phone and had to share. Yes, I do love my youngest blessings!

Strong Enough

After breaking her kungfu board on stage at Presentation Night, Chicka said to me "Now I am strong enough mama - I think I will be a firefighter like my brother when I grow up!" That is her next to the rescue rig, shooting the water onto the burning house. Sweetie, I think that is a great idea - you might want to pull back your beautiful black hair, though.

First Snow

Well, almost snow - not deep enough to scrape some up to eat, even though they tried. Desperately tried. But it is important to remember that you MUST keep the mittens on while eating breakfast, you know. It helps. Something.

Brown and Orange Sin

Although Miss Zabi has a significant still to be labeled speech/language disorder, she is a decent reader and is usually easier to understand when she reads than when she speaks.

During CCD class today, Miss Zabi was reading aloud to the class from her study book.

"We call Adam and Eve our fist parents because all people came from them. So do you. We were all BROWN with ORANGE sin on our souls." Yes, she should have read BORN with ORIGINAL sin . . . . . Although I was sitting next to her to lend a hand with pronunciation, if needed, neither the teacher nor I could correct her because we were both trying so hard not to show our mirth! Yes, out of the mouths of babes, we now have brown and orange sin!!!

Little Bits

The following is a post on a blog that I follow, not my own words or pictures.  The giveaway that she is hosting looks like SO much fun, I had to share and give YOU a chance to win it, too!

littleBits Review and Giveaway Posted: 11 Nov 2013 10:01 PM PST This is a view of the littleBits Premium kit with the 2 trays of parts and activity booklet. The developers of littleBits say, "littleBits are the easiest way to get started with electronics." When the littleBits Premium Kit came in the mail, my girls were very curious to find out what was inside. My 7-year-old is totally hooked on Legos right now and so when I explained them to her, she was really excited! littleBits are tiny circuit-boards that snap together with magnets. They call the circuit-boards modules, and they each have a specific function that is printed on the top of the module. The reusable case and trays inside are very sturdy, and it makes it easy for children to transport them around the house or to take in the car. The Premium Kit contains: Battery and Cable Power Slide Dimmer Pressure Sensor Roller Switch Sound Trigger Pulse Vibration Motor Servo Long LED x2 Fan Branch, Wire x2 Screwdriver Servo Motor Accessories VibeSnap (Vibration Motor accessory) Activity Booklet The really cool thing about this product is that there is no soldering, no wiring, no programming–just snap them together and create! We started out by reading through "the basics" section of the instructions so that my 7-year-old would have an understanding of all the parts. Then we started trying out a series of basic circuits just to get an idea of what the parts could do and how they worked together. Right from the start we all knew this was a really cool toy because kids can play with light, sound, sensing, and buttons in endless combinations! The activity booklet contains the following ideas: Hypnotizing Wheel, Cooling Campfire, Funny Face, Auto Greeter, Truck Crane, Drawer Alarm, Playful Pet, Box Monster, Bristle Bot, Bubble Flute, Animal Friend, and the Piggy Bank. After playing around for a while, my daughter wanted to do the funny face project from the activity booklet with her dad. The finished activity was a smiling character with glowing eyes and a vibrating tongue. He was activated by touching the pressure sensor they put on the back of his ear. Back and front view of the project. We used painters tape to hold everything together while protecting the modules from damage. Our daughter has enjoyed playing with the littleBits during her quiet time and trying all sorts of circuit combinations. She has spent a lot of time telling me about the things she has created and all the things she wants to try, including working the circuits into her Lego creations. I asked her if she thought it was a good toy, and she said "Yes!" and that she thinks any kid would like to play with this and that they could have a lot of fun. She told me that the best thing about them is that they stick together with magnets so it's easy to play with and move around. We decided to make a littleBits video review of her demonstrating the toy and what she thinks of how they work. From a parent's perspective this product is great for fun, but also for learning. Since it's an open source circuit system, with no soldering gun or wiring to figure out, and with magnets to prevent you from connecting them improperly, the kids are free to try any combination of modules with no fear. The other ideas in the activity book use things you can easily find around your house, and one idea leads to another–which is great for their creativity. If you go to the littleBits site, they show many more ideas that their team has created and ideas uploaded by other users. I also like that the power source is a 9V battery so there won't be any special batteries to hunt down in the future. I think this toy would appeal to kids even if they aren't usually into science type toys. I don't see this as a toy that a child will play with every day for hours on end, but I do think it's a toy they will return to often. My husband says that this takes what adult hobbyists have been doing for years with soldering guns, wires and components and brings it down to a child's level. There were only a couple of negative things I found with the littleBits. The first was that the two wires connected to the little fan motor broke in less than a day of play. This surprised me because my 7-year-old girl is extremely careful with her toys, especially with toys like this. One wire broke loose while my daughter was using it and the other broke when my husband was looking at it to see why the fan no longer worked. He has a soldering gun so that he can reattach them, but it was a disappointment to our daughter who wanted to make things using the fan. The other negative was that the modules often separate inadvertently. The magnets, which make them easy to connect, unfortunately also make it easy to separate. This was mildly frustrating a few times. If the magnets were stronger or if there were a clip to secure them in place, that problem would be solved. The littleBits Premium Kit is an expensive toy ($149.99), and that does seem high for the amount of things you are getting, but because of the broad age appeal it may not be quite as bad as it seems at first impression. The age range of the kit is much higher than most toys and activities and will grow with your kids as they create more and more elaborate items. The suggested age is "8 to ∞", but unlike most "8 and up" toys which generally only appeal to kids within a few years of the starting age, I think the littleBits kit would be of interest to any age child or adult who likes to tinker and build.  And if we were honest and added up the amount of money spent on smaller toys over time, this could be a better long term toy investment. In summary, I think it's a very interesting and different toy for children, and I have never seen anything like it before! I think the best part is that you can give the kids a basic explanation and let them get right to experimenting with it. It's also something that will grow with the child and allow him or her to create all kinds of fun items. Buy it: You can purchase the Littlebits basic kit for $99.00, premium kit for $149.00, or the deluxe kit for $199.00. Edmund is graciously offering HHM readers an exclusive gift of FREE SHIPPING on your Little Bits purchase using the promotional code HHMSEE. Only one promotional code may be used with each order. Offer good through 11/9/2013. These promotions cannot be combined with any other offers. Win it: One lucky reader will receive one Littlebits kit from Edmund Scientifics. Enter below. a Rafflecopter giveaway Disclosure: One HHM team member received the Littlebits kit to review in exchange for an honest review. Louanne lives in Texas with her awesome husband and two daughters. She loves Jesus, cookies, reading and scrapbooking (when she has time). She homeschools and also runs a mentorship program for at risk children through her church. Louanne also enjoys finding coupon deals, making gifts with her Cricut and Taste of Home cookbooks. Louanne blogs at www.dwimble.com.   Read more of Louanne's articles at Hip Homeschool Moms.   The post littleBits Review and Giveaway appeared first on Hip Homeschool Moms.

Japan Part 3

Japan Study Part 2

Japan Study

Hide and Seek

Bet no one can see me! I sure can't see you! I must be hidden well!

Dress Up Day

So, we play on Halloween a little differently than most, I guess! We all dressed up and played games and trick-or-treated in our own home. The littles don't have ALL the fun - adults hide behind closed doors with candy and treats, the littles have to know and say the requisite line, BUT since it is all in fun and not scary, we get to trick the little monkeys and make them work for their treats! But watch out - once they have visited each station, then THEY go behind the doors and the bigs have to travel the house and get tricked and treated! The littles come up with some pretty good tricks, too!

Japan

We are just finishing our unit on Japan - don't we have 3 beautiful Japanese beauties????

And Yet Another Fashion Statement

I cracked up when Miss JiJi appeared in her self chosen ensemble. Complete with beautiful hairstyle with a lovely headband. uhhhhhhh - somehow this dates me, but doesn't she look like she belongs on the Sonny and Cher show? She is most proud of her gorgeousnous, and I have to agree! Especially since SHE is the vacuuming queen this week! Remember to count your blessings today - I want to fall on me knees in thanksgiving for all that God has blessed us with - both the learning blessings (so hard, but so important) and the loveliness surrounding us - human and otherwise!