A Golden (Snitch) Birthday

Posted by Lori Hurt

On Christmas Eve, we finished reading Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone. The next day, we watched the first movie together. Since then, both kids have been very interested and excited (and a little scared) about the wizarding world. Not only did Lucy want a Harry Potter birthday party, she insisted she had to attend as a Weasley.

Golden Snitches for a golden birthday

The decorations included Gryffindor colors, floating candles, and flying keys.

The kids had to find the key with the crumpled wing.

Bertie Bott’s Every Flavor Beans, Chocolate frogs, and coins from Gringotts Bank

Doug incorporated Hogwarts, Gryffindor colors, a snitch, and wizard treats into the cake he made.

Doug also made a pin the scar on Harry game.

She is really excited about being a six year old.

Happy 6th Birthday, Lucy! You’ve definitely put a spell on us!

Lucy Was Here Part 5

Posted by Lori Hurt

Lucy is another year older. Today is her golden birthday as she turns six on the 6th. She is thriving through kindergarten, loves her family, singing, and dancing, expressive and hilarious beyond her years, and remains our daily entertainment. Our lives have never been the same or more fun.

Parts 1, 2, 3, and 4 are here.

“It’s a bat!”

She adds a certain element to Jack’s Legos.

This girl would paint her nails and mine everyday if I let her.

She always has the best ideas.

This is a drawing of me pulling out her loose tooth.

She continues to use the ordinary as a canvas for her creativity.

Genius.

She made a Sharpie bracelet so she would always have one when she needed it…

like when drawing spiders on the table in the hopes of scaring mommy.

She does her own makeup and wardrobe.

Can you guess what cookies she insisted on making for the Christmas party?

She keeps plants alive better than I do. She planted these bean plants from seeds.

This was my birthday banner she made and put up all by herself with one letter on each page.

She made me write out this to-do list for her busy day.

Doug was practicing a presentation and she decided she needed to listen to it.

I told her do do something quietly so she got out her paints and started working on this all by herself and painted for awhile until she finished this in one sitting. It’s a house that has light on one side and dark on the other to represent day and night.

She is pretty convincing at talking people into things she wants them to do. No one is safe.

Grandpa Ricky loves playing Pretty Pretty Princess.

She is adored by her brother. (Most days)

Happy golden birthday, Lucy! You are beautiful, smart, funny, and determined. Your life is a gift.

December 2016

Posted by Lori Hurt

December was once again a busy, but blessed time of year for the Hurts.

For the second year in a row, we hosted a cookie baking day and invited our friends and neighbors. I think this is a tradition that needs to continue.

This year we made a castle instead of a house.

The kids participated in a couple of Christmas plays. Lucy had her first speaking part as the angel who announces the birth of Christ and Jack was a narrator. In the children’s choir program, Jack was the fiddle player and did a great job overcoming his fears and actually enjoying it.

Jack also participated in a piano recital. He played “Rudolph” and “Oh Christmas Tree.” This kid played so well and only missed one single note. I love watching him get better and better.

This was our new Christmas music this year.

Lucy made me a birthday card with a jewel encrusted 33 for my birthday.

And Doug insisted on hibachi and brownies for his 34th.

Christmas eve brought the long awaited culmination of months of rehearsals for Doug and the worship team. I am biased of course, but everyone did such a good job. Christmas day was just the four of us at home. It was relaxing, exciting, and honestly a little sad because we were missing our loved ones.

Lucy decided the presents needed to be stacked in towers.

This summed up the day: new pajamas, Christmas movies, and new treasures. Doug was really happy I bought the kids recorders.

Let nothing you dismay
Remember, Christ, our Saviour
Was born on Christmas day
To save us all from Satan’s power
When we were gone astray
O tidings of comfort and joy!

Giving Thanks

Posted by Lori Hurt

This year we have so much to be thankful for. Last month, we were blessed to be a part of Doug’s parents’ 50th wedding anniversary in Texas. 50 years!

We are grateful family from all over came together to celebrate Richard and Zona’s milestone anniversary. You cannot talk about their marriage without talking about their faith and service to others. They give God the glory for their legacy and are an example to us all.

Rich and Zona with their children and spouses and four grandchildren.

The Townsend/Hurt/Hooper Family

We are grateful for our new niece and for finally getting to meet her. We love you, Grace Ann!

We are grateful for the time our children spent with cousins on both sides. These are special relationships indeed.

We are grateful there is Blue Bell Ice Cream in our freezer right now because I have the best sister in the whole wide world.

We are grateful we spent Thanksgiving day just the four of us watching the parade, taking naps, eating too much food, and playing our new Labyrinth tabletop game.

We are thankful that when our year doesn’t go as planned, our hope and peace rest in His hands. We are especially grateful for friends and our church community here who walk with us while we are so far from our families.

Happy Thanksgiving!

Summer 2016

Posted by Lori Hurt

In addition to our trip to Texas and Doug’s trip to Israel, we have had a very full summer.

We started out the summer with a very special event: Lucy’s very first dance recital. Somehow, Doug and I were sitting in the very front row middle and Lucy spotted us. She managed to blow us kisses on her way off the stage. We were very impressed with the entire show and of course, proud of our little girl.

Ready for Ballet 2 and Jazz 1!

The very first day of our summer break was rainy. Lucy suggested we bake a cake after finding a recipe in the back of an Amelia Bedelia book. Why not?

Some sweet neighbors offered us a state park pass and we have been eager to see more of the parks in our area. The weather is mostly gorgeous all summer.

We were amazed our kids could play on metal slides in the dead of summer. You can’t get away with that in Texas.

The neatest trail ever.

Parks are more fun with friends.

Our friend, Allison brought over puppies for us Lucy to play with.

She was in heaven and made a really strong case to keep one. Daddy is stronger than I am and said no.

While Doug was in Israel, we spent the Fourth of July with friends in the bustling metropolis of George, Iowa.

posing with puppies

The day was filled with friends, food, swimming, laughter, puppies, convertible rides, snow cones, and fireworks. George, you did not disappoint!

We were really happy when Daddy came home!

Another sweet neighbor gave us tickets to the Storm-Sioux Falls’ professional indoor football team. We also found a family festival going on in town.

fearless

more snow cones!

They attended Mega Sports Camp at a friend’s church. Jack signed up for basketball and Lucy fell in love with cheerleading.

Jack also attended Eagle Lake Camp hosted at our church for his second year in a row. At the end of the week, he was awarded the Intelligence Award.

They were super excited about the BFG movie because we had read it this past school year together. Lucy has been speaking in a British accent ever since.

She lost her first tooth!

One last trip to the zoo before school started.

So long, summer!

Field Trips 2016

Posted by Lori Hurt

This post is dedicated to my dear friend who plans all of our field trips for our homeschool group. We leave the house much more often because of her. Thank you, Emily.

February

The moms planned a Valentine’s Day party for the kids. So much fun!

There were some pretty creative Valentine boxes out there. I am pretty proud of Jack’s bag and Lucy’s backpack.

Some crafts and activities with friends.

The fellowship and food was great. Happy Valentine’s Day!

Next this month was a beginner sign language class. I’m not sure how much baby sign language was retained by my two.

And the last field trip for February was a class on winter animals at the Outdoor Campus.

Craft Time!

She really loves stuffed animal of all kinds.

feeding the fish

March

Here the kids worked in groups to create their own “roller coasters” for the Roller Coaster Science class. After assembled, a marble was sent down to test the ride.

The next trip was a computer demolition class. The boys were all over this one. I think it was Jack’s favorite so far.

April

While Jack took a beginner programming class at the library for the older students, Lucy joined an art class for her age group.

They also learned how to use the computers at the library to look up books and play games.

Next we took another class at the Outdoor Campus about birds and bird watching.

Apparently, due to allergies, Crisco has replaced peanut butter for pinecone bird feeders.

bird necklace craft

hanging her feeder

And at the end of April, they attended a Junior Achievement course that taught about community basics like economy, voting, and being a good citizen.

May

Our only trip in May was to the rock quarry in Sioux Falls. So. Much. Quartzite.

We couldn’t leave the bus so this was the only picture I managed to get.

August

We managed to make it to two trips in late summer. The first one was a hospital tour in town.

touring the new ambulance

The second trip was a pontoon ride at Split Rock Park in Garretson, SD.

We passed bat caves, bald eagles, and Jessie James’ old hideouts.

September

And our first field trip of the 2016-2017 school year was to the Pioneer Village in Worthington, MN. Lucy had to wear her pioneer bonnet bought earlier this summer at the Alamo.

in the one room schoolhouse

wood working old school

The old dentist room was creepy.

But not as creepy as the antique doll.

It’s going to be a fun year!

Science Review: Apologia Exploring Creation with Astronomy

Posted by Lori Hurt

This was our first year using Apologia for science. Last summer, out of a list of options, Jack decided we were studying Astronomy. I purchased the textbook, the Notebooking Journal, and the Lab Kit. The journal was quite a bit of writing for a second grader and if I had to do it over, I would’ve purchased the Junior version. The Lab Kit was a lifesaver. I was a little hesitant of the cost, but it was so well organized and really ensured we actually completed the experiments because all the materials were easily available.

For each lesson, we read from the book, summarized with pictures in the journal and completed other activities and experiments throughout the week.

I appreciated the copy work included cursive practice.

Jack working on a rocket ship mini-book for his journal.

I took pictures of our experiments to place in the journal.

Lesson 1: What Is Astronomy? Project: Model Solar System that Hangs from Your Ceiling

Lesson 2: The Sun, Project: Sun Collage and Make a Solar Eclipse

Lesson 3: Mercury, Project: Understanding Craters and Make a Model of Mercury

Lesson 4: Venus, Project: Make Some “Lava,” and Learn How Radar is Used

I woke up Jack super early one morning so he could see Venus next to the moon.

Lesson 5: Earth, Project: Make a Compass

Lesson 6: The Moon, Project: Make a Telescope

This project just didn’t work out for us. But the good news is some family members helped us purchase a real telescope for Jack’s birthday! We also kept Jack up late September 27th to observe the super moon/blood moon total lunar eclipse. It was out of this world!

Lesson 7: Mars, Project: Build Olympus Mons, Make an Edible Mars Rover

Lesson 8: Space Rocks, Project: Cartoon of Exploded Planet

Lesson 9: Jupiter, Project: Make a Hurricane Tube

Lesson 10: Saturn, Project: Make a Centaur Rocket

Lesson 11: Uranus and Neptune, Project: Make Clouds

Lesson 12: Pluto and the Kuiper Belt, Project: Make Ice Cream!

ice cream requires a LOT of shaking

Lesson 13: Stars and Galaxies, Project: Create a Constellation Planetarium.
I didn’t get a photo of this project because I just couldn’t get a great picture with all the lights out.

Lesson 14: Space Travel, Project: Build a Model Space Station
With a picture in the textbook as our guide, this is how our space station turned out.

And to tie up our year in Astronomy it worked out for us to take a visit to NASA at the beginning of summer. Pictures from that trip are here. I highly recommend this curriculum and will be using Apologia for science in the future.

History Review: The Story of the World Volume 2

Posted by Lori Hurt

This is a short review of our history curriculum and activities for the 2015-2016 school year. Our text book was The Story of the World Volume 2: The Middle Ages by Bauer. I also purchased the activity book, test booklet, and audio CDs to listen to in the car. For someone like me who needs a lot of help in the arts and crafts department, I loved the activity book. There were almost too many good ideas that tied the lessons together.

Every Monday, we read a chapter then briefly covered the review questions and did the accompanying map work from that chapter in the activity book.

Tuesdays and/or Wednesdays were color sheet days.

We usually tackled the project list as best we could during the week but usually ended up working on them Thursdays and Fridays. Thursday was a test review day as well and Fridays were for the test.

I catalogued our project attempts to put in Jack’s history notebook. Not every project listed in the activity book was attempted because there were simply too many of them. Some chapters we didn’t do a project at all but still did the map work, color sheets, review, and test.

Chapter 1-The Glory That Was Rome, Project: (fail) Cookie Dough Roman Pillar. Learn from my mistake and use the recipe provided in the activity book. Do NOT buy a tube of pre-made cookie dough-it won’t hold the shape of the “pillars” and you will be left with a flat, albeit tasty, sugar cookie mess.

Chapter 2: The Early Days of Britain, Projects: Celtic Double-Headed War Axe and Celtic Brooch and Cloak

Chapter 3: Christianity Comes to Britain, Project: Monk’s Cross Necklace

Sculpey makes a good clay monk’s cross and an old Gandalf Halloween costume works well as a robe. There may have been excessive Nacho Libre quotes this week.

Chapter 4: The Byzantine Empire, Projects: Crown of the Empress Theodora, Make Justinian and Theodora Paper Dolls, and Byzantine Mosaic

Sometimes cursive practice is easier when you wear a crown.

Chapter 5: The Medieval Indian Empire, Projects: Say “Welcome” with Sand Art, Paint an Ajanta Cave Fresco

Diwali is the Hindu New Year celebration.

Our “frescos” were made with a small box of Plaster of Paris.

Chapter 6: The Rise of Islam, Project: Make an Edible Oasis

Brown sugar sand, tootsie roll and gummy trees, chocolate refreshment, and camel animal crackers. This was one of my the kids’ favorite projects.

Chapter 7: Islam Becomes an Empire, Project: Sinbad Spoon Puppets, Make Ali Baba “Open Sesame” Biscuits, Make a Hanging “Valley of Snakes,” Make Your Own Royal Scimitar. These were all too fun to pass up.

Sinbad and the Valley of Snakes

Open Sesame!

Paper plates really are terrifying in snake form

“Sinbad” vanquishes the Dixie snakes

The Royal Scimitar

Chapter 8: The Great Dynasties of China, Projects: Make a Jade Bead Necklace, Learn to Eat with Chopsticks, Make a Chinese “Lacquered” Bowl.

Sculpey jade beads

Lucy was more excited about wearing her jade jewelry than Jack

we cheated with a rubber band and a small piece of rolled paper

Lucy’s non traditional bowl

the lacquer is a coat or two of white glue

Chapter 9: East of China, Project: Compose and Illustrate a Haiku

This Haiku is great
I did not help him one bit
I am so proud, Jack

Chapter 11: The Kingdom of the Franks, Project: Design Your Own Dynasty

Not quite sure why he named his imaginary kingdom, “Range rover super snake string,” but I did give him free reign.

Chapter 13: The Great Kings of France, Project: Puppet Retelling

honestly, these puppet re-tellings end in sword fighting and splinters

Chapter 14: The Arrival of the Norsemen, Projects: Make a Viking Boat, Make a Viking Brooch or Thor’s Hammer Pendant

This is one of those times the project didn’t quite get completed. Our Viking ship never got its sails.

So, this was my first experience with Shrinky Dinks. I’m still not sure why this is a thing. This is a before and after to show the shrinkage.

Chapter 15: The First Kings of England, Project: Make an Alfred the Great Statue

Chapter 17: Knights and Samurai, Project: Design Your Own Coat of Arms

Lucy just wanted to paint

Chapter 18: The Age of the Crusades, Projects: Make Your Own Pilgrim’s Badges and Make El Cid’s Beard

we tried

Chapter 20: The Diaspora, Project: Make a Tzedakah Box

Chapter 24: The Ottoman Empire, Project: Byzantine Icon, Make Turkish Dancing Bears

Icon

Chapter 25: The End of the World, Projects: Make a Cycle of the Plague Wheel, Make a Plague Doctor Mask

this was a feel- good chapter

Chapter 26: France and England at War, Project: Joan of Arc Paper Dolls

hang in there, Joan

Chapter 27: War for the English Throne, Project: Build a Pop-Out Tower of London Card

Chapter 28: The Kingdoms of Spain and Portugal, Projects: Isabella and Ferdinand Paper Dolls

power couple

Chapter 29: African Kingdoms, Projects: Make Your Own Gold Nuggets, Gold and Salt: The Fast Tax Game

Note: rocks, glitter, glue, and sugar cubes make a huge mess

Chapter 33: Spain, Portugal, and the New World, Project: Conquistador’s Mask

Chapter 34: Martin Luther’s New Ideas, Project: Illuminate the Book of Common Prayer

Chapter 35: The Renaissance, Project: What’s Your Name in Greek?

Jack really got into the Greek alphabet

Chapter 36: Reformation and Counter Reformation, Project: Make Stained Glass

We are looking forward to next school year already and will continue with this series with Story of the World Volume 3: Early Modern Times-From Elizabeth the First to the Forty-Niners.

Texas Trip-Summer 2016

Posted by Lori Hurt

While Doug was off on a three week adventure of his own, the kids and I headed to Texas for two whole weeks. Here is our top 10 favorites from the visit.

1.) Granma Mary. Granma Mary is my Dad’s mom and we don’t get to see her nearly as often as we would like. Her house is always full of love and food. We love her dearly.

2.) Cousins! We all enjoy our cousin time. I was especially grateful for all the unexpected time we had with Carter, my nephew. Carter is fluent in Nacho Libre quotes so we have a special bond.

My cousin Kendra’s kids, my kids, and my nephew

13394147_10153706693241033_2765161371663808352_n

Lucy and Kinleigh

They LOVE cousin Carter

Not pictured (how is that possible!): my sweet nieces, Cora and Maya.

3.) Baby George. George gets his own number because he’s kind of a big deal.

George caught a fish!

George observes his environment at the Rainforest Cafe

4.) Grandparents. We stayed with my parents but fortunately managed to see Doug’s parents too for a couple of days.

They adore their Papa and Gramzy

Riding the Brackenridge Park train

pool time with Grandpa Ricky

My parents and all their grandchildren.

5.) NASA! Granma Mary lives in Houston, so we finally made it out to the Johnson Space Center.

training facility

touching the moon rock

Lucy was chosen to participate in the MythBusters show. NASA was a blast!

6.) Old Friends. The Farmers were in our newlywed Sunday school class and small group in Oklahoma but now live in the Houston area. Although the visit was brief, we were all grateful for their company as we toured NASA.

Ashley!!!!!!!!

catching up

A robotic shark from an episode of MythBusters.

In San Antonio, Kayla found us on the Riverwalk. We miss her and our other college kids so much!

7.) The Alamo. I finally walked INSIDE the Alamo instead of just taking a picture in front of it. Jack was especially interested in the historical significance of the mission. He’s still asking me questions about it.

8.) The Creek House. The middle of nowhere in Texas makes for a perfect Summer day.

9.) BLUE BELL ICE CREAM. Ya’ll knew this one was coming. I made sure to stock up when I arrived, but my supply was pretty low by the time we left.

10.) The General Awesomeness. Texas means family, friends, fun, and food. Thank you, H-E-B, Taco Cabana, and any establishment that serves real enchiladas and tortillas. Thank you. And no one thought it was weird when I said, “ya’ll” or “soda.” You don’t always know what you have ’til it’s gone.

This sign was posted at Gramzy and Papa’s neighborhood pool. Shouldn’t that sign read, “Pool Closed?”

Tammy, Jonathan, and George took me on a day trip to Waco to visit the Magnolia Silos! I heard there is a college there too or something.

Uncle Jonathan shot some pictures of the family.

Farewell, Texas. We’ll be back soon.

Last Day of 2nd Grade and Pre-K

Posted by Lori Hurt

Friday was our last day of school for the 2015-2016 school year! We spent the whole day celebrating.

We began with Flyboy Donuts for breakfast. Yum!

Jack’s poem review for the year. However, his favorite subjects this year were math and science.

We finished the last chapter in our current read aloud book, Farmer Boy. I bought our copy used online. Inside was this inscription from 21 years ago to the day. I’d like to have a word with this Austin about getting rid of a book that his Grams so lovingly gifted to him.

Some of our other read aloud books this year. Lucy and I are still going through her beginning- to- read book and will finish the lessons this summer. Jack has decided he will only read books by himself if they are in comic book form. Fortunately, our library has a nice supply. Both kids enjoy being read to and I am always happy to oblige.

The celebration continued with a trip downtown for macarons and Falls Park.

The last day of school calls for double dessert. Why not?

The next day was a rainy one. I think our summer is off to a great start.

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