Category Archives: Field Trips

Week Eleven!

Posted on by justakrazymom

Week eleven has come to an end.. it was a stressful but great week… wanna see what we did??

Ziah had to do some measuring in her math:

Declan work on some metric measuring in his:

Taejan did some maze work:

We had a fabulous science day where we learned about Oil and Water and how they just do not mix:



Homemade “lava lamp” anyone?

As I mentioned before we switched Ziah’s phonics to A Beka and it’s made a huge difference. Well since Declan is such a horrible speller I decided to start some phonics drills and have him take part… I can already see the difference in his spelling.. A Beka phonics RULES!

Taejan worked on the numbers 8,9 and 10:

Did some edible muffin tin math:

We had a free rein afternoon where the kids got to “play” with various sciencey items:



This is exactly why we are very glad for bathtubs and clothes washers:

Princess..that silly silly kitty wanted to do some schooling too..so I gave her some Map Skills to work on:

More A Beka phonics drills:

Another form of phonics drills:

A little imagination play for Taejan and Noah..lol

Art class:

Ziah started a 6 week afterschool program ( twice a week) at our Boys and Girls club..the 2nd day she made rice crispie treats and a cute craft:

Lapbook work:

Ziah spent LOTS of time like this:

See homeschooling is not all sunshine and roses.. she is very tough..and when she gives me a hard time about lessons ( ie every day lately) she gets to go to bed…

We did our weekly reader ( I was a week behind..act):

Ziah wanted to do some home-ec so she made some biscuits to go with the ribs I made:

We had a costume day.. the kids had to wear costumes all day.. it was a hoot!

Taejan..I mean Dash putting his letter D on his alphabet tree:

My little go-go dancer doing her math:

The ninja joined them for some more work:

Puzzle time!

Ziah doing more home-ec..making pigs in a blanket:

We went on a great field trip:


Taejan is still big in to writing his letters..here he’s writing baby lion :

And Ziah making a sticker book for her best friend:

Our first “semester” is officially over!

Giant catch up post…

Posted on by justakrazymom

Ok..welcome November..dang you arrived fast! I realize I have been a really bad blogger but in my defense we have one heck of a busy schedule..between schooling, Noah working 2-3 days a week,wrestling,soccer, karate, bball times 3 kids, dance and ya know..sleeping every once in awhile..I just don’t have time nor desire to blog much right now. So I am about to post a huge overwhelming post of the last 2 weeks.. schooling and fun.. and they aren’t in chronological order..

Taejan working on the letter Cc:

Declan doing the dance he does when he needs to remember something for schooling:

And working on his research project:

Playing Boggle Jr

Helping Taejan.. he’s big into spelling and writing things right now:

Princess helping herself to some of my sweet tea:

Taejan loves taking the Boggle Jr cards and the white board and practicing his writing skills!

Declan using the Hot Dots:

Things aren’t perfect with the two cats..we still have LOTS of fights daily..but mostly cus kitten wants to play and big kitty does NOT..but they are tolerating each other better:

I “winterized” the schoolroom. We don’t have real heat out there and it’s only a 3 season room. So we don’t work out there much in the winter ( i do use a little heater but I don;t get it real warm). Between that and the fact the kids hate working at their own desks it was time to rearrange:


Ziah had her 7th birthday party.. she wanted a trick or treat party..





Instead of party bags I set up 3 trick or treat stations..it was fun!

More lessons:






Finding stuff for our Compost Jar as part of our Global Warming science unit. We are studying how recycling can help global warming and one of the projects in our lapbook is a compost jar:


Ziah got a great necklace kit from Lila and family and was enjoying making some jewelry:

The kids have been very antsy lately..we were spending too much time either stuck in the house or running around at activities..so on a very nice fall day we walked to the lake and explored for hours..they had the best time ..it was so nice to see the 3 wee ones just being NICE to each other and having fun ( Noah was at karate then home doing school work):





The day before her actual birthday Ziah had her 4 best homeschooled friends over for a Princess tea party.. Declan helped me make all the food:

Then all 3 got dressed up nice ( Noah was at work)..Taejan and Declan were the waiters btw:

All 5 girls..they had the best time!


Jadziah’s last picture as a 6 year old:

And first as a 7 year old:

The public schools had a half day so we had friends over:


The girls painted for hours…

Then we had the city’s Halloween parade with our krew of friends:
Ziah and her other half Autumn:

Hubby and I:

3 of my best girls and I:

it was COLD..smart kids:

Declan and his best peeps:



Then we had Trick or Treating with our krew of friends:





Of course we ended the Holiday weekend at my bestest friend’s house..
Noah, Ephiphani and Ashley ( notice Noah’s new glasses?? He has had glasses for 7 years but he now has to wear them all the time)

Taejan dancing:

Scott and Joni:

2 of my boys:

My friend of 30ish years Missy and her husband..they were some people from “Jersey Shore”?..I don’t watch it so I was clueless..lol:

Brian and Deb:


Taejan and Ashley:

Taejan and I:

Lots of dancing as always:

oh some random cell phone pictures..LOL.. so the hamster we bought Ziah when her other one died apparently came to us pregnant.. we discovered this about 3 weeks after we bought her when we went to clean the cage and there was 2 babies.. sadly only one lived and his name is Shayman and he lives in Declan’s room now!

We took the krew to 6Flags for Fright Fest( Noah was with us but off with his friend):

More random school stuff:

Declan and one of his best buds jake:

Our city has this downtown “fair: type thing called Third Thursday every month from May-October.. we go to most. This month the kids got to Trick or Treat. 2 of our best peeps and their kids joined us:

Well I think I am now caught up…lol.. for now!

I love Fall!

Posted on by justakrazymom

I am very blessed to live where we live… I love seasons..and boy o boy do we have seasons around here… heck in a matter of days we went from 70′s to 40′s to 80′s…lol.. tends to happen this time of the year every year ( even though select group of locals will complain every year that the weather is sooo bad..um..ok..same as this time last year but whatever..lol).

As the air cools I tend to get an itch.. an itch to be outside, hiking, playing etc when I won’t be sweating up a storm! There is nothing like spending hours in the cool fresh air , except if your lucky enough to do it with friends!

Friday the kids and I met up with my super long time friend and 3 of her kids ( since we were like..12…ack..lol) and a new friend and her kiddos. We had 3 moms, 8 kids 8.5 and under and 1 teen between us. We went on a nice loop trail on Mt. Greylock..


The tribe:(minus the teen..but he really was with us)


As we left Michelle spotted a horse and we all stopped to see him..gorgeous animal!

We decided to get together the next day and met up at Green River Farms.. we planned to apple pick but any early frost killed their crop..so we let the kids play..





Then we hit the “petting zoo”



And since we really wanted to apple pick we headed to an orchard I’ve picked at before:

I can not say enough how awesome these 6 kids are ( Michelle has a teen also..neither of ours joined us for apple picking..lol). They never ever fight, all 6 play together or they pair up..it’s beyond nice!




nothing says carefree kids like an impromtu game of Duck Duck Goose in the middle of an apple orchard ( lucky for them another friend of ours since we were way young was there with her kids!)


What a view:

Then today after church and CCD we borrowed Declan’s best friend and headed out for another full day of fall fun! We decided to see how the foliage was on The Mohawk Trail. We soon realized it was a little greener than back home but it was still a gorgeous ride!



We stopped off at the glacial potholes in Shelburne Falls. I can remember swimming here but they haven’t allowed it since 2002.



Next stop was Mikes Maze in Sunderland. Here’s the view from the farm to Mount Sugarloaf:

The view of the maze from the lookout :

The maze is more than just a maze..you have tasks. There are 4 pictures to print “old school” by layer colors ( so 16 stations you must find) then there are 12 art questions to locate and answer. We’ve heard people have taken hours to complete it all.. we were in there just a touch over an hour ( Declan and I are natural GPS’s.. I can follow any map..even one of a corn maze). The give you a numbered flag and you have to put a washer on the same number on a big board outside the maze…this way they know if the maze is empty at the end of the day or not.. after getting our flag and instructions we headed in:



music anyone?

After the maze we had a snack ( oh my..the prices were amazing.. snacks and drinks for 6 people for $11..no lie!!!) and then Taejan and Ziah did the pony ride:


Next stop was to head up Mount Sugarloaf.. it’s not that high ( just over 600 feet) but wow what views! I think I like the views from this better than some of the bigger ones because you could see things clearer..
The maze :





Adding to their passports ( and starting a new one for Phil)

Goofy tribe of kids:

have I mentioned how much I love fall in the North East??? I have about a dozen more fun fall things planned for the month of October.. I love love love it!!!

The Big E

Posted on by justakrazymom

Last week went took a Field Trip Friday and took the krew to The Big E. We try and go every year.. it’s so fun to walk around and enjoy the sites, eat the food ( less fun for me now that I am gluten free but oh well) learn a few things and ride some rides.

We love this..the music is great..

The circus museum:

visiting the States:

Woody and Taejan

For the first time ever we went to the “free” circus..

The acts in the show were great..we all fully enjoyed it!



my mother treated them each(well the 3 younger ones) to a Pillow Pet..happy is not even close to what they were:

They went on a few rides ( again thanks to my mom) ..Ziah and Noah on the rollercoaster:

Dec and Taejan ( Taej was 1/4 of an inch too short to go on anything alone..Declan was NOT happy about being the designated kiddie ride chaperon):

Ziah gave me a heart attack by going on this ride:( she’s on the yellow one)

They did learn a lot ( shhhh they don’t know this was a schooling field trip)

Noah and Ziah:

Declan:

We saw the giant horses again:

Taejan and I went to see the bears..

We had another great visit this year.. hoping to get back once more this year!

Week 2 of schooling

Posted on by justakrazymom

We didn’t do a ton this past week as my sister her hubby and their 2 kiddo’s arrived from Michigan mid week. We only get to see them once a year so we are trying to spend as much time as we can with them.

here’s the more hands on fun stuff we did:

alphabet bingo with Taejan:

Sight Word Bingo with all three. To make this more enriching for them if they have the word they must tell me the meaning and use it in a sentence:

In science we made gum:






Noah declared it was yummy..lol

Ziah doing her phonics:

Taejan using the Tag:

and making brownies

Declan and Ziah doing their Sylvan Vocabulary:( grade 2 and 3)

All three wee ones doing their handwriting:

and their word of the day and copy work:

Taejan’s hands on science and math:

field trip to see the Wrapped exhibit:

This week will be another short week while my family is here , we host our HS groups Not Back To School day and of course Taejan turns 5 on Wednesday!