you microwaved what!?

so...this crazy little experiment has been floating around the interwebs lately. being that we are a crazy little homeschool family, we just had to try it.  enter the ivory soap experiment... or if you want to sound like you are really 'learning' something you can call it the charles law experiment. basically... you stick a bar of ivory soap in the micro and watch it turn into a big fluffy cloud! it is pretty darn cool.
to make it more of an 'official' science experiment the kids each wrote a hypothesis stating what they thought would happen and wrote their observations of the soaps pre-microwave.  all i had on hand as our comparison soap was an old mini bar of hotel soap. we microwaved that first and it pretty much just melted into a pile of something that resembled cat puke. gross. i will spare you the photo.
the ivory soap experiment did not fail us as you can see from our pictures...i'm pretty sure my kids thought i was the coolest science teacher ever- that day. try it... i promise you will earn some cool points...and your house will smell ivory fresh. :)

puttin' the smack down!

like many american families we own a wii, computer(s), and now the infamous ipad. i tried to keep my kids interests in these sorts of things at bay, but with a daddy who gets giddy at the sight of any new techie toy i knew that it wouldn't be long before i would have to cave. while gracie could live without the wii and/or video games, jack just has this obsession. it's kind of a guy thing, i think. beating levels, finding codes and treasures and such are all beyond my understanding. it's fun for them and something that they do together *mostly* without fighting and arguing. we have always been cautious of time spent on these sorts of things but most recently we have had to put some serious boundaries in place.

we took a break from our daily schooling over the christmas and new years holidays and pretty much gave free reign to all things technological since the ipad was new and a few new wii games appeared under the tree. boy was that a mistake! our first week back to school was hard! getting back into reading and focusing on non-moving things mode was tough... especially for jack.  i also started to notice that the children just assumed because we have these things they think they deserve to play them all the time, no matter what. uh, hello.... i don't think so! 

after having used some nifty chore charts that i found on pinterest, it gave me an idea to create some behavior charts for them. and better yet... they could earn their greatest commodity: techie time!  at the end of everyday we go over the charts and talk about which areas they succeeded and which areas they failed. if they succeeded in being kind that day for example, they get a star on that day- worth 5 minutes of tech time! you get the point. they have an opportunity to earn a pretty big chunk of time to play over the weekend, but we have only gotten up to 35 minutes earned so far. ;)   

our desire for our children is that their behavior would reflect that of Jesus and that their hearts will understand their own sin and will be drawn to repentance without the use of a chart. but for the time being, this has been a good way to turn to God's word when we need a reminder on how to behave and treat others. and while they struggle to 'do the right thing' (don't we all!?) we have had some pretty good days lately! kindness has prevailed (a few times), obedience is sweet, and their tech time is something they don't take for granted!

if you have the same issues as we did feel free to use our chart! i have included the link and you can download it as a .pdf and print one for yourself! 

go HERE for the download!

IOU :: happy birthday jack!

why yes, the fall swallowed us up with the beginning of our school year, (including jack's birthday!), christmas went by in a flash and now here we are almost to the end of january! yikes! so this is my official IOU post for mr. jack avery.
this guy... what can i say? he has my heart wrapped around his little finger. while he frustrates me to the core when it comes to getting stuff done, and seriously grosses me out with his little boy antics, how can i not love him! that face! his sweet heart is so soft to jesus and we pray that he grows to be a mighty man of God! he has the best example and his daddy is training him well..not only in the things of God but holding the door for the ladies and all. heart breaker, that kid. he is becoming quite the soccer player and has most recently taken a liking to skateboarding. he can't get enough of it! so... we look forward to the blessing of another year watching jack grow and i am sure he'll entertain us the whole way through!

happy birthday gracie!

today my sweet girl turns 9. that's almost a decade! the joy and fullness that this young lady has brought to our lives is immeasurable. i am so humbled that God saw fit to bless us with her. She is forever amazing us with her knowledge, making us laugh with her silliness, frustrating us with her stubbornness, and keeping us on top of things. :) i don't know where we would be without little gracie. (who i probably need to stop calling little!) today we praise jesus and celebrate the life of gracie!

a reason to celebrate!

the end of summer vacation for us was marked by all kinds of excitement.  an earthquake, a hurricane and a brand new family member! our sweet niece and cousin mia came into the world born to my brother matt and his dear wife carly. we could not have been more excited! they live deep in the heart of texas, and we weren't sure we were going to be able to make the long trip but the Lord saw fit for us to go! what a blessing!
gracie was a proud cousin and so sweet and gentle with mia. jack wasn't sure what to think. :) we spent precious time together, eating, laughing, getting to know little mia, eating some more, and relaxing together. it was good.  we miss her already!

summer vacation!

a few weeks ago we took a jaunt to the low country... south carolina ya'll! ever since gracie was a wee one my mom and i have tried to make the trip down to visit family.  it had been 3 years since we were last there to spend some quality time with the great-grands and other sweet family members. gracie and jack were so excited to get back to charleston and to aunt debbie's pool! in the south, life moves at a slower pace, the food tastes better and tea is served extra sweet. :)how could a kid not resist that!


highlights of our trip involved staying in charleston with one set of grandparents and meeting all their friends whose faces would light up at the sight of my two kiddos, getting sprayed by water during the 4D planet earth film at the south carolina aquarium, watching jack guzzle down 3 glasses of sweet tea like nobody's business, walking on the beach at isle of palms, butter beans and rice at browns bbq, trying to catch lizards by the pool, eating a big juicy watermelon with my sweet grandpa gordon, watching grace in all her glory riding a horse named jet, catching up with my aunt debbie and savoring all her hospitality.it was a blessing to spend time with those we love but don't get to see very often. memories were made and gracie and jack are ready to become low country bumpkins.

catch up!

they say a picture is worth a thousand words. here is what we have been up to since i last posted...

gracie and i spent an evening out with friends at a secret keeper girl event!

jack fell out of bed and got a black eye. poor kid.

we were slap happy and made a kabillion mustaches on a stick to sell at the salisbury festival!

we finished our geography homeschool co-op class with a 'food from many nations' party! we studied japan and made candy sushi! it was a hit! (and we also cleared peoples nasal passages with wasabi peas!)

we blinked and summer was here! goggles + blow up pool = endless summer fun!

 and most recently, gracie showed us her moves at her dance recital. what a beauty!

 we are glad for a break in our schooling and looking forward to a busy summer. life is good. Jesus is better!