Simple delights

The week is moving along at a steady pace and we are making good head way with our learning. On Monday night, I was so encouraged at the meeting with the Pillar Mom. She is so wise and always makes us laugh too. I took a friend along whose home ed journey is about to take off. We had a wonderful time and it was great to see some of the moms I have not seen in a while. I came away encouraged to do more" hands on" learning and to just show more love to the children in all we do and have FUN!

Today we were delighted to see that a Laughing Dove has made its nest in our back gardens tree. Gods timing is just so perfect..... the children climbed the tree for closer inspection and are looking forward to the sound of the chicks cheeping when they hatch. They also set up a bird bath in the garden and are hoping to see our feathered friends taking a bath soon!

Yesterday they had the opportunity to observe their aunt and uncles cockatiel . He has been moulting and they were pleased to find down feathers and a flight feather at the bottom of the cage.

We have been making a lapbook on animal classification which has been loads of fun. I found it free on homeschool share. They have some amazing freebies there to enhance ones homeschool education.

K has completed her little quilt and I think she has done a great job for her first try. She has been working away at it while we read. Our current books are The Jungle Book and Citizen Bird, which we are enjoying enormously.

K will take her quilt to Acts on Saturday and she will be sewing up to make a purse.

Around the garden...

We discovered that K's strawberry plant has got its first two strawberries! We need to make sure that she can eat them before any little bugs d0!

What a lovely surprise to see a Hadeda Ibis in our garden. Perfectly timed to fit in with our Zoology studies. We watched as it pecked around in the grass and it didn't seem to mind us getting too close either.

You know you're a homeschooler when...

I just saw this on another home school moms blog and had to share it with you.....

Miniatures

Being Saturday, the children went off to Acts club while I went for a much needed haircut and hubby popped in at the in laws for coffee. K is learning how to do quilting and it is wonderful to see her learn things that I don't know how to do. J continued with his copper beating and I hope to show you the finished product next week! Z enjoyed the games at Acts and then went on to Upward soccer where he earned two star awards.

This afternoon K and I had a wonderful time at the miniatures fair. We went with our very good friends and spent hours browsing at all these amazing creations. I admire the men and women who make these teeny tiny replicas of anything and everything!They are truly talented! There were houses, shops, gardens, plants, furniture and anything you could think of. The detail is just mind boggling.

The girls had a great time buying all sorts of nick nacks for their dolls. K bought herself a miniature artists palette and some scraps of fabric to make a quilt for her dolls. I just love that she still enjoys her dolls at almost 12 years old.

My personal favourites were the miniature oil paintings done by the artist Cindy Lotter.

The paintings are all oil on canvas. None are painted with a magnifying glass, but with the naked eye only.The smallest is 20x30mm in size, the largest is 500x400mm.The paintings are not reproduced, they are all one of a kind. It was great to meet her too and chat with her about her art. Her attention to detail in each painting is incredible! I used a magnifying glass to examine them carefully and was truly impressed!

Mossbank memories July 25th

July 25Th was a special day as it was J's 14Th birthday. It was great to be with the extended family on his special day.

The morning began with shrieks of laughter from the girl cousins as they had been plotting against their Uncle, and had a shaving cream fight with him! Not sure who came of worse but fun was had by all!

J was taken out for his favourite, a lime milkshake, and cake by Pappa P. The rest of us went for an amazing walk up behind my sisters home . Last year this area had been covered in trees that have since been felled. It was a crisp morning and it was wonderful to feel the warmth of the sun and see the snow on the distant Drakensberg mountain range.

I so enjoyed the time connecting with my mum whom I miss having close by....

That afternoon we all headed into town for another party. My sister had organised this hat party for family and friends who could not make the party on her birthday. The venue had a fantastic view of the Underberg. This is a popular paragliding spot and we could see them from the garden of the B&B.

The cousins were inseparable and made up for lost time by chatting and getting up to mischief!

The venue was cosy and warm and the tables were laden with scones, jam and cream, koeksisters, mini milktarts, savouries and the best chocolate cake I have had in a while!

It was a pleasure to see my Aunt and Uncle from Hilton and to meet more of my sisters friends. The afternoon was spent enjoying good company and excellent food. We stayed way into the night and the hostess was most hospitable!

Aunty D and Z with their hats.

I just had to capture this colourful stained glass door at the entrance to the venue.

More fun with Zoology

We had a wonderful time with our Zoology studies today. We are learning about feathers and their structure etc. Thankfully we had a bag of feathers on hand that K had collected when we were in Mossbank. We had contour feathers and semiplumes so we just need to find some down to add to our notebooks.

We had fun looking at them through magnifying glasses and "waterproofing " feathers with oil. It was amazing to see the water forming beads on the oiled feathers. I marvel at God's attention to detail in the construction of a simple feather.

The children had the greatest time racing round the garden with umbrellas to feel the air slowing them down just like a bird uses its tail and wing feathers to slow down when landing. I must admit I had to have a try too and it was fun! Z decided to jump out of the tree with the umbrella too....I just love this hands on learning! So much better than a dry book of facts!

We got to hang our suet bird feeders today too. They smell so good and K said she was tempted to make some into biscuits so she could have some too! (They are made with lard, oats, peanut butter, sugar, maize meal, seeds and raisins)
This evening we spent a little time watching some birds examine all that has been put out for them to enjoy.

Girls having fun

On Sunday we visited our friends the Roberts family. It was wonderful to catch up with them again as we haven't seen them for about 6 months.

The girls had a wonderful afternoon in Robyn's studio trying on wedding dresses, tiaras, jewellery and strappy little shoes. K said she felt like a princess and was thrilled when Robyn asked her to model for her in an upcoming Bridal show! She will be wearing a bridesmaid outfit alongside Robyn's daughter. She is SO excited! Needless to say, we hardly saw the girls all afternoon.