To the Zoo We Go!!

What a wonderful spring day yesterday!  It was the most perfect time to go to the Topeka Zoo.
My oldest kiddo decided to stay home and help dad with cows and run errands.  So, I packed up the other 3 boys and the two cutie patootie girls that I watch and we headed to the zoo. 


Last year we went right in the middle of summer,it was way too hot, and they were renovating a majority of the animal habitats.  It was rather disappointing but I bought a season pass nevertheless in the hopes that with all the work they were doing would greatly improve our little zoo.

Wow, what a great improvement from last year!  It was not too warm out, so we saw just about every animal they had.  Our highlight was the mama hippo and her baby.  We had seen them last year, and it was exciting for the kids to see how they were getting along now. 

I think we watched the orangutans for 15 minutes.  The kids were fascinated by their climbing and jumping skills....I could not tear them away.  I think maybe they could relate with them and was just hoping they were not picking up any new ideas.

For some reason, the girls were enthralled with the African Crested Porcupine. ???? They had a blast!

 

She was very taken with all the flowers in bloom.  She's a woman of not too many words....but said over and over..."I loouvvee flawoors".  And in case you can't speak "2 yr old", it's, I Love Flowers! 

After seeing the zoo, we went across the road and enjoyed our picnic lunch....then the kids played at the awesome park for nearly an hour.  I was exhausted just watching them, but I knew if I just let them keep going.....it was going to be a nice, peaceful ride home....minus the snoring.

I think the older "cutie patootie" was a little worried about the squawking  geese roaming along the path near us.  I think she's going to make a break for it.

We can't wait to visit the zoo again next month for their homeschool education program.  The Topeka Zoo also has a summer camp, and tons of other fun experiences for kids! 


One exhausted mom,
Aimee

Guest Blogger on Hip Homeschool Moms: Acting Pretty When Things Get Ugly

All of us homeschool moms have had rough days.  Days when you have had just about enough!  Days when you're trying to encourage your youngest to finish his work, your middle child is flicking paper balls into the fish tank,  your eldest son sprays half a bottle of Axe body spray in his room and it filters through the house  resulting in an evacuation to the porch, leaving lunch cooking on the stove, and you already have a splitting headache...oh, and it's raining. Not that I'm saying that this happened to me...wink, wink.
Well, it's good to know that we're not alone on the bad days...why does it cheer us up to know someone has had miserable days  like us?  Hmm...
Hip Homeschool Moms has guest bloggers on their site sharing encouragement, woes, and ideas.
So hop on and share in the trials and tribulations of this homeschool mom and how she deals with it.

Acting Pretty When Things Get Ugly!

Guest Blogger Sarah is a homeschooling mom of 5, ages 3 months to 8 years. She tries to take life one day at a time, even when several days attack her at once. You can find out more about her (and how she really, really, really tries not to lose her mind) at Ordinary Days.

Enjoy!

Aimee

Learning with Math Songs

Hey all!  Just want to share a few math tricks that has worked for our family.  I am by no means being compensated with this product or for my review.  I purchased the following products at a homeschool convention and love them! 
The company is Audio Memory and they make Cd's with songs on topics like;addition, subtraction, multiplication, division, grammar, geography, states & capitals, and U.S. history. 
We have tried the addition, subtraction, multiplication, and grammar.  They are a  wonderful compliment to our regular studies.

The addition and multiplication songs are what we used this morning to get the day going.

 
The kids usually dance around the room singing and being silly....but that's how we learn,  right?  At least at this age, if you make learning fun, they ( and you ) get more out of it. I still have the additon song for the 5's in my head, and probably will for the rest of the day...that's good, right? Or maybe slightly annoying to every one else, because you know, I just can't keep it to myself.

My boys are playing with Lego's as we listen to the math songs.  Got to keep those hands busy, and yes they do actually learn better this way.

Here are some links where you can purchase!
Multiplication Songs
Addition Songs
Audio Memory

What do you use to make learning memorable and fun? 

Happy learning!
Aimee

What's on My Mind

Lots of stuff going on inside my head these days.  I know, scary, right?  Here's a random list!

What are we gonna do for dinner tonight? I usually do e-mealz, but too much going on today so hubby's going to bring home some Papa Murphy's pizza hopefully.

House building.  Although very exciting, I think the process of building a new house is going to be anxiety ridden, challenging, scary, and expensive.  With that said, we are so darn, stinkin' excited!  Here's the plans for the new house, so far, minus the garage that's in the picture...House plans

REFLUX...My reflux has returned in full force.  I've been dealing with less than pleasant symptoms since my surgery to "fix" it, but now it's so bad I thought that I had a bad case of strep throat.  Apparently it was a  bad case of esophogitis accompanied with ulcers in the back of throat and esophogus.  I know, TMI, but I decided to post all my ups and downs associated with acid reflux in hopes it either helps someone else or maybe someone else might have suggestions for me.  Acid Reflux

Depression...sigh...not many people know I suffer from depression.  It's kind of one of those things that you don't go around telling everyone, ya know. I've had talk therapy in the past, and have tried different medications.  On a new one now, so I guess we'll see!  With those of you who live with depression, either yourself or know someone, I don't have to explain the daily struggles associated with this.  To everyone else, be kind to everyone you know or meet, you may not know just what that persons battles are. Depression

Topeka Zoo Homeschool Program    I'm am so excited to have discovered this at the Topeka Zoo!  It's every 3rd Wednesday of every month, and allows for the kids to mingle with experts and up-close animal contact!  Topeka Zoo Homeschool Program

Time to make lunch, so bye for now!
Aimee

To Blog or not to Blog....

  So, I decided I missed blogging and writing (it's been almost 1 1/2 yrs).  I found my old blog easy enough, but being able to log in to post was a whole 'nother ball o' wax!  Since life is short and mine very busy, I just made a new blog site after over an hour of trying to recover the password, email address.....

  Today is a snowy day and the little people in my house, of course, want to go out in the snow and frolic, romp and freeze their extremities.   I think I've finally convinced them to wait until their dad gets home in a few hours.  I'm hoping to fend them off and keep them busy in the meantime.  Taking 30 min. to bundle up 4 heathens to play in the snow for 20 min.  is definitely a joint effort. Won't Matt be thrilled when he gets home :0 

  Lessons.....well, maybe later today.  We're ahead of schedule if that counts!

Pictures of my little snow monsters to follow soon, Ahh, good to be back!