And my sewing table is still filled with fabric strips and pieces that could be used, and half done projects and half thought ones. Oh…. I’ll get to it at some point.
Math : Squares : playing with soap
I’ve mentioned before that we’ve been having fun with this Shapes book. This is the last activity for squares/cubes.
We made a square out of cardboard as a pattern.
We had to make a square, cube bubble wand.
We learned, that it is not easy to make. Siena’s was the better one.
We had some bubble mix.
And look at how pretty it looks!
Yes! A square in the middle of it all! So neat. And because I loved it so much… why not a video, right?
The garden in May
A trip to the nursery to get us going on some plants, while the rest are in the greenhouse growing.
And a new plant. Gooseberries. The funny thing is that we had 2 gooseberries plants when we first move here to the US. I love eating (green) gooseberries growing up, so we planted some in our garden. They never did much, and by the time Siena was born, those super large needles worried me that this crawler of a girl we had, would grab one of those big thorns and get hurt, because those plants were so big that we couldn’t contain them within the garden space. So out they went. We changed them for blueberries… which they never did much either because the birds would eat them before we got to them. 
So here we are again. I will leave it to the gardeners to decide location and to care for it. Maybe it will do better. I am sure actually.
Math : Squares : Cubes
This one book we’ve been using about shapes, takes us after few stories and projects and games, to the cubes.
We are a family of dice. I don’t know if there is such a differentiation or question in a questionnaire. Are you a dice person or not? If there was, we are definitely one. With a big jar full of dice to have on hand, because you never know when you’ll need them, right? And of course that is not the only one container around. I could probably find a container of more than 3 dice in each room of our house. And I bet if I cleaned out my purse/bag, I could find a die or two. I bet I could…
We also made a little paper corner. I love hands-on. That is the way I understand better for sure.
And then we made a cube our of card stock.
Decorated it.
And magic! It’s a box!
Dice, cubes, paper, tape, sharpies, color…. that’s my kind of math!
The last few weeks
… we’ve had swim meets, and swim practices and some beautiful swim moments.
… we’ve also had baseball games and some rained out games, that makes space for some other kind of playing. Still with friends, still fun.
… have dried some clothes outside.
… we’ve been studying Africa and wondering how long we can stretch this unit for, because what I thought we’d take a month or so, it’s been more like 3 months! And we are still enjoying it and having fun.
… the garden is being readied and planted, slowly, but it’s in everyone’s minds. We’ll get there eventually.
… we’ve been outside a whole lot more.
… we’ve been mowing the yard, a lot. Between the sun, the heat of a 90-degree day we had last week, and the rain, it’s growing like crazy!
… new friendships are grown and getting stronger. Sometimes it’s hard, sometimes it’s easier and wonderful and funny. Teens and pre-teens, and all the previous years, are all an amazing time for learning and growing up. All of us, but mostly me as a parent.
… windows are often open all day through the evening.
… I’ve been listening to new to me music.
… I found this video and made me think.
… it’s been so nice that I find the kids doing their work outside many times…. love that of homeschooling!
Summer is coming, I know it, and the calendar says so. We are looking forward to it.
Math : Squares : Tangram
From that same book of shapes we’ve been following the order it comes. Still studying squares, we made our own Tangram,
We first didn’t see a cut we were suppose to do, which made the shape building a little more challenging!
But then we cut it right, and got right to it….
Well…. we actually had to look at the answer when none of us could figure out how to build the house.
Ta Da!
Spring in May
My Mother’s Day Clematis has done her job and shared it with all of us. What a treat.
Roses everywhere, so beautiful.
A wild bouquet.
Because all those colors outside… I had to bring some inside too before the rain was coming.
The apple trees in the backyard are getting full of leaves for sure. That shade is so nice for those hot days. It cools it as much as 10 degrees I think. it is so nice to have.
Chives beauty.
Fennel.
I know the heat is coming….
Math : Squares : Tumbling Blocks
\We are using this book called Shapes in Math, Science and Nature. It has short lessons and projects and games that we are enjoying.
This day we did tumbling blocks, which that Lucas asked to make because it’s a pattern very similar to the box of a game they play. It was pretty fun.
\
We di a square from scratch, with a compass and ruler and measurements!
Then they used it to make a diamond shape and as a pattern to cut more for the final design. 
It was a fun project.
A photo shoot class
Our neighbor is a photographer, and is such a nice person. He and his wife go on amazing trips, share some of their photos from the road, and they come home full of stories, that I love hearing about.
They also listen to what our kids have to say and what they are doing and making. The last conversation was about Siena’s making and her new Etsy shop and we asked him to give us a little help in the photo-taking area.
I find it so hard to take good pictures that will show the details of something. And for the shop, of Siena’s little creations, so hard to keep it all in mind.
He then gave us a morning of his time to show us a better way to take photos for our creations, on the Etsy store, as well as for some of the pictures and videos they make in other times. (Like the videos and photos for their Lego Blog.)
I think we might start by making a small light box like this one and this one maybe (same idea.) I can see us having lots of fun with it.
The beach on a rainy day in April
We went to the coast a few weekends ago, and it was really cold. We had a swim meet so we were indoors for most of the days, so it didn’t matter that it was raining. But it did get us wet when we went to check it out while Siena rested.
Treasures and frisbee is a must at the beach, right?
Wet clothes, sandy and wet feet, soaked coats, sea smelling hair, and our lungs filled with fresh smelling ocean air. Even for just an hour, it felt good to be out there.
Naturally Fun Days 