Soccer!

After our Cooperative Learning Day, the children and I had to kill a couple of hours in town because we had soccer that night and I wasn't going all the way home to turn around and drive all the way back to town again. So, we went to the library, Dollar General, and to the park. After that it was time to meet daddy for an early supper at my favorite restaurant (who by the way is our team's sponsor and on Thursday children eat free with an adult meal purchase.) Then it was back to the park for soccer. Chelsea's practice started at 5:30 and Nick and Alex had a game at 6:00. It was their first game of the season. I had my hands full keeping Christian and Anthony busy and since Art is Nick and Alex's coach he had his hands full with 9 -4,5 and 6 year olds. Our team won 10-5 which was exciting because most of our kids had never played soccer before. The children had a lot of fun, but we were all very tired by the time we got home. They are looking forward to the next game on Tuesday, while I will be busy trying to come up with ways to keep the little ones occupied so I am not chasing them all over the park.

Cooperative Learning Day

Thursday was our first Cooperative Learning Day for our Homeschool Group. We have 11 families in the group right now with children's ages ranging from infant to 13 years old. We thought it would be fun to get together once a month to do a hands on Science Class, Music, Art, PE, and have lunch and recess together. This month's theme was the migration of the Monarch Butterfly. We read books on the Monarch, migrated like Monarchs (some didn't make it to Mexico City due to the hurricane), labeled the parts of a butterfly, made a butterfly snack, listened to music about butterflies, and colored butterflies to be shipped to Mexico City. They will stay there until it is time for the Monarchs to return and then our group will get a return package of Monarchs. We also can track their progress online. The children had a lot of fun and are looking forward to next month's class.

Movie Review: Speed Racer

My opinion of this movie is don't waste your time or money. I have not been this disappointed in a kid's movie since The Cat and the Hat came out several years ago. when we saw the previews for the movie, all of the children wanted to see it. It looked like a good action movie with the classic good verses evil theme. I chose it on Netflix as soon as it was released and didn't read any reviews or other information on the movie. After seeing it, I have gone back and looked and it is recommended for children 8 and up. I think 12 is still too young for this movie. The movie is very long (135 minutes) and seems to drag on forever. It is very violent (although not bloody) right from the beginning until the end of the movie. There are sexual innuendos, bad language, and a moment where the middle finger is used. It was not my idea of a good movie that a family could sit and enjoy together. I sincerely hope they are not making any sequels to the movie, although by the way it ended I am sure they will be.

Tasty Tuesday: Cinnamon and Sugar Breakfast Puffs

Nausea has been my constant companion for the last several months. I was hoping that now that we are in the second trimester it would ease up a bit, but that has not been the case. One of the hardest things for me to do is cook (and clean up the kitchen.) But, with 5 children and a husband who is at work all day, you still have to cook. Mostly I survive by cooking things that especially appeal to me, but breakfast has proven the hardest meal of the day (nothing is really appetizing to me that early in the morning.) At the beginning of last month, I resorted to buying a large selection of cereal. The children were very excited (we never have this much cereal.) Today I actually made breakfast and they were all thrilled. Nick commented that he couldn't remember the last time I had made them something so yummy for breakfast. It wasn't the most nutritious breakfast ever, but they tasted great.


1/3 C shortening
1/2 C sugar
1 egg
1 1/2 C flour
1 1/2 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp salt
1/2 C milk

Topping
6 TBSP melted butter
1/2 C sugar
1 tsp cinnamon

Cream sugar and shortening and add in the egg and milk. Stir in baking powder, salt, and flour.
Fill greased muffin cups about 1/2 full and bake at 350 for 20 minutes. Melt butter for the topping and add cinnamon and sugar to the melted butter. As soon as you remove them from the oven, roll each puff into the topping mixture until coated. Makes 12.

Monday Morning Project: Scarecrow Door Hangers

Today is the first day of Fall. Nick got up this morning and put on a long sleeve shirt and long pants because Fall means it will be getting cold outside (it is 86 degrees here today.) That is not always the case here in Arkansas. It has been cooler in the mornings and evenings but it is still quite warm in the afternoons. We wanted to do a fall project, so the children made scarecrow door knob hangers I found on http://www.dltk-kids.com/ (under holidays and fall) They had several cute ideas that we will be working on to decorate the house over the next few weeks. This craft only required printing out 3 different templates, coloring, cutting, and gluing the scarecrow together. I did have to help Alex and Anthony with the cutting out and some of the gluing. The children really enjoyed working on this project.

Be Cautious of Childproof Containers

Either medicine containers aren't as childproof as they used to be, or our children are just getting smarter about opening them. I know many adults that have a hard time open medicine containers, but in the last couple of months I have had two friends whose children (ages 3 and 1) has managed to get a medicine bottle open. One of the little girls did ingest about 4 times a normal dose of Tylenol and had to have hourly blood tests to make sure her body was processing it and the other little girl dumped liquid Motrin all over the floor as her mom was walking into the room. I keep all of our medicine containers in a cupboard, or on the kitchen windowsill over the sink when they are not being used, but I have a bad habit of leaving Tylenol on my bathroom sink when someone is sick. I am trying very hard to break that habit. If you even suspect that your child might have swallowed something, call poison control. Even something as simple as extra vitamins or Tylenol can be very toxic to little bodies and don't assume because it is childproof that they can't get it open.

Alex's New Best Friend

Alex has a new best friend. It is the book, Green Eggs and Ham by Dr. Seuss. Alex (4) sees his big brother and sister reading everyday and really wants to learn how to read (even though we are still learning our alphabet.) So, he reads the book over and over again several times a day and to anyone who will listen. He carries it with him from room to room, and even sleeps with it at night. He says it is his favorite book because it is the only one he can read. I love to hear him reading to Christian and Anthony and daddy when he gets home from work.

Science Experiment: Steam Powered Engines

Our Five in a Row book this week is Mike Mulligan and His Steam Shovel by Virginia Lee Burton. It is a wonderful story (all the boys love it) about Mike Mulligan and his steam shovel, Mary Anne. We did a short experiment for science today to try to explain to the boys what a steam powered engine is and how it works. First we made a pinwheel (pattern compliments of the Five in a Row appendix) and attached the pinwheel to a pencil by sticking a straight pin through the eraser. Then we put some water in the tea kettle and waited for it to boil. While we were waiting we had a discussion about what would happen when the water got hot (steam would form and it would be very hot so we would have to be very careful.) when the water really got boiling we put the pinwheel in front of the steam and it made the pinwheel move. the boys were very excited to see this work and they now have a better understanding about what a steam powered engine is.

Tasty Tuesday: Quick and Easy Sloppy Joes

Now that we are in soccer season, I have to plan for a few nights of quick and easy suppers. I either put something in the crock pot, or plan something that can be on the table in less than 30 minutes on soccer nights. This is a great recipe.


1 pound ground beef (or turkey)
1 1/2 cups ketchup
2 tablespoons white sugar
2 tablespoons white vinegar
2 tablespoons yellow mustard

Brown ground beef in a large skillet over medium heat. Drain. While the meat is browning, combine all other ingredients in a sauce pan to simmer. After meat is browned and drained, combine with sauce and let simmer about 10 minutes. Serve over hamburger buns. Makes approximately 6 servings.

Origami Fun

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Our Five in a Row book this week was Grandfather's Journey by Allen Say. The book is about a man born in Japan who travels to the U.S. and back to Japan. We talked about some different things about the Japanese culture and for a fun project decided to try our hand at Origami. I found this website http://www.origami-fun.com/ and clicked on the origami for kids link. We tried out the hat and the drinking cup and all of the children had a great time folding the paper and the results of their efforts. Chelsea was very interested and got back on the website to print out instructions for the tulip and a crane. She spent most of the afternoon working on it and even gave one of her flowers to our dinner guests Saturday night as a gift. You never know what kids are going to be interested in until you give it a try.

We Have Eggs....Well One Egg!

The children were very excited today. Nick went down to the chicken coop this morning and found....an egg! He ran all the way back up the hill to tell everyone. Chelsea grabbed a basket (to carry the egg) and Nick, Alex, and Anthony all ran down the hill with her. The egg has been washed and put in the refrigerator in it's own carton labeled "Our Eggs." Hopefully there will be many more to follow soon.

Another Great Website

My friend Kim told me about this free website that she uses for spelling, so we checked it out today. They have spelling lists separated by grade, or you can put your child's own spelling list in. There are several fun games they can play to help them learn their words and tests they can take. Some of the games are printable, some you have to do on the computer. Both Nick and Chelsea enjoyed doing their spelling work today (yea!) I actually had to make Nick turn it off after 30 minutes, he wanted to keep playing. Go to http://www.spellingcity.com/ and check it out.

Tasty Tuesday: Muffin Pizzas

My new favorite quick and easy lunch is muffin pizzas. They are simple to make and only take 10-12 minutes in the oven.

Refrigerated biscuit dough (you could make your own, but to make it easier I buy a 4 pk of Great Value refrigerated biscuit dough)
Sauce
Mozzarella Cheese
Any desired toppings

Grease a muffin pan. Place one uncooked biscuit in each muffin cup and press it down on the bottom and the sides. Cover with sauce, cheese, and favorite toppings. Bake as directed on biscuit can, usually 10-12 minutes. Enjoy.

Monday Morning Project: Watercolor Paintings

For a quick, easy, and fun Monday morning project the children did watercolor paintings. We used long white sheets of paper that I cut into smaller sizes, watercolors, paintbrushes, cups of water, and of course paper towels. All of the childen could participate, and most of them chose to do many paintings instead of just one. Watercolors dry relatively quickly so they can be hung right away.

Great Homeschool Website

While searching the internet for some fun projects to do while studying Ancient Egypt, I found this website http://www.homeschoolhelperonline.com/. The website is full of Unit Studies, Lapbooks, Worksheets, Coloring Pages, Notebooking, Computer Lessons, Character Studies, and more. I found some great ideas for fun projects to do and have saved the site to my favorites for future reference.

We Have an Announcement!!!

The newest addition to the Trombley family will be arriving on or around the 23rd of March. The children are very excited, although Anthony doesn't think it looks like a baby, he thinks it is a baby sea turtle. I guess he is kind of right. Alex really wants the baby to be born right now but I told him it has to grow for a few more months. He woke up the next morning patted my belly and said,"I think it is much bigger than yesterday, hasn't the baby grown enough?" Chelsea, Nick, and Alex all think we should have a girl this time, but I explained to them (again) that that decision is out of our hands, that we are praying for a healthy baby and whether it is a boy or a girl does not matter.

The Wii

During our 3 days of pouring down rain, it was impossible for us to get outside for any PE time. Instead, the children played the Wii. I am not a big video game fan, but out of all of the video games out there right now I think the Wii is the best one. Mom and Dad bought one several months ago and then bought one for the children to play with here. The games are interactive and most require you to get up and move. You feel like you are actually playing the game. For PE time, they played tennis, bowling, and baseball. We also have the Wii Fit which has aerobic activities, yoga, and balance games. Although playing the Wii was not as good as getting outside in the fresh air, it provided us with some indoor sports fun.

Movie Review: Facing the Giants

The rain started here on Monday night, and it is supposed to continue until Friday. So, last night we had a relaxing evening at home and watched a couple of movies. I had heard of the movie Facing the Giants but had not seen it until it popped up on our Netflix recommendations. The movie is about a football coach who feels like he is at the end of his rope. His team is not winning, his job is in danger, his car and household appliances are falling apart, and he and his wife are unable to have children. He puts his life completely in God's hands and by doing so changes his life and the lives of the boys he is coaching and the people around them. Many miracles happen as a result and whether they win or lose they praise God and give Him the glory for everything in their lives. The movie was rated PG and even Nick (6) understood what the movie was about. Art, Chelsea and I also really enjoyed it making Facing the Giants a great choice for a family movie night.