Fall Plaid

        This outfit was inspired by the fall, not that Florida knows its supposed to be fall!  (It was 90 degrees today!).   Project Run and Play has a "plaid challenge" so I went with plaid fabric, using what I had on hand, brown with teal sparkly pinstripes, and red/cream. 
        I used a ton of embroidery designs from one of my favorite embroidery designers, Lynnie Pinnie.  There are NINE embroideries on this outfit! 
        The knee patches are corduroy, and stitched with darts to give them a "knee shape".   The other fabrics are two different plaids, and some solid brown.   The pants also have a roll up option, with the red plaid stitched inside.   And to top it off, a couple of faux leather buttons.
        The top has a loose, comfortable fit with raglan sleeves accented with a pop of green.  The embroidery designs were first stitched on fabric, and then satin stitched to the shirt.

Levi says he "loves these pants" and that the shirt is comfortable, so that makes me happy!

It was bedtime for my model, so he added some poses of his own!

Levi's Birthday Interview

I just realized I never posted Levi's 6th birthday interview!   Here it is:

Bouncy Ball Making

Do you remember the kits where you make your own bouncy ball?   I had one as a kid, and I found a kit for Levi, and gave it to him for his birthday.   
Its a quick project that he can do almost entirely on his own, and it gives a fun result!  I got this kit from Fat Brain Toys.


Here is what you get: 

Put the mold together, and pour in layers of powder (like sand art).  Make sure you tap it gently after each layer, this ensures that you won't have a gap at the top when you set the mold.

Then put the whole thing in water for 1min, let it sit for a little bit, and un-mold.  The kit I had as a kid required hot water, but this one is nice because you can use cool water, so the kid can do it himself.

Ta da!!   

He loved the bright colors and the rainbow/tye dye effect.  

Space Unit Study and lapbook

I guess I never posted about our Space lapbook/unit study!

My space board on pintrest

We used lapbook elements from:

Ye Shall Know Magic School Bus Space Explorer Lapbook
Homeschool share
Squidoo


Buddy's antique rocket toy is really cool.  You put a coin on it, push a button and the coin "disappears" (its shoots up into a hidden slot in the top portion of the rocket, ending up inside)

Here is the finished lapbook.   This one is in a 3 ring binder with the elements glued to cardstock.  We have used this method before for other large lapbooks, ts a nice way to incorporate full page worksheets and artwork into lapbooks. 

The rocket photo is from the Kennedy Space Center

This book, Thirteen Moons on Turtles Back, is a Native American story that we read.  After we colored a turtle to represent each of the "moons".  Here is a template for the turtle.

Copywork

Planet Roll Call poem is from Scholastic

Family of the Sun song is from here.  
Robot book printables are from here

   

We also used the "Space toob" to make a sensory bin.  I filled a box with black beans ("space"), glitter, glow in the dark stars, the "toob" elements, marbles/bouncy balls for planets, and laminated print outs of each planet and its name (so he could match them up, put them in order, etc).    You can see a similar one on Counting Coconuts

Book List: 

Usborne Dot to Dot space

There is no Place Like Space (cat in the hat)

Our Solar System

The search for the Mystery Planet (space math) 

Eyes on Adventure Exploring Space

DK First Encyclopedia Space

Magic School Bus Space Explorers

Magic School Bus Lost in the Solar System

Magic School Bus Sees Stars

Looking At Space

If you were an Astronaut

USA from Space

Is there Life in Outer Space?  (Read and find out book)

Regards to the Man in the Moon

National Geographic Kids First Big Book of Space

Me and My Place in Space

Thirteen Moons on Turtles Back

Thats it!   Space wasn't Levi's favorite unit study, but living in the Space Coast, it was nice to learn a little about it.  There was a lot more we could have done, but, as ever, when homeschooling we try and go with what he is interested in, kids learn a lot more when they love whatever it is they are studying. 

Little House on the Prairie 6th Birthday Party

Levi had his SIXTH birthday party!  

His favorite book series is the "Little House" books, so he chose that as the theme for his party.   

I found some fun party examples, like this, and this and this, and this amazing party that would be wonderful if you had an unlimited budget.    I saw that every one of these parties was designed with a little girl in mind, so I had to use some of my own ideas to make it a little more boy friendly.   

First is the location.   I immediately thought of "Sam's House" which is a historical site.  Same time period, and a log cabin!  I emailed and found out that they did indeed to parties (I found out later that we were actually their very first party!).    They had a "Little Pioneers" party package that included a tour of the cabin, 3 games and use of the covered porch and grassy area beside it.   They made it very easy for me, and it was perfect for the party theme.   

Next was the invite, I found the file ready to edit from the blog The Decorologist.  A few edits and I had a cute invite which I rolled up and tied with twine.  

In preparation for the party, I ordered straw hats and bandanas for the boys (from Oriental Trading), and sewed bonnets for the girls using a very easy pattern from Pick Up Some Creativity.   At Sam's House, one of the activities was a clothes line relay, but to start out the party I used it to display the hats and bonnets. 

The kids picked out their bonnets/hats/bandanas as they arrived at the party.  Taylor wore hers the entire party, super cute!

Nai Nai helping one of the guests get her costume on.

First, the ladies from Sam's House took the kids to the cabin, where they told them all about what life was like for a pioneer kid. 

They had some costumes of their own to try on!

Next they had some fun games!  The first one was a "harvest" game where the kids had to gather scattered eggs, veggies and fruit one at a time and then sort them into baskets.   They had tones of stuff to gather and the kids had a good time running around.  

On the left side is the covered porch, and the cabin is behind the big white house. 

Next was the clothes line relay.  Having been cleared of hats and bonnets, it was left empty so the kids could take turns hanging clothes using old fashioned clothes pegs.  First they had to "scrub" the item on the washboard and then hang it up, a great challenge for little fingers.

It was supposed to be "relay style" but a lot of the kids went more than once because they liked hanging things up!  They then had to reverse the process and take things down and put the pegs away. 

The last game was one the boys in particular really liked - spear fishing!   Not exactly Little House on the Prairie, but in Florida, I guess people in that time period ate fish.     It was just a simple wooden frame with a fish hanging from it.  Spears were sticks with foam on the end.  

In this pic, you can also see the cornhole game that my dad and I built for Halloween last year. 

The kids also had plenty of time just to play in the grass and with the various activities. 

After the games, it was time for food! 

For snacks, I got an assortment of baskets and lined each with a gingham napkin.  Inside was a piece of cornbread wrapped in parchment paper and tied with string, an apple in a little tin pail, and a mason jar full of lemonade.  
We also had a little popcorn bar (in the book Farmer Boy, Almanzo really enjoys popcorn as a special treat).   This was just a big basket of popcorn with various toppings to put on them and paper bags to "fill and shake" 

The cake was very simple as Levi requested because "they didn't have fancy cakes in the olden days".   It was just a vanilla cake with vanilla/almond frosting.  I made a little bunting with 6 flags on it for the top, and 6 purple candles!     I also made gluten free cornbread and cupcakes for our gluten free guests.  

After the food, each kid re-used their tin pails for the penny store.  They got 10 pennies each to "spend".   

 In the store I had:
- marbles
- pebbles (from the story in Little House in the Big Woods where Laura filled her pocket with them)
- candied orange peel (made in the food dehydrator I got Levi as a gift)
- honey candy (boil the heck out of honey to hard ball stage, pour out, crack up)
- calico fabric remnants
- remnants of velvet ribbon, lace, and trim (all from the thrift store)
- beads (from a story in Little House on the Prairie)
- peppermint candy
- old clothes pegs
-buttons
- little metal shapes, no idea what these were but they were various cowboy themes
-small balls of yarn
- some other small things I can't remember! 


The kids LOVED this activity - it was a big crazy mob of kids surrounding the "store" with Levi, Nai Nai and one of the moms helping take pennies as the kids made their purchases.  

At the end of the party, each kid took home their hat/bonnet bandana, a basket, mason jar, and a tin pail filled with goodies from the shop.    

I think everyone had a good time, it was a nice mix of organized activities and free time, and plenty of things to do and a perfect location for the occasion!  

This is the banner I made for the Mercantile area, it was very quick and easy to do.  I cut scrapbook paper into small squares, and then used my sewing machine to just sew right through each one.   This could be done in any shape, pennants or circles would be cute too, and you could even cut some into letters to make a banner that way.   

They had a big wasp nest hanging up too - Levi and Zach are studying insects for our summer unit study, so we checked this out after the party as well.

The kids in front of the cabin:

And the family + Zach and Taylor.   Grandpa Jack drove all the way over just for the party, it was great to have him there to join the fun! 

And here is a better look at Levi's outfit!  I modified the Ottobre "Poor Little Oliver" pants pattern to make knickerbockers with suspenders, and made a linen shirt to go with it, the shirt has purple and grey stripes.   He also wore his "fancy shoes" and got a different straw hat than the other boys.  

One of his friends is learning to crochet, and he gave Levi this necklace he made all by himself.  

And last of all is a carseat picture - Levi is still rearfacing in his carseat, he has room to grow so rearfacing he will stay! 

Happy 6th Birthday Levi!