Kiwi crate kits and art time

With our homeschool schedule these days I find myself looking for supplemental activities to keep the kids learning and involved. A friend of mine suggested these tinker crates from Kiwi company and I thought they would be really fun to try out. The state of Alaska allows homeschooling families to spend a generous amount of money towards learning curriculum and other activities... so it’s a win-win.

Arts and crafts supplies from Michael’s have kept all of the kids busy painting bird houses and rocks lately. Cannon was so enthralled with his birdhouse and he kept commenting about how much fun he was having. “This is so much fun!” —Cannon

Connor’s first crate had him build a electrical circuit and a spinning art box. The bangerter girls were also excited about the painting activity and they kept saying they wanted to get the Tinker crate too! Connor says “ It was super fun to build and super fun to play with.”

Brielle created a felt succulent garden. Folding rolling and coloring her little plants was quite a lot of fun!

“I really liked it because it involved double sided tape and it was really fun.” —Brielle

Brecons crate had him build a little wooden ukulele. He was so good following instructions and putting it all together without any help, which kept him busy for a couple of hours. It’s not the best sounding ukulele but at least it was fun to do!

 

Olnes pond and sad Cannon

 Saturday was a bit of a crazy day trying to get things done and cleaned up around the house. Cal also had a tennis tournament that Ben and I really wanted to watch so after going to a couple of thrift stores in the morning we swing over to watch him play in a doubles tournament. We had a new partner every time but it looked like he was doing pretty good out there.looked like he was doing pretty good out there.

The Bangerter’s were going out to on this pond and leaving around one but we were still watching kill. After his match we raced home grabbed our trailer with the four wheeler’s and told the kids to jump in for a couple hours of playing. Everyone was so excited especially Cannon to go to on this pond, one of his favorite places to splash in the water when it’s warm, or go riding on the four wheeler’s.The Bangerter‘s were going out to on this pond and leaving around one but we were still watching kill. After his match we raced home grabbed our trailer with the four wheeler‘s and told the kids to jump in for a couple hours of playing. Everyone was so excited especially Cannon to go to a nice pond, one of his favorite places to splash in the water when it’s warm, or go riding on the four wheeler‘s. it is about a 35 minute drive up the road not too far at all, but just enough time for Cannon to close his eyes and fall asleep. When we got to the pond we unloaded all of the toys went and talked to our friends had a couple of marshmallows around the campfire it was still a little chilly but felt really nice when the sun came out. I went over and open the door to try to wake up Cannon I told him we were at the Olnes pond and he just would shuffle and roll over and still close his eyes like he was still quite tired. So we played and rode around the pond on the fun trails with the four wheelers it was really cool riding because the golden leaves were all over the trail and would flutter up as the four wheeler’s went speeding along.

So after all the fun we loaded all the toys back up into the trailer and started driving home as we were about five minutes back into town Cannon said “hey guys are we almost to Olnes pond?” Oh man we felt so bad he was so excited but we also couldn’t help but laughing at the situation. He had slept through the fun!

I looked back and saw the saddest little five-year-old with his frown and disappointment- the picture doesn’t do the moment justice. So we had to cheer him up with some McDonald’s ice cream... works every time :)

Homeschool History

 The kids and I have been learning about early world history this last week. We learned the Egyptians used hieroglyphics and carved in stone and the Sumerians used cuneiform and carved in Clay. It was interesting to learn that when the Egyptians changed to use papyrus as their writing and information form, that information was destroyed overtime. But the things that they carved in stone have lasted thousands of years! Since I didn’t have any clay around we made salt dough  so the kids could write a message in cuneiform. It has been fun to do things at home and try to supplement with the lessons we are learning about the world.

Connor has been on a lemon bar kick, making them for the last three weeks in a row on Sunday. They disappear so quickly after we share a few plates with our neighbors and friends but on Wednesday he decided to make another batch. We’ve decided that we enjoy one recipe over another. I’m really glad I wrote down recipes from my moms friends before I got married- thank you Marcene Madsen! Your lemon bars are the winner!

Cannon is practicing writing his full name and a few of the numbers he is trying really hard to get the lines right. Some days it is easier than others to get to do “school“ with him.

Chena River cabin campout with the Bangerter’s

 

Camping weekend -upper stiles

The weather is starting to cool down and we knew we needed to get out and camp for the weekend. Even though it was down-pouring when we pulled into camp... we made it work in the rain! Good thing "big red" is mostly dry for bedtime.

Our 16 year old Eagle Scout decided to take matters into his hands with the campfire and added gasoline to a tree- results were a 5 gallon gas tank fire and the whole camp rushing around to put it out. Thankfully the Aiton’s has a fire extinguisher in their RV so we could quickly put out the flames before more damage was done. It was quite the sight for the Powell's to see when they arrived- black smoke and a panicked camp. For a while we were just watching and waiting for the gas to burn out... but there was so much, the damage was done and the container melted.

ALASKA CAMPING- RIDING AND SHOOTING. 

At our campsite, there is a shooting range and place to ride 4-wheelers around. I usually stick around the campsite and keep tabs on the little kids. Cannon and Kiona were exploring the forest around camp and found some animal tracks. I love when they go exploring!

On the way back home, I mentioned to Ben that there is a river spot to put the canoe in and it would take 2 hours to make it back to our neighborhood. Even though we were tired and had a lot of camping clean-up to do, Ben said he was going to do it. If any of the kids wanted to join him they could-- and bonus-- they wouldn't have to clean up the camping trailer. So as you can see from the departing boat... 4 of the 5 children joined the floating trip. Ben said it was such a good time with the kids, they were chipper and happy to be in the boat, joking around and making stops along the way. When they made it back home, Cannon was ready to go again! I'm glad they made it safe and had a fun time together. Me getting to try to get Cael to help unload the camping trailer was another story

 

More August adventures

A group of us get together every Tuesday to try to tackle the Fairbanks summer trails challenge. There’s usually quite the crowd of moms and kids ranging from babies to teenagers. It is one of my favorite days of the week getting out and exploring the forest and trails around town.

It is also been so fun to check out the different mushrooms that are on the first floor. Cael has mentioned that my camera roll is full of mushrooms these days, I just think the fungi is so cute.

The car is stuck... While we were camping at Olnes pond we had a adventure in a broken down motorcycle and later a truck car that was stuck in a ditch of water. Different kids were driving around and the 12-year-old went reversing way too fast. Ben yelled slow down… Slow down… Slow down! But it was too late. It was great quite the endeavor trying to get the car unstuck and pulled out of the ditch. Lesson learned- don’t let a 12 year old (who looks like a 17 year old) drive your car.

The weather forecast predicted 75 and sunny all weekend, but surprised us with massive downpours Friday evening and Saturday afternoon. We really tried to be prepared and tried getting everything out of the rain before it got soaked. Sometimes it worked and sometimes it didn't.

Silly Brielle taking my phone!!

My little garden has been fun to eat the peas and colorful carrots ... today Cannon invited a friend over and they had a snack of fresh carrots from the garden.

 When you try a new recipe and are excited about being the first one to dig in, but your little brother beat you to it and cut his piece right from the middle… You might feel a little upset— Poor Brecon.

August adventures

Our neighbors and good friends the Bangerter‘s invited us over for birthday parties and cake and ice cream. Isabell turned 16 and all the kids made homemade birthday cards. Cael’s card got the most laughs When he converted a Father’s Day card into a happy birthday card.

This hike had to of been the most sad of any that we’ve gone on when the group of toddlers we’re all stung by bees when we left the trail. To add insult to injury we weren’t even going the right way to find our sign and get a credit for the summer trails challenge. Different moms were handing off their babies that were in the packs. The toddlers that got stung by bees were screaming and crying and getting carried by their mothers, and the rest of us were just trudging along trying to make it out of there alive. It was A little better when we made it back to an elementary school playground and the bee stung kids forgot about their owies for a while.

The Platt and the Bangerter outing! On this day we went to a pick your own raspberry farm and after a good time of picking went home with over 7 pounds of berries. Brecon really was working hard to fill up his container while Brielle only lasted a little while with just a few in the bottom of hers. Even Cannon was more diligent in his picking/eating… I guess Brielle was a little distracted by a dog that was nearby that she wanted to pet.  

It has been warm enough to bring out the water and have a pool party Cannon invited his friends over and we got things set up for them. It was around 5 o’clock when the trumpet sounds for the end of the day and they lower the flag so the boys were sure to stand and show their patriotism

 This was our group of mamas on the hike for our Tuesday adventure it’s always a good time when we get together!