Roe Rambles: Spring-like Weather and the Letter K

Practicing our patterns with colored magnets (an old cookie sheet, patterns colored with markers, and white circles for filling in the answers). It was Henry's "homework," but Micah really wanted to help out. They can be a pretty good team when they try.

In the morning, Micah had four bowls of oatmeal for breakfast. He told us, "I've changed my life. I'm eating more."

Making a "K" with magnets.

Magnet homework always ends in simply playing with magnets - they are just fun to manipulate.

Helen discovered a squirrel eating the birdseed that had dropped from the feeder on the boys' balcony.

The squirrel also discovered Helen!

And, in case you were wondering, here's how to milk a cow (or at least, a rocking horse that apparently produces milk).

And then Mom thought we should practice the letter K with a variety of sensory experiences. It certainly brought memorable results. Henry started with drawing a "K" in shaving cream (at least that's what he was supposed to be doing).

Micah made K's with straws and pencils.

Henry was still working on the shaving cream. By this time, Mom got smart and took off his shirt, since the sleeves were started to get a bit messy.

Meanwhile, Micah was writing a "K" in play dough (originally, Mom was thinking they would make the shape of "K" using the play dough, but this works also).

Now Micah has moved on to making a "K" with magnets... while Henry is still enjoying the shaving cream.

Now that Henry's shirt is off, you can see the he's really getting into the shaving cream.

And once he realized it was starting to get on his belly, he just went with it. The feeling of it on his arms and belly was just too much fun.

Having a great time (and completely uninterested in the alphabet).

Micah is now making the "K" in salt (that's where Micah stopped - he just enjoyed licking the salt from his fingers over and over).

Mommy tried to get Henry to make a "K" on his belly... but that wasn't really happening this time.

Now painting the table... But he sure was having fun, and how can Mommy complain when she saw how entertained he was by this project?

And a brief interview with the shaving cream boy:

Sweet Helen (thankfully, she wasn't a part of the shaving cream fun).

Tuesday morning we visited the Jewett Family, where Mommy learned a lot about how homeschooling looks in their family. It is wonderful to have mentors who are a few years ahead of us on this journey and to learn from their wisdom!

Tuesday was also an election day - the first time Mommy ever voted in a primary. Of course, we had to play on the playground at our poling place, Spencer Elementary. Micah climbed all the way to the top of this structure and told us, "Those with the bravery to do it have to do it!"

We played outside on Wednesday as well. It was 70 degrees out, yet there was still snow in our yard, which made for a fun play experience.

The boys thought it was so cool to be walking on snow while wearing shorts.

"Look, I'm walking on the snow like Jesus walked on the water."

Hill rolling

Henry discovered a chipmunk hole in the hill.

On Thursday we took a field trip with other homeschoolers to Nino Salvaggio, for a behind the scenes view of a grocery store.

Checking out the fresh produce.

Inside the giant refrigeration room... Micah HATED the smell. So much so that he begged Mom to leave the store. It was one of those tough parenting calls - make your child stick it out or not. Ugh. We stayed... but didn't hang out as long in those rooms as other families.

Watching watermelon cutting

Note Micah's hands over his nose as he tried to endure. Poor guy has always had a highly sensitive sense of smell. But he did like the goodie bag we received at the end of our tour. And on the way home, we stopped by Daddy's office in Southfield for a visit and took him out to lunch.

That evening, the boys played a ridiculous game - racing with blindfolds on. Mom is NOT a fan of this form of entertainment.

To increase the stakes, Micah also turned the lights off.

Friday morning we visited Miss Lori's house for a farewell party for a Japanese friend.

The highlight, especially for Henry was Miss Lori's dog!

The theme for the party was Michigan/USA.

Micah teaching Yuko how to play euchre.

The crew! Photo credit to Micah (he preferred to be the photographer rather than the subject).

Miss Lori's niece Emory is a fun playmate.

More Micah photos

Henry's buddy

The weather has remained warm. This week we began hearing the spring peepers singing in the pond! Micah was doing his happy dance, saying that's one step closer to being able to use the "slip and slide" because summer is coming.