Autumn Treasures Unit Study
We got the Autumn Treasures unit study of Amanda Bennett’s site, unitstudy.com, and it took us much longer than usual due to our busy month, but it was great. I started by getting about 15 books from the library and printing some extra activities from Homeschool Creations. We learned a lot in this study just like our past ones on seashells and robots. We started with Do a Dot pages to get warmed up and start our discussion about fall (even though it was still pushing 100 in these parts)
Just like the other units there were a lot of fun videos to watch including how candy corn is made and how an apple press works. We learned about Johnny Appleseed and his travels – Nadia enjoyed all his crazy hats, especially the cooking pot. I have already done blog posts on the monarch butterflies and apple pie bites that we made, but here is a little view of the rest of our unit.
Nadia is working on her fall tree in this photo.
A puzzle for the back of her lapbook.
Learning the life cycle of a pumpkin – here she is with the pumpkin she picked out at homeschool day at Mainstay Farms.
Families are encouraged to go on a nature walk each day and collect items. Then enter the highlights into your unit study work book. Here are some of the things Nadia found along the way.
Leaf rubbings from our nature walks.
“Fairy” Amelie and Nadia on a nature walk.
Amelie was saying, “art art art art” over and over while I was working with Nadia so I went to see what she wanted. Then I realized that she was drawing “hearts.” Pretty cute!
We got the idea for one of our other cooking projects from the Mama Jenn site. These were messy and fun to make and tasted yummy!
Last of all, here is her completed lapbook.
Boo at the Zoo Birthday
Our family tradition is to spend Nadia’s birthday at Boo at the Zoo and it’s always so much fun. This year is Amelie’s first Halloween and she really got excited about wearing her costume. Just like last year we were a big hit this year since we were all in costume. The big surprise to me was how excited the little girls were to see me as Strawberry Shortcake. I was asked to pose for photos with little girls and I really played it up, “Oh hello. I left my garden for the day to come to the zoo, but I brought one of my strawberries with me.” The little ones ate it up which was adorable!!
Amelie enjoying the toddler area.
Dancing with Amelie during the stage show. Nadia prefers to watch rather than participate in big group things like this.
This was the most fun part of the day. I saw the boy as Boba Fett and told Nadia, “It’s Boba Fett, get him.” She immediately pretended to force choke him. So he ran to the wagon and grabbed his blaster to point it at her and then Nadia flicked out her lightsaber. It was SO FUNNY!
After a nap and some rest we told Nadia that she could choose a place for dinner and she told us she wanted a burger or queso. So after naming some places we ended up at Fuddrucker’s. YUM! (She is so tired here, but still managed to finish off her cookie)
Tahni and Joseph visit
Nadia knew that Tahni and Joseph were coming to visit and as it got closer she would say, “When is the FUN going to get here? or How long until the FUN?” She was so excited that we decided to let her stay up late and wait for them and their friends Cody and Andrew to arrive.
Look how happy Nadia is that Uncle Joseph sat right down to play with her.
This visit was different that most since Tahni and Joseph were going to a wedding in College Station, Tahni was doing a photo shoot and then they were coming back to town. So they stayed with us on Thursday night and Sunday night. On Sunday Tahni spent time with us while Joseph and the other guys went to the Cowboys game with party passes. When they got back Tahni and Joseph gave Nadia her birthday present. OH MY! They gave her 3 of the Imaginext Batman villains and she was so excited.
This photo makes me smile because Tahni looks caught off guard by Nadia’s excitement.
We let Nadia stay up and play a while longer and the next morning she was wide awake just WAITING for Joseph to come down the stairs and play with the Batcave.
This photo is great because the adults are playing with the Batcave, coffee cups abound, Andrew is on the couch with Amelie (she got him to read her many books) and Nadia is prepping the Batmobile for some adventure on the ottoman.
Then Joseph and Nadia had a lightsaber battle. (Joseph is wearing Mike’s jedi robe)
Then it was time for them to head back to the airport. I am trying really hard in this photo not to cry since they live so far away now.
We love you Tahni and Joseph and enjoyed meeting Cody and Andrew!