Olivia was my special helper when it was time to go to Hansen's Garden Village to pick out our summer plants. She was a great helper, picked out her own petunias, and had a great time on the playset.
Getting the yard ready for summer is one of my favorite parts of the spring. After so many cold months, it feels so good to be out in the sunshine getting my hands dirty. We dug up the back garden this year to make a new mud kitchen. Simon was a great helper.
Simon has grown by leaps and bounds since last fall, and was enthusiastic about trying his balance bike. He's doing great on it and is really getting the gliding down!
Our yard was absolutely coated in pine needles and all of the kids, especially Nolan, were fantastic helpers getting them raked and dumped into the woods.
Nolan finished his Math Book!
Our buddy, Broden, turned ten and celebrated with a birthday party at the bowling alley. The kids had so much fun with their friends. It's so fun to see these relationships develop!
The kids did book reports on a couple of their favorite books. They did a very thorough job and I love the covers they designed!
Olivia finished her Math book!
After an encounter with an earthworm in the sandbox led to tears and screaming, I decided to do a lesson on earthworms to hopefully avoid this for the rest of the summer. It rained the night before, so the kids collected some worms from Grandma Patti's house and we brought them home to build them a habitat. At first all three kids recoiled at the sight of the them. But bit by bit, they got more comfortable and Nolan and Livi were both holding them within a few minutes! We used a mason jar and built a home out of sand and potting soil, with a few pieces of lettuce for some food. We will be watching their trails along the side of the jar to see how the soil mixes. They are excited about their new worm pets!
Olivia made Simon a habitat for his dinosaurs. He absolutely loved it!
Olivia practiced making a tally chart for a math project. She surveyed our friends and family about what kinds of vegetables everyone liked. She discovered that the most liked vegetable was carrots.
We read a book about "The Magic Flute." We talked about Mozart, opera, and composers. The kids composed their own pieces of music using bells. They had a lot of fun working on this project.
We have continued to meet our friends at the Dome on Tuesday mornings for some fun and exercise.
We followed a Youtube tutorial on how to make a still life drawing of a fruit bowl. The kids really enjoyed this and worked hard!
Olivia's love note to me on Mother's Day.
We joined the Wallerman family at the Run Into Reading event hosted by the School District. There were stations set up around town with important Rhinelander facts. The kids learned the answers to different clues and completed their books. Then we went to Pioneer Park for a picnic supper. It was really fun and even more so to do it with our friends!
Both kids have gotten pretty accomplished in the kitchen and can make their own scrambled eggs. I love how independent they are becoming!
Nolan's persuasive paper about why he loves tacos.
We participated in Hodag Heritage Days again this year and completed the Hodag Scavenger Hunt around town to earn some fun prizes.
Simon was so proud of this craft that he made and even more proud when I asked if I could take his picture just like the big kids.
All of a sudden, Simon has become very interested in wearing hats. He has worn these fedora hats everywhere...sometimes two or three at a time!
The kids used dice to play a roll a story game. The dice gave them the character, setting, and problem, and it was their job to finish the rest of the story. I was so blown away with their creativity and wonderful writing! They did it all in one sitting and loved it. I was so proud!
The kids did cooking video demonstrations that I edited together with the inShot app. They chose their own recipes from a cookbook. Olivia chose a strawberry pineapple smoothie and Nolan chose lemonade. They executed every step of the recipe all on their own. I helped out with the editing and put in the music. The videos turned out so fun and they were so proud!
It's so hard to believe we're at the end of another school year! It was a year of growth and learning and I couldn't be more proud of what we accomplished together. Each kid picked up many new skills...archery, gymnastics, swimming, piano, baking, roller skating...and it was amazing to watch them progress throughout the year. We made new friends and we so thankful for the special relationships we developed. Being at home this year was very different from the year prior, and we made the most of our field trips, spending lots of time at zoos, museums, the YMCA, the dome, and the library. I'm so thankful for the memories we've made and the opportunity to be my kids' teacher. We have learned so much together. 
