Update + random product reviews

Well I haven't had much to say in the past week or two (or much time to write), but surely this picture is worth at least a thousand words:

Bug has been saying new words like crazy lately - like a dozen a day some days. He has also started showing interest in the potty and will occasionally demand "SIT POTTY!" although he hasn't actually done anything there yet, as far as I can tell. BTW, shown in this picture is my favorite product at Home Depot (although I couldn't find it on their site): it's a regular toilet seat with a potty seat built in, that is nested in the lid and held closed by a magnet. We tried several potty seats and potty chairs with Monkeyman but this was the best solution. It doesn't take up any extra space in the bathroom and it looks like a regular grown-up seat so the little ones feel secure but also feel like "big kids" too.

In the past two weeks, we've:

• gone hiking at three different parks
• started working on a bit of memorization: the Pledge of Allegiance, and our address & phone number. I have them taped on the dining room wall and we recite every morning. When he knows them by heart, I'll put something else up there for him to work on memorizing.
• started working on some basic addition and skip counting
• studied earthquakes and hurricanes (aka current events)

• done LOTS of reading

• tried out some new toys - Wedgits blocks. At first I was disappointed because I didn't realize I'd ordered the "mini" size but they are great fun to play with & can be stacked in all kinds of interesting ways. Monkeyman is diggin em!)

• built a fun robot costume out of boxes just for kicks

• investigated all kinds of things with this:

...and may I say that no homeschool home should be without one! It's a pocket microscope, very simple and low-tech. You can find a similar, but better, one at Timberdoodle.com, or other online retailers. (Note: the one pictured is actually mine from when I was a kid. I had ordered one from Amazon a long time ago because I couldn't find my old one, and then of course, I found it. The old one works MUCH better than the new one - the image is always blurred with the new one. Not sure if it was just a fluke or if they're all junk, but just in case, DON'T get this one from Amazon.com.) Anyways, it's not super powerful, but 30x is enough to give you a very different perspective on things. We have examined clothes, carpet, the countertop, newspapers, money, the computer screen, skin, hair, fingernails... and tonight we compared Monkeyman's temporary tattoo with Shane's and my real ones. It was especially interesting to compare Shane's and mine because his is over a decade old and mine are just a few months old. Mine definitely looked a bit sharper.

Ooh, and tonight at bedtime, Monkeyman surprised me by reciting the names of the planets, which he picked up from this amazing CD, which I reviewed recently. We have been listening to it nonstop every time we go somewhere in the car.

I just turned the calendar to September today and it is covered in writing. We have lots of interesting things going on this month: an overnight trip to Kalahari (water park), our annual trip to the county fair, two homeschool group field trips (a canal boat ride and a visit to a pumpkin patch), and two or three other informal homeschool gatherings, as well as a couple of family gatherings as well. Fun stuff ahead!