A weekend without internet

For the past two days, we have been without Internet service. It is strange that it has only been two days. I wish I could say that I got tons done, but I really didn't get any more done than normal. It helped me realise that I don't spend that much time on the computer. I just streamline the time that I do spend. It takes me about 15 minutes to write a good post. If I have good pictures, a good post isn't necessary and it takes less than 10. And of course, just because I didn't have the Internet, did not mean I stopped taking pictures. I don't know if that is possible. ;)

We took a great trip to NW Trek this last weekend (for us, the weekend is T/W/Th), and got some wonderful close encounters. Logan is old enough to see (and squeal about) the things that are around him and he even pointed out a few things that we didn't see. We had a wonderful time there, and it was great to be able to have Don along with us. He had never been on the NW Trek Tram before, so it was a real treat. The tram is a small train car set up that takes you through a 450 acre wildlife reserve. All the animals in the park are native to Washington, so many we have seen in the wild. We had a great tour guide this time around, and it was so fun to see all the babies!!

Slide show here.

We did get a few things done this weekend. On Thursday we had our Homeschool Moms Meeting. I gotta say, these ladies are a lifeline and a whole world of great ideas! I love having them as my sanity backup, cuz let me tell you, sometimes homeschooling certain little people can be the fast track to Mommy-Meltdown 2009.

One of our mamas (Sarah) is reading a book called The Workbox System. Honestly, I only know what she has told me about it.... but when I heard the basics of the system I was instantly on board and it fit right in with my current obsession. My cleaning and decluttering frenzy! I quickly finished my current list and moved on to my homeschool stuff. For a couple hours and $60 I had a brand new, organized and spotless, homeschooling space:

I also did something that I have wanted to do for the last 6 months in this house. I set up our Nature Table. I can't believe I waited so long to do it. The kids were THRILLED when I told them what I was doing and instantly ran outside to collect bouquets of flowers, rocks, acorns, and other nature things unique to Spring. The set up isn't perfect, but it works (it's two boards on top of the new homeschool drawers) and I am happy to say that even Logan was intrigued and excited to add the things he had found.

More about the boxes: Of course, the best part about the boxes is the way they organize the homeschool stuff. They are not for storing anything in this system, they are for setting out a schedule to our day. The first box (for the past two days anyway) has held the kids chore charts. They check off their chores as they go through their morning (which range from 'brush your teeth' to 'vacuum the living room') and after that they *get to* move on to their first homeschool assignment. Every assignment is broken down into it's smallest components, so for science yesterday we were working on botany, and we had a drawing, a dissection, and a reading section. Each were in their own boxes, complete with every material that they would need to complete it.

And then of course, I had to add in the fun stuff in between the heavy stuff.

These boxes were made for holding scrapbook papers, so they are slightly larger than 12X12X2. Each one locks closed and is it's own box. So, if we have to take a nature notebook somewhere, along with some pens, and a specimen jar, it can all be there, in this sturdy little lapdesk sized tote! I spent more than I was planning on because it was already in this nice little case/shelf, but it already seems like a wonderful investment. The kids were excited to see me filling the boxes last night, and that is always a good sign.