Elf things - 3 and 4

Elf - day 3

The elf was so happy to take a break and just build a snowman:

But the next evening - he had two beautiful drawings!  

       

So he had to write a note:

Dear Sophie,
Thank you for the beautiful drawings of myself and Ruffy!  I flew back and gave Ruffy his drawing and he asked me to hang it on his door.  He said that he would practice walking from his bed to your picture each day.  His legs are healing but he is not very strong.
I did some artwork myself for you all!  I hope you enjoy it!
Sincerely,
Sunny

And make some drawings of his own!

Elf Things - day 2

Our elf story continues...my oldest wrote the substitute elf a note:

Hi!
My name is XXX (the oldest kid.)
I have been wondering are you a boy?
Whats your kids address?
When will Ruffy be better?
So on my first letter to Ruffy - I put that I would catch him up.  So we used to live in California in a house.  Then we moved to Wisconsin to this apartment and now we are going to buy a big farm house with 26 acres and tons of barns.  The move in date is a week before Christmas!  I can't wait for you to see it!  We also just started school yesterday.  We were homeschooled before.  Nice to meet you!
P.S. You might meet Santa soon at our house.  My Opa used to work with him so he is inviting him to our house to have a big party.  We do it every year.
Sincerely,
XXXXX
When do you do flying lessons?  Before or after you go in the box and into a store?

And so the substitute elf, Sunny, wrote back:

Hi XXXX (the oldest kid)!
Thank you for all the interesting information!  I am very excited to see your new home and I have always wanted to see California!  Please tell me a little about California in your next note!  I hear it is too warm for my leather bomber jacket.  I always imagined it would not be a good fit for me.  I cannot be without my jacket - see the little boy who first named me gave it to me.  He bought it at the store with his own money that he earned by cleaning the dog poop out of the yard.  I remember watching him every day go outside to clean up the yard.  My family had 5 dogs so it was a big job to clean up outside.  He was so proud of himself and all of his hard work when he gave me the jacket!
You asked where my family lived - they lived on a big farm in a town called Great Falls, Montana.  Santa will visit it 47 minutes after Middleton.
You also asked when do we do flying lessons.  We do flying lessons as part of our primary education along with spying, mischief, humor, and listening classes.
You also asked when will Ruffy feel better - he is very touched by your concern for him!  Both of his legs are in a cast but we elves heal quickly so hopefully in a week or two he should be able to fly again!  Don't worry - Muffy and Susie are taking good care of him!
keep up the good work!
Sunny (a boy)

And of course - Sunny was causing mischief roasting his marshmallows over a candle!

Enjoy!

Homeschool Adventure - resources

My girls are finally in traditional school and the school they are in is FANTASTIC!  We couldn't be happier with how things are (slowly but surely) working out!

But our time doing homeschooling was completely invaluable!  We had a great time and took advantage of the lack of schedule to take a few trips (to New Mexico and D.C.).  We also walk away with a few new learning resources that we have decided to continue to use as needed.

Our two favorite apps:
Our goal is to complete 30 questions or more each day using this math app to improve proficiency in basic math.  It totally worked!
The name of it is Math Fact Master by TipTacTech

link from iTunes store

This second app is actually a bundle and helped my hesitant reader to practice reading comprehension.  The articles are short and the questions are difficult enough that the reader had to pay attention to the article - they cannot just guess.

The name of it is Super Reader by Power Math Apps

link from iTunes store

Our two favorite websites:
The first website is common core sheets.  This website gives you worksheets with the option of doing "One at a time".  This option allows your student to just sit and answer the questions interactively with the computer!  You save time and paper printing and organizing and correcting!  Plus it's colorful and gives immediate feedback which the kids enjoy.

http://www.commoncoresheets.com

Our other favorite website for resources was k12 reader.  This website offers all types of free reading, grammer and spelling worksheets organized by grade level!

http://www.k12reader.com

Enjoy!

Elf Things

Being in a new location and not having our things means that we left a few things behind that are now in storage.  We left my recipe binder, warm gloves for two of the kids and.....the ELF!

Yikes!  After being torn between just buying a new elf and trying to pawn it off on the kids as their elf - or creating an elaborate story to describe why they are getting a substitute elf...we decided to go with the substitute elf!  Here is that adventure....

The new elf's name is Sunny and he "wrote" this letter to the kids:

Hi kids!
My name is Sunny and Ruffy and I are best friends!  We met at elf camp 30 years ago and hit it off immediately during flying class!  We have been best buds ever since!
I'm here because Ruffy can't be here. See - he was hanging sleigh bells on Santa's sleigh the other day and he got too close to the back of Prancer...and well - the next thing we knew he was flying through the air!  He landed in a pile of toy trucks!  Ouch!  But now he has two broken legs which means he cannot fly. If he cannot fly then he cannot visit his kids and he is super sad.
So I volunteered to come in his place while he rests up. I'm very excited! I haven't had kids to watch since my kids grew up and went to college!  I'm hoping someday that they will call me back as their elf to share with their kids but until then - I act as a substitute elf!
I brought along my book to share with you too…but you will need to find it!  I hid it somewhere!  I’ve been taking great care of my book so please enjoy it but I will take it back on Christmas Eve!
Merry Christmas!  I will keep you updated on Ruffy!
Sincerely,
Sunny

He hid the book behind the couch and he sat on top of a gingerbread house.  

Enjoy!