Shakespeare Book Party!

This year we are doing something a little different for homeschool. We are implementing more from Brave Writer, and that includes having book parties! What's a book party? You study/read a book, and then you throw a party about it. 

We are joining with our dear friends, and the Larriott's are doing Brave Writer together.

For the past month we have been studying Shakespeare- reading simplified versions of Romeo and Juliet, A Midsummer Night's Dream, Julius Caesar, and Much Ado About Nothing (though we cheated with Much Ado and just watched the movie- they loved it almost as much as I did).

Today was our party, and I think it was a success.

The girls were a big part of the success. Step one: Decorations! We had a Shakespearean feast scheduled, so had to decorate accordingly.

Camille was proud of this map she made:

Beware: The Ides of March!

They made masks for their ball:

Soup in bread bowls- that's what Claire really wanted:

I didn't get a picture of the Shakespearean dance we did, but after we ate and the dance, we played some games:

This is "Cupid Tag"- where the kids hit each other with a bow and arrow to tag them.

This "dueling" with pool noodles didn't really work. You were supposed to force each other out of the square, but they quickly realize it didn't hurt to be hit, so they all just stood there and hit each other without any movement.

Then we moved to Julius Caesar and Roman times. They put on togas and made laurel wreathes. Unfortunately, in using the hot glue gun, Camille burned herself really bad and shed a lot of tears and needed to take a break. Poor girl!

They acted out a Senate scene where they tried to determine who send Mark Anthony the note that falsely claimed Cleopatra was dead and lead to his possible suicide (or was it murder?). That isn't part of Julius Caesar, but rather the sequel so I figured it worked. And, the kids seemed to have fun with it.

Then, because these kids are spoiled, we ended with molten lava cake, which nobody complained wasn't truly authentic.

Overall, it was great. The kids all had a lot of fun. I'm so glad we are the Larriott's and have such great friends. We are currently undergoing another horrible school board election. It's pretty awful. I'm reminded why we ever started homeschooling- because of the school board. For as much grief and tears the school board has caused me, I am forever grateful for this homeschooling journey- and most importantly, the dear friends we have made as a result. People don't understand why people homeschool- but after 7 1/2 years, I can say I totally get it. Days like this make all of it worth it.

Cousins in Town!

We were so lucky to have Jeremey and Hallie and their kids in town. It didn't take 30 seconds before the kids started planning their play, laughing, and picking up from Bear Lake right where they left off.

This sign was put up as a Halloween decoration, but it hit a little too close to home:

After we all did a horrible round of mini golf (this is not our skill set), the kids played for a bit at the park:

Most of their time was spent making a movie. We pretty much never saw them as they were laughing and running around doing their thing. It was really neat to watch. We are so lucky to have such great family! We went to Beth and DJ's for dinner so all the kids got to play, and it was so wonderful to see all of them playing so wonderful together!

Camille's Project

 For Cloverleaf Camille had to put together a project about a non-profit. She chose Project Linus since we have made lots of blankets for them. We didn't get to go watch her present because of stupid Covid, but she presented to us at home and she did a great job.

Story: A three year old girl had cancer. She would bring a blanket every time she got treatment. Karen Packs heard this and decided to provide new handmade blankets to Denvers Rocky Mountain Children's Cancer Center and Project Linus was born.

 Fun facts: Over 8,560,000 blankets have been delivered since 1995.

Since we are speaking about Cloverleaf, our girls along with our Homeschool Besties decided to make political statements with their masks. Attending a homeshool community during Covid has been interesting to say the least. Definitely a lot of people who don't believe Covid is real and certainly don't have any interests in trying to stop the spread. It's been a challenge. The kids did this completely on their own- moms were absolutely not involved. I applaud their bravery.

"No one has died from wearing a mask." 
"I wear because I care."

Someone said something pretty negative to Camille, but gave her this note afterwards which I thought was sweet. We had a discussion about how when you put yourself out there, you set yourself up to be attacked. That's just the way it is. But, for the most part, our kids think it's silly that people are so resistant to masks, so I think she is still planning to wear the mask. Like I said, these kids are pretty brave.

"I am really sorry about what I said last week. It was not right of me to judge your opinion on wearing a mask or not. Just to let you know,  am very, very, very sorry! You are kind, smart, funny, good at soccer, and a really, really good friend. Please forgive me for the words that I said. Really sorry, Sachi."

I thought that was a very sweet note! Lots of lessons being learned all around for these kiddos!

Chicago: Day 4

 For our last day, we tried to relax and go with the flow. We didn't really have a plan. We slept in and then went to brunch at an old historic building- it must have been a gentlemen's lounge back in the day. Upstairs was a speakeasy, but we didn't get to go to that unfortunately.

Then we went to the Lincoln Park Zoo which was fun, dipped our feet in Lake Michigan, then to lunch at the last of the restaurants on our "must try" list, Velvet Taco. It was delicious!

There were storms coming in and Stephanie's flight was canceled, so everything was a bit hectic. We headed to the airport and thankfully Steph was able to get on a later flight and eventually we all made it home. It was an absolutely wonderful trip, and I can't wait to get together with these incredible women again soon!