Book Club

December is just a crazy month. After getting so many people interested in book club I was super excited that the date, even as close to Christmas would be OK. Well I was wrong. Getting closer to the date people were dropping like flys, so to speak. Between last minuet shopping and some illness I have decided to move the date and location. I hope this works better for more people. The new date and time will be next Tuesday the 29th at the River church after Karate. Yes there is one more week of Karate as well. We will start at 12:30 for those that do not attend Karate. Well will still have story time for the little ones as well. I hope this works better. And if you cant make it no worries. We will be doing another book in January.
As for Karate, If you are involved please do your best to make it to this class. It will be the last class till after skiing is over. We will be reviewing lots of stuff and I will be handing out practice sheets as well. Please contact me if you are not coming and I will try to get one to you. Merry Christmas to all.

Book Club

We are a week away from our first book club meeting. I hope everyone is enjoying the book. Don't forget to go over the question before the meeting so we will have a place to start talking. Cant wait to see what people have to say. See you all on Dec 23rd at 10:30 at the Conway Liberty meeting room. If you need the question they are on an older post.

Cookbooks For Sale

As many of you know our group did a cookbook fundraiser with Morris Press Cookbooks several years ago (like 4!) and we are still trying to sell the last of them! With the money raised we have paid for supplies, cut the cost of field trips , purchased equipment and t-shirts! We only have 13 cookbooks left! If anyone in the group would like one please let me know ASAP!

The price is now only $5 per book or 5 for $20!!!

These make great Christmas gifts and stocking stuffers! They are filled with great family recipes and fun craft food ideas in the back!

Remember this one from our Thanksgiving dinner???
Click on the image to make it bigger.

Thanks!
Liz Kelley

Christmas Party Games

Here are some pics from the other night at our Christmas Party! We played some really fun games!! Here the kids are playing the unwrap the gift game, click here for the directions and a bunch of other games.

We thought it would be fun to have the kids use oven mitts to unwrap with!
Unwrap and pass! Quick!!

I couldn't resist taking these short video's of Christmas musical chairs! Hope you enjoy them!!
This is the end of the 3rd grade and up game. The best part is the end when there are only a couple chairs left!


Now the Mom's turn!


The Dad's turn:



The whole group then played Family Yankee Swap, this is all of us (or almost, a few got cut out by the camera angle) before opening gifts!

Candy Making

Our annual Christmas candy making was once again a huge success. The kids had a great time making and tasting! And for the parents the best part was that the kids could do most of the making.

Check out some of the action from the day.

Kevin showing off his cutting form. Hannah and Tyler working away.

Patiently waiting for the next batch of candy. I am so proud that the kids didn't make powdered sugar clouds this year. A true sign they are growing up.

By the end of the day we had six batches of candy and a lot of tired and sugar coated kids.

You can see more pictures from the day on some of our family blogs:

Heartfelt Homemaking - The Jette Family

Wreath Making

The Homegrown Explorers took to the woods in search of the perfect bough to make the perfect Christmas wreaths. It was a gorgeous December day - sunny and a little nippy!

Armed with pruners, saws and wagons the boys set off.

The little ones had a great day with Mama Thorne leading them through the woods. She even had them cutting their own little boughs. So cute!


As usual Hannah and Chase had to strike a pose.



A bunch of the older kids.

The whole group with just a fraction of our boughs. The tree farm in the back is the Chamberlain Christmas Tree Farm. Thanks to Ward for letting us visit and cut boughs again this year. He had gorgeous trees if you aren't sure where to go and cut your own!

Then we all headed back to the church to assembly our wreaths and swags. After a quick impromptu lesson the kids set to work cutting and wrapping.

Hannah is hard at work finding the perfect bough.

Slow and steady, Chase worked diligently creating her beautiful wreath.

A little help from a mom goes a long way!


Finally time to decorate!

All the kids did a great job. I wish I had a picture of all of them with their wreaths or swags!

Homegrown Explorers Thanksgiving '09

I just posted some pics of our Thanksgiving feast on my blog if anyone wants to check them out! I didn't get any of food prep so maybe someone else could post them here!

Here is the link
The Kelley Family Blog
More Photos here
Heartfelt Homemaking - The Jette Family

Book Club

Book Club will be meeting on December 23rd at 10:30am. We will be meeting at the Conway Library in the meeting room downstairs. The younger group will meet in the children room for story time. Below are the question to get your readers minds thinking. This is not homework, just a good place to get the discussion going. I do need to give the library a head count. So far I have 13 kids and adults. Please let me know if you are coming. I also need a head count from the younger group. Can't wait to see you all there.

Topics for Discussion

1. Why do the townspeople fear the Alm Uncle? Why does Heidi not fear him?

2. The grandmother is permanently blind, yet Heidi manages to bring her light. Explain the various ways in which she does this.

3. How is Heidi's year in Frankfurt a positive experience for her? What does she gain from being there?

4. Grandfather wishes to keep Heidi at home rather than send her to school because at home "she is safe and will learn nothing evil." What does he wish to protect her from? Is his caution justified?

5. As Heidi gets ready to go home to her grandfather, she is careful to wear her red shawl and old straw hat, and she leaves her feathered hat behind at Brigitta's house. Why is what she wears so.....

Book Club

Here it is, the book for our first dissuasion group. Heidi by Johanna Spyri. Heidi is a heart warming story of a little girls love of nature and her adventurous spirit. We follow her life starting in the Swiss Alps and later in Frankfurt. And meet some interesting people along the way. Come join us in her adventures.
This book is a 5th grade level book, but don't let that stop you. All are welcome to participate in the book discussion group, if you read the book. If you have a reluctant readers or the book is a little difficult here are some suggestion to be able to join in the fun.
Read the book to your child.
Audio books. They are great to have in the car when your out and about.
Have a older sibling read it to a younger sibling.
I will be sending out discussion question soon. Along with the date and place of meeting for the end of December. Please shot me an e-mail if you want to join, so I can get this info to you. Also if you have small children. There was a fabulous idea to have story time with the younger readers while the older readers work. I bet we can even find a young readers Heidi. So much fun. Lastly please remember that this book has been in publish for many years and has been revised to many times. We ask that you try to get the book by the above author.
Thank you can wait to get started. Selena

Portland Museums

Tuesday, November 17th we will be heading to the Portland Children's and Portland Art Museums. You can join us for both or either one, your choice.


We will head to the Portland Children's Museum first. Plan to be there a few minutes before 10am. If you would like to follow someone, we will be meeting at the River Church at 8:30am. The museum is geared for children 10 and under, but fun will be had by all I'm sure. Cost is $6.00 per person.


Next we are off to the Portland Art Museum. We are scheduled to be there at 1pm. The art museum is right next door to the children's museum. At the art museum we will divide into groups by grade/age (preschool-2nd, 2rd-5th, 6th-9th), we will then have a guided tour that should last about an hour. At the end of the tour you are welcome to explore the museum on your own. Cost FREE!!!

Please let Elizabeth J know asap if you are planning to join us.

Karate Class

Due to illness, Karate class is canceled for tomorrow Nov. 10th. So sorry for the inconvenience, but I did not want to expose others to the flu. Isn't my piggy so cute?

Corn Maize Field Trip

Here are some pics from our trip to the Corn Maize today! I forgot my camera so if anyone has more pics to share I would be happy to post them or give it a try and post them yourself!
Thanks!
Liz K

Most of the kids made it into this group pic. We had a total of 36 people in all!
Kathy Sherman teaching us a little about corn!

Some of the girls!

Mollie had fun riding the cows with the other kids but it was a LONG ride and so much fun for me! I look really impressed in this one don't I!!!

SCARECROW CONTEST!

Good Morning Everyone,

Alot of you do not know me yet and I look forward to meeting you at the next Homegrown Explorers event. Hope you have enjoyed this warm beautiful weather this week :)

We decided at the Mom's meeting that we were going to go ahead and do the scarecrow contest at Settler's Green again this year and planned a organizational meeting for Tuesday before Art Class as Elizabeth had stated on her earlier email. We only had three families that actually showed up for the meeting and we came up with three different concepts and we were going to let the children vote after Art Class on which concept to do. We did get a little more participation on the vote and so a concept was chosen.

***The concept is to incorporate October being Fire Prevention Month and do scarecrows as fireman and a burning building and then include educational facts about fire safety & fire prevention. So this will be educational for our children as well as the public!!!

We can use the small framed house that is at the Kelley's house and then we just need to come up with fireman gear and make what they will need for fighting a fire, supplies for making the actual scarecrow and then are informational stuff to be included.

Question ** Do you still want to do this project and do we have enough people interested to do the project?? Please respond to my email address ASAP if you still want to do this event. The Judges Award for top scarecrow is $500 and that would go a long way in getting Homegrown Explorers what they need or a field trip that you would love to do but three families with a few children will not be able to meet this challenge, WE NEED YOU!!!!!

We understand that everyone is very busy and that is why we want to make sure that you want to do this. Monday is our next planned work afternoon for starting to put this together and then Tuesday before Art Class. They have to be ready for Friday Oct. 2nd so they can be dropped off at Settler's Green for judging. So time is of the essence to get this project off the ground. If we are going to do this then anyone that has access to any real fireman and we could tap into that resource that would be awesome. Would you please contact me?? either by email or call me at 603-662-5363

Again, I can not emphasize how important it is that if we are doing this project we need to know who is committed to helping so please let me know.

Have a great day and God Bless, Cindy Lawrence

HIP HOP STARTS SEPT. 30, 2009 Wednesday

Hip Hop Wednesday in Conway 4-5pm ages 11-16 see post below

Mountain Top Music (Lessons)

does have group lessons for certain ages and instruments, but they are $360 per session

Private lesson (I think) are $25 per half hour, but they can be split with several students with that same price being split.

Perhaps when the mothers are all Yahoo linked, they can post instruments their children are interested in and figure out some schedules for shared half hour lessons...

Ellen Schwindt was the contact.

The phone number is 447-4737.

ART CLASS CANCELLATION!

There is no art class today due to

the fact
that Bekah is not feeling well!

Art will resume next Tuesday as scheduled!

Here are some fun art sites if anyone is interested!

Art Projects for Kids
Kids Art
Kids Art Lessons Blog
Family Fun Arts and Crafts

Enjoy!
Liz K.

HIP HOP

You can wear clean sneakers or just your feet (no socks)

Please wear stretchy pants (not jeans)

HIP HOP Dancing!!!!

4-5 pm Wednesdays!!!

HIP HOP !!!

Starting Wednesday September 23rd

Ages 11-16 Boys and Girls

8 week Hip Hop class for $80.00

Creative Sole Studio -(Samantha)
175 Main St. Conway, NH
by the Post Office
Phone 447-1353

Shakespeare Faire!!

This October four–time award-winning Perform It! Young People’s Stage Company will hold their second annual Shakespeare Faire with acting, theater, and Shakespeare presented in a fun, hands-on, all-day workshop. Last year's Faire was a tremendous success. Twenty-four students attended and thoroughly enjoyed their experience with all aspects of theater. This year's Faire will be similar to last year's with students learning the inner workings of putting on a Shakespeare play including how to apply stage makeup, how to design stage costumes, how stage lights work, and what is involved backstage to make a show happen. Participants will learn about Elizabethan history and meet Shakespeare’s wife, Anne Hathaway, and their children Judith, Hamnet, and Susannah Shakespeare in a living timeline. The day's activities will culminate in an opportunity to act in a scene from a Shakespearean play with the help of trained, young Perform It! actors. This is a lively, hands-on, educational opportunity that you won’t want to miss. Open to all students grades 6 – 12.

Register now! In order to accommodate more students, we will be holding the Faire on two different days, Thursday October 22nd and Friday October 23rd , from 8:45 AM to 3:00 PM. The cost is $30 per student for the entire day. The Shakespeare Faire will take place at Village Players Theater on Glendon Street in Wolfeboro, NH. Contact Jenny Watson for more information at 603-524-3736 or visit our website www.PerformItStageCompany.org. and download an application. Come join the fun!

Sarah went to this last year and LOVED IT! This year she was accepted to Perform It, so there is a good chance we may be able to bring a few of you down to the Faire if you are interested. It is worth the trip!

Bison Farm

Kelley Family Blog

or here

The Jette Family Blog

PS- what does everyone think of that pic for the header of the blog???

Possible Hip Hop class for Homeschoolers

All interested perhaps Wed or Thurs 4-5 ages not yet defined
call Creative Sole Studio
phone number below V

Creative Sole Studio Phone # 447-1353

Ballet Class!!

Beginner Teen Ballet Class ages 12-15
Mondays 1-2pm
Starting Sept 14, 2009

175 Main St.
Conway, NH

Next to Conway Post Office

Creative Sole Dance Studio

Owner & Director: Samantha Hounsell

The ballet teacher is a former Principal Soloist and instructor with Maine State Ballet, Gretchen Brown.

8 weeks-$80.00

Karate Class

I hope that most every one all ready knows this. But class is canceled for tomorrow. Sorry this is posted late. We will be talking about class at the moms meeting next week.

A Shave and a Hair Cut "2 Bits"

I am going to have my scissors and clippers at next weeks Karate class (Aug. 25th). I am offering cuts at $5 for kids and adults. If you are interested or want your child's hair cut, come with clean dry hair. Selena travailing hairstylist extraordinaire (hehehe)

Contact List

IT'S HERE!!! The contact list is done. If you have not gotten a copy and want one I will have them on me at future events. Also, I am still working on a PDA file to send out in an e-mail. Thank you for your patients. Selena

Karate Class

After class on Tuesday, I was stopped and asked about next weeks class. I know it is not scheduled, but I will be at the church for class on Tuesday Aug 4th At 1:30. Please, if this affects your schedule don't worry about missing class. For those who want to come, I will see you there. The following week our family will be away on vacation. So there will be no class on Aug 11th. Augusts class schedule will be posted after the mom's meeting. Thank You Selena

Contact List

OK, still working on the contact list. But I think I have gotten almost everyone. I have another round of e-mails to send out. If you have not heard from me please contact me with your info.. I hope to be getting this out very soon. Thank you, Selena.

Sabbaday Falls and Our First Letterbox!

We had a fun hike to Sabbaday Falls on Monday! The weather gave us a little scare at first because it down poured most of the drive down the Kanc to the trail head! When we got there the sun came out and it was beautiful. Here is a group photo we took before heading up the trail: The falls were raging because of all the rain we've had, it was fun (and a little scary) to see them like that!

The kids found this little salamander and enjoyed "playing" with him and checking him out!

When we got to the top of the falls it was time to find the perfect hiding spot for our groups very first Letterbox! We started out by searching for the Letterbox that is already there. Samantha found it first and we enjoyed checking out all the different stamps that others had left. We exchanged stamps and then moved on up the trail to find our own spot. Here is a clue to where we hid it:
Here is the link to our letterbox clue:

Floating Leaf Series: Sabbaday Falls Letterbox

To find out more about Letterboxing check out these great sites:

Letterboxing North America

Atlas Quest Letterboxing

Calendar of Events

Hi to all!

Here are the new group activities discussed at the Mom's Meeting last Monday night.

Monday July 13th Group Hike to Sabbaday Falls and Planting a Letterbox @ 1:00pm
The group did this hike 3 summers ago and we really enjoyed it! It is a nice one for little ones because it is pretty short and ends at a beautiful waterfall! It is posted as a no swimming area but it is easy to spend a lot of time there watching the water make its way through the falls and into the pools. We are also going to attempt to "plant" a letterbox! This is something our group has been talking about doing for several years. This will be a good spot because it is not that far into the falls so it will be easy for us to check on the box periodically. If you are not familiar with letterboxing this would be a great time come along and find out all about it! Here are a couple of sites on letterboxing too.

Letterboxing North America
Atlas Quest Letterboxing

We will be meeting in the parking lot of the Ranger Station at the beginning of the Kancamagus Highway at 1:00pm because several of us need to purchase National Forest parking passes ($20 for one or $25 for two if anyone wants to go in together on these and they are good for a whole year!). There are also lots of informational brochures and maps on the National Forest there! We will then proceed together to the trail head (about 15 miles).

You will not need anything for the letterbox (unless you want to bring your own personal stamps) but don't forget a snack and some water!

Tuesday July 14th Karate @ 1:30pm

Tuesday July 21st Karate @ 1:30pm

Wednesday July 22nd Thompson Brook Falls at Wildcat led by Tin Mt. 10-12:00

Tuesday July 28th Karate @ 1:30pm

Thursday July 30th Lost River Trip. We would leave town around 10:00 and then have a picnic lunch when we get there. Here are the group rates if we make a reservation and a link to their web sit:.
http://www.findlostriver.com/
2009 Group Admission Rates: Adults: $11.00 Ages 13-18: $9.00 Ages 4-12: $7.00 Ages 3, 2 & 1 are FREE. Group rates are offered to recognized businesses and organizations when reservations are made in advance. This would include, but is not limited to, school groups, church groups, camps and scout groups.

Monday August 3rd Ocean Trip (see email for more info)

Monday August 10th Mom's Meeting hosted by Melanie Ness

*A trip to Aquaboggan has also been discussed, more info coming soon!

If you have any more ideas for trips or activities or would like to plan something that the group would enjoy please let me know and I will add it to the list!


Thanks
Liz Kelley

Contact List

OK, I know I said I would do this months ago, but life got very crazy. I found I had a few hours with no kids today and put myself to work. I have finished up with all I have, but I know there are people missing. Please e-mail me with your info if you want on the list. I am sending out e-mails to the people I have, to confirm the data. If you do not get an e-mail from me today that means I do not have your info.
Here is what I need.
Your Name and Spouse
Address:
Phone #:
Cell #
E-mail:
Children and there b-days.
Thank you for your help. I hope to have this done and out with in the next week.
Selena dakotawatchdog@yahoo.com

4th of July Float 2009

Here are some pics from our float this year! Thanks to all who helped, it was lots of fun and a great success!!

Thanks to Pat and L.A. Drew for the use of the truck and trailer!

Our float from the side.

Our "garden".

Our "little house".


Callie and Jessica two of our wash girls!

The plow horse and the fishing pond.

Maverick the "plow man"!

This "pioneer" woman seems to be the inventor of the sippy cup and Cheerios's!

We got a little wet at the end of the parade! Here are some pics of us under the tarp for the ride home:
Some of the kids piled into the cabin!

Maggie keeping Sarah warm!
Check out these blogs for more pics from the parade:

The Everitt Family

The Kelley Family

Karate Class

Last night at the moms meeting I informed moms of a schedule change in the time for Karate. Davids is now enrolled in a summer program and it does not get out till 12:45. So I need to push class from 1:00 to 1:30. I hope this is not an issue. I also talked about the older kids in the class, and time for more one on one instruction. I would like to start working with the older kids 10 to 15 mins after class has ended. I can put out a schedule if needed for planning. Please give me some feed back on this idea. Thank you.

This Weeks Float Plans...

Our float and costumes are coming along well but...

this is cram week!

Here are the scheduled days we will be working:

Tuesday June 30th 10:00am until mid afternoon???

(There will be no Karate this week so that we can continue to work on the float!)

Thursday July 2nd 10:00am until mid afternoon???

Friday July 3rd 10:00am until we are done!

Saturday July 4th 10:00am to 11:30am - finishing touches

11:30am Homeschool Family 4th of July BBQ -

please bring what you would like on the grill (ie. burgers, dogs, chicken) and something to share (ie. salad, dessert, drinks, chips).

1:00pm -1:30 Parade line-up in Conway Village

2:00pm Parade Starts!

Please note that all work sessions will be at the Kelley's house and all are welcome to come to the work day's and play, hang-out, or lend a hand even if you will not be joining us on the float! That also goes for the Family BBQ on Saturday! Also, it is not too late to join us even if you cannot come to all of the work sessions, please contact Liz K via email ASAP.

Thought this photo was fun! From Strawberry Banke!!

Summer Reading Programs

Enjoy reading with the kids this summer:

Wednesday Bookworms - Every Wednesday at 10:00 am beginning July 8th for six weeks. A fun and rewarding summer reading program developed to encourage young children to read during the summer months. BOOKWORM WEDNESDAYS entitles kids to free admission to a select children´s film when they present a book report at a participating Showcase Cinemas, Multiplex Cinemas or Cinema de Lux box office. Accompanying parents or guardians and children under six receive free admission and do not need to submit a book report. http://www.nationalamusements.com/programs/bookworm.asp

This is a cool program, but not available in NH. Check out the web site for participating theaters, especially if you will be traveling this summer. There are theaters in Mass and California.

Borders/Waldenbooks - Children 12 and under read 8 books and bring in the completed form. The child may then choose one of the selected items for $4.99, a savings of at least 50%. http://www.borders.com/online/store/MediaView_summerreadingkids?cmpid=k1-51809

Barnes and Noble - Children 1st-6th grade read 8 books and bring in the completed form. The child may choose 1 free book from selected titles. http://www.barnesandnoble.com/summerreading/

Chuck E Cheese - Read 1 book a day for 2 weeks and bring in the completed calendar. The child will receive 10 free tokens with food purchase. http://chuckecheese.com/promotions/pdf/RewardReading.pdf

Scholastic´s Summer Reading Challenge - Children sign up to be placed in 1 of 4 teams. Then they read books for points. The team with the most points at the end of the summer vote on which Save the Children U.S. program receives a donation from Scholastic.

http://www.scholastic.com/summerreading/

Half Price Books - Children 12 and under can earn a $3 Half Price Books Gift Card for each week they read at least 15 minutes per day. http://www.halfpricebooks.com/feed_your_brain.html

TD Bank - Read 10 books and bring in the completed form to receive $10. http://www.tdbank.com/summerreading/

We did this last year, the only hitch is that the kids have to have a savings account at TD Bank. If you don't it is easy enough to open one.

Read with Kids Challenge - Log your time reading with your children for a chance to win a US Airways vacation package to Walt Disney World, plus other prizes. http://readwithkidschallenge.com/