Australia and Antarctica- Weeks 31-34

I can hardly believe this.  We have completed Exploring Countries and Cultures from My Father's World!  Okay, so that doesn't mean school is out. We've got to hold to the letter of the law and make sure we've put in our 175 days of school (which means we have another week left!).  But our curriculum... DONE!

The final two places we visited this year were Australia and Antarctica.  Above, the kids made a mural of a coral reef, the ecosystem we focused on while studying Australia.  Petite added all the faces to the fish and other underwater animals.  Plus she added some of her version of Minnie Mouse, scuba diving I assume.

I found this box of Ferraro chocolates in the shapes of sea shells and seahorses a while ago and saved them as a special treat for this unit.

For the first four months of the year, we've been saving change and other extra money for a Bible Translation project through God's Word for the Nations.  We learned so much this year about how special a Bible is to people all over the world, who have never had one in their heart language.

We saved $100 (plus a little more change that didn't fit in a roll yet).  Yeah!  We decided to give it to Rancho Sordo Mudo, a home for deaf children in Mexico, and for work to be done translating the Mexican language into a Mexican sign language.

We restained our seven-year-old swingset to help it last longer....

And Mister celebrated quite a milestone birthday- #10!  Nana made him this very special cake, per his request, of Moosehead Lake.

I am hardly a cake decorator, but at home we had a  party with a homemade mint chocolate chip ice cream cake.  Delicious!

He got a much needed new bicycle!

Petite declares she is a princess and we don't really bother to dress her anymore because she always ends up putting on a fancy dress anyway.

Brown-Eyed- Girl cracks me up with her photo bombs.  Here she is wearing Petite's Minnie Mouse bow and glasses, hamming it up.  But when she really gives you that look, whoa, you feel it.

And our final country, Antarctica, was celebrated eating penguin shaped crackers and reading Mr. Popper's Penguins, a book everyone loved.  We also read The Twenty-One Balloons.

So that is that, we are bidding farewell to our first year with My Father's World.  I have nothing but good things to say about it.  And I hope to say more when I wrap up our school year officially next week.  For now, hope you enjoy this quick update on our past month.  Home education is really, truly... amazing!