living childhood - charlotte mason inspired homeschool

poetry and art

2012-02-11T05:44:00.000-08:00

This year, I've met with a friend and her SIL for a little homeschool group twice a month. It started when my friend Penny asked if I would teach a photography class for her high schooler. The girls almost immediately decided that they wanted Miss Penny to teach them poetry (she is a published poet).

Penny's brother and SIL had just recently moved back to this area and they homeschool their children as well, so they joined us.

Before Christmas, we met at Penny's house, where I taught her son a series of lessons that covered the basics of photography. Now, that we have covered the basics, his assignments have more to do with practice exercises and so I suggested that I teach the kids art (I had tons of fun teaching art last year).

It makes more sense to meet at the house with the art supplies so we met here. As always, I am surprised by people's response to my house. People think it is neat and don't seem at all uncomfortable.

My house would never in a million years fit into a home decor magazine. Where do I start? The carpet is over twenty years old and disgusting. The semi-circular window is cracked. There are stains on the ceiling and wall from a leak. The laminate on the kitchen counters peels up because the adhesive is shot. We've almost worn through the fabric on the cushions of the couch (you can see through it). I've recovered the footrest on the recliner once and it needs recovering again.

I am not a stellar house-keeper (although I can say we do keep the place picked up and reasonably organized). I like comfortable - piles of books, easy access to what is frequently used etc.

I like color. Some have described the colors of the walls as purple - magenta maybe? They were orginally a brick red but when I repainted, the match I had the paint retailer make didn't match and I've never repainted.

Tim's swords hang on the wall behind the television. Our M. Pena gargoyles, dragons, and unicorns from when we were young are in a curio cabinet behind the couch. My pedestals and globes adorn the entry and several dozen mirrors sit above the kitchen cabinets (we have a twenty foot vaulted ceiling).

The room is scattered with my crafts and the girls crafts. The arte objects range from small useful things to items that are completely useless but make me happy.

Penny's SIL described it as artistic and seemed to enjoy looking around. Her son thought I had a neat house full of cool things. People tell me they like how it is decorated and I am baffled. It is eccentric and eclectic and it makes me happy. :)

I scored with the food too. I made this Rocky Road Crockpot Cake again. The kids (except M the non-cake eater) loved it.

I didn't take pictures during art. :( But I will try to take pictures of my girls projects to share later.

Valentine Bookmarks

2012-02-08T12:29:00.000-08:00

The girls made these Valentine bookmarks that say "You're Tops in My Book." I see now that Mom used the wrong spelling of you're. Man - do I feel lame - it is too late to do anything now. The girls need to write personalization notes and get these in the mail.

I think I will print out cards they can slip the bookmark into and I will make sure it mentions that it is my fault the word is spelled wrong. :(

Sharing:

she races cars...

2012-02-06T11:01:00.000-08:00

C made a car to race in the Awana Grand Prix. The building workshop occurred while we were in Mexico so my Dad took her to the workshop and helped her cut out the shape of the car and to do the rough sanding on her car.

The design is completely C's own. It is a triceratops (that bit is for your information in case it was not obvious when you see the three horns.)

She raced in four different heats. She was disappointed that the best she placed in a heat was second.

She didn't place in the design competition at all, which was even more disappointing to her.

Tim and I weren't disappointed. We were pleased with the persistent effort that our child (who doesn't always follow through as well as we might wish) put into her vehicle.

Valentine Craft (Mom Don't Peek)

2012-02-01T13:16:00.000-08:00

The girls and I made these boxes as a Valentine's gift for the grandmothers. We used some of the marbleized papers we made last week. I made the box according to the directions at Crafts-for-all-Seasons and the girls personalized them (I wish they had been a bit more personal but I guess I involved them on the wrong day).

The box above is for my Mom I used a paper edge punch to make the paper lace that surrounds the lid (and the surprise inside the box). The box below is for my MIL and includes some of the sewing notions she sent to me before Christmas.

As you can see, the girls didn't get particularly personal in decorating the tabs - they seemed very happy just to punch stuff out or color simple images.

This flower is made from the same paper punch I used to make the lace. The paper is just the art prints in a gallery catalog my MIL picked up many years ago when we were getting some framing done. She was mildly interested in the artist (whose style is reminiscent of Kinkade but with a different color palette)

special papers

2012-01-27T04:57:00.000-08:00

Once again, I find myself teaching art to kids. I have found a surprise in my life and that is I love to teach other people's kids. I did it last year too. Art and reading are the two homeschool subjects that I've taught. However, I've also been teaching photography seminars during the summer for five years and I love it.

For our first project, we made shaving cream marbleized papers. Next time we meet we will be putting together some silhouettes (yes, this is a copy of a project that I did last year).

My Mom had done this project with my nieces last summer and she had used some of McCormick's neon food coloring as well as the standard colors so I thought that I would try them. They were fun and added a whole new level to our project.

I do not know what is more fun, making the papers or photographing the papers.

Last year when we made these, I held onto the paper throughout the year and we used it for various projects. This time, however, we will do the silhouette project and then I will let the kids bring their other sheets home with them. One of them is already planning on making a book cover with her paper.

The girls and I recently tried this bubble printing technique from Pinterest. It was really fun and I think it would be a great craft to do in the summer at something like VBS where you could do it outside.

I would suggest however, to be careful about how much water you put in your bowls - I put too much in so we had use more paint than I had anticipated.

Since I do not have the huge school-sized bottles of tempera paint, this was discouraging.

K especially liked this project and I think she could have sat and done it all day.

I also liked it because I didn't have to all the between page cleaning I have to do with some of the other techniques that we have used.

This new technique of oil and food coloring is a new favorite. It is messy but the results are out of this world.

This was another Pinterest find. I find that unlike what people claim, I not only find ideas on Pinterest, I create using those ideas. :)

The nice thing about these two new ideas is I had all the stuff I needed to make them on hand.

My only concern with this project is whether or not the oil will make the things we stick to the papers come loose.

In following the instructions for the latest marbling technique, I found a link to a new site that has a myriad of other ideas.

I suppose that it would be a good idea to use some of these papers first, before we make more!!

From my spot on the kitchen floor (we do this stuff on an oil clothe tablecloth on the kitchen floor). Good-bye for now!

Home Again - Home Again

2012-01-26T14:42:00.000-08:00

I am blessed to have parents who can watch my girls while hubs and I go to Mexico on a company retreat with his business. We returned bearing a few gifts for the girls.

We picked up these novelty toys for a little bit of nothing.We also got the girls little sombreros for their dolls but as the dolls were confiscated and put in my closet after a fight, I have not photographed them yet.

K's 'big' gift is this little pewter armadillo. K loves the bizarre unusual when it comes to animals. She happens to think capybara are the most fascinating animals in the world right now. I so wish we had seen agouti on this trip (we did last time) so that I could photograph them for her. Last time we visited the Riviera Maya, one of our party even had the good fortune to see a coati.

The pewter was ridiculously inexpensive and so we bought my Mom and Dad a very pretty calla lily spoon rest for their kitchen. I didn't, however, photograph it.

For my flamboyant and hat wearing C, we did buy a sombrero.

I will draw your attention to the sweater vest she is wearing in this photo. It is one my Mom started for my sister over twenty years ago. She finally pulled it out and finished and gave it to C.

You can see the photos from my first day in Mexico on my other blog.

babushkas

2012-01-17T13:36:00.000-08:00

For Christmas, K got a set of nesting dolls, which the Russians call matroyshkas but are sometimes called babushkas too. Unfortunately, I forgot to photograph her dolls when I was taking pictures for this post. :)

K likes what I call magical toys. She adores things like snow globes, matroyshkas, and music boxes, kaleidoscopes, etc. I decided it would be fun to do some crafts that tied into her interest. I made myself some fun fabric babushkas for the kitchen and the girls made these (from a tutorial from Whip Up).

We used some more of our shaving cream marbleized paper (we made our Christmas trees with the same papers).

Currently, they hang-out on the mantle (along with some of C's origami flowers).

snowmen for a dry winter

2012-01-13T14:37:00.000-08:00

So far we've had very little snow this year (which is a serious bummer for the girls since we got them really cool sleds) but, they have made snowmen!! :)

school photos

2012-01-10T05:17:00.000-08:00

Our photographer finally got her act together and took the girls school photos (ahem, yes that would be me).

I splurged on Hannah Andersson dresses for the girls for Christmas. K still wears C's from the dresses I bought the girls four years ago (deliberately big so they could wear them for many years). The girls picked the colors - I love the vibrant jewel tones.

I am still totally captivated by back light and lens flares (notice the bare ground: we are approaching what is traditionally the coldest day of the year in Minnesota and it reached 49 yesterday and there has only been a few dustings of snow so far this year).

The girls asked that I take pictures of them reading their bibles.

On the way home, I saw the shadows of a fence thrown up against a metal service box and wanted to take a moody shot. C graciously posed for me (this one really ought to be seen full size as the paint on the box is abraded and creates interesting background noise).

what I want to be when I grow up

2012-01-07T09:34:00.000-08:00

On Wednesday night, Kidz Klub had a dress up theme. Dress like what you want to be when you grow up. We had fun gathering stuff for the girls.

K wants to be a 'horse farmer' and a zoo keeper.

She wore jeans and her cowboy boots (old ones of C's that are a perfect fit - right now), her beautiful genuine leather kid's cowboy hat that we picked up for 2 dollars at Goodwill once (it fits her perfectly too) and she rode the stick horse my Mom made her.

C wants to be a writer. She started a novel this past summer and so we made a faux book with the title of her work-in-progress by putting a dust jacket on a hard cover book.

I put her hair in a bun and shoved some pencils into it. She chose to wear one of her favorite shirts which has a tie to go with it. Then we went to Dollar Tree and she picked out some reading glasses (royal blue) and I popped the lenses out for her. Doesn't she look adorable?

For this week's writing assignment, she was to write a three paragraph persuasive essay about why prayer is important, this is what she wrote:

I think that prayer should be an important part of our lives. By prayer the sick have become well. But healing is only one of the numerous things God has done through prayer.

The first thing God does when we pray is healing the hurt. One of my cousins had a hole in his heart. But God answered our prayer and now he is healthy and strong. The Lord also has healed sicknesses through prayer. My aunt had a lung disease. But God answered our plea and healed her. A third reason prayer is important is because the Creator can use it to change lives. On New Years Day, our church had a visit from Teen Challenge and a lot of the people had been alcoholics. But when there family’s prayed, their lives changed because God sent them, to Teen Challenge.

In conclusion, prayer should be one of the most influential things in our lives. When we talk to God, He will heal us and change us and others who need Him.

I am hosting a give-away for my 1001 post on my other blog. If you like to embroider, you might want to check it out.

eagles (and K's Christmas puppet show)

2012-01-04T05:22:00.000-08:00

The girls called this a nature Christmas. In addition to seeing buffalo, elk, prairie, and going to the conservatory, we also went to Red Rock Dam to see the eagles. In March, there is an eagle count and there are hundreds of eagles at the dam, we saw between ten and fifteen in the half hour or forty-five minutes we were there (hard to be certain when they keep taking off and flying around).

We also saw other points of interest including, pelicans, ducks, shadows, and fishermen.

K wrote the script for another puppet show that we performed with my parents.

K helped with the editing of this one so the decisions (including music) were hers - I simple provided the technical skill.

Des Moines Botanical & Environmental Center

2012-01-01T15:00:00.000-08:00

During our visit, my parents took us to the Des Moines Botanical and Environmental Center.

There were Kooi. Do you see them in the reflection shot above?

There were turtles. Do you see them in the shot above?

There were some beautiful specimen of bonsai.

The girls got to do a holiday activity.

The guys sat and visited.

There was a special room with suggestions for your garden at home. I thought the shot above was funny in black and white.

Paint-by-number, anyone?

I love to visit botanical gardens and conservatories. Midwest winters can be long and it is always nice to find a bit of green to brighten ones day. The girls love to visit them too. I know C took lots of photos while we were there.

The Great Plains

2011-12-31T07:58:00.000-08:00

This Post Meanders - I Am Leaving it that Way - No Apologies Made

I grew up in Western Kansas, an area of the United States that has never been heavily populated. Today the area where I grew up is slowly depopulating and reverting.

Central Iowa at the Neal Smith Wildlife Refuge

Living in the Twin Cities is a great deal different from my childhood. Recently, I've become nostalgic and even made a YouTube clip from my last visit to Western Kansas when I attended my paternal grandfather's funeral (about which I wrote a series of posts, which I loosely referred to as home coming - the video is below if you care to watch - the music is Dust in the Wind by Kansas).

We drove down to Central Iowa (Pella - a historic Dutch community - yes, I am of Dutch heritage) to visit my parents for Christmas. I brought three books with me to read. I finished Jo's Boys by Louisa May Alcott, I read all of O.E. Rolvaag's historical novel Giants in the Earth - I started my third book The Testament by Grisham last night after we returned home.

I am very glad that my friend Penny insisted that we Rolvaag for our literary book club. It tells the story of Norwegian immigrants who settled South Dakota around the same time that the Ingalls family were in Minnesota and South Dakota. It talks about the grasshopper plague and the long winter - it deals with many of the same issues that Laura's books discuss but rather than showing it through the eyes of a child of the prairie, it details the difficulties as seen through the eyes of adult immigrants who were not prepared for the the vast isolation, incredible dangers, and difficulties of pioneer life on the open prairie.

I am a huge fan of Laura Ingalls Wilder. As a child, I read through my maternal grandmother's set of Wilder books until it fell to pieces. I've read many of the books to my girls plus we have all of them on audio (when I get to heaven, I expect Laura's voice to sound just like Cherry Jones) and we have listened to them more times than I can recall.

In addition, I've read all of Laura's Missouri Ruralist articles as well as several books that collected writings from Laura and her family's journals and letters.

Having grown up on the prairie and having read so much prairie history (I had to take Kansas history three times throughout my school years), I have often wondered what it was like to see an untouched prairie and walk through the tall grass.

This past week I got to find out. My parents took us to visit the Neal Smith Natural Wildlife Refuge. While the prairie is a restoration rather than untouched - it gave me a chance to get a small taste of what it was like.

It is 5,000 acres of Iowa farmland that has been undergoing a restoration to tall grass prairie. The story of the restoration process is fascinating. There is much more involved than I ever imagined. I always thought that if we moved off, the prairie would simply return. Not so.

They also have fabulous habitat displays. I had no idea that a bull snake would tunnel over six feet underground to stay cool. I also discovered animals that I had no idea lived on the prairie. They had a display of land crayfish. My mom said they found similar mounds/tunnels in their backyard one year and had no idea what they were. Now we know.

They also had a display about prairie elk. I always thought of elk as forest inhabitants. I had no idea that there were prairie elk that ranged the same area as bison!! I find it interesting that no account of pioneers that I've read (I want to read some journals now to see if personal journals mention them) mentioned elk.

The learning center had a puppet theater that the girls could play in.

There were several hiking trails that you could take through the tall grass. It was practically balmy on Thursday and some of us walked without coats on.

One thing I found interesting is that the tall grasses are actually more red in the winter than what I thought they would be. The pasture lands of Kansas, Nebraska, Iowa, and the Dakota's are a golden tan in the winter - I was fascinated by the red shades in the grass (which don't show up in black and white, I know).

I've always been fascinated by solitary trees on the prairie - if I were alone when I traveled and not with husband and children - I would probably stop constantly to photograph them.

I found these trees to be interesting because they looked like the purpose for the fence - "Let us tame those wild trees, by fencing them in."

Easily the coolest part of the reserve was the auto tour.

We saw the ubiquitous white-tailed deer.

We saw bison.

We saw prairie elk.

I finished Rolvaag's book on Thursday night after our hike. I found the two experiences together brought the past to life in an almost eerie way.

Christmas Draws Near

2011-12-20T13:46:00.001-08:00

I am feeling better now (antibiotics are a good thing - which is hard to remember in a world that doesn't remember what it was like before antibiotics). The girls had an extremely busy weekend. On Saturday morning, they delivered food bags to the unemployed and underemployed in our area. They had been raising money in Kidz Klub and the group was able to distribute 47 bags of food that also included grocery store gift cards in them.

In the afternoon, the girls had dress rehearsal for their Christmas program. While they were busy Tim and I combed the local stores battling the Christmas crowds to find white pants.

On Sunday evening, we got to watch the girls' Christmas program.

WHITE PANTS! SCORE ONE FOR PERSISTENCE (I am glad I stuck to my guns and didn't get leggings).

C did such a nice job with her reading part - I wish my flash would have fired.

I entertained myself during the week by exhuming photos from a trip back to Kansas that I took in 2007 and making a little video feature music from the 70's rock group Kansas.

Where I Have Been

2011-12-14T11:38:00.000-08:00

Low profile? Not really, I've been sick. Apart from working on the Christmas Nativity video for church

and dealing with our plumbing crisis (which was solved with relative ease and expense). I've been laying low and avoiding spreading my contagion to others.

This involves watching documentaries with the girls while embroidering, taking naps, watching The Dresden Files with Tim or reading.

I've been reading Louisa May Alcott's Little Men and Jo's Boys.

My bookmark makes me smile - last spring when I made all the boxes I could from one Laura Ingalls Wilder book - I used the cover for a bookmark. :)

The fun thing is that C found one of my 'Christmas' Alcott books and is reading it.

We have been filling in the magnetic nativity I made (I made the magnets in staggered heights so the pieces could be layered).

...and Mary is working her way to Bethlehem.

squirrels and caterpillars and angels

2011-12-09T06:01:00.000-08:00

So far, we've attracted 0 birds and 2 squirrels to our bird feeders and water bath.

This portion of our deck is off the back of the house and can be viewed through the sliding glass door in the master bedroom. I peeked at him through the curtains. I do not think he could see me at all because he blissfully ignored me until I took a number of photos.

The shutter on my camera is very, very loud and I think he could hear it echoing off the glass. Soon he moved and came towards me along the railing. His tail was twirling furiously and I would guess that if I could have heard him, he was chattering up a storm.

I honestly don't think he could see me (I think between the curtains and the reflections of sunlight - it wasn't possible).

It was very funny.

Crochets are the term given to the hooks on the prolegs of caterpillars that help them cling to surfaces as they move around.

Crochet is also a term for given to a form of knotting and weaving my Mom used to make this angel for Tim and I when we first got married.

I do not think my girls have watched my Mom crochet - she does a lot more quilting these days.

I want her to do a little crochet in front of the girls. Maybe the visual will help them remember the term which doesn't seem to be sticking.

When I got the angel out, K was super impressed with the angel and asked how Grandma made it. I told her Grandma crocheted it and I would have Grandma show her how crocheting is done. She said "I bet it took Grandma a long time to make that angel."

C fell in love with angel, which we found at a thrift store when she was in preschool. I tucked it into our packages with the help of a clerk and gave it to C for Christmas that year.

I found this one at a thrift store too. I find her homeliness very, very sweet.

Christmas Books and Music

2011-12-07T12:14:00.000-08:00

When C was an infant, my Grandpa M baptized her. He threw the congregation of our church for a loop by requesting to sing Jesus Loves Me during the baptism. He asked to do it because if my Grandmother had still been alive she would have wanted to. What he started was a tradition in our little family.

We started singing songs/hymns at bedtime with C and then with K as well. We started with Jesus Loves Me in remembrance of my Grandfather (the song recalls him to me) and as the years have rolled by, we have added more hymns and carols (we sound awful but that is completely beside the point). For reasons unknown to me, hubs likes the carol Good King Wenceslas.

Lo and Behold!! C is learning it for piano this year. So I got out an old Christmas Song Book and suggested we learn it during advent this year.

Now the girls run around the house singing it (all five verses).

If you are unfamiliar with the sweet story of Good King Wenceslas, check out this article on Wikipedia.

candyland christmas trees (with nods to wonderland)

2011-12-05T13:58:00.000-08:00

Without trying to bore anyone, I want to tell you what a wonderful woman you see here. D.E. is older than she looks or acts and we adore her.

We came to our new church after a difficult and very precipitous exit from our preceding church. I was lonely and prone towards depression.

I joined book club and met many women but it wasn't until when D.E. hugged me one night after I hosted book club in my home that I started to feel at home in our congregation.

Somewhere along the way, I started turning towards D.E. and her husband as 'local' grandparents for the girls (as we have no family near us).

For the past two summers we have visited them frequently (as often as once a week when the washing machine is broke). I embroider and visit with D.E. and the girls play her husband, J.E.

School keeps us busy and so I don't get to see them as often as I wish so I called them on Saturday and asked if we could visit and bring a craft.

So together, the four of us glued little discs onto cones that used to hold yarn (cones, that her husband gave me because he loves to give me craft challenges and he saw those cones as a great craft supply and a fun challenge).

We visited and enjoyed each others company and soon the girls were complaining because this really wasn't a particularly exciting craft and they would rather play with J.E.

But aren't the trees darling? I found the idea at hutch studio via Pinterest.

The tacky but cute Alice in Wonderland figures are a treasure a friend gave me when she was cleaning her basement.

We learned a few things working on this project. A.) Book pages would be a lot easier to punch than the marbleized card stock that we used (the marbleized card stock is from several shaving cream marblization craft episodes). B.) That said, I am thankful for my circle punches. C.) Book pages would be easier to glue than stiff card stock because it would conform to the cone shape more easily. D.) Glitter covers a multitude of sins. E.) I am now going to start hoarding corrugated cardboard. F.) If you are going to do this the hard way, Aleene's Tacky Glue is definitely the best.

I quite adore how they turned out and am loathe to give D.E. her tree!!

nutcrackers - shared joy

2011-12-03T05:56:00.000-08:00

I have a rather extensive nutcracker collection. However, I hadn't brought my nutcrackers out for years (there is a tedious reason that I won't get into here). Last year, when we were at Goodwill, K found Target's remaindered nutcrackers for sale. She fell in love with them. When she found out that mom owned nutcrackers she asked if she could buy me a nutcracker for Christmas. So I let her buy me the Mouse King.

As a result, I decided that I ought to start bringing out my nutcrackers again. So after our trip to GW I brought them out. K was thrilled.

This year she decided to buy me another nutcracker for my birthday so on Wednesday I received this handsome Sherlock Holmes.

Today we pulled out the nutcrackers and decorated the living area with them. Many of these nutcrackers came from my MIL. She tends to go overboard when she discovers something a person likes.

We call him a Musketeer although, I am not sure why he has the stolen loot. Perhaps I should call him The Highway Man.

I am particularly fond of the short dumpy nutcrackers. :)

Isn't this Musketeer neat? I like his musket and sword.

Doesn't this knight have a sweet face? These nicer nutcrackers with the felt costumes are from Nutcracker Village and are from my in-laws.

This is my only Steinbach nutcracker, again, it comes from my in-laws. He is from 1999 (which is the year I got him) and I just googled him and found him selling for $600. OUCH!!

These ornament nutcrackers are from Nutcracker Village too. They do not go on the tree (I have two that do and they will be shown later).

This giant nutcracker is over three feet tall and very heavy. He is another gift from my in-laws. Last year I got him out and climbed the ladder to put him on top of the entry closet. He has stayed there all year.

He actually has a custom box that my FIL made for him.

So where do I put all these nutcrackers?

Why above my kitchen cabinets of course.

The ceramic Christmas Tree is one that Tim's aunt made and that his maternal grandmother had in her house for years. Tim was fond of it. When Nanny died, my MIL didn't want the tree so we took it.

My cabinets are wired across the top with a boat load of outlets (thanks to my FIL) because I used to put my California Mission Figures (they are like those village house that people collect but each one represents a different California Mission and comes with a little card telling about that particular Mission)up there at Christmas time. I haven't pulled them out in years either - maybe when the girls are older.

By the way, while we are looking above my cabinets. They have been decorated with mirrors like this for about a year and a half. I have considered painting all the mirrors one color such as black (bad choice for dust) or white (bad choice according to hubs) or some matte gold so that they match.

A few weeks ago when I had book club at my house it was discussed and the consensus is they like the mismatched look. What do you think?

I also put nutcrackers (the smaller ones) on the railing above the entry (we have a split entry).

I have three thrift store oil paintings of mountains behind the railing - I kind of liked how these guys looked in front of them! :)

Check out boxing season II.

books and birthdays

2011-12-01T15:40:00.000-08:00

Yesterday, I got out the box of Christmas books. I want to try to share a few books here and there so first I will show you my Christmas Golden Books. Notice, one of them is about the Nutcracker, which is my not so subtle segue to my Nutcracker books and one of my birthday gifts I received yesterday and my Nutcracker collection.

Have you ever read the original Nutcracker? Because I like nutcrackers, I bought the original story by E.T.A. Hoffman (because I have a thing about going back to the source). Hoffman must have smoked opium. It is a bizarre story.

Hopefully, tomorrow, I will start bringing out the nutcrackers.

Isn't the Sherlock Holmes nutcracker that K gave me for my birthday adorable?

Speaking of birthdays, C bought me this hat for my birthday. I really, uber-like it.

Hubs bought me a new (and desperately needed camera bag), a new toy which I used for these photos (a soft box for my flash), and this digital candy thermometer. :)

Look what else I found in the book box, a nativity! My Mom got this for me when the girls were little. I think we will put it together this year. The copyright is 1981.

If you go to those northern skies, you can take a look at the gorgeous pop-up nativity I have as well as check out the beginning of boxing season. :)

Decorating for Christmas

2011-11-30T13:57:00.000-08:00

Yesterday, we got out all the nativities and decorated the house with them. If you want the full photo tour you can see them on my other blog, those northern skies.

Getting Back into the Swing of Things?

2011-11-29T12:56:00.001-08:00

I got the tree up and the lights on it. As I told the girls yesterday before I started, I really get cranky putting up the tree and hanging lights.

I brought out the tin can advent candles I made last year for our home school group. I mentioned to Tim I wanted to remake them sometime so that they were nicer - he wasn't impressed by my fussiness.

I made these bottle cap Christmas trees last night. The only one I really like is the tree with the button ornaments. Some of the bottle caps featured include orange juice, grapefruit juice, mouth wash, glue stick, peanuts, miracle whip, and peanut butter. :)

Our Thanksgiving

2011-11-27T20:59:00.001-08:00

We had a quiet Thanksgiving Day. It was just the four of us. I prepared a complete meal and we relaxed.

We took a walk/bike ride. The girls rode; hubs and I walked.

I naturally took yet another shot of the wild cucumber down at the creek.

But the highlight of the day was K's Thanksgiving Puppet Show. She had the idea she wanted to do a puppet show on Monday. As I spent almost all my free time during Mon-Wed on my 'surprise' Christmas gift for my Mom she was free to work at the show.

She narrated the script to me - the script is her own words. All I did was assign narrator numbers. She made all her puppets and scenery (the scenery can't be seen).

Well - you can see for yourself. I've edited a video and loaded it up on YouTube.

art study: Rembrandt's Flora

2011-11-25T06:58:00.000-08:00

We've studied several of Rembrandt's paintings since the school year began. Last week we took a look at Flora. I explained to the girls that Flora was the goddess of flowers and the spring and then invited them to make their own drawings of Flora.

This is C's version of Flora. She rains down both seeds and rain from the heavens. C then decided to paste one of her origami flowers on the opposing page.

K's flora runs along sprinkling flowers and seeds on the ground. Apollo joins her in the heavens delivering warm spring sunshine.

snow on the weekend and a new passion

2011-11-22T13:55:00.000-08:00

We had snow on Saturday. The girls were very excited and cleared the drive way for us. It would be nice if that held through the winter (the desire to clear the driveway), but I doubt it will.

One of the things we did on Friday morning before we went to the zoo was watched a documentary about John James Audubon. I mentioned that I have a book with some of his images in it. Sunday morning before church, K decided to look at some of our natural history books. Of course, I couldn't find the Audubon book (it was bought as a craft supply so it is probably buried in my craft supplies).

My animal loving girl has spent a lot of time looking through these books during the past several days.

A Visit to Como Zoo and Conservatory

2011-11-21T12:37:00.000-08:00

On Friday, we went to Como Zoo and Conservatory. It is a small free zoo and conservatory in St. Paul. It is beautiful and we've loved going to it over the years. This Friday we met some friends and hung out. Our first start was the rain forest room. My camera did not defog while we were in there as you can perhaps tell!!

Then we visited the primates. These Francois Langur's put on quite a show. The room building is dark with only the exhibits lit so I took these shots at 1600 iso and shutter speed of 1/40th a sec. So you have to look for the blur racing through the cage. He would take off and bounce off the glass right in front of the kids.

In the shot below, he went straight towards K. As you can tell, he rather scared her.

I took loads of really neat photos of this polar bear - the polar bear exhibit has recently been redone and is much nicer for both the bears and the viewers.

Two bears. In the shot above, you can see the reflection of a brown bear in a nearby enclosure. They have some bears as part of a rescue from a flooded area at the Teddy Roosevelt Park in Minot, SD. I tried getting a shot of the bear but he paced rapidly and I never found a good angle for him. I am rather partial to reflection shots so I thought this was a fun way to get him - looks as if the polar bear were dreaming.

Pregnant lioness.

Cougar, puma, or mountain lion - which do you prefer?

Snow leopards.

Of course, the wolves were hiding in their den.

Siberian tiger.

Mugshots for giraffes.

Check out the tongue.

All the kids - we were asked if we were a daycare. No, we just all home school our children.

Yes, it does say 'No Climbing.' But the children were there and on it before we got there so we went ahead and arranged them for a photo. Not good, I suppose. :(

The conservatory is beautiful. In the summer, you can tour their outdoor Japanese garden.

It is a popular place for weddings, I can't imagine why!!

I've taken numerous photos of this St Francis of Assisi statue over the years.

See our group in there?

poetry and history

2011-11-18T05:12:00.000-08:00

Recently, we read the story of Alexander the Great and his horse Bucephalus.

image

Here is the story of Alexander and his horse (source).

Alexander The Great & Bucephalus

The story of Alexander the Great and Bucephalus is one that every horse lover should know. In fact, The Black Stallion is loosely based on this story of boy taming beast.

The Story Goes Like This...

Philonicus the Thessalian brought Bucephalus to Philip II (Alexander's father) in the hopes of selling him. But when they went to the field to try him, he reared and bucked and would not have a rider.
Philip wasn't happy with Philonicus for bringing him such a mount and declared that the horse was unsuitable and useless.

The Eyes of A Child

As they were leading Bucephalus away, Alexander (who was 12 at the time) stopped them and basically said, "If you guys can't handle him, let me have a try."
At first Philip took no notice of what Alexander said (as parents can do), but when they continued to lead the animal away he could see his son become visibly upset.

A Fathers Test

Philip looked at Alexander and said, "None of my men can handle this horse are you really telling me that you can do better?"

Alexander was not a stupid boy (and had an ace up his sleeve). He told his dad he could handle Bucephalus no problem.

His father wasn't buying it and asked what Alexander was going to forfeit for his rashness should he fail to succeed. The boy looked at him squarely and said, "I shall pay the full price of the horse."

Alexander's Trick Card

Alexander had been watching Philip's men closely as they tried to work with Bucephalus and he'd seen the animal spooking at his own shadow. He grabbed the horses bridle and turned him towards the sun, cleverly eliminating that pesky shadow problem.

The boy was then able to ease onto the horses back and take him for a spin. Of course Philip wavered between pride for his son's accomplishments and embarrassment for loosing his bet.

When horse and rider returned from their wild run Philip looked at his son and declared "O my son, look thee out a kingdom equal to and worthy of thyself, for Macedonia is too little for thee."

What Happened to Buchephalus

Alexander chose the name for his mount because the horses head was 'as broad as a bulls'. The stallion was his faithful partner in battle throughout Alexander's entire military career and died of battle wounds in 326 BC during Alexander's final battle.
Later the warrior was said to have founded the city of Bucephala in memory of his faithful mount.

K was intrigued by the story and the next day at poetry she wrote a poem about it.

Alexander the Great and Bucephalus

Horse

A big black horse
It runs away
I turn it away from the sun.

That same week Charis wrote a very 'mythic' poem.

Time

Time, Oh Time!
You reign over the ages.
Your brow is a mantle of stars
That lines the sky.
Your hair is sparkling snow
Your wrinkled face is the canyons
And mountains of the earth.
Your robe is the sky.
In your right hand, you hold
The Septor of Eternity.
In your left hand you hold a globe
Shinning like the sun.
Tis' the globe of Ages.
Your throne is the moon.
Time, Oh Time,
Who can outlive you?

Tell me, is there anything not to love about homeschooling?

the light of earliesh morning...

2011-11-15T13:38:00.000-08:00

This is where we decided to display the bouquet that K suffered and bled for yesterday. Some of our friends from the pumpkin patch are still hardy and sound. :)

K read Johnny Lion's Book today and so decided to replicate his family and some of the animals that Johnny might have ate.

title debates - she suffered for these or autumn blue or shocking color?

2011-11-14T13:47:00.000-08:00

We took a walk today for physical education. I truly believe the kind of things you or I might do for exercise are the kinds of things we should do for exercise with our children. So when the weather is good we take bike rides - but today seemed like a day for a walk.

There is no more beautiful shade of blue than autumn blue.

I saw a bluejay framed on bare branches framed by this sky - I so wanted a shot but for some reason those big black cameras always scare them away.

Few leaves are left hanging on.

But the wild cucumber pods still hang on adding a strange decoration to the trees.

Birch is such a winsome tree, don't you think?

The fuzzy seed pods and decorative grasses beckoned to K to linger and pick them.

And red stems and green berries attracted Mom's notice.

Unfortunately, Mom did not warn K that dried grass and weeds can be quite sharp.

She paid for her autumn bouquet.

perks

2011-11-10T19:26:00.000-08:00

K loves her stuffed animals and dolls. I often have a menagerie at lessons. I've never taken a photo of it and after shooting this shot, which happens to have her latest acquisition (a really cute stuffed elk that she picked up for two dollars at GW and named Christmas), I realized that I ought to photograph it.

It is definitely a perk. She would be lucky to have one of her furry friends with her at school.

basics

2011-11-08T14:11:00.000-08:00

This week, I launched myself into a huge project that I want to finish by next Sunday. As a result, we are trying to make sure we cover the basics and I am not getting into much else with the girls.

However, I've been pleased with the girls. They've rather thrown themselves into my project and are helping me with it!!

Last night we went to the observatory again (I think this is our fourth time this year). It was a bit cloudy and so there wasn't much to see. (I wouldn't know, the observatory was so crowded that I didn't take a look but Tim and the girls did. But Tim said everything looked as if you were looking at it through a foggy window.)

Over the weekend, the girls and I made a couple of blue glue batik projects. Here are pictures to learn more you can check my post on my other blog.

affirmation and art

2011-11-03T14:37:00.000-07:00

Last night we were playing our 'School Review Game' we have a few different versions but they are all based on 'trivia' or 'quiz' cards that I write up as we go through our material.

Both of the girls told me how they wished 'real' schools taught and learned this way. It is affirmation - the girls seem to delight in what we are doing.

It doesn't change the fact that C will act every bit as cranky and difficult as I did at the same age and it doesn't eliminate K's tantrums or the days when everything she has ever learned seems to have departed from her head. However, it does mean we are doing something right.

The girls have been playing piano for six weeks and are making good progress. Their teacher Mrs Mary is pleased and says that their time put into practicing really shows.

I really, really love how we are doing grammar, spelling, and science (We are using Shurley English and Apologia Science - I use Spelling Power for C and Sequential Spelling for K). I am rethinking history and we might make a shift in the program. I will let you know if it happens - especially if I think the shift works how I hope it might.

This was an art project we did yesterday. I found the instructions for it at Dick Blick - they have a treasure trove of art projects with pdf instructions.

This is my effort. I wasn't going to make one but C was struggling so much that I decided to make one just to encourage her.

This is K's project. She loved this project and wants to do more of it. She put a hanger on her's so that she can hang it up somewhere.

C made three or four attempts at this project. This was her last effort and she is not at all happy with it. She struggles with abstract - she likes her world very concrete.

to the pumpkin patch again

2011-10-31T05:34:00.000-07:00

racing to the hay-rack ride

waiting and waiting

here he comes!!

on the wagon (that is me on the right)

picking pumpkins

jumping off a wagon

figuring out how the steering works

We went to the pumpkin patch again this past Friday with a different group of friends (we are fortunate it only costs two dollars to go on the hay rack ride, otherwise everything on the farm is free apart from the pumpkins).

As you can perhaps tell, this group of kids is full of energy!!

seasonally challenged

2011-10-24T11:29:00.000-07:00

I've decided that I am seasonally challenged. I don't necessarily craft for the season I am. So here is one for anyone who wants a craft to do on St Patrick's day.

I love C's leprechaun. It is adorable, don't you think?

This is a mixed media piece that includes melted crayons. This will probably be our last melted crayon piece for awhile. In order to slightly contain the spill of the rainbow, I masked off the rest of the picture with removable contact paper. As you can tell there was still seepage, I didn't mind that as long as the basic idea of a rainbow stayed intact.

We used cotton for the clouds and gold buttons for the pile of gold. The girls drew their leprechauns separately, cut them out and then glued them to their picture.

I love the intense color of melted crayons!!

Just in case you think we don't know Roy G. Biv and the colors of the rainbow we do. However, the colors blue, indigo, and violet are too hard to do well with crayons so we did blue, pink, and violet just to make the colors look nicer.

rainbow ant farms

2011-10-23T16:39:00.000-07:00

We have been enjoying our 'space age' ant farm tremendously. It is fun to watch the ants create tunnels and see the rhythm of their days. I saw that you could buy rainbow ant farms and you could watch how ants move stuff through layers - I read reviews and decided I could make one cheaper and one that was more effective. I made three different styles.

Technically, this first one isn't a rainbow farm but I really wanted to try a pocket farm and see how it worked. This is made in a tic tac container.

This one is the hardest to see into but is very interesting to observe none-the-less. This one is made from a recycled vanity bulb (here are some good instructions for the procedure). It has a drink bottle lid which I drilled holes into using a 1/32 drill bit.

Here are some good instructions for a jar style at farm. I jazzed them up using a candle tube, a narrow jar, and a big plastic lid that I decorated for fun. :)

Here are some shots of them at work.

While the sand needs to be moist to help the tunnels maintain their structure and not collapse - please do not overdo it as I did in the tall ant jar. I know myself and I put coarse sand on the bottom - I am glad I did because my ants are now living above an underground lake...

On the other hand, I seem to be having regular tunnel collapses in the tic tac jar (there are three ants total in that jar and they have not died so do not be worried).

I have found that the easiest way to feed the ants and give them water (for the ants in the dryer colonies) is to cut a q-tip in two. I dip one end in honey and the other in water and the stick them stick side down in the dirt like poles. It makes it easier to give the ants fresh food and is a lot less messy. I also think it diminshes the chances of mold which are a big problem in ant colonies.

This is so much fun that I will probably make some other variations that I've been thinking about in the spring.

By the way, our cricket and grasshopper have both passed on after having lived busy and productive lives. One day, they simply stopped eating and moving. Given that we have had multiple frosts I imagine they were old and it was their time.

We put the jar that the grasshopper was living in in the garage. I removed her body and the dead plant material. We will see if baby grasshoppers emerge in the spring. I have wooly bear cocoons in the dog kennel outside - it will be a buggy spring if I remember and get my timing right.

a cooperative art piece

2011-10-22T19:34:00.001-07:00

This is a crayon piece that all three of us worked on together.

We glued the crayons and then heated them. Then we painted the canvas. I would reverse the procedure now - but when we were doing this, I wasn't sure what we were going to do so I wanted to leave our options open. The nice thing about painting over crayon is that it wipes right off. K drew our eagle on a separate piece of paper, I cut it out for her and then we glued it on.

horse back riding

2011-10-22T07:21:00.000-07:00

Rachel, the girls' riding teacher, had a break from college at the beginning of the week so we squeezed in a riding lesson.

C has been dealing with anxiety lately and this was not an easy lesson for her.

Rachel thought that perhaps if she lunged Xstacy that it would help C because then she would know that Rachel was in control. It didn't help but it did recall a wonderful scene from Wild Hearts Can't Be Broken when Sonora and Al are trying to break Red Lips.

Soon the snow will come and we will have to wait until spring. :(

weaving

2011-10-20T18:44:00.000-07:00

We found this weaving technique at Home Ed Groups via Pinterest.It uses drinking straws for the loom (not sure if that is the correct term or not).

C made herself a bracelet. K did not have the patience or attention span to weave today. I made myself a hairband, which K graciously modeled. It is very comfy and I am wearing it right now.

I have some ideas about different things we could do using this technique that I am anxious to try.

2011-10-17T19:06:00.000-07:00

Pretty much all of this post is copied from my other blog. I am sorry if you read both blogs - this will seem like a bunch of repetition.

I found this project at Lindsey Daniella Did It via Pinterest.

You can read about the why behind these crayon art pieces on my other blog, those northern skies.

Gail, from that artist woman, has a tutorial for these fabulous plaster leaf prints.

We had fun making the leaf prints but nothing like the fun we had making her plaster frescoes.

The lion is done by C my ten-year-old. The planet Jupiter surrounded by stars of various temperatures is done by K my seven-year-old. I made the simple red flowers.

As you can tell, we even cracked and stained our frescoes to make them look old and authentic.

If you want a fun project try the frescoes!!

We've been making lots of tree/leaf crafts. We made these awesome paper bag trees by Amanda of Crafts by Amanda (via Pinterest).

We made these thumbprint trees using a template from Style Unveiled (via Pinterest).

We made tons of leaf prints like the one above (K thought they were the absolute most fun to make) from Kleas (via Pinterest).

We created this little tree using a branch from our ugly dying bushes, and coffee filter leaves (we used food coloring instead of water coloring as suggested in the instructions) with an idea from The Crafty Crow (via Pinterest).

And finally we made these dragonfly silhouettes based on an idea in my brain (via my hands).

things the girls make with no help from me

2011-10-16T15:22:00.000-07:00

Charis received an origami book for her birthday in September. Recently, she made a bouquet of different flowers from the book. She figured these out from the instructions, all on her own.

Kira wanted to give flowers to her Sunday School teacher last week. We bought flowers and put them in a Looza Juice bottle. Then I made a fancy bow for the bottle. I am not talented at bow making so I use the much simpler cut and hot glue method. K must have watched me quite closely because the following Monday she started making these out of paper. I was seriously impressed.

On Friday, she started drawing, coloring and cutting hearts. She wanted to make garland. I showed her how to punch the hearts (which I subsequently did for all of them as her hands weren't strong enough to manage the punch) and string them on the garland. She took her time and made this string all on her own.

a field trip to the Minnesota Raptor Center

2011-10-16T15:12:00.000-07:00

On Thursday, we went to the Minnesota Raptor Center with the homeschool group from the previous post. We hope to join them when an opening comes available.

Here, the girls -- check out their wingspan.

The students got to examine a raptor's claw close-up.

Above is a peregrine falcon and below is an American Kestrel. Kestrel's are beautiful little birds. Since our visit to the Raptor Center the girls talk about them all the time. As a result, we've begun watching the documentary Kestrel's Eye.

The girls showed well. They've watched David Attenborough's ten episode series "The Life of Birds" and were able to answer many questions on the tour (BTW the link has a video clip of a lyre bird that is truly amazing).

Kira is especially anxious to go back. In fact, she made a special request that Dad go with us next time.

photography lessons

2011-10-13T18:53:00.000-07:00

Last week Friday, I taught photography classes to three different age groups of home schooled children. The age range was kindergarten through twelfth.

I got a real charge seeing how all the children took idea of gaining different perspectives so seriously.

social insects - space age ant farm

2011-10-05T20:17:00.000-07:00

I ordered Fascinations Antworks Illuminated Ant Farm. Rather than tunnel through sand, the ants tunnel through a gel that is based on technology from a 2003 shuttle mission that sent ants into space. The nice thing about this habitat is that the ants don't need to be fed because they can consume the gel.

I ordered the ants at the same time as I ordered the ant farm because I had heard that sometimes you wait forever. The ants came three days ahead. I put them in a jar with minimal sand and gave them some watermelon and sent K out to get a dead fly. They proceeded to bury their food with sand!

By the time I was able to transfer the ants to their gel habitat I had lost ten ants out of an order of twenty-five. The ants moved into the gel habitat on Monday. Today, they are fully established and have made great progress on their tunnels. These photos were taken around noon today. They progressed tremendously during the afternoon. When we returned from church this evening, the progress in the space of an hour and a half was visible.

The one drawback about this farm is that there are no breathing holes. The manual said ants don't use much oxygen and that I need only open it once every other day or so. However, we found that the ants seemed to get lethargic. On Monday and Tuesday, we lifted the lid periodically during the day to give them fresh air. The ants always perked up after we did that.

The problem is that the ants were piling their excavation material on the side of the glass which is allowing them to climb closer to the 'ceiling' of their farm. I was afraid that eventually we would not be able to lift the lid without escapees.

This morning I drilled to holes in the lid. I covered them with tape (because I really don't want these guys lose in the house). Now when I want to give them fresh air, I lift the tape and puff air into the holes with a nasal aspirator.

Next week we start our chapter on social insects.

taking a mini-vacation in the renaissance

2011-10-02T10:49:00.000-07:00

On Friday morning, I fixed the girl's hair up so that they wouldn't ask to stop at a braiding booth.

Then we went to the Minnesota Renaissance Festival.

We got there just in time to find a booth and get some lunch. I am so glad they had pizza back then!!

One of the local fairies admired K's hair.

The girls were fascinated by glasswork. K loved watching this man create lampwork sculptures. Do you see K in the reflections below?

The girls in one of the features - a garden arbor. One of the hen's in the petting zoo didn't seem to care for all the noise.

We made it a point to watch one of our favorite shows. We visited the Baker's Stage and watched The Danger Committee perform.

For those who are as geeky as I, doesn't he look a bit like Peter Wingfield who played Methos in Highlander (and the Sin Eater in the Last Sin Eater?)

The Festival is always a fabulous place to take photos, although it is very challenging because there are many trees and booths, one (if your are a nerd like me and only take photos using your manual settings) must be alert and constantly change the settings on the camera. Just the same, it is fun. I've been playing with backlight lately and have had some great pictures. The one below is a favorite.

Later, after The Danger Committee, we attended a quintain, a competitive jousting event where riders execute feats of skill rather than compete against each other in hand-to-hand combat.

Then the girls tried their hands at jousting. K was unable to obtain the ring from the knight who was her opponent but C successfully retrieved the ring from her dragon.

The girls rode a giant swing. The man who ran the ride told some 'corny' jokes as he helped the girls down from the ride. I liked "How do you make a tissue dance?" - "You put a little boogie in it." :)

He apparently reads his Bazooka Bubble Gum wrappers. ;)

The girls tried out some tuffets.

Both of the girls were absolutely enthralled by the glass blowers.

We visited weapons shops. At a different shop, C asked some very intelligent questions about the design of swords and about what a purpose a pommel serves. We were thrilled to find a shop where some of the swords were hand-made using the Japanese art of metal folding.

As the day came to an end, we found a hobbit hole!!

And we got to explore an enchanted wood.

Can't you just about see Mole's friend Rat slip out his front door and go for a swim?

Fare Ye Well!!

crazy hair night at Wednesday night Bible Study

2011-09-29T05:31:00.000-07:00

Immediately after I took this photo, the girls and I went to Urgent Care so I could get antibiotics for a sinus infection, I look forward to having more energy!!

more buggy science things

2011-09-28T05:08:00.000-07:00

I let Kira catch a cricket this weekend and we brought him in and are observing him. I have (for the first time in my life) seen (and not just heard) a cricket sing. It has changed how I imagine crickets when I walk out my door on a crisp fall day and hear the chorus singing their paean to the end of summer.

He likes watermelon.

I was fascinated by the size difference in these two bees (David and Goliath?)

And finally (a very unscientific set of photos). Yesterday we practiced doing up Kira's hairstyle that she wants to wear tonight for weird hair night for Wednesday night children's church.

Hopefully, tomorrow you will see cute photos of both the girls.

science fun

2011-09-26T04:58:00.000-07:00

Can you guess what kind of insect this guy is? He isn't a bee.

But I did have fun photographing this sleepy bee on my cosmos.

He isn't a grasshopper. We found this lady on our walk last week. We were trying to collect an insect for our 'Lazarus' insect experiment. She was our first catch. Further on, we tried to pick up a grasshopper who was sitting in the grass that was growing up in a crack in the asphalt.

She was very hard to pry up. Oops!! She was laying her eggs. I showed the girls her ovipositor and how she was laying the eggs. Then we let her go. I thought about this lady and decided she was probably ready to lay eggs to and so I suggested to the girls that we catch a male. We used him for our experiment and kept her in a pb jar with an inch or so of dirt in the bottom.

She didn't do anything for two days so I decided I better build her a better habitat. So I took one of the large jars I use for raising monarchs and filled the bottom up with several inches of dirt. Tim and I both wondered at the fact that the other female had been laying the egg in such a difficult spot and Tim suggested that perhaps she need/wanted some rocks or something hard to lay her eggs under or against. It worked!!

Of course, she did this in the middle of the night so the girls didn't get to see it first hand. It is a good thing I am handy with a camera.

Our mystery insect is a rove beetle that the girls found at our home school group/poetry class last Friday. Rove beetles are carnivorous insects and are sometimes called 'devil's coach horse.'

Our specimen is a gold and brown rove beetle. He rushed around angrily with his abdomen lifted like a scorpion. Which led all the kids at our group to think he might be a scorpion. The adults tended towards wasp or hornet because his body is a bit stripey looking on the underside.

He was quite clumsy and tended to fall over and flail a lot. I put him in the refrigerator to chill hims so he would slow down so I could photograph him.

I noticed that one of his mandibles was broken when I looked at the photos I took.

We put him in a jar with rock and dirt. We added some worms, which he attacked immediately but never ate. By the end of the weekend, he seemed to be languishing so we set him free.

what i love to see

2011-09-22T18:47:00.000-07:00

Lazarus Experiment

2011-09-21T05:07:00.000-07:00

For our science, we are using Apologia Press' Flying Creatures of the Fifth Day.

We are currently studying insects. One of the recommended experiments from the book is the "Lazarus Experiment" .

The first step is to 'drown' an insect. The book suggests holding it under water with a spoon. I thought it would be easier to drown it in an applesauce cup of water and use a second applesauce cup to hold it down.

It took a surprisingly long time for our grasshopper to stop moving and appear dead.

Oh, look the poor grasshopper drowned!!

The next step is to cover the insect in salt (the salt absorbs the water and speeds up the 'resurrection' but has nothing to actually do with bringing the insect back to life.

Now the poor grasshopper looks as if he were frozen in the snow. Poor little hopper. :)

After the salt has absorbed the excess water, blow the salt off of him.

It will take a while but eventually, your insect will revive.

Our textbook explains the results in this way "Why didn't the insect drown in the water? Well, insects are able to close the spiracles in their abdomen when faced with heavy rains or other unfortunate meetings with water. When they come out of the water and dry off enough, they can reopen their spiracles and breathe again!! The reason you used salt in the experiment is that it speeds up the absorption of water from the insect, causing it to start moving more quickly." (143)

Definition

Spiracle: Insects have little holes called spiracles all over their abdomen (there are some in their thorax as well) that allow air to enter their body. There are no muscles to push the air in and out; therefore it is a passive breathing system.

leaf printing

2011-09-20T04:50:00.000-07:00

This is a fun little craft that we found from the blog Kleas via Pinterest last week. K (my youngest) loved it and wants to do it again - she said that it was lots of fun!

insect study

2011-09-19T04:49:00.000-07:00

We are studying insects in zoology. On Thursday morning last week, when it froze, K and I went out early in the morning to photograph the beautiful frosty morning and to explore.

We talked about how frost kills, how beautiful it is, and how quickly it disappears. Later in the day, we listened to Chapter 3 of The Long Winter. In the chapter, Fall of the Year, Laura describes the early killing frost that they experience the year of the long winter.

We found a dragonfly and discussed the parts of an insect while I photographed him. Then we placed him in the sun to warm up.

I was so focused on capturing his compound eyes, the little whiskers on his old-man-face, and the whiskers on his legs I didn't get a full body shot. :)

We took photos of frosted flowers and frosty bees.

This weekend, we went apple picking. Here are a couple of photos. If you want to read more, you can go to my personal blog, those northern skies.

what i love to see

2011-09-16T05:27:00.000-07:00

insects and frost - an a simple experiment showing that insects are cold-blooded

2011-09-14T21:45:00.000-07:00

On Tuesday, the girls noticed this guy sitting on our front screen. He is a quite large moth - about an inch and a half wide. His underside shows a bit of orange, which flashed brightly when he flew. His topside, however...

was designed to help him blend in with tree bark (I converted it to black and white because I think the detail is clearer - he was in shades of tan, grey, and charcoal).

When he flew, he was very noisy. You could hear his wings beating with almost a humming noise. He wasn't at all quiet and airy like say...a butterfly.

Today, we went for a walk to look for insects for zoology. We found this butterfly with similar camouflage to the moth from yesterday (or is this perhaps a moth, the body looks more moth like). I would not have seen this beautiful insect if it had not been for his rather severe injury.

Because of the missing wing, I spied the orange coloration and found him. Actually, he most likely is a butterfly; notice the antennae with the blob on the end. In addition, he holds his wings up above him when at rest.

I have found that compound eyes are very difficult to photograph.

Notice how this moth on my sunflower holds his wings? It is interesting to go out at night and watch the moths feed on the sunflowers (this was taken during the day - seems sunflowers are good for napping).

We cut open a gall today and saw the larvae of the wasp inside of it.

Disappointed Entomologist

During our walk, I photographed some beautiful flowers and plants.

We also captured a dragonfly and put in the refrigerator for a short while before we took it out and let it warm up and re-released it (so that we could study what happens to a cold blooded creature when it is cold). Holding a dragonfly on your hand while it warms up is one of the coolest things. The sensation as they flutter their wings really fast is quite delicate and fascinating.

It is supposed to freeze tonight and the bees are very busy on my sunflowers.

This afternoon, K and I covered my tomato plants. It brought out all the nurturer in her. She sang to the plants and was very careful to see that they were completely covered. She told me when I kissed her goodnight that she had fun covering the tomatoes with me.

leaves are changing

2011-09-12T20:54:00.000-07:00

It is starting to feel like fall around here (if you excuse the 88 degree temps we had today). Maybe, I am just anxious for fall and so it feels like fall in spite of the heat and dry weather.

I found the template for these thumbprint trees at Style Unveiled. It is meant to be used for weddings but, well...I added a little text to the image to make it 'special' for the girls.

We've also made these trees from a tutorial by the always wonderful Amanda of Crafts by Amanda. We bought the bags (which are actually snack size not lunch size - lunch sized would have been nice), the moss, and the foam leaves all at Dollar Tree. You gotta love a three dollar craft with plenty of left-overs for the next round of crafts!!

of caterpillars, seals, ribbons, and dreams

2011-09-08T19:54:00.000-07:00

First, a rather poignant look at K's very tender heart. K is my youngest. She is a very compassionate and affectionate little girl. In the preceding post, you see the girls playing with the wooly bears we brought home from our bike ride that day. K fell in love with wooly bears. Yesterday, on our bike ride she would brake for wooly bears, often stopping and moving them to the side of the trail.

As we were riding along she suddenly stopped and started wailing. She had rolled over a wooly bear. C looked at it and said "I think it is okay, see it crawling?" It was crawling, it had green ooze following it but since it comforted K, I decided not to mention it. As we prepared to resume our ride, I started to warn K to watch her back wheels, but alas, I was too late. She rolled over the wooly bear. This time, he was truly dead.

K was devastated. It took a fair amount of consolation to stop her crying. It came up through lunch and afternoon devotions and reading. Then came our rest time. The girls are to spend an hour quietly in their room, every afternoon. It gives us all a time to regroup. K likes to slip into bed with me if I try to take a half hour nap at this time. I permit it as long as she is quiet and doesn't wiggle.

My very high contact girl stops her endless motion if she can snuggle with Mom. I thought that since she was so upset about the caterpillar, I would offer to let her know when I lay down.

When she crawled into bed next to me, she told me that she had thought it through and that what she should have done was waited for the caterpillar to crawl to the edge of the trail before she began biking or she should have walked her bike around him or she should have moved him to the side of the trail.

Then she asked me if we could snuggle together every day.

This is what was still in my bed almost an hour after I got up from my half hour nap.

In ancient history this week, we learned that "Instead of signing their names, the Sumerians used cylinder seals, which they rolled across wet clay. No two seals were alike, so the owner could always be identified." (The Usborne Book of World History).

The seals they showed in the book had figures carved on them. Some seals also included cuneiform symbols on them.

Today, we made our own version of a cylinder seal.

Supplies

Sturdy cardboard tube
Foam stickers
Ink pad

Instructions

Decorate your tube with foam stickers.

Roll your tube in ink, making sure to completely cover the stickers in ink.

Roll your cylinder seal across a sheet of paper.

Admire your signature!!

As you may have noticed, I've been playing with different hairstyles on the girls.

K loves having the ribbon wove through her hair. She also likes all the compliments she gets every time we go out.

Sweet dreams tonight.

fuzzy wuzzy was a wooly bear

2011-09-07T04:51:00.000-07:00

Yesterday while on our bike ride, we found some wooly bears. Actually, I am not sure if these are what people call woolly bears (which are the caterpillars for the Isabella Moth (which by the way is not nearly as pretty as it sounds)) or Virginia tiger moth caterpillars. None of these had bands like true wooly bears. In fact, only one of them had two colors at all.

We are going to try raising moths again. I've had great luck raising butterfly caterpillars to flighthood but so far I've failed every attempt with moth caterpillars.

C is not sure about the caterpillars - she was much more sensitive to them and they irritated her skin. The bright yellow/orange one also tended to seem to try one's hand to see if it was food (I held him in my hand for quite awhile after we collected him since I didn't know C had applesauce cups in her bike bag) and he would nose around and seem to bite (which was slightly uncomfortable).

the reality of regret

2011-09-05T20:12:00.000-07:00

It is easy for me to say if only I had done this differently or that differently. I truly wish we had begun home-educating the girls sooner. However, it wasn't a possibility before.

There are reasons for genuine regret. When we deliberately act outside of God's will we should repent and confess. However, I believe regret is legitimate even after we've been forgiven. Regret isn't false guilt, it is sorrow over missed opportunities because of our disobedience.

However, we humans often regret things that we had no control over. Why regret not homeschooling sooner when it wasn't an option? Seems silly to me. We tend to regret silly stuff rather than the important ways we missed out in serving and glorifying God.

flying and pianos

2011-09-01T21:22:00.000-07:00

For our science, we are using Apologia Press' Flying Creatures of the Fifth Day.

Today we did two experiments from the book that relate to flight. The first one displayed how having a lower air pressure above and a higher one below will cause things to rise.

It was a simple experiment where you place one straw in a full glass of water (with the straw being cut down so it extends just a bit above the surface of the water) and use another straw to blow across the mouth of the first straw. By blowing across the top of the first straw, you lower the air pressure above the water in the straw and it shoots out the top - it was a super easy experiment.


If you click on this photo to enlarge you will see the water spraying out of the top of the straw.

The second experiment was to compare wings on gliders to see which wings had the most drag.

The girls showing off their gliders. I found it interesting that Charis chose the one that she correctly hypothesized wouldn't glide as far.

Charis measuring the throw. We threw each glider ten times - I did all the throwing so that we could be sure the throws were as consistent as possible. Kira recorded the measurements that Charis gave.

Afterwards, the girls played with their gliders for awhile.

The highlight of the day, however, was the piano tuner. We found him through a friend of ours. I really, really like him. I had fun photographing him at work.

desks and lessons and neat things

2011-09-01T05:29:00.000-07:00

My first three days of homeschooling have gone remarkably well. On Monday and Tuesday I felt really bad with intense pressure headaches and an upset stomachache but those concerns have passed and Wednesday was awesome.

I am still trying to find out what a real schedule feels like compared to a theoretical one but it is coming together.

K loves Zoology. Here she is thinking just exactly how she wants to draw something.

When my in-laws were here my husband conned them into buying the girls desks which for some reason he and my MIL believe the girls need. Right now the girls love them and I do find the surface handy but I am not sure they were necessary.

As a global learner, memorizing is hard for K and figuring out how little pieces like (sums) fit together is frustrating for her. To help with math, we are going to learn how to juggle, do origami, and make tessellations (I have some other ideas but these are the ones that we have started with).

Yesterday when I decide to start juggling, it required a quick trip to Dollar Tree to find something to juggle with. I am so glad that last year one of the administrators at the 'homeschool coop' we attended spent some time teaching the older kids the basics of juggling. I was there that day and learned a lot.

While I was talking to my Mom yesterday discussing what books I might get from Daedalus and what books she was thinking about ordering the girls for Christmas, she mentioned she got a book about Otedama from Daedalus and that she was going to make some of the juggling balls that the book gives instructions for.

The girls began showing some interest in origami about a month ago when they asked their Dad about it when they picked the word out of a Newsboys song (Shine).

Fortunately, I've dabbled in Origami on and off over the years and have several books and paper. Tim mentioned that our nephew was interested in Origami so I went to the Borders going out of business sale and bought a kit for him as a gift when he arrived.

The result was an Origami explosion at home. My MIL had to go to Borders (this is very typical of her) and buy all the Origami books in the store.

On Tuesday, we watched an absolutely amazing documentary about Origami, Between the Folds.

Photo from here.

Then there are tessellations. When I was in Junior High, I had a math teacher, Mr. Springer, who assigned them for extra credit after we did an initial worksheet. I did page, after page, after page. I am sure that is why I got such high marks on the I.Q. portion of those silly standardized tests.

I've looked on the internet for them periodically since the girls were born and for a long time found nothing. Then I found this website, Tessalations.org, which is awesome but which I was sure my girls were not ready for.

Then I found the Illuminations website. The Dynamic Paper tool which allows you to make your own grids and tessellation paper is awesome. I was beyond excited when I found it.

So far we've started with a simple diamond pattern but the girls really enjoyed it so I am excited to see where we can take it.

I did find out something interesting about my two girls. C can narrate immediately after a lesson just like a dream but she won't tell her Dad a word of what she learned. K's narrations come out garbled and just getting them is like pulling teeth but give her a few hours and she spills it all out clear and clean.

Yesterday she got to talk to my Mom on webcam. I left the room with C for a moment and when I returned I heard K giving my Mom a concise and accurate explanation of place values in math.

Last night she not only shared with her Dad all sorts of stuff that she learned but gave the mnemonic for animal classification and did a great job narrating an Aesop's Fable that we read. Clearly, she has a processing lag similar to the one that I have. :) I think my Mom and Hubs are going to be listening to lots of narration this year. :)

the piano

2011-08-26T06:45:00.000-07:00

Despite our in-laws, I am continuing to prepare to start school next Monday. It is going to be a trick because the girls are going to need some serious grandparent deprogramming in conjunction with the beginning of school but we will start. One of the fun things that happened this week is the piano was moved into the basement.

It is a 1973 console Story and Clark piano. I bought it from the original owner for $200.00. Next week Thursday, the piano tuner will come and tune it. The week of 9/12 the girls will start lessons. I am very excited for them.

My husband doesn't seem to grasp that I have no intention of having the girls do loads of seat work and that we don't need to clutter up the basement with desks. Yesterday, his Mom bought us two small desks for the girls. Sigh.

One of Tim's biggest concerns about homeschooling through the years leading to our decision to homeschool was the "socialization" argument. I have avoided having the argument with him because I know that learning it slowly sort of through osmosis works best (in conjunction with prayer). He was voicing his concerns about it just the other day again. I hope as the year progresses he will learn to understand (he also worries about the girls getting tired of each other and needing space - of course those who've researched the socialization argument know that neither of those concerns hold water or are valid).

I will continue to work on the girls interaction skills and hopefully by the end of the year, with God's blessing, we will find ourselves making significant inroads in the bickering, arguing, and selfishness.

I also can't wait to prove that learning doesn't require loads of seat work!!

lip service

2011-08-19T13:45:00.000-07:00

It is easy for Christian homeschoolers to say that their objective is to raise believers and that academic excellence is subservient to the primary goal. However, as I work on my schedule for the year - I find it easy to fall into worry and begin to obsess about worldly success and abilities.

Over and over and over again, I have to remind myself that all the academic success and social achievement in the world means nothing if you don't have God. Money is useless in light of eternity.

I pray that God helps me to remember that my purpose is to bring Him glory.

Thankful for Guiding Hands

2011-08-16T05:44:00.000-07:00

There was a time when I despaired of hubs ever actively teaching the girls. Recently, however, that has changed. Sundays after church are a blessing to our family as he sits down with the girls and goes through the questions in the Children's Catechism with the girls. It does my heart good.

Why I Know We Will Love Homeschooling

2011-08-13T06:50:00.000-07:00

If you enlarge this photo - you can see her subject sitting on the stone to the right.

The Color Kittens

2007-09-17T13:34:00.000-07:00

A delightful Little Golden Book written by Margaret Wise Brown.

make sure your child has plenty of dress-up clothes

2007-09-10T14:56:00.001-07:00

Instructions at Suite101.

the girls made Columbus Day crafts

2007-09-09T04:35:00.000-07:00

Spice collages (think using spices like glitter). (It will make you sneeze.)

Telescopes from gift wrap tubes.

Newspaper hats made from craft foam.

To read about Columbus poems, songs, and these crafts for children, check out my Suite101 article.

on children being quiet

2007-09-07T13:25:00.000-07:00

Children love to be alone because alone is where they know themselves, and where they dream. Roger Rosenblatt

Leisure is a form of silence, not noiselessness. It is the silence of contemplation such as occurs when we let our minds rest on a rosebud, a child at play, a Divine mystery, or a waterfall. Fulton J. Sheen

popped

2007-08-24T14:06:00.000-07:00

The Pony Ball is one of my children's favorite toys. It popped. :(

kid's craft - collaged name tags

2007-08-23T13:54:00.000-07:00

My Mom used to have me do something similar to this except we didn't use stencils, she had me cut out the silhouettes of various things to use for my collages. I don't remember what kind of silhouettes they were. Probably horses. However, the girls aren't to handy with scissors (K is too little anyhow).

Tutorial available at Suite101.

playing dress-up

2007-08-22T04:35:00.000-07:00

For some children, dress-up is one of the delights of childhood. It is good to have dress-up clothes for your children. However, dress-up clothes do not need to be expensive or character driven.

My children have Disney dress-up clothes, thanks to their California grandma. However, most of their dress-up clothes are either thrift-store purchases or things that my Mother or I make for them. Besides full outfits, children should have lots of accessories. Sometimes, when the mood is right or time is short, an accessory is all that is necessary to make the game.

C models a costume she created from an old dress and an old tunic of mine, a wreath from grandma, a mirror from grandma, and some fancy dress-up slippers from grandma.

K models a sequined dress that looks like lifesavers with all the stripes of bright colors on it. The dress was a purchase from the thrift store. She completes the outfit with a mirror and a crown both from grandma.

Just the accessories please. The girls model fairy wreaths that have jingle bells on them so that they tinkle whenever the girls move.

Good, clothing-quality costumes are wonderful gifts for children and are worth the effort of making, if you know how to sew. Below, the girls wear the Little House on the Prairie costumes I sewed for them for Christmas.

The nice thing about sewing your own costumes it that you can select the fabrics, match a hobby or interest of the child, and be assured that the costume is well-made yet inexpensive.

I cannot stress the value of accessories and thrift purchase. Hats, scarves, purses, and vests are inexpensive and add just the touch that the little actress desires.

1.) Hats are quick and easy and some days are all that a child needs to take off on a flight of fancy.

2.) Scarves can serve a multiplicity of purposes in a costume. Cloaks and robes are versatile and good too.

3.) Purses are essential for little girls. They need a place to stuff their junk.

4.) Vests are awesome. Buy funky vests. Two of my all-time most valuable dress-up purchases have been vests.

One was a fringed leather vest. It has served as an identifying feature for cowboy, Indian princess and dozens of other character props. Another was a holiday vest made for an adult.

It was covered with all the symbols of Christmas - trees, candy canes, gifts, lights. My girls loved it.

Doesn't Every Girl Want to Be a Fairy Princess?

2007-08-17T14:29:00.000-07:00

Make a Fairy Wreath

the magic of a carousel

2007-08-16T15:11:00.000-07:00

Ragged Circles

The white mare
runs in ragged circles,
her steps chased
by an ancient melody.

She lifts her heavy head
and dreams of a wild herd
pounding tribal rhythms
across the plains.

She perks her ears
at the imagined sound
of a staccato counterpoint
beating through the song.

The mare slows down as
the calliope grinds to a halt.
Another sugar-coated child
is lifted onto her back.

you could say the same thing about children

2007-08-13T13:30:00.000-07:00

Runners just do it - they run for the finish line even if someone else has reached it first. ~Author Unknown