• Dec. 5, 2009 - Our new family member

We have a new family member.  She was rescued from a remote woods when pregnant.  The family kept one kitten, gave away the other kittens, and gave the mamma to us.  Her name was a mystery for awhile. Prior to the family meeting, she was "Snowflake" or "Sugar". Of course, all kinds of suggestions were made - from crazy stuff like "popcorn", "taffy", "pretzel", and "salt" == to names like "Tammy" and "Stephanie" == to weird like "Green Eyed Lady Princess of Darkness" and "Aqualung".  We had finally narrowed it down to "Sierra" and "Sprite" with 2 votes each and 1 vote undecided, when Paul suggested "Zoey".  Everyone went "yup, I can live with that" and so she became Zoey. She is about 1 year old and loves to play.  In fact, she wakes us up most mornings so we can play with her.  She wants you out of bed as soon as she hears the alarm - no snooze button for her.  She is very friendly, but not a lap kitty.  Maybe when she grows older, she will be come one. So here she is:

Comments (0) :: Post A Comment! :: Permanent Link

• Nov. 20, 2009 - Blog Not Forgotten

• Oct. 24, 2009 - State Fair and Pirates and The Flu

Last week  the state fair opened and we went on Preview Day.  We got the kids wristbands that allowed them unlimited rides, which was a good deal.  We usually go with a friend of mine and her daughter.  The girls have been friends for over 5 years.  We had a great time and yes, we ate some of that yummy fair food! Mei and her friend Jamie at the fair, waiting in line for the ride wristbands. The girls loved milking the cow.  We went back on can day for a few hours and they milked the cow again! The next day I woke up feeling horrible.  I felt even worse when I realized I probably exposed my friends to the flu.  Turns out she was already sick, but had just thought it was a head cold.  Then James got sick, followed by Mei.  Mark waited until Tuesday to get sick.  He is missing his Boy Scouts Court of Honor tonight since his fever spiked back up last night.  We didn't get tested, so we don't know which flu we had.  Paul has escaped so far.  We saw him for only a few hours last weekend and he has been hiding in his room this weekend. Mei got well just in time for me to take her on the field trip to the Pirate Exhibit.  Mark had to stay at home.  It was pretty cool.  Very good mixture of facts and artifacts with interactive items for the kids - like computer quizzes, a cannon game, dress-up clothes, and a pirate play ship.  Our state science museum is next to the history museum, so we popped in there for lunch and a quick visit.  We decided to go back the week of Thanksgiving and spend a whole day visiting the IMAX, the pirate exhibit, the history museum, and the science museum. They had many recovered pieces from Queen Anne's Revenge - Blackbeard's ship.  They also had a skull that some claim was Blackbeard's.  (Sorry no pictures of the skull were allowed.) Seat of ease - made of lead with a wooden seat cover. This one is collapsed.  Wanta guess what this was used for?

Comments (1) :: Post A Comment! :: Permanent Link

• Oct. 9, 2009 - Field Trips!

We have been doing school but we have also been taking field trips!  I love the outside ones this time of year. Last week, we went to a local state park that is along a river. The rangers did two classes for us - one on identifying trees and the other on animal tracks.  Although they did not find any tracks, the kids made their own by pressing molds into sand.  It was a beautiful fall day and great to be outside. Don't you wish you were this excited over cedar trees? Yesterday, we went to a School Days event put on by a local Native American tribe to educate children on what Indians were really like in this area.  Perhaps the most surprising thing I heard was about the animal populations in our state: - there are more deer now then there was prior to first contact - i.e. early 1700's - elk and bison used to live here but they became extinct in the early 1700's - wolves are pretty much gone here - coyotes and bear are on the rise and they estimate there will soon be more of them than there was in the early 1700's So maybe those bear and coyotes can start controlling the deer population, but only if we don't mind the bear and coyotes in our backyards in the cities. Demonstration of Indian hunting weapons. Women's Dance by Elder of the tribe. Storyteller - her dress weighs 45 lbs.  The jingles are made from the lids of chewing tobacco cans. I let the kids get slingshots, but they have strict orders to only point them at squirrels, deer, and non-living objects such as box targets and trees.  These pictures are at the tribal grounds, but they have been practicing at home too. Kids & I learned that you can use arrows in sling shots, so they were trying with sticks. In school news, Mark is loving his General Science.  I got this Knex Educational Kit on levers and pulleys for the chapter he just finished.  It was a great review. Mei is zooming ahead and I am considering adding additional Language Arts to her work.  She is so efficient in getting her work done that she distracts Mark from his.

Comments (0) :: Post A Comment! :: Permanent Link

• Oct. 1, 2009 - Nature Study at our House

I would like to think I am more Charlotte Mason like than other schooling styles, but we never seem to get around to nature studies, or art, or music, or ....  So I must be eclectic. However, we do love nature and are often side tracked by it.  Here are some recent examples: Our hummingbirds of course - but can you see the spider hiding in the corner of the door? Here she is up close: Everyday she spun a new web across the door or across the deck -- until one morning when I was in a hurry and forgot to look for the web.  I walked right into it and got it in my hair.  The spider is no more. Her web: Then occasionally we just happen to look out the window and see this fellow (or his look alike) booking across the backyard.  He likes to see what our treats our compost pile has to offer. Of course, nothing can compare to Mr. T and ... Sally the goldfish.  We got her for an experiment last year and she has down quite well. James finally convinced me that Mr. T is a red slider with yellow spots instead of the usual red spots that sliders have.  We have been putting him outside for sunning and swimming every day.  He really likes it.  Soon he will be able to climb out of his current house, so we are in search of cheap new home for him.  Plus in another couple months, it will be too cold for him to be outside. James is also playing around with the meal worm beetles in hopes they give him more meal worms.  Yuck! We have banished them to the garage since their rotting food is attracting fruit flies and smells. Of course, we also have lots of birds and deer in the back yard.  We even the occasional rabbit too.  So nature just seems to come to us, rather than us going out to look for it.  Does that count?

Comments (0) :: Post A Comment! :: Permanent Link

• Sep. 15, 2009 - Solar System Movie

• Aug. 28, 2009 - Week 3 of School

We just finished week 3! In Adventures of Sea & Sky this week, we learned more about what it was like to be a sailor.  We also learned about the Egyptians and Phoenician sailors. The kids enjoyed watching me try to do the sailor dancing. They were laughing too hard to try it much themselves. Yes, Mei wanted to take pictures but since I was still in my nightgown, I refused! This weekend I plan to pick up the dried beans to make the bean soup the sailors had to eat. We won't make hardtack since we made it back when we studied the pioneers in AS1. We enjoyed trying to remember all the various groups we have studied so far that ate hardtack - sailors, pilgrims, Civil War soldiers, pioneers, and probably escaping slaves. We also wondered how it compared to the elf bread in Lord of the Rings, but decided the elf bread probably tasted a whole lot better! Mei looking up the signal flags for week 2 of her Captian's Log Notebook. Mark working on his page; Yes, we wear our PJs to school most every day.  Just one of the many joys of homeschooling.

Comments (0) :: Post A Comment! :: Permanent Link

• Aug. 16, 2009 - First Week of School!

We just finished our first week of school.  It went mostly well. I made this nice assignment schedule for Mark and then both of us forgot to look at it each day.  We left off some work. We started learning about ships from our Adventures in Sea & Sky history class.  I kind of forgot about having Mark do his extra work for this class, so we will need to fix that this week. Mark did well with doing science on his own and enjoyed it too!  He also jumped right back into Algebra rather than reviewing first.  He is doing that more on his own this year. Mei likes her new work and is as busy as ever being a third grader.  She likes having science that is just her subject. We mostly figured out the extras we will do this year.  Mark will do Boy Scouts and Mei will do Girl Scouts.  Mark will also do Odyssey of the Mind with some other homeshcool kids.  He really likes it.  Not sure what Mark will do during Girl Scouts.  Another mom is trying to organize a class or something for the boys.  He may need to spend that time on school work. As for Paul, we officially moved him into the dorm at college.  His classes start on Wednesday.  So far it has not sunk in that he is gone.  Seems like he is just away for awhile.  Of course, he does plan to come home every weekend, so maybe we won't miss him too much!  Via Facebook,I read that he found all his classrooms and visited the cafeteria to eat!  Just what a mom wants to hear! Mark - first day of school Mei - first day of school Why we love homeschooling!!  Yes, we had real food before we had ice cream.  The game is called SET.  It was rated a top game by Mensa, so we are getting in a little critical thinking skills over lunch.  We usually play some game at lunch.  Our favorites are Skip-Bo, Phase 10, Uno, Set, and Blokus.

Comments (1) :: Post A Comment! :: Permanent Link

• Jul. 29, 2009 - Busy, Busy, Busy!!!

• Jul. 18, 2009 - Summer time fun!

Our favorite (and only close by) museum is opening a new dinosaur exhibit.  This week they had special member's only preview hours, so we went on Friday.  We spent most of the day outdoors looking at the animals, sailing boats, and eating lunch.  After the pictures, be sure to read my bear story! Run faster Mark!  He is gaining on you! We love visiting the butterfly house.  This guy is on a pitcher plant, native to our state. The ring-tailed lemurs were out and moving about. Bring us our food!  Mark is also showing us his new glasses.  Found out this week that he needs them. When we moved inside out of the sun and hot, the kids participated in a science lab about color change. The museum has black bears.  This one was up moving about and had recently taken a dip in the pond.  The rest were in the back area snoozing in the shade. So the black bear is native to our state and yes, some do live in our part of the state. Some times they get confused and wander into human areas. Like this summer. About 3 weeks ago, there were some sightings in north part of the city. One near the country club golf course and even one in the parking lot of the hospital. Then there was a report of a bear found dead on the highway about 15 miles west of here. Was he the bear spotted in our city? Then 2 weeks ago, a bear visited the museum. Did he smell the captive females? Or maybe it was lunch (eerr - the animals) in the Farmyard? It was a Saturday afternoon around 1pm when he climbed the fence near the playground. Staff ran to the farmyard to lock up the goat, turkey, pig, etc. They also got all visitors inside. The bear wandered around for just a bit and then climbed over the fence and took off. Where did he go? Is he still in the county somewhere? Probably... Better cover your trash and keep the dog inside...

Comments (3) :: Post A Comment! :: Permanent Link