A Boy Is... Trust with dirt on its face, Beauty with a cut on its finger, Wisdom with bubble gum in its hair, and the Hope of the future with a frog in its pocket. http://www.homeschoolblogger.com/littledutchboys/ en-us Homeschool Blogger Mon, 17 Aug 2009 20:52:00 -0500 Mon, 17 Aug 2009 20:52:00 -0500 The first five people to respond to this post will get something made by me, especially for you.  This offer does have some restrictions and limitations: 1.)     I make no guarantees that you will like what I make but I hope you will. 2.)     What I create will be just for you. 3.)     They say I have a year to get it to you.  I hope it won't take that long! 4.)     You have no clue what it's going to be.  It's a surprise to both of us at this point. The catch?  You must repost this on your blog and offer the same to the first 5 people who do the same on your blog. So, the first 5 people who post and are willing to pass it along will get a handmade gift in the mail from me. When you get it, make sure you post a pic on your blog. http://www.homeschoolblogger.com/littledutchboys/718270/ Mon, 17 Aug 2009 20:52:00 -0500 http://www.homeschoolblogger.com/littledutchboys/718270/ What Would Make the World A Better Place by Christian I think this world would be a nicer place in which to live if: * If countries could settle their differences without hurting anybody. * If everyone smiled at people they don't know. *  If nobody had to steal. *  If people laughed more! *  If we all took more pride in our homes and neighborhoods. *  If we respected our senior citizens more. *  If there were no violence in movies and T.V. *  If everyone could read and write. *  If families talked more. *  If friends hugged more. AFTER ALL, WE'RE ALL IN THIS TOGETHER! http://www.homeschoolblogger.com/littledutchboys/713132/ Fri, 31 Jul 2009 14:14:00 -0500 http://www.homeschoolblogger.com/littledutchboys/713132/ My youngest son is an animal lover.  We call him Dr. Doolittle.  He has desperately wanted a frog for "my entire life!"  As we don't have vacation plans far from home this year, we decided that this would be the summer of the bullfrog.  We scoured ponds and wet places close to home but were not successful on our polliwog hunt.  We turned to our good friends at InsectLore to help us out.  Kyle (the new bullfrog) and Nigel (the polliwog) are now happily living in our son's room on his dresser.  He has learned that bullfrogs can live up to 16 years in captivity!  He feeds them fish food and keeps 5 inches of water in the bottom of the fish tank to keep Nigel happy.  Once Nigel is a full grown bullfrog, we plan on lining their home with sand.  They are terrestrial creatures.  We have come up with the idea to clean their water using a turkey baster.  Polliwogs are very messy!!!!  We haven't tried this out but it seems like a great idea and hopefully won't disturb our little polliwog too much. http://www.homeschoolblogger.com/littledutchboys/702519/ Thu, 25 Jun 2009 17:01:00 -0500 http://www.homeschoolblogger.com/littledutchboys/702519/ Yesterday, we opened our front door and saw this.  My oldest son was completely amazed that such an incredible creature existed.  According to the University of Colorado's website on moths and butterflies, this lovely creature is Pachysphinx modesta or more commonly known as the Big Poplar Sphinx Moth.  The picture here doesn't demonstrate how huge it is.  It is the biggest moth I have ever seen.  The caterpillars feed on cottonwood leaves (our neighbor has a very large cottonwood tree next door).  This moth is on the Colorado Natural Heritage Program's "special concern list".  We were truly blessed and very lucky to have discovered this waiting for us to discover it literally on our front door.  The beauty in Colorado isn't only found in the Rocky Mountains! We found an amazing website that has an occurrence map of butterflies and moths in our county.  To found out what is fluttering around where you live check out Butterflies and Moths of North America http://www.homeschoolblogger.com/littledutchboys/702517/ Thu, 25 Jun 2009 16:40:00 -0500 http://www.homeschoolblogger.com/littledutchboys/702517/ I have been meaning to start seeds for our garden inside but balmy spring weather beckoned us on walks and soccer games in the park.  The seeds should have been planted last month but I finally had time today to get my hands dirty.  I don't plan on planting the garden until Memorial Day weekend.  Perhaps my tomato plants will grow fast!  We've also been busy with play practice.  Christian has the role of Teddy, the little boy, in Rikki Tikki Tavi.  The play was scheduled to be performed last Friday but a spring snow storm canceled everything in the Denver Metro area.   The play is rescheduled for next Thursday.  Trying to work out a new date for the play has been very difficult for all families involved.  We are all so busy and overscheduled.  Our family alone is busy with homeschooling enrichment classes once a week, piano lessons, and soccer 4 out 7 days this spring.  It's a sign that our family needs to slow down so we can have time to do projects that have been on the back burner at home......like plant tomato seeds. We are awaiting yet another spring snow storm tonight.  This morning was just beautiful though.  It was sunny and in the 50s.  We went outside and looked for signs of spring in the backyard.  There is a new finch bird nest under the deck and all our herbs have poked through the ground.  We planted a prairie garden last fall and little green shoots are starting to come up.  The nice thing about spring snow is the much needed moisture it brings.  Around here, it doesn't last more than a few days.  The sun is strong and melts it fast. There is nothing better in this world than the smell of warm, moist earth waking up and the anticipation of verdant gardens.  http://www.homeschoolblogger.com/littledutchboys/675625/ Fri, 3 Apr 2009 14:53:00 -0500 http://www.homeschoolblogger.com/littledutchboys/675625/ The Case of the Disappearing Brother by Christian      One evening the Bin family was going out, and their mom asked Henri " Henri, will you please babysit Bob?" Henri said "Sure" so his mom and dad left.   Henri said to Bob, "Bob, stay out of trouble."  So Bob went into the kitchen, first, then to his room.  After Bob left, Henri played video games.  An hour later Henri asked Bob if he was hungry.  No answer.  So Henri went looking for Bob all over the house. The kitchen was the last room he checked right when he walked  in he noticed that the fridge door was open and there were yolk foot prints leading to Bob's room.       When Henri got to Bob's room he saw an open window and out the window he saw-Bob! Henri yelled, "Bob! What are you doing?!"  Bob looked waved and went back to throwing eggs. Henri thought," No wonder there was an empty egg carton on Bob's bed." Then, Bob came bursting through the door and Bob and Henri played video games for the rest of the night.         The End http://www.homeschoolblogger.com/littledutchboys/656618/ Tue, 10 Feb 2009 09:10:00 -0600 http://www.homeschoolblogger.com/littledutchboys/656618/ We've been doing some research on Ralston Creek.  Ralston Creek is a tributary of Clear Creek approximately 15 miles (24 km) long, in central Colorado. It drains a suburban and urban area of the northwestern Denver Metro Area.  It rises in the foothills in northeastern Gilpin County, in southern Golden Gate Canyon State Park. It descends through a valley eastward into Jefferson County, following Drew Hill Road (County Road 57), emerging from the mountains approximately 3 miles (5 km) north of Golden, where it is impounded to form Ralston Reservoir and Arvada/Blunn Reservoir on both sides of State Highway 93. It flows eastward through Arvada and joins Clear Creek from the north in southeast Arvada, near the intersection of Sheridan Avenue and Interstate 76.  (This was pasted from the Wikipedia Entry on Ralston Creek.)  The first gold discovery in the Rocky Mountains was discovered in Ralston Creek by Lewis Ralston in June of 1850.  We've located this "gold discovery" spot on the map and will take a trip to see the place that inspired so much craziness and land degredation in the years following.  We have yet to find an environmental group that dedicates itself solely to the clean up of this lovely creek.  The city of Arvada does sponsor a clean up day in May.  Another question is: "Is one day a year enough to keep the water clean?"  I think you know the answer.... As far as the Canada Goose research, we have answered our questions by simply observing them.  They do winter in the Denver Metro Area as there is open water and snow free fields.  When it snows, it melts quickly.  Which answers our question of "What do they eat?"  Grass.  They eat lots of grass which is why their poop is green. We are looking forward to doing our next Green Challenge--also called The Outdoor Hour.  We hope to make this a weekly activity but weather, dental appointments, and the ALA Convention has interfered with our plans.  Dad wants to come along so we will have to do this on the weekend.  If you are interested in participating in this wonderful challenge, you can go to the following website to get your first assignment: http://handbookofnaturestudy.blogspot.com/  http://www.homeschoolblogger.com/littledutchboys/651125/ Tue, 27 Jan 2009 18:33:00 -0600 http://www.homeschoolblogger.com/littledutchboys/651125/ For our first Green Hour Challenge, we decided to wait for a nice day.  Yesterday was 63 degrees outside.  It doesn't get any better than that for a winter's day!  We headed over to the Ralston Creek Trail, which is close to our house but we have never been there before.  The trail is paved and is a narrow green belt through the suburb of Arvada, CO.  Houses back up almost to the creek.  We wish the green belt was wider!  The creek is a great place for little boys to start with their outdoor explorations.  Here are our observations: 1.  We were excited to see a bird that we have never seen before.  It was a black and white bird, about the same size as a blue jay.  It looked like it was wearing "Napoleon's" hat.  When we got home, we consulted "Birds of Colorado Field Guide" and determined that what we saw was a female belted kingfisher.  We observed it skimming the water in the creek and decided that it was fishing. 2.  The creek was very dirty.  It was full of garbage: plastic bags, Christmas wrapping paper, cardboard, aluminum foil, candy wrappers, and cups.  We wanted to jump in and clean up the creek!!  We want to see if there is an organized group that works to clean up the creek (we want to join it).  3.  There was LOTS of fresh Canada Goose poop on the trail.  What are they eating?  Is this where they winter? 4.  There were leaf prints embedded on the paved trail.  We talked about how humans impact nature (cement over the earth).  Here was an example of how nature impacted something humans made! Here are the 2 things we want to investigate further: 1.  We want to know what river Ralston Creek runs into.  We want to see if there is a group we can join to help keep Ralston Creek clean.  As mom observed, "Everyone lives downstream."  The water we are living with is the same water that the dinosaurs bathed in.  We don't want future generations to inherit our dirty water. 2.  We will try to find out more about the habits of Canadian Geese.  We knew that they were at one time on the endangered species list.  They have made an amazing comeback and we want to know why there are so many living around our town in the winter. http://www.homeschoolblogger.com/littledutchboys/643346/ Fri, 9 Jan 2009 13:07:00 -0600 http://www.homeschoolblogger.com/littledutchboys/643346/ "Imagine what our real neighborhoods would be like if each of us offered, as a matter of course, just one kind word to another person.  There have been so many stories about the lack of courtesy, the impatience of today's world, road rage, and even restaurant rage.  Sometimes, all it takes is one kind word to nourish another person.  Think of the ripple effect that can be created when we nourish someone.  One kind empathetic word has a wonderful way of turning into many." From The World According to Mister Rogers: Important Things to Remember by Fred Rogers http://www.homeschoolblogger.com/littledutchboys/607290/ Mon, 20 Oct 2008 10:06:00 -0500 http://www.homeschoolblogger.com/littledutchboys/607290/ DENVER OMLET Butter flaverd spray 1/2 Cup diced ham 1/2 Cup sliced onion 1/2 Cup choped red bell pepper 3 eggs 2 tabelspoons water 1/2 tabelspoon butter salt and pepper, to taste 1/2 cup salsa corn tortillas These are all the instructions I copied.  Make it like any other omlet. I got this recipe from my Colorado History class today.  If you like omlets you have try this!   Oh yeah, the cheeseburger was invented in Colorado.  Very cool. by Christian I was my soccer team's (The Thunderbolts) MVP player last Saturday because I made 2 goals.  I also played every position but I like midfieldman best.  You can go everywhere!!  I LOVE SOCCER!!!!!  http://www.homeschoolblogger.com/littledutchboys/590567/ Mon, 15 Sep 2008 21:15:00 -0500 http://www.homeschoolblogger.com/littledutchboys/590567/