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Groundhog Day; Shadow Games in the Street, and a Treat! – Homeschooling

February 2, 2009 By Laura 6 Comments

Happy Groundhog Day!

First of all, we have been meaning to express our appreciation for the commenting that’s been happening here at our blog, FINALLY!! Who knew a little whining could go such a long way?? I mean, it doesn’t work for our kids, so we’ve been a little surprised. lol. All we know is that we are having a lot more fun, sharing bits and pieces of our crazy fun life on our blog here, and getting to chat a little bit with all of you who come to ‘visit’ us. You all have had so much to share with us, with your own creative ideas, witty humor and kind, encouraging words. We love it!! So a heartfelt thanks to you all!

Today we thought we would actually share our day, on the same day it all happened. That usually doesn’t happen, because I have too many photos to go through and edit, which takes time, and just blogging it takes another chunk of time. But it’s nothing a little work-hooky can’t fix. lol. I was at my computer by late afternoon, as I needed to be. But just not doing what I was supposed to be doing. But it’s been a fun day we were looking forward to blogging about.

The kids got all of their ‘book and written’ school work done lickity-split today, knowing we had Groundhog Fun on the agenda! First, we got to searching on the computer, if Punxsutawney Phil in Pennsylvania there, saw his shadow or not. As you all know by now, NATURALLY he DID. It’s hard to remember a year when he didn’t, but it seems it has happened twice in the lifetime of our oldest child’s life, in 1999, and 2007. (Does anyone remember if we actually DID get an early spring??) But it’s been a great winter, so Phil’s shadow wasn’t going to ruin OUR day! Besides, we have our wood stove! lol. So we then read a little of the history of Groundhog Day, which like every holiday, has much more to it than people in general realize (or care to know, in some cases, I suppose. lol) But we can tell you that the groundhog tradition stems from similar beliefs associated with Candlemas Day, and the days of early Christians in Europe. For centuries the custom was to have the clergy bless candles and distribute them to the people. Even then, it marked a milestone in the winter and the weather that day was important.

As the old English song goes:

If Candlemas be fair and bright,
Come, Winter, have another flight;
If Candlemas brings clouds and rain,
Go Winter, and come not again.

Today, February 2nd, also marks the Feast of the Presentation of Our Lord.

Next the kids colored Groundhog coloring pages, while we got some groundhog puppets started to use outdoors.

And then we got outdoors. It was SUCH a beautifully warm and sunny day for our antics in the street, that it was easy to accept the whole ‘6 more weeks of winter’ thing.

We know how easily we can fool you….So we will fess up; Those aren’t real groundhog quadruplets. lol

Then the kids (and Kid-Daddy) paired up, and made shadow poses in the street. One created a shadow pose on the street, and their partner had to copy it as exactly as they could.

Then they chased each other’s shadows, and tried to step on someone else’s….

…and would you believe, NO ONE wiped out on the sand?

Our Little Shadow Fools, and their groundhog shadow puppets.

We soon came in, made and ate lunch, and read this poem.

And THEN made and ate…..

….Groundhog Pie!!!

(Made with chocolate pudding in a graham cracker crust shell, pushed up to a little mound, with crumbled Chips Ahoy on top for ‘dirt’, surrounded by some Reddi Whip for snow (melting near our wood stove…lol) and of course…..the Groundhog himself, drawn and colored by Daddy, and taped to a popsicle stick!)

We hope you had some time to act like fools yourselves today!! It’s such a silly day, we might as well!

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Squirrel Invasion

January 29, 2009 By Laura 6 Comments

The squirrels love to hang out at our house. We’ve got many bird feeders, and the squirrels are happy to feast on what falls to the ground. Sometimes there are twice as many squirrels as this, out there. This whole area you see is going to be a beautiful bird sanctuary, when we get that far with our plans at the homestead here. We get LOTS of birds every day, and all kinds too. We love to watch the birds the most. If they only knew what a paradise we have planned for them. No doubt, the squirrels will stay too.

The kids know some of these squirrels from the others. A few even have names. We have outsmarted all but one, from getting up into our bird feeders. We don’t mind them around, but THAT is unacceptable behavior. And they know it. Only one manages to get up into one of the bird feeders, now and then. But he doesn’t enjoy his victory for long, as one of the kids always spots him, and someone is out there reprimanding.

We do love to watch their antics. They can be pretty funny sometimes.

That’s all for now. The next Christmas Craft is coming up! I’ve just been busy today with a little work. Even had a little quiet time to work today, after school and lunch, while the kids were at the youth center with Daddy ‘shootin’ hoops’. I accomplished quite a bit! But now it’s time for a good night’s sleep!

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Colored Ice Castles – Homeschooling Science Experiment

January 27, 2009 By Laura 14 Comments

This is how home schooling happens a lot in our family:

Someone gets a cool idea they think would be a fun to try, (in this case, that would be me), and we decide to do it. For fun. So we discuss our plan, start getting stuff together, and as we get to work on the project……….we start to wonder, or predict out loud.

And suddenly it hits me. “Hey! This is a science experiment! Yes….this is going to count for science.”

But ‘the lesson’ was not planned for school. It was just something fun to do. Curiosities arose that we wanted to explore and experiment with. We were just LIVING. Yes . . . . learning often times just happens.

As you can guess by now, that’s exactly what happened with this project. The kids are always watching the outdoors thermometer through the window of our school room. If it’s below freezing, they like to put a bowl of water out, and check it all day to see how long it took to freeze. You know…’just for fun.’ So I thought to myself, “Wouldn’t it be fun to fill up all kinds of containers, all different shapes and sizes, and then build an ice castle? “ (and continuing to talk to myself in my head….because a lot of conversation happens with myself up there, I said…) “Hey!! We could use food coloring and make them COLORED ICE CASTLES!!!!” Because I am a color freak, I got REAL excited the other day, to tell the kids what we were going to do.

Creating Colored Ice Castles

So we gathered everything we needed, bundled up as best we could, and went out and got to work.

The kids started filling up all of the containers with hose water.
*

And took turns choosing colors, and squeezing drops of food coloring in.

When one of them added yellow to the red, the colors intoxicated me…..and I went CrAzY taking photos from then on.

And I love most all of the photos I took.

So now you’re going to have to see them all. : )

Because I have little control, when it comes to these kinds of things, you know. : )

Just look at the beautiful colors floating and swirling!

Oh….it gets better.

Look at that!!! The kids started adding color to different containers at the same time, which resulted in lots of outbursts of excitement at the same time…“Look at this one, Daddy!” “Mama look at these colors together!! Hurry!”
We were getting dizzy. But it was all good!

I was having so much fun taking photos. I just knew they were going to be beautiful.

Here below, {O and J} swap colors.

THIS ONE, ABOVE, IS MY ABSOLUTE FAVORITE!!

Honestly, I get butterflies.

And by this time, I was (incorrectly) thinking that we were going to have the COOLEST TIE-DYE ICE CASTLES!

Oh Dear….Unexpected Science Experiment Happenings

About now we start to notice that the 2 colors are mixing and changing to one color.

BUMMER!!

No tie-dye ice castles?? I, personally, might have sulked for a moment or 2 over that development and reality check. But, this is all part of science experiments, and the kids were still excited. They got me excited again, too.

When I saw all of the multi-colors were gone, I thought “Good thing I took photos!!!” lol

They still looked vivid and beautiful, all together.

Now, I did say to the kids at the start, “Let’s try NOT to get food coloring all over our hands. OK?”

Reality check number 2. lol

But you know….I love the colors, even all over my children’s faces and hands. I do!! Even if we’re going out…..going to Mass…where ever. If it doesn’t come off all of the way….OH WELL!! I think it’s evidence of their creativity!

DIRT is another story!!

Watching, Waiting, and Wondering….For Days

So the next couple of days were annoying, temperature wise. It kept being a little warmer than it was supposed to be, and the darn water in the containers would not freeze all of the way!! We knew it needed to be 32 degrees or colder, to freeze. (We’re like Einsteins, huh? Ha haha!) But for how long would it need to be that cold? And how much longer would the BIG containers take, than the small ones? These are the scientific questions we had, and the things we observed and studied over the next few days. We knew…..it was taking a lot longer than we ever wanted it to!!

What’s more….we could see the color really settling to the bottom of the containers.

Why, we wondered?? Which led us to what ‘wondering’ always does. Research!!

The Scientific Explanation

BECAUSE: Cold water does not allow the molecules of the food coloring to break down as easily….or dissolve. So, because it could not really ‘mix’ with the water, being a separate element, it all settled. What’s more, the molecules of the food coloring were so big, that they were not able to freeze all of the way. So the food coloring ended up being pockets of slush, within the frozen water/ice. It was interesting that the 2 elements were able to separate that much in the end, from being 2 colors swirling around each other, when first added to the water.

By this morning, we were done waiting. The big containers STILL did not seem solid all of the way through—-but gosh darn it….WE WERE BUILDING OUR CASTLES TODAY!!

The Results

{S}(on the far right) was excited about the pizza slice container one. He is also very partial to green, because it is ‘his color‘. (As triplets, we had a lot of color coding going on when they were babies.)

TA-DAAAA!!!!!!!

I LOVE this shot of my kids, and their ice creations!!

They had SO much fun doing this!! So did I!! So did their Daddy!!

We built it in the front yard, for the world to see. (You know…the ones who happen to drive down our dead-end street. Ha haha!).

Another lesson learned: We don’t always get what we’re expecting to. But we learn to love what we DO get.

Because it’s ours. Because we made it. Because we created memories together, doing it.
And that makes it all beautiful, to us!

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More Time at the Horse Stables

January 24, 2009 By Laura 6 Comments

{A} has loved every minute at the stables with the horses, and learning every bit she can take in. The trainer said “She’s a natural.”

I am looking forward to her horse riding outside, come springtime, when she continues some lessons. When there will LIGHT and COLOR. And WARMTH. That will make for prettier photos, I think. These lessons have been nothing less than frigid. Even in the arena….just bitter cold. We leave with numb fingers and toes. And there’s always a smile frozen on {A}’s face, too.

She has to clean her horse’s shoes every time, before she rides him, as well as brush him. It can be a real task cleaning his shoes well, but thankfully he’s a co-operative horse. So that makes it easier than it could be.

He’s all ready to dress and ride. Handsome boy, isn’t he?

{A} has learned to ‘post’. Which is that bouncing you see English riders do, when the horse goes into a bit of a gallop. Once she learned how to stay in the saddle while ‘posting’, she was all set.

She’s been wearing her Daddy’s gloves to try and keep her hands warmer. Come to think of it, that’s my jacket she has on.

Yes, spring photos will be so much better.

These stables have little birds flying around all over the place inside. I forget what kind of birds they are. {A} would know, but she’s asleep at the moment. What a nice shelter for them though.

They also have a couple of rabbits. I approached their cage slowly, but I could tell my camera made this little guy nervous. He probably wet the hay a little, when my shutter went off. So I just took one shot. I heard rabbits can have heart attacks rather easily, and I sure didn’t want to be responsible for that!

Hey-Guess what??

On Monday I am going to start posting, intermittently over the following days/weeks, our Christmas Crafts reveals. Anybody been waiting for that? I posted the kids busy crafting gifts, right along through the pre-Christmas season. But now will come photos of the finished products, materials, tools and techniques used to make them, and where to get everything you need! We’ve been waiting to post it all, so we’re excited. Lots of COLORFUL PHOTOS and FUN!! So all you who may want to do some lovely crafty-gifts this year, for Christmas or anytime, get out your notepads! We’ve got at least a few ideas coming your way that we think you’ll enjoy. We sure enjoyed making them, and giving them to the people we love.

Until then!!

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God’s World News / World News Group – A Newspaper for Your Kids!

January 17, 2009 By Laura 4 Comments

(now….)

* See UPDATE Below.

Hi there Everyone!!

We’ve been wanting to share with our readers, a subscription that we have found our children really, really benefit from. It’s put out by * ** God’s World News, and there are various titles, for various reading/age/grade levels to fit the level of any child, Pre-K through young teens! We have received it for a number of years, and it has proved to be a valuable and educational news source throughout. It’s a newspaper for kids!!

* UPDATE/Revision: God’s World News is now: WORLD News Group – The links in this post (for God’s World News), will still bring you to the correct site, under their new titles. From there, there are individual site links to the newspaper for the proper age range for your child(ren): God’s Big World/Pre-Schoolers, worldkids/Elementary age, WORLD TEEN/Teenagers
** IMPORTANT NOTE: Although the titles of the newspapers has changed, the high quality content has not! The intent of the newspaper publications, for age appropriate world news, reported in the light of faith, remains unchanged.

(Is this photo of our boy, reading his newspaper, not a RIOT??! He often does sit just like this….while reading, at Mass, etc. It always cracks us up, but he looked especially like a little man, sitting in his chair with his legs crossed, reading his newspaper. Look at his flickering toes. lol)

Our triplet 6 year olds receive God’s Word News-Early Edition (now World Kids). Our 11 year old receives God’s World News-Top Story (now World Teen).

Our kids benefit from their age-appropriate newspaper-magazines so much, because they ENJOY it so much! They enjoy it so much, because it has SO much to offer! There is a LOT in each edition, and a huge (educational) variety at that. If you homeschool your kids, we highly recommend this subscription! If your kids are enrolled in school, we highly recommend this subscription! : ) This rave review is fueled solely by our family receiving this magazine, and us as parents, consistently seeing what happens with our kids, when they get it into their hands. They get many hours of social studies educational exposure and information from each issue. All in the name of QUIET for us FUN for them! That’s why we had to tell you all about it…..it just seems like it’s something GREAT for any and all kids! Read on.

I don’t know about you, but I want my kids to know what is going on in the world. They should generally be aware of current events, politics, new-breaking stories, scientific findings, history, etc. But in an age appropriate way!
The problem is, television news, as well as newspaper news, are not geared towards communicating to children.

Naturally, it’s not their mission, as it is all meant to inform adults, and rightly so. So it’s simply not conveyed in a way all children would understand, nor necessarily be emotionally ready for.

That’s what we love about this magazine. In it HIGHLY informative about the world’s news, presented in a way to catch and hold kid’s attention, and is easily understood, in kids’ terms and ways they can relate to. It draws them in. In younger level editions, it’s snippets of info they can read and truly comprehend and retain. Older kid’s issues are generally the same topics, but with more detail, longer articles and a more in-depth study overall. Then additional stuff. What I love most, is that the contents is delivered in a Christian/Biblical Worldview style.

But it’s not just serious current events news stories. Each issue is also jam packed with (reading, of course), science, history, geography, weather, funny stories, etc. And all with LOTS of photos. There are games, experiments, activities and puzzles that strengthen skills such as logic, observation, process of elimination, …. the list goes on. AND on!

Beyond the magazine itself, they have a website that has even MORE to supplement each edition. There are parent/teacher resources, bonus pages to enhance or expand on all the kids have learned, and even quizzes and keys you can use. There is LOTS at the web site, that is another educational tool all it’s own.

010_God's-World-News-World-News-Group

When our kids are reading their issues, they are so amused by something, or intrigued with something they learned, that they feel compelled to share it with us, or read it to us. Sometimes, they ask questions, because they want to know more and more. This often launches great discussions to have with your children, that can get as deep as you want, or give you an opportunity to ask them questions, that encourage them to think through concepts, varied opinions, or their own perspectives. It’s a wonderful tool to help jump-start really good discussions, about often very important topics in the world, with your children.

For example: Here, {A} is reading about Fidel Castro-how he came to be a dictator, his ways of dictatorship, and all of the effects it has had on his country.

Here’s another page of Top Story (sorry about the glare. : ):

010_God's-World-News-World-News-Group

Each issue (all editions for all ages) most always has wonderful maps, educational fold-out spreads, and/or pull-out posters, like this one:

I love also, how these arrivals in our mailbox, bring our kids together too! They love to share with each other what they are reading, and have discussions of their own about the topic. They end up laughing together, reading together, learning together, which all means they are simply enjoying more of being ….together!

If you find yourself remotely intrigued, we encourage you to check out the God’s World News web site. Look around!! There are peeks inside these subscriptions, and you are also likely able to get a free copy if you request one, to decide for yourself what you think of them! For us, it’s been just too good of a great thing, NOT to let any parent, or teaching parent, know about this amazing tool. We find it WELL worth the cost of the subscription. We all know that our kids learn the most, when they are enjoying what they are doing, or enjoying HOW they are learning…anything at all! The more ways we can find to give them that, the better. Because when they are having fun learning, they want to learn more and more and more. So we hope you find this newspaper-magazine to be ‘good mail’ in your family.

We’re pretty excited about MANY things we’ve got coming up to share with you on our blog, so come back soon!! In the meantime, if your kids are receiving a subscription, or have a book, or watch a show….that YOU find very valuable, educational, and they really enjoy, please share it with us! We know there is a wealth of info and resources out there, and what better way than to share it with each other, complete with reviews and gold stars!

We hope you are all enjoying this long weekend!

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Happy Groundhog Day!

Creating Colored Ice Castles

Oh Dear….Unexpected Science Experiment Happenings

Watching, Waiting, and Wondering….For Days

The Scientific Explanation

The Results

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