Hope, fun and feathers

2011-04-19T10:08:00.000-04:00

Holiday Fun

2009-12-28T18:01:00.002-05:00

One of my favorite parts about homeschooling is that we can set the pace of our lives. Some days, we are scientists collecting, visiting museums, and making predictions. Other times, we are bakers or artists or dinner party hosts..or, a combination of all of these throughout the day.

From mid November to New Years, we have a lot of festivities. This year, we spent Thanksgiving with 2 sets of families and then took advantage of many fun holiday events. In addition to the ginger house we built, we enjoyed visiting the many holiday train exhibits around Baltimore. Here's one of our favorites at the Kennelworth mall:

It takes up about half a room and takes about 4 full time people a month of work to assemble. We visit this place every year and love to press the buttons making things work.

We also took advantage of several holiday shows. This month, Jess and I saw the Nutcracker at the Hippodrome. One of our friends was in the show and it was extra special to watch her. We saw "A Christmas Carol" and today, a local marionette show with homemade puppets.

We also love the special time of year visiting friends. While we don't celebrate Christmas, we love seeing all of our friends' trees and their special decorations.

Happy Holidays and a Peaceful New Year to all.

Port Discovery: Gingerbricks

2009-12-24T15:19:00.009-05:00

This year, I helped organize a "House of Ginger" for the local museum. The whole family got involved. Jess and I went to work late one night to make 1200 gingerbricks.

Everyone in the family helped for the next few steps: bagging candy, sealing frosting bags, and helping kids make gingerbricks.

Jess and Henry even made quite a few bricks themselves.

This past weekend, we were supposed to build a the house, but instead, we got 2 feet of this:

The museum closed, which is really rare.

Nonetheless, we were determined to build the house, so Jess and I, along with several volunteers did this yesterday.

If anyone is going to Port Discovery, please stop by and see the house. The staff will also be handing out the remaining 900 bricks we didn't get to use due to the storm.

Updating for the year!

2009-12-24T15:13:00.003-05:00

Been busy. Need to make my book for the year. Will update now.

December Snow

2009-12-20T19:01:00.005-05:00

We've had a bit of snow this month, something unusual for Maryland. We made the best of it: long fires, snow painting, snow creme, snowmen, snow forts, snowballs, sledding, shoveling, and cuddling. Here's a few more pictures of our adventures:

Even our cat tried to go outside. She had nowhere to go though so she came in pretty fast.

If you're nearby, hope you are staying warm and cozy. We are expecting even more snow in the next few days!

Enjoy Life Unschooling

2009-10-18T19:18:00.006-04:00

I've always wanted to attend an unschooling conference and this September we attended one that was local.

The conference was at a wonderful campground with hiking trails, rocks to climb, and cabins. We skipped the sleepover part, but went for each day.

Jess and I enjoyed the conference, but Henry didn't like it very much. Fortunately, Kelric was nearby and drove Henry home so Jess and I could stay late into the night roasting marshmallows and talking with new and old friends. We went for just a little the next day and Henry found a few kids that were interested in playing Super Mario on the DS.

For Jess and I, the highlight of the trip was being able to connect with several unschooling families in our local group. We realized that both the moms and kids had many shared interests and it was fun hanging out together.

It was also fun for me to meet some new faces and attend a few of the talks. I really liked hearing about people's perspectives and how they unschooled in their lives. Homeschooling and unschooling is so unique to all of us!

Jess led her own funshop called "No Sew Doll Clothes." She has been making all sorts of doll and Webkinz clothes for her dolls and shared this with mostly tween girls. Her funshop was really well received and she will likely do something like this again. We also brought glow sticks to share and Jess organized a rather large parade around the campground.

We learned all sorts of new information: how to Henna, species of flora and fauna, how to make the perfect Hula Hoop, how to roast a marshmallow over a very large fire, and how to just relax and enjoy life.

Ironically, I came away from this conference realizing that the math and language arts we do in a formal way were really good for *our* family. I also realized that while I was slowly trying some more concepts of Radical Unschooling, we were needing more structure in our lives. While I love the idea of natural learning and I do love to support my kids many interests, I have come to realize that for now, we are all happier with a more structured approach. Our first priority is still play and connection, but we are benefiting greatly from *me* being more clear about meeting all of our needs and goals in an organized way.

We all still love our unschooling friends and hope to do more of these fun types of outings in the future.

I'm Sorry

2009-10-01T21:49:00.001-04:00

Last year, I read about an interesting Jewish tradition called Tashlich, where you cast your sins into the river in the form of bread crumbs.

As with most things, we made an adaptation to this by throwing crumbs in and saying we were sorry for what we did. We did this for the second year in a row and it was really nice to say out loud what we'd like to do better.

Then, we had a nice hike and a very enjoyable afternoon.

Take me out

2009-07-14T17:36:00.005-04:00

This past spring, Henry played baseball for the neighborhood Rec Center team. He was a quick study and went from needing a tee to consistently hitting the ball and catching the ball in the outfield.

Probably the best part of the team was the coach. He made the team fun for everyone and emphasized cooperation and enjoyment. The league was set up well too: for this age group, each kid gets to hit as many times as needed and each kid hits for each of the 3 innings. You can get a kid out, but it's all in good fun.

As with most of our events, this one involved the whole family. The whole gang went to most of the practices and games and Jessica helped out as bat girl (not the character, but the actual job of handing the teammates bats).

We made some good friends and we're fortunate that we get to see them regularly this summer at our community pool.

Rocky Gorge Mini Golf

2009-07-12T18:29:00.004-04:00

Lately, Henry has loved to play golf. He plays Tiger Woods on the Wii and has played mini golf on several different courses. We had passed by a golf place in the winter and when the weather started to warm up, he asked if we could play.

I found this great place not too far from home called Rocky Gorge. For just a few dollars, the kids played on this fun course, developed in the 1960's. It's one of the courses I played as a child, where each hole is built around a theme. In just a few short hours we saw the Washington Monument, a pretend jail, a lighthouse, and a 189 foot hole. While this was Henry's pick, both the kids had fun here and we've already gone back once this summer.

Passover 2009

2009-07-12T18:20:00.003-04:00

This Passover, we invited my dad to come and celebrate with us. It was his first Passover without my mother, so I decided to make a few of her favorite dishes. We are not deeply religious, but wanted to keep some of the customs alive. I found a Sedar I liked online and then modified it so it would fit our family.

A little dark, but here's the set table before the Sedar

Jessica played Twinkle, Twinkle Little Star after taking piano lessons for a week

My dad looked for (and found) a place to hide the Afikomen.

And then gave the kids rides after they found and ate the Afikomen.

It was a nice time and we plan to do this each year.

Cinderella Ball

2009-07-12T18:14:00.002-04:00

This past April, one of our local homeschool groups put on the show Cinderella followed by a dancing ball. Jess and I were most excited about this and on the day of the ball, my prince, Kelric, informed me that he was much more interested in the basketball game happening at the same time.

Well, Jess and I didn't want to spoil our plan so we got all dressed up and headed to the party. We enjoyed the show, made brownies, and played and danced for a few hours. After the basketball game, our two princes (Henry and Kelric) showed up, dressed for the party. We danced a little while longer and all went home happy.

Oh the Things You Can Think!

2009-05-05T19:16:00.004-04:00

Our family has liked going to shows ever since the kids were babies. Last summer both of the kids were in a drama camp. And, this fall, they saw a friend in a dinner theatre show. Jess had really wanted to do something with drama and I kept my eyes out until several opportunities fell our way.

The one we chose was the theatre show, Seussical, being produced in Catonsville. The story incorporates some of our favorite Seuss stories: Horton Hears a Who, Mayzie La Bird, and McElligott's Pool. It was very time intensive and Jess was up for the challenge. She auditioned, got cast in a few small roles, and was committed and dedicated to the show.

The cast ranged in age from 4 to 16. Several of the kids had been in multiple productions and some were in magnet schools for the arts. It warmed my heart to see everyone together. Below, the kids are playing a rhythm game before one of the shows.

Henry wasn't interested in doing a show at first, but once he saw a dress rehearsal, he was hooked. He went to all 4 shows, several more rehearsals, and a cast party. He and Jess are going to do more shows with this producer including a summer production of Aladdin, Jr. this summer.

The show also opened a door for interest in music. Both the kids started piano lessons and are loving playing on the same piano I had as a kid. And Jess also started voice lessons. The kids are going to be in their first talent show in a week and are looking forward to sharing their new interests with other homeschoolers.

Another perk was that we made some new friends. One family had kids with similar interests and now we're beginning to play together regularly.

Life is good.

Pet Class at 4-H

2009-05-03T19:49:00.003-04:00

Homeschooling for us means customizing education to fit the needs of our children. Both our kids love to learn and love to follow their interests. We've been part of a small 4-H co-op for almost 2 years, where we meet to do themed activities.

One month, Maureen (another 4-H mom) and I were at the playground and hadn't yet thought of an activity. Jessica wanted to do pets and suggested making some dog biscuits. So on our 4-H day, the kids made biscuits, talked about pets they wanted, created their own "animal," played animal games, and donated some supplies to a local animal shelter. Our co-op is set up so participation is optional and everyone partakes in the activities that appeal to them. Plus, there's lots of time to play and get together too.

Jess and Henry loved making the biscuits. We all tried them and then gave them to a neighborhood dog. Henry liked leading the games and Jess made a 3 headed cat.

Life in the Slow Lane

2009-05-03T19:43:00.004-04:00

One of the biggest perks of unschooling, for me, is being able to live life on our own terms. Our activities are driven by our passions and interests. We wake up early, stay up late, and set the parameters for our lives.

We have waves of activities - some days are filled with projects, others playing with friends, and still others, just enjoying each others company at home.

Here's some photos from a snowy February day. We had lots of snow days this winter. I love that we can do things just the way we like 'em. And, an added bonus is that when it snows a lot here, Kel gets the day off too.

More on Staying Active

2009-04-27T21:48:00.003-04:00

This past November, I decided to see an herbalist. I had been doing a project for work and was very intrigued by herbal medicine. It was very interesting. The herbalist met with me for 90 minutes and then gave me a formula suited to my health goals.

One goal of mine was to get into better physical shape. I got something in the formula for athletic endurance and felt better after exercising. It didn't take long before I was adding all sorts of new stuff to my workouts - Zumba dance, tap, ballet, jazz, hip hop, modern dance, weights, and then some oldies like Pilates and Yoga. With the increased energy, I feel great.

Jessica recently signed up to do Yoga with me. And, we kept active in the winter with skating and swimming. Of course, Henry got Wii for Hanukah and does tons of sports. He has better endurance than anyone in the family.

It's so awesome to have this extra energy. I love climbing, bouncing, jumping, etc. with my kids all day long.

Snow Tubing: The Weather Always Cooperates

2009-04-27T21:32:00.008-04:00

Another first this year, the whole family tried snow tubing with one of our homeschool groups at the end of February. We were really excited and the night before, the forecast was for rain. Not to worry, said the group leader, it never rains on the days we go.

When we arrived, it was pouring rain so we were a little concerned. We waited about 30 minutes though, and as soon as the leader appeared it was like magic. Poof! The rain disappeared.

Snow tubing was a first for everyone in our family. We got some tubes, rode up a lift and then tubed down a big hill. Most of the time, we opted to go as a family. We all held onto each other and went down in a rush. We'll definitely do this again next year with the same leader: no rain guaranteed.

Ice Skating

2009-04-27T21:20:00.002-04:00

One of our new passions this winter was ice skating. I owe a huge thanks to our neighbor, who suggested the idea one cold February day. I had been as a kid about 3 times, but had never taken our family.

Tentative at first, Jess, Hem, & I took to the ice right away. Kel tried, but decided this wasn't his sport. So I played with the kids on ice and Kel took lots of pictures.

We went several times after that during the week and had lots of fun. We all learned to skate backwards a bit, skate in circles, etc. But, we loved getting out and moving around in the dead of winter. This will definitely be something we'll do next year too.

We're back

2009-04-27T21:16:00.006-04:00

Had a little hiatus. Been busy. Birthday parties, holidays, plays. Lots of play. Will update now.

Happy Birthday!

2009-04-05T19:42:00.002-04:00

Our kids are born 10 days apart. Some years, they have parties together, but this year, they wanted to celebrate their birthdays separately with 2 small parties.

Jess invited some friends to see a show at the Pumpkin Theatre followed by cake, ice cream and games at the house. Kelric led the games including a kids vs. parents tug of war. The kids won, but just by a little.

Jess wanted to make and decorate two cakes: vanilla and chocolate. She did most of it herself including making her own icing. Henry wanted to help too. The cakes were delicious.

Henry wanted a Chuck E. Cheese or park party. We invited just a few people and literally decided his party venue that morning. Chuck E. Cheese won out because of the weather. Henry and his friends enjoyed games, pizza, and prizes and then Henry enjoyed playing some of the games he got on his birthday. We got so many tickets at Chuck E. Cheese that most of the kids opted to get cotton candy.

I love that we were able to honor our kids birthday requests in unique ways for both of them.

Interview about Me

2009-02-28T17:36:00.003-05:00

Thanks to Danielle, I found an interview for my kids. I had wanted to do this regularly, but no better time than the present. I'm grateful they took the time to do this and hope they will want to answer interview questions every few months.

1. What is something your mom always says to you?
Henry: I love you.

Jess: I love you no matter what.

2. What makes your mom happy?
Henry: Snuggles.

Jess: When we give you hugs and kisses

3. What makes your mom sad?
Henry: No exercise.
Jess: When we fight.

4. How does your mom make you laugh?

Henry:Tickling me

Jess: When mommy is silly like when she says "da plane. da plane."

5. What did your mom like to do when she was a child?

Henry: I don’t know

Jess: I don’t know

6. How old is your mom?

Henry: 39

Jess: 39

7. How tall is your mom?

Henry: 5 inches

Jess: no idea

8. What is her favorite thing to do?

Henry: Have snuggles with me.

Jess: Do research on spices and herbs

9. What does your mom do when you're not around?

Henry: Do her work

Jess: I don’t know

10. If your mom becomes famous, what will it be for?

Henry:Snuggles

Jess: Research on spices and herbs

11. What is your mom really good at?

Henry:The game Rummikub
Jess: Playing with us

12. What is your mom not very good at?

Henry: Video games
Jess: I can’t really think of anything.

13. What does your mom do for her job?

Henry: I don’t know

Jess: A lot of computer research

14. What is your mom's favorite food?

Henry: Fruits and vegetables

Jess: Soup

15. What makes you proud of your mom?

Henry: her playing game with me.

Jess: That she’s the only mom I know who doesn’t force me to do things.

16. If your mom were a cartoon character, who would she be?

Henry: Tom (from Tom and Jerry)

Jess: Maybe Glen from Ben 10 alien force

17. What do you and your mom do together?

Henry: Have tea and snuggles.

Jess: Read Harry Potter

18. How are you and your mom the same?

Henry: We don’t don’t like meat. We don’t drink milk.

Jess: We both like to read.

19. How are you and your mom different?

Henry: Mommy likes bagels with tomatoes, Henry doesn’t.

Jess: Mommy likes the computer more and Jess likes the TV more.

20. How do you know your mom loves you?

Henry: she always says she loves me.

Jess: Cause you read me Harry Potter

21. What does your mom like most about your dad?

Henry: how Daddy eats.

Jess: When he’s neat and tidy.

22. Where is your mom's favorite place to go?

Henry: home

Jess: Airmania

Disney

2009-02-08T18:28:00.010-05:00

Hard to summarize Disney, but I'll try....

Went to Disney at the end of January and had a wonderful time. For anyone wanting to go, my #1 piece of advice: go in the off season! We had very little crowds and were able to see the parks at our own pace with very few lines.

The weather varied deeply. Below is our family on one of the coldest mornings..I think it was upper 30's. And then, there were the days it got into the 70's. Henry took advantage of this and went down the water slide at our condo.

We probably liked the shows the best. Below, are Jessica and Henry taking part in the Lion King Show, a shot from our favorite show, Fantasmic!, and the Magic Kingdom parade. We also enjoyed the many firework and light shows.

My dad accompanied us on the trip. Here he is getting into the festivities.

We took part in 2 character breakfasts. Jessica had fun with the princesses and even dressed up as Princess Jasmine. My dad enjoyed the herring there (it was Norwegian food) , but nobody else wanted to try it.

We all enjoyed the Donald Duck character breakfast at the Animal Kingdom. Donald is Henry's favorite Disney Character. He waved to him in the parades and shows. We also went on the Epcot Mexico ride several times because it featured a Donald cartoons.

It was fun to see some of the rides there from my childhood. Here's the "It's a Small World Ride" (my mom's favorite) and a shot of Henry and I waiting for the "Dumbo" ride.

Probably the best part of Disney was how it is so friendly for families. They have areas to play, areas to rest, and all sorts of nooks and crannies. We'd like to go back in a few years (but first, the kids want to try Sanibel Island, where I vacationed a lot as a kid).

"Not I"

2009-01-14T10:15:00.001-05:00

Jess and I just finished reading the Little Red Hen.

"Mom..." Jess paused. "You wouldn't do that would you?"

"Not I" I replied.

"Me neither, " Jess said. "That's not too nice."

Ah, children's wisdom.

Just One of Those Days

2009-01-09T19:01:00.004-05:00

Last night, we went to a party and the kids stayed late playing with friends...as I started the morning, it soon became clear that Henry was tired. When Jessica woke up, she was tired as well.

We spent the day cuddling, reading stories, playing games. The kids rested and I brought them snacks, drinks, etc.... We had very little food in the house and although we were planning on going out to lunch, we ate some foods we normally wouldn't...(mini pita, mini chocolate chips & peanut butter is actually quite tasty). I changed out of my clothes mid-day back into my pj's.

Wednesday, something similar happened. We were planning on going to somebody's house to play Nintendo and Wii. We made gingerbread with sprinkles and got all our games ready. When we got into the car, I realized Kelric had left the lights on for over a day and the battery died. We spent the afternoon playing Wii/Nintendo & eating gingerbread/tea at home.

For us, a nice day/days/week at home does wonders for us. I so enjoy when our "plans" turn out like this.

December Traditions

2008-12-20T14:45:00.007-05:00

Being Jewish in a largely Christian community , our family strives to create our own holiday traditions. We love to make the festival of lights a fun season, one filled with joy and sharing. We love to share customs and traditions with others....this time of year, we visit our friends and learn about h0w they celebrate the season and also invite people into our home to share Hanukah and other holiday fun. Pictured above are Jessica, Henry, and Kira playing dreidel. They amazingly remembered all of the rules and symbols from last year (something I need to continually re-learn).

Early each December, we see the Nutcracker put on by the Baltimore Symphony Orchestra. We enjoy dressing up and seeing this wonderful performance.

This year, we made about 130 holiday cards. We all helped to some extent with these. Jessica and I did the paper marbling and even tie dye marbling in bits and spurts over the past few months. In late November, we all partook in the card assembly. Holiday stamps, glitter, ribbons and a family photo completed the card. We love sending the cards out and getting cards from our friends.

For a few family members, we also made the annual holiday calendar. It was fun to put so many of our adventures on the calendar this year....I've been much more active with the camera which gave us great material.

We've done a few service projects this month. For 4-H, we made a fleece hand tied blanket, which we gave to wounded soldiers. We also gave some toys to families through the local firehouse.

Being close to Baltimore, we visit several holiday train exhibits. We love seeing these put together. Jessica admires all of the attention to detail and the scenery while Henry loves pressing the mechanical buttons to see the action:

Last week, we made several hundred cookies, brownies, chocolate covered pretzels and other baked goods. We made a few jars of bath salts for other people who we thought would appreciate something more spa like. We shared these with about 50 of neighbors, service people, coworkers, friends, and some family.

One of our friends invited us over to make gingerbread houses. This was a first for us and we enjoyed assembling the houses. Jessica and Henry loved eating the candy and icing over the past few days as well...

Here's Kelric's holiday party. While we don't celebrate Christmas at home, the kids are always happy to get a present from Santa.

We're looking forward to celebrating Hanukah tomorrow night. We have a lot of fun activities planned. Parties, time with friends, latkes, and time to give to others.

Happy Holidays to all!

Aerodynamic Fun

2008-12-20T14:35:00.004-05:00

My dad came for a visit yesterday and brought along some wonderful Hanukah gifts.

Yesterday morning, he and Henry assembled two helicopters:

Henry is an expert at reading manual instructions and diagrams and the plane was soon put together.

Here's one of the first test launches. Misty thought it was a terrific cat toy too.

Needless to say, the kids (and dad) had hours of fun with takeoff, flying, and landing...

Misty

2008-12-20T13:48:00.004-05:00

We'd been thinking about getting a pet for the last few months. Jessica desperately wanted a dog, while Henry and I didn't. Kelric preferred to not have a pet at all.

This past summer, our neighbor adopted his daughters cat, a purebred Bengal. This species is known for its dog like qualities. They love water, play fetch, and thrive in human company.

This particular Bengal cat took a huge liking to our family. Our neighbor would let her outside and the cat would spend most of the day outside our house. We saved her from a fox, got her down from trees, and gave her love and companionship. One day, in the midst of a snowstorm, we let her in our home for the day and she didn't want to leave. We asked our neighbor if we could adopt her and he happily obliged.

Misty has been the purrfect addition to our family. She's playful, cuddly, and fun. Unfortunately, she's now in heat, but she is soon to get fixed. We look forward to many new adventures with our new pet.

Misty in Heat

2008-12-20T12:40:00.004-05:00

As many of you know, we adopted our neighbor's cat right before Thanksgiving. We've enjoyed her immensely and then realized she was going into heat. The last few days have been pretty intense and sadly, we had to put her in the basement last night with food, water and litter.

Here's a sample of what she did the night before until we put her in the basement about 6am. Watch 'til the end to see the full effect.

Fortunately, we're getting her fixed on Monday. I called the vet and pleaded with her and she agreed to spay her.

A Little Salsa, a Little Rock 'n Roll

2008-12-20T10:53:00.002-05:00

Kel's mom, Marion came to stay with the kids for a few days... It worked out great, especially since I had meetings for 2 days of her stay.

Marion is a kid at heart and spent the day playing and having fun. She played Nintendo Monopoly, Chomp and Rat-a-Tat Cat, took the kids to the toy store, and spent several hours at the aquarium.

My personal highlight was doing my new Zumba tape with her, Henry, Jessica & Kerlic. Marion was a real trooper...she and Henry probably danced the longest. We were all laughing and enjoying ourselves as we danced Meringue, Salsa, Flamenco, and Rock. Then, we quickly ordered Marion her own Zumba for her birthday.

We had so much fun that Marion promised she'd return for another visit soon.. She even requested it was during a time I'd be at work.

Girl Effect

2008-12-14T21:23:00.004-05:00

I love this new concept, mostly funded by Nike. As with most things revolutionary, this one is simple and elegant. Interestingly, it's getting some criticism for focusing on girls not boys. Anyone wanting to criticize, PLEASE read about the different problems that girls face in developing countries.

In graduate school, we had to write a paper on how to solve world hunger. Only wish I'd thought of this one.

Showed this to Jessica and we had some great discussions about poverty, girls, and how to make the world a better place.
"Invest in a girl and she'll do the rest."

Henry's First Soccer Team

2008-12-01T23:18:00.000-05:00

Henry played his first sport this fall. As with most things at our house, this was a family affair. Kelric was the assistant coach, Jessica the assistant to the assistant coach, and I was the soccer mom. Henry learned quite a lot this season, in addition to the game, he learned teamwork, pacing himself, and knowing his strengths (he loved getting the ball out of sticky situations).

It was a fun season and Henry will likely do indoor soccer this January. Oh, and Kelric is starting a dad's soccer this month too.

Thanksgiving

2008-11-30T18:41:00.004-05:00

We did a lot of travel this year for Thanksgiving - 2 days at my dads and 1.5 days at Kel's dad's/Ana's house. Here's some highlights:

Our new baby cousin.

My family modeling my grandmother's new Chico ware. Brooke & Peter look completely natural in it (right).

4 cousins (left) and uncle doug frisbee (right)

All went well, minus the extra long commute home.

College Park Aviation Museum

2008-11-16T19:59:00.005-05:00

This week, we finally ventured over to the College Park Aviation Museum. We'd been wanting to go for awhile, and when one of our 4-H friends invited us, we decided to take advantage of the opportunity.

Because it was homeschool day, they had a lot of curriculum type things with worksheets and lectures. My kids steered clear of these and headed right towards the most interactive type stuff in the place. Their 3 favorite parts were the ride on airplane type cars, dressing up as pilots. and testing out various paper airplane models. My favorite parts were drawing Snoopy and Woodstock, and doing different types of rubbings.

Homeschooling, something for everyone.

Halloween

2008-11-16T19:29:00.010-05:00

Finally got some pictures uploaded to the computer. We were having a memory problem so needed to install backup.

Halloween, as always, was lots of fun this year. The kids have been into their DS games so wanted to come in Character: Jess dressed up as Pokemon and Henry, as Mario. This year, as usual, I shopped for their costumes online. I found Pokemon on some Japanese website - her costume is an actual Kigarumi (I paid for the costume in Yen). I won Henry's costume on E-bay and then we added our own embellishments.

Below is Kelric carving his first ever pumpkin with Jess. He carved an excellent dog (complete with ears) that Jess drew onto the pumpkin first.

Henry braved an encounter with our neighbor who probably loves Halloween more than any grown up I know. Each year, he makes his own graveyard and dresses in different costumes.

We went trick or treating with the neighbors complete with flashlights and glow sticks. After awhile, we ventured over to their Church party, where the kids played games, ate even more candy, and entered a costume content. Henry won one of the categories. Perhaps I'm biased, but I think the cuteness factor won over the crowd.

Crystals

2008-10-20T12:56:00.002-04:00

These past few weeks, we've been experimenting with growing crystals. We got a National Geographic kit and were able to make crystals by mixing acid and salt and placing the diluted mixture with quartz rocks.

After a few weeks, we got yellow, blue, and green crystals. It was really fun to watch them grown and now we have a beautiful collection.

Next stop, learning about how to make rock candy. Same principle, but you're able to taste the result.

Field Trips with Friends

2008-10-15T12:51:00.006-04:00

These past few weeks, we've been catching up with our homeschool friends. We've done several really fun field trips. While I love pictures of our friends, I tend to take them more of Jessica and Henry unless the parents have agreed to let me put them on the blog.

Above are the kids at Wheaton Gardens. We went with friends, looked at the amazing butterflies, and played in the glorious park.

Below are the kids doing flag football. We've gone several times this fall and the kids are getting fairly good at throwing the ball, hiking, and overall sportsmanship. They also went to Clark's farm, where the kids played with animals, pumpkins, and the Mother Goose type rides.

Above, you can see Jessica, Henry, and one of their friends preparing some wool for yarn. We visited the Carrol County farm museum and learned about weaving, chair caning, black smithing, and life in Maryland in the 1800's. It was an amazing hands on experience.

I love this time of year...no more back to school, but back to our core homeschool friends, and fun group activities.

Chinquoteauge

2008-10-09T22:10:00.007-04:00

Wanted to post some pictures from our August vacation in Chinquoteague. It was our first family vacation without visiting friends or extended family. Overall, it went really well. We enjoyed going to the beach every day and seeing lots of horses and ponies. We stayed in a really cute 1 bedroom cottage owned by another homeschooler. It was a great place, but a tad too small.

We went to the beach most days..apparently, there are biting flies on the beach sometimes, but we didn't experience them (fortunately). We saw lots of monarch butterflies, jellyfish & crabs. One night, we watched a meteor shower. Another evening, we watched a group catch a sand shark.

Below was the art festival we joined our first night there. The kids made hats with brown paper bags, glue guns, and paraphanalia from a local store.

One highlight was a sunset cruise where we saw the wild ponies up close..We also saw some of the local flora & fauna.

Another highlight was the horseback riding. Jessica, Henry & I each did an hour lesson. I haven't been on a horse in over 20 years, but as the expression goes..

There were lots of little exhibits to visit. Below are pictures from the maritime museum and the NASA museum. Each exhibit was small with lots of hands on activities.

Overall, I'd highly recommend going to Chincoteague. It's close, low key, and has plenty to do for everyone. We'll likely be going back soon.

Old Friends, New Friends

2008-09-30T10:27:00.004-04:00

Our long time friends came for a visit at the end of September. Ngan and I met senior year of college and wound up going to the same graduate school (different programs). Her husband and my husband met soon after and we all got along well. After school, we all moved around a bit and my friend basically traveled the globe. I hadn't seen her in 10 years so when she wanted to come & visit, we were all thrilled.

Her family stayed with us and everyone had a blast. Ngan and I got to catch up, get pedicures and go shopping, Kel & Jonathan played soccer and Led Zeppelin, Henry and Khai were like two instantaneous best friends, and Jessica played with Ay Vy like a very close older sister. The time passed quickly as we did science experiments, played games, listed to music, had a marshmallow roast, and went to soccer and a Pho restuarant. They left and we promised to visit them in NYC, hopefully trying a Karaoke bar.

Jib Jab

2008-09-28T21:18:00.006-04:00

Haven't posted in awhile. Been busy with lots of new developments. New Year. New activities. Some new friends. A lot of new interests. Oh, and also a new camera...will hopefully have some new pictures up soon.

My dad sent the kids a cute e-card and wanted to post here

Try JibJab Sendables® eCards today!

Music has been a theme around the house lately. Kids have put on a few choreographed shows and we're now in the process of planning an improv group for the winter. They saw Seussical last week and we enjoyed Dr. Seuss at our house along with our new firepit, roasted marshmallows and roasted strawberries.

Life is good.

Visionary Arts Museum

2008-09-20T23:03:00.003-04:00

Michael and Ana visited us this week, arriving by train and hanging out with us for several hours. I took a chance to work on some projects while they took Jessica and Henry to the American Visionary Arts Museum.

The museum is filled with amazing works by self taught artists. As it was a beautiful day, they spent a good deal of time looking and playing at the outdoor sculpture garden.

We finished off the visit with a trip to our new favorite restaurant, Catonsville Gourment and then bid adieu at the train station.

We're looking forward to more visits from Vova and Grandpa.

Cowboy Day

2008-09-07T20:34:00.007-04:00

We were fortunate to get invited to share a Cowboy Day with one of our friends in our 4-H group. The kids were creative with their costumes. Jessica was a cowboy cat and Henry was a horse with a cowboy hat. The 3 other kids were equally creative with their attire. Everyone arrived ready to play and the kids spent awhile acting out cowboy scenes (including being a traitor).

We got to do several activities including cow branding (making a brand on a sponge and putting it onto a cow), cooking (biscuits, hot dogs, smores, beans), campfire songs, and a search for a wanted outlaw.

Most interesting to me was how much my kids knew about cowboys. The majority of their information came from watching "Fetch with Ruff Ruff Man," which is currently one of Jessica's favorite shows. They also love horses right now and picked up some information from reading and watching some Misty books.

Learning is everywhere and it's definitely happening "All of the Time."

Clutter Clearning

2008-09-07T19:20:00.002-04:00

I started a book last week called "Clear Your Clutter with Feng Shui." I'm about halfway through, but it's a great read about what clutter is and how it effects you.

In our house, most of our house is fairly clear of clutter, but we tend to store our clutter in designated areas. Today, Kelric and I tackled our bookshelves. Not the kids stuff, but ours. Simplified, I interpreted the book as saying, if the stuff doesn't feel good to you, don't keep it. So, we went through our books together tossing aside a lot of stuff (Kelric and I both have Masters Degrees, certifications, and various other specialties, so have amassed quite a collection through the years.

Above is a picture of what we are donating. It doesn't picture all the binders worth of training courses and classes we no longer use. Kelric is going to donate about a dozen binders to some high school kids who need 'em.

The other part the book mentions is that when you clear your clutter, things you need come better into your lives. I'm finding this is true...we donated over 15 garbage bags full of stuff this summer and also sold some furniture, etc. and literally, people are coming over and giving us things we have wanted. We also bought some used furniture this summer and it all fits perfectly.

We are feeling giddy with excitement and are both excited to take on more clutter zones. It is so peaceful to look at our bookshelves and see only the books that we like. No more shoulds or have tos..

County Fair

2008-09-01T12:52:00.004-04:00

One of the best parts of joining 4-H is the county fair. The kids volunteered at the fair, rode horses, played games, and had an overall great time.

Henry entered some zucchini muffins and Jess entered a poster, painting, and baked goods. She won blue ribbons for all of her entries and money too. Henry won a certificate as he was too young to be an official Clover.

What amazed me about their entries is that the kids *wanted* to do the projects. At 7, Jessica learned on her own how to use Google to research information, acrylics to create texture and colors, and measurements to make food that is healthy and delicious.

Do Not Take Me Home

2008-08-25T20:19:00.008-04:00

Recently, my father came to visit us, went for a run, and found a turtle in the middle of the road. He picked the turtle up and surprised the kids when they got home from camp.

We went to look up the turtle species and realized it was a box turtle - a threatened species.

Here's what wikipedia says about it:

"Finding box turtles in the wild and taking them as pets, even for a very short period of time, can have detrimental effects. Box turtles want to stay within the same area where they were born. If one is moved more than a half-mile from its territory, it may never find its way back; but may spend years unsystematically searching. This exposes the animal to danger and also disrupts the breeding cycle."

We took the turtle and put it back, hopefully not too far from home (we wanted to make sure it wasn't in the middle of the road though).

Go Fish! June 2008

2008-08-25T19:44:00.008-04:00

Since the kids were babies, they've loved shows. Puppet shows, music concerts, movies, and library story time, both the kids love performances. For as long as I can remember, they've acted out huge stories with props, scenery, music, etc. It's all part of their play and they can get absorbed for hours...

The kids are both huge fans of theatre (something I grew up on as well). They've been attending the BSO concerts, Pumpkin Theatre, and Goucher College Shows from a very young age.

This summer, the kids performed at a community theater camp. It was perfect - professionally done, but low key. The camp ended in a 30 minute show. Jessica was a zebra fish with spots - here, you can see how she designed her own costume (down to the tie dyed shirt and spotted sock gloves).

Henry was all about memorizing his lines. He was an electric eel. The camp was great - they gave the kids CDs of the show (complete with music) and scripts before the camp started. The kids got their roles beforehand too (they got their parts by meeting with the show director) so there was lots of time to practice.

My dad, cousin, and some friends came to attend the show. Everyone had a great time and the kids really enjoyed having people they knew in the audience.

Go Fish!

July 08: 2 Beaches and More

2008-08-15T20:52:00.001-04:00

Since Kelric is basically off in the summer, we tend to do a lot of vacationing in June, July, and August. This year, we decided to take advantage of two beaches: Atlantic City and Bermuda.

My dad has a small apartment on the AC boardwalk, and we met him down there for a few days. It was relaxing and fun.

We also made it down to Ocean City two of the nights we were there. Henry loved all of the games and Jessica collected a large amount of rubber bouncing balls.

Of course, we had ice cream...and no, I wasn't really eating 2 ice creams, I was holding this for Kelric so he could take a picture :)

Bermuda was wonderful, as usual. Lots of beaches, swimming, and hanging out with the Bermuda family. This year, Uncle Hartley gave us a guided boat tour of the "turquoise highway" where you can find parrot fish, giant sea turtles and more. But there is nothing like the local knowledge of Uncle Hartley who knows more about history than anyone I know.

A Typical Day – Not So Typical

2008-08-05T19:57:00.014-04:00

What does a typical day look like in our world? It all depends.

While our days are anything but normal, we focus our days around our interests and passions and going with the rhythms of our day. We tend to be project based, so what we actually do each day differs – but we get enjoyment out of it.

Summer is more of a high energy time for us. We tend to do more activities, especially since Kelric is home more then. We tend to travel more and see our school friends more.

Here’s what happened today…

Our day started with me getting up early to work (I work part time, about 95% from home). Today, I had planned to do some research/writing. At 8:15, the arborists came to our house to cut down a 100+ year old tree that was dead. Kelric went to talk to them and Henry awoke and cuddled with me for awhile.

The arborists unplugged the phone line and our DSL as well. No Internet. No work. I went downstairs and played Rummy cards with Henry while Kelric made coffee. Then, I went for a walk. Kelric and Henry played more games.

When I came back, Jessica, Henry and Kelric were watching the tree get cut. Jessica was crying so I went to comfort her. Henry was excited watching the arborist climb to the top of the tree.

Jessica and Henry went over to one of our bookshelves and pulled out some books. Jessica and I did some things together (poetry, grammar, math) and Henry and Kelric did math and read books. We did this for awhile until they grew tired of them (Henry tired a little before Jessica). Henry played a marble game and Jessica worked on a beaded necklace.

Kelric left for work. We had some lunch and then I went out to get the mail.

I saw the neighbors had their water slide up so I asked the kids if they wanted to go over. They played over there for awhile and then came home.

I called another neighbor who was coming over to show the kids how to cross stitch. As we were waiting, the kids & I went through some of their toys. We sorted what we wanted and put the rest in a bag for donation. My neighbor arrived and Jessica was very interested in the cross stitching. Henry, not. We all had some tea and some zucchini bread the kids made last week. Jessica cross stitched while Henry played Nintendo Mario Cart. Our neighbor’s daughter came over with some molasses cookies, which we also enjoyed.

The neighbors and the arborists left. We had quiet time. Jessica went out and climbed on the tree parts. Henry followed. I made dinner and Kelric came home. We all went to the pool.

We’re currently organizing our house. We got some new furniture, made some floor cloths and went through our stuff. We donated and gave much away, but sold some. This evening, we sold 3 large bags of clothing (via craigslist) and a Nintendo DS that we bought for the weekend until my son found his.

Kids were ready for bed. Henry and Kelric listened to the Yankees game for awhile, Jessica and I snuggled and then she read for a little. Kelric and I hung out, talked, and then went to bed.

Was this day typical? Some of it. We spent most of the day together. We saw friends and people from the neighborhood. We laughed, cuddled and pursued our interests.

Somewhere in between, we made food, ate, cleaned & organized. Listened to music. Read stories. Told stories. Shared. Played a lot. Acted silly. We do this every day too.

We don’t get our tree cut down every day. Nor do we cross stitch or eat molasses cookies. Doing projects, playing games, and following our interests – that hasn’t ever changed.

We take each day as it comes. Sometimes, life is more planned. Other times, adventures walk into our door and we embrace them.

Sharon Balick, May 10, 1947-June 21, 2008

2008-07-02T13:29:00.002-04:00

After living with ALS for almost 4 years, my mother died peacefully in her home on June 21st.

My mother had more friends than anyone I know. More than 400 people came to the funeral and several hundred visited at the house over the days following.

My mother has a charity in her name and the money will be used to help other people with ALS.

Wedding

2008-06-14T13:49:00.005-04:00

J + H got to be flower girl and helper in our cousin's wedding this past weekend. We all had a great time. The kids teared up the dance floor and we all wound up getting home around midnight.

We didn't get a family picture, but we managed to get into 2 photos.

Congratulations to Val and James and best wishes for many years of health and happiness.

Days End Horse Rescue

2008-06-09T19:33:00.005-04:00

After berry picking on Friday, the kids wanted to stop at a the Days End Horse Rescue Farm, which they saw from the road. I'd seen the farm mentioned on some of my homeschool groups so we went in to ask about educational programs.

We were in for a huge treat! The educational director led us on an impromptu tour of the horse farm and the kids were free to ask questions (J asked why it smelled so much and learned that horses poop quite a lot). The kids also wanted to pet several of the horses.

We learned about the process of how they rescue and rehabilitate horses and are wanting to volunteer to help this fall. We were so excited about the program, we told some friends about it and they will hopefully be able to volunteer with us.

The highlights of the tour? For me, it was seeing a pregnant horse (I'd never seen one before) and watching a horse sleeping while standing up (had forgot about that). H's favorite was the spotted toads, which were smaller than my thumbnail and hopping in the mud. J's favorite was being able to hear the horses stories and being able to pet the different horses.

This is a place we really want to be more involved with come next fall.

Update: We signed up to volunteer one day a month with another homeschool family. We attended a training in September and volunteered just one day before the weather got cold. We've learned so much about horses and animal care and are grateful to have this opportunity. We look forward to more days of caring for the horses when the weather gets warmer.

Strawberry picking

2008-06-09T19:15:00.005-04:00

This Friday, before the heat wave came, we took a trip to Larriland farm. It's a pick your own and when we got there, they had strawberries ready for harvest.

We wound up picking about 10 pounds worth of strawberries in a few separate trips. The first round was probably the least fruitful as many of the strawberries were laden with these little black bugs. The second trip, we were doing great and then were told we were about to run into some poison ivy. The third trip was also great and then we decided we had an abundance.

Here's the kids with some of the berries we picked. We had a lot of fun making strawberry ice cream, apple strawberry cobbler, strawberry jam, and strawberry yogurt popsicles. Plus, we had a lot of the strawberries plain - sweet as sugar!

Trust

2008-06-08T19:53:00.004-04:00

Last week, I was out walking and spotted a butterfly that was lying in the street. It looked much like the one here except that it was on top of a leaf instead of eating an orange:

It looked injured and I was afraid it was going to get run over by a car, so I took a nearby stick and tried to get it onto the sidewalk. Each time I approached the butterfly, it furiously beat its wings. It couldn't fly, but it clearly didn't want me near it.

I left and returned the the same spot about 30 minutes later. The butterfly had moved up onto the sidewalk and was now on a stick similar to the one I had used.

I walked the rest of the way thinking this is so much like how my kids learn and what happens when I try to interfere. It's been so important for me to let my kids find their own way.

As an added bonus, when I looked up the type of butterfly I saw, I learned it was a blue morpho. When it opens it's wings up wide, it is bright blue inside. I've seen this buttefly at our local butterfly garden and am still amazed that something so rare would wind up on a street in Maryland disguised on a leaf.

Another tooth

2008-06-08T19:34:00.005-04:00

J lost her second front tooth last weekend. Here's a picture of her with 'em both out:

This time, J got something new from the tooth fairy. A note with fairydust. She's been sprinkling in her room all week.

Maryland Zoo

2008-06-08T19:18:00.008-04:00

We recently went to the Maryland Zoo with another homeschool family who lives in our neighborhood. Have I mentioned that we know about a dozen homeschool families within a few miles of us? It's pretty terrific!

We hadn't been to the zoo for awhile and we decided to go ahead and renew our membership. They've done some work since we've been there last. The zoo seems more complete somehow, but not overwhelmingly huge.

The kids have become a little more adventurous and were excited to try the lily pad jump (they didn't want to do this last year).

One of the great parts of the zoo is there are lots of different exhibits to try out in addition to watching the animals.

J also took some pictures..here's 2 of my favorites. J definitely has an eye for pictures.

There were a few parts of the zoo we want to go back to do another time. We didn't have a chance to ride a camel. And we didn't get a good look at the new baby elephant (we will plan next time to watch a feeding).

And, we'll definitely come back for the dippin' dots too.

Tooth Fairy

2008-05-29T09:57:00.004-04:00

J lost her front tooth this weekend. She was as excited as we were to have a toothless smile up top.

We have a tradition of putting the tooth in a box on her dresser and then the box is filled with some sort of money, sometimes from other countries. On Saturday, J noticed that K was putting some money under her pillow. She looked devastated - "does this mean the tooth fairy isn't real?"

For me, this was one of those crushing moments of parenthood. I love that my kids believe in fairies and have taken me to some very special magical places. This one was hard. I told J that I love magic and that the tooth fairy was based on a myth. I also told her that I liked to have magic in my life, but some things are real and some aren't. Ultimately, it was up to her if she believed. We also talked about how some kids still believe in the tooth fairy or other myths and it is up to each child to discover what they believe in for themselves.

The next morning though, J did get a note from the tooth fairy in her box and the money moved in her box as well. She showed me the note and then asked me where I put her teeth. I told her I wasn't ready to share that secret yet.

Last night, J mentioned her other tooth was loose. "I wonder what the tooth fairy will bring this time," she said.

I guess we're both not yet ready to let go of the magic.

Yard Sale Bargains

2008-05-29T09:30:00.005-04:00

I love a good bargain. From sales to coupon codes to craigslist, I'd much prefer to buy something used or discounted. That said, I almost never find anything at yard sales.

This Saturday, though, I got really lucky. When I woke up early, I asked H (the other early riser) if he wanted to go. Our mission was to shop for toys and games. H is a great shopper. He knows what he wants quickly and doesn't want too much.

1 hour later, we spent $45 and managed to fill up most of the car with our finds. At one house, they sold everything together and I got the below Polly Pocket collection for $10.

J took one look at it and said it was too much stuff. It worked out well as she gave some of the big items (a car and a house) to our neighbors.

H's favorite thing was a sports tent we got for $25. It is huge and you can play basketball, badminton, football, etc inside it.

With the new toys, the kids were ready for a playdate. We invited 3 other kids over and they had a blast playing Polly Pockets and sports.

We also got games, books, CDs, science projects and clothes - all of which have been put to good use. We're always up for something fun at the house.

My husband, the metrosexual

2008-05-24T17:23:00.002-04:00

For those of you who know him, K is a laid back casual kind of guy. I remember when I went to visit him in Brasil and his oxford was completely wrinkled.

"Don't worry," he said. "The humidity will iron it out."

When we lived in California, I would sometimes dress up for work. As soon as I walked in the door, he'd lead me into the bedroom to change into something more comfy. A sweatshirt and sweatpants.

K works in a high school and before that, a community based health program. For as long as I can remember, he wore casual clothes to work. Dockers and tees. Maybe a long sleeved shirt. He had a collection of nicer clothes, but he never seemed to want them.

Until recently however.

A few weeks ago, he pulled out a button down oxford and went down to iron it the night before.
"Where are you going tomorrow?" I asked.
"Nowhere," he said. "I've decided to dress nice."

And nice he looks. He's continued to wear oxfords (ironed) most days to work. Nothing unusual for the normal guy. Very different for my husband.

K has decided that people look at him differently when he dresses nice. He likes how it feels. And he's gotten into the habit of ironing his shirts and pants.

This afternoon we were hanging out and he announced he'd like to get a pedicure. I literally dropped the book I was reading.

Well, it's something we can do together. I love pedicures.

Ironing clothes and dressing nice? Not so much.

Horrible Harry and the Homeschool Rabbit Trails

2008-05-20T20:11:00.006-04:00

When people find out I'm homeschooling, one of the questions they ask is what I use for curriculum and lesson plans. We just had our homeschooling review last week and I realized that what somebody else said about homeschooling is true - curriculums write themselves. It's amazing because the kids are always so interested in learning. We are always doing something new and interesting. Some homeschoolers call these rabbit trails because one thing leads to another and another...

For the past 6 months, J has been interested in the Horrible Harry Series. They are very fun books and have led to all sorts of interesting projects. A few months ago, we made green slime because of this Horrible Harry book

In the last Horrible Harry book, his friend Song Lee made a Korean Dragon out of paper mache. J wanted to do the same. Fortunately, I found a recipe that involved wetting newspapers, putting them into a blender to make pulp, and then combining the pulp with salt and flour. After making the mixture up, J sketched a dragon from her paper sketch and then K decided to make a boat of his own. J also made some Pokemon figures to go along with the ones she and H made yesterday. If anyone is interested in paper mache, it is easy and inexpensive. Oh, and it's also fun. The mache feels like clay.

It'll be fun to see how these turn out once these dry. And who knows where J and Horrible Harry will take us next.

Play Ball

2008-05-20T20:00:00.004-04:00

One of our local homeschool groups has this wonderful pick up sports on Mondays. The season for softball officially started over a month ago, but all of the rainy Mondays here kept us away from the field.

Yesterday, though we got to go. H has been wanting to play for several weeks and had a great time. He scored 4 points for the team and played short field position. Below is H in the field. He stayed in that position each time he was in the field ready and waiting for the ball.

Pickup sports is perfect for H. All ages get to play and the guidelines for the game is that the younger kids get more leighway in terms of hitting and running the bases. So, H got to keep hitting the ball, which gave him practice running the bases and scoring. Here's his first homerun - he was so happy:

J loves pickup sports too. Instead of playing ball, she played on the playground with some of the other kids. Yesterday, there were about 15 kids playing together. It was amazing. All the kids played together and included everyone. When a new person showed up, the group came over and welcomed them. We are so fortunate to be part of such a wonderful community of friends.

Great Grandpa

2008-05-20T19:50:00.004-04:00

K's grandfather was in town this past weekend along with his wife, who he married at 82. His grandfather is 90 and is a joy and pleasure. We went to our Children's museum on Saturday and great grandpa got to see a 3 story playground, Japanese paper marbling, and the new water
exhibit, which keeps getting better each time we go..

On Sunday, we had brunch with our cousins and then played outside for several hours. The weather ranged from sunny to downpour, but the kids were happy running and playing. We then went back to our cousin's house and got to see a rocket that launched with baking soda and vinegar and a wonderful urban garden.

Great grandpa told us a few stories including the history of a shotgun tower (we saw one in Baltimore) and the history of his family (the kids great, great, great, relatives).

It was a fun time and we really enjoy these bi-yearly visits.

Dance with Me

2008-05-20T19:39:00.003-04:00

Kids have been on a major music kick lately. They've discovered Kidz Bop, which are CD collection of classic rock/80's/90's music sung by kids. They've also rediscovered Johnny Cash and have been listening to him a lot.

Last week, the kids decided to do dance moves all day. They put together a few choreographed dances which were worthy of a Saturday Night Fever type of dance floor. They performed a show for me and kept dancing for a good 30 minutes.

Where did they learn these moves? Oh yeah, from their parents who grew up in the 70's & 80's.

Take Me Out

2008-05-14T21:15:00.004-04:00

Last week, we went to homeschool day at the Frederick Keys game. They had what they advertised as "hands on" homeschool exhibits, but there was little there besides the brochures and a mini model or two.

We quickly hit the main attractions of the game (well, besides the game). There was a play area with a moon bounce, carousel, and carnival type games. There was also ballgame type fare - cotton candy, ice cream, and Maryland's own crab cakes. The rides were fun and the kids really enjoyed the freeze dried ice cream (Dipping Dots).

Once we ate and played, we sat in the shade to watch the game. Both the kids noticed the trash on the hill and proceeded to pick up all the napkins, plates, and empty coke bottles they saw. They had fun making the park clean, but were disappointed there wasn't a recycling bin.

The Keys won and afterwards, H wanted some autographs. He got some, but also got a reprimand for wearing a Yankees outfit.

We'll definitely go back to this. We've never been before and enjoyed the low key and fun environment.

More Mourning Dove

2008-05-14T11:38:00.003-04:00

Okay, I'll get to the end first. The mourning doves left the nest this morning. The babies were gone, but the mother and father dove spent the day watching. We didn't see the babies, but my guess is that they were probably close by.

We had a lot of fun watching them the last few weeks. The babies were born last week, but maybe sooner since the birding sites say they leave the nest in 13-15 days. Here's a picture of the babies last week. I didn't get one yesterday, but they were enormous. Note the size difference of the babies in the 2 photos - just a few days and large growth.*

Cornell has a great site about birds and I learned this fact about mourning doves:

During nest-building, the female stays at the nest and the male collects sticks. He stands on her back to give her the nest material. She takes it and weaves it into the nest. Maybe that's why the nests are so poorly built!

The site also says that the doves can return to the nest for more babies throughout the season, so I'm hoping we can learn more this summer. Who knows? Maybe we'll opt for a bird cam.

* Mourning doves are related to pigeons. My father used to ask me "did you ever see a baby pigeon?" Well now I can say I have. But they don't stay little for long!

Happy Mother's Day

2008-05-14T11:28:00.004-04:00

This Mother's Day, I got a lot of really great gifts.

K and the kids built me a square foot garden. I've never seen K so motivated to finish. He went to Home Depot/Lowes on several trips. K even made me a top for the garden that will hopefully keep the animals from digging and eating the veggies.

The kids played with bubbles and also watered the plants and helped put together the wood pieces.

I've put in some seeds, seedlings and plants and things are starting to bloom. I'm picturing some nice veggies throughout the summer. We're starting small, but are hoping for lettuce, chard, tomato, potato, zucchini, cucumber, beans, and herbs. We all love the few fresh veggies we got last year. So far, everything is looking good!

If anyone's thinking about this project, I'd definitely recommend it. It's fun
and the soil feel nice and light. As the project progresses, I'll update everyone on what we have. And if we get lucky, we can share some of our veggies.

My other great gifts were homemade presents from the kids. H made me a card and wrote "I love you" for the first time. J made me a "Mom" with mosiac paper and made me a mobile. H also gave me a "wishes come true" necklace.

Recital

2008-05-04T21:05:00.003-04:00

Some of you wanted me to post J's recital pictures. It was a really special time and J did a terrific job. She is really proud of finishing. This has been her 3rd year dancing at the rec center and she definitely felt like she accomplished something by performing on stage. Here's some highlights:

Before the show

Grand finale and garden flowers.

Note that J really wanted flowers we could put in the garden. We've had a tradition of doing this and love to see our flowers in the garden year after year...

Sheep and Wool

2008-05-04T20:59:00.004-04:00

Yesterday, we went to the local Sheep and Wool festival. It was a last minute thing and we were thinking of something close by that was sort of low key.

We were surprised that this was a HUGE event. Very pleasant though. Nice weather and not too crowded. We all had fun browsing the huge selection of crafts and wound up buying things completely unrelated to sheep and wool. The kids selected some beeswax candles and I got some organic herbs.

We stumbled onto a professional storyteller tent. We all enjoyed that...

The kids took some really nice pictures of the sheep and even a pair of Alpaca llamas.

And, they got to pet a sheep too..

The festival was inspiring. J, H, and I want to learn how to make dolls out of sheep felt and J and I want to try knitting this summer.

Leaning Tools

2008-05-04T19:49:00.007-04:00

A lot of people ask me what K does in the homeschooling. This is hard to quantify, but he basically lives life with all of us and shares his interests. Fortunately for me, this involves playing games (which I tire of faster than anyone else in the house) watching/playing sports,(ditto), reading (we all love this), etc. We're also fortunate that K works in a very flexible job so we get tons of family time together.

K is often involved in house projects and this past week, H has been offering help. He loves to lend a helping hand and has mastered lots of new tasks. Some firsts: He mowed the lawn, used an electric screwdriver and folded the socks. He also gets the vitamins out each day and helps to load/unload the dishwasher.

We're all happy to get the help and love doing it together.

Some Books, Movies, Websites: 08-09

2008-05-01T15:26:00.002-04:00

It's May and we are starting our record keeping for a new year. We can't keep track of everything, but we'll try to jot down what we're doing on a somewhat regular basis if we can....

Language Arts

Dahl, Roald, James and the Giant Peach
Santore, Charles. The Silk Princess*
Huelin, Jodi. Piggley's tough break
Eastman, Peter, Fred and Ted like to fly**
Eastman, Pepter, Fred and Ted Go Camping**
DiTerlizzi, Tony. The nixie's song*
Kline, Suzy, Horrible Harry Series (about 20 books, about 80 pages each)*
Lobel, Arnold, Mouse soup
Lester, Helen. Three cheers for Tacky**
Priceman, Marjorie. Froggie went a courting
Lobel, Arnold. Treeful of pigs
Lobel, Arnold. Mouse tales
Lobel, Arnold. Small pig
London, Jonathan, Froggy learns to swim**
Dadey, Debbie. Wizards don't wear graduation gowns**
Keene, Carolyn. Slumber party secret*
Eastman, P. D. Best nest**
Curious George and the pizza**
London, Jonathan, 19 Froggy plays T-ball

Social Studies

Temple, Frances., Tiger soup : an Anansi story from Jamaica
McDermott, Gerald. Anansi the Spider; a tale from the Ashanti
D'Aulaire, Ingri, Ingri and Edgar Parin, D'Aulaire's book of Greek Mythology
London, Jonathan, Froggy's Halloween**
London, Jonathan, Froggy's best Christmas**
Osborne, Mary Pope. Magic Tree House Series (40 books, historical fiction, over 100 pages each)* See: http://www.bellaonline.com/articles/art20190.asp
Magic Tree House Website: http://www.randomhouse.com/kids/magictreehouse/index.html

Science

Holland, Simon, Space*
Krulik, Nancy E. Scholastic's the magic school bus in a pickle
Cole, Joanna. The magic school bus inside a hurricane
Relf, Patricia. Scholastic's The magic school bus hops home :
White, Nancy. Scholastic's the magic school bus sees the stars
Otfinoski, Steven. Koalas
Gibbons, Gail. Snakes
P.D. Eastman, Best Nest**

Health/P.E.

Middleton, Haydn. Modern Olympics

Movies

Blue's clues Blue talks**
Blue's room : Alphabet power**
Shalom Sesame (Shalom Sesame: Disc 2 People of Israel, Jerusalem)
Reading Rainbow: Farm life The Milk makers*
Scholastic's the Magic school bus : space adventure
The big park Yellowstone National Park **
Scholastic's the magic school bus : Catches a wave
The magic school bus: Super sports fun

* J's books
** H's books

Snap Circuits

2008-04-29T09:08:00.003-04:00

From birth on, H has been all about figuring out how stuff works. I'm so hopeless at it, that often, as I'm looking at directions on "how to".. install a battery, assemble a toy, etc. H will say "let me figure this out mom. I love to do this stuff." A few times, he's insisted "c'mon Mom, let the man of the house do it." He comes through too - we definitely get stuff assembled much quicker now that he helps.

One of the new favorites right now are "Snap Circuits." It comes with over 100 projects, based on making some type of circuit with a battery and an accessory. For example, you can make a doorbell, light, fan, etc.

Yesterday, H played with these for awhile and made a fan. He figured out how to make it go flying in the air, something that wasn't included in the project book.

Dance rehersal

2008-04-28T21:59:00.004-04:00

J's been taking ballet & tap for the past 3 years at the local Park and Rec. We're in a routine now where K drops her off, plays Yahtzee with H and then picks up J. We rarely get a demo of what she does in class, but J often throws in moves and dances all the time... "You'll see what I do in the recital" is what J usually tells me when I ask.

Today, I was in for a huge treat. They had a dress rehearsal so J got to put on costume, complete with purple eye shadow and pink lip gloss. J danced beautifully and was really comfortable on stage. H helped me take some pictures and then danced off to the side as well.

J loves her dance teacher and her class and wants to continue with dance next season. It brings me a lot of joy to see her following her interests and having so much fun.

Finally, sewing

2008-04-28T21:40:00.003-04:00

J and I had a chance to work on some hand sewing today. First, we did a loose stitch and finished up the pin cushion J had started at 4-H on the sewing machine. She had a lot of fun stitching and caught on really fast. Then, we put some touches on an Iggy Jingles doll I'd gotten her for her birthday (made by a homeschooling family). We sewed on button eyes and a fabric mouth. Then, we put some buttons on a vest J had cut out for her doll a few weeks earlier.

Here's some pictures of the finished product.

We are fortunate that one of our friends, who is also in 4-H, is going to help us with more sewing projects. She's planning on having us over and will help us sew a duffel bag. H, I think, is now interested as well. And this summer, one of our neighbors has offered to help us learn knitting.

More Planting

2008-04-27T21:06:00.006-04:00

Each spring, we try our hand at planting mostly organic vegetable, fruit, and herb seeds. The kids and I spent several hours this week mixing soil with fertilizer and then sowing our first seeds. We did tomato, strawberry, basil, oregano, and lettuce to start. Last spring was our most successful, but still we only got enough for maybe a salad or two. This year, we're going to try a garden closer to the house, plus we'll try using the square foot garden I mentioned earlier.

We're also continuing with the weeding in the flower gardens. Each year, this project gets easier and brightens up the house.

If anyone has any gardening tips, especially for growing fruits and vegetables, we'd love to hear 'em. We're definitely novices in this area, but would love to grow things throughout the summer.

What we've been doing

2008-04-27T19:50:00.005-04:00

After a busy few weeks, we've been spending more time at home. Been making a lot of library trips and then coming home and pouring over books. H is still immersed in Frog and Toad, while J is continuing with American Girls and Fairies. J and I started the Spiderwick Chronicles last night and we woke up wanting to read more.

J has been writing nonstop. She's making her own books with colored construction paper and writing stories. Plus notes, sidewalk chalk murals, thank you notes and anything she can find to tell a story. H has also been interested in writing letters and is signing his name everywhere.

H has been passionate about puzzles, games, and learning to read. He spends a good portion of his day on each. Some details: he's been doing larger, more complicated puzzles, chess, checkers, leap pad, phonics books, Word World, SuperWhy, and phonics based computer games. We all play alongside him and it's been fun to watch him mastering skills in each of these areas.

J has been very crafty lately. Drawing, gluing, glittering and assembling. She's been very active with her dolls and is constantly planning and crafting adventures for them. She's also interested in furthering her sewing skills and is patiently waiting for some more adult instruction.

Both kids are taking advantage of the great outdoor weather. K and Zayda have been playing a lot of softball with them so they now know how to hit the ball, run the bases, etc. Tomorrow, we'll hopefully play softball with other homeschoolers, but J may just want to hang out with the girls there and play on the playground instead.

On Friday, we went to the library and got out a Pokemon movie. I also bought some new music - Brazilian and Folk. We all enjoyed the music and the kids, I think have found a new interest in Pokemon. They are already looking for new Pokemon adventures so it'll be fun to see where this goes...

Mourning Dove

2008-04-27T19:42:00.005-04:00

About a month ago, we noticed a pair of doves hanging out on our deck. They were there pretty much all day and we'd watch them play and call out to each other.

Last week, J discovered the doves had built a nest, right outside the window. The spot was kind of hidden, in a little alcove in our pine tree, but we've been able to watch them sitting all week. We tried to take some pictures, but haven't gotten any good ones so far. You can sort of spot the dove in the picture below, but the real life thing is much, much better...

We just looked up the habits of the doves and learned that the sitting pattern is pretty egalitarian. Pretty much, the male does the day shift, and the female does the night shift. We've seen this during the week when one would be sitting on the nest and the other on the deck. Had no idea that they were switching.

Here's what we can look forward to soon. Hopefully, we'll be able to take some better pictures :)

Passover

2008-04-21T21:06:00.004-04:00

Our family celebrated Passover this year with 2 seders. The first, was at our cousins house on Saturday. The highlight (other than the chocolate covered Matzoh and the farfel Mac & Cheese) was running around outside with Bailey, the dog:

The next morning, J awoke before the rest of the house and decided to surprise us with our own Seder decorations:

She made customized place mats for us and even set a place for Elijah. She had remembered our Seder from last year and put out salt water, candles, and pillows for reclining. Oh, and the dessert we had brought to our cousins Seder.

Our seder was low key. We used a Hagadah we made last year and prepared some of our favorite easy dishes. J helped make the Passover desserts (the same ones I had as a kid) and H sang Had Gadya.

I learned something new this Passover. Apparently, they make the Original Coke each Passover, without the High Fructose Corn Syrup. A friend, who's husband loves the old Coke, told me about it. I managed to get her some on special at the local Jewish grocery.

Springtime on the Farm

2008-04-21T19:54:00.004-04:00

We went to Clark's farm last week with several other homeschool families. One great part about the homeschool community here is that you can often bump into other homeschoolers you haven't seen in awhile. It was great to catch up with some old friends.

Some highlights of our trip:

A fun picnic with friends.
Pony rides
Springtime animals, including a baby duckling
Playing with some of the characters from the Enchanted Forest

We'll definitely come back to enjoy more of the many fun things this farm has to offer..

Funner than pizza!

2008-04-21T19:40:00.004-04:00

Our cousins bought the kids a "shaving in the tub" kit for their birthday. It comes with a foamy soap, bladeless razor, and mirror.

It didn't take long for this to become one of their favorite bath time activities. They spent a good five minutes talking about how much fun it was"

"This is even funner than going outside!"
"This is even funner than playing with my best friend!"
"This is even funner than pizza!"

Certainly funner to add some more joy to the day..

Silky's reading lessons

2008-04-21T19:23:00.005-04:00

About 6 weeks ago, my friend gave me a phonics based program called Sing, Spell, Read and Write. I learned about this program last year, and thought it might be fun for H. When I pulled it out a week or so ago, H said he wasn't interested in it. However, Silky, his Webkinz, was very interested in learning how to read and H wanted to help. To my surprise we spent over an hour listening to songs, playing games and trying some beginning readers. H was literally running around the house, bouncing up and down with excitement. I was tired long before Silky (and H) and then put the program away in the closet.

Last night, H and J were playing Webkinz and H went into my closet and brought me the phonics program. Everyone played games and then Silky was ready to read.

Today, we started with the reading at 7:30 this morning and Silky spent almost 2 hours today doing phonics, reading, and writing.

It truly amazes me that when you follow your kid's lead, they will take you places you never imagined...

U.S.A

2008-04-21T19:19:00.002-04:00

After traveling so much last month, J and H are very interested in geography. Several times a week, they pull out their new U.S. puzzle and talk about the states, where they've been, and where they want to visit.

But for now, we're resting at home for awhile.

You have 4 new messages!

2008-04-18T15:56:00.003-04:00

H figured out a new function on the phone today. When you dial our # while in the house, you can leave messages. To my amusement, he left 4:

"Hi, this is H. I called to say hi, but nobody's answering. See you later."

"Hi, anyone there. It's me again. Okay, bye."

and so on...

We did talk about not playing with the phone and H reluctantly agreed. 5 minutes later, my neighbor called, followed by my husband. "Hi, I saw you called." Apparently, H knows how to use the caller I.D. as well...

According to my research....

2008-04-14T14:54:00.004-04:00

A few months ago, I was asked to write a book chapter on a very technical health topic. I'd never done anything like this before and the project seemed unwieldy. As I'd gotten into the research , I began to learn how to navigate through the information and talk about it in a cohesive way. As I checked in with the project director this morning, he referred to me as an "expert" on the topic and I couldn't help but chuckle. We had a discussion about how in the professional world, when you immerse yourself in learning, you can become an expert in a fairly short amount of time.

As I went downstairs, the kids were putting together a 100 piece puzzle of the solar system. They did this last week and were trying to do it faster. J has been incredibly interested in space and the solar system on and off since September and knows the planets, facts about them, and where they belong in order around the sun. As she was assembling the puzzle, she kept singing songs about where the planets were and then would tell me different facts. "Mom, did you know they once thought there was life on Mars? They found ice on the planet and they thought it may have been water, a sign of life." She also had a few solar system reference books out and was reading facts about each planet as she was putting the puzzle together.

When I asked her how she knew all this, she replied: "that's easy Mom, I'm an expert."

Webkinz for grownups

2008-04-14T14:47:00.003-04:00

While we were in Boston, H left his favorite Webkinz, Silky at his grandfather's house in Connecticut. H depends upon Silky for daytime companionship and nighttime comfort so as the hours grew darker, H became upset. So, what do you do when it's 7pm at night and most of the Hallmark types stores are closed? Ask a local of course...

After dinner we went with friend Ine to the local supermarket that carried Webkinz. Ine had never heard of them before but her interest was piqued. When we arrived at the store, I announced that I would buy a Webkinz and give it to H on loan. Unfortunately, they DID have Webkinz, but there were pretty slim pickin's and nothing that appealed. Onto the next local recommendation, Target. Nope, no such luck. We got one more tip, the Hallmark store 5 more minutes away. With 10 minutes to closing Ine and I raced through the mall into a huge Webkinz display.

I selected a Littlekinz (H's favorite) Dalmation. Ine wanted me to get the spotted frog, but that one didn't appeal. Fortunately, we both got our wishes. I got spotty the Dalmation and Ine received the frog for her birthday last week. Ine has already adopted her pet and I'm still waiting...

Another party

2008-04-11T18:03:00.003-04:00

We had a party at a local park this Wednesday for all of our friends. We're very fortunate that we've developed close friendships with a lot of people and a park party was a perfect way to celebrate.

The kids and grown ups all had a great time. When people first arrived, we handed everyone magic wands made from twigs, painted black and then dipped in glitter.

The kids started off doing all sorts of magic and this set the tone for the party. The kids had so much fun playing that we decided to not do most of the games we brought. We had a nice tug of war game and then the kids helped pick up the park trash, but the rest of the party everyone played and ran around the park.

Thanks to everyone for making our party fun!

Symphony

2008-04-11T16:06:00.005-04:00

Today, we went to the Baltimore Symphony's Cinderella presentation. We homeschoolers get a great deal: for $6 each we got balcony seats and a terrific show! They put on a story with marionette puppets and the orchestra played music by Prokofiev. Very entertaining and enjoyable for everyone!

Oh, and J and H announced today that they're best friends!

Springtime!

2008-04-11T15:52:00.004-04:00

It's been hinting towards spring these past few weeks. The temperature has been getting nice and we're getting more and more sunny days.

We've been taking advantage by doing some springtime activities. Tee ball, outdoor eating, and park days to name a few.

Oh, and I almost got arrested the other day for doing spring cleaning. I was moving some boxes back and forth between the garage and shed when 2 police cars pulled up and came to my gate. When they saw me, they laughed : "we got a report that a woman in jeans and a black jacket was walking through other people's yards, but we can see you're cleaning out your garage."

We're slowly getting into gardening as well. We planted some annuals and a new dogwood tree, and tried to do some weeding. We're also attempting to grow a square foot garden, and hopefully we'll have some nice herbs and veggies to share.

Say Cheese

2008-04-11T15:42:00.004-04:00

H's birthday was last week and we spent the day doing some of his favorite things.. Started off with a birthday tradition - sprinkle pancakes (blueberry for the grownups). Then, we played games and went to Chuck E. Cheese where we met some of our friends.

H just loves Chuck E. Cheese and the experience was a good one. They gave H some balloons and tokens, helped me relocate the food and beverages when more people got there and really treated the kids special. They even helped J, H, and the other kids figure out how many more points they needed to get the prizes they wanted. All the kids loved "playing store" and one of the kids had his eye on the big prize, which I think, may take a few more trips to the big Cheese.

I had a blast. Got to play ski ball (which I love) along with a new discovery, Whac a Mole. One of my friends who was there also likes to play games and (I think) she enjoyed the Whac a Mole as well....

Sewing

2008-04-11T15:38:00.003-04:00

J has been interested in sewing for some time. I'd love to teach her, but I never really learned. So now, we're both trying to learn. J did a small project in 4-H and I learned how to sew a button. We'll keep going this summer and will hopefully made a few things.

Make way

2008-03-31T20:37:00.005-04:00

As part of our trip, we visited some friends in Boston. I've known J & I since I've been a baby and we've kept in touch for most of my life (they are also good friends with my parents..in fact, "I" went to middle school with my mother). I lived in Boston awhile ago and I used to visit J & I for regular dinners and Scrabble time. J also hosted me at her house when I was looking for apartments, and in fact, helped me find an apartment there...We also got to spend time with V, who married J almost 10 years ago. V and my husband hit it off and they promised to keep in touch..

We had one day where just our family toured Boston. We took the T, which we all enjoyed. Our first stop was the Public Gardens where we saw the ducking statues:

Afterwards, we got some picnic items and ate lunch outside the Science Museum (we were too hungry so didn't enjoy the waterfront). Next, we headed into the Museum - it was enormous! Some of our favorites were the butterfly gardens. A little different than the one in Maryland (we have a lot more Monarchs, but this one seemed to have a little more variety. K took some great shots like this one of an Atlas moth:

My favorite exhibit was a computer model that demonstrated the food chain. First, you created a 1-3 letter fish who swam into the ecosystem. You could determine its swimming speed and how long before it would get eaten. The people in the row behind that could determine how the fish swam and where they'd go. It was so fun, I had to play too..

Our trip was so much fun, we'll have to go back. And next time, we'll get some shots of the guests (H took some and then deleted all of them).

Exercising with Mom

2008-03-31T20:27:00.003-04:00

Most nights, I walk for 30 minutes or so around the neighborhood. Lately, H has been asking to go with me. While we usually walk around a lot during the day, H and I haven't done so many night walks.

He recently got a new bike for a birthday present. As soon as he got on it, he asked me to go walking with him. He rode the bike a half a mile while I walked beside him. "Mom," he said "can we do this a lot? This is really fun!"

Looks like I'm in store for an active (and fun) spring...

Happy birthday J and H

2008-03-31T19:12:00.004-04:00

My kids are born 10 days apart. J's birthday was officially on the 23rd and H's is on the 2nd of April. Since they are so close to each other and have many of the same friends (and the same family), we usually opt to celebrate together.

During our vacation, we had several small celebrations with family and friends. It was so nice to be able to celebrate with a lot of different people. Now that we're back home, we're meeting some friends at Chuck E. Cheese on H's birthday and will have a larger joint party at a local park. And, we'll be using some of the great decorating ideas we saw on our trip (thanks A).

Thanks to everyone for celebrating our birthdays with us!

Kites and checkers

2008-03-31T19:05:00.004-04:00

A few weeks ago, Zayda and J went out to try some kite flying. It got soaring a little, but more of the fun was in the anticiapation. Even some of the neighbors got in on the action. H skipped out on the kite flying and chose instead to play Webkinz checkers. H is now officially the best checker player in the house.

Norwalk Maritime Museum

2008-03-28T20:38:00.006-04:00

This week, we visited several family members and friends. One of our stops was the Norwalk Maritime Museum. It was really a treat to go here. The exibits were very hands on and the museum was small enough to see in a few hours. We also got to see an IMAX movie - Prehistoric Creatures for H and the Rainforrest for J.

There were a few features of the museum I really liked. First, most of the exhibits were centered around marine life local to the area. Second, the place was really set up for exploration - a lot of well spaced exhibits with a place to explore and staff to answer questions. And third, there was a great variety there - glowing jellyfish, giant sea turtles, and long island seals to name a few. H also got to do a Sponge Bob simulator ride.

My MIL liked it so much, she got a membership there. We'd definitely go back as well.

An American Girl

2008-03-28T20:27:00.005-04:00

For her 7th birthday, J went to American Girl in NYC with her grandmother and her favorite American Girl doll. The threesome had tea and saw and saw a show on friendship. Having friends is something J has been talking a lot about - she has everyday friends, long distance friends, and a lot of family member friends.

J also got to pick out some presents from the American Girl store from her grandmother and aunt. Her picks: a tea outfit (pictured above), a new dog (stuffed), silk pj's, and a ballet outfit. Other family members gave her more wardrobe goodies and she is now equipt (thanks to everyone!). We're planning on learning sewing next week and J wants to make some goodies for her doll.

The trip, according to J was "a dream come true."

Opting Out

2008-03-23T17:33:00.005-04:00

I love museums and so do the kids. We live near lots of them and look at them as a hands on playground.

Last week, the Baltimore Museum of Industry had a homeschool day. I've heard great things about this place and we tend to love homeschool days. The trip, unfortunately reminded me of those boring field trips we had to go on when we were in school. The 11 kids in the group were required to raise their hands, and the leader frequently told the kids "nope" or high fived some "good answers." J didn't quite get the raising hands thing and the kids were discouraged from hands on activities. For example, the teacher demoed a sewing machine, but the kids weren't allowed to try. Even a box of sewing buttons were hands off, display only.

After 2 movies (one too loud, one too soft, both above their heads), J said to me "Mom, this is kind of boring." H's eyes were glazed too, so I asked if they wanted to leave. They jumped up and then our friends joined us (none of the 4 kids enjoyed it). We all hung out, had a quick snack and skipped out of the rest of the activities...

We spent the rest of the afternoon making soft pretzels, playing games, and watching movies. Much more hands on and fun.

Acres of Diamonds

2008-03-17T21:00:00.006-04:00

My father is a graduate of Temple University. Its founder, Dr. Conwell, coined the term "acres of diamonds" based on this story (adapted from Conwell's speech).

A farmer who lived in Africa became excited about looking for diamonds. He sold his farm to head out to the diamond line. He wandered all over the continent, searching for diamonds, but never found them. He went broke, threw himself into a river, and drowned.

The new owner of his farm picked up an unusual looking rock about the size of an egg and put it on his mantle. A visitor stopped by and told the new owner of the farm that the funny looking rock on his mantle was about the biggest diamond that had ever been found. They went out to the farm and found the land covered with diamonds.

They discovered the diamond mines of Golconda, the most valuable diamond mines in the ancient world. The original farmer was literally standing on "Acres of Diamonds" until he sold his farm.

Dr. Conwell founded Temple for the people of Philadelphia and continued to tell everyone there are treasures in your own backyard...

Today, we went to a local treasure with a few homeschooling friends. Shady trails, creeks, and rocks to climb. We've been looking for such a place for awhile and never realized it's practically in our backyard.

So, before heading out to greener pastures, check your own backyard. It may be full of surprises.

Spring Holidays

2008-03-16T20:26:00.004-04:00

Spring is here and so are a multitude of holidays. Tomorrow is St. Patrick's Day, followed by Passover and then Easter. We were learning about St. Pat's last week and were planning on making some Clover Cookies or Irish Soda bread...

But then I remembered Purim was coming and with it, the annual Purim Carnival that my kids old preschool puts on each year. We quickly changed gears and started thinking about Hamentashin, groggers, and Hamen. As soon as J found out about the Purim carnival, she went to work planning outfits for everyone. She opted out of the paper crowns she constructed though saying they would likely fall when she was running..K loves any opportunity to wear his silly clothes (no, really). He bought this shirt a few years ago and wears it out on any type of "festive" occasion:

The kids had fun playing games, dressing up and seeing some of their old preschool teachers.

Right as we were planning our Purim, our neighbor informed us of an Easter Egg hunt at the high school. The kids were game, had fun, and return with large amounts of plastic (we will reuse some of this for our upcoming birthday party):

Happy Holidays to everyone!

Concentration

2008-03-16T16:45:00.005-04:00

Both of my kids are what some people call "immersion learners." When they're interested in something, they learn about it exhaustively and then they are done.

When they focus, it's quite hard to get their attention. Here's an example of H, who's popping bubbles with a scissors. Notice how long it takes him before he looks up:

Here's some other examples of how my kids have immersed themselves:

J is currently listening to American Girl and Harry Potter series on CD. She'll listen to a 7 hour tape in less than 24 hours.
J also reads like crazy. She'll go to the library and read several books in a stretch. The other day I asked her why she hasn't been reading. "I've read everything in the house" she replied.
J has been making outfits for her dolls. She's quite adept at scissors, tape, paper and fabric. We'll soon learn to sew (me included).
H has been into playing games for the past several months. He's learned UNO, Yahtzee and Hearts to name a few. He knows how to play better than me.
H has been into backyard observation. He knows the call of the Phoebe and Crow and can spot insects, flowers, and tree buds from a distance. He finds all sorts of books at the library on nature and knows tons of details about wildlife.

This week, we'll immerse ourselves with the multitudes of spring holidays - cooking, crafts, etc.

Love Sticks

2008-03-16T16:38:00.003-04:00

Lately, H has been enjoying listening to his clock radio. He'll often hang out in his room and listen to various stations. Sometimes, I'll hang out in there and join in either dancing or just lying in bed and listening.

The other night, he found "Love Stinks" and ran around for days singing it. It slowly changed into a new song, "Love Sticks."

For all the fans, here's a link to the original song.

Have it your way

2008-03-14T08:17:00.002-04:00

Last night, right before shower, J announced: "I want to go to Burger King tomorrow."
"Why's that, J?" I asked.
"Well, D and L have these mini cabbage patch dolls and I like them."

For those of you who don't know our eating habits, we've never eaten at Burger King, McDonald's, Chick o- Fillet, or KFC. Why? Because my kids and I don't really have any food choices there. Yes, I know, we could eat yogurt or canned fruit or something at one of these places, but 1) that really wouldn't be enough to eat 2)its' something I can completely serve at home, healthier and cheaper and 3)it wouldn't be a fun kids meal. I'd never considered #3 until last night...

I sat down and explained fast food marketing to J. I really didn't like the marketing because my daughter wanted a *toy* and that was the only way she came to know Burger King.

"Mom, you're a nutritionist, why don't you do anything about it?"

Good question.

While K gave her a shower, I did a few Internet searches. I found out:

These mini cabbage patch dolls are only sold by Burger King.
You must buy a kids happy meal to get one - this means, french fries with chicken nuggets, cheeseburger, or hamburger.
You could buy a mini cabbage patch on line, but with shipping, this little piece of plastic would be about $12 for one and $50 for all of them.

By now, I really was contemplating my daughter's question and was planning to write to BK online. Guess what? They have a policy of no email.

J came out of the shower and I explained all of this to her. I told her if it was really important, I would buy the dolls.

"No mom" she said. "I'm really angry now. Why do they do that to kids?"
She decided she wanted to leave a voicemail. Guess what? No answering machine message.

"I've never been so mad at a restaurant my whole life" said J.

So now, J is planning on writing a letter. And I'm thinking of writing one too.

Craft Day

2008-03-10T19:56:00.007-04:00

We tried some old crafts in new ways today.

For soap, we experimented with colored chunks. It's currently drying, but they look pretty neat. It was also fun to assemble.

We also made some clovers - at J's suggestion, mostly 3 leaf with a few 4 leaf.

The kids are interested in doing St. Patrick's Day for the second year in a row. Last year, we did a lot of history and literature, plus a lapbook where we graphed lucky charms and learned a lot of trivia . This year, they are more interested in the food and decorating. Still on our list - halos, rainbow kites and clover potato cookies.

Americana

2008-03-10T12:08:00.006-04:00

Last week, we frequented some parts of suburbia we usually don't.

We went to Krispy Kreme and watched how donuts were made. The kids had a donut and I tried a little piece. Is it anti-American that I've never been there before? Donuts usually hurt my tummy and this piece I tried was no exception. My husband, however, managed to eat most of the rest of the donuts we brought home.
We celebrated a friend's birthday at Chuck E. Cheese. We all passed on the pizza, but the kids enjoyed the games and rides.
We also tried an open gymnasium where we got to sample trampolines, climbing obstacles and more. We met a friend there and the 4 kids had the place to themselves.
I went clothes shopping (my best trip was with my husband. I tried on my own and came back with one lone pair of spring pants). While I don't like shopping for clothes, my winter pants ensemble consists of 2 pairs of my father's jeans and a 10 year old pair of cords. Okay, and my multiple pairs of stretch and sweat pants....The stores now have spring stuff, but next year, I'm going to get myself some winter pants (especially since one pair of jeans now has a major knee hole).