Fun Christmas Science

So in keeping with our "no school in December" theme I found a fun mystery for the kids to solve today. It was the Christmas Cookie Mystery. The kids had to test 6 powdery substances in water, vinegar, iodine, and heat to find out what they were. Then they tested 3 mixtures to see which one was the correct cookie making mixture. If you want the full lesson it is here:

http://www.sciencespot.net/Media/cookiemys.pdf

The girls loved it. They loved getting to use the candle and watching all the reactions. I loved it because it was a great way to slip science in without them being the wiser. Here are some pictures from the experiment.

Here comes the water.

We love fire :)

My turn!

Yummy...

The girls felt that they deserved a cookie for being such great detectives. Two vacation days down :)

Fun Thanksgiving Pictures

We spent Thanksgiving at my parent's house. We had fun with everyone...here are some great pictures that we got....

Collin's Contraption.

Morgan and Collin's best block tower ever!

Jamming with Uncle Travis.

Rock Star!

Uncle Travis has the coolest toys!

Watching a movie....brotherly love.

Coloring with the cousins.

Playing the Wii.

Meme and Grandma.

The pressure....

Look at all those deserts.

The kid's table...they had so much fun.

Trip to the Recycling Center

Right before Thanksgiving the girls and I went on a field trip to the RI Resource Recovery Center (http://www.rirrc.org/content/index.php) with our homeschool group ENRICH. We got a great tour and the girls enjoyed playing in the educational centers. Here are some great pictures.

Learn all about recycling.

Stinky.

First Day of "Winter Break"

So when I began to sell the girls on the whole idea of homeschooling one of the driving factors was...."you get to pick when you want to have your breaks....you know work around your own schedule." So to make a long story short we all decided to take the month of December "off". I figured we could spend more time enjoying each other on the holidays, thinking about what the holidays really meant, and giving back for all the wonderful things we have received. The girls are wonderful little creatures but developmentally they are still in the me-centered phase and I am hoping to open their eyes a little to the outside world.

Sounds great...so why have I been super nervous about this month long hiatus? Other then I am a BIG rule girl and I keep looking over my shoulder for the "school police" to yell at me for not doing math worksheets or spelling? I think I was nervous because in the past my kids come home from school for vacation....and well fight. So here I am imagining a month long regular school vacation where we are living in the middle of WWIII or at least a WWF ring...now we are only on day 1 (so I may have to eat my words) but today went much like any other day except I didn't have to hear "I HATE math" for 30 mins, I was laid up with a sore back (not the vacations fault....my own), and Collin nearly busted out his ear drum (but really is Collin's lack of self preservation anything out of the norm....not so much).

The girls helped their brothers with an art project, there was play dough, Harry Potter math, Shannen decided to write a book on how hard it is to be a kid (and wrote more than I have ever seen...she must really love her subject matter), and we did a challenge to see how high a tower they could build out of 10 random toys.

Was there fighting? yes
Was there tears? yes (some even from the kiddos)

but the day went as smoothly as I could expect with me laying on the couch yelling instructions to the girls on how their brothers like their sandwiches made (such good girls).

I am hoping that today is a good lesson that 1. the kids are still doing things to learn...or they would be bored stiff so stop worrying the police are not coming 2. they have started to learn more about each other and the fighting will continue to go down (fingers crossed) and 3. never never let Collin alone in a bathroom that has q-tips :)

Here are some random pics from day one:

Not having snow has not stopped us.

Shannen writing her book.

Play dough time.

The toy tower challenge.

Our toy store where all toys were in Harry Potter coins.

Our Week

This past week has been busy for us (do we ever not say that?). We started our week with some fun art projects. This first fall project was one where we started by rubbing leaves with crayons on a large roll of paper. This was a nice project because all of the kids got great results no matter their age. Here is a picture of the kiddos working on it.

Everyone rubbing away.

After we had filled the page with our rubbings we mixed some food coloring and painted in the blank spaces. The final results was beautiful and hangs in our dinning room. Here are some close-up shots.

Todd worked with the kids on another leaf project that came out great. Here are some shots of step one in the project...



OK now for the whining portion of this post....my week has been less than ideal and I just need to vent about it.

Shannen spent a good portion of the week and weekend with my parents getting some much needed one-on-one time (which was great thank-you mom and dad!). She is really starting to start to need her space and exert her own identity lately. I know it is natural and good I just wish she could express her needs in a less emotionally volatile way....but I guess that comes with age. I have been trying all week to express my needs/frustrations in a calm and balanced way and if it is hard for me at 30-something I guess it is ok that it is hard for her at 9....I will just keep telling myself that.

Moving on....Todd and I had a conference planned this week in Boston. This is one we have been going to for years and we were both really looking forward to it. We have not had much time to work together lately with homeschooling and the economy issues making child-care help non-existent. I was really looking forward to some "work time". On our way to Boston however all (really all) the lights came on on the dash of my van....it seems to be a minor repair (thank goodness) but it freaked me out anyway. We decided to keep going (spoke to a friend who works on these vans....he said it would not blow up) anyway we were not 2 mins. down the road when a tire blew....ok universe I get it head home. So I missed the conference (Todd did go and ran into some important people in the evening he would have missed during the day) and I was really bummed.

Now to health portion of the post....Instead of making it to our conference I took my 3 year old to the doctors for his SECOND dose of antibiotics since he got his ear tubes put in a month ago. I really feel bad for the little guy...and I feel bad for me because he was whinny and grumpy all week. I thought we had everything under control with the $50 antibiotic (thank-you health care reform) and breathing treatments but I was wrong. On Wednesday we got a call from Collin's school....ran to get him and waited until 10 pm to decide that the extreme pain he was in (stomach) really did not seem normal. We (ok I) took him to the E.R. (until 1am). He of course stopped screaming as soon as we hit the E.R. He had been screaming for at least 5 hrs...no food, laying like dead on the couch in between screaming like a banshee, and nothing made him feel better...even T.V. We finally came out (did I telly you at 1 am?) with NO appendicitis thank-you thank-you thank-you (I am jumping up and down for no surgery....really). It seems that all is well with everyone now (knock on wood).

Now to the patience portion of the post (mine not the kids). On Friday I missed out on my one-on-one time with Morgan (long story...and I was able to make the day up) and my night out by myself (which I kind of needed). So my patience has been thin and things seemed to be thwarting me all week. So today I spent 2 hrs deep breathing trying to get Tristan to sit or a 3 minute time out all the while he is screaming, kicking, and alternately saying "no I wont sit", "this is lame" (thanks sisters), and "I will be done NOW". We have been having a huge problem with him screaming no at everything asked of him....and I had had enough. The whole thing was draining on both of us and exactly what needed to happen but it took all my meditation techniques not to kill him :) I thought I had exhausted all my patience but no....Shannen came home and reacted emotionally to the change of scenery and I spent about 30 mins. outside of our church's Thanksgiving dinner (in the freezing cold....no jacket) waiting for her get control so we could go back in....I am exhausted and in need of a re-charge.

I have been posting on Facebook something I am Thankful for it was an exercise a friend of mine introduced me to and I am really glad I had to do this this past week. It really kept things in perspective. Did we have a bad week....yes but was I able to still find things to be thankful for yes....it was hard at times....but I don't think that is always a bad thing. Sometimes it is necessary to look hard at what we have so we can really see it. So thank-you Bev for introducing me to the exercise, thank-you to the kids for making me a better person by testing me (even when I don't like it), and thank-you to my family and friends for giving me strength and support when I need it. I am looking forward to next week....hoping it will be a little less eventful but if it is not I will get more deep breathing practice.

P.E. and Sewing

The girls are really keeping the faith that this quilt will be done soon. The last thing we did was adding on the stars. The girls found the extra material that they had to move around a bit overwhelming and it took all day to get the stars on but they did it! We have only binding left. So one more day and we will be reading under the quilt. Here are some more update photos...

Shannen setting the stars.

Morgan finishing up.

Sewing on the stars.

There is so much material to turn around!

We have been trying to get outside while the weather around here is still nice. We have had some really nice days and we found a trail near the house that we had never been on. I think we will be doing that walk more.

The girls loved the long bridges over the marshy areas.
We can't wait till spring to capture some little animals from the marsh.

We found a great hollow tree that the kids tried to crawl into :)

Morgan didn't fit.

Neither did Shannen.

Collin loved being squeezed by the tree.

Tristan could almost turn around.

On Thursdays when we head over to my parents house we have been having our "P.E." classes....wish I could have counted this as P.E. - no showers, silly shorts, and running for (from) the ball. Shannen and Collin have been doing Karate. They love it and have been doing a great job....must be in the blood. They have both been working hard at the studio and with me. Here is a great picture I stole from the studio's website (thanks).

Uncle Richie, me, Collin, and Shannen

While Shannen and Collin have been doing Karate Morgan has been ice skating. We have really lucked out with the rink. The open skate starts before school lets out so the place is empty. We have been able to skate all over the place and are having a blast.

She is getting so good!

We are all so glad to be feeling better so that we can get out and have some fun and we hope this good weather holds out for a bit longer!

Random Fun Pictures #3

We have been really busy over the last few weeks....what with the flu (for everyone but Todd) and trying to keep life together but I am finally trying to catch up on my posts.

Here are some new fun photos from the past few weeks.....

Collin has gotten so good at his letters

Working hard.

Shannen would like everyone to know she hates math!

Collin and Tristan loves there new bunk beds.

I love when they read to the boys.

Morgan learns her times tables
the best with candy...hmmmm

They all want in on that action.

I will get that car.

I think this is a train...maybe a boat?

I promise I am being very gentle.

We did a few things for Veteran's day with the kids....watched some videos about veterans, talked about war, and talked about family members. Here are some pictures of a mini-book we did Flander's Fields. The girls did a good job analyzing the poem.

Tristan's Book

Shannen's Book

Morgan's Book

Collin's Book