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Friday, September 26, 2008

Another quote

In light of the upcoming election, I thought this quote was very interesting to ponder. 


A vote is like a rifle; its usefulness depends upon the character of the user. 
Theodore Roosevelt

quote on politics

A typical vice of American politics is the avoidance of saying anything real on real issues. 
Theodore Roosevelt

Civil War reenactment - Wade House

What a fabulous day of fun learning. The kids and I went to the Wade House to participate in their School Days civil war reenactment. It was really so informative. JJ really loved the cannons and his only disappointment was that they didn't fire them. He wanted to 'see' and 'hear' them in action. We rotated through various stations. It was very well organized. Only negative was that at the end President Lincoln gave his Gettysburg Address - which would have been great but we couldn't hear him. The sound system they had didn't work and therefore we didn't hear but a word here or there. The rest was great. 

We learned about cannons and the type of shot used. We learned about the uniforms of the navy during the Civil War. We got to see the calvary in action. The kids even got to touch the horses which were very well behaved. We saw the laundress. Plus we learned about the role of children during the Civil War. They had a traveling salesman that did a show to sell his wares. That was interesting but some of the kids didn't get that it was for show. They really wanted to buy the products. 

The bees were out in force. It was a beautiful warm sunny day. We couldn't have asked for nicer weather. But that brought out the bees. JJ did get stung. I watched him for a good 1/2 hour but he was fine. I am highly allergic so I worry that they might have inherited that from me. 

It was just a great day spent with friends. I originally signed up just our family and then mentioned it to a few others that are also teaching TOG year 3 this year. This really ties right in and they opted to join us. I think it made it all the more special to have friends to hang with all day.  I will try to post pictures later this weekend. 


Sunday, September 21, 2008

National Railroad Museum field trip


JJ loved being able to climb in and around the various train cars.


We got to take a short ride on the train. JJ loved that.

Pictures from field trip to Heritage Hills

These pictures are from the younger kids group that went to Fort Howard.
Aren't we all glad that we no longer have to cook like this?!
The corn cakes still turned out yummy.

Wood was needed for the fire to cook the meal.


This picture is when the kids were in the school house. Slates were on the desks. 

The kids got a chance to practice marching as if they were in the military. Keeping a straight line isn't as easy as it looks. Master Sergeant was trying to keep order. 

This is an authentic sword from the the time period. It weighed 12 pounds and was surprisingly heavy. The sword belonged to Master Sergeant. He let the kids hold it to get a feel for what a real sword is like. 
 
JJ is getting a chance to help mix in the ingredients for the corn cakes. 

Saturday, September 20, 2008

Art idea #2

3D Design Texture Tiles

Again, we saw a challenge given to the design students. It was neat to see what they came up with and this would make a great project for our kids at home. 

Problem:

Explore various ways to create relief textures utilizing three different media: paper, cardboard, and mixed media. All media used was white in order to see the effects of light on texture. 

Here are some pictures:




After viewing all these, one mom at our class had the idea that each child could create one tile. She had 3 kids and thought that the 3 tiles (one from each child) could then be mounted in a shadow box. It would make a great gift. 

Art idea

While at our art class this week, we noticed that the design students had their work on display. They were given a problem. 

Utilizing a single piece of 18x24 tag board each student had to manipulate the 2D material to create an interesting 3D form using all of the board and only a scissors or knife. No adhesives of any kind were allowed. 

Here is what they came up with. 




Isn't it amazing what the college students came up with. This would be a great project to try at home with our own kids. My kids were fascinated by how they got the items to stay together without any adhesive. 

A week in the life of a homeschool family

Our week started out with a field trip on Monday. Normally, Jt has his virtual co-op discussion on Mondays. We had to skip this one as we had this field trip booked before we signed up for the co-op. Dad even took the day off work to join us. We went to Heritage Hills first. The group separated into a younger group and older group. Dad went with the two older kids and saw the Fur Traders cabin. They learned about the relationship between the French, Indians, British and Americans. They held a mock trial based on the trial of Chief Oshkosh. 

The younger kids went to Fort Howard. The Fort is from 1836 era. They got to see what life was like on a fort in 1836. They had an opportunity to cook corn cakes, lay on a hospital bed, march on the green, go to school and try writing on slates, and take down the flag at the end of the day. 

After our time at Heritage Hills we went to the National Railroad Museum. We toured the museum and rode the train there. 

We even made it back in time for Jt to go skating. 

Tuesday we had ortho appointments and then piano lessons. JJ is now taking piano and he is thrilled to be old enough. He has such joy for the instrument and I hope that continues. Sometimes the amount of practicing needed to become proficient takes the joy out of the instrument. I also went in to work for 4 hours in the afternoon to evening. 

Wednesday - we got a lot of school work done in the morning. Then I left for work in the afternoon and the kids continued to work on their assignments such as math, grammar and phonics. I got home in time to feed them dinner and we ran Jt to off ice - dry land training. 

Thursday - I left for work early. Jt got up prior to my leaving and started his school work. This gave him 2 hours of quiet working time before the younger ones got up. Even when I am gone certain homework is required to be done. The two oldest take turns playing with JJ and doing their school work. In the evening we had Awanas for the younger two and Dad took Jt to skating practice. 

Friday we had art class in the morning. We had a new teacher and she is fabulous. She has a different style then our other teacher but I really like her. I think the kids will learn alot. She is more academic in approach. She is teaching the elements of design. These are:
line
shape
color
texture 
space
Our class this time was on lines and how lines can be used to create motion and dimension. I really like her approach and what she is teaching them. (I even learned some stuff - shhh, don't tell that moms still keep learning!!!)

In the evening Jt got to go to church for an outdoor movie. They watched Evan Almighty. Dad went along and chaperoned. We invited a friend of Jt (happens to be a girl but they are hockey buddies - so she truly is just a friend). We actually were hoping she would come back to confirmation classes. She dropped out (long story) and while she did come to the Jonah event, it is unlikely she will come back to church. We will keep trying. She is a delightful girl. 

Saturday we had a family bike trip. It was fabulous to be all together, having fun, out in the nice weather. It was a gorgeous day. We couldn't have asked for better weather. 

Only negative is that we think we have something dead in the house. It has a very bad smell that waifs through now and again. We have torn apart the living room and washed everything. Washed the couches, carpet, part of the walls. Didn't kill the smell. We have walked around sniffing everything to see if we can identify where the smell is coming from. No luck. Hubby has decided to wait until it gets stronger so we can more easily find it. I am praying it just goes away. Neither approach seems like a good one but we simply can't find the source. Yuk. Hubby claims we have a corps somewhere. I am so not liking that image. 

Pray for the smell to go away. 


Sunday, September 14, 2008

Fabulous Pumpkin Muffins

Ingredients:

2 eggs beaten
1 cup sugar
1 cup canned pumpkin
3/4 cup olive oil
1/4 cup water
1- 2/3 cup flour
1 teaspoon baking soda
3/4 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon ground cloves
1/2 teaspoon nutmeg
1/2 teaspoon cinnamon
1/2 cup nuts, chopped (optional)
chocolate chips

Directions:
1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees
2. Combine eggs, sugar, pumpkin, oil and water in a medium sized mixing bowl.
3. Stir together flour, baking soda, salt, baking powder, and spices in a separate bowl.
4. Add dry ingredients to wet, and stir to blend.
5. Place batter 3/4 to top of non-stick or lightly oiled muffin tins. YOu may also use cupcake cups.
6. Bake 20 minutes or until toothpick inserted in the middle of a muffin comes out clean. Remove from pan right away.

Saturday, September 13, 2008

Casting Crowns - Slow fade

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=B7jT34j0R7Q

Fabulous video. Take a moment to watch.

Friday, September 12, 2008

Friendship - recently discovered

Recently I have been in the uncomfortable situation to determine that this quote has some truth in it. And how sad is that. 

"Sometimes your closest friend is your greatest enemy."
- Jason Fong

Friendship

"Associate yourself with men of good quality if you esteem your own reputation; for 'tis better to be alone than in bad company."
- George Washington (1732 - 1799) US Statesman.

Thrilled

I have to say I am absolutely thrilled with Sarah Palin. Wow - what an exciting candidate. I love the comment she made about the difference between a hockey mom and a pit bull. The hockey mom wears lipstick. So true. 

She is just inspiring and really has breathed new life into McCain's campaign. Honestly, I can say that McCain was truly wise to pick her and picking her tells me alot about him. On the other hand, Obama who is running on a campaign of reform, picked the old, white establishment as his running mate. Where is the change in that??? Wake up America!!! McCain is the one that embodies change - when have we had a woman VP?! How exciting is that!!! Plus it shows something about Obama. He obviously missed the political lesson that the VP choice should do no harm. Biden is a serious mistake on the part of Obama but one I am glad he made. 

Virtual Co-op update

I am relieved that things went really well. One of the forms uploaded but the other one didn't. I was aware this might happen and did have a back up plan. I just hand drew the chart on to the white board. It seemed that at least two of the moms really liked the Jeopardy game that I played. It was a great way for the kids to recall what they learned but in a non-threatening way, fun way. All the kids got a chance to speak because we rotated through the names. They also got to work in a team so that none of the kids had to feel put on the spot. My son said it was the best. So at least I had his vote. I was nervous about teaching and had him pray with me prior to co-op. He thought it was silly and that I would do fine. Still, inviting God in is never wrong. And I am happy I remembered to pray first. Sometimes I get so focused on what I am doing and teaching I forget the most important thing - to thank God and to ask for Him to be present during all we say and do. I think it makes all the difference.