Roman Road & Aqueduct

An engineering marvel! I was so excited to do this project! I think the kids enjoyed it as much as I did. Way to finish up the semester with a bang.

And my snow bunnies.

End of an era.

probably.

E for Effort

This is one of those cases where I should have known better. But I've been feeling like we aren't doing enough of the hands-on stuff from our history material.
What exactly is a chick pea, anyway? For 87¢ a can it was not great loss, but taste wise I must dub it "Garbanzo Gar-bage"

*


* Note: That is the dollar store fork the kids fight over. It has taken photographing it & staring at this post to make me realize there are 3 more of them in the scary jumble of the utensil basket in my silverware drawer.

Surface Tension and Sleep Deprivation

Sleep deprivation has its perks. Earlier this week Race was wide awake at midnight wanting to play. Not to be a party-pooper, I turned on the light & watched while he mastered waving. Slowly and intently he bent his fingers, first away then towards his face, silently studying the movements all the while.





Today's science topic was surface tension. There are lots of fun things to try that demonstrate the principle. Food coloring always adds to an experiment.


Max's handwriting is getting good. Yes, the photo is upside down. And yes, he chose to document that aspect of the experiment.

Last night this boy talked in his sleep. Do you know what he said?
"Mmah, mma ma." Then he was quiet again. Really.

Don't you love those eyelashes?

Learning something new

What fun!

Six Months!

can really fly.

It's getting cold now & I'm dreading the winter weather. School is keeping me hopping. Letting the kids set their pace has me a little out of breath. I try to keep up. The housework has definitely been getting bumped to the end of the things to do list a lot lately. Race is getting me up a lot at night still, so staying up a little later hasn't been an option. Most nights we we're in bed before 10. Closer to 9.

Yesterday I got enough REM sleep to have a dream about the daisies coming up three times bigger than last year. Already?

Photo troubles.

hrmmnf.

Whatever floats your boat

This week we made the butter tub paddle-wheel boat. We read about:
~ Galileo and potential energy (dropping a rock on the kitchen floor)
~ Joule and the conservation of energy (chanting "Energy cannot be created or destroyed...")
~ Steam engines. I love pouring over the photos with all the parts labeled with descriptions of their functions.

We also played with rubber bands to see how they store energy. Making a rubber band ball is harder than you might think.


Our butter tub was less than perfect for the task. I'm guessing that rounded corners made the size of the paddle too small.


Here is a gratuitous dog picture. Hello dog.

An unlikely accomplishment

Wow, I can't believe I got this done! I need to give credit where it's due, The big kids helped a lot & a well timed nap on the part of the little one made the whole thing possible. We also put 4 wheelbarrow loads of compost into the garden & made room for fall leaves. Now, I'm really hoping to get out & rake a little. ...right after we read about octopus.

3 reasons

Why I have an
incredible,
happy,
busy,
silly,
magical
life.

Five Months

And more wonderful every day.

Annual trip to the Orchard

It was a lovely day, sunny & it didn't get cold until we were about ready to go home. I have 1/2 a bushel of apples to put to use. The apple crisp was really good, though I caught the kids eating just the crisp & leaving the apples.....
Race & I had it easy in the corn maze because the bigger kids ran ahead to lead the way. They also went back for a 2nd trip (at a full run) after the apple picking.

Seacoast Science Center

Thursday we went on a great field trip. The day was perfect - the only thing that could have been better would have been having more time to explore!

A question

from a great message board
"What are the top 2-5 things that you really want your kids to learn?"

I've pondered this since I read it. The first comes easily, but what else ranks in that top 2-5?

1. Ambition. Ambition to try things without being afraid. To pursue the big dreams as well as the little things. Ambition to master something, follow what calls them, create what they envision.

2. Observation. Remember to watch and think. Use the information that is all around us. Make connections. Understand a deeper thread throughout existance.

3. Philosophy. Develop a personal moral code that jibes with their hearts as well as the world around them - and the hard part - living by it.

4. Joy. Finding the things that give it all meaning. The things that (to quote a friend) make the stars shine a little brighter & the air smell a little sweeter.

5. For number five I'll throw in academics. That is why we need school, right? ;)

Please

Never
Forget.

Good Catch

I love this.

First Day of School

We did it! Started on time & did more than we had planned for the day. We even scheduled/confirmed our first field trip for next Friday.


Rock on - here's to a great school year!

Yard Shoes

Canvas tennis shoes. I wear them around the yard when I'm not barefoot, which usually means hardcoreyardwork. Anything that might involve thorns or dirt or wet or a shovel.
They see all manner of foulness.
Usually I leave them on the porch. Earlier today I stepped in something bad - so I threw them out next to the step so I could clean them off later. When I went out to toss some stuff in the beloved compost pile I put them back on - I set off - then I stopped & removed the right shoe.


Poor slug didn't make it. Max checked for me.

Seven

Years.
Happy Anniversary.

The Sun

is back! It's been rainy for more than a week and though there were some stretches of sun you knew another thunderstorm could be on the way at any moment.
I was so excited to see that 'it's going to be a beautiful day' sun that I had to take a picture first thing this morning. I really wanted to catch that sunlit baby.

Something else catching the light.

Several hours later I took one more moment to get a shot of the still water before we headed home.

I'm still digging the sun-drenched baby. I think he was missing the summer weather, too.

Three Months

Race is 3 months old today. Those newborn days are officially past. He's busier all the time, revealing more of his personality with each passing day. What could be better?

I'm noticing a pattern.

The other day I vowed to post this picture with the caption "all he does is lay around"


But when I look around, he's not the only one.


In fact, It's a pretty wide-spread trend.


Honestly though - he's been working really hard in every spare moment. So have I. I'm awfully proud of us.

Rain, Rain, Go Away . . . .

It feels like it's been raining for weeks. It's probably only been about 5 days but that's more than enough for me. I'm ready for things to dry out & get back to that summertime feel.

Six

She gave the most direct, deep in the eyes look from a newborn. I remember such a determined tot finding independence. My little lawyer, noting every loophole while bargaining for the best deal. What a mona-lisa smile over amazing memory and an incredible mind. Happy Birthday to my wonderful girl.

A book

A couple of weeks ago the big kids & I made a book of leaf rubbings. It came out beautifully.
Of course, I had to take a photo for the back cover, which of course led me to make a scrapbook page of it....

Living on baby time

Horatio Jack

Wow, already it's over a month since Horatio arrived.
Things have been so busy. I'm sleep deprived & my nipples are still kinda sore but all is wonderful. I can't believe how little down time there is in a day. Or what a mess the house is. Or how much he's grown already. Or how much love there is.

This is

The Due Date.

Some Pictures

These are from the last 2 weeks while spring was here in full force - warm & sunny. Now we have a week of rain ahead. I guess it provides time to play with the pictures.

Making Mud

Science Fun

The countdown to baby is on - 8 days! Of course, it could be a bit longer - but I am hoping that things will get moving here soon. The Drs. have reassured me I won't have to go too far overdue. Time to get a last picture of my belly. Everyone has been telling me how huge I am.