Our science project continues

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Today we got back to work on our radish-growing project. It's always exciting to look inside our orange-juice carton to see how our seeds have grown.

The kids have to plot the progress on a chart in their workbooks.

Today, we also made mini planters to grown some other radish seeds. And we are testing seeds in four different environments that mimic the following: underwater, a tropical rain forest, a regular moist environment and a desert.

You might wonder why ONE of our students is wearing his coat. All I can say is, this winter has been COLD! We keep our heat turned up, but it's hard to stay warm these days!

Top builder

30/365

Today was a crazy busy day, and yet, this is really the only photo I have to show for it! 

We have been doing a sermon series at church the past four weeks called, "Foundations," and the whole series has a Lego theme. Each week, we have been bringing big bins of Lego, and the kids have had a building contest.

Today was the last week of the contest, and our pastor announced the winners. Matthew was the first-prize winner for the house he built! Here he is, anxiously waiting to hear the winner!

By the way, I did have objective judges who chose the winners each week, and I was NOT one of them. :) 

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29/365

We are still covered in a blanket of snow on the last Saturday in January. Maybe February will bring some warmer temps?

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Sled dogs

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I mentioned before that I am teaching a class at our co-op on the Iditarod race across Alaska. Just by chance, there was a demonstration at the arboretum this weekend on dog-sled racing and the Iditarod.

We got together with another family that is in the class. Their two boys and our boys are great friends, so it was fun to go see the huskies in real life.

I'm not much of a dog lover, but these dogs were beautiful. They were also extremely gentle and playful.  They didn't mind to have kids all around them, hugging them and posing for photos.

They put on a demonstration where they hooked up the dog teams and we could watch them run in a big circle. I thought it was cool that some people ski while being pulled by dogs.

Here I am with my class of four boys — two sets of brothers! These guys are so much fun!

Jumpers

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We had a blast in our jump-roping class at co-op this week. AND I remembered to take a photo!

Snow football

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The boys were invited to a friend's house today to play "football in the snow." Alayna got to go along to play with the girl siblings of the football players.

I only got to snap a few photos when I dropped off the kids. The tackling began immediately, but a football was no where in sight. They tell me they DID eventually use a football as part of the game! :)

Coffee girl

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This is Jayda's favorite toy. It keeps her busy for long stretches of time.

It's the Keurig K-cup carousel. It comes with a wonderful accessory. A stack of small paper cups. 

The girl will sit and separate all of the cups. Then she takes the K-cups and places each one inside a paper cup. Then back in the carousel they go. 

We have a house full of toys. But none of them are nearly as much fun as the K-cup carousel.

And for those of you who have asked HOW we are able to home-school with a 1-year-old in the house, THIS is the answer.

Leap of faith

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Isn't this a sight that makes your stomach leap into your chest? Or perhaps it makes your heart fall into your stomach?

This is something we see frequently at our house. By frequently, I mean about 20 times a day.

Every other baby in this family has learned at an early age to crawl down the stairs. We have taught them to turn over on their bellies and scoot down. Each one has learned the skill within a few weeks. And all of them have become proficient at descending the stairs well before his or her first birthday.

Not this one.

She likes to stand at the top of the stairs with her toes practically teetering off the edge. "No, Jayda!" we say in a stern voice. "Jay-jay go down!" we say, as we have told her a million times before while making her slide down on her tummy.

But all of this attention only makes her smile even more and laugh as she moves toward the edge of that top stair.

Finally, one of us can't take it anymore. We rush toward her to stop her.

And what does she do?

She leaps into our arms, laughing with delight. The "catcher" has a near heart attack.

Of course, we put her back at the top and make her slide down on her tummy. But it doesn't help.

What baby wouldn't love the thrill of having any one of her five older family members come running toward her just so she can take a flying leap?

Radishes!

25/365

As part of our science curriculum this year, we are growing vegetables. Honestly, I have been dreading this part of our studies since we got the science kit in the mail back in August.

I wasn't looking forward to trying to create a greenhouse for a bunch of radish plants in the middle of winter. My anxiety grew when TWO of my home-schooling friends told me the project was a ton of effort and had ZERO results.

So, last week, I handed my husband the science book and the box full of supplies and told him I was too overwhelmed to do the science experiment. It would have to be up to him. I also told him that one of my friends had just tossed hers in the garbage.

"Should I take that as a challenge?" he asked.

A few days later I noticed the orange juice carton lying on its side with a piece of tape holding the top closed. The kids ran to look inside and started screaming.

"The radish seeds are sprouting!"

I couldn't believe it!

Our seeds really did sprout... To be continued...

The Twenty-One Balloons

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We had a very light day of school work today. I have been fighting a nasty cold, and I wasn't feeling well today. Matthew had a fever nearly all day.

We all felt well enough this afternoon to read one of our last chapters of "The Twenty-One Balloons." We have all really enjoyed this book and we can't wait to read the final chapter later tonight!

For some reason, Jayda just loves the photo of the guy on the front. She kisses him constantly, every time she sees him! We have to put her on the floor while we read because she is constantly grabbing the book to kiss the cover.

My helpers

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The kids are a huge help to me with my job at The Sanctuary. They love being able to pitch in and do their part when they know they are serving people at church.

We usually get to church on Sunday mornings at least an hour early to set stuff up. The past few weeks, we have had a Lego theme to the sermon series, called "Foundations."

We have been setting up a big table full of Lego each week and challenging people to build a "foundation." The kids have been soooo helpful in sorting Lego at home, carrying it in and, of course, building!

Matthew loves helping me set up the banners each week. He has done this so many times, he could probably do it himself now!

Oh, and I had to throw in a picture of this guy. He's the life-sized Lego man that some of the guys at church made as part of our set design. He was smiling in his Bears jersey because this was BEFORE the game.

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I'm taking one photo a week of the four kids standing in front of the same tree. This was our coldest photo yet! It was 18 degrees at 1:30 p.m. We are expecting a high of 20 today.

 

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Back to co-op and more skating

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We have all been getting excited about starting back to our home-school co-op this week. For the first time, I am teaching two classes, so I had lots of preparing to do.

We also were excited because our co-op moved to a new location, and we wanted to see what it would be like.

Jayda was happy to have a toddler room all decked out in toys just her size. The first period of the day was my "free" period, so she and I hung out in there. She loved snuggling with the big puppy and looking at books.

Second period, I taught a class called, "It's All in the Rhythm." I will be teaching the kids hand-clapping games, like "Miss Mary Mack," and jump-roping rhymes. I have three boys and four girls in the class, which makes it a lot of fun. In fact, we were having SO much fun, that I completely forgot to take a photo! Both Matthew and Alayna are in my class, while Andrew takes a class called, "Meet the Composers."

After that is lunch. Oh, wait! It looks like we added another brother to our family!

Third period, I teach a class called, "Iditarod: Race Across Alaska." We are studying history, geography and science as we learn about the Iditarod race, which takes place in March. I only have four boys in the class, but we are very excited to learn about this amazing race that pits dog-sled teams against each other, as well as against the harsh conditions of Alaska.

Andrew and Matthew are both in the class, along with their two good friends, brothers Sumner and Jonah. Alayna takes a drama class third period.

Around dinnertime, some good friends stopped by for a family skate on our backyard rink. The kids have been dying to have some adults get out there and skate. They especially love to skate at night when we turn on the "light" (yes... I just mean the outdoor patio light!), and we play our own music. I've been fighting a cold and it was about five below zero, so I had to sit out on the skating and snap photos.

We had a busy Friday, but tons of fun!

Music lovers

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I love the fact that my kids are now old enough to really enjoy music and have preferences about what they want to listen to.

Last week, Andrew asked if we could download a song he had been hearing on the radio by the Christian group, the Newsboys. I have been a little leary of the new Newsboys because I just don't get how Michael Tait, former member of dcTalk, can now be the lead singer.

Tait's soulful sound is a contrast to the disco, hip-hop sound of former lead singer Peter Furler.

Well, we ended up downloading the whole album, and it has become our new favorite around the house. It's also created a lot of conversation. The album includes the song, "Jesus Freak," which was the most popular song recorded by dcTalk.

The kids really know that their favorite Christian artist, TobyMac, was part of dcTalk. But they don't know anything about the other members, Michael Tait, and my personal favorite, Kevin Max.

So, they keep asking, "Why is Michael Tait singing TobyMac's song?"

"No, no, no!" I keep explaining. Michael Tait and TobyMac were BOTH part of dcTalk. So, Michael Tait has just as much right to sing the song (even though he's part of the Newsboys) as TobyMac with his own band.

It finally got to the point that I drew them a flow chart to try to explain the whole thing.

All of this conversation about the old dcTalk, the old Newsboys, the new TobyMac and the new Newsboys, led us to dig out all of our dcTalk and Newsboys cds from the past. We loaded them all on iTunes, and the kids have been loving their "new" collection of music.

I am loving hearing lots of my favorite songs from my two favorite groups from the past. And I love listening to all of this music through the "new ears" of my kids!

Basketball and gymnastics

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Wednesdays get really busy for us because Matthew is taking a basketball class, and Alayna is taking gymnastics. This Wednesday, we also added in a trip to public skate to meet up with some other home-school families. It was a packed day full of physical activity.

Alayna looks so much older this year in her gymnastics outfit!

Matthew is doing great at basketball. He won the dribbling contest this week and last week. It's fun to see him choosing to try a sport that doesn't interest his older brother. He loves basketball class and can't wait for it each week.

How do you spell MISSISSIPPI?

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We are looking forward to Friday when our classes resume at our home-school co-op. For the first time, I will be teaching two classes at co-op.

One of my classes is called "All in the Rhythm." I am going to teach lots of hand-clapping rhymes, like Miss Mary Mack, as well as jumping rope. I have two different DVDs with hand-clapping, rope-jumping moves, rhymes and songs.

As I've been preparing, the kids have really been getting into it. They have contests daily to see who can jump the longest. They also are learning all the words to songs like, "A, My Name is Alice" and "How Do You Spell MISSISSIPPI?"

Of course, Jayda has to get in on the action. She either wraps the rope around her head like a necklace or bobs her body along with the songs. We have to constantly watch her because she gets so tangled up in the ropes!

After the fun

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Fun on the ice

16/365

Our ice skating rink is finally complete. It turned out far better than I ever anticipated! 

Because we started so late building it, we couldn't even consider trying to level the yard first. It's funny that even in a yard that seems fairly flat, a few inches of decline can make a huge difference when you are thinking of filling a space with water.

The rink is about 28 feet by 26 feet. My wonderful husband had to build up the far side because it is about six inches deeper than the opposite corner. This means we have about eight inches of water in the deepest section and only about two inches in the diagonal corner.

We've learned a lot about the freezing properties of water. It took us nearly a week to add layers of water and let them freeze. In the middle of this process, we got several inches of snow. That seems like a good way to fill the rink with water, right? Well, not exactly.

It's too cold for the snow to melt and create a nice smooth surface. If it freezes, it will create bumps that have to be chipped away. So, snow means we need to shovel the rink!

But after much waiting, much shoveling, much filling, much chipping away at uneven ice, we finally got  to skate this weekend!

I joined in on the fun on Sunday afternoon. The rink doesn't seem like it would be big enough to really get good exercise. But it actually is. It took me a few laps to find my center of gravity. I haven't ice skated in about 10 years. 

Once I did, I spent about an hour going around and around. We brought out some music, which was even more fun!

These days, we closely monitor the weather. But unlike most years when we moan and groan if it drops below 20, we are starting to look forward to those days! We want to keep our ice frozen so we can have lots more fun on the rink.