Body fat experiment

Our Iditarod class is coming to an end with only one more class after today. Today, we did a "body fat experiment" to learn how animals stay warm in Alaska.

First, each of the boys put their hand inside a ziplock bag and stuck their hand in a pitcher full of ice water. They each tried to stay underwater for one minute. Only a couple of the boys could make it the whole time.

Next, they put their hand in a ziplock bag full of shortening and then put it in the icy water. This time, they could easily keep their hand underwater for 2 minutes!

Sled building

We had a lot of fun at our home-school co-op today. It was team spirit day, so Andrew dressed in St. Louis Cardinals colors and Matthew dressed in the colors of his baseball team, the Toledo Mud Hens. This is a real minor league team, and his little league team is named after them.

Today in our Iditarod class, the boys built their own sleds out of popsicle sticks. They also colored them to represent their "sponsors." Andrew's sponsor was Angry Birds. Jonah chose Nintendo DS. Matthew was sponsored by Nerf. And Sumner, being a HUGE Cardinals fan, chose the anti sponsor, "Boo Cubs."

Games and more

One of the other moms at our home-school co-op wasn't able to make it today, so I got to be the substitute for her class, "Games and More."

Now, this is totally MY kind of class! Basically, it's a great chance to get out all of those educational games that sometimes get put on a shelf and play them for an hour.

For me, that meant pulling together a big bag of my Discovery Toys games. Some of the kids in the class are a little younger than mine, so it was fun to dig out some of our old favorites, like "Zingo." 

And lots of others... I'm not sure who had more fun... me or the kids!

Back to co-op and more skating

21/365

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!