67 So Jesus said to the twelve, "You do not want to go away also, do you?"
68 Simon Peter answered Him, "Lord, to whom shall we go? You have the words of eternal life.
69 We have believed and have come to know that You are the Holy One of God."
John 6:67-69
emphasis mine

That Little Charmer...

Last night for our game night, we decided to play Payday. It's a really great game if you have little ones since they don't have to hold cards or read anything. It's just very easy to be able to help them. Also, you can determine the length of the game since you can choose how many "months" to play. Three seems to be a good length of time for our gang, but we have played as few as one lol.

As we were setting up the game Nicholas announced that he wanted to go first. Todd informed him that the youngest goes first so Megan's team goes first. Nicholas then decided to charm Megan onto his team by offering her 100 kisses if she picks him and guess what? ;)


Yep, Nicholas got to go first ;)

Busy Little Chemists

What a great day we had! Our co-op had a scheduled field trip today to The Works museum in Newark and we had a blast! My friend, Jenny talked me into going early to explore the museum since my gang had never been there and I'm so glad she did! I'd been in a funk all week and this was a great way to snap out of it :) There are so many hands-on stations in there we just hopped from one thing to another.

We got there at 10:30 just in time to see a glass-blowing demonstration. Wow! That was great! I, unfortunately, didn't get an pics of that, but I did of everything else! Actually, I took a MASSIVE amount of pictures and decided to put quite a few up here (grandmas will be really happy!). Here's our day:

Kristen and Jon seeing how much work it takes to power certain electrical appliances.
Nicholas and the heat-sensing unit:
What the screen looked like when he had something cold in his hand:
Megan had so much fun trying to balance this ball in the air:
She had even MORE fun when she realized it would blow her hair!
Designing a marble track:
Racing a car...
Learning about centrifugal force:
Building with K'Nex:
That was all just playtime ;)

Now the class begins.

First we learned what a polymer is. Basically it's a string of molecules. If you want a better definition, look it up ;) Here are some examples of a polymer:
Then we got to see him make polystyrene (styrofoam):
This was a liquid that took up about an inch or so in the bottom of a plastic cup. He stirred another chemical into it and as he stirred, the foam started growing right out of the cup!

Our kids were fantastic little field-trippers! They had lots of questions (and answers), were kind to each other, respectful to the adults, and really had a great experience there!
And they got to make their own slime ;)

They were to do an experiment on their slime that could be done relatively quick and they did, but then one person stood on a chair to see how far hers would stretch without breaking and she started a trend! Everyone started climbing up on chairs! The "teacher" was so sweet about this and was running around trying to get measurements so we could compare (very scientific!).

Nicholas and Emma seeing how far theirs will stretch without breaking:
Rhyse and Brandon:
After the experiments, the teacher had 5 stations set up with different polymers for the kids to check out, again very hands-on. Here's a couple:
We will definitely be back to The Works sometime! We had such a nice day! Thank you so much, Angi, for another wonderful field trip! You, Greer and Creux were missed today! I hope the pics of your boys help you see how much fun they had.

Something fun

You Are Chirping Birds

You are a very caring person. You especially feel for innocent beings, like animals and children. You are keyed in to the world and very peaceful. You believe that everyone is connected. You remain focused and in the moment. You are not easily distracted. You have a good memory, especially for things that you hear. You listen carefully.

What Part of Spring Are You?

Thanks Jenny for the fun quiz! I'm not so sure about the accuracy though...especially the "not easily distracted" part! LOL

Entertainment Provided by Daddy

A few days ago, I bought a new, and much bigger, filing cabinet. Between all the household stuff we have to keep track of and all the school stuff (which is mountainous to say the least!), we were outgrowing the one I use. So yesterday, I set about switching files and trying to organize our classroom (aka dining room ;)). The kids played fantastically together for a while inside, but when they were ready to venture out someone big needed to go with them. Todd headed out with the intentions of working on the boat for a while and keeping his eye on them at the same time; however he got sucked into their game ;)

This is what I witnessed when I stepped outside for some fresh air to clear my very foggy head ;)
Why are they running??


Ahhhh....;)

Love...

4 Love is patient, love is kind and is not jealous; love does not brag and is not arrogant,
5 does not act unbecomingly; it does not seek it's own, is not provoked, does not take into account a wrong suffered,
6 does not rejoice in unrighteousness, but rejoices with the truth;
7 bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things.
1 Corinthians 13:4-7

Maple Syrup Madness

Earlier this month, we went on a field trip to Dawes Arboretum for some info on maple syruping. It was fantastic! The trip was originally scheduled for a day that was bitter cold; so, thankfully, it was rescheduled :) (thank you Angi!). The rescheduled day so so much nicer, we could actually tolerate being outside!

The tour starts by the parking lot and winds through the woods where you can see some tapped trees, but also some great props. It was very interesting to see how things were 100+ years ago and how they've changed.
The purple area on the map is the only place that produces maple syrup. All the syrup in the world comes from this small area!
Since sap is mostly water, it has to be boiled for a long time to get syrup. Back in pioneer times (and even longer) the sap was boiled outside in a large kettle over an open fire because there is so much steam. It takes 50 gallons of sap to make 1 gallon of syrup!

This is a "tree cookie" with tons of information about tapping. The taps only go in a little ways since the sap runs through the tree close to the bark.
Here you can see a scar left from a tap.
So curious!

These popular brands all had tags on them with numbers. The numbers were the percentage of real maple syrup ;) Aunt Jemima was the lowest there...I think her number was 1 (I might be wrong it was weeks ago! But really I couldn't believe how low those numbers were!).
Mmmm samples of REAL maple syrup!
We also learned that sometimes they would cook the syrup too long on purpose and call"It's sugaring!" then everyone would grab containers from the house and they would pour the quickly hardening syrup in the containers. It would then solidify and they would use it as sugar! They could just scrap some off and put it in whatever they needed!
More modern boiling method. See the vents in the ceiling:

It was a great day and such an informative field trip! This place is really huge (1400 acres?) and filled with all kinds of trees and flowers that grow in Ohio. They also offer so many conservation and horticulture programs; I know we'll be back there soon!

Bringing a Little Spring Indoors

Several years ago, I saw an idea in a home magazine on how to bring spring indoors. You cut some branches from a tree that will have blooms like a Crabapple or Peach tree, bring them inside, smash ends a little of shave of the bark at the ends, put in a vase of warm water and they will bloom in your home! I haven't done this in quite some time, but this year, Nicholas' science book had the same suggestion. You can actually see the buds as they start to green and slowly begin to bloom! It has been a wonderful end to our plant unit study! Not to mention, we are all so excited about spring that's its been very nice having some green in the house!

I have a big floor vase, but you could cut smaller branches for a table vase as well. (my tables are currently too cluttered with books and papers to try to make them pretty;))

Megan "reading" under our tree:

These branches are from our Crabapple tree which is ALWAYS in need of prunning so no trees were injured in the making of our science experiment ;)

Fashion according to Megan

This is what I get when I ask Megan to go get dressed ;)

Pray without Ceasing

16 Rejoice always;
17 pray without ceasing;
18 in everything give thanks; for this is God's will for you in
Christ Jesus.
1 Thessalonians 5:16-18

Brotherly Love

As you may know, we have Family Night on Fridays. We make homemade pizza, have ice cream, watch a movie and/or play games. One other thing is special...we let the boys have a "sleep over".

They have always loved sleeping in the same bed. They take comfort in the fact that they are not alone. They feel safer together. It's really sweet what great friends they are :) They stay up late talking and laughing and just being silly! It's really so cute!

Last night, we let them stay up late to watch a movie. They were so comfy they wanted to sleep in the family room. So we let them ;)

Of course they ARE brothers. Today I fully expect them to be bickering and pestering one another ;)

Today was a Good Day...

This has been a very odd year for me. There have been so many changes I can't keep up! Just when I have everything figured out and under control I get the rug jerked out from under me ;) I'm dealing with Kristen's growing independence and all of Brandon's new things in his life, but there have been other changes that are more subtle although equally important.

I've never taught anyone to read or do math before. Kristen went to school through the 4th grade and Brandon taught himself basic reading and math when he was 4-5 years old. So Nicholas was my first, first-grader :) It has been quite the experience! There have been some very frustrating days. I never thought I would have to say the same things so many times! But today, he read his reader-of-the-week to me and let me tell you...he did good! I've been noticing a change in him lately. He doesn't protest as much when it's time to get our day started. And you should see him zip through that math! He can even read some of the reading problems and the number words! I've been so impressed with all he's learned this year! And the best part is, I got to see each small step he took along the way! It has been a very special, rewarding time with him. Today at the grocery he said, "Mom, I can read that cereal box...Pops" He was looking at a box of corn pops! I think it's the first time he's tried to read anything outside of our house...something out in the world! That was a very exciting moment for him! He was very impressed! Tonight, when I was snuggling him in bed, he said, "I can still remember that cereal I read at the store." I think today was very special so I thought I'd post some pics of him working hard to celebrate:
(again...see that sun coming in??)

At Dawes Arboretum checking out the maple syrup buckets (more to follow on that).
Working on his 100 chart:
Checking out eggs in a chicken coop with Megan on a farm field trip back in the fall:
Working hard, but see the toy in this picture?? That's what I'm always up against ;)
Being sweet with his sister :) O.K. he's not really working here, but it's very cute!
Today was a good day...