ABC song

Miss Emily and Miss Retta's rendition of the ABC song.

It's beginning to look a lot like Christmas

IT SNOWED!!! Burrr..it is cold. Wind Chill, -13 degrees yesterday.

Oh My..Oh My... Amy, Jim and Emily arrive tomorrow from Vancouver. I cry every time I think about seeing them come off that airplane. Can't wait.

We are celebrating our Christmas on the 26th, to accomodate everyones work schedules and such. Anna will be coming on the 24th, Carla arrives from New York on the 25th, and Shirah arrives from Seattle the night of the 25th.

I am trying to do a mad dash to get everything done, but unfortunately I am moving at a snail pace. We have all been so sick. What started as a "minor cold" turned into a full fledged flu with all the snarly symptoms rolled into one HUGE package. We are doing the best we can. I lost my Christmas spirit in a tissue somewhere, but found it again today and am busy as an elf.

I will not be making another entry until after the New Year. I will be sure to post pictures of all the great secret projects we did and celebrations we enjoyed. I have CRANIUM warming up on the coffee table.

Play of the Year Award

What a play!! Encore! Encore!

It was absolutely beautiful! The kids did such a fabulous job. The stage was so nicely done, and the lighting and costumes looked so great on stage. Everyone remembered their lines and did great. They projected their voices well and sang in wonderful harmony.

Unfortuanately the pictures did not turn out to well. We were to far back in the auditorium and the lighting on the stage interfered with the flash.

The amazing thing was sitting thru all the rehearsals the last 4 months, and wondering how this production would ever turn out. The kids habitually forgot their lines, talked to each other, wouldn't follow directions, wouldn't project their voices, ect..  It was as if magic dust was sprinkled on them the day of the play. We all sat there saying...Wow they were paying attention!.

Musa said to me after the play....Mom you were right, I really loved doing this.

 

Three Wee Kings--This Sunday

 

 

YOU ARE ALL INVITED

Secrets

 

It is SOOOO hard to keep secrets. I haven't been making as many journal entries because everything we are doing is a SECRET. We have lots of handmade projects going on but because the whole family reads this journal I can't talk about any of them. But I can say this...they are all fabulous, heartfelt and sooo cool. I know everyone will be thrilled.

After Christams I promise to make more regular entries and share all the fun.

 

 

Spy Games and Machines

 

 

We have had unusually warm days. It is hard to believe it is December. Usually by now it is quite cold, but we have been staying in the mid 60's and even 70's. It has allowed for extended outdoor play for the kids which is great.

 

 

 

Musa has been spending time exploring the woods on our property.  He is fascinated with spy's and secret police. He wanted to see if I could find him in the woods. After he saw the picture he realized that he shouldn't wear a bright yellow shirt. We laughed that he could learn from Retta's camouflaged grasshoppers. We had a great laugh.

He is fascinated with the way our two new Christmas Deer move.  He wants to try to make his own machine like the one that moves the deer. Aha, a new project to start the NewYear.  

Camouflauge and The Leg of Dinosaur

Retta was playing in her on going archaeology dig and came running in the house with a excited look on her face and her eyes big and sparkling. *Mama, come quick. You will never believe it. I just found camouflaged grasshopper fossils. Archaeologists call them Hoppers. Hurry.*  I quickly put on my shoes and ran out to the site to share in the delight of her discovery. She kept pointing to the puddle saying, *See Mama*  I bent down as close as I could and didn't see anything. I told her I didn't see anything and she said, * Look closer mama.* I tried again, and told her I was sorry but I just couldn't see them. She stood up and said, *Mama, you can't see them because they are camouflauged !!*  So once again the wisdom of the child prevails.

She went on to show me the leg of a dinosaur. She explained it was the * upper part of the leg that hooks into the hip.*

Retta's latest Masterpiece

 

 

She loves glitter!!

 

Computer game day

Today was computer day! Musa was enjoying a Harry Potter game he checked out from the library. I have to admit the graphics were really cool. He had fun casting spells. He also loved flying on a broomstick.

Retta spent three hours playing Freddi Fish. She really works hard to try to figure it out. She gets a little frustrated at times but hangs in there. "Yay, I found another purple sea urchin."

We snuggled in downstairs this afternoon with a fire in the fireplace and watched Agent Cody Banks. Musa was in heaven...he loved all the cool spy stuff. It was a really cute movie. Had me laughin' a few times.

Retta had another tough time at bedtime. "Mama, I just don't want to be four, could I please be 3 or 5..sob..4 just scares me too much. I can't be 4 because I make my A's crooked and my Y's don't look like Y's."  After much reassurance, a back scratch session, songs and a story...she fell off to sleep.  

Loretta singing Wee Three Kings

Musa singing Three Wee Kings

Painting and Cartoons

Today Musa caught up on as many cartoons as he could. He missed out yesterday as he was busy helping Dad with leaf blowing and learned how to change the oil in the truck. He was so excited that he got to climb under the truck. He realized this morning that he had missed a good Sunday of cartoons so he fit in as many as he could today.

Retta spent the day painting. She is loving working with acrylics because she can mix the colors. When she grew tired of painting on paper she decided to paint Bella's (the golden retriever) head green. Bella didn't seem to mind and Retta said she thought it looked pretty. All in the name of art!

We took a trip to the library and picked up a few movies and books. We looked thru some books and got a few more ideas for Christmas presents. We have lots of projects to keep us busy. So many secrets.

Musa and Retta want to sing the song they are working on for the concert. Check the audio entry for tonight.

Testing Audio

Those Darn Leaves

Would you believe we are still dealing with leaves? We had quite a wind storm yesterday so it really piled them up again. The trees are bare now so I can safely say this is the last of the lot. The kids had a great romp in the piles.

We worked on one of the walls of PineCone Clubhouse. The "rule" is we can only use natural materials that we find laying around. We found some HUGE pieces of bark that made some great walls. This is a work in progress and we are excited to see how it turns out.

We had a quiet Thanksgiving, just the four of us. The Christmas spirit has really kicked in and we are all busily working on our handmade projects. We have come up with some fabulous ideas...but I can't share ...because...it's a SECRET!!!

Loretta's 4th Birthday

Retta turned four on November 24th. We celebrated this special day in grand style with good friends, happy games, singing, gigling, feasting and surprises.

Big sister Anna was here and helped with the Clifford decorations and cake decorating. That was a great gift for Mom.

Retta recieved many great gifts..lot's of art supplies, and her first new bike. She has been on it non-stop since.

As bedtime arrived, Retta... very tired and overwhelmed...layed on her bed sobbing. "Mama, I just don't think I want to be four. It's just so hard. Can I please just stay 3?" Why is it so hard? "It's just too much pressure."  (Gez, I can't wait until the 13th birthday!)

Archaeology by night

I tried to get Retta to come in last night from her on-going archaelogy dig. I used the arguement that it was getting dark and she needed to come inside. She sprang up, and said, "Just a minute Mommy!" She ran into the garage and came back with a flashlight. "See Mommy, now I can stay out."

It's hard to argue with the future scientists of the world.

Tears and Tree Spirits

Anna and Tyrus were here on Sunday for a visit. We have been taesing Tyrus for sometime to bring his ax when he comes to help split logs. We lost a elm tree in Hurricane Isabel last year it has been laying by the barn seasoning until this year. Dad and Tyrus decided to start spliting..... Musa was out watching.

I noticed Musa walking around the yard looking upset. I called him in and asked what was wrong. He repeatedly said nothing was but it was obvious from a Mom's point of view, there was. I continued to push and he started crying. Sobbing. He collapsed in my arms.  He finally pulled himself together enough to tell me. He said that Tyrus had "chopped" a tree. After much discussion and detective work it turned out that Tyrus had tossed the ax at a tree, sticking the ax in the tree trunk. Musa was horrified as he felt the tree was in pain and was now injured. He was devastated. He couldn't understand how Tyrus could hurt a tree.

This went back to a Earth Day celebration we had at the house last spring. We had decorated a tree and made a cool path leading up to the tree and the kids were asked to approach the tree, ask it permission to approach, and then hug the tree and feel it's spirit. Musa had a very positive experience that day and now feels very strongly that trees have spirits and feel pain. He has vowed not to hurt them.

We spent time discussing how different people feel about things. We explained that when Tyrus was growing up firewood was a source of heat and so he may have grown up with a different idea about trees. Musa seemed very relieved to know that Tyrus had not done this as a malicious act, but rather out of a different belief system. He put it to rest and went about his day. He was reassured that we would watch the tree closely and provide first aid as necessary.

Tragic as this was for Musa it was an enlightening experience for me. I sometimes have looked at my son and wonder how much of the "Barrett" spirit is within him. Today I saw that it was alive and well. Little does he know this is the beginning of his life as an activist, always fighting for the downtrodden and misunderstood.  

PARTY TIME

PARTY TIME

The Coleman Homeschooling Academy officially starts it's winter break today. We take a break from our regular studies until January 5th. We started this tradition several years ago as we decided we just wanted to enjoy and embrace the holiday season to it's fullest.

As with some homeschooling families and certainly this one, learning is a way of life. Although, I do structure with some light curriculum, we believe strongly that life is learning. Children are natural learners and do so much better learning what they choose instead of what is shoved at them.

So, although we are on break, the projects and learning will most certainly continue. We spend a lot of time cooking, and snugling around the fireplace reading books and catching up on movies. We review traditions and reminisce of seasons past. We tell stories of generations past and traditions that have come forward. We decorate the house in grand fashion and remember the origins of old ornaments and adornments such as the old advent calender that hung in the gray house of Ballard. We joyously sing Christmas songs regardless of our beliefs and sweetly remember the favorites or those gone before us. We cook favorite recipes like Aunt Carla's pumpkin bread and ginger drink, Grandma Maude's apple pie, my mothers sinful sweet potatoes or my father's favorite Christmas eve treat..little smokies. There's Grandma Loretta's collards and Anna's sweet potato pie. We laugh about making Dad cook and eat those nasty chitterlings outside.

We have lot's of projects to design and complete.  The finishing of homemade gifts, sanding wood, cutting fabric, sewing and sawing, and candle making. Painting and stamping, cutting and measuring, keeping secrets and telling legends. Wrapping, tieing bows, taping and packing, making and sending cards. If we are lucky there will be snow angels to make and icicle treats. We can sled down our fabulous hill and visit Pincone Clubhouse in the snow. We will sip hot cocoa and discuss the origins of cinnamon sticks. We will recycle ordinary, everyday trash into beautiful art sculptures reflective of the season.

So...who needs curriculum..we cover social studies, history, language arts, music, art, math, science and religiousstudies. All in the form of a great celebration. Sure makes me think of turning this into a year round way of life.   

Eyeballs, Fish and Yet More Leaves

We had a long 4 day weekend. Dad was off work on Thursday for Veterans Day and Friday we had physicals scheduled with our family doctor. Saturday and Sunday we spent hanging around the house. We got our Christmas lights up and continued the major task of leaf removal or should I say leaf rearranging. It would be virtually impossible to actually remove all the leaves from this property, so we just attempt to blow them into the woods.

Retta spend yesterday digging through the flower bed with a pair of tweezers. She busily washed each grain of "stuff" she found and then identified and classified them. She swears she found the remains of some fish. She said there must have been an ocean here one day. She proudly showed me a small grain of sand and announced that it was an "eyeball." She will spend HOURS digging through the dirt. She has the patience of a saint.

Musa really helped out this weekend. He spent several hours blowing leaves. It was such a great help. The older he gets the more I am able to count on him to help out around the house. He is accepting resonsibility more and more. He will do anything I ask him, and is really quite good natured about it. I believe he will be a strong, awesome, reliable person when he grows.

Learning Triumphantly

Musa continues to work hard on his recorder lessons. He is struggling a little with understanding how to read music but everyday he seems to grasp more. He can play Mary had a Little Lamb and Hot Crossed Buns. He continues to enjoy his teacher. He has memorized his lines for the play in which he will be a donkey. (There are many things I could insert here about why I think he will make a great donkey, but I will resist the urge :)  His lines:

"I have heard of that. They say He'll will come triumphantly through the streets on the back of a young donkey."

He has them down well. He is very nervous about the play, but also very excited.

Retta continues to be relieved that she stepped aside. She takes her toys and art supplies with her and stays busy while Musa practices. She gets to spend time with her friend Kayla, which always makes her happy. She knows all the songs of the play by heart and also knew Musa's lines before he did, but is just to terrified to be in front of people. So she watches comfortably from the sidelines.

Finishing Old and Starting New

We have been busy. We devoted the weekend to leaf removal. We blew leaves, we raked leaves...Retta carried buckets of leaves....we blew more. I am not sure we accomplished anything. This is the price we pay for living in the woods. I always question our decision this time of year. Oh well, all in all it is a small price we pay for the paece and solitude we enjoy.

We have spent the last several days finishing up some old projects. Musa and Dad have been working on his PowerPoint project of his werewolf research. I have been going through paper and projects and getting things filed away.  We have also been planning what gifts we are going to make for family for Christmas. I think the decisions have been made and the kids came up with some great stuff. Retta is working on some weaving projects and fabric braiding, and she is planning on making some small baskets. Musa is working on some cool bead projects. I am sure the gift reciepients will be pleased.

We start our vacation on the 15th of this month. Since we school all year around, we take our big break at Christmas time. We won't officially start "school" again until January. I am reading more and more about unschooling and am leaning heavily in that direction. Maybe by the 1st of the year I will have made the transition.

 

Rainy Day Blues

Pouring down rain today.  Just did light activities. The kids played with their felt shapes, making different pictures. They were gigling and having a great time. Caught up on a few math lessons and Musa started planning his independent project for November.

Took a rain soaked trip to the library and hung out for awhile. I always enjoy watching the kids pick out their books. Always something new. Musa continues to show interest in history, especially American history. I am thinking of bailing on the choosen curriculum this year and jump into American History. The joy of homeschooling. We can think for ourselves!!!

Grieving but still learning

Great learning going on here today. No need for curriculum. Topics included...Winning vs. Losing. Democracy. Hope. Spirit. Dealing with Loss. What's at Stake. Heroes. Opinions. Dissention being the purest form of Patriotism. Licking Wounds. Hope. Strength. Rest. Perseverance.

It was a hard day. But a learning day. A resting day.

Out of the mouth of children comes simple wisdom sometimes:

Retta and I were resting on my bed this afternoon and I said, "Retta I just don't get it, we worked so hard, we did so much, what went wrong. She sat up, thought for a minute and said: "Next time we need to yell louder and make our signs bigger."

And so we will................................................  

ELECTION DAY

IT IS NO SECRET.....THIS IS A DEMOCRATIC HOUSEHOLD. WE ARE SOOOO ANXIOUS. MUSA HAS HIS STATE MAP READY TO COLOR THE STATES AS THEY REVEAL THIS EVENING.

Our mantra today: WE WILL PREVAIL. WE WILL TAKE BACK OUR COUNTRY.

In our house the election and politics are very much a part of our school day. Retta has been busy counting Bush and Kerry signs as we drive. Musa has learned much about democracy and has asked many good questions about how other countries run their governments. He is very excited to work on his map tonight. This past year he has participated in protest marches, helped host a moveon.org party, and held up signs and candles at a candelight vigil we had for the soldiers that have died. It has been a very active year and a lot of great learning opportunities at our fingertips. He has also learned about conflict resolution and debating principles.

We are planning a picnic type dinner in front of the TV tonight. Let's hope it is not an all nighter!!

 

PineConeClubhouse

We decided to explore the woods of our property for the first time. The kids packed their backpacks with what the felt were the necessities. Water, crackers, magnifying glasses, a mini recorder, camera, ribbon to mark the trail, collection containers.

The quest had several parts. We were looking for unusual flora and fauna that we have not seen in our yard...(Are the woods different from our yard?)....We were also looking for different types of fungi...(Retta is fascinated by them)...and probably the most important...searching for the perfect location to build a clubhouse.

We were successfull on all three counts. We some unusual ferns that we have never seen before. We found some beautiful mushrooms, and we found the perfect place to make a secret clubhouse. We will be sure to journal the continuing saga of progress in building the clubhouse.

Halloween

The kids had a great time on Sunday.  We started the Halloween adventure by going to our local Vounteer Fire Station and doing the annual, "Drive thru fright nite." They roll the trucks out and decorate the fire station as a very haunted house. You roll down the windows and drive thru. Numerous scary creatures jump up into the windows and scare you. It was hilarious. I was more scared than Retta.

We then went trick or treating in our subdivision. The folks really get into it with graveyards in their yards and lots of fog machines. It really is a blast.

Musa looked so scary in his costume. At his age it is clear that the scariest and most bloody costumes are the thing. For Retta being a nice kitty cat was still okay.

Everyone needs to say a little prayer as I will spend the next couple of weeks dealing with small children on sugar highs!

Playing hookie and eclipses

We were supposed to be at music lessons and chorus today, but we woke up and all looked at each other and decided to stay home. We have been so busy lately and been out of the house so much I think we were all exhausted. We just needed a day to stay home and kick back. So we played hookie from class and stayed in our jamies ALL DAY!

We finished up Halloween decorations and just sat around and read books. Loretta made flying bats out of egg cartoons. We brushed up on our eclipse knowledge as tonight at about 10 pm our time the eclipse was supposed to happen.

About 930p Carla called and told Butch the moon was orange and to go out and look. . We went out and it was still white at our house. It didn't eclipse until about 10:10p. It was great that Carla called because that turned into a whole lesson about why the eclipse happened sooner for her in New York.

Loretta was much more interested in her own shadow, and the flashlight, spooky faces she was making. As the moon was almost through it's eclipse, you could see a rainbow of colors in the center of it....it was beautiful, and she really enjoyed that. Musa went in and got his science book and wanted to see how big the moon was in relation to the Earth. He has seen that comparison many times in books, but something about the eclipse made it all real tonight. Score!

Thanks Aunt Carla, for the tip.  

Halloween Party

The kids had their Halloween party with a bunch of their friends yesterday. A great time was had by all. Loretta is the kittycat standing with her back turned in the group picture. Musa is hiding somewhere behind Darth Vader in the group picture.

They did arts and crafts, ate lots and lots of sugar and played some great ole' games like pin the tail on the Halloween cat and musical chairs. Krisin did a fabulous job with great decorations and entertainment for all. We are hosting the Christmas party for the group and now the pressure is on...hard to top this one.

Halloween Studies

We abandoned the usual curriculum for ...HALLOWEEN STUDIES..YAY.

Musa choose "werewolves" for his independent study project this month and he had dug up some pretty cool stories and legends.  It has been a lot of fun.  He is putting it all together in a Powerpoint presentation.  He drew a awesome picture of a werewolf today.  He is also working on a world map that will indicate all the different countries that the more famous werewolf legends originated.

Retta has been busy cutting out Halloween decorations for the house.

Tomorrow they have a Halloween party with all there friends.

Anna took the little kitty into her life. She seemed very happy and instantly bonded to Anna. We are so happy she found a good home. We are anxiously awaiting the final decision on her name.

Field Trip and Kitty

We started the day with a field trip to Safeway. The kids got a general tour and got to see the behind the scenes action. It was pretty generic and not real exciting for Musa but I think Retta liked it. She got to hold hands with her best friend Mary, so that made it all worthwhile. It was good to see friends.

So I don't know a think about cats.......I spent 76.00 dollars at the vet today to find out the kitty is not pregnant. Not anymore at least. The Vet says she has already had kittens and probably weaned them. The "lumps" we were feeling were her mammary glands swollen as she tries to dry up. She could tell by the size of her uterus that she probably had the kittens 8 weeks ago and just walked away from them..if they survived. She estimates her at approximately 1 year old. She looks so much younger than that to me. So...I will talk to Anna and see if she still wants to take her. If not..I don't know. I already have 2 cats and two HUGE puppies, don't think I can take one more animal to clean up after. Oh well...the learning continues.  

Professor Retta

So much for thinking Retta didn't grasp the water study. When Butch came home last night she said very excitedly, and I quote," Daddy did you know that water has three forms, when it is ice it is a solid, and if you put it on the stove in a pan it melts and then it is a liquid, and then it starts to bubble and it is a gas. called steam."

And so it is..

:-):-):-)

Water, Donations and pregnant cats

We finished collecting all the donations for the wounded soldiers. A total of ten families participated and we received 4 large boxes of donations.  Below is an accounting of our success in an email I put out to the group earlier today: 

A total of 10 families participated.

A rough total of items:

75 comfort food bags.
13 health bags, containing lozenges, lip balm, hard candies and  mints.
6 personal care bags containing socks and such
30 large personal care bags containing full size personal care  items
15 disposable cameras
25 bars of soap
1 game boy game
4 packs of socks
4 sports bras
20 decks of cards
5 decks of various card games
35 DVD's
10 music CD
10 large bottles of shampoo
18 new magazines
10 pairs of sweat shorts
10 pairs of sports pants
4 light jackets
large collection of note cards for letter writing
4 large baggies of extra combs and brushes
2 boxes of envelopes and writing paper
40 nice books
8 blank journals
8 phone cards
3 personal checks totaling 220.00 to the red cross
10 books of stamps

27 handmade cards by children these were all so special.

 My husband dropped them off on the wards at Walter Reed today and he 
received a warm and overwhelming appreciation. The nurses and doctors just  kept
thanking everyone over and over. They adored the cards from the kids and  promised they would be displayed in the hallways. All of the personal care and 
comfort food bags were decorated with labels of various sentiments of thank-you  and appreciation or cards tucked inside that added a nice touch to the  donations.

May you all be rewarded for your generosity and giving spirits. Please 
express my extreme gratitude to all of the children that participated in this 
effort. They truly eased the pain and suffering of some deserving folks today. 
May the spirit continue in all.

We continued our studies of water today. Musa learned more about the elements of water and how the water and hydrogen elements look like Mickey Mouse. He learned about surface tension and how this helps things float on water. We did an experiment by trying to blow bubbles with plain water, equal parts of water and dishsoap and water, dishsoap, sugar and salt. The #3 solution proved to work best. It seemed to make sense to Musa that the soap, salt and sugar make a slimy substance that works its way inbetween the tightly fitting elements of water(the Mickey Mouse ears) reducing it's tension.

Loretta experimented with different liquids and different solids. She figured out that water is a liquid, ice is a solid. She didn't get the water as a gas concept. "No, mama gas is a liquid you pour into the truck to make it go." And so it is.

A small kitty, appears to be about 4-5 months old, appeared on our doorstep the end of last week. Very malnourished and very sweet. Very loving and personable. I picked her up and it was quite clear she was pregnant. Her nipples were bulging and her tummy felt a little lumpy. We started feeding her and made a place in the garage and she has already fattened up a lot. The babies are as big as golf balls now. I am sure she is ready to deliver real soon. She is so little and so malnourished I am not even sure if the babies are alive. Anna had wanted to take her, then the whole realization she was pregnant put a damper on things. Soo...as usual....I am taking her to the vet tomorrow to see what we can do. She is so loving and sweet we just can't turn our backs on her. We'll see....

Columbus Day?

This is a late entry for October 11th, 2004.

Musa asked many questions today about why it was a holiday. We spoke at length about the supposed discovery of America. Musa wanted to write a poem about his feelings:

 

 

 

 

 

On this October day

Columbus found his way.

He said he was the first to find

A beautiful land of this kind

He was wrong, I have to say

The Native Americans were here that day.

by Musa Coleman 10/11/04

Park Day

Today was our monthly Park Day with one of the local groups. The weather is finally down to tolerable temperatures so we can be outside more. The kids had fun seeing their friends and getting a good dose of fresh air.

We just did some basics when we got home. We have a full week out of the house so are just doing some easy work to fill in some gaps.

Music tomorrow.

Wounded soldiers

Tyrus brought to our attention that the military hospitals were seeking donations for the wounded soldiers because they are without some of the basic neccesities needed for their recovery. It just makes me nuts that after the sacrifice they paid they have to go without basic things. The list of needs were things like: deodorant, razors, sweats, break away sports pants for the amputee's, stamps, international phone cards, movies, playing cards, disposable camera's (to keep in touch with their buddies in Iraq and families that can't afford to come and see them) and on and on. So sad these things are not provided.

We made a plea to the homeschooling community and have been gathering donations to take to Walter Reed and Bethesda next week. We should have a truckload when done. We all went shopping yesterday and bought cases of stuff to donate. It felt good. Musa and Retta and I are going to sit and make little treat bags today to give them. They are also going to make handmade thank you cards's. One woman who has an art class had her students make thank you pictures. Bethesda has a wall in the hallway they place all the cards so the recovering can see them when the walk (or roll) by.

Anna has contacted her Regional Manager at Starbucks and they are contacting the marketing dept to get them behind the donation drive. For anyone across the country reading this you may want to contact your local military hospitals and see if you can help. Trust me, the rewards are high.  

Catch up and Glue

My goodness, I almost forgot about this journal. The kids were sick for so long and then we played catch up. We had a lot of out of the house activities last week which always leaves me exhausted.

We spent the week just reviewing materials, doing a lot of reading, and finishing up some projects. Musa is required to do 1 independent study each month. He chooses the subject and then decides what he wants to learn about that subject and then chooses the way in which he wants to present his material. For September he chose glue, and he finished it up last week. He choose an experiment on how to make glue with different amounts of ingredients and had to decide which amount worked best.

His hypothesis was that the 3rd attempt would work best which was:  mostly milk, some gelatin and just a dash of flour.  Musa the scientist was right, the 3rd recipe held much better than the first two.

Loretta now knows all the words to We Three Kings and is singing happily in the chorus. I am glad she warmed up. The mom's all met last week to divide up the sewing for the costumes. GUESS WHAT? I told them I didn't know how to sew!! It was hard, my hand kept wanting to go up and volunteer, but I didn't and I felt so good when I left. No projects hanging over my head. It is the young mothers time to volunteer and time for this mama to relax. I sew for pleasure now...not for deadlines.  

 

Still sick

Still sick today so had a very quiet day. Nothing new to report. Just resting.

I just listened to my NPR interview. You have to know I would rather throw up than hear my own voice on the radio. I was so sure I botched it..I finally just gritted my teeth and played it. I was pleasantly surprised. It's not bad. I am sure those of you that know me well, will pick up on a wobbly voice a few times, but all in all it okay. I am happy it's over and very thrilled at the exposure.

Sick Day and Tornados

Musa and Loretta both down with a bad cold. Musa has been in bed all day. Retta is up and down, but still feeling poorly. No school for a few days.

Hurricane Jeanne (now a tropical depression) finally made it's way to Maryland. It must have been a monster when it hit Florida because it still packed a wallop when it blew through here today. We were under a tornado warning (or a tomato warning as Retta calls it)  from noon untill 9 pm tonight. Sometimes the sky would turn black as night. At one point my driveway looked like a river. There were two tornados that were spotted, but all quite far away from our house. I am glad this one is behind us.

 

 

Volcanoes

We have been having fun today monitoring the Mt. St. Helen's activity. We found some great information on the King 5 web page. The geology world must be all a buzz about this one. Amy said she felt one of the quakes last night. We found lots of great volcano sites and have been having fun learning about them.

This was one of those days that the planned lessons got put on hold and we decided to learn about volcanos all day. I love the flexibility that homeschooling gives a family.

Retta is feeling ill with a cold. Tomorrow Tropical Storm Jeanne  will be here so we will be in all day.

Tent Caterpillars Answer

We got an answer from the University about our caterpillar question. They said we were right, they are tent caterpillars. Yay, for our great bug identification techniques!! They explained they are called, fall tent caterpillars, and they breed twice a year, once in the spring and once in the fall. They said they are really quite harmless to the trees. The only explanation they could give for their "dance" behavior was that they were signaling each other of danger. Whenever we got closer, or they heard our voices (felt vibrations) they would signal each other. We are going to go out and experiment with that a little.

Loretta's Big Day

I got a call last night from my good friend Jen, who asked if Retta could go with her and her children to see Sesame Street Live in Baltimore. Her 8 year old daughter Rachael did not want to go so we swapped kids for the day. Retta's best friend is Mary (Jen's 3 year old), and Rachael and Musa are good friends.

This was Loretta first day away from Mama, unless with big sisters or Daddy. I was a little concerned but she really wanted to go. She had to get up a 6 am and get ready and as you can see in the picture she was soo excited. She was so happy she got to pack a lunch.

They got home about 3 pm--a big day---and she was so happy. She was in her P.J's voluntarily and asleep by 6 pm.

Musa and Rachael and I had a great day. It was great having a girl around to converse with. Jen's three girls remind me alot of Amy, Shirah and Anna when they were young.

We don't normally have school on Friday's, so this worked out well. A good day for all! Actually, I think Jen drew the short straw. Three little ones in a car to Baltimore and sitting through a Sesame Street Concert... I owe her one!!! 

Magic Wands and Hopscotch

Okay, this will be brief because I have been fighting a huge headache and it has now turned into a full fledged migraine. I am headed to bed.

The day started with grand expectations of doing a bunch of "formal" school, but instead I ended up in a two hour conversation with Carla (my sister) and "school" went on the back burner. It was a much needed and welcomed conversation, and I am glad we took the time to have it!!! I will consider it part of MY ongoing education.:)

 Musa did a spelling test and felt very successful he got them all right. He even spelled evaporation right!!! Then we said to heck with it and ended the half-baked attempt at "school."  We decided to make magic wands. It was great fun. Loretta went to the other room with hers and in all seriousness tried to turn the remote control into a pickle. I heard her say "shazam" and then "abra cadabra" and then "oolie googlie", and then she appeared back in the craft room with her head down and a sad face. "Mommy it doesn't work"  Poor baby, thought it was real. At last check she was still trying to find the right magic word. I further proved it doesn't work when I said a few choice words and waved my magic wand over the children and said the would have no further brother/sister conflicts. I guess I am also searching for the right magic word.

Then we headed outside for a long game of hopscotch math.

We checked Retta's crystal growing experiment and lo and behold she did manage to grow some beautiful crystals. She is very excited.

I am off to bed to put my headache to rest.  

Music and caterpillars

I always seem to be making my entries a day late so I am gonna try to make two today and get caught up.

We had music again yesterday and Musa is loving it. He really enjoys the teacher. He is constantly practicing his songs. He has been muttering the "lamb of David" for two days and it is now stuck in my head. For those of you that know my spiritual background and beliefs you can imagine how funny that is. Musa says the obsessive gene that has been passed onto him has helped him memorize songs. Too funny.

Retta on the other hand is a statue durnig music. She absolutely cannot move. She stands next to Musa and stares straight ahead. She told me she gets too hot. She wants to try again next week but if it still appears so agonizing for her I will have he stop. She loves to sing and dance at home, but this seems a little much for her.

On a different note Musa found some huge web like things covering some branches on one of the trees in our driveway. Upon closer inspection, it sort of hard to see because it is high, they appeared to be "tents" made by the classic tent caterpillars. There were hundreds of little catterpillars crawling all over the tents. The really odd thing was, we noticed that every couple minutes the caterpilars would all stop, lift up thier heads, (or butts, hard to tell the difference) and simultaneously shake them back and forth, as if in a dance. It was fascinating. We went on line and read up on tent caterpillars but no where did it mention this behavior. So we wrote to the U of Maryland and asked the entomologists, if they could provide any additional info. Haven't heard anything yet. Will update when I hear.

Stomach Aches and Peace

Today is United Nations International Day of Peace. We celebrated by reading some stories and poems out of the Big Book of Peace. Musa remembered back on the anti-war protest he went to last year in D.C. and the candle lighting vigil that we held the other night. He asked if he could write a letter to the President and tell him to stop the war. We will work on that tomorrow.

We spent the entire weekend canning apples, rasberries and peaches. We made applesauce, apple pie filling, peaches and froze some rasberries. We also made some slightly sweetened chunky applesauce stuff to spoon over oatmeal. Musa says he can't wait for the first day of snow so he can warm up with a bowl of oatmeal.

We bought a apple peeler/corer at the farm store and the kids had a blast peeling apples. It is truly a wonderful toy. It makes peeling apples so much fun that I think we ate to many! Too many apples, rasberries and peaches makes for achy tummies. I can't remember the last time I had a stomach ache from eating to much fruit. This of course lead to a discussion about digestion and why some foods cause this. Musa quickly figured out that all those little seeds in rasberries are fiber. Enough said, yesterday was just a quiet day as we a recouperated from our fiber overdose.

Musa has been working a little on his glue project. He made the cover for his report. I don't think he has decided what else he will do. Loretta made a little book about fish, birds, spiders and flowers. I asked he if she wanted to send it to someone and she said, "No, I am keeping this one for myself it is so pretty."

Where does you food come from?

We did a spur of the moment trip to our favorite U-Pick farm in Virginia on Friday. Anna was here visiting for a few days so we had her along which was great fun. We picked red rasberries, and I bought peaches and apples. I canned the peaches today and am making applesauce and apple pie filling and will can it tomorrow.

I think it is so important for kids to see first hand where their food comes from.  Musa has been quite interested in the idea of preserving food and the different methods used before refrigeration.

We watched a National Geo. documentary tonight about Lewis and Clark and Musa was fascinated. He becomes very upset that we took this country away from the Native Americans. It is hard to explain. I don't understand it myself. How can a nation celebrate it's beginning when it was taken unjustly. Seems like we good Americans just can't stop taking what isn't ours.

Music, Music

We decided to join the homechool chorus this year and today was our first meeting. We meet at a fire station up in Dunkirk. It is about an hour drive for me, but well worth the effort. Tracey (the teacher) seems to be very good with the kids. Musa really liked her. She is energetic and positive. She also teaches many different intruments. Musa is taking recorder lessons with her for the first 45 minutes and then both the kids do the choir. There are 50 kids. The will be working on two productions, one for Christmas and one in the spring.

The Christmas pagent is quite Christian, but after a deep sigh and help from my dear friend Kristin, I decided I can also use this as part of our religions/social studies. We got a good chuckle out of it.

The play requires costumes of camels, lions and donkeys, so should be fun. It will be held in early December.

Other than that it has been a routine day. Anna is coming to spend a few days with us and Retta is soooo happy. She even cleaned her room so they can play dolls! I miss her and look forward to some great chats.

 

Not Back to School Pirate Cruise

This is a late entry for August 30th, 2004

A group of area homeschool friends decided that we should have a "not back to school celebration" for this day, as this is the day the public schools go back to school. I organized this Pirate Cruise out of Anapolis.

When we arrived on the dock the kids were dressed in pirate costumes and painted and tatooed. The  Captain of the boat arrived and taught the kids some pirate language which mostly was a lot of grunts and growls. Then the did a secret 2 block walk to the ship, keeping a close eye out for enemies. Once a board the ship, the adventure began. They read treasure maps and directed the Captain to a sunken treasure, which they managed to hoist into the boat and were delighted when they discovered it  was full off gold coins. They fought off enemy pirates (there was a young man standing on a rowboot dressed in pirate garb, that the kids got to fire water guns at and eventually were successful in knocking him off his boat and into the bay) and they also drank (root) beer.

The best part for me is I got to sit in the back of my boat and do nothing. It was a great time for all and a great way to kick off the new homeschool year.  As usual it gave me the opportunity to turn it into a lesson plan and we learned a lot about pirates. I didn't realize that Blackbeard actually used to weave hemp into his hair and light it on fire to make his head smoke which added to the fear factor. There were also several famous women pirates. Most of the pirates were closely connected to the Kings and Queens of the time and would give up percentages of their stolen goods in turn for freedom of prosecution. Ahhh, good old government corruption.

Campfire and Storytelling

Yesterday was my wedding anniversary, and since my husband forgot (that is another whole journal entry-this is two years in a row he has forgotten) I decided to celebrate with the kids.  We drove down to Historic St. Mary's City--this a is large archaeology site in Southern Maryland of a colonial village and they have rebuit most of the town to it's original form. It is a working farm, as you walk through they have people in costume conducting their daily routines, it really gives you the sense what life was like.

Last night, to kick off their Indian festival days, the had a large campfire with a Native American Storyteller.  It was very up close and personal, probably only 50 or so people. They had the trail to the campfire all lit with paper bag lanterns and mosquito torches, it was beautiful.

The Storyteller, Dovie Thomason Sickles, an Kiowa-Apache Lakota Person, http://www.ulali.com/frames/merchandise/dovie/dovie.htm- was fabulous. She ended the night with two very scary ghost stories, which thrilled the kids.  Retta almost crawled back inside of me.  It made the dark, lantern lit, trail back to the car very cool and scary.

We spent the ride home giving each other Native American names. Musa was laughing so hard he almost wet his pants.  Some of the highlights: For Mom, She Who Eats Ice Cream and Has Fat Butt; One Who Yells Loud--For Musa: He Who Fears His Own Closet: He Who Speaks Softly and Farts Loudly, Loretta sat in the backseat screaming with laughter and shouting, "One Who Is A Butthead Bob."

Can you tell that we seems to have a fart, butt, sort of theme going on this week. It seems to come in waves. (sigh)

Candlelight Vigil

We hosted an EMERGENCY CANDLELIGHT VIGIL to mark the 1,000 + American soldiers that have died in Iraq. It was promoted by the WIN WITHOUT WAR and MOVEON.ORG organization. There were thousands of vigils being held across the US at 8 pm tonight. It was a great experience for the kids, from the sign making, to the questions and answers about our government, our right to protest and assemble.  We downloaded all the names from the CNN website of the dead, and decided to read the names as everyone stood in silence. Of course, there were to many names to read in a 30 minute period, but it still brought it closer to home. We had 16 people show up, all people we didn't know which is pretty amazing for Southern Maryland. The most moving thing was the fact that there were about 6 children under the age of 11. We gave them permission to play nearby with the flashlights as we assumed they would be bored. The all played for less than 5 minutes and then all came over and took candles and stood in silence. Musa held a sign near the road for the cars to se that read, "1000 DEAD HOW MANY MORE?" When we arrived home Musa went and laid down in his bed. I called to him to come and take a shower and he didn't answer. I went to his room and he was lying on his bed. He said, "Mom, I am just trying to get this all in my head. 1000 that is a lot of death."  Then we talked about the fact that the 1000 we were honoring were only the Americans. What about the Iraqi's, the British ect..and then he said, "What about the wounded soldiers?" I agreed it was hard to get into one's head.

We all agreed it felt good, and long overdue to do this as a family. It wasn't about politics tonight, it wasn't about what camp your in, it was a memorial. There should be more.

Maryland Science Center

We took advantage yesterday of a FREE day for homeschoolers at the Maryland Science Center in Baltimore. It was great fun. Musa's friend Reid rode with us and we met the rest of the Arnold family there. We started in the Newton Room and the kids had a blast. Then onto the Dinosaur Room where Loretta was in heaven practicing her archaeologist skills. I thought she was going to faint she was so excited. Musa and Reid loved the "tornado maker" in the weather room. The Human Body area was lots of fun and created many giggles with the fart, vommit, and burp sound maker. We ended the day in the Kids Room. Loretta joyous being able to pour water in the water room and Musa happily played in the submarine nearby. Mom sat and rested her feet on the bench!! Musa said his favorite was the Newton Room and of course the Bed of Nails.

The long 2 hour ride home was exciting to say the least. As the remenants of Hurricane Frances blew through our area it created numerous tornadoes. Every fifteen minutes or so the emergency message would come on the radio with another warning from around the area. I just prayed I wouldn't have to take cover in a ditch!! We made it home safe and sound.

Loretta fell asleep last night watching a National Geographic documentary about the oldest city ever uncovered by archaeologist's in Peru. She kept sitting up saying, "Oh, Man, that is waht I want to do when I grow up.

The Study of Water

We are studying water and different states of matter.  Musa certainly has grasped the concepts.  In Retta's world water comes from the faucet.

They were each given a ice cube in a bag and had to figure out the fastest way to melt it without using fire or the stove or microwave. Musa ran outside hoping it was warmer outside. Loretta immediately sat down on hers and then Musa figured out he could stick it in his armpit.  We now have the melted water in a glass on the window sill to observe how long it takes it to change into a gas and disappear.

This followed with seemingly endless laughter about cold armpits and butts, which quickly moved to, "water smells like stinky armpits and butts now." Water was no longer tasteless, or odorless!!! Several more outbursts of laughter.

We also filled a large plastic container with boiling water and placed the lid on, to create a "cloud" and observe the "rain".  Attention was quickly diverted to the melting plastic as the water melted it. (lots more laughter) Oh well, it was all about different states of matter, so I guess the experiment wasn't a total loss.

We are preparing for tomorrow's journey to the Science Center in Baltimore. They are having free Homeschool Days. Pretty groovy.