Corn

Just like last year, we were blessed to visit SilverBow Farm to pick corn for our freezer.  This year, I quickly ran out of energy, especially since I had to chase Lula around or assign someone to do it for me.  Lula is cutting her first year molars, so she is especially touchy right now.  All she wanted to do was walk around and play in the dog's water.  But we have lots of corn in our freezer, plus some squash, a giant zucchini, an onion, and several peppers!  Someday....someday I will be able to have an awesome garden and preserve the bounty too!

Still Batty

His name is Batty, his logic is erratic, potato in a jacket, toys in the attic... (Anyone else remember Fern Gully?)

Hanging the Bat House

Yesterday we saw a bat crawling up one of the tarps we use to keep the heat out of the house (hey, I'm in the third trimester.  I hate the sun).  It was neat, but we really don't want a bat falling down on someone, forcing them to get rabies shots (it happened to my friend in Whatcom county and the shots made her whole family sick-there is nothing they can do for pregnant women who come in contact with rabid bats).

See the bat on the window ledge?

Mark installed the bat house that we had on the north side of the house right next to the tarp.  Apparently, the bats prefer the south side.  More flying insects perhaps?  Warmer in the evenings?  Anyway, today the bat crawled down between the tarp and the window, giving us a rare opportunity to observe a bat face to face.

You just can't get this close without glass separating you!

Shane was able to point out the unique characteristics of the bat: curved claws for crawling, a webbed tail that not only aids in flying, but also catches insects so they can scoop them into their mouths!  Can you say homeschool biology?

We were also able to see that the bat uses its tail to climb!  The breeze was causing the tarp to sway gently, so the bat seemed a little disoriented...even more so when seven human faces were inches away from his!

A little fly flew past the bats face and he turned and crawled after it...and also out of the hot sun (I don't blame it).  I'm hoping the bat moves into the bat house and not into our attic!

Haley Cove

Ian and Mark spent the weekend on a Boy Scout canoe trip!  A few from the troop kayaked/canoed ten miles (round trip) and stayed overnight at an undeveloped state park right here on the KP.

Mark and Ian were the gear haulers in the canoe.

 The weather started out grey and overcast, but it wasn't long before the sun came out.

Mark, Ian, and two other boys went swimming.  Mark is quickly becoming the leader of the Polar Bear Club.  Anyone else not surprised?

This was a great experience for Ian to get to know some of the older boys in the troop and see how awesome Boy Scout trips are compared to Cub Scout trips.  I love looking at these pictures and NOT seeing crazy siblings running with sticks and massive numbers of family members standing around waiting for free food.

Mark also really enjoyed getting to know some of the leaders that he didn't know from Cub Scouts.  They all have older boys that will age out in a year or two.  The current scoutmaster actually scouted with Mark when they were younger!

Mark coined a new term: Tenderfoot Trap.  A Tenderfoot Trap is something that is unsafe that only a Tenderfoot would think is a great idea.  Like scrambling up onto a platform that was lashed wrong.  First class and above would notice the improper lashing and know to stay down.

 See the moon in the picture above?

Ian was able to get out on the water and kayak too.  He also worked on safe swim skills and demonstrated life saving skills.  Tonight he is going to get as many "blue cards" as he can and start working on merit badges.  And did I mention he is his patrol's assistant leader?  Well, he was.  Until the patrol leader quit.  So now he is the patrol leader!  This is a great opportunity for Ian to pay attention, be organized, and work on his leadership skills.

Oh, the Power

After the power flickered on and off for a few hours yesterday, it went completely off for a few hours during the electrical storms Western Washington experienced.  We had little rain during the outage and absolutely no wind, so there was nothing to watch outside.  When it got dark, the fun really started!

We rounded up our flashlights, replaced dead batteries, and made plans to have a family slumber party downstairs.  I made a mental note to stock up on bottled water, fuel for the camp tove, and more batteries.

Daniel learned what works and what doesn't work during a power outage.  The same kid who won't run down the hall without the light turned on showed no fear when the entire house was dark! Even Lula had fun stumbling around and crashing into things!

The older kids got costumes on and played flashlight hide-n-seek.  They were having so much fun that when the power came back on...

...I quickly turned off the TV and the downstairs light (the only two things that were on when the power went out) before the kids noticed.  They continued to play for another half hour.  It was the best trick ever!  The rain started in earnest then and continued through the night.  I was awake a lot, mostly worrying about the poor turkeys who have just a small turkey house.  Our carport flooded, but there was no damage.  Boy, was I glad the kids got all the firewood stacked and covered the other day!  We are working hard to teach them to be ants and not grasshoppers.

Daniel's School

In a homeschool where the oldest student is preschool-aged, you find lots and lots of story books and enrichment worksheets and handwriting papers and yes, even science experiments.  I know when Ian was a preschooler, he had his very own desk and workbooks and part of our playroom was dedicated to school.  I certainly didn't want any of my non-homeschooling mom friends to think Ian was neglected in any way by not attending the $150 per month preschool!

Ian's reading lesson at age 4

In a homeschool where there are a mix of ages, things are a little...different.  Mama is a bit more relaxed about worksheets and structured desk time, but sometimes she doesn't get around to story time either...I know I have neglected story time for Fiona and Daniel for the last year or so.  Now that I don't have to worry about meeting time and goal requirements for the school district, I can relax a bit and feel like I can carve a chunk out of the morning just for preschool fun.  I'm on a few email lists for different homeschool companies, but one day I received one that changed the homeschool landscape for my most difficult child.

Intense

Paige, from Elemental Science, has created a plan to keep her 3 year old son involved with the homeschool, but with activities that are not too strenuous.  She has invited other homeschoolers to join her in her efforts to teach her son colors, shapes, and ABCs.  I offered to blog along, just for fun *grin*  I do, after all, have a three year old son that asks to do "school," although I wouldn't actually call it asking...demanding is more his style!  Daniel already knows his shapes and colors, but having some special activities just for him can't do him any harm, now can it?

Coloring Circles

The first section has been dedicated to the color red and the shape circle.  I read The Little Red Hen, Minerva Louise and the Big Red Truck (I love this series), and Big Red Barn.  These books were received favorably, especially The Little Red Hen, but I cannot say the same for Red Knit Cap Girl.  "That's stupid AND dumb," says Daniel.  The science activity was to describe a red apple, cut it in half, and see that it was circle-shaped.  We have already eaten all the "rosy red" apples off our trees, so when Daniel was in a snugly mood, I asked him what shape an apple would be if we cut it in half.  "Circle!" he said in his most bored voice.  Oh, he is going to be fun to homeschool!  Next up...yellow!

Standing With Stones

As I was browsing the DVDs at the library, I found Standing With Stones, a documentary detailing many of the megaliths in Great Britain and Ireland.  I checked it out, figuring it might be good filler for our history.  We are learning about the middle ages, but since most of what we learn takes place in Europe, I figured it wouldn't hurt to travel back to ancient times in this area of the world.

Shane immediately started taking notes and learning the names of the different stone structures: stone circles, henges, cairns, cists, etc.  He was busy writing down the locations of the different megalith sites, but the movie moved so fast we couldn't keep up!  I didn't know how long the movie was, so we kept watching and watching and watching....pretty soon my living room looked like a public school classroom when the teacher puts a movie on: half the students were sound asleep and the other half were fooling around quietly.  A phone call woke me up, and I had errands to run, so we packed up and left...

On our way to town, my kids had a great time pointing out large rocks that have been used for different purposes.  The Longbranch Improvement Club uses large rocks to outline their parking lot; this became the Longbranch Stone Row.  The cemetery was filled with dolmen.  The guy who lives at that one spot that gets icy at the top of the hill, he decorates the end of his driveway with cairns.  He happened to be building a new one, which was a major bonus for us sight-seers!

When we got home, one of my educated children demonstrated learning with her very own stone circle.  Whether or not it was made from pagans who danced on Sunday remains to be seen.  For anyone who was worried that we were only doing math and language arts this year, stop worrying!  There are so many awesome amazing things that just don't fit into normal textbooks and aren't on the radar of the normal lesson planner.  I love finding a random documentary and using it for "schoolwork."  I can't imagine sitting down with my lesson plans and thinking, "Hmm. Next spring, I definitely want to cover eschatology, so I better go and find our supplies..."  Nope. It's more like, "Next year is American History. I better go find my Jean Fritz books."

Lula Pics

We celebrated Labor Day by working on things...we killed five old layers and got them in the stew pot, finished up some firewood, did some Cub Scout projects...Okay, Mark did those things.  I just killed two layers, plucked one, and gutted them all.  I'm pretty fast now.  I deserved that nap I took... Lula is busy cutting two teeth, but she is still pretty cute!