BABY Robins!

There are at least three in the nest, but this one in front is the pushiest. I don't know how this little thing could STAND for a second and get a raw worm from its mom. It has eyes shut, I think, and is fluffy. Aside from the beak, it doesn't really look like a robin at all.

Juicy Watermelon

Cupcakes skillfully decorated by Elf and Emperor. I got the idea from little mini-cakes in the local grocery store. I had just made a couple extra little plates up when the mailman came by with homeschooling stuff. I was *so* glad we could brighten his day with a little sweetness. He has been our mailman since we moved in 14 years ago and we sure appreciate his careful driving and accurate delivery. :)

Lead Bank State Championship

We had a LONG day playing chess at the Lead Bank State Championship at the KCI Expo Center. We got to see some old friends from a previous chess league and socialize during the times between games. This is J and B, who later tied for first place in the K-2 Division. Emperor was the top player in the third grade division (he would have been in third grade were he in public school). And The Happy Elf Homeschool placed as the *first* K-6 division school. I hadn't even realized we were playing as a school as well as individually. Elf and Emperor have greatly improved their game since last year. For Emperor especially, this is a grand victory. Remember his last tournament? This was his year to shine. :)

Theology of Rock Music

I have crossed over to the Dark Side. Elf and Emperor have now heard "We Are the Champions" by Queen and are singing, singing, singing the chorus. Especially the "no time for losers" part. They seemed so enraptured by this that I decided they could also listen to Led Zeppelin's Stairway to Heaven. I let them listen separately so that I could interview them to see what they thought.

Emperor thought that the "lady" in the song symbolized old church, trying to buy the stairway to heaven. (I think he means the Catholic sale of indulgences.) He is not sure about the middle verses. He thinks the "rock" at the end of the song symbolizes Jesus and the True Church, which does not "roll."

The "west" described in the song is, of course, indicative of the decline of society. All the cultures (like the Elves in Lord of the Rings) go west at the end of their age. Just as we Americans went west and just look at us now.

Ok. Thank youuu, Emperor. Now for Elf. What, Elf, did you think about this song?

"Well," he wanted to know, "what exactly did EMPEROR have to say about it? Let me know that and then? I will tell you my answer." Nope. Tell you what he said after you tell me YOUR interpretation.

Elf sat quietly and did that Vulcan "pensive" pose before singing, "Oooh, it makes me wonder..." and that he has really absolutely no idea. The song was in English but it made no sense to him.

I'm not sure I can explain all this rock music, either, but if Elf is going to school next year, he probably ought to have heard a few songs through first so that there isn't too much culture shock. The only other rock song they know is "Oops, I did it again. I pooped on the floor and I peed in my pants." And... just that part of the song. Did I mention that I pulled them out of school in kindergarten and first grade respectively? Wonder what the kids listen to now.

Lord of the Rings

We've just finished reading Lord of the Rings. It took Elf about seven months, but we got through the trilogy in our nightly readings. Elf and Emperor are now memorizing the movie's famous speech of Aragorn before the Black Gate, embedded above. Too bad I don't know any Elvish, or perhaps the children would get some actual foreign language instruction. Only imagine the scholarships they could get with that talent. :)

Happiness Is...

There is nothing like going outside on a school day in your jammies for a picnic lunch. In January. Enjoy it while you can. :)

Plant Study

 We loved doing our Chemistry lessons so much that we are beginning a short unit on plants from the same teacher.  Here you see Elf and Emperor constructing molecules and learning about the process of photosynthesis.  I gave them bunches of candy corn, peas and dried corn and they decided which would represent carbon, oxygen and hydrogen.  Hopefully, they learned that the process of photosynthesis doesn't add or subtract any of our elements, but does rearrange them. 

Small Photos.

(Sorry.  Once I saw the notice that blogger would not upload photos for TWO WHOLE HOURS tomorrow, I had to load photos and do a short post tonight.) 

Do you like my Polish pottery bowl?  I was too lazy to get all the ingredients together (as suggested on the Passport to India page) to make an authentic Indian meal.  This buying a prepared package method offers a small sample without the mess, though.  Elf dislikes potatoes and spicy things.  Somehow he decided this wasn't very yummy.  So Emperor got to eat the whole bowl as this product  is milk free!  Elf had Goober Grape sandwiches and Swedish fish instead. :)

In other news, I finally got the chance to cut G's hair.  I would love to show you how nice it looks, but G says I can't take his picture for the blog.  WHAT is it about the teen years that makes people reluctant to pose for their Mommy's readers?  Come on, now.  This picture doesn't even do the before/after difference justice.  His hair is FLUFFY and CURLY and thick.  You can only cut tiny bits off at a time, or you won't be able to see the comb/your fingers.  As you can see, I have the child sit in a chair in the middle of my kitchen.  For all the fighting we had to do over whether he got to cut his hair/can he straighten his hair/ but but but... he now says that it looks nice.  I guess just not "let Mom take your picture and share it with the entire world" nice. 

Passport to India

The Passport to India program encourages homeschoolers to learn more about the country and to support Sonlight's efforts to fund Bible Clubs for Indian children.  Our "host," Chris, is experiencing India for the first time just as we are.   He just had a 25-hour-long trip during our first lesson.

Our kit finally arrived... with a September postmark. (Good thing it wasn't my mortgage or credit card bill or I'd be in trouble!)

The notes ask the children to pack for a week-long trip in a small box.  So... I gave the boys a Huggies box and told them to go to it.  They returned with the following items for their excursion:

10 books (including Bible)
teddy bear
Baikinman stuffed toy
GameBoy and games
note paper
pencils
"yadda-yadda" that records voices and talks back.

"Is that all you need?"  I asked them.

"Yep," Elf told me proudly.  "We packed everything!"

"Oh," I answered.  "So... tonight after dinner, what are you going to do?"
*GASP*  "Brush my teeeeeeeth..."

"With your...?"

"HANG ON!" Emperor yelped.  The boys scurried about and got toothpaste, a toothbrush, one pair of underwear (I guess they're sharing?) three shirts and two pants.  Now they're ready for anything.

OK!  We watched the first two days of Chris's trip and assembled our "suitcase" for the boys' donations.  I explained to the boys that we are not sending loose change in an envelope, but that any money they put into the suitcase would be doubled and placed on my credit card to the mission.

"So then, what happens to the money in the suitcase?" asked Emperor.  (Well, I keep that...)

"You're KEEPING the money we send for the children?" (Um... yes... but I'm doubling it on my credit card and sending it in...)

I keep explaining it, but I'm not sure I have full "buy-in" just yet on the whole giving money thing.    They still don't understand how it's perfectly HONEST for me to take the physical money out of the suitcase later and put other money on the credit card like that.  Isn't that stealing?

I have to wonder if other Passport to India families are coming across this sort of problem, or if my children are the only ones not understanding that not all financial switcheroos are dishonest or wrong.

Sticky Tile Mosaics

We're just on a re-decorating spree, aren't we?  Emperor and Elf LOVED making these.  I have to tell you, it's wayyyy easier than the old-fashioned but more permanent method of making mosaics.  Don't they look fun?  I googled a bit and found a link at amazon... for $3 cheaper than I bought it at the curriculum fair.  Oh, well.  Certainly I need to consider getting a few sets for some children at Christmas.  In case you are wondering, the kit DOES have enough sticky tiles to get through the projects.  We have a good plenty extra still in the box.

Quiet Afternoon

Elf and Emperor are learning to play Senet, an ancient Egyptian game, while Woodjie is away at preschool.  That's also when I have time to do strange things like eat lunch, organize my materials for the next day, and play with a strange little creature in my living room.  Isn't she cute?  She gets into some things and needs some reminders, but isn't constantly pinball-running, climbing, screeching and throwing stuff.  Yes... when Woodjie is out at preschool, the house is (relatively) quiet.  He goes for a few hours four times a week.  He comes home smelling sweaty and his shoes are full of playground sand, but he does look forward to seeing the "zus."

Happy Elf Homeschool Room

Maybe I should file this under "keeping it real." This is our school room in actual use. Ok... it isn't even really a school room. It's our living room. We're up first thing this morning, plotting model electrons into their little orbitals. They're really the popcorn kernels you see on the table. (Easier than it sounds.) Elf's math gets done on the little laptop on the table and Emperor's is done on the computer at the desk. This way, they each have their own grades in the computer's grade book. Can you see all the curriculum stuff in the shelf at the far end of the room? The Clementine box behind the chair near the fake plant on the desk contains markers, a small American flag, post-it notes, my bills and a timer. Frequently, Emperor can be found lounging on the floor with his AlphaSmart during writing assignment time.  Edited to add:  I've included this post in the Not Back to School blog hop.  Check it out!

Chemistry for Elementary Students

Imagine all the elements as the "kitchen cupboard of the universe." It starts out easy enough... but then there is MATH involved toward the end. Patrick's question was whether they made you calculate "moles" in this curriculum. Nope. But we will do valence numbers and Lewis dot diagrams, learn about the Periodic table and memorize the names of many elements. We'll play games, make models and do experiments. I'm going to be learning A LOT with the children this year. Edited to add: I've added this post to the Not Back to School Blog Hop. Check it out! :)

The Dark Rider

He's really a much-beloved Japanese doll wrapped in a cloth pirate hat, but he plays his part so well. He keeps coming up behind me and whispering, "Baggins..." Can you tell we are midway through The Fellowship of the Ring?

Mummified Cat!

To make our mummified cat, we took some old socks and a ripped-up playpen sheet and soaked them in hot tea water overnight. I'd recommend very hot water and more tea; our socks just wound up looking skunky dirty instead of "antiqued." After we let our wrappings dry, we cut ears out of one sock and sewed them onto the other. Then we stuffed the head with old cloth diapers, tied it up, stuffed the body and wrapped the sheet strips around it. We also were supposed to find sea glass and other things to use for amulets, but we used shiny buttons and (appropriately) an old cat tag instead. Emperor drew the Eye of Horus that is visible in the top picture. We had a lot of fun with this project. We got the idea from this craft book on Ancient Egypt.

Ancient Egyptian Tomb Wall

The goddess Nut is clearly depicted in this Ancient Egyptian tomb painting. She sits near the Eye of Horus. Isis and assorted symbols, including the symbol of life, are in the lower portion of the tomb wall. The colours have been remarkably well-preserved for thousands of years.

Making a Hello Kitty Doll

Did I mention Emperor has a thing for Hello Kitty? He sewed this doll from a kit we got at Jo-Ann fabric store. He takes this little dolly about everywhere with him, puts it with some of his other dollies, and builds houses for them. He also has an extensive tinkertoy gun collection for Hello Kitty. Apparently Kitty is VERY BIG into the whole idea of defending fortresses and testing launching weapons. (I guess she is in the red jumper militia.)

Making a Tile Mosaic

This is Elf's art project. He designed what he wanted to do with his tiles and made a detailed drawing. Then, we broke the tiles and glued them down to the base. He picked just the right tiles for the edges and then "filled" the other spaces with smaller broken pieces. After this dried, we mixed the grout and filled it in. We let it dry 15 minutes and wiped the top. Then, after it was completely dry, we wiped it until it was completely free of grout on the tile surfaces. Here it is, finished! Elf says that it took a long time, but it was worth it. It's a volcano at sunset.

Spelling Party

Elf and Emperor just finished up their fourth grade spelling workbooks, so it's time for a little party. We mixed some dough and let it rise whilst we did a little mathematics, covering how to divide fractions. We're reviewing for a quiz tomorrow. We shaped and baked our "bug bread." This picture is a turtle shape by Elf. Woodjie played peek-a-boo and he and Rose coloured and ate snacks. Woodjie made one of the little shapes himself, but cried when they came out of the oven and he wasn't allowed to have any. Woodjie took the picture of his sister you see above, with just enough help to keep the camera from dropping. He aimed and shot it. At the very end of our snacking and clean-up, it was time for presents! Emperor received a tiny Hello Kitty, and he was very excited about this. Elf got a Pokemon book. Congrats, guys! BJU Spelling 5 is on its way for us to use beginning in July!