Science

Another successful science class under our belt! We continued with our study of solids, liquids, and gases. We did two experiments using plaster of paris (what a great way to show the kids a liquid turning into a solid). We created a volcanic mountain by gooping plaster of paris around a small bottle. The kids chose to paint their "mountain" green and brown. After putting baking soda inside the bottle and adding vinegar mixed with dish soap and red food coloring the lava flowed! We had a great time with the Williams. After the experiments were completed and we had worked on our periodic table lapbook the younger girls decided to "go to the beach"!! The beach picture above is of Beatrice, Taylor, and Ella -- don't forget the suntan lotion :)

Vacuuming

What a guy! Ben wanted to follow in Greg's footsteps and vacuum the living room tonight. After a little help from mom the carpet looks pretty spiffy. Greg -- if you are reading this, you can mentally check vacuuming off of your Friday to-do-list:)

India -- Week 4

On Monday we concluded our study of India. The other homeschool mother has a neighbor from India that blessed us with her time. She is originally from northern India and had a great many things to share. She brought along sweet rice (a yellow rice dish with almonds and raisins -- mmm...) to share with all of us. She also brought along a video of a traditional Indian marriage. The kids enjoyed listening to her, asking questions, tasting the sweet rice and watching the wedding ceremony.

Today we painted and labeled our clay map of India. The first one is Abby's, the second is Ben's and the third is Taylor's. With Greg's vast map knowledge we all learned alot!

Skype

Here is a picture of Taylor "skyping" our dear friends in FL. It is great to see them and talk to them at the same time:)

Friday

Today we had our science co-op at the Williams house. We continued our solid, liquid, and gas study by making silly putty (what a great way to show a liquid changing into a solid). Benny is holding his sample of the silly putty. We also continued our Periodic Table lapbook (picture shown above). I took these pictures while Abby was at basketball and Taylor was playing with a friend -- so I thought I'd add a picture of what Ben and I did while it was just the two of us. He decided to label a few things. He labeled "trumpet" (I know, it is a french horn -- he insisted on trumpet), a piece of cardboard in the shape of a CD he labeled "clock", labeled a bag of knights "knight", and wanted to label a container with the label "specials" (a place to put all of his treasures).

Wednesday

Tuesday evening Taylor had an idea to have a sleepover in Ben's room! She did not end up sleeping in Ben's room (Abby was lonesome) -- but the next morning I found them lazing around on their mattresses (in Ben's room).

Twins??

Taylor wanted to be Ben's twin! They dressed alike and Taylor found some dress-up glasses and put her hair up (isn't she the spitting image of Ben).

India -- Week 3

We enjoyed a third week of our India study. The kids made a Rangoli design using glue and colored sand. We also tasted a bit of Indian food. I walked over to an Indian restaurant and picked up some Naan and an appetizer called Dahi Vada (straight from the menu -- lentil doughnets soaked in yogurt served with tamarind, and mint chutney), along with Basmati rice, candy purchased by the other mother, and tea. We had quite a mini feast!

Silly Day!

Yesterday was a day full of cleaning and the sillies:) Taylor dressed up in her dad's clothes and his work bag and told us she was "off to work". Shortly after here comes Ben on top of Abby's shoulders! Now, Benny is no light weight. After seeing Abby a bit wobbly and Ben start to teeter backwards, I unfortunately had to put a stop to the fun:(

Happy Valentine's Day

Happy Valentine's Day! The kids and I woke up to a sweet surprise -- chocolate for the kids and chocolate and flowers for me. What a guy:) After breakfast (we experimented with dying oatmeal and milk with red food coloring -- the red oatmeal was not a hit, Ben thought it looked like blood) the girls went to basketball. The kids are outside jumping on the trampoline. What a great day!

Science

Yesterday was a very full day! We had a friend of Taylor's over to our house for a good part of the day. In the middle of the day we had our co-op science class with the Williams family. We studied the 3 phases of matter (solid, liquid, and gas) and ended up completing about 4 experiments. The first picture above shows (with the help of cornstarch) how something can be a solid and if left alone can turn into a liquid and the other picture shows a balloon filling up with gas after combining baking soda and vinegar (unfortunately the other balloon burst and sent baking powder flying).

Taylor's Gift to Ben

Today Taylor made Benny a bear. Here is a picture of Benny sleeping with the bear and a close up of the bear. It's amazing how I can take pictures of kids sleeping and never wake them up -- I think the flash would surely wake me up!

Hike

Today was a beautiful day! We packed up the kids and went for a walk, just past Great Falls Park, at Difficult Run Stream. This picture is showing where Difficult Run and the Potomac River meet. Great excercise -- great time:)

India

We are learning about India! Two weeks ago we started getting together with another homeschool mom and her daughter (same age as Tay) to learn about other countries. Our first country is India. The first week the kids dressed in Indian outfits (thanks to the other homeschool mother). This week we made Diwali (their New Year celebration) votives for candles. We also made made and ate flatbread (oops, forgot to take a picture). We have been learning LOTS and having alot of fun:)

Breakfast in Bed

The kids surprised us with breakfast in bed this morning! I was showered and dressed by the time breakfast was served -- but I had no trouble crawling back in bed with Greg to enjoy this delicious creation:)

Saturday

A beautiful day today. Basketball this morning for the gals. A wonderful "Skype" conversation with some dear friends and soon we will be going to the Home Depot park to play. Above are pictures of the kids that I took today. Taylor wearing monkey magnet earrings, a home that Taylor created for a bug that was found in the house (fully equipped with a bed, front door, doorbell made from beads and other misc. accessories), and a moment I captured of Abby showing Benny how to use one of the Leapster games:)

Taylor's poem

Taylor wrote her first poem this morning. Here it is...

Birthday Time
I bake my birthday cake.
I blow up ballloons.
I see a blue jay at noon.
I see confetti.
I see Teddy.
I open up my present.
I had a big event.

Dulles Sportsplex

Today we packed up the kids along with scooters, rollerblades, basketballs and helmets and headed to the Dulles Sportsplex. What a great way for all 5 of us to get exercise at the same time. I walked, Greg played hoops, and the kids kept quite busy going from one thing to another! We had all 3 basketball courts to ourselves. After that we filled our bellies with Baja Fresh:)

Unrelated note:
I have been quizzing the kids the last couple of weeks, just wanted to report my findings...
#1 How many kids do you want?
Abby -->> 5 (Bill, Rob, Bethany, Emily and Anka)
Taylor -->> 3 (Ruth, Joseph and Anna)
Ben -->> 2 (Jackson and Lucy)
#2 What do you want to be when you grow up?
Abby -->> naturalist or Irish dancer
Taylor -->> archaelogist or baker (at Great Harvest Bread Company)
Ben -->> baker or artist (but interestingly enough changed a couple days later to worker or news reporter)

History

We are thoroughly enjoying our history study. Here are the crafts from our study about the Reformation and the Counter-Reformation. The kids created some great stain glass designs (Benny's lion and then Abby and Taylor's -- Abby is left and Tay on the right). And also a picture of them wearing protestant hats:) The time frame is about the 1560s AD.

Ben

Ben had a great time at TNT today. A police officer (and his police dog) and a fireman (and truck) visited his class today (he is learning about community helpers). While I do not have any pictures from today, this picture show his "grass head" that he made at TNT a few weeks ago. He has "mowed" it only once (using a pair of scissors)!

Taylor

Today at TNT Taylor learned about the history of writing. Pictures above show her cuneiform tablet with her name etched and her scroll showing many names written in hieroglyphics.

Abby

Another great day at TNT! Abby finished her story...

Super Bowl Sunday

What a beautiful day it was yesterday! I think that the temps were close to 60:)

Greg took the kids sledding before the last of the white stuff melted. The condition of the hill was not optimal -- but they made the best of it! We are hoping for more snow before the season ends.

Later in the afternoon we met up with friends and took a super hike. The weather was great and the kids were energetic -- a very relaxing walk.

And, of course, we wrapped up the day watching the Cardinals almost beat the Steelers:) We ate pizza and had crepes for dessert. Another great day on Grant Street...