Matthew's Big Day

Yesterday we spent the day in The 100 Acre Wood. I thought Matthew would be enthralled with all the baby animals... and the adult animals too. They've got quite the menagerie. But who cares about little lambs and gathering eggs when there's a BULLDOZER?Matthew watched it from a distance and then we walked down to where the bulldozer was being used to clear a spot for a new barn. He watched it for a while and then worked up the nerve to get on! He sat in the driver's seat and then went along for a ride! I really couldn't tell from his reactions how much he loved it. But he spent the whole evening telling his aunt and Grandma about his ride on the "bull-ozer" so it must have been very special to him. That's Matthew with his friend, Nolan, and Nolan's Grandpa.

My New Skill

I learned how to use a compass today... not the kind I'd need if I got lost in The 1oo Acre Wood, but the kind that I will most likely never use again in my entire life (or at least until my next kid gets to 6th grade). I haven't used one up until this day. I don't even remember using a compass when I was in 6th grade myself. But A Beka says Adam needs to be able to draw a perfect circle so that's what we did. Maybe he'll become an engineer of round bridges or a renowned circle artist and we can thank A Beka for teaching us how to use the compass. But I watched Adam with the compass today and I really don't think that's going to happen. He is, however, quite good at figuring radii and diameters.

March Madness

And so it begins... weeks and weeks devoted to my least favorite sport. That's not entirely true. I hate other sports more than basketball, but those other sports do not invade my house and children and husband. So, Jeff printed up the brackets and they're mostly filled out waiting for the opening tip-off.

I said mostly b/c last year's winner (Evan) is being a whiney jerk. We forced him to fill out the brackets last year and he had a great time comparing wins and losses and eventually sneaking the grand prize right out of MY grasp. He's currently pouting in his room which is where I sent him after his whiney little fit. I would totally let it go. Pick your battles and all that; plus he beat me last year. But Jeff wants everyone to participate and it was fun last year after we made Evan do it. But Jeff took himself off to an office filled with rational people who do not whine (at least not out loud) and left me here to drag choices out of the whiner. It's gonna be a long day.

IT'S A MIRACLE!! Mere minutes after I posted this, Evan came into the family room and told me, "Mommy, I'm ready to pick my teams." And he did. His bracket is filled. He has North Carolina going all the way, as do Jeff and I. Adam and Ryan both picked Memphis to win it all. Let the games begin!!

Clarification: People are wondering.... the disturbing Google searches that led me to make my blog private were someone looking for pictures of preteens. They were followed by clicks on pictures of the kids playing outside, specifically pictures that included our house, as if someone is trying to find it. I know I've shared too much information and I got scared.
You can find information on your own blog at mybloglog.com or other stat counter sites.

Science with Potsy

I just love this song! It's perfect for a unit study on circulation, especially if you're a child of the '70s. My children of the new millennium like it too, though they don't get the full impact having never seen Potsy, Ralph Malph, or the Fonz. So, just sit back, hug your smurf, and enjoy the song. :)

Egg Cam

They're hatching!!! Hurry, most of these eggs should hatch by tomorrow.

EGG CAM

In Like A Lion

For us, March has come in like a lion... and I'm not talking about the weather. Our schedule has been absolutely CrAzY.

We started last Monday with a normal day. We did all our book work and went to band. But we haven't had a full day of school since then, until today.

Tuesday we had co-op followed by roller skating. On Wednesday, our local children's museum was hosting a homeschool day. Thursday was a production of School House Rock. I couldn't miss that! Then on Friday, my parents surprised us with a visit that lasted all weekend and into Monday. Field trip pictures are coming soon.

All are worthy of skipping school but I must say, I'm glad we don't have anything planned this week. We've already finished our book work today and I'm hoping to stay home and do that all week.

Book-It for Homeschoolers

I'm reposting this from last year... it's time to sign up again. :)

Some people think external rewards for reading take the joy out of it. Will the child who reads for rewards continue to read after the pizza runs out? Some people say reading for a reward is not as rewarding as reading for one's self. Therefore, those people don't appreciate Pizza Hut's Book-It program. I say, "Hey, it's free pizza!!"

So if you are not one of those people, it's time to enroll your little readers for free pizza. You can call 1-800-426-6548. Or for those of us who'd rather enroll without talking to an actual person, you can visit the Book-It Web Site.

You may have tangible wealth untold:
Caskets of jewels and coffers of gold.
Richer than I you can never be —
I had a mother who read to me.
- Strickland Gillilan

Heiner's Field Trip

Have you ever seen the cable show, "How It's Made?" We got to see it live and in person, sort of, when we visited a local bread bakery. They weren't actually taping anything for tv but the process was very similar to what you see on the show.

Heiner's Bakery was started by Charles Heiner in 1905. He started in a hotel room but the bakery now covers an entire city block. They bake 9,000 loaves of bread per hour! The system is so automated that human hands scarcely touch the bread. The dough drops by loaf or bun sized mounds and follows a series of conveyor belts through rolling, kneading, rising, baking, bagging, and tagging. It's then loaded on trucks and distributed to four states, up to 250 miles away.

We finished our tour with some freshly baked bread and a healthy appreciation for the work that goes into putting those packages on our store shelves. I was going to recommend that you try Heiner's bread, but I can't imagine that anyone who lives close enough to get it hasn't tried it, and loved it, already.

For bread related lesson plans, visit the Heiner's Bakery Educational Bites page. They have tons of info and fun stuff to do for every subject.