This morning things didn't seem to be going well. I forgot my purse when I was on my way to pick up a certified letter from the post office (which was a complete waste of time because the letter was irrelevant), and I called the doctor about my daughter's eye glasses (which had broken when she fell on the muddy ground and felt they should not have broken in those circumstances) but was told they would most likely not be covered under warranty. I thought this day was going to be a frustrating day that I don't accomplish anything and my kids won't get any school work done.
However, things turned around. The eye doctor said that since it had broken in a seam/joint, they would cover it under warranty. Plus, while I was there I asked for a copy of her prescription so I could maybe order a spare. My kids said something about running by the bread store and getting "feed bags" which are a really cheap source of feed for donkeys and chickens while hay is at an all time high price. I never get there when they have feed bags. The workers randomly pull things off the shelf and put it all in a garbage bag for a couple of dollars. They never know when it will be and someone always beats me to them if I do get there close to the right time. Once I showed up as this man bought his tenth bag and stashed it in the back of his truck! Lo, and behold, there were two feed bags there waiting for us. The kids ran to it and dragged it to the front of the store before I had hardly walked in the door. My kids did actually get their work down and rather quickly. Also, I scored a free coupon for pop corn (Disney Movie Rewards) and a free package of Windex Wipes. https://www.rightathome.com/Offers/Pages/2012-01-windex-gp.aspx. The day isn't over yet but it's actually turned out to be a pretty good day.
I guess it goes to show, don't count your day a loss until God has a chance to intervene.
Tuesday, January 10, 2012
Monday, January 9, 2012
Our Weather Day
Activities:
Snowflake shirt negative imprint with Elmer's glue. We haven't soaked them in warm water yet to remove the glue but we can see the snowflake through the paint so it looks good so far.
http://familyfun.go.com/crafts/let-it-snow-t-shirt-674877/
Tornado in a bottle:
http://www.windows2universe.org/teacher_resources/tornado_edu.html
Squishy painting of the sun:
http://mrskarensclass.blogspot.com/2011_01_01_archive.html
Paint on a circle of poster board, squirts of paint and plastic wrap. Squish around the paint under the plastic wrap and then move the circle onto "sky colored" paper. We used the q-tips to just drag the paint from the circle to make the rays. We should have used more yellow. My daughter's is in the picture. She is the only one who had to have a pink sky rather than blue.
We made lightning as stated in previous post. I was thankful I practiced the day before so I was better prepared to do it before I had an audience of wiggly children.
We made fog:
http://eo.ucar.edu/webweather/activities.html
It took a few tries and two matches at a time to create enough heat.
We made it rain through clouds of shaving cream. See the preschool blog link and see the bottom. Our picture of it is below. If the clouds were too thick it took way too much shaving cream. So we didn't waste anything, we scooped out the colored shaving cream and made pictures using it like finger-paint.
We read a book called "Why does it rain" by Mike Kelly. It talks about all types of weather.
We made steam clouds using a tea kettle and very carefully saw how when we touch the gas coming out of the tea kettle (high up from the tea kettle its is only warm but be careful not to get burned) our hands then had water on them. We explained the water cycle with pictures and tied it into this experiment.
Our lunch was tornado soda (it was an off-brand I found), pizza clouds and pineapple and orange suns.
Pizza clouds are mozzarella string cheese, pizza sauce and mini pepperonis rolled up in crescent rolls. The kids helped make them. Suns are as seen in the provided picture of pineapple and oranges.
Last of all, we let then play in the rain in play clothes and boots. Yes, it really is that warm right now in Louisiana in January.
Snowflake shirt negative imprint with Elmer's glue. We haven't soaked them in warm water yet to remove the glue but we can see the snowflake through the paint so it looks good so far.
http://familyfun.go.com/crafts/let-it-snow-t-shirt-674877/
Tornado in a bottle:
http://www.windows2universe.org/teacher_resources/tornado_edu.html
Squishy painting of the sun:
http://mrskarensclass.blogspot.com/2011_01_01_archive.html
Paint on a circle of poster board, squirts of paint and plastic wrap. Squish around the paint under the plastic wrap and then move the circle onto "sky colored" paper. We used the q-tips to just drag the paint from the circle to make the rays. We should have used more yellow. My daughter's is in the picture. She is the only one who had to have a pink sky rather than blue.
We made lightning as stated in previous post. I was thankful I practiced the day before so I was better prepared to do it before I had an audience of wiggly children.
We made fog:
http://eo.ucar.edu/webweather/activities.html
It took a few tries and two matches at a time to create enough heat.
We made it rain through clouds of shaving cream. See the preschool blog link and see the bottom. Our picture of it is below. If the clouds were too thick it took way too much shaving cream. So we didn't waste anything, we scooped out the colored shaving cream and made pictures using it like finger-paint.
We read a book called "Why does it rain" by Mike Kelly. It talks about all types of weather.
We made steam clouds using a tea kettle and very carefully saw how when we touch the gas coming out of the tea kettle (high up from the tea kettle its is only warm but be careful not to get burned) our hands then had water on them. We explained the water cycle with pictures and tied it into this experiment.
Our lunch was tornado soda (it was an off-brand I found), pizza clouds and pineapple and orange suns.
Pizza clouds are mozzarella string cheese, pizza sauce and mini pepperonis rolled up in crescent rolls. The kids helped make them. Suns are as seen in the provided picture of pineapple and oranges.
Last of all, we let then play in the rain in play clothes and boots. Yes, it really is that warm right now in Louisiana in January.
Sunday, January 8, 2012
Make Lightning
Make Lightning
This was really cool. Tomorrow we are having a "weather" day with my three kids and two friends' kids. I wanted to practice this ahead of time. I tried a few different methods and had to play around with it but I finally got it to work. I found that a microfiber cloth (known for high static build up) worked in place of the wool really well. I tried what I was pretty sure was my husband's wool peacoat from the Navy but it didn't work so I don't know if it wasn't wool or it wasn't working. I used a fork for the metal object (rather than filing cabinet as it states) so I could go into the darkest room in the house (read:bathroom). I tried at first and only heard the snapping sound and almost gave up. Then I tried one more time and rubbed really hard and fast for a little while and I actually started to see sparks before I even touched it with the fork. Then I used the fork and saw a greatly formed mini-lightning bolt. It was too cool! I can't wait to show the kids tomorrow.
This was really cool. Tomorrow we are having a "weather" day with my three kids and two friends' kids. I wanted to practice this ahead of time. I tried a few different methods and had to play around with it but I finally got it to work. I found that a microfiber cloth (known for high static build up) worked in place of the wool really well. I tried what I was pretty sure was my husband's wool peacoat from the Navy but it didn't work so I don't know if it wasn't wool or it wasn't working. I used a fork for the metal object (rather than filing cabinet as it states) so I could go into the darkest room in the house (read:bathroom). I tried at first and only heard the snapping sound and almost gave up. Then I tried one more time and rubbed really hard and fast for a little while and I actually started to see sparks before I even touched it with the fork. Then I used the fork and saw a greatly formed mini-lightning bolt. It was too cool! I can't wait to show the kids tomorrow.
Friday, January 6, 2012
Raw food nut burger that is amazing
In the last six months our family has been adding far more vegetarian, vegan and raw meals to our diet and have been reaping major health benefits. I loved cooking before but was truthfully intimidated by learning all new methods. Some of it is way to complicated for a family of five with not much time to spare but now that I am learning the ropes I am finding recipes and meals that take less time to prep or cook than meat infused meal. Well last night I tried something I saw on a cooking show but winged it some without a printed recipe. Here it goes:
Handful of sundried tomatoes soaked for an hour.
2 cups of cashews (NOT SOAKED)
Handful of cilantro or I used cilantro paste (produce aisle)
Process in food processor then press into "burgers". I wrapped them in several large lettuce leaves and added toppings. I thought I had avocado but I didn't so we only added red onions. These burgers were amazingly delicious. My kids inhaled them! However, to make enough for five and make them large I would almost double the recipe. They were pretty filling as they were and they would be a small burger.
Handful of sundried tomatoes soaked for an hour.
2 cups of cashews (NOT SOAKED)
Handful of cilantro or I used cilantro paste (produce aisle)
Process in food processor then press into "burgers". I wrapped them in several large lettuce leaves and added toppings. I thought I had avocado but I didn't so we only added red onions. These burgers were amazingly delicious. My kids inhaled them! However, to make enough for five and make them large I would almost double the recipe. They were pretty filling as they were and they would be a small burger.
Wednesday, January 4, 2012
5th Grader's attempt at Animation - soon to be Claymation
We have downtime this week due to finishing the semester early so we are doing skill building in reading and math as well as some fun stuff, like animation for my oldest. We decided to let him play with the software and using his personal digital camera with toys before breaking open the clay. We bought this kit at the books store on sale a few months ago and have been saving it for the right time. He is taking to it quickly. We need a tripod badly, but he's doing well. He created his sounds separately with just a regular audio recording device on windows. I was impressed at his timing with the sound. He is working on the a story board. It's been a neat project. He struggles with creativity, breaking things down and expressing himself due to his Aspbergers/ADHD so this seems to be really good for him! I am excited to see him developing in this way. It's also been a great way to introduce some aspects of photography, art and movement concepts (bodily).
Quick easy freezer bag ice cream
Tonight we made ice cream in a freezer bag. It was so easy and we applied science. It took 1/2 cup of heavy cream, 1 tbsp of sugar, 1/2 tsp on sugar all mixed together. We used one of those blender cups you might use for protein shakes. Then we put the mix in a freezer and double bagged it. Then we took a larger (gallon size) freezer bag and dumped 4 cups of ice and 4 tbsp of salt (table salt) in it. Then we placed the smaller bag with the mix unit, making sure most of the air is out to prevent popping. Then we shook. We had a minor ice water leakage but we then wrapped Walmart bag around it. No big deal.
We discussed the science of how the salt quickens the melting process and how ice pulls energy from anything near it which is all why the mix freezes because the heat is pulled away to the ice.
The hardest part was getting the kids to shake it without complaining towards the 15th minute (the end). But the three of them managed while I finished dinner. This worked great because instead of putting it in the freezer u told them to hurry and eat before it melted. They never ate dinner faster! No playing or worrying about touching each other, just eating. I had a little taste but to split the amount between the three there wasn't much to spare. It was actually REALLY good. We added bananas and chocolate chips after the fact. It seemed to start melting fast but still it was fun edible science.
We discussed the science of how the salt quickens the melting process and how ice pulls energy from anything near it which is all why the mix freezes because the heat is pulled away to the ice.
The hardest part was getting the kids to shake it without complaining towards the 15th minute (the end). But the three of them managed while I finished dinner. This worked great because instead of putting it in the freezer u told them to hurry and eat before it melted. They never ate dinner faster! No playing or worrying about touching each other, just eating. I had a little taste but to split the amount between the three there wasn't much to spare. It was actually REALLY good. We added bananas and chocolate chips after the fact. It seemed to start melting fast but still it was fun edible science.
Tuesday, January 3, 2012
Baking soda and vinegar balloons
This was our highlight of the evening. It was baking soda shoved in a balloon (a funnel would have been great but I don't know where the kids placed it when they did the dishes last). Them a bottle of vinegar. We placed the balloon over the lid and dumped it in. The reaction started happening immediately and so did the balloon filling up. The kids wouldn't stop asking for an encore!
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