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Showing posts from September, 2010
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The leaves are changing color and falling off the trees now, so Norah read the book " Why Do Leaves Change Color? " another Let's Read and Find Out book. The book suggests that you collect leaves and use them to make leaf rubbings, so we did that. It also shows you how to press the leaves into wax paper. We did that, too.
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Norah got a book of temporary tatoos from one of her friends at her birthday party on Saturday. We spent Sunday afternoon cutting and laughing and customizing the tatoos in the book to say what we wanted them to say.
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A very good friend of mine said she considered me frugal and admitted that she was "shocked" when she saw that we decided to have Norah's birthday party at The Jump Zone this year. She has heard how expensive these parties can be. The basic package usually starts at $250 but when you add beverages and food and decorations and favors for the guests, you can easily double that price and spend $500 on your kid's party. I wanted to say a few words about this by way explanation and in defense of our choice. What I say might surprise you. Norah turned six this birthday, so to date, she has had three birthday parties that included guests... The first party we had at our home, assuming we'd save money that way. We worked for days to make the house clean enough for husband and wives and kids to come over. It was very stressful. We decorated the kitchen with streamers, a table cloth, matching plates and napkins and a few balloons. We provided dinner (hamburgers and h
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We prepped Norah's new Ant Hill to receive the live ants that we sent away for. They should be coming in the mail within the next week or two. When they come, we will put them in the fridge for ten minutes (to slow them down) and then add them carefully to the hill. If we care for them properly, they should live for a few weeks before they die (for lack of having a queen). Did you know ants need a queen to survive? We learned that and lots of other interesting facts in this book called Ant Cities that Norah read out loud to me. It's another Let's Read and Find Out book we got from the library. I noticed one interesting illustration with the caption "Queen ants and males flying off to mate" in the book and pointed it out to Norah. I wondered if this actually happened on a regular basis and thought to myself that it would be interesting to see a bunch of ants swarming out of a nest somewhere, someday. I was on the phone a day later when Norah ran inside (she ha
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We're doing Life Science this year, so we started out our studies with a Let's Read and Find Out book that Norah could read herself. It answers the question, " What's Alive? " The little girl in the book draws pictures of things in her house and her yard, then she puts pictures into groups of living and non-living things. When we were done reading and discussing the book, we did the same thing with the pictures in our picture file . We organized them into groups of living and non-living things.
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Norah had her birthday party (with friends) this afternoon. It was at the Jump Zone. The kids played for the first hour or so and then we came together for cake and juice and presents! at the end. Dwayne and I had a good time visiting with the other parents (all of whom we love and adore) and I think the kids had a blast. Thanks to friends (like Karen who held the baby and Joanna who dished out the cake), the day was a lot easier on me. We're so grateful to everyone who came. It matters a lot that people were willing to take time out of their day to help us make a special memory for Norah. Thanks, everyone!
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We wanted to try out my new CD player , so we took a drive to the Farmington Canal Greenway and let Norah ride her bike while Dwayne pushed Avril in the stroller (and I took pictures). We parked where there's a petting zoo and shared some fresh produce with the animals. The leaves are just starting to turn and fall off the trees. I enjoyed watching them float down onto the path in front of us as we went along. And, this fall weather is just perfect, too. It's not too hot, but not too cold, either. As the sun set, I played with my camera's manual settings and learned a little more about capturing the light and allowing more colors into my photos.
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We've used Norah's Bubble Gum Factory only once and candy-making is already much less of a mystery. (Note: This "factory" was really nothing more than a recipe book and a bag of ingredients.) That said, the gum we made tasted identical to what we buy in the convenience store. Norah still has plenty of ingredients to make several more batches of bubble gum and we will. But, not before I have to find some disposable, microwavable cups and some disposable, yet sturdy stirring spoons. When the directions warn that making bubble gum is sticky business, they aren't exaggerating. I had to throw out the Tupperware and the plastic mixing spoon we used to stir our first batch of gum. But, it was yummy!
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Dwayne traveled to Chicago for work, so while he was gone, I took the girls to visit a friend, another homeschool mom, in rural New Hampshire. Even though she homeschools her kids, they are allowed to participate in sports through their local public schools. Avril watched and cheered while her kids played soccer one afternoon. My friend lives minutes from Polar Caves. Norah and I wanted to visit there anyway, since we're doing so much reading about caves recently, so I took the older kids and my friend stayed home with the babies. The kids enjoyed playing hide and seek in the rock garden leading to the caves. It's like a natural labyrinth of rocks. Then on to the caves. The caves were cool (but we were working up a sweat, so they felt nice) and they were also very dark (thank goodness for my camera's flash). The view from the top. On the nature trails. One rock we saw on our walk gathers water and makes a natural wishing well. My friend's kids had to get back for an