Saturday, November 16, 2013

Halloween Celebrations


Ahhh, my science geek was  a black hole for a party he attended at Garrett Smith's home.  Quite clever!!

Sleeping Beauty (Krystal) and the three fairies (Delaney, Grace and Janet)
 Liam changed his attire for each and every occasion to dress up....here as a pile of leaves.....then with Sister Zander he dressed as a vampire!

For the big night....he was Capt. America.  Delaney decided to go as a black cat.
 ....and cute little Baby Bop came out of hiding again.  Both Cailin and Delaney have worn this costume.  This was one well used "hand-me-over" item!

 Along with the usual ward Trunk-or-Treat night  my middle and little had a party at the Walker's home and a special homeschool "little Friends" school day.  Books, crafts, cooking and fun were centered on Halloween.
 
 Math was even included.  The graphed the goodies in a special trail mix for the day.
 

 I saved the baby calf for the kids to investigate.....Ooo the goriness of it all.

Cailin had fun with Celia for a sleepover and a night of candy and hours and hours of Dr. Who!!
Ryan had fun at Game Quest with his new friends playing Pathfinder.

Tuesday, November 12, 2013

Landry's Mom Retreat....warning this post may be icky!

A relaxing time of fellowship with other moms and instruction from our veteran, homeschool science teachers on teaching Christ-centered science in grades 4 through 12. We'll do a variety of labs, dissections, talk about teaching, supplies, etc. You'll certainly learn in our teaching sessions but you'll also benefit from the wisdom and experience of other homeschool moms in time spent hanging out and relaxing with them. You'll love the labs and will have new labs and inspiration to take home to your children and/or homeschool co-op classes.


What's Included?
Everything! For $25, you'll get two nights accommodations, six meals, coffee, tea, and hot chocolate 24/7, all the hands-on science you can handle, lab supplies, lots of stories, lots of chocolate, door prizes, lab manual, access to experienced science teachers, freebies to take home, t-shirt, great fellowship with other homeschooling moms.. and relaxation.  :)

....This is what was promised and all for only $25.00.  What I got was so much more!!  I loved my little getaway.  Renee and I traveled to Lynchburg and for 2.5 days I didn't have to cook, clean, or worry about anything or anybody but me!

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This was the back of the T-Shirt they gave.  Yep, Yep, and Yep.  Love the chocolate, new friends and lots of inspiration to keep the homeschool fires burning strong!



 In this experiment we separated our DNA from our spit!
 On to the dissection.....we dissected a pregnant uterus of a sheep....others had a cow.  Some of them had twins.






 After opening the uterus' many of the mom's got excited and started dissecting the little embryo's too.  I was somewhat worried about my reaction to all this.  What I found was that it didn't gross me out, quite the contrary, I was reverenced and awed my the wonderment of the Lord's creations.  It strengthened my testimony that we indeed have a loving God who created this....not some blizzard of explosions.  Way too much order for that!


These are lungs, can't remember what animal donated them, but they were fixed with a pump so we could see them expand and contract.  They also had smoker's lungs for a comparison.

There was a contest.....who can decorate their apron the best?  Winner get's to take Sally the Skeleton home.  Renee saw her and said  "She's mine!!!"  She was right!  She won and now proudly stands in her home.  Lucky for me we can go and visit her anytime we want.  Anatomy and Physiology is on the docket in two years!  Can't wait.



Here she is!  Renee with her new friend Sally.


Saturday, November 2, 2013

Cailin's 13th Birthday.....part 2


Hello. It was my birthday exactly fifty days ago as I write this. It was a good birthday, it really was. Especially with all my Doctor Who gifts. Perhaps you are unfortunate enough to not know what Doctor Who is. It's a science fiction show that I absolutely LOVE.
I got a TARDIS lunch box. The TARDIS is what the Doctor travels around in. It stands for Time And Relative Dimension In Space. T-A-R-D-I-S. TARDIS.
We had a birthday breakfast before I went to my CC class.
My cake. It was store bought and delicious.
Connor got me a Doctor Who poster. What it says is:
When all else fails use your sonic screwdriver.
The smallest change in time can have major repercussions.
Psychic paper is and excellent way to get in anywhere.
When faced with a Slitheen, vinegar is handy.
A Sontauran's weak point is on the back of his neck.
Sometimes a fob watch isn't just a fob watch.
Disturbing weak points in time can have dire consequences
Upwards rain means you could be about to take an unplanned journey.
Blue boxes can look smaller from the outside than they are from the inside.
Within the 15 hours of regeneration a Time Lord can reform new limbs.
The adipose diet is not a great idea.
Some traffic jams can go on forever.
When an Ood shows red eye, run!
Daleks are made to exterminate!
Beware the sound of drums
You can grow a TARDIS
Companions can be very useful.
Don't blink.
Be suspicious if planets go missing
Being immortal can give you a big head

Yep. So it was a really great birthday. Ryan got me another poster, but Mom didn't take a picture of it.

Another Future Chef in our Home

 This little man loves to cook!!  Just like his big brother Connor.....so far he's all into sugary treats, but he loves fried chicken too, sooo I'm thinking it's just a matter of time till he's wanting to tackle the bird.

Sunday, October 27, 2013

A Busy, yet Joyful Weekend

The Newbern Fair is a big deal around here.  This year Delaney's dance class (to earn money for competition) and Cailin and Delaney's Drama class both had booths at the fair to earn money and give awareness to their upcoming projects.  (The drama class will be presenting The Suessified Romeo and Juliet )

I made pepperoni swirl bread for the dance class and flower headbands for the drama class to sell. Cailin had a great time (forgot to get her photo) helping at the booth for the Drama class.
Delaney, Liam, Brianne and I decided to skip the cost of the Newbern Fair and head over to Fairlawn to the church of a friend (Renee East) and participate in their church's fall festival.

Ever since summer camp, when Delaney struggled to overcome her fears of getting on a horse, she's been wanting to try again....her day came!  How joyful she was to get up and ride this horse!
These three enjoyed a bouncy house, hotdog lunch and horse back riding.....until the ever joyful Brianne TOTALLY LOST IT!!!  
When it was her time to get off the horse, to let someone else ride it....she became unhinged, unglued,  unhappy....completely UN joyful!  She proceeded to throw a tantrum that last over 20 to 30 minutes.  I did all the usual tricks to calm her.  BUT SHE WOULD HAVE NONE OF IT!!!
She wanted back on that horse and THAT WAS THAT!!

Needless to say, that was the end of that joyous activity.  We went home.
Liam was thrilled....full of JOY to be up on a horse for the first time in his life!

Back at home, Connor enjoyed some time with his friend Daxton while Ryan had fun playing Pathfinder at Game Quest in Radford.
Sunday morning...bright and joyful....We had stake Conference.  Lately we've been able to go to our ward building for a satellite broadcast from the stake center but this time we needed to go to Pembroke because Ryan was going to be ordained an Elder in the Melchizedek Priesthood.

Fall picture time......Cailin 13
 Liam 6


 Delaney 9
 Ryan 18

Brianne 3

Connor 15

Wednesday, October 16, 2013

Month 2-- Civil War--History Group Presentations

 Liam talked about the flags of the Union and the Confederacy.  The Stars and Strips and the Stars and Bars.
 Krystal asks:  Which food would you rather eat?
From the North:  Hard Tack (full of bugs and dirt) dipped in broth with re-hydrated veggies, beans and canned milk   or  from the South:   Sweet potatoes, peanuts, and johnny cakes (cornmeal cook as a pancake)...if there was any food to be found.
MMmmm choices, choices.

 Cailin taught us about Michal Faraday:
Hale, Cailin
Challenge B
Mrs. East
October 3, 2013
The Man Who Changed the World
      Perhaps it was his curiosity to know everything. Perhaps it was his dedication to science and knowledge. Perhaps it was both. Either way, Michal Faraday was a genius. A British chemist and physicist, he grew up with a thirst for knowledge that appeared unquenchable. He was a great scientist. His contributions to society and science were vast. Michal Faraday was a brilliant, curious genius.
      In his childhood, his thirst for knowledge was poorly met. He was born on September 22nd, 1791 in south London to a family that could not afford a very good education. Faraday only received a basic schooling. When he was thirteen he went to work at a book binder’s shop. Every book he bound he read. Faraday attended four lectures by a chemist of the name of Humphrey Davy. Eagerly, Faraday wrote to the chemist, requesting to be his assistant. Davy declined. Though this strongly disappointed him, he was thrilled when in the next year, Davy requested Faraday to be his assistant. Obviously the chemist had changed his mind. The excited young man agreed to assist Humphrey Davy. Faraday was a great questioner in his youth.
     Michal Faraday was a brilliant scientist. One day, Davy asked Faraday if he would like to adventure on an eighteen month tour of Europe with Davy and his wife. Faraday accepted, of course. They met many influential scientists of the age on their travels, much to Faraday’s excitement. When he had returned home, Faraday continued to assist scientists with their various experiments and doing some of his own. He wrote and published several articles on the world’s current views on electricity. He was, and always had been, extremely interested in electricity, energy, and force. In 1812, while America was fighting bitterly to keep their freedom, he published his works and research on electromagnetic rotation. In 1826 he founded the Royal Institution Friday Evening Discourses and the Christmas Lectures. Known as a great experimenter as well as lecturer, Faraday was becoming more widely known and more popular. He was definitely a brilliant scientist.
      Michal Faraday was very influential on society and science. He discovered the electromagnetic rotation, the principle behind the electric motor. In 1831 he discovered electromagnetic induction, the principle behind the electric transformer and generator. He gave his name, Faraday, to the ‘farad’, which originally was a unit of electrical  charge. It is now a unit of electrical capacitance. Faraday died on August 25th, 1867. He was a very influential and admirable scientist.
      Michal Faraday showed the world that you don’t have to be rich to be smart and important in the world’s eyes. In his childhood he questioned everything. He proved to be apt as a scientist. He influenced our society and science. He proved to everyone that you don’t have to be born into a particularly wealthy or special family to be great. He did what he loved, and he did it fantastically. Michal Faraday changed the world of science. 
 Clarissa shared with us interesting facts about American Red Cross founder Clara Barton.
 Janet shared with us a lovely dance that was enjoyed by many people during the Civil War.  We all had fun learning it and dancing too.


Delaney read The Story of Harriet Tubman, Conductor of the Underground Railroad  for the past week.  She then shared much of what she learned using a power point presentation.
Beryl shared with us the Gettysburg Address.  Both she and Connor are taking a LEMI class called the Sword of Freedom and have to memorize this speech.
Amber shared wonderful stories about different animals that traveled with various troops and companies of soldiers during the war.  Bears, eagles, cow, cat, dog, chicken (one was always with General Robert E. Lee and provided him an egg for breakfast under his cot/bed each and every morning.)  Many other animals too.