A nature gift!

December 5, 2013 by tam

Just today I was FaceTiming with a wonderful friend. We ended up talking for a fair part of the afternoon and it felt good to connect and share. When we had finished I went to check the mail, and amidst a few parcels of books (yay books!) I found a package from her and it was like getting a hug in the mail. The boys were so excited to open the wrappings and so I to reminded them to slow down and be careful as we knew these were valuable pieces.

I took pictures of these special parts of nature from New Mexico and Colorado so that I wouldn’t forget where each came from. I tell myself I will remember these types of details but laughingly remind myself from past experience that that is rarely the case. Pictures are wonderful memory catalysts.

The boys and I couldn’t believe how soft these were…

There are actual seeds within the yucca pod which I find just beautiful. I may have to draw it.
The volcanic rock was light and smooth in some parts and in others held the surface texture of whatever it touched as it cooled.

I can see why the cottonwood is such a personal favourite. These leaves glistened like gold. They were amazing.

The boys called out the oak and maple right away and were in awe of the colour of the cottonwood. I also love that the oak leaves are paired and that the double samara is this beautiful yellow green colour I’ve never seen before. In our part of Nova Scotia they tend to be a medium brown tone with less depth. We still love them nonetheless and enjoy watching them lightly helicopter down through the air to the ground.

We were so careful with the cottonwood seeds that looked like they were already in mid-flight.

The pine cone had a movement all its own with its whispy appendages.

We were surprised at how the deceptive weight of the petrified wood and I chuckled to myself as we had just been discussing this in our FaceTime conversation.

These treasures needed a safe and special spot away from the curiosity of Gypsy. The mantle was to be the chosen spot so I found an appropriate plate, placed everything with care and made space on our mantle between our plethora of shells and pine cones, candles and incense. It’s our little nature altar. I like that.

Thank you, Dawn, for the wonderful addition to our collection. Makes me smile. It was a good day.

Dawn is one of the best lovers of nature I know. If you want to see what she is up to and find out more about the world outside your door, you should really visit the Mud Puddles to Meteors site. It’s packed full of cool stuff!

Weekending

November 17, 2013 by tam

This weekend was one of very few that I have off entirely. I usually work Sundays so this was a treat. Down side, Stephen had a lot of work to do which made it easier with me off to hang with the boys. We got out briefly to be a part of a very important demonstration walk in downtown. The boys chanted and carried signs. It was important that they see people standing up for what they believe in. It’s one think to tell them about it and another to be a part of it. I think it makes it real.

It felt good to be a part of something significant. Hope to do it again.

We went for some much needed sustenance after all that walking. The past few times the boys have had their program at the art gallery we’ve passed Tim’s and they’ve asked for ice cream. It was only 7C outside but I couldn’t say no. 🙂

Then we went for a walk along the harbour. Beautiful.

The boys learned about this NSCAD couple’s work during their visit to the gallery this week so it was a must to see this in person.

On our way up to MEC for winter mitts (which ended in purchasing winter gloves) for the boys (and almost snowshoes!!) we spotted some sea creatures!

It was a lovely Saturday, however, by the time we arrived home Stephen had a killer migraine (the chanting probably didn’t help). It was a very lay low evening.

Today, I was invited with a friend to an artisan’s show and sale. Oh my how fun and wonderful to see and talk with other artists! So inspiring!

After lunch I went outside to fix the piece of glass I installed and caulked on my cold frame. The caulking didn’t take probably due to dampness. Ugh. I doubt it will take this time either. I may have to bring the top into the basement to let it set tomorrow.

Meanwhile, to my delight, the boys came outside and raked into a huge pile as high as X (no kidding!) all the leaves in our yard and then proceeded to jump into them. They had a great time!

While they did this, and in-between my picture taking and video recording I mended some clothing while sipping tea and snacking. It was nice, yes, it was very, very nice.

For more weekending fun go this way!

Homeschool Adventure Week 9

November 11, 2013 by tam

This past week we sent out our nature box to Latvia! We loved being a part of the nature exchange! These are some of the finding we have left over. Hmmm…now where to put them all?

The boys helped as we identified some of our findings. It was hard work and a lot of research and picture comparing but it was a great learning experience. Here are some of the sites we used for our identification:

Rock Identification Guide

Acorn Identification Guide which brought us to this

Oak Leaf Identification Guide

and along the way we found an animal scat guide for all those times you run into something other than dog poo (yay) on the trail.

We found this one for moss and lichen in our area

and this for seaweed.

All packaged up and off it went with one of the leaf prints we made earlier this year and a feather for an added touch.

This week the boys and I made some yummy vegan rice crispy squares! We had found some vegan marshmallows at a local shop (oh so gooood!) and added a few of these even though they weren’t part of the recipe. I did add more dates and almond butter to make it all stick together more – I guess peanut butter must be stickier… Then we put dairy-free chocolate chips melted with a little almond milk on top. So good!

The boys are on their way to painting their five element stones. None of the paint stuck well except for the white so now they are painting them all white and then adding the colours on top. We shall see how it goes!

We watched this super cool video using a VW Beetle for instrumental sounds – watch all three versions, it’s very cool!

I made this super yummy soup originally posted by Dawn on FB but didn’t have enough garlic so we added powdered garlic later and oh, wow, maybe not the freshest thing but still did the job. The boys now love it on noodles too!

By the end of the week, we started to learn about space, again. It often comes back to space and I gotta say, it’s always very cool.

This is a great book and we have borrowed it from the library a multitude of times and really should purchase it at this point. We started from the beginning instead of jumping to where our question would be answered and found out exactly what light years really are and how to pronounce this number: 9,500,000,000,000. Not a good thing to do just before bed though, as there were a ton of questions swimming around in their heads!

I think we need to have a weekly question box blog post. We have a question box for those things that we can’t get to answering right away but somehow never get to it. Yes, a question box weekly blog post should do. 🙂

Today, we will be learning more about the weather, thanks to Mud Puddles ladies Dawn and Annie! Can’t wait!

What did you do last week? Anything cool and interesting that you’ve learned lately?

Homeschool Adventure Week #8 and the Eclipse

November 4, 2013 by tam

It was an unschooling week this time around what with the usual programs and Halloween.

We went to two parties, one of which consisted of finding dragon eggs with much excitement! Inside each egg was a joke instead of candy and I gotta say, I like that lack of candy business.

We also brought along these yummy cookies! You may want to bookmark this site! There is an amazing overnight oatmeal recipe too, I kid you not! But, I digress…food does that…

We also tried starting a fire which didn’t work that well as it had rained the day before and we didn’t have much kindling/newspaper as starter at first. Another family arrived who happened to have a bunch of newspaper in their car which proved helpful as some of the kids were very determined to get that fire going. I must say, despite the wet wood, we did manage to make it work eventually. It was fun for them to see the different ways that wood, leaves, and paper burned. I think next time we need to make some of these starters from the summer edition of Alphabet Glue and come prepared!

Later in the week I had a big order for a family photo shoot to prepare so the boys sat down to make their own Pokémon cards. There was a lot of drawing, colouring, cutting, and writing. It was quiet with all of this studiousness. I have to say it was so lovely. Gypsy was curious and hopped up on Xman’s chair to get a little closer to the action.

Yesterday morning, as you may know, was a solar eclipse. It was not only an annular but total eclipse! We were very excited to see if the sky got even a little darker from our wee spot on this earth of ours but with all of the overcast weather we did not see a thing. If we had had a clear sky we would have been able to see some of the eclipse from our area, most likely the annular part. However, the boys had a great idea on how to view the eclipse another way using their Star Walk app on their iPods. It showed them where the moon, sun and the earth (among other celestial bodies) would be at our specific location and exact moment. It was the next best thing I’d say! I know, it looks like the same picture twice but that is because it is! Both boys took a screen shot so they would each have their own record of it and I could show them on the blog. Even Stephen, right?

There are some pretty incredible images of the eclipse here. Did you see the eclipse in your area? We’d love to hear about it. Feel free to share a link to your pictures if you have any!

Viewing Ursa Major in miniature

October 31, 2013 by tam

My boys love the sky, anytime of year, anytime of day. A while ago we crafted these great star gazer scopes by Alphabet Glue and they now sit on our window sill for easy access.

The boys are always in a picture taking mood and yesterday Xman took this photo from the inside of the Ursa Major scope. I felt like I was outside staring up at the sky.

Are you in the mood for some crafts that are not only fun but educational? Pop on over to Alphabet Glue! If you visit the blog you will find the new super-cool-and-amazing Weather Watcher’s ebook!

Homeschool Adventure Week 6&7

October 30, 2013 by tam

During week 6 my cousin from Ontario paid us a pleasant visit. For her is was a time to relax, see family and see the sights. The boys super-enjoyed having her here as did we!

Along with visit and reminiscing the boys and I did our circle time and yoga. I must say, I am thrilled with how much the boys love the yoga and even add poses and take turns leading! This is rest time.

I like rest time.

Then we did a craft which I found on Pinterest to go with our number four study. We seem to be going through the numbers quite slowly what with everything else going on in our home lately but it has allowed us to see numbers in a different way, not just for math but in shapes and nature. The piece we worked on is called God’s Eye and I thought it worked well with the number four, being four sided and all… it was quite fun to do and easy too! It simply consists of a lot of wrapping embroidery thread around popsicle sticks but the fun is in the colours and combinations. I told the boys they could be their dream catchers explaining to them that God’s Eye will trap the bad dreams and let the good ones through. The boys hung their dreamcatchers by wands they made onto their bed posts.
Xman told me the next morning the dreamcatcher had worked and had captured all his bad dreams. One morning the dreamcatcher didn’t work and seeing as it was a full moon I told him it may be tired of catching dreams and needed to be placed in the light of the moon to recharge just like our crystals. The light of the moon is a wonderful thing!

More stories! This one was from the Grimm Brothers entitled The Duration of Life. The boys used the chalk board door to illustrate as I told the story. I had to take three picture of the door from top to bottom to get all the drawings in.

L drew God as a face with big hands creating the world.

God then asked four animals, a donkey, monkey, dog and a human, how long they wanted to live.

In the end the human chose to live the length of time God suggested plus those of the other three animals combined. According to the Grimms we should live for 70 years but not without many trials and tribulations that all animals share but I kept that part out of the story. I like to end things on a good note especially with sensitive minds and very big imaginations!After the number four is the number…? Five! We read this great story called The Five Elements and the Five Coloured Stones about a Chinese Empress who was twenty-five feel tall and her adversary who was even taller who wanted to take over the land. There was a battle with an and army, the Water Devil and even a Fire God. The heavens fell to earth and the sun and moon went on vacation which brought darkness to the land. A magical brew was made which included five coloured stones to make a paste and put the heavens and sky back together. The sun and moon returned all everyone lived in peace.

The boys made the scene with the magic brew from Lego. The Empress is in the back at the top of the castle while one of her helpers mixes in the ingredients for the paste. I think most of these blocks came from our Lego Champion game!

We also stayed busy collecting things for the nature exchange.

Grammar and writing consisted of one of our circle time poems Parting Blessing from this wonderful book! I find Lucas, being older, can write longer before his hand tires. As well, he copied the work out in the format of the poem which made it easy to read.
The first poem Xman wrote out was hard to read for this reason. I had to explain to him why it was good to write the poem as he saw it in verses while skipping lines. He was a bit reluctant at first as this was my idea and not his (I can relate!) but once he finished he agreed it was much easier to read and you could see the rhythm the poem carried by the way it was written.

Since then, L came up with a tune for the poem and they sing it all of the time! It has been a busy couple of weeks which makes for a delay in posting. But I did it – eventually! 😉

This week is busy as well with a Discovery Centre program where the boys learn about Rube Goldberg machines (they are super fans!) and two Halloween parties oh my plus the usual programs. Hopefully I will have HAW #8 ready to go on time!

Happy Spooky week to all!

Nature excursion and search

October 29, 2013 by tam

We have had a couple of fun weeks keeping our eyes peeled more than usual for fun and interesting bits of nature for our nature exchange. Two wonderful places we went were Lawrencetown Beach and Point Pleasant Park, and also a gravel road to find pyrite!

We had a great time and can’t wait to send our package off and see what we receive in return!

We went to the beach in search of fun things to exchange but spent most of the time enjoying the water – I planned well with the rain boots! What a glorious time we had and the boys can’t wait to do it again.

2013Oct22_Lawrencetown Beach_08 Waiting for the water to fill up their boots!

Out comes the water!Which makes for very wet socks!Spotted some wildlife on the way home.
Some fun flyers!Point Pleasant Park
Sumac tree berries?
Perhaps some of you remember the Asian Longhorn Beetle passing through the park and destroying many a tree after Hurrican Juan had already thinned out the forest. It is still a beautiful place to go walking but where you couldn’t see from one trail to the next, at times you now can as the forest is much less dense. (sad face)

A short visit to the Prince of Wales Tower to see the canons and the canon balls.
Permanent resident.Some of the left over stumps from trees that had to be cut down.
I could not go without finding at least one mushroom!This was the coolest trunk! Look at those amazing swirls!
Learning how to skip rocks.

I am a few weeks behind with our Homeschool Adventures posts – those will come next, pinky promise! 😉

Make and Listen

October 24, 2013 by tam

This is my first time joining in on the Make&Listen Along for I am finally starting a new project! I recently knitted a hat for myself, although easy as it was I kept making mistakes. Now onto some fingerless gloves and a hat for the boys which I hope to have done before this wonderful fall season is over (fingers crossed!). Not too long ago we were walking through a forest on a search for some goodies to add to the Nature Exchange of which we are very excited to participate in, and I realized that although I had the convenience and comfort of fingerless gloves for this work, the boys did not. It was due time to make something similar for the boys and after much searching they unanimously decided on this pattern.

There is a pile of books waiting for my attention as I try to finally-with-no-excuses get back into art making and make those dreams a reality! Etsy maybe and art gallery store!

Today as I crocket and learn ‘no-foundation single crochet’ and joining in the round without a gap, the boys are busy listening to a classic Bare Naked Ladies Album and playing Life while the scent of rice and quinoa cooking fills the room.

A good day to be.

If you have something to share that you are listening to as you are making share along here!

Xman turns seven!

October 19, 2013 by tam

These boys had waited patiently (not!) for their birthdays and on Thursday it was Xman’s turn to be super excited. He already knew what his present was as he is the one who found it but now he got to use it! Super fun!

We had cheeza (cheese pizza) for lunch after Xman helped me with the cake then off we went to the play café again with some family and friends. After much running and chasing we had a light dinner and a library visit before heading home for birthday songs and cake and a very late bedtime!

Happy birthday, my love, you are indescribable!

X brought his Snap Circuits to the table that he had received last year in order to get ready for what was to come…

Snap Circuits Add-Ons! Now he can make an AM/FM radio, an LED number count-down and more!

On to decorating the cake and chocolate acorn Pokémon.

He looks quite good for 61.

As X had done for L so too would he do for himself. He played Happy Birthday on the keyboard while we sang!

And, of course, we have the traditional family photos! Mr Xman you are super awesome and a little silly too. Thank you.

Moon Phases at birth

October 18, 2013 by tam

I have been falling in love with the moon. I have always found it so beautiful but lately I find it mesmerizing. I started to read more about the moon and it’s relation to our planet and the sun and doing so has made me feel more a part of the circle of life, and the energy to which we are all connected.

Naturally I became curious as to what phase of the moon I was born under and found this:

You were born during a Full moon

– what it says about you –

You’ve spent your life in the middle of things, whether it’s between people who oppose each other, ideas that oppose each other, or places that are very different. You’re very aware of perspectives outside the norm and good at anticipating how different people will see a situation. You value second opinions, because they give you a feeling of balance. You don’t have a single group of friends and the people you spend time with may not have a lot in common with each other.

What phase was the moon at on your birthday? Find out at Spacefem.com

I do love a full moon. No wonder.

Tonight is a Penumbral Lunar Eclipse, meaning it will be a full moon but the earth’s orbit will block some of the rays of the sun from the moon. I will miss seeing this glowing friend of ours tomorrow but it is nice to know that it was there to say ‘hello!’ when I came into this lovely world.

What discoveries have you made lately?

the shards

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