April Lunar Eclipse

April 15, 2014 by tam

14Apr2014_lunar eclipse_03

We were all excited about the lunar eclipse and I told the boys I’d wake them if the sky was clear. I woke just after 3am to find a clear sky with a bit of cloud lightly rolling by the moon. I tried my darndest to wake the boys but to no avail. Ahhh, to sleep so well!

I grabbed my camera and took some shots. At first our cat, Gypsy, was sitting in the window and it made the perfect image – a cat silhouetted against the moon! As soon as I crouched to get the shot she jumped off of the window sill! Guess she was trying to break the black cat and full moon stereotype! 😉

I managed to make a short gif which is easier than posting 13 images over time. (How ironic that I just happened to edit down to 13!) It’s a little wonky as I wasn’t using a tripod and the first couple of shots were from inside the house and the rest were outside, which is why there is a bit of a jump in progression. The gif is on a loop so you may have to wait a moment to see it from the beginning.

How timely it was that once the moon was fully eclipsed the cloud settled in heavier and I saw it no longer. Nonetheless, it is always a bit of a magical experience!

Eggsperiment

April 3, 2014 by tam

We’ve been having a great time reading through The Weather Watcher’s Handbook. It has been a slow read because we keep stopping to learn more about the weather and watch some great videos online. Today we learned about wind and air pressure and did a super fun eggsperiment (that’s right) to show the effects of air pressure. Super fun!

We were left wondering how to get the egg out… 😉

If you haven’t picked up a copy of The Weather Watcher’s Handbook yet, I have to ask, “What are you waiting for, Spring?” You may be waiting a while. 😉

Signs of Spring

April 2, 2014 by tam

This past Saturday was my birthday. There was no way I was staying inside and thank goodness it wasn’t a Wednesday or we would certainly be having a storm of some sort as past Wednesdays have shown. Luckily, after the last Wednesday’s crazy blizzard with hurricane force gusts (oh yippee) the weather took a break and much of the snow melted. It was damp and muddy but just fine for going outside if you asked me! 😉

I love peeking off the trails and finding little fluffy bundles of friendly lichen like these pixie cups. So wonderful to see!

If my search was correct, these are British Soldier lichen amidst what we boys and I call a Fairy Forest.

29Mar2014_Point Pleasant_08 I was so excited to see this little guy – a sure sign of spring! Coltsfoot!

A very common lichen here in NS – Old Man’s Beard.

The boys took a break at Prince of Whales Tower. Then Stephen joined them as I went trampling around in the mud.

We ended up at the shore and spotted this blubbery dude out on the rocks! Sea lion I do believe! Wish I’d had my other camera at this point – oh well. Can you see him/her hanging off of the rock over the water? I know it’s not very clear but I couldn’t help but take a picture anyway.

One spot overlooking the harbour was perfect for some javelin throwing using old broken branches. Good fun!

As we left the park the blue sky appeared for a bit, something we haven’t seen much of these days! A good day indeed.

Ice on the trail

March 19, 2014 by tam

A couple of weeks ago we went, yet again, to our favourite park for a walk on the trails. It was a mild day and the walk was very slippery but the boys didn’t mind! There were some very cool ice formations here and there and I couldn’t help but take some pictures. The boys spotted this leaf below the ice. It was moving gently from the flow of water around it as the ice melted.

Luckily the water here is only a few feet deep with no current. Great for safety when viewing ice floats.

The boys spotted this piece floating by and I managed to grab it. It was clear as glass.

Of course, the ducks saw us and thought we had food! Sorry ducks, not allowed to feed you, park rules! (although many do anyway)

Bubbles!The boys wanted me to take a pic of this piece as well and I thought I’d go in for a closer look.

It’s amazing the forms that take shape as ice melts.

Since this day a couple of weeks ago there has been snow and rain. Does not make for a fun trek. Hope to go out again soon – we all need that fresh air and sun! Come on Spring – we are ready!

Germs germs everywhere!

March 17, 2014 by tam

We’ve been fortunate this winter to be sick-free…until a couple of days ago when Xman got a cold. Ironically enough, in Minecraft Homeschool the assignment this week has to do with germs and this is one if the videos they watch before they build their germs and the hospitals to hold the sick. Glad to know that we’ve taught the kids to cover their sneeze the most effective way…whew!

Here’s a cute one.

Also, if interested in books we have found the Your Body Battles series to be fun and informative. Xman said between sniffles that he wants us to get them from the library again. 🙂

Found object fun

February 25, 2014 by tam

The boys love to construct things as most kids do. I came home from work to find they had made a car from things around the house. Very cool! They said, “Mommy can you take some pictures for the blog?” “Of course!”

The second pic shows Xman rolling some sort of Mario shell to the imaginary car in front – I am only somewhat familiar with Mario Cart because although I have played it I am not very good. Oh, and yes, that’s an energy drink can he has in his hand. It’s been a very busy semester for Stephen, but hey, at least it’s natural ingredients, right? 😉

Vrrroooom vrooooom!

Make and Listen

February 20, 2014 by tam

Today I am happy to be joining Dawn for her make and listen along Thursdays.

It’s been a busy week and much creating has been done to come to the end results of these projects.

The boys have been keen on making clay animals and are loving mythical creatures right now. They finished these polymer clay figures earlier this week, with a little help from me. It was super fun and I think I want to make one too! 🙂

L even made a holder for his sword. 🙂

We had great fun mapping out the bottom floor of our house. The boys used x’s on their maps to hide word cards for me to find, to be made into a story at a later date. L decided to go freestyle and draw the rooms as he saw them and even added the toaster, cutting board, tv and many other items around the house. Xman wanted a more exact measurement so we went around and measured each room showing that one square equals two feet. It was great fun had by all!

The boys wanted me to add this to the post: this is Burrito. He is made from a fraction of the Hero Factory/Bionicle pieces that the boys have. He is over a foot tall. Makes me wonder how big one would be using all of their pieces! Eek!

And last but certainly not least…dum dum dum….!!!

I finished my sock.

Proud of myself and it’s oh so comfy. It wasn’t hard at all – that is with help from YouTube’s Knitpicks sock class series. Super helpful!

Now onto sock number 2.

Happy week everyone!

SNOWshoeing!

February 2, 2014 by tam

Stephen told me not so long ago when I commented on the amount of snow we have had this winter that it seems to go in 10 year cycles, according to his father, and that seems to be pretty accurate. The last time we had a real winter, as in snow, snow, snow compared to snow then rain then just really cold weather, was 10 years ago when White Juan hit the area. A lot of babies were born the following fall. 😉 The only reason I recall that L wasn’t a White Juan Baby is because I remember that Stephen has to go outside and shovel on his own because I was already a couple months pregnant. I guess there really is something to say for cold weather and babies!

Every winter I get very excited making plans to be spending a lot of time outdoors to hike, toboggan, skate (hasn’t happened yet), and try snowshoeing. The weather hasn’t co-operated until this year. The past two Wednesdays we have had snow storms and for January we had 70cm of snow! Yes, it rained inbetween and but snowed a lot again. Timing is crucial for getting outside in snowy weather on our east coast but we’ve been lucky to have already been on a few hikes and now snowshoeing.

Some wonderful friends of ours, the same ones who invited us last year for maple syrup making, sent me a text while the boys were in theatre class to see if we were interested in going snowshoeing that afternoon. This was last Thursday and the day before was a snow storm. I had planned on taking the boys tobogganing but the offer to snowshoe is rare. We were very excited!

The boys caught onto snowshoeing right away and it was easier than I expected. Xman took his snowshoes off for a bit to run around in the snow with one of the boys for a bit. They had a great time jumping in the deep snow and running around.The boys were even running in their snowshoes by the end of the day. I was reluctant to try this for fear I would fall on my face!

Nonetheless, we were out for two and a half hours! Wow! What an experience and it was so beautiful on the trail. Often times we had to yell out “skier!” as there were many skate skiers on the trail as well, and we would move to the side to let them pass. Maybe we will try that another time!

Thank you again to our friends for inviting us. It was a wonderful experience and being outside on such a beautiful, snowy day was incredible. We all slept well that night. 🙂

Instagram! We took a break and ate some snow. 😉

Beautiful blue skies and a great view of the lake.

Somehow one of the boys always ends up with a big stick along our walks. Many end up in the car. 😉

Happy, tired boys!

Beautiful sunset and a light snowfall to greet us at the end of our treck.

Make and Listen along

January 30, 2014 by tam

I am excited to be joining Dawn this week for Make and Listen!

Earlier this week…

I made almond milk, almond butter, chia banana muffins and lentil mushroom burgers from this amazing book by a local food artist…

Finally finished those Minecraft-inpired fingerless gloves for the boys (!)… they love them!

Yesterday morning…

I awoke before anyone, pracised yoga, made tea, and then worked on and posted my character study to my art blog for an online year-long art workshop…

Made some yummy paleo brownies using the almond meal left over from the almond milk (love that!)…

Xman came downstairs and immediately began weaving a blanket for him Pokémon Pidove, whose nest I felted last year with the same yarn. He did a great job and in no time!

L decided to draw out a plan for a constructed Mincraft Enderman and began painting the head. I love that he takes the time to plan out how the character will look and what supplies he will need. Even I am excited to see it when it is all finished! Those boys love Minecraft, especially now that they are playing the survival mode and not the creative mode. I listen in to their conversations and planning and am quite impressed. Can’t wait until they begin Minecraft Homeschool in a couple of weeks! (Did I just say that?)

Watching L so carefully trying to keep the pink paint inside the boxes he drew of the eyes made me grab the painters tape and show him how to tape around the eyes so that he didn’t have to worry so much about precision. They were both so excited when the tape was removed but I will show more at a later date as things progress.

The boys went outside to play during the snowfall/storm. Yay! I love it when they go out in the snow because I remember when I was little and snow stayed all winter long. These days if you don’t go out right away it will be washed away sometimes by the next day.

The snow was so, so beautiful and quiet. Just lovely watching the snow falling and hearing their happy voices. Speaking of snow, I added water to some muffin tins and put them in the freezer for a little experiment from the latest issue of Alphabet Glue!

I decided to use the time to sew (gasp, I know, it’s been soooo loooong!). I was going to read or knit but decided to try the zipper pouch pattern that Dawn had shared a while back. It was so super-easy! You have to try out this pattern! Seriously! I am addicted and now the boys each want one. I knew it! 😉

All this time we were weaving and painting and sewing, guess what was playing in the background?

No…not CBCR2! The Red Violin Soundtrack (love that movie) and Kidz Bop 21! The boys love Kidz Bop and L put another 6 of the CD’s on hold from the library. Some of the songs are rather addictive!

As for reading…

I just finished Wild and let me tell you, I wanted to quit what I was doing and go on a soul searching hike. My goodness, what a gut wrenching, painfully honest journey she shares. Amazing. Read it, I say!

The boys are devouring the How to Train Your Dragon Series which is pretty cool. As a group we are reading The Mysterious Benedict Society and truly enjoying it. The other Doodle Stitching book just arrived for me at the library so I know where I will be heading tomorrow on the way to the boys’ drama class…oh yeah!

Today, we go tobogganing after drama and then a nice Skype with a good friend. Happy days!

Nature exchange package arrives!

January 9, 2014 by tam

A couple of days ago our nature exchange package arrived from Latvia! It was late, yes, but the family is expecting another baby and many of us know how that can affect other things. 🙂

We were super excited to open our box of goodies. We have been learning a bit about Latvia the past months. They are not much different in latitude than us so it was no surprise to see that many of their finding are similar to what we have here in Nova Scotia. If you take a close look you can see that the inside of the egg carton has different languages printed!

Just today, Mud Puddles, created a post on shadow boxes and we thought how apropos that we should receive our nature box so timingly! We are going to make it into a shadow box!

Yay!

the shards

Category Archives: fun