The Aftermath

Originally uploaded by Phisch

More photos here (check the link again for videos).

So, after they asked so often and today decided to ask nicely (and I had the materials needed) I finally gave in and let the kids play with—scratch that—experiment with a non-newtonian fluid.

I found a recipe for Oobleck which, if you are a fan of Dr. Seuss, you may be familiar with. The rest of us call this plain old cornstarch and water. Mixed in the correct ratio, you end up with a mixture that behaves like a solid or a liquid, depending on what you do with it.

The kids were inspired by an episode of the show Timewarp. Basically, the show is just about time lapse videography. The hosts of the show filled a trough about 3 feet x maybe 12 feet in size with a mixture of cornstarch and water. Then they filmed themselves as they tried to run across it. It was ok at first, but at the end of the trough, well, they ended up knee-deep in the stuff.

Our version was just a couple of cups of cornstarch in one cup of water. That was interesting to mix up! But the boys whacked it, smooshed it and generally made a mess. It was fun for them and a boon for the dog who was happy to play the part of mop.

Now NM thinks we should buy an inflatable pool and fill it with this stuff. Then dive into it. Ouch!

Prickly pear flower

Originally uploaded by Phisch

More photos on Flickr here.

Field trip today! I still can't get over how much cool stuff is in and around Austin.

The boys and I packed up bright and all-too-early and headed north by north west to Balcones Canyonlands National Wildlife Refuge. We made it there! Amazing because I got lost in Cedar Park when I ran out of State Hwy. 183. Technically, it went on but it turned into a---shudder!---toll road. Hubby kindly checked Mapquest for me and we re-routed and made it.

What a drive! Cedar Park is pretty but beyond that, we saw some real Hill Country. It was so gorgeous since the recent rains have brought us so many wildflowers. Our bluebonnets have gone and been replaced by swathes of yellow, orange and red against green grass. I really, really missed my Miata!

We did get there late but we still enjoyed all the stations that the US Fish and Wildlife Service people had set up. The kids learned insects were arthropods, what kinds are beneficial, how to catch them, all about birds, the endangered ones the Refuge was set up for, bird songs and calls, and what kinds of creatures live in the streams in the area.

That was the highlight.

Where my boys were very hesitant to participate in the discussions at the stations (at first, but they did warm up eventually), they were so excited about their stream expedition. What boy wouldn't want to get in galoshes and traipse up a stream with a net? J, with mom's help, caught a big pollywog and almost caught a froglet. N caught a water skipper but, with mom's help, it managed to jump out of the net. Another in our party managed to catch a pollywog AND a water skipper, but one at the other. Predation in action!

After getting the galoshes off and soaking, socked feet in sneakers, the boys and I headed out on a short hike. They examined the corn crib of the old homestead that was built there and we got to hang out around another creek.

The drive home was just as fun but J missed most of it since he fell asleep after he was done eating his snack.

NM's favorite part: going in the water.

J's favorite part: going in the water.

Should we get them some mud boots?

* * *

"For since the creation of the world His invisible attributes are clearly seen, being understood by the things that are made..." Rom. 1:20

Paper boomerangs

A friend pointed me to this really neat resource: Canon’s Creative Park.

There are tons of models on their site ranging from monuments (Eiffel Tower, Castel d’ St. Angelo) to toys like chess sets and boomerangs. All the files are in PDF format. You just have to print all the pieces, cut them out and then put them together according to the instructions. The degree of difficulty depends on the model; they can get pretty complex but some are very simple like the boomerangs in the picture.

Some of the models have moving parts. A simple one would be the planisphere but they also have a  moving models comparing the Ptolemaic and Copernican systems that represent our little corner of the universe.

2009-03-20 Pioneer Farm

Originally uploaded by Phisch

More pics here but there’s a problem with the hard drive so not all the photos are there yet. You can, however, see NM try walking in stilts.

Last Friday, the kids and enjoyed a field trip to Pioneer Farms here in Austin. It was once a farm and over the years, they’ve added several structures from the 1800s. They also so living history demonstrations and reenactments.

The boys were so excited to get away from the desks so they could see and experience the things we’ve been reading about.

We were also excited to meet friends over there. I finally got to meet my friend MH and her daughter K who I knew from an online forum. We’ve followed each other through our forum posts and blogs for seven or eight years now. That’s a long time!

MH and K drove down from Dallas/Ft. Worth area so they could spend a few days here in Austin and we had the benefit of enjoying some of those hours with them.

When we got there, one of the first things the boys noticed was the fencing. Can you believe it? We were talking about the different ways that pioneers had to build fences. This was difficult considering they didn’t readily have nails or post-hole diggers or ready-mix cement. The boys quickly recognized the zig-zaggy fence that uses simple physics to hold itself up.

At first glance, the facility seemed awfully small because there were maybe six or eight structures around a small “main street.” Once we were there—and I read the all-important map—it got apparent that it was a lot bigger than we thought. The building ran the gamut from teepees (set up to approximate a Tonkawa settlement, one of the many Indian tribes that once lived in the area) to a large, multi-roomed home that had to belong to someone wealthy.

Our first stop was the gift shop. I gave the kids a little bit to spend and J quickly decided on some Jacks and a stone arrowhead. NM and K didn’t find anything right away so we decided to head out and try again later.

In the first home we walked into, NM saw a case full of six shooters, a musket and some other munitions. That got him all excited, of course. I suspect he finally enjoys American History because we’re to the point where we are seeing six shooters and not just flintlock rifles.

We made it into one of the homes that represented a more common frontier dwelling and a reenactor was explaining to us about his family (two parents and thirteen children), how they came from Germany to settle here, a little bit about their chores, how the girls all slept in the loft and the boys slept outdoors on the porch, the sorts of things they did. They were a wealthy family and you could tell because they could afford passage from Germany to America for 15 people and—imagine!—they had FOUR glass windows. If prompted, our reenactor would have been happy to give us his spiel auf Deutsche.

The boys got to see some farm animals—K saw some of these for the first time—and the jury was unanimous: pigs are EW. J, of course, pet the horses and any furry animal that would let him (if he could!). The kids were mostly fascinated by the blacksmith. He explained to us that he was different from a farrier who is responsible for fitting horses with shoes. Our blacksmith was showing us how he made, shaped and sharpened a knife. That was loud, hot and long work!

And, much to my excitement (and a little bit excitement from the kids, too) I had come across some spinning stuff! There was home that had several carders, used to comb wool so that the hairs become parallel, a few spinning wheels, a niddy noddy and a few nostepines and other things used to wind the wool once it was spun. It’s things like that, that make me happy

After another trip to the gift shop we had to go. NM wanted a sling shot but didn’t have enough money for one so he kept his cash instead. We headed out to Wendy’s for lunch and drinks then we all went down to the nature center at Zilker park. The kids enjoyed that, of course, but it wasn’t long before we decided to go. It was hot out and we’re not used to being out in it just yet.

We all had a great time and, again, MH & K, we had such a great time with you and I’m so glad we finally got to meet!

My husband is amused with me because I am very concerned about how the butterflies we have will make it in the wild. “They’ve never experienced life on the outside, ” he teased. I was, however, concerned for a legitimate reason. I don’t think anything is supposed to touch their wings and they’ve been flapping them on their food. Food for now is wadded up tissues soaked with sugar water and slices of mandarin oranges.

They’re cute, you know? When you look up close, they have little eyelashes. And their probosces are so cute when they uncurl them. They’re so delicate, how could they make it in the wild?

Well, it comes right down to a gracious and loving Creator, doesn’t it?

***

The knitting. Well, I just sent my sister a package with two baby sacs, the Baby Grrr! hat and the pea pod. I am hoping they get to her as swiftly as the other package with the blossom hat. What I’m hoping is that she can take really good photos of them. I’m thinking I might try to do a good job of writing out the patterns for Pea Pod and Baby Grrr! and see if Knitty.com will take one or the other. I’ve never, ever tried to do something like this since I’m more of a pattern-follower (I seldom change them up). But lately, our Thursday knitting group has gotten me inspired. These are intrepid ladies!

Okay. So I just realized that I have to re-knit both the pea pod and Baby Grrr! because I forgot to measure them and their stitch gauge. DUH. *face palm*

Righty-o. Here’s another concern, mild for now: I am still waiting for my linen yarn to arrive and it’s one day shy of two weeks since I placed the order and got confirmation. Normally, it’s not an issue but this yarn is going to hopefully end up being a table runner that will be raffled off at our women’s retreat early April. That’s really, really soon! While I do knit quickly, I really prefer having a buffer of time in which to take care of something like this. I’m a little nervous to be honest but we’ll see how it goes.

***

I need to get this done: upload the photos I took of the boys’ frontier farm buildings. I managed to find some notched popsicle sticks and the boys went to town building log cabins out of them. They even drew some plants on green paper to serve as the “farm” and made a stable for oxen or sheep and a coop.  That was fun!

We’re planning on visiting a real Pioneer Farm on Friday. I plan to take lots of pictures! That, and I’m also hoping that they’ll have a demonstration of sheep shearing, wool carding, spinning and dyeing.

***

Our efforts to plan a weekly menu are somewhat in place still. It is a bit difficult to plan things out when a lot of shopping is done at Costco. The budget is blown and smaller things like condiments and such still have to be bought to complete a recipe. I’ve not really planned anything out lately since we have a ton of leftoevers to eat our way through.

Most recently, I made chili rellenos casserole which I really enjoyed. Unfortunately, in our youngest the reaction was aversion. He ate a bit but not long afterwards something caused his digestive system to work backwards. Fortunately, that happened when we were already done with our meal.  Honestly, it really is a good casserole in spite of the reaction it causes in five year olds who are opposed to the idea of corn kernels in their meals.

Yesterday, the boys and I did a Martin Luther King study and listened to his most: “I Have a Dream.” Here are some of the more memorable lines:

I have a dream that my four little children will one day live in a nation where they will not be judged by the color of their skin but by the content of their character.

I have a dream today!

I have a dream that one day, down in Alabama, with its vicious racists, with its governor having his lips dripping with the words of “interposition” and “nullification” — one day right there in Alabama little black boys and black girls will be able to join hands with little white boys and white girls as sisters and brothers.

I have a dream today!

I have a dream that one day every valley shall be exalted, and every hill and mountain shall be made low, the rough places will be made plain, and the crooked places will be made straight; “and the glory of the Lord shall be revealed and all flesh shall see it together.”*

My J was asking “why does he keep saying the same thing over and over and over? Why does he have to say he has a dream?”

I had to explain to him that when you really mean something, you often repeat  it to make sure people hear it and remember it. Kinda like how mom and dad often have to repeat a lot of instructions.

*Isaiah 40:4-5

182

Originally uploaded by Phisch

Sorry this is so late...things have been busy. We went on Oct. 13. More photos here.)

TDS. That would be: the local landfill. I know my boys are a little unusual in that they always thought a trip to the dump with their dad was fun. The one we took trash to when we lived in CA was neat to them. After all, they got to help, they got to see what people threw away and watch the seagulls flock overhead.

But here in Texas, particularly at TDS, things are a little different. First off, there are no seagulls. Of course, since it's central Texas it's not likely that you'll find sea birds this far inland but they're usually replaced by buzzards (condors, if you prefer). But with the way this landfill works, the owners work hard at being "good neighbors" and every effort is put into making sure there are no foul odors that waft into the adjacent homes and farms.

There are other reasons this facility, entirely family-owned, is really unique. Besides having a landfill, a resale center, a sorting and recycling facility (and by facility they mean 10 guys hand-sorting to be replaced by an actual plant one day), composting development and sale, beautiful campus used for non-profits' events (pro bono) and recycling research---deep breath---it also is a game preserve. It has several hundred head of wild game from Africa, Asia and the Americas.

They have a couple of species that are highly endangered and no longer exist in their natural habitats. The boys got a kick out of the fact that they're free and loose, able to come up to the car windows if they wanted. They do keep some separated since some creatures can get pretty competitive or down right ornery.

When we arrived, we got the "pitch" from one of the owners about their history, their goals and how they do what they do. The boys did get bored rather quickly so they were very excited when we took the bus tour afterwards.

We had two guides, one who was a naturalist and the other the expert on garbage and what was done with it... most of the trash that they get actually gets recycled in some way, shape or form. At each step of the way, they get money. The serviceable items go straight to the resale shop which makes (I think) about $2k to $5k a week. All of the green matter they receive is turned into compost and sold to local nurseries (they can request a custom blend) or through a retail garden chain that they have purchased. The remainder of the trash is sorted; glass, paper and metal are sold to recycling companies. Building material is being handled differently: the city of Austin gives tax incentives to builders if they have TDS haul their refuse. TDS is currently researching how to efficiently convert this material, plus expired sodas and milk, into biofuel. What trash is left will be placed in a landfill which is lined with a special clay (available at their site). The landfill will eventually be topped with more clay, soil and then seeded. The animals will eventually graze over it.

The boys loved the tour, but like the rest of the bus riders, they didn't enjoy going thru the compost area. I had to agree the smell was strong but it didn't smell like trash, just like humus, the way a good compost pile is supposed to smell. The boys also loved seeing the large compacting machines and one of the other kids on the bus made a comment that they were just like Wall-E only bigger!

At the end of the tour, we were let out near the enclosures of their rhino (I forget its name) and the giraffe, Stretch. J was so cute (I was so proud), he just went right up and started grabbing fistfuls of grass to feed the giraffe. Or course it was happy to be fed. NM was more of an observer and stayed respectfully back. This is wise when it comes to rhinos, though apparently this one was very used to people.

We ate our lunch and then, lo and behold, the boys wanted to get on the bus again. I wasn't too happy about the choice of seating, my son wanted to be in the back and there was no window, just the exit door. It's ok...I gave them the camera and they both took photos and video. After that, we walked the grounds and saw just how many mounted animals they had (considerable) as well as their clay pigeon shooting area--across a walkway from a playscape.

All in all, it was a really fun day and it was interesting to see what goes on in an award-winning, ah, dump.

Originally posted on HSDLA’s web site here. The article:

Starbucks Offers Free Coffee for Homeschool Parents

This coming Monday, September 29, homeschool parents will be able to pick up a complimentary tall size (12 fl. oz.) cup of Pike Place Roast from Starbucks.

This promotion is part of Starbucks “Great Start for Great Teachers” promotion, and is now open to all teachers.

HSLDA intervened when we were alerted that homeschool parents were not included in the promotion.

We are pleased that Starbucks is recognizing the contribution of homeschool parents by extending their program to us.

In order to pick up your free cup of Pike Place Roast you will need to present evidence that you are a homeschooler.

Any one item on the following list should be accepted by Starbucks:

• Home School Legal Defense Association membership card.
• Membership card from a state homeschooling organization.
• Notification from a school district or state government recognizing compliance with compulsory attendance.
• Paperwork submitted showing intent to establish a homeschool program.
• Paperwork showing the establishment of a private school.

If you don’t have one of the items on this list be creative and try to provide other proof of homeschooling.

Please note: the final decision about whether to accept proof of homeschooling resides with Starbucks.

We hope you choose to take advantage of this offer.

If your kids are into this sort of thing, you might want to take a look at how someone made his own set of Napier’s Bones.

The Napier’s Bones gadget is a device that helps you multiply a number multiple-digit factor with a single digit factor very quickly. It’s made up of a board with digits from 2 to 0 on the left and the loose pieces—”bones”—have single digits inscribed on them. You have to do a little bit of adding, but once you get the hang of how to read it, getting to the product is really fast.

This sounds like a great project for homeschoolers, don’t you think? No doubt materials are easily found in a hardware store or, if you prefer, you could probably make this out of clay (mmmmm…clay).

More information: Napier’s Bones on Wiki. It explains how to use it to compute division equations as well as square root.

An aside: someone at our church is related to John Napier, the mathematician who invented the gadget (as well as algorithms).

Soccer party - thanks for asking Jen. It went well. Both the boys had a blast. NM was good and didn't get impatient when the other kids *didn't* want to play soccer. At some point, someone decided it was a good idea to dig a hole. "To hell" someone said. Well...okay. They didn't make it there if you were worried ;) J found another 4 year old to play with and they were cute, cute, cute! That age is all about imagination and play acting and it was fun to watch.

J is going through a very long phase of "everything must be right." I hope it's a phase. He can't stand sticky fingers, he can't stand that his sock may have a hole (he's finally wearing shoes over socks today) and I've put a limit on him: only one change of socks a day. Otherwise he changes them if they so much as get a drop of something on them. LOL. He's over changing his shirt all the time and that's nice.

This week has been one of our best weeks homeschooling. We've had no meltdowns even though we did eat things we weren't sure about at the soccer party. It was so rewarding! I was a bit bummed that I hadn't pre-planned and gotten together some of our reader books but it wasn't at all bad considering how well both boys did. I'm going to start J on a formal math curriculum soon, same one his older brother uses but at his level of course. He's zipping through the alphabet and a lot of things are starting come together in his brain. He's been asking for me to read Flat Stanley books to him even though they have only a few pictures. I'm glad that both boys can read (or listen to reading) for extended periods of time.

I'm working on some little flyers and things like that for church now. It's kind of fun and I like that church considers those important. We're small enough that we can have baby showers and invite all the ladies at church :) The shower is my next project and I'm excited about that one. Mom was one of my room mates at the retreat.

I haven't started working on my dress yet but I will soon. I can't find the pattern paper I had but I remembered I can use wax paper if I want. I have to put knitting aside for a little bit; my wrist and elbow are bugging me and that's not good. Opening the truck door or carrying a milk bottle in my right hand hurts and now and then, my wrist threatens to give out and I might drop whatever heavy thing I'm holding. Must go get ibuprophen. But I have the ruffle for Anna's tunic completed and I will start the bodice when I have at least an hour to focus on it. Once I get the first couple of repeats done, it's down hill from there, I think. I have hit a slump on it because I haven't found the right beads for it. I'll have to check Michael's since Joann didn't have the right color, not even close.