Weekly Wrap-Up: Science & Art Edition

This is my first attempt at doing the Weekly Wrap-Up which is hosted by Kris at Weird, Unsocialized Homeschoolers. Check out more weekly wrap-ups by clicking here.

We did a lot of art activities this week. We went to a homeschool class at the public library that was about Mexican Folk Art. The girls made sugar skulls which is what is made in Mexico to celebrate Day of the Dead (not a gruesome holiday, but rather a celebration of life and loved ones, or so the librarian told us).

We also had our art appreciation co-op. We learned about Rembrandt. We made etchings since Rembrandt did a lot of etchings. Unlike Rembrandt, we used crayons for our etchings, but we got the idea. We've discovered some terrific videos about artists that are funny and educational. Gotta love that! The moms in the co-op get a kick out of how the animators cover up certain parts of certain works of art, if you know what I mean. The DVDs are from a series called Getting to Know the World's Greatest Artists. There are books and DVDs in the series. Our library has several of both which is fantastic.

We're making little scrapbooks from paper lunch bags as we study each artist. We glue on a picture of the artist and/or a picture of some of his greatest works. Then the girls write down (on an index card) some things they've learned about the artist. The card then can go into the paper bag.

Before he painted them in a picture, Rembrandt sometimes liked to dress people up in funny clothes, so the girls put together some fun outfits before we started our etchings.

The girls also attended a birthday party at a local pottery painting place and got to make and paint three Christmas ornaments each. They were in craft heaven this week, especially Lauren!

On to science:
For our regular science studies, we use Apologia's Young Explorer Series. We're doing Land Animals of the Sixth Day which we love, love, love!!! I've heard that some people think these are too in-depth for their kids, but I'm wondering if those people either just read too much each day or started when their kids were a bit too young. My girls are 6 and 8 and ASK to do science. They DREADED science for the last two school years, so it's wonderful to hear them asking to do it now! We finished up our study of marsupials this week and began the chapter on primates.

We threw in some more fun science when we took a field trip to a local hands-on science center. Some out-of-town homeschooling friends met us there which was very fun!

Lauren and I got to ride this bike that is on a track waaaaaay above the ground. It was very strange to have such a big drop-off next to you! Stranger yet was the fact that I actually rode the bike given my adult-onset fear of heights! (Really, it's a fear of anyone falling from any height.)

And of course we did our regular subjects like math, reading, language arts, and history this week, but the theme of the week seemed to be science and art!

What a Quacky Day

We had a really great field trip to a duck farm recently. This is not a little, bitty farm. They raise and process approximately 3.5 million ducks annually. Products include duck breasts and cooked duck halves in five flavors, as well as a variety of duck sausages. Their primary market is the Asian food market.

These eggs have just arrived from the egg supplier farms and are waiting to be washed and checked for cracks.

The above eggs are waiting to go to the incubators. My incubator picture was really boring, picture a white wall with white doors, so I didn't post it. This particular duck farm takes very good care of their ducks.


Trays and trays full of ducklings! These ducks are being sorted....the white trays held the males and the yellow held the females. I think. It could have been the other way around. Personally, I think the trays should be pink and blue.

Did you know that adult male ducks don't quack? Kind of funny if you think about it.

In an email we had received before the field trip, a suggested question to ask was how can you tell a male duck from a female . So I asked. Our tour guide kind of looked at me funny and didn't really answer. A little while later, he took me aside, without any kids, to where two employees were sorting the ducks according to male or female. And sure enough, ducks have the same little parts that people do. They're just harder to see. Much harder.

Lauren asked a minute later, "Well, how DO they tell them apart, Mom?" So I took her over to the sorting spot. I asked the lady if she could show the girls the duck parts.

She loooooked at me and said, "Oh, I'm not sure we're allowed to do that." To which I replied, "Well, I was just over here and you showed me. I can go check and make sure it's okay if you want."

She then replied, "Well, some parents might not want their kids to see this. We don't usually let the kids see it."

Hmmm.....we were a HOMESCHOOL field trip group. Meaning I am both parent AND teacher and had only walked my two kids over to the sorting spot.

I kindly replied, "I'm their Mom, and it's okay with me if they see it." She then looked at two other girls standing next to me who had just walked over. I said, "And she's THEIR mom and it's okay with her as well."

So, she showed us.

I found that little exchange to be rather humorous. The girls didn't think it was any big deal. Trust me, once you've seen animals like elephants and zebras giving birth via internet video and have seen Michelangelo's David statue in all its glory, a little part like that on a duck is oh-so insignificant. I'm still not sure Ashley realized what she was looking at.

Fire Prevention Where We Need It Most

I wrote this for our Upward Soccer newsletter and thought I'd go ahead and share it here as well.

It’s Fire Prevention Week which makes me think about, well, fire prevention! We probably all do things around our homes to make sure our families are more protected in case of fire. I know my family does. We have smoke detectors and a fire extinguisher. We have discussed how to use 911 and where we would meet outside of our house in case of a fire. However, my husband and I are very aware that there is something more important to us than the structure in which we live, and that is our marriage. It’s so easy to get caught up in the day to day activities of life with kids, school, jobs, sports, church activities……you know the drill! But as husband and wife, the best thing we can do for our children is to do some fire prevention in our marriage. How is that done?

It may be as simple as a hug as soon as you both come home at the end of the day. Or it might be actually turning the TV and computer off so that you can really listen and look at and talk to each other without distraction. It might mean not going to those websites or watching those TV shows that you know deep down in your heart are harmful to your marriage. Fire prevention in marriage is you removing yourself from temptation’s way.

Maybe it’s asking a friend to watch your kids for a couple of hours while you take a stroll in the park, go bowling or to the driving range, or have dinner together without the kids. It doesn’t need to be fancy! You could even get take-out and eat at home, but just spend some time together! Perhaps fire prevention in your marriage is noticing when your spouse does something helpful, like making dinner or taking out the trash or mowing the lawn, and then saying something like, “Honey, I so appreciate how you take care of our family by making sure our trash cans are empty.” Okay, so it might sound silly, but it might be just the right thing to say to a busy, tired spouse. When words of appreciation and encouragement are spoken, your spouse knows he or she is loved.

Do you notice that your husband has really awesome leg muscles? Do you think your wife looks fantastic in that color she’s wearing? Then say it! Would your husband appreciate you filling up the gas tank for him? Then do it! Would your wife love it if you bought her a yummy piece of chocolate? Then buy it! Do it out of love for your spouse and a commitment to making your marriage fulfilling and lasting.

Sometimes it’s the big things and sometimes it’s the little things, but they all add up to preventing “fires” in your marriage before the flames of destruction can take hold. What are you doing to quench the sparks of destruction and protect what is so precious to your family?

My Husband's Half-Marathon Mystery

My dear husband is humoring me by letting me post this message he wrote on a message board for runners. I'm posting it on the off chance that there are more people than just my dear homeschooling friend Stef, my aunt & grandma, and my college roommate (whose blog is WAAAAAY better than mine, you should check it out) reading this. Maybe someone will have some advice for DH.

So, here it is, in his own words. (gasp!)

I have run 3 half-marathons and the last two have been very rough. My first half was one year ago. My splits ranged from 8:03 - 7:31 for a 1:43:08. I was thrilled, I felt good after the race, just the normal tightness and fatigue I expected.

My second half was last May. Splits were 8:22, 7:41, 7:42, 7:42, 7:53, 7:49, 8:04, 7:45, 7:48, 7:58, 8:14, 22:30(last 2.1) for a 1:49:34. I hit the wall in mile 11 and walked several times through the last 2 miles. I still felt pretty normal right after the race, but about 2 hours later I got nauseous, lightheaded and threw up a few times. That passed after laying down for about 4 hours.

Today I finished my 3rd half and had a very similar experience to my last race. Splits started 7:51 – 8:09 for 7 miles, then I faded again and finished with a 1:55:51. When I felt my body start to fade in the middle I tried to slow myself down a little to avoid a repeat of my last race, but still just felt like my body gave out.

Again, I felt normal right after the race, but then almost 2 hours later had the same experience with feeling nauseous until laying down for several hours. My training has been very similar for all three races. After the second race I was thinking it was a hydration issue (still could be) so I made sure I got good hydration leading up to today. I never have any stomach issues in or after training runs.

Any thoughts on what might be going on?

And may I (the wife) just add that he's running a FULL MARATHON in a few weeks??? His first ever!!! I'm a little freaked out about this. My dad (who has a slight obsession with marathons...love you, Dad!) is running it also. Dad, if you're reading this, your goal is to keep DH at a reasonable pace and deliver him to me whole and functioning!! No more puking and being bedridden for hours after a race!

The Star Almost Stopped Her

My daughters ran in a kids' marathon today. They ran 25 miles over the course of several weeks and ran the last 1.2 miles tonight at a big event.

My girls did a fantastic job! My six year old ran the entire 1.2 miles....something she had not done even in all of their training runs. My older daughter was running with some friends and saw her dad and sister pass her. She told her friends, "I'm going to go faster now because I can't let my little sister beat me."

DH actually didn't think our little one was going to cross the finish line. Right before the finish line, maybe 30 feet (I'm not sure, it could have been 100 feet for all I know because I'm horrible at estimating distances) there stood the mascot, the very cute, brightly colored mascot, for a local radio station. She is TERRIFIED of mascots. We will not be able to go to Disneyworld until she is about 16, I swear.

DH said she shuffled her feet and came to a stop. He seriously didn't think she would run by the mascot and finish the race. He told her not to look at the mascot and to just keep going. She told me later, "I watched him the whole way." There was no way she was taking her eyes off of the mascot in case he decided to make a move toward her!

I'm proud of my little runners!

How Do You Spend YOUR Time?

"Guest" blog post from Todd Wilson, aka "The Familyman." Permission to copy and post it granted in the email we received. See his encouraging website by clicking here.

Hey Dad,

Things are mighty busy around the old Wilson house. We just got back from speaking at Spruce Lake Camp in Pennsylvania and then had to be in Chicago to speak shortly after that. My beloved bride thought it would be a great time to kill two birds with one stone so we all went and tackled IKEA the same day. Now, we're bushed and running on fumes.

While we were in Pennsylvania, I told the group a story about a dad who travels too much and whose child asked him to "please come home." Afterwards, I walked out of the building with a couple, and as soon as we hit the outdoors, the wife took off unannounced and walked right into the woods.

"I guess she's going on a hike," the husband said with a look of surprise.

Later, the wife came up to me and apologized for "running off." Being a man, which means I am almost never offended by anything, I assured her I didn't think anything of it. Then she explained her "need for a hike."

"After you told that story about the traveling dad...I just lost it." I expected her to tell me that her husband is a workaholic and that he is gone all the time, but that's not what she said. "My dad traveled and was gone A LOT," she said through teary eyes. "Forty years later, I still feel that impact."

She paused, and for a moment I saw a little girl who desperately needed her daddy. Then she added..."Tell that to all those dads you speak to."

And so I am. Because one day, even if it’s 40 years later, your son or daughter will still feel the impact of your absence. That's the power you have in their lives. That's Father Power.

You ‘da dad,

Todd

I (Loving Our Homeschool) think this could apply to moms and how much time they do or don't spend with their kids too, don't you think?

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I Like to Win Giveaways

The Crafty Crow's Giveaway Monday item is a new book from Klutz. In order to enter the drawing, I needed to post a link here, so that's the sole purpose of this blog post.

If you've never visited The Crafty Crow blog, it really is a great blog with lots of fun, crafty ideas to do with your kids!