living outside

The kids have officially taken up residence outside. At last! The weather has been perfect for being out in our yard- warm sun (with lots of shade to balance it out!), gentle breeze, clear blue skies with puffy white clouds, and of course no bugs yet. We are all loving it because we are exploring and rediscovering our outdoor space, and working to make it more functional and beautiful.


And I just love when I look out and see them living and playing out there in harmony together. That picnic table we built is getting loads of use now!


We eat outside almost every day for at least one meal. Breakfast and lunch on the patio or at the picnic table have been so wonderful!


I adore a good summertime sandwich for lunch. We don't buy deli meat every week but it sure has hit the spot lately! Oven roasted turkey and provolone, with lettuce and tomato, pickle, mayo & mustard, on lightly toasted 9 grain & seed bread, with Kettle brand Salt & Black Pepper chips... YUM! I love living outside!

census 2010

Have you sent yours in yet?

muted monday: chess in the front yard

fire station field trip

Yesterday we visited the fire station with a few of our homeschool friends.


We saw the living areas and kitchen that the crew uses when they are on duty, as well as their bedrooms. Even though my kids and I had been to a fire station before we had only seen the trucks and had not gotten to visit these areas, so it was really cool. We heard about how the 3 shifts of 7 people each (at this particular station, anyway) work and live as a family of sorts while they are there, preparing meals and maintaining the station while they wait to be called out.




We saw the locker room where their gear is kept, and the machines that are used to fill the air tanks that they breathe with in a fire.






Then we went out into the bay where the trucks are kept. Unfortunately, the big truck was out on a training exercise, so we didn't get to see that. But we did get to see the rescue vehicle and watch one of the firefighters put his gear on.


They explained about how the clothing is not fire proof but rather fire resistant, and that every area of skin has to be covered completely. We heard the guy in the suit breathing and everyone thought it was pretty cool that he sounded like Darth Vader. He said some of his ABC's so we could hear what he sounded like with the mask on, and he knelt down so everyone could touch his suit and see him up close.


Then we went back into the living room and sat down for a talk about fire safety, and the kids got to ask all the questions they could think of. We went over the basic stuff about what to do in a fire, and heard about some of their personal experiences (the biggest fire they had fought, etc.) We found out that they do not have a fire dog (this was of great interest to Stella!) and that most of the household fires they are called to are due to human error or bad judgment. One other interesting thing we found out is that the firefighters on this particular shift do yoga together! Everyone was surprised at that and thought it was really cool.


This was a great trip. We learned some new things and we also got to know our fire fighters a little better. I know it has sparked some ideas for things we need to talk about in our family regarding fire safety, and I think the kids will all be much more comfortable and unafraid if they are ever in a situation where one of these guys is helping them out of a fire or other emergency, now that they got to spend some time seeing what they do.

lyle + stella

We have been crazy busy (do I say that all the time?) so I've been a little slack on the blog posts. So I thought I would throw up some recent photos real quick, and all I found were ones of Lyle & Stella. I guess I need to get those other kids in front of the camera more often!


As you can see, Lyle pretty much exists without clothing these days. He is learning to use the potty, so this makes things much easier for him and he prefers being naked anyway. He actually does wear a shirt a lot of the time (he will choose one and then wear it as many days as he can until I have to beg him to let me wash it), but somehow none of my photos reflect that.


More rain again today, which has foiled my plans for the Cleaning Club to help me wash the outsides of my windows. We'll do the insides and hope for better weather on my next turn. Hope everyone has a great Monday!

field trip

A few of our favorite families got together yesterday for a field trip to our local newspaper, the Athens Banner-Herald. We gathered at 11 am and met up with the tour guide, who was very nice. We had 14 kids and 6 adults, so a pretty nice sized group for a tour. Jason even came from work to meet us, which is a treat for our kids because it is usually just me and them during the weekdays. Now that he has built up some vacation time to spare, he will be able to join us now and then for our outings, which is great not only because he gets to experience some cool stuff with us but also he is able to help with Lyle and Stella and I can enjoy myself a bit more with extra help.


My camera battery died halfway through our visit (DOH!) so I missed out on the group shot at the end of the tour and also the offices and old camera and other equipment that they used to use, but I did get some shots of the big press, which was very cool and the highlight of the tour I think.


We saw the presses from up above while they were not moving. Our guide talked to us about the paper, the ink, and the machinery.


Then we went downstairs to get a little closer to everything. This area is where the folded papers come out of the machines, and are then stacked and sorted and put together with the other sections of the paper.


Then we saw how the plates are made for each page of the paper, before being put into the press for printing.




We learned about how the 4 colors of ink combine to make full color photos in the newspaper, and how they have to adjust them all to line up properly since each color is printed onto the paper separately.


Then we went upstairs to watch as they started the presses up. It is very loud down in the press room so the workers wear ear protection and we had to be outside the glass.


They ran the press at a slow rate at first (which looked pretty fast to us!) while they made adjustments to the ink and alignment of the paper. Once everything was lined up right they turned the press up to full speed, and that was an amazing thing to see! The paper flew past and was cut and folded and out the other end in no time. It was very impressive.


Even the smallest kids in the group thought this part was pretty cool.


(Daisy and Bea had not seen each other in a few weeks so they were very happy to be together again! And look at Daisy's new haircut- she got bangs and some layers and I LOVE how it looks on her! Bea's new cut and color look awesome as well. I'm a sucker for some bright hair!)

Although I don't have photos, we also saw the circulation area, the reporters offices, and the old cut-and-paste area where they used to get the papers ready for printing back before the digital process which is now used. They used to manually piece together the page, then photograph it with very large cameras and then make the plates for the printing press from the negatives. Now they just send it straight from a computer down to the plate making room, so this whole area is now just for historical reference. We saw how they archive the papers into big books, and found out that we can go there to look up old newspapers if we ever need to. We heard about how the reporters are often out during the day getting their stories (the offices were pretty empty when we were there!) and saw where they sit to write up their articles in the evenings.

It was a great field trip- we learned a lot and had fun! Taking that crew into the Mellow Mushroom downtown afterward was a little crazy... but even that was lots of fun and the kids really do so well together. The big ones help with the little ones and everyone gets along. What a great group! Thank you all for a wonderful day. We love our homeschool family!!

the week in rap

I found this while looking for some good internet resources for current events info directed at teens. It just covers a few items but it's pretty cool and might help spark some interest in the kids. Check it out! If you go to the Week in Rap site, the lyrics are below the video, with links about the main items make it easy for kids to get additional information. I love it!

Untitled from Week in Rap on Vimeo.

reading together

Reading is a very big part of our life here. We have always read to the kids a lot, and Jason and I set the example of reading a variety of materials ourselves every day.


Walking into a room and finding this scene is what makes me realize that of all the things we could still improve on as parents and as a family, THIS is something we have definitely done right. The older kids read to the little ones and the little ones actually sit and listen. They look at books themselves even without being able to read yet. The older kids almost always have a book nearby, and can easily spend several hours plowing through a good read. They all love books! And the love of books and reading will allow them to learn and do anything they want to in their lives.


Hazel and Lyle here in particular have a special connection going these days. She is very willing to read to him, and I have found that her taking over his bedtime stories can give me an extra few minutes to straighten up the bedrooms before we lay down, which really helps out. It is also great when he will let someone else take care of some of his needs, because there are so many things that he just requires Mommy for. It's just a great sibling bonding time too, which I love to observe.

a little carpentry

My dad gave Jason a really awesome table saw a while back and we've been wanting to start doing some projects around here to put it to use. We decided that a basic picnic table would be a just the thing to get us started, so we found some plans and went and bought our lumber and other supplies last week.



We started cutting the wood around 11:00 Sunday morning, and before it was dark we had our picnic table all finished! We are really pleased with how it turned out and are excited to start planning our next woodworking project. Here are some photos from our day:





Projects like this are a great way to put our math skills to everyday use: measuring lengths, adding fractions, and figuring angles.



Everyone helped out in some way throughout the day. Stella wasn't very interested in all the loud cutting and drilling, but she liked screwing the nuts and bolts together.





Jason and I always enjoy making things together- we make a good team.



It was almost dark when we got the last support boards in place- just in time!



Lyle loves to help carry heavy things.



And, the finished table! We plan to keep this out in our front yard where we can sit in the shade with friends when they stop by to visit. It is sturdy enough for the kids to climb all over/under and even use as a stage, fort, or whatever it will become. We do plan to paint it and I'll be sure to post photos when we do.



We found the free plans online here and purchased our lumber, bolts, nails, etc. at Home Depot, spending just under $100. We actually saw a kit there for $99 that would have taken us way less time, but this was a great learning project for us and it is super sturdy. It was a lot of fun to build and I know we are much more proud of it than if we had used a kit. Hooray for making things from scratch!

talented

Today was the last day of the session with our homeschool co-op, ACE (Athens Cooperative Experience). We always have a pot luck as well as a talent show on the last day, and we have all started to really look forward to it!

Daisy wowed everyone with her stilt-walking abilities. She did a great job! Before you know it we'll be making her some of those big tall pants to cover her stilts and she'll be walking in parades and at fairs :) It is so weird to have to look up at her so much in order to talk to her. I am used to being one of the tallest people around and don't spend too much time looking up at folks.



I couldn't get Hazel's video to upload to Flickr, so it's at Youtube instead. She and her friends, India and Grace, did a dance number which they worked up during an overnight last week. Grace has got some cool dance moves! Next time I need any choreography done I am definitely calling her. All 3 of the girls did a great job, even though they were nervous to be in front of everyone.



There was a lot of really great talent from the entire group once again. We saw singing, dancing, martial arts, gymnastics, harmonica playing, and even a leapfrog demonstration. What a great group.

backyard biology

The kids and I found a Golden Garden Spider in the back yard today, next to the deck stairs. She is very large and her web is several feet across. We looked around online and learned that she will probably be making an egg sac soon, so we are going to be checking in to see if we can catch any of the action.



We also learned that this spider is also called a Writing Spider, because of the zigzag pattern down the center of the web- which might be for strength, camouflage, or to attract insects. They eat lots of garden pests and are a wonderful ally in the garden. They are not poisonous to humans, although they could bite if someone really messed with them, which would result in minor discomfort and redness to the area.



We have been trying to look up every new bug or critter we come across in the yard, so that we will be able to identify them by name when we see them again. It is always good to know whether an insect or spider can be potentially harmful too, so everyone will know which ones to avoid.

A couple of interesting pages we came across today:
Argiope aurantia (Yellow Garden Spider) on Wikipedia
another Argiope aurantia page, with a photo of an egg sac
Arachnology (the study of spiders) on Wikipedia