A Couple of Big Turkeys ")

Joshua made this beautiful turkey to decorate our Thanksgiving table out of a Pringles can. Keith said he made a Pilgrim and Native American out of cans as a child. I looked for a template online and could not find one, but I found this site that offered a cute turkey template. He had a blast doing this! He put the turkey together all by himself.

How to Make Your Own Laundry Detergent

I found a wonderful post on The Simple Dollar about making your own liquid laundry detergent and thought that I would give it a try.  It turned out wonderfully, but it didn't start off so well.  I started the water boiling on the stove while I helped Joshua shred the soap.  I looked up and out of the corner of my eye I saw flames!  I had caught my hot pads on fire by turning on the wrong burner.  Keith was sick and was soaking in the tub trying to feel better when I yelled out, "I'm on fire!"  I have no idea why I said that, but it came out.  I quickly poured some water on the hot pads, turned off the burner and all was safe.  Joshua told me, "Wow, that's the first fire we had."  I took this as an opportunity to "teach" the kids what to do in case of a fire. :) Ahh, teachable moments...

Science Center Trip

We were in St. Louis for an eye appointment, so we took the opportunity to go to the the St. Louis Science Center for the day. We hadn't been there for a while. It was a beautiful day and we were able to play and learn outside as well as inside. We got to see two science shows. The first was the Science of "Peeps" (the marshmallow candy). They did a lot of different things to the peeps and compared the end result to the control peep. The boys were amazed at what the liquid nitrogen did to the peep and then they got to feel the floor after the instructor poured some on the floor. Dry and cold...very unexpected.

Joshua got to volunteer in the second science demonstration about Carbon Monoxide. He turned the crank to make electricity for light bulbs. They compared different types of light bulbs. Joshua did such a great job ;) that they gave him a compact florescent bulb to take home. He is currently using it in his room. He was disappointed that we had "the wrong kind of light bulb" in his closet. He is going to help us be Green one light at a time! :)

Little Trains Save the Day

One day at the Roundhouse of the little train family, they were just waking up.  But then, Little Train's owner looked at his thermometer for rescues and realized that there was a job for Snow because of Brutus and Victor.  There was a job for Fire on the whole other side of the place.  They also needed Snow for that rescue, too.  There was one rescue, they needed every train for that one.  It was caused by Brutus and Victor. 

Then the next day, Little Train and Snow realized they needed to  be combined.   Brutus and Victor took down the master map.  So then they unplugged the cord.  They sawed off part of the cord and attached it to the railing of a building.  Then he put Brutus, his train, inside the copy machine.  He plugged it back in and it started to copy Brutus. 

And then the map turned back on because they plugged the cord back in.  Everybody jumped out of their seats when they saw the new lines on the track from Brutus and Victor.  The Professor sent out a call for a train that was willing to go to the new section of track.  The only one that came was Old Rust and Tex.  Then he saw them, but a whole bunch of planes came along on the toughest train's trailers.  The Professor said that they could all go because he didn't know that he would have planes.

So he sent everybody to go.  The planes would look at the top.  The trains would look exactly where it was.  Then they went along to go see what was going on.  But he didn't know that they had put a big boulder on the tracks.  The trains did just as they were going to let all the planes take off.  They yelled and said, "Wait, we have a problem.  We need your help!   There's a big boulder on the tracks so we need you to fly us over the big boulder"  The toughest team said, "We don't need your help. We'll just push the boulder out of the way!"  So it was settled. 

They tied a bunch of ropes to the planes and then they tied them to Old Rust and Tex.  Old Rust and Tex flew over the boulder while the toughest went right through  the big boulder.  Once they got there, they started being copied.  Everybody jumped out of their seats when they saw that they were being copied  along with Brutus and Victor. 

They realized that walls were coming up on every side of them.  The planes couldn't take off, but the toughest team had an idea.  They unhitched their trailers and they drove and they drove and broke out the first piece.  Then they helped everybody else get out. 

But then he saw something horrifying. The toughest team's hook was falling into a blaze of fire.  Snow got copied along with Little Train and they were in the same slot.  And then they fell out into one piece.  They saw a remote control to the train.  They got it before Brutus and Victor.    They got every problem solved with their new train, except for the one that Brutus and Victor always tried to stop their teamwork. 

The End.

George's Garden Picnic

One day, Curious George wanted to have a garden.  He had an idea of how to get to the garden.  First, he made two compasses.  They weren't just any compasses.  They showed him where to go and which path to take underground.  So then, after that, he started digging.  He dug and he dug and he dug.  But then he realized he had a lot more to go, so he dug and he dug and he dug some more. 

Finally, he had finished the tunnels.  Then he ran over to Mrs. Rankin's barn.  They gave him some wood for his cabin door and everything else he was making.  He collected a bunch of acorns for a picnic with Jumpy Squirrel.  got some bird food for the birds at the picnic. 

And then he got to buying some seeds.  When he had planted them and they had grown, he was immediately surprised.  Instead of growing bananas or oranges, it grew banangerines!  He built him a birdhouse and a pretend squirrel tree. 

So then the day came that he decided to invite Mrs. Rankin  and his neighbor, Bill, to the picnic.  But he told them they would have to stay right behind him because of where they were going. 

George went inside and got a flashlight.  He opened the cabin door and started to climb down.  And everyone else followed him.  And they ran with the flashlight on.  They quickly found their way with the first compass.  They quickly found their way on the first turn.  Then they had to come to the second compass. 

And then they arrived at the picnic.  George filled up the bird feeder with bird food and he put some squirrel nuts inside the hole in the fake squirrel tree.  They all had a great picnic. 

The End.

St. Louis Zoo...Free, Hands-On Education!

The boys and I went to the zoo this afternoon and had a terrific time, as always.  I cannot speak high enough praise for the St. Louis Zoo.  We focused on insects, primates, apes, and reptiles on this trip.  The boys on a sculpture outside of the Insectarium.

Resting for a bit outside:)

  The "begged" me to take their picture with this statue.  They loved the snakes, especially the Burmese Python. 

On the gorilla statue before the real thing.

Ahh...brotherly love...with sun in your eyes.

Ready to go home????

Joshua learned about endangered animals on this trip and tried to figure out if each animal we saw was endangered or threatened.  He deciphered the map for us and we took our time reading along the way. 

Photography 101

Pictures of fan and laundry basket lid

Joshua's self portrait

Fire Station Open House

A local fire station had an open house this past weekend that the boys absolutely loved!Joshua exiting the "smoke house" after being trained on what to do in case there is ever a fire in our home. 

He got to put out a "fire" with a real fire hose!We got to see a very old fire "truck"!

We also rode on the back of a fire truck...totally awesome!

It's All Relative

The kids were pretending to be scientists today and calling themselves Dr. Einstein, Professor Einstein, and Baby Einstein.  I asked them if they knew who Einstein was and they knew that he was a scientist.  This started us on a quest to find out some more information.  We discovered a         nice article for kids about Einstein and the theory of relativity.  Joshua really seemed to latch onto the example of an infinitely tall building in which you are in the elevator  falling.  It doesn't feel like you are falling at all, but if people saw you from the outside, they would see you falling.  If you saw them, they would look like they are flying up.

Caterpillar Investigation

We found a caterpillar and observed (played with) it. :)

Journal

Joshua made a journal at art camp this summer and has started using it for everything under the sun.  He has wrote stories and also narrated short stories that other people have written down for him.  There is some poetry and charting of snacks.  A new notebook has resulted in Joshua WANTING to write, which is great practice for his handwriting without all of the repetitive worksheets that he doesn't like!

This Little Piggy Went to Market...This Little Piggy Stayed Home

Joshua helped with unloading hogs from the truck with Grandpa K yesterday.  Joshua and Brian were in charge of counting pigs as they passed the empty pen they were in.  (Quite challenging for a 6 and 4 year old!)  *Pigs do not cooperate:) 

Fire Station Field Trip

Joshua got to go the Fire Station for a tour today.  We were able to see where the fire fighters work, relax, and sleep.  The captain slid down the pole for everyone and put on all his gear.  We actually got to see some fire fighters go out on an ambulance call.  Really cool! Joshua got to ask questions and learn what to do in case of a fire.  He checked our smoke detectors when we returned home. 

Cicadas...Cicadas...Everywhere!

Joshua and Brian found an abandoned shell of a molted cicada.  This started us on a quest to find out more information on the cicada.  The boys made observations and measurements.  We made a page for Joshua's Science Journal.  We even folded an origami cicada!

  This is what Joshua wrote for the journal page. "The male cicada is the only one that can sing, because it has tymbals.  The males also have a square shape to their abdomen.  If they lay their eggs in trees, they can damage them.  All bugs (insects) have three parts of their body: head, thorax, and abdomen.  Periodical cicadas dig tunnels in the ground and come out every 13 or 17 years when it gets warmer (usually in May)." 

Trains

It was about what trains are like.  Like electricity trains and steam engines, battery trains, locomotives, train stations, and the  conductor driving at night.  Not all trains do that, but some do. 

Dumpy's Extra-Busy Day

This book is about working together.  Just like hen brought the rooster back to the chicken barn.  And that the puppies rounded the pigs up into Dumpy's trailer.  And the pigs closed the gate whenever it was open.  And the horse plowed the fields.  And the goats mowed the grass for him and the weeds.  And Dumpy helped out by letting the children ride him after school. 

BIG JOB!

Charts

Joshua watched the premier of Sid the Science Kid today.  He learned about charts and then decided to make some on his own..  He decided to make a chart using library books.  He chose to see if the books contained four things: animals, people, plants, or anything else.  He made some interesting observations from looking at the data.  All of the books have some other things in them.  Most of the library books have people and animals. 

Book Narrations

I See a Leaf

Kate and Jill gave Miss Hill one leaf, but Jack gave her a thousand and three.

Storm Chaser

You should never worry when there is a storm.

A storm chaser is a vehicle that tracks where the storm is, so that other people will know where the storm is.

Red, White, and Blue

The colors of the American flag are red, white, and blue, just like the title. Just like apples are red, blueberries are blue, and the White House is white. The sky is white and blue. Baseballs are white and red. Jeans are blue, as we all know.

Joshua read these books by himself. This is his summary of the books.

Future Engineer?

Today, Joshua decided to build and create using craft sticks. He had a lot a fun building and learning along the way!

Experiments with Grandma

  Grandma K did some experiments with Joshua and Brian the last time we visited.  

They were investigating what would happen to raisins in soda.  Would they sink or float? 

They also got to see how many drops of water would fit onto a penny.