2011 Crochet Projects ::Sarah::

{::Baby Blankets::}

 

 {::The Very Hungry Caterpillar::}

{::Slippers::}

These ones are mine. I've made several for us but haven't photographed them.

{::Star and Jute bowl::}

just playing around and practicing different things



{::Birds::}

Bluebird, Scarlet Tanager, Cardinal, Crow, Redwing Blackbird, and American Goldfinch

I also made the jute piece the vase is sitting on. I soaked it in a glue and water solution and pinned it flat on cardboard to dry.

The birds where fun to make.  I didn't add button eyes yet...and they aren't stuffed.  I think those two things would make them cuter.

{::Barred Plymouth Rock::}

Eleven Years

Sap flowing

Just making a note here that our Silver Maples had their sap flowing this week.

Chemistry



We somehow got into a discussion on molecules and atoms, and the periodic table of elements.  So we went to BBC and learned some more about them.

Compounds and Mixtures

The Particle Model

Atoms and Elements

The British accent made it all the more interesting!!

Elements, atoms, properties of matter, chemical bonds, metals, non-metals, compounds, mixtures, conductors, sonorous and non-sonorous, filtration, distillation, chromatography, evaporation, condensation...

Another site we visited was Chem4Kids.

Anatomy

Today, the girls were interested in what the liver does....so we read about the liver, and other organs, such as kidney, heart, and lungs....and played with the BBC's Interactive Body. From there, we also learned about some of the bones, and muscles.

Georgia told me about the organs in sharks and crocodilians, and how they differ from ours. She also talked about their sixth senses...how sharks use their Ampullae of Lorenzini, electroreceptors for detecting electric fields in the water, which living things give off when they use their muscles, and also how they can use the earth's magnetic field as their own mapping system....And she told us how crocs use their Dermal Pressure Receptors for detecting changes in pressure, making finding prey in the dark easier. That would be neat to have, huh?

We also talked about organ transplants.

Girls Crafts

Olivia's first sewing project. She is sewing a little teddy bear.

Georgia is making metal art.

Unfortunately, the girls gave the above two crafts to their grandma for her birthday and we didn't get a final photo.

Here is Olivia crocheting, and also you can see all the chains she has made.



Toucans and Amphibians

That was the theme in the new NWF Big Backyard magazine Olivia got in the mail yesterday.  We've already read it cover to cover.

It is really neat how things all come together when we are learning about new things. Olivia and I were recently talking about teeth...and how you can sometimes figure out what an animal eats by it's teeth.  Then along comes the toucans and we start talking about the differences in birds' bills for what they eat. (reminds me of reading about Darwin and his Galapagos finches)

And speaking of birds...I have been crocheting some birds just in the last couple days. I'll have to share them in a seperate post.

We also talked about amphibians...which reminded me of the gift the girls got from their aunt...a grow your own frog kit. We just need to send off for the little frog babies! How neat will that be!?

There was a story in the magazine about searching for signs of spring. We love doing that...searching for signs of the new seasons. We will definitely be doing it this spring, too!

The dining room

I'm not sure what to call the old dining room.  That is probably what it is...it used to be a kitchen way back..over a hundred years ago before the addition was added to the house. That is where the chimney goes, anyway. But we don't use it as a dining room...we eat in the kitchen.  We use the room as a library, craft room, music room, puzzle and game room...a study...a rec room.... not sure what we should call it...but we always call it the dining room anyway.

This week we have been prepping the walls for painting next week!  We removed everything from the walls and have been patching, sanding, removing old carpet boards they had around the perimeter. Mark is going to be making new ceiling and floor boards but he is also going to make bookshelves along one wall, so they might come after.

The girls are pros at spackling now. And at using a crow bar and removing nails...they've helped out a lot.

We'll have to move the piano for the bookshelves.  Not sure how the new setup will be...but I can't wait to start slapping some paint on the walls...it will look so different!!

Kiva Loan February 2011

This month we loaned to:

Elver from Peru

Elver needed the loan to buy more coffee and cacao seeds for his coffee and chocolate farm!

Rafael from Columbia

Rafael needed the loan to buy more tools for his furniture making business.

Sketch Tuesday

Girls had to draw something that grows on a farm.

 You can view a slide show of all the submissions here.

Cool Math

This morning we checked out the site Cool Math 4 Kids.  Georgia reviewed fractions, factors, and reducing fractions.  Olivia worked on addition, subtraction, number values, meaning of equal, and using a number line. We also used cookie cereal and some empty fruit cups for playing around with addition.

Home Makeover Ideas

We've lived here for over a year now.  So far we have redone the pantry and painted it, as well as painted the kitchen walls, trim, and doors, and put a fresh coat on the porch wall. That's it.  I mean, we have done things outdoors, fixed other problems, but as far as design and decorating....we haven't done a whole lot.

One of the reasons for this is because we really wanted to live in the space a while, to see how we used different rooms and areas, to sit with an idea for a while before going with it. My bedroom wall color has changed in my mind a few times...as has many other rooms.  I'm glad we waited, that's for sure.  But I am feeling such an itch to get things moving!  First we had to get through Thanksgiving...and all my Christmas projects needed done first, then wait till Christmas decorations had been taken down and packed away.  Now we are waiting until after we get back from our Anniversary vacation.  After that....I hope there are no more excuses.  I want to get started!!

My ideas for our bedroom (which I moved furniture around in today, lol) is to have a robin's egg blue wall color, with a cream white trim and window frame. I was thinking the colors would be the robin's egg blue, cream, tan to dark brown, and maybe a green? Not sure yet.  I just thought of that today, lol. 

My ideas for the dining room...which is really our play room, den, study, craft room, music room, etc... is to have the walls orange.  (I wanted red, but Olivia really really wanted orange...and I figure I can always paint over it when she is older, right?) With a white accent color on trim, doors, window frames, and the built in bookshelves that Mark will need to make. The floors need redone...the piano needs refinished and tuned. 

My ideas for the living room...we need to put up paneling because the walls are so badly damaged...they have an ugly wallpaper covering them now.  We'll paint the paneling some type of green I'm thinking.  From the living room you can see the orange dining room and blue kitchen...so it would need to be something that doesn't clash too much. We need new living room furniture.  We'll get either black or dark brown for that...with some throw pillows and blankets to soften them up. All the wood floors need redone...but I'll want a nice rug in there, too.

Guest room....still not sure about.  Was thinking red...not sure. That may be last.

First bathroom I was going to do in a lime green?...with browns and white.

Second bathroom and laundry room...no clue...maybe purple.  I know...I like color I guess! Maybe yellow. There are no windows in there.

Stairway...no idea

Olivia's room.  She likes orange, but still not sure how we are doing it yet. She recently said she wanted a green with orange accents.  She already has orange curtains and rug, and orange afghan I crocheted for her.

Georgia's room. No clue.  She has changed from wanting it red and green and black and brown to blue and green and I don't know what else. Our recent trip to the paint store had her choosing a deep blue, green, red, and purple...one for each wall!! Her ceiling will definitly need done...it is a forest green right now.

And back to the kitchen...we have blue walls and a white trim. Cabinets have not been touched.  They don't close all the way because of the over-ambitious previous owners who loved to paint...but weren't too good at it.  I'm talking dried drips on the walls, paint drips on the floors...looks like kids painted, actually. They painted over hinges...and over the screws to take them off!!  I want some more shelves made for over the stove, cutting cart, and fridge. Not sure how to decorate it yet.  I did redo the kitchen chair cushions. But as far as things on the wall...I have a clock. That's it, lol.  I just don't know where to go with it!!

I love wabi-sabi design and philosophy, so I want to incorporate that in here, too. Not sure it goes with the bright colors, though...but I love colors!

My design asthetic is all over the place.  I like wabi-sabi, natural, zen looks.  I also like the old country look, and some retro, some mod...yikes. Need to zero in on a feel and stick to it, right?  Or is there a way to make them mesh...and work, without looking too cluttered and confused?!

Our newest pet

Olivia found a ladybug crawling in one of her toy drawers in her closet.  She received a ladybug habitat one year for her birthday, so she got that and set it up for the new guy, or gal.

We looked up info on keeping a ladybug at the Insect Lore site, from where her ladybug kit came. She has been fun watching him explore his new home.

She wants to wait to name it until she finds out whether it is a male or female.

Oobleck



I think I know what we will be doing today....

Soil Study

We used the USDA Natural Resources Conservation Service's Web Soil Survey to see what type of soil we had around here. 

From their site:

Web Soil Survey (WSS) provides soil data and information produced by the National Cooperative Soil Survey. It is operated by the USDA Natural Resources Conservation Service (NRCS) and provides access to the largest natural resource information system in the world. NRCS has soil maps and data available online for more than 95 percent of the nation’s counties and anticipates having 100 percent in the near future. The site is updated and maintained online as the single authoritative source of soil survey information.

Turns out we have Crosby Silt Loam and Miamian Silt Loam. Now we need to find out what that means exactly, ha ha.

We also looked up different regions to see what types they had. I knew my mom's would be sandy!

Cetaceans

Georgia's new passion.

She's always been interested in whales.  Her favorite has alwasy been the Sperm Whale, ever since she read Moby Dick when she was 5 or 6 years old.  But with the Endless Ocean Blue World Wii game she has been collecting a list of cetaceans that she is looking up and reading more about.  We borrowed some library books on whales, dolphins, and porpoises, and her newest Ranger Rick magazine had an Amazon River Dolphin on the cover!

Yesterday we discovered the American Cetacean Society website.  She's been reading up about species there, as well as learning about the conservation efforts. They have a poster we are going to be ordering!

So neat to hear her talk about the ways different ones hunt or collect food, how they evolved differently from being seperated, why the narwol has a long tooth, their social activity, migrations, communication...and to know that she actually gets what she is talking about...not just remembering facts.  She goes into discussions about why something is or how it came to be.

We learned about the US Marine Mammal Protection Act.

We watched the TED talk on the Intriguing Sound of Marine Mammals, given by Peter Tyack.

Georgia and Olivia did some sketching yesterday...Georgia looked up specific species of whales so she could draw them accurately...showing their scars and all. She told me how she drew the further side of the tail smaller so it would look further away.  She also has been mixing colors to come up with the best one, and using different tools to come up with the look she wants.

SKETCHES HERE

Something else both girls really enjoy is the Safari Ltd Toob play sets.  We have the Jamestown and Powhaten sets from when we visited Jamestown on its 400th anniversary.  We have coral reef, ocean, horses, North American animals, and whales and dolphins. These sets are great for the girls to use their imagination and play out things they are learning about.  I love it!  Hearing Olivia ask Georgia, what did this one eat...they play it all true to life. And Olivia told me the other day that some whales have teeth, and some have baleen.



Winter exploration

Sleet, freezing rain, snow, winds...we went out to explore what nature has created...and destroyed.

our ice covered landscape

 snow drifts are always interesting to see

trees are budding...isn't it too early?

 finding tracks in the snow

doing a penguin belly slide

relaxing and soaking in the beauty of the season

improvised game of hockey

they found sticks from downed limbs,

cut them to their desired length,

used ice blocks as pucks, slid around on the ice.

(I'm in two of the photos, too...do you see me?)

they are so creative

We saw a red squirrel come out of here!

 saw a lot of limbs down...

we added some to their stick shelter (not pictured)

this was NOT fun to clean off

the tires were stuck in the layer of

ground ice!

Who watches the shopping channel anyway??

My kids do!  When they first decided to check it out, I thought, "oh brother, this is going to be so boring." But, as always, they make everything fun!  They are so funny.  They love to laugh at the hosts, their funny expressions, how excited their voice gets.  And you know what....they've actually learned a lot from watching it.  They have learned about several gemstones and minerals that I had never heard about...even going in to their history and when and where they were discovered.  Of course, we got into talking about the value on rocks!  On how the more rare ones are given a higher value, which gets into the supply, demand discussions. And they've learned the names of different muscles of the body from the fitness infomercials. They crack up when they show the before/after photos of people's butts and always say, "why does anyone care what their BUTT looks like!?" LOL. And then there are the advertising tricks.  They know how advertisers want you to buy their product.  They have never been one to hear, "you need this toy, it is the best, everybody has one" and come running to me and ask for it.  No, they are pretty smart cookies...takes a lot for them to be fooled! We try to use our critical thinking skills here. They've even discussed making up their own commercials as a spoof, and filming them. I think that would be great!

Healing from a Virus

I am writing from the laptop.  The desktop has some type of virus!  I have run scans from four different security systems and found some things with each.  Re-ran the scans and nothing shows up.  Yet, I know it is still infected because the internet browser goes wacky!  Argh.  I have spent a lot of time trying to fix it...scans take a long time!  And the computer wouldn't get into safe mode at first.  Poor thing.  Hope it is healed up soon.  All my photos are over there! I have the older ones on disk in our fire-proof safe, but not the newer ones from the last three years!

This has obviously spawned some deep discussions on computer viruses, spyware, bad people, internet safety and all that good stuff.

I'm giving it a break today....have to go run some errands later and know if will take at least another four hours or so of cursing, running to the laptop to look things up, running back, trying something else, rebooting....

Happy Chinese New Year!

It is the year of the Rabbit!

We had fun looking up our animal zodiac and reading about who we are compatible with...and NOT compatible with, lol.

Mid Winter has come

And boy it was a cold one!  Today is the halfway point between the Winter Solstice and the Vernal Equinox...winter is half over!  The past couple of days we have had freezing rain alternating with sleet and snow.  The ground is covered with a couple inches of ice, which then got covered with an inch of snow.  Very dangerous out there. The wind didn't help much either...gusting beyond 40mph in some spots.  Looking outside it just looked like a big white nothing.  Though when the wind died down we saw the effects of all that heavy ice and the strong winds.  We have tree limbs down everywhere, but luckily nothing else worth noting.  The barns are all intact, as well as our siding, lol.

We did lose power last night around 10 PM, and it didn't get fixed until around 11AM the next day.  With no electricity we did not have heat! The interior temperatures went from 67* to 40* when the electricity returned.  We were just in the midst of planning our escape, to my husbands parents' home, when the power came back on. It's a good thing, too, because it was dangerous outside...and they ended up losing electricity right after that.  Can you imagine...packing up and making the dangerous treck over there only to have to turn back around?!

This day also reminded us that we are not prepared for such emergencies.  We are in tornado territory. In fact, the past two years we have had tornadoes touch down within five miles of us. But we never seem to get around to gathering our necessary supplies. No water, no crank radio... And we definitely need an alternative heat or power source. I think we may want to skip the generator and go straight towards solar power.  Oh, one can dream, huh. But then again...if the power goes out it is up to us to fix.

So we began the day with double socks, sweatshirts, pants, hats, gloves, and piles of blankets playing board games on the guest bed with candles as lighting...to shedding our layers and getting back into technology.  Kids with their Wii, and internet searches for oddball marine life, Dad watching a hockey game on satellite tv, and me blogging away at the laptop.

We did watch some pretty interesting TED talks on ocean life.

David Gallo on Underwater Astonishments and Life in the Deep Oceans.

And Brian Skerry on Ocean's Glory and Horror.

And we watched the movie Finding Nemo...love that!

Aquatic Life Exploration

Along with the girls' interests in learning about crocodilians and the oceans and rivers of the world, the girls have also been into learning more about ocean and freshwater creatures.

Georgia has been very interested in the Amazon River, and especially the arapaima, largest freshwater fish on Earth.)  Through her research, she's also come upon the ceolocanth, a fish previously thought to have been extinct! At PBS she viewed its' anatomy.

We made a trip to the Newport Aquarium where we all met Might Mike the American Alligator, on tour from Florida.  We also saw the....ARAPAIMA!!!  She was so excited.  Said while in the Amazon exhibit, "I know these fish the best, this is my favorite part."

We saw several species of shark, rays, jellyfish, freshwater fish from around the world and from our own backyard, shore life, coral reef life, and fish from the Amazon. We experienced the touch tanks both at the shore life gallery, and in the shark exhibit. We even got to watch scuba divers in the tank, as it was apparently cleaning day.

The girls have also been playing the game Endless Ocean, Blue World on the Wii. They have learned so much from that game! Not just about different types of fish, but learning about the different habitats, life in the deep verses the shallow regions, food webs, conservation, geology, salvaging, taxonomy, diving safety, budgeting and saving, geography, and so much more.  We keep a piece of paper handy while playing so the girls can jot down creatures they want to research further.

After playing, the girls gather their extensive collection of stuffed animals and small toys of the animals they were learning about.  They have quite the collection, too!  I love listening to them...Olivia asking Georgia about different animals, what they eat or where they live.  We just did some quick research this morning from their play...they wanted to know the life span of their animals to see which ones lived the longest!

They also enjoy the Zoo Tycoon PC games. They have learned SOOO much from that as well.  Again, not just about animals. That is another game that we really like.