Merry Christmas!

We've been having tons of fun with Grammy and Bompa visiting from Rochester, New York. We had a very relaxing Christmas morning and then had a delicious dinner hosted by the family on Stassney. Daddy gave the family a portable GPS and we enjoyed our first treasure hunt (aka geo cache) with Grammy and Bompa. On the 26th we celebrated Grammy and Bompa's 37th wedding anniversary (I hope we're still googley-eyed after 37 yrs) at El Mercado and took a ride down Congress and 37th St to "OOOOOH and AAAAWW" at Christmas lights.

Click here to view all of the Christmas 2007 Photos

Winter Solstice Celebration

(Click here for photos from our celebration)

Old Man Winter has officially arrived. During the cold and windy night Grandpa Chuck, Papa Lu, and Gramma Jan hosted a beautiful solstice celebration on the 22nd to welcome old man winter into our lives. At sunset we enjoyed a walk down the luminary lit path into the tree house with fluttering butterfly lights where we read a solstice story. Then we lit a fire in the chiminea and ate a simple (but yummy) dinner of baked potatoes, baked apples, and sandwiches. Annie and Emerson had a great night celebrating with Grammy, Bompa, Uncle Adam, Mary, Jeff, Mom, Dad, Grandpa Chuck, Papa Lu, and Gramma Jan.

The Winter Solstice is the longest night of the year in the northern hemisphere (the shortest in the southern). It marks the first day of our Winter. Click here to learn more about the Winter Solstice.

Santa Comes to Little House

We've read Santa Comes to Little House by Laura Ingalls Wilder and Annie was charmed! She thought it was so beautiful that Laura and Mary Ingalls both got a shiny tin cup (now they each had a cup of their very own), a peppermint stick that they licked "till each stick was sharp-pointed on one end" , a little heart-shaped cake sprinkled with white sugar and a shiny new penny.

Annie remarked, "What a beautiful Christmas, mommy, I would like to only get a tin cup, a peppermint stick, a little cake and a new penny for Christmas too."

Can you guess what my kiddos are getting for Christmas Eve in their stockings from mommy and daddy?

Of course, Santa will bring them other gifts to open on Christmas Morning!!

Thank you, Firefighters!

My friend Tracey had the beautiful idea of making cookies and delivering them to the fire fighters as a way of saying Thank You for all that they do. So we have had fun over the last week making cutout Kris Kringle cookies (my Gram's recipe), frosting and decorating them with Tracey and her 3 kids. We delivered them to the Fire Station today. The fire fighters showed us the inside of their truck and posed for this picture!

Break a Leg, Annie!

Annie's creative Drama class at Zachery Scott Theater had their end of semester Presentation today. They performed 3 short plays. Annie had the 2nd lead (is there a word for second lead?) part in The Terrible Giant. She was the dragonfly who's wing was used for the stew. She played the noisy monkey in Ananci. We all had a role in Journey to the End of the Earth. Mommy was a hungry pirana, Emerson a crocodile, Daddy a man eating bug, Gramma Jan a bear and Annie was an adventurer.
All the kids were super cute! No one froze up and they seemed very much at home with a large audience of about 40 parents and grand parents.

Why I homeschool...

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My kiddos are happy.

I have the support of my husband. I have the help of my mother.

I have great influence over what they learn and what they are exposed to. I get to spend a lot of time with my kids. I enjoy spending time with my kids. We get to go for Nature Walks whenever we feel like it because learning doesn't always have to happen at a desk. Plus we can take lots of field trips.

I can respect their natural rhythms. They get to eat when they are hungry and not when their scheduled lunch time is and they can go to the bathroom when they have to and they do not have to raise their hands. They can sleep until they wake up naturally and not to some artificial alarm clock. They do not have to wait on the corner for the bus that arrives promptly at 6:59 A.M.and doesn't return them until 3:15. I can teach them things when they are developmentally ready.

I care deeply for my kids. I have no faith in our public education system and instead of working a job to be able to afford private school I've decided to be the private school.

I love to teach and I love my kids.

I am trying to give them the gift of a happy and unhurried childhood.

Trimming the Tree

Gramma Jan, Grandpa Chuck and Papa Lu hosted a slumber party for the kiddos last Saturday night.
Their tree wasn't decorated so the kids decided to decorate it all by themselves while Gramma Jan was cooking dinner. Emerson even had to stand on a step stool to reach. They were so proud of themselves!

Frosty?

Frosty or try-outs for the new Tim Burton movie?

Happy Thanksgiving!

We had a great Thanksgiving at my dad's house. The company and the food were all great. It was cold here too, so it helped put us all in the spirit.
The kids made a beautiful "thankful tree" and everyone wrote something they were thankful for on a paper leaf and they hung it on the tree. We were thankful for our family and health and friends....but Emerson was thankful for watching tv.

(there are brown and green leaves...and the tree is just a small branch from our yard...now the kids will put the leaves in their journals....our camera is in the shop so this image is from the video recorder)

Feliz Slobby Dog!

Annie and Emerson were taking turns requesting their favorite holiday tunes today. When I asked Emerson what song he wanted to hear he said, "Feliz Slobby Dog!"

Raptors Rule! Owls on the Prowl

Friday we spent the evening at the Lady Bird Johnson Wild Flower Center learning about our favorite nocturnal bird of prey -- The OWL!

We had a great time seeing some taxidermy owls, coloring owl pictures, dissecting owl pellets and seeing a live (in the dark of the night) owl show with Master Falconer John Karger of Last Chance Forever: The Bird of Prey Conservancy. We met an Eurasian Eagle Owl (check out his bright orange eyes) , a Barn Owl, a Great Horned Owl, a Barred Owl, and an Eastern Screech Owl. All of the owls spoke to us. It was super cool hearing their different calls. I've learned that that creature I hear every night in my back yard is an Eastern Screech Owl (click on sound). We also got to see a Broad Winged Hawk , a Red Tailed Hawk, and a majestic Bald Eagle.

Annie was absolutely enthralled! (mommy too)

We dissected some of our owl pellets there but we decided to bring it home and finish it up on Saturday morning. They found a complete skull of a rat and a small bird! As well as some ribs, vertebra, rat feet, and lots of other lovely goodies!

She keeps telling me that she can't stop thinking about the Cool Owls!

Dissecting Owl Pellets

Yes, this is a rat skull!!

Indians Are Not Harmful

We've been learning about Native American Indians. We've made Corn Husk Dolls, a tomahawk, Indian head dresses, bows and arrows, learned about hunting, arrow heads, Indian dance and music, made Indian costumes, played Indian flutes, went inside a Tepee, went to museums to see the Indian exhibits in NY and TX (The RMSC has the best Native American exhibit...it is exactly how I remember it). We've been listening to Indian music.
Annie took a home school class called Native Days Native Ways where she went on a long nature walk and learned about edible and medicinal plants, danced and sang to traditional rhythms while learning about the Plains Indians culture and home life. She even played Indian skill games like the children in the tribe played to hone their spear-throwing skills.
We've read some Indian Legends and learned why the corn husk doll has no face and what a dream catcher is for. We went to a Powwow and we made this beautiful book. Some people call it a lapbook....Annie called it the best memory book ever!

Here is the front of the closed book. (click on images for a larger view)

This is how the book looks when you first open it. She has some pelts (leather and faux rabbit fur) on the left side. A photo that she took of her corn husk dolls, bow and arrow, Indian flute, arrow head, Indian blanket, and the feather she decorated in her class on the middle page. On the right side she dictated the Legend of the Corn Husk Doll and below that is the description of her Native Days, Native Ways class.

Here is a close-up of her photo.

When you flip the middle page up there is a section about the PowWow we went to with a photo of mommy and an Indian. Also a dream catcher with a dictated legend of the dream catcher. Below this is a pocket with drawings, print-outs of the legends we've read, a Prairie Indians sticker book and a paper doll book. These are all tucked inside the pocket that is covered by a lovely water color painting of a Tepee being shaded by a tree during a rain storm with a stream, a rattle snake and Indian blankets.
My favorite part of this entire unit study was as we were parking at the Powwow Annie said to us, "Indians are not harmful."

Photographer Annie

Annie is fascinated with taking pictures. Mike showed her some of the camera's functions and she can't stop. She experiments with different modes and with and without flash. My favorite shot is this one...it is a picture of Mike's car reflecting in my car with a grasshopper. WOW! I love seeing things from her perspective.

Check out Annie's photo's here
Be sure to click on the "Slide Show" button

POWWOW

We enjoyed The Annual Austin Powwow and American Indian Heritage Festival this weekend. It is the nation's largest annual school event and the largest American Indian gathering in Texas. We were all amazed by the dancing, singing and drumming. It was a very powerful event.
WHAT IS A POWWOW?
Powwows are considered both a sacred and social event for traditional Indian families. It is a time to renew one's bond with the beliefs and traditions of one's ancestors. Dancers who are from many different Tribes/Nations compete and enjoy the company of family and friends.
This is a gathering of traditional American Indian dancing, singing, arts, crafts, foods and traditional/contemporary entertainment.

DIA DE LOS MUERTOS

(click on an image to see it larger)

We have been preparing our Ofrenda for the past week. We made paper flowers, cut our own papel picado and put a lot of thought into what we were offering our loved ones. We went to the panaderia to get a sugar skull and pan de muerto.

Check out this link to learn more about The Days of the Dead
http://www.azcentral.com/ent/dead/history/

When I Was Young In the Mountains

Today we read "When I Was Young In the Mountains" by Cynthia Rylant. Annie illustrated the swimming hole scene. She wanted to share with everyone. She used watercolor pencils and 90 lb. watercolor paper.

HAPPY HALLOWEEN!

We enjoyed trick-or-treating with Gramma Cat Woman Jan, Grandpa China Man Chuck, and Papa Zoot Suit Lu tonight!

Pumpkin Festival

Sunday we went to Marble Falls, TX to the Sweet Berry Farms Pumpkin Festival. Emerson picked the smallest pumpkin he could find and Annie picked the biggest!!!
We had fun carving them and roasting pumpkin seeds. Yummy!
HAPPY HALLOWEEN!

We can't go to China!

Emerson was in the car talking about China and he asked, "When are we going to go to China?"
Annie looked at him and said in a panicked voice, "We can't go to China we don't know how to speak French!"

(We've been learning a little about France. Grandpa Chuck and Papa Lu just got back from a trip to China.)

Elizabeth's Birthday

This afternoon, we went to a birthday party for Annie and Emerson's friend Elizabeth.



The highlight of the party was a trampoline that the kids had a blast jumping on!

Finding Lichen & Moss

Our weather was perfect today. We went on a 2 hour nature walk and we even wore our sweaters. We found some Lichen, some Moss and some "Seed Sons" which we are learning about in our studies this month. We sat by the creek for a long time just listening to the falling water, the birds and the wind blowing through the trees. It's days like these when I know we are doing the right thing. How lucky am I to be able to share these moments with my kiddos!!