Eating Green/Food Without Plates

You may be thinking “Oh, she wants to save the planet!  Good job!”

Well, yes, I do want to save the planet.  It is a good idea.  But I also want to save my sanity.  Thus, I am looking for ideas on just how to have lunch without making a mess . . .

Methinks that for this to work we need a good supply of

“holders”  ( crackers, bread or tortillas)

“toppers” ( Peanut butter, tuna, cheese, etc.)

veggies or fruit

 If this becomes old, maybe we could throw in a Soup Day once a week or so. To avoid a mess,  each child  could rinse out their mug after lunch .  Would this be possible?  Yes, no?  Maybe.  

On today’s menu?  Taco Burgers

Basically, think Sloppy Joes, only with salsa, cheese and beans instead.  It’s a thick dip that we’re throwing onto the hamburger buns from yesterday’s grilling session.

We’re also going to have carrot sticks and celery.

Ta-da!  Lunch is served . . .

Sometime More IS Better: A Thanksgiving Post

I am thankful for many, many things.  But to keep this short, I’m just going to focus on one thing I’m grateful for.

I know, I know.  We are all supposed to simplify and be grateful for what we’ve got . . .none of this yearning for MORE, MORE, MORE!

But sometimes, More is Better, if you are talking about people who make your days brighter and your problems lighter.   This week the kiddos and I had a couple of get-togethers with friends and after the first one, when our ten year old friend brought out a bird that she had gutted and stuffed  (with the blessing and help of her parents and some tips from a taxidermist),  I found myself looking forward to the next get together we were having with a new friend and wondering what we’d learn.

We learned a lot, like “Hey!  This was a lot of fun. We’ll have to do this again.”  And my friend also noticed that there are green fruits on one of the trees by my house.  I’ve walked by that tree so many times, and I never noticed that it was a fruit tree.  Whoops.  So then we had to investigate the fruit.  Is this a fruit we recognize?  Hmmm?  Luckily, our friend knew what it was and the kids and I got to try guava, straight from the tree.  The guava is pretty good stuff, a bit like passionfruit according to my firstborn, but not quite as tart.

When I think about my friends, every one of them has a different face and everyone of them has added a new and different dimension to my life.  Here’s to More Friends cuz Life is Better when you’ve got good people on your side.

You just never know who you'll meet on the way to the beach!

So, there we were on the way to the beach in St. John and there THEY were, just standing on the side of the road.  Of course we had to get out and throw our arms around them and whisper sweet nothings into their furry ears.  Life is good.

~ Jennifer

Mathspeak

Well, there are things I just would not do if I wasn't a parent. One is talk to children about how reproduction happens. Another thing I'd avoid at all costs? Pre-Algebra. 

I spend about 1 and 1/2 hours on math everyday. Currently I am studying pre-algebra, basic addition, place value and multiplication. And I am "getting it" just fine. I am actually kind of enjoying the Pre-algebra. 

I am impressed with myself, actually, because of all the subjects out there, math is the one that made me really squirm. I still remember taking my first Algebra final. I bit all my fingernails to the quick. I think that my Geometry class was as painful for my teacher as it was for me. I would go up to the teacher's desk and say "I don't understand". 

He would say back to me, in the same language that Charlie Brown's teacher used: "Mwwah, Mwwah, Mwwwah. Now do you understand?" 

I'd look at his exasperated face, and mutter "Uh, yeah". Then I would slink back to my desk and ask the girl beside me to please help me get this figured out. And she always complied. Funny thing is, I saw her in the store last year and she had NO idea who I was. I will never forget her. She really saved my bacon. 

And now I'll share the resources that are helping me with my math-a-phobia. Enjoy! 

http://www.mathdoesntsuck.com 

and 

http://www.khanacademy.org

Gooseneck Barnacles

Today was a field day.  We spent the day at the beach with homeschooling peeps and it was a good time for all.

We always seem to find something new when we go out.  Today's find?

Gooseneck Barnacles and a crab with orange eggs on her underside.

Another find?  Mosquito larva in some standing water on our porch.  My seven year old came running in "Mom! Mom!  There's minnows or something in this water!"

Yes, there was something, but it was not minnows . . .wouldn't THAT have been a scientific puzzle?

Here's just some of what we learned about Gooseneck Barnacles:

~The barnacle has been described as a shrimplike animal standing on its head in a limestone house and kicking food into its mouth with its feet. 


~They breathe through their legs ( cirri) and body wall


~Some attach themselves to living animals like porpoises, whales and turtles


( The above information was taken from "barnacle." The Columbia Encyclopedia, Sixth Edition. 2008. Encyclopedia.com. (November 16, 2010).http://www.encyclopedia.com/doc/1E1-barnacle.html)


And here's a picture, taken from the same site:

Of course, what we were looking at was not so neatly labeled, but this is what they looked like.

Be well, all, and thanks for reading!


~ Jenn

What We're Doing Now

It's November and it's time to be thinking about Thanksgiving.  So we're getting ready for Thanksgiving by looking up quotes about Thanks and Gratitude.  And then we're heading over to  this great penmanship site:

http://www.handwritingworksheets.com/flash/cursive/paragraph/index.html.  ( This link for my kiddo that is learning cursive)


 And this link is for my kiddo that is learning how to print: http://www.handwritingworksheets.com/flash/dnealian/paragraph/index.html


About a month ago we invested in a great book, Homeschooling Your Child For Free by LauraMaery Gold and Joan M. Zielinski., and that's where I found the above link . . .so this is what we did with the quote and the site.  Added 'em together and this equaled an opportunity for my kiddo to read, trace and copy the quote.  Tomorrow I'm going to say "So, what do you think this quote means?"


And then we're gonna talk about the difference between "Thankful" and "Gratitude".  ( Here's a hint:  one is a noun, and one's an adjective.  :)  Don't you just love being able to slip a little learning into the season?)


Quote for Today:


Praise the bridge that carried you over.  ~George Colman