Week in Review

Spring is finally springing around here, thank goodness.  I spent most of the week laying on the couch as I've been suffering with an ugly cold.  Headache, chills, exhaustion.  I seem to be (mostly) on the mend, which is great.  As a result, there wasn't much in the way of "traditional" (you know, for our house) schooling.  My throat hurt too much to read aloud, which really is quite tragic.

Scrappy managed to squeeze out a couple lessons of spelling.  We've been so hit-or-miss with Sequential Spelling, but it's nice that when we get back to it, he remembers the patterns again.  He and Funny both did some work with cause and effect.  It's early logic, right?  Right.  There's been some math, and they are both working on writing stories.  Goofy and Silly have both done some workbook pages this week, too.  Everyone has read to me, which is nice.  But mostly, we had a relaxed week.  We had a park day and a couple field trips.  I squeezed what I could out of the week, and that's the best I could do.

On Saturday, we went to see 46 Circus Acts in 45 Minutes, which was really fun.

Fun in the sun.  I played on this, too, until I thought
I was going to vomit and fall over.

Silly and Funny getting in the swing of things.

I can barely watch this kid climb.  He's scary.

Scrappy really liked this replica of a church entrance
in France and made me take a picture.

Scrappy thought this sculpture looked like the first gate on The Neverending Story.
Good thing we weren't doubting ourselves when we passed by.

Very pretty twisted columns with mosaics.  Original is in Rome, 13th century.

Top of the twisty columns.  More mosaics.
We wondered if this was a Byzantine influence.

Replica from Notre Dame.  I figure this is as close as I'll ever get.

Goofy and Silly contemplate this art installation.  (It's a loop of Diana spinning into
Wonder Woman and then running.  Yes, from the TV show.)

We picked up Hub before going to the museum.  Here he is discussing fossils with the Flour Children.

Funny took it upon herself to fix this loose piece of decking.
Don't worry.  She has her safety goggles on.

She's awesome.  And helpful.

Check out Weird, Unsocialized Homeschoolers to see how others are homeschooling.

Pancakes

I love pancakes.  I didn't use to.  I merely tolerated them.  But all of the sudden, they are like manna and I am filled with great joy at the sight of them.  They are just what I want!

You could make pancake-like substances from that weird mix where you just add water and shake.  Or from that other weird mix where you open a box and add an egg or something (I forget).  Those aren't as tasty as the real thing.  And the real thing is actually easy to make.

This recipe reflects the fact that I have 4 pancake-loving children and a husband who also likes pancakes.  You may want to halve it if you are humans.  Then again, I should note that pancakes keep nicely in the fridge or freezer.  I always make extras so we can just microwave them the following day.  Bam.  Pancakes.

Pancakes
adapted from Betty Crocker's New Cookbook

4 large eggs
4 c. flour (I used white with the bran added back in, but wheat is fine, too)
3 c. milk (more for thinner pancakes)
3 tbsp. sugar
3/4 stick of butter, melted (if you use the whole thing, I won't tell)
3 tbsp. baking powder
1/2 tsp. salt

Beat eggs in large bowl with whisk, hand beater, fork, or sheer will.  Mix in remaining ingredients just until smooth.  Let it rest while you heat up your electric griddle (375 degrees) or frying pan.  You can grease your pan if you have to, but I don't.  If you can drop a few drops of water on the pan and it dances, then your pan is hot enough.  I use a 1/2 c. ladle (or just use your 1/2 c. measure) to scoop the batter onto the pan.  Let them cook until the edges start to look a little dried out.  Flip and cook the other side (it won't take as long).

You can keep them on a plate in a warm oven if you want to serve everyone at once.

You can adjust what you put in these little gems.  When you pour the batter out, you can sprinkle with frozen or fresh blueberries, chocolate chips, crumbled bacon, perhaps?  I am doing the bacon thing next time.  I've been dreaming about it for long enough.

I think it's pretty common practice that the pancake chef often jacks up the first pancake (too dark, too doughy in the middle, maybe both).  So don't be sad if it happens to you.  I have only recently gotten to where the first one is consistently good, and I have been making them since 1995, when my lovely friend Brenda taught me the ways of pancake-making.


What, you want a picture?  We ate the picture.

Weeks in Review

We had two great school weeks.  I chalk most of that up to having a less-stressed attitude (something I've been working on all year) and embracing those days that feel more unschooly.  I still try to direct them (to a game, or outside, or whatever) but I have really relaxed.  I still have those days where I freak out and think I'm messing them up, but I am pretty confident every parent thinks that at some time or another, no matter where their kids go to school!  Those days of insecurity are getting less and less.  Or maybe they just aren't as loud anymore.

Goofy and Silly play Stratego.

Scrappy is flying through his MUS Gamma book.  I think he may finish it by the end of the year, which would be wonderful!  He's been reading everyday, and I have seen a huge improvement in his fluency and comprehension as a result.  I am so thankful, because reading has been a struggle this year.  He struggles a little with reading but mostly it's my struggle with patience.

Funny has been doing addition flashcards all week.  She needed to memorize her facts.  Her lack of memorization had been slowing down the rest of her math, so we're on a break from Saxon.  We're back to it on Monday.  She's been reading a lot also.  She LOVES books, which is great.  It's better than great, actually.  She loves to read to Silly.  That's handy for me, and it gives me the warm fuzzies.

Goofy has been reading a lot, as well.  He picked out a box of Spider-Man readers at the local Borders during its going-out-of-business sale.  They are a little above his level now, but he wants to read them so we've been working through them.  Superheroes are the best.  He is about halfway through his little subtraction workbook.

Scrappy and Funny build their own electric circuit.  It didn't work.
They kept working until it did.

We've all been studying Vikings this week.  We are Viking it and liking it, my friends.  We've had a great study where we've read a number of books and used the map and globe A LOT.  They were a busy people, those Norsemen.  By the way, Vikings really didn't wear hats with horns on them, it turns out.

We started our Apologia chapter on crustaceans.  We haven't gotten very far.  I was reading them the section on lobsters, and we were talking about omnivores (which lobsters are).  That got us onto the fact that people are also omnivores.  Funny piped up with, "But our cousins are vegetarians."  So then we talked about a variety of reasons why people would want to be vegetarians.  We are going to be vegetarians for a week, probably in April.  And then, even better, we got into a great discussion about factory farming vs. traditional farming and why it is important to Hub and I that we eat "good" meat (meaning organic, kosher, local, or hormone & antibiotic-free).  As a result, we don't eat a whole lot of meat, and now they understand why.  It really was a wonderful conversation.  I am so happy that I am fostering that back-and-forth with them.

Books read:  Viking It and Liking It #12 (Time Warp Trio), On the Go with Pirate Pete and Pirate Joe! (Viking Easy-to-Read), Hi! Fly Guy (Theodor Seuss Geisel Honor Book (Awards)), Buzz Boy And Fly Guy,Poppleton Has Fun, Phonics Volume I (DVD), Henry and Mudge and the Sneaky Crackers, The Missing Monster Card (My First Graphic Novel), How Many Fish? (My First I Can Read Book), Yo, Vikings!, Viking Explorers and Settlers (The Viking Library), Elfwyn's Saga, Atlantis: The Legend of a Lost City, The Red Thread: An Adoption Fairy Tale, I Read Symbols (Mulberry books), Pizza Counting, The Last Battle (Narnia)

Last Friday we went back to the Science Center, which you can read about here.  We also went bowling with Hub.  I am longing for a hike.  It won't be too long before spring finally gets here and we can get outside.  I just want to be with the trees.  Yes, I might just hug one.

Read about how other people are homeschooling at Weird, Unsocialized Homeschoolers.

The Picture of Dorian Gray

You may recall that I am doing a Victorian Reading Challenge in 2011.  I have finally finished my first book of the challenge (after a little detour into a different book).  Sadly, it took me about 8 weeks to finish The Picture of Dorian Gray.  It wasn't that I wasn't interested (quite the opposite), but more that I have book ADD.  I cannot remember a time when I wasn't in the middle of 2 or 3 books at once.

As for my thoughts on poor, sad Dorian... (yes, there will be spoilers)

I love this picture.  I am planning to watch this movie
version later this week.  I can't wait.

Well, I suppose that's it.  He's poor and sad.  I am of the school of thought that no matter what he (me?) may try, his (my?) sins always catch up with him (and me!).  I  thought it was interesting how Dorian hid away the ugly picture of himself, and even covered it.  But every now and again, he liked to pull down the fabric and take a look.  I guess he liked what he was doing--the power that he had over others.  It got me thinking...is there something I like about doing the wrong thing?  I keep on doing wrong.  I wonder.

As for the character I most identified with, I would have to say Lord Henry.  When I started reading this book, my first thought about Henry was, "This is what I would be like without Jesus."  Which might give you a little more insight than I might like into my thoughts.  I am ashamed to admit that I "get" Henry's fascination with pushing buttons and creating his own amusement.  An argument could be made that Henry is the real villain of this story, who preys on young, naive Dorian.  That may be true at first, but Dorian has plenty of time to learn to think for himself.  He just chooses not to.

I know some people don't like Oscar Wilde, for a number of reasons.  I have always found him amusing.  I actually want to read An Ideal Husband this year if I can.  I've seen The Importance of Being Earnest, so I'm going to skip reading it for now.

I have all kinds of thoughts about this book, some of which I am still mulling over.  For those of you that have read it, what did you think?



You can read here about what others are reading for the Victorian Reading Challenge.

We love science

Yet another trip to the Carnegie Science Center.  I love our Carnegie Museums pass and I'm so happy it was on Groupon so I could afford it.  We've been putting it to great use this year.

This time we went to see a show at the Buhl Planetarium called "Stars Over Pittsburgh."  It's all about the current night sky.  We learned how to identify a variety of constellations and planets.  The astronomer asked all sorts of questions and the Flour Children loved answering them.  They were so enthusiastic that after the show, she took us all up to the roof to see the big telescope.  It was pretty cool!  We were all very excited and can't wait to go back on a night where the weather is good so we can look through it.

Scrappy and Silly with the telescope.

View of our city from the roof.

There was a new interactive exhibit there as well.  It was all about air!  We studied birds and flight last year and so it was interesting to see all the things about drag, pressure and lift.  I just read a book to Silly about air, too, so it was well-timed for her.

Scrappy getting ready to see if his parachute will open.

Goofy shooting off a rocket.

Silly sees that air can hold up a ball.  Pretty exciting.

Funny trying to figure out how wind affects these objects.  Depending on direction,
the wind either causes them to hit each other or pull apart and to be still.

Experiment with drag.  Which shape will move fastest?

Visit Live the Adventure for more field trip reviews!