Trend Setter

He's prepared for action today...

Bungee cord around the waist with a suction cup and masking tape. The ensemble is made complete with a pink highlighter and fun sunglasses.

Hours later, he's still dressed for service.

Family Pictures

Mr. Intensity and Hubby dressed similar for church today. I found a super nice little boy tie for less than a buck - score! Hubby just needs a pink highlighter for his pocket. :)


And here's a picture of the girls. We're going to call baby sister Caroline. Eight weeks till the due date, and I don't have gestational diabetes - like with Mr. Intensity. Yay!


Now, if she will cooperate, turn head down and keep a girlish figure (of less than 9 pounds - 8 would be great). Mr. Intensity was 9 lbs 7 oz. Ouch.

Who is that masked man?

He sang some cowboy songs at


Homeschool Academy today. It was very cute.

Mother-in-Law Prize

Living with a house of boys, my mother-in-law was frequently disappointed that no one noticed her new haircut. She solved the problem by buying a chocolate bar on the way home from the salon. The first person to notice the new style got to eat the prize. My husband tells me that often he would notice the chocolate before the hair then run and say, "Oh Mom, I like your hair."

A few days ago, we were iChatting with his parents. I said, "Pam, you got a new style!"

Hubby said, "She wins the chocolate."

We all laughed. Guess what came in the mail for me today? And it wasn't a Snickers bar.

My Son is Weird

We went to Atlanta over the weekend to visit Hubby's brother and family. Packages were waiting when we got home.

The first package, the most exciting, was from Grandpa and Magaw Majors. Just because. It was a leather belt and real gun holster. Oh my. Fits the cap gun perfectly. He loves it.


The second package, the expected one, and the one that makes him weird was a Rosetta Stone German language course. Giddy, I say, the child is giddy about learning German. I don't understand it. My mom had me take private German lessons in high school and it was torture. From the moment I walked in the door, my teacher only spoke German.

Mr. Intensity is another story. He is loving German. Thank you Rosetta Stone. It's a great program.

Another Causality

Mr. Intensity got this sword for Christmas. Oh what a sword! It's over 3.5 feet long and he felt like quite the young knight.

The handle was a bit wobbly right out of the box. We were able to convince him it would be worth the delayed enjoyment to send it back.

When it came in the mail the second time, he didn't have it in his hands TWO minutes before he busted it, not quite in two but definitely out of commission.

He was sad. Oh so sad. Tears, weeping, wailing! He'd waited forever for the precious sword to return only to have it broken in minutes.

Never fear, Dad is here with wood glue and electrical tape.

That lasted ... for a week.

The sword has suffered another causality and is definitely inoperable now. Maybe he could use it as a short sword. It isn't the glorious knight's sword it was meant to be.

And it's most certainly not as rugged as the Nerf sword which is one of his most favorite things.

Truck Found

The police called; they found Hubby's truck. The engine, transmission, and hood are missing. Boo.

He owned Stormin' Norman for 14 years. It was a good truck.

Math Game with Dice & Other Resources

This game is a variation of a game I saw on Itty Bitty Love. We played the simpler version last week; he loved it so I figured he'd love it even more with two dice.

I thought he would stop after a number "won" or made it to the bottom row but he was so excited he played almost to the end. Not enough snake eyes to keep his interest. :)

At the bottom of the column, he wrote the "winner" and circled the number. You'll see that sevens won first place and threes came in second.
Other resources used today -

History

This video explaining Hanukkah and the Maccabean Revolt.

Montessori for Everyone's visual explanation of the transition from BC to AD.

Geography

A map of Egypt, of Africa, and of the world.

Science

We began the discussion on metamorphosis, complete and incomplete, and will get to these resources later in the week.

-Complete metamorphosis: egg to larva, pupa to adult, like the butterfly life cycle - make sure to also print the Can You Find It? pages. Thanks for the free resource, Jojoebi!

-Incomplete metamorphosis [Hubby, the flyfisherman, is most excited about this one] is egg to nymph, straight to adult. Wonderful 4-H website

Quick Reference Guide to Aquatic Invertebrates

Matching cards

Insects with incomplete or gradual metamorphosis; immature forms are nymphs
Dragonfly and Damsel fly	Belong to the order Odonata.
Stonefly	Belongs to the order Plecoptera.
Mayfly	Belongs to the order Ephemoeroptera.
Bugs	Belong to the order Hemiptera. Water boatman, water strider, water scorpion, giant water bug

Not sure who's learning more: me or Mr. Intensity! After all,

All I Really Need to Know I Learned in Kindergarten.

We've Got Snow!

Easy-Peasy Kettle Corn

Need something sweet - and QUICK!?

Make this kettle corn. Super easy.

I didn't print the recipe because I thought, "I can remember these ingredients to the stove." Wrong. I used 1/2 c sucanat (sugar) instead of 1/4c, as recipe calls. Half cup is too much. Plus, the next time, I think I'll try 1/2 white sugar, 1/2 sucanat.