Looove the felt gifts. I think I will try the tic-tac-toe pocket for my youngest. He is just now getting the hang of strategy (as opposed to plunking x's and o's down willy-nilly).
We just did salt crystals on the windows this past weekend. Epsom salts and water -fully dissolve or you will not get the irregular shaped crystalling on the window. Your kids might like that. (we don't get snow - we don't even get cold weather so we had to make our own faux ice on the window)
I put up the deer meat that came from the 2 small deer that were killed this weekend. I got about 15 lbs of ground meat and all the tenderloins out of these. They were really small but it seems that we are overrun with does and they are all about the same size. I made up a big bunch of taco meat for dinner tonight so dinner is done! I let the kids watch Horton hears a Who this morning while I processed the meat. They are playing outside for now and I'm gonna go out and read to them while they move a bit before the rain hits us.
Then we'll do some writing and I have some online exercises for them to do.
I'm gonna post this in the homeschool section but I found two more sites that the kids love! We are studying the human body this week bit by bit and we did muscles again yesterday and did the experiment where you press the outsides of your hands against the door jamb for 25 seconds and then step forward, dropping your arms down. They will raise up by themselves due to the muscle memory. It was really neat to see the kid's expressions when we did it. They were so excited they had to get daddy to do it when he got home. We also did an experiment, talking about muscles again, with the eyes where we went outside and turned towards the sun to see the pupils change and then put a blanket up in front of the sun so we were in the shade. It was neat to see them make the connection that your pupils change according to the light needed.
I also had them work on phonics yesterday for a bit, we did beginning and ending sounds and vowel sounds using Professor Garfield. If your kids like Garfield, totally google Professor Garfield! They have tons of games on the site and reading and phonics instruction are heavily emphasized. The kids loved it!!!
I am going to let them go on kidshealth.org to watch some movies on how different systems of the body work today...really nice site.
We also practiced first aid basics on teddy bears, practiced dialing 911 and talking to the operator (me), reciting our address and doing the heimlich maneuver. We also talked about what to do in case of a snake bite, spider bite, or bee sting.
I went to the library sale and got a nice book of 333 science experiments for kids for 50 cents. We did some browsing through there yesterday. It has some good simple stuff for the kids to do and covers a nice variety of subjects so I totally got my money's worth!
Bring 1/3 cup of water to boiling
Add 1/2 cup of epsom salts.
Dissolve completely. Wipe onto windows and wait for the salt to crystallize.
*If the salts are not dissolved completely the salt will crystalize in a regular pattern. If it is dissolved completely it will crystalize in a random pattern. You want random. But it might be interesting to have the kids do both to see the difference.
We also have been reading a lot of Thanksgiving stories. I will look for the title of one. I liked it because it is about a girl who uses her own money to buy a can of peas for the canned goods donation box. She puts a sticker on it to let them know where it came from. The shelter calls her class and invites them to work in a soup kitchen preparing a Thanksgiving meal. I will see if I can find the name of the book.
And it is a bit out of season but you must, must read a book called Too Many Pumpkins. Illustrations are gorgeous as is the story line. Rebecca Estelle grew up in the depression and had to eat too many pumpkins. As an adult she abhors them. Well...I won't ruin the story, but definitely go check it out at the library. We have read that book every year for five years now. LOVE it.
Thanks for the recipe Rathbone, we are soooooo gonna do that one!
Hubby went hunting last evening and said he saw 15 does but nothing close enough for a shot with the bow. I plan on going later in the week with my 30.06, gun season comes in Saturday!!! He said some of these deer were bigger so that is encouraging. If I sit in the lock on stand I should be able to get a shot on some of them if they come back there again Saturday. They seem to be hanging out in that corner of the field pretty regularly so maybe I'll get a nice doe this time.
It is pouring down rain today...the poor goats are miserable, as are the chickens, and of course the ducks are in heaven cause there's puddles everywhere.
We are hanging out today and I need to start some laundry...hubby came to me last night after his shower and informed me that he had 1 pair of underwear and no socks. I told him that he needed to tell me before he was completely out next time cause I don't go in his drawers. Grrrr.
Anyway...we are gonna hang out today for a bit and probably just read a bunch today. The kids are watching Sesame Street while they eat breakfast, it's a new one about habitats so they are pretty interested in it and I'm not gonna turn it off. PBS is where I tend to get slack cause they have so many great programs and lots of times we use what they talk about in different shows as jumping off points for future study. Sid the Science Kid did the decomposition study but used a pumpkin. We did the decomp study and used the meat chicks that died. Same concept, different methods and it was interesting for them to see the difference between plant and animal decomposition.
I have dentist appointment this afternoon too. Chad wanted to go back in the woods but I think today is gonna be a washout. Supposed to get thunderstorms later this evening...just in time for milking! I soooooo love dragging a ticked off goat through a downpour.
I love the idea of the decomposition study. We like Sid the Science Kid too (We watch Sid, El Nino Scientifico). One of the things my boys are into is digging up "artifacts" and "dinosaur skeletons". So we saved the bones from one of the chickens we butchered and dried it out quite a bit and then arranged it carefully and let them "find" it. Paleontology here we come. We are thinking maybe we will mummify one of the chickens: take out the organs & brain, put them in canopic jars (canning jars for us) etc.
Well, today everything is officially frozen. I had to pour water on the gate to the pasture to get the latch undone, I had to pry the chicken coop door open with a metal bar, and I definitely had to bust ice in the waterers this morning.
Milking was fun, poor goat was shivering to death the whole time. This is the first REALLY cold night we have had, down in the 20s. Tonight it is supposed to be in the 30s but everything will still probably freeze again.
Last night Tyler was upset cause his male fire bellied toad died, we had had him at least 3 years so he was old for a toad I guess. He decided to get into my bed and snuggle with daddy so I took Frawg and slept in his bed....slept pretty well actually....the dog kept me warm
Yesterday we did story time at the library, checked out a ton of new books cause they are gonna be closed next week for the holiday, and then went and bought the batting I needed to finish my quilts, got crickets and dog bones, hit the dollar tree for something fun for the kids, picked up some ornaments for the kids' little trees, got a few things at the grocery store, and then bought 250lbs of feed at TSC and moved it into the barn. Hubby went hunting but didn't see anything. Then he had to go to a friend's house to help him with a table or something. I hunkered down in a quilt and read a new library book after the kids went to sleep.
It was really chilly in here....I'm still cold.
MIL had to go to the doctor cause she passed out twice this week. Luckily her SIL was visiting and was there with her when it happened. Doctor says she has an enlarged heart and they are waiting on more test results to see if they can find out why. She is supposed to come visit Wednesday and Thursday so we'll see how she looks then. She keeps telling us she is okay but we can tell she's lying.
I just made the kids some hot chocolate and I am shivering. I have the thermostat on 69 but it is still cold. I need a sweater and thicker socks.
Today we are gonna read quite a bit...the kids are watching an animal dvd right now. I feel like snuggling under a blanket all day.