Civil War

Gabi loves to read things that are stories using real information... books like Magic School Bus, Magic Tree House, Laura Ingalls, and many others. For her birthday a few months back she received some books from the Sisters in Time series and she really enjoys them. They are all history stories about little girls and the effects of the world in their lives depending on the era.

Well, not long ago Gabi read Janie's Freedom... a story about young African-Americans at the end of the Civil War. This, of course, led to many discussions about the war and the after math.

Then we heard that Norlands was hosting a Civil War weekend... so we made arrangements to go. It was a very, very, very small re-enactment, but it was fun to walk through the camps. We didn't go through all of them... after all, it was me and a friend and our 10 kids collectively. Many of whom were really too small to fully enjoy the event. But we did get around to seeing most of everything.

Our little family, on our way to meet our friends, talked about the Civil War and several of the facts relating to it. Gabi had a good deal of knowledge from before, but Beth and Jeremy didn't know anything about it (and Peter was asleep). So it was a great way to get them ready for the event we were to see.

All the kids agreed that the battle was the best part (even if it was only 15 minutes and so small it was almost silly)... though they enjoyed watching the blacksmith and getting an "old fashioned" picture done. At the end, they "played army" in the field and tall grass around.

To cap off our day, we gathered for dinner at our friends' where play continued in and among the trees. Then off to Giffords for a wonderful cold treat! The perfect way to top off a wonderful day!

To see more pictures go here. I had limited space since I'd had trouble getting the dance pictures off the camera before hand.

Tad Poles

Our little eggs have hatched... the little tadpoles so tiny they were merely specks in the water... okay, so that was all weeks and weeks ago... like they were done with that about a week after we found them, maybe less....

They've been growing... Gabi loves to check on them daily. So much fun for her. She is, however, like her mother.... impatient.... though I've had lots more years to work on that.... she's trying to be patient, but frogs are not like caterpillars....



The caterpillars went from caterpillars to butterflies in about a week total. Frogs take much longer... the average time being about 3 months (from what we've read) though some can take a year or longer.. and very few can take less.

Our little tad poles are growing... they still have tails.... but there are starting to be signs of little legs starting to "sprout" (if you want to call it that). It's fun to watch them get up on the side of the pool, hold themselves there for a moment and then slide back into the water.


Though it's slow going, at least Gabi has fun watching them and playing with them. We tried to take some pictures (I had to delete off a bunch of pictures to make space for other ones so I'm hoping the ones I kept were ones you can see them in... but they are small... and black... and blend in nicely the with the muck!)

Deaf, Blind - Amazing

About a week ago we took the kids to see "The Miracle Worker" a play about Annie Sullivan and Helen Keller. Our children are young for such a show - even if it was only high school (which, being only high school, I must say I was really impressed with the presentation - and very amazed at many of the actors).

It was a great opportunity to introduce the children to "theater" on a level other than elementary. At the same time, it was a great door opener to learn about something and someone else. All the kids enjoyed it for various different reasons. Gabi, though, was very excited about it. She went to Library this week and brought back a book (above her comprehension) to learn more about Helen Keller. I read it through and found I was learning things about Helen that I hadn't learned growing up. It was a great book and has caused me to want to get ahold of the actual books that Helen wrote herself.

Since we do some with sign language, I'm planning on exploring the manual alphabet "tapped into the hand" with Gabi. I think this could be fun. I'm thinking up a way to allow her to explore what it might have been like for Helen being blind and deaf - probably a really dark blindfold and Bob's Ear Protection from the woodshop. And then it would be neat to explore braille a little as well.

At this level, I don't expect Gabi to fully learn about Helen, but it has certainly opened a door to explore other things related to Helen Keller that would give Gabi understanding and experience. The story of Helen Keller is, of course, remarkable - Gabi sees that.

Couple More Field Trips

So... to fill up some more of our week... last Friday we went down to the Portland region... there we met up with some friends to see the Dinosaur show at the Southworth Planetarium. I must first say that there was a lot of information... it was especially neat to see the "stars" before the show started. However, I must also say that I was disappointed... it was a "family show" yet I would certainly say it was geared for older children than mine.. though Gabi did just fine. The others made it through most of the way before complaining, but they were not really paying attention. The show was done as a slide show and lecture.

We had planned to stay and also watch the Black Hole show, but given the way everyone was reacting, we decided to leave that behind. We had a nice little picnic... though with a couple kids who just wouldn't listen, so even that got cut a little short... then off to a much more exciting place.....

THE MAINE WILDLIFE PARK

We really enjoyed ourselves here and certainly plan on returning! We spent three hours there, but only left because it was dinner time... so away we went.

The park is a rehab place for wild animals. Some of them will never be able to return to their natural environment - I expect those are the ones we ended up seeing. But it was fun to walk around the zoo-like setting and see the various birds, fish, and animals.

Jeremy decided, by the Bald Eagle, that he needed to get a drink and was certain there was a water fountain behind that cage...so, under the fence and around to the back he went.... when he was retrieved, he was promptly put into one of those harness leash things. This was something we'd talked about prior to going in - so he knew the consequence and it wasn't fair to have everyone miss out if he was being disobedient (and a danger to himself), so this was what we'd agreed upon.

Well, he didn't like that much at all... but when he finally settled down, we talked about it and made a deal... he had to be able to get along calmly through three more animals (we'd already been through 7 since putting him in it) and then he could try again. It worked, and we didn't have another problem with him through the park.

Gabi would have liked to take the time to draw all the animals, but she only got through a couple before the other kids wouldn't be patient any more. I told her another time when there was another adult with us that we'd try drawing them again. Fortunately she was a good sport about the whole thing.

Anyway, it was a wonderful way to cap our field trip week... and a great way to spend some time outdoors.

Green Up and Frog Eggs

Last week was a "vacation week" meaning we did not have the little baby to watch (something we started doing about three months ago now). That meant we could make some plans... since we normally spend that as a family going some where, and since Dad was booked with a cabinet job, we thought up some field trips we wanted to do.... here's the first....

Spur of the moment... we got together with some friends on April 22 (Earth Day) to do a little "Green Up" and hunt for frog eggs. Our family often does green up walks around our neighborhood, but this would be on a nice trail... something with friends... the frog egg part was of most interest for them though.

It was a lot of fun to watch friends get together racing around to see how much trash they could pick up while also keeping eyes open for frog eggs. Gabi's friend spotted them... it was really amazing how well she was able to see them... and then she proceeded to teach my kids how to go in after the "bunch" and pull them up and out. My three oldest ones tried, but in the end, it was Gabi's friend who gathered the eggs and dropped them into the two jars we had.

I also loved watching how all the kids interacted so well together. Age was not important, every kid was important and every children treated the others with respect and concern. I love that! Thanks, Kim, for inviting us along... we had a wonderful time!

Along the way, we also saw some busy beaver activity... several small dams were about... another neat thing to see... and as my friend's son called it... "the beaver hotel"! How cute!

Frog eggs are new for us... before we left, we got together one jar, but Jeremy insisted that he have his very own... in the end... well, we have more frog eggs than any one family would ever need. We brought them home and deposited them into a little swimming pool that was already complete with dirt, leaves, and rain water.

I'm not sure how they are doing.. since we've never done this before. The eggs were still intact when we put them in the pool... yesterday I went to look (just over a week from getting them) and they were no longer "separate eggs"... I don't know if this is normal or not... it did seem as though there were at least a few little "swimmers" there too... I'll check them again tomorrow and see what we've figured out.

Along with this "theme", Gabi brought home a book on the frog life cycle... we're going to have each of the kids draw their version of the life cycle, we're going to make origami frogs - and have jumping contested, and we've even got a card game to help learn about the frogs too... so we'll play that. The life cycle seems to be "long" from what we've read, though it does vary, so we'll see how it all turns out.

You can see more picture of our adventure over here.

Butter

So, in need of something more hands on... less workbook...

Gabi choose to make butter... and we actually had the whipping cream on hand to do it. This is the "simple" version of butter making... the next time we do it, we'll get some raw milk and do it start to finish, collecting the cream ourselves.

Anyway, we took the whipping cream, added a dash of salt, put it all in the mixer, put on the whisk and the shield, and turned it on high... we kept stopping along the way so the kids could see the different stages... and then...

Butter!

And it was yummy indeed! Gabi even decided it was better than "Gabi butter" (margarine) and that's saying something.. since she doesn't like "Daddy butter" (store bought butter).

Narnia

For a change of pace, I offered to read to Gabi the Narnia books. She wasn't sure she'd be interested at first, because the covers looked dark and scary. But I had just finished them all (I some how never read them all as a kid) and determined that she'd like them though I knew there would be moments she would need to have a Mom or Dad help her through (she's a sensitive kid) - but really, the books aren't nearly as dark and dreadfully scary as the movies try to be.

Anyway - the writing is a little above her - mostly because they were written in the 1950's and using English jargon (not American). I stop and explain things that I know she wouldn't understand and if I miss one, she's quick to stop me and ask so that she's not lost in the book. We're on book number five! She loves them and wants to keep going through them.

I especially love when C.S. Lewis builds up to something (or rather someone) and she's able to suddenly shout out what or who it is. It's one of the many ways that I know she's actually listening and getting something out them... and the excitement is so precious.

She will pick them up on her own and read from where we left off. Sometimes she fully understands the chapter(s) she's read and other times she'll ask me to read it over since she didn't fully get it herself. Regardless, we've talked alot about them - some of the symbolism - and she's really picked up on the recurring theme of a need, a darkest moment, and a good triumph. When she thinks it sounds like we're coming into a "darkest moment" she'll ask if this is the darkest moment.

She hates to wait to know what is going to happen - she's not big on the suspense thing. As soon as the suspense gets too heavy she's begging to know how it turns out. This is the hardest part for her - because we always tell her that we'll just have to keep reading until we find out, otherwise it takes the fun out of reading. She's not too happy with that answer, but she accepts it and we read on.

She's already been telling Bethie all about them. Beth is excited to get in on the series (though I think she's still a bit young) and Gabi keeps telling me she can't wait until we're finished with the books so we can start them all again with Beth!

They are certainly a treasure that will be well loved in our house for years to come. It's nice to have something to read with her - not just the books she reads herself. I love these moments - these special connections.