Today

Jonathan and Benjamen and I did maths in the morning, and had fun doing it. Benjamen and I cut up apples and counted apple seeds. Jonathan and I talked about congruent line segments and drew scads of them in different colors.

Jonathan drew me a liger and we looked up photos of them online.

Benjamen and I looked at our nature book and talked about worms for about 15 minutes. We plan to make a worm house tomorrow. It's sort of an experiment to see how they're natural tillers of the soil and how they help plants grow by fertilizing (pooping!) and making tunnels that deliver air and water to plant roots.

Jonathan and I looked up information on the uvula after he started asking questions about it, out of the blue. Specifically, he asked, "Mom, what's the function of the uvula? It must have a function, because it's part of our anatomy, and all of our parts have a function, even if it's been lost through evolution." We found out that it closes off the sinuses when we swallow so that food doesn't go up into the sinuses, that it has a speech function in some languages like Arabic, that it makes snore noises, that non-human animals also have uvulae, and that it swells with sickness and heat (like hot beverages). I need to start keeping a list of stuff the boys teach me.

Benjamen and I read a book about James Towne and Jonathan pointed out that "it's spelled wrong" so we had a talk about different spellings in historical writings, how things were pronounced differently, and the as language evolves, letters and sounds are left off or added. We talked about taking a trip there soon, since it's nearby.

Jonathan and Benjamen and I did an experiment with Coke, filling up a balloon with carbon dioxide. Afterward, all three boys had an ice cold beverage.

Jonathan read a book called Terror on the Amazon and asked some questions about "cinnamon trees" so we looked up information online about where and how they grow. He was also fascinated with a boy his age in the book who had a huge bone piercing.

All three boys played outside until they got hot and sweaty (it wasn't a warm day today) and then came in for smoothies, mid-afternoon.

Jonathan played reporter, hiding behind the treadmill, watching me clean up the dining room and then writing a "newspaper article" about it.

Benjamen found Mystic Titan power rangers online and printed them out to add to his notebook.

Jonathan, who's been learning HTML on his own, redesigned one of his blogs that he created on a Bionicle forum.

Benjamen watched Howl's Moving Castle for the third time in as many days, as the bookends came in and out, watching snippets and making comments to me about it.

I listened to Nicholas, who's four, say very teenage things all day, like "Heh-YO! I was puh-yay-ing with that!" and "Wow, that's to-ta-yee awesome!" They've been watching cartoons online.

We all made plans for our Guy Fawkes celebration tomorrow (way, early, we know, but we were reading about it and the boys wanted to do it this week), when we'll have parkin, assemble a guy, and burn him in effigy on a raging bonfire in the yard. I'm a little conflicted about this, as it's a rather hateful thing to do, but the boys are all gung-ho and excited about it and I'm trying to make my mind innocent and care-free, like theirs, and not read too much into it. We'll also have a viewing of Pocahontas tomorrow, with popcorn, of course, to tie in with our readings about Jamestown, Powhatan, John Smith, and John Rolfe.

It's been a fun week.

The Magic Green Crystal

The Magic Green Crystal
Originally uploaded by jjfbaltzell.

From Roald Dahl's Even More Revolting Recipes, The Magic Green crystal from James and the Giant Peach. Jonathan's decided we're making a treat from the book every day. He's learning about planning things out, making lists for the grocery, planning out menus, and most of all, patience. The number of recipes calling for things we don't have on hand is staggering.

Blueberry Pie

Blueberry Pie
Originally uploaded by jjfbaltzell.

Oh! And I forgot to share a photo of the blueberry pie we made in honor of the Pie Survey and Chart!

August Already

It is so hot. We've been staying indoors, not even going out to play in the water because it's Just. Too. Hot. Jonathan's been going out to play a bit, and Benjamen less so, but Nicholas and I are staying in the air conditioning.

In a strange twist of fate, we started 1st (for Benjamen) and 3rd level maths this morning, and it was not just painless, but fun and happy. Jonathan said afterward, "It's over already? Why does time go by so quick when stuff is fun?" I had no intention of doing any formal math or doing any curriculum at all, but I had already bought the books way back when. When we had company, I moved the books from the guest room to the bedroom bookshelves. Jonathan saw the 3rd level books and wanted to look at them so I told him to knock himself out. He poured over them for hours. He asked me to start doing the lessons with him, but we quickly figured out that it wouldn't work because it was all based on the calendar, and the calendar started in August. He's been checking off the days, waiting for August 1st so that we could do math, and Benjamen, ever the little brother, jumped on the wagon, as well. I woke Jonathan up this morning (he never gets up, just rolls over and goes back to sleep) and said, "We get to do math today!" and he jumped down from bed and ran into the dining room. He almost threw a fit at me because I was in the middle of making his breakfast when I woke him up and had to finish it before we could start.

Now all I have to do is not mess it all up. My mantra all summer has been, "Help them clear the path when they ask for help, but most of all, stay out of their way!"

We're finishing the middle ages this week, looking at Sir Francis Drake and the Spanish Armada and pirates, which is fun. I'm making salmagundi (not that recipe!) for dinner on Friday, and we've got a list of projects he wants to do. I had bought them the Piratology book a while back because I knew this was coming up, and all three boys have been tussling over who gets to look at it. Big hit.

Next Monday we start "Early Modern Times" with the pope crowning Charles Holy Roman Emperor and a look at conquistadors in South America.

Jonathan came running in today yelling that he had been swinging on his swing (tied under the deck) and saw a deer crossing through the woods across the road. He said it had "small horns" so maybe we saw our first buck on the road. We've lived here over two years and I've only ever seen one buck, and it was several miles from our home. I was excited and ran out to see if I could pick it out (they're so well camouflaged!), but I couldn't see it. Meanwhile, Nicholas had run out the front door and both girls (dogs) ran out and up the road and out of sight before I even knew what had happened. They came staggering back about 15 minutes later, tongues hanging out and dying from the heat and their exertion. Weirdos. I always panic when they get out and runn off (a couple times a year), but they always come back just fine, if completely worn out because they so seldom get to run for that kind of distance. They never learn their lesson, so it must be more fun than not.

What else is exciting? Oh! Jonathan has discovered Roald Dahl and is devouring his books faster than we can get them from the library. Dan brought home a stack on Friday that I had ordered and over the weekend Jonathan read Matilda, The BFG, The Witches, Fantastic Mr. Fox, The Giraffe and the Pelly and Me, The Minpins, Revolting Recipes, and More Revolting Recipes. He read most of them Friday night. I went to put them in the bag to return Monday morning and he said he wanted to keep them and read them all again. So there you have it, a ringing endorsement.

And Papa brought home another bag full of Roald Dahl this evening, so that should keep him occupied tomorrow, at least. I'm so thankful for the library, and so grateful they have online services so that I can reserve them from home. It's been a lifesaver.