Dollar Store Masks

Today we were running out of pipe cleaners so I decided that it was time to take a trip to the dollar store. While we were there I purchased two mask painting kits. Austyn wanted a theatrical looking mask and Zoe wanted a cat mask. The masks came with paint, a brush and a little piece of plastic to mix the paint on. 

Here are the final masks.

Zoe decided to continue to paint on a paper plate.

Curiosity Club - Learning more about birds

We learned more about feathers today. We did some experiments on feathers we had in our craft supplies. Above is Austyn putting water on it and watching it bubble on top of the feather.

He decided to try and control where the water went on the feather by blowing on it. 

We also pulled apart the feather to see how it's all connected like little zippers. We saw that it didn't work as well when this happened. Then we used a tooth brush to preen the feathers ourselves. Preening is what birds do to re-zip those areas of their feathers that come unzipped. It worked. 

We read about different kinds of bird feet and bird beaks as well and saw pictures to compare.

July Blog Award Number 2 and Number 3

Thanks to Denise at Light, Liberty, and Learning for giving me these two awards on July 26th. 

As is the custom, I in turn must disclose 7 things about myself, and pass the award on to 7 others.  

THE AWARDS GO TO THE FOLLOWING BLOGS:

1. Discovering The Details

 

2. Earth Mama

 

3. Free to Learn and Loving it

 

4. Handbook of Nature Study

 

5. Serendipity Homeschool

 

6. Unschooling... Let the Earth be our Classroom

 

7. We are... THAT Crazy Family

Please be sure to stop by and take a look at these beautiful blogs!!

SEVEN THINGS ABOUT MYSELF:
1. I was adopted as a baby
2. I love to read and research topics like parenting, metaphysics, spirituality, challenging societal norms, nature, homeschooling, and more
3. I am a Graphic Designer and use to work at a large corporation as Creative Director but I gave it up when my first was born and never looked back
4. We are a drag racing family. My husband races a Mustang modified only for racing.
5. We unschool our kids
6. We have lived in many homes and moved all over and love to travel. Now we have considered roadschooling as a possible option.
7. I love Sushi and so do my kids. Yes... that includes the raw fish! :)

July Blog Award Number 1

There are awards going around again. I received three, but am a bit slow about posting about them. 

 

The first award was A Blog With Substance Award from Alex at Serendipity Home School on July 18th. 

Here are the Award Rules, if you find yourself the recipient of this award. I hope you will pass it along!

•Thank the blogger who awarded it to you.
Thanks Alex! I love your blog as well!

•Sum up your blogging philosophy, motivation, and experience using ten (10) words.
Blogging is a creative way to share our homeschooling adventures.


•Pass it on to 10 other blogs which you feel have real substance.

It was very hard to pick. I read so many blogs and I'm sure there are others I follow often and love. Everyone does such a great job of blogging. Here are my 10 choices, in alphabetical order:

1. Adventures of the Canadian Family Robinson

2. Almost Unschoolers

3. F-Yeah Unschooling

4. Free Range Living

5. Journey Into Unschooling

6. Living Life Without Limits

7. My Corner

8. Roadways

9. The Organic Sister

10. Unschooling - Let the Earth be our Classroom

Enjoy checking out these blogs. I hope you love them as much as I do!

Toronto

Austyn has been a bit obsessed with the CN Tower and sky scrapers for the last while. We decided that we'd take a trip to Toronto so he could go downtown and see these things. We stayed uptown and hopped on the subway for a new experience for them both.

We went outside at Union Station and the kids looked up at the buildings for the first time.

We stop to admire the CN Tower from every spot we can.

We could even see the CN Tower through the roof of the Sky Walk. I thought it looked so beautiful through the windows above us.

The kids look up at it from below after exiting the Sky Walk.

A closer look from below reveals the glass floors.

The elevator was glass and fast.

We had fun telling the kids all about our experiences living and working around the Toronto area and point out points of interest. The kids take in the view of the city from above.

This is looking down through the glass floor.

Here is the Roger's Center (old Sky Dome) from above. If you look closely you can see a team practicing. They are wearing red so it's not the Blue Jays.

A view of the downtown core from the CN Tower.

We went to the Roger's Center (we still refer to it as The Sky Dome) and decided against getting tickets for the game. Maybe we'll come back one day when the kids are a bit older.

A beautiful picture of a historical building reflecting in a sky scraper. 

When we got back to the hotel Austyn made this shadow picture of the city. 

Book Sharing Monday - Blueberries For Sal

We love this book. It's a great time to share it because it's still blueberry season. When we lived in Alberta it was even  more interesting since there were more bears there. Blueberries For Sal is an old classic book by Robert McCloskey that we have read again and again. 

 

It's about a mother and child who go blueberry picking and get mixed up with a Bear mom and her cub. Although it sounds scary it really isn't. It's just a beautifully written, cute story that ends up being sorted out in the end.