A Guitar Song

We went and had his guitar tuned so that he could play it again. He remembers what he learned before and decided to practice and to remember a song he made up. 

Here is his song.

Drawing

 Sometimes when I purchase something for a purpose it serves another one all together. Usually we cut up these bristle boards and use them for crafts, but the kids wanted to keep them whole and draw on them. Zoe drew her new cat and showed that she got hit in the eye.

Austyn drew his new stuffed animal (Georgie) playing hockey. This is a common theme for his drawings now.

100 Books a Month Challenge

We have been going through a transition. Not just in our move but also in how and what we read. We are transitioning from reading all together to doing more one on one and we also have been reading more chapter books. This means that the main list is shorter but the book list for each child has grown and there are less books and more chapters. Also both of them are starting to read.

March 2011 Reads:

Read to Both:

1.       17 Things I’m Not Allowed To Do Anymore by Jenny Offill and Nancy Carpenter

2.       A Friend For Minerva Louise by Janet Morgan Stoeke

3.       A Kitten Tale b Eric Rohmann

4.       Aunt Lucy Went to Buy a Hat by Alice Low

5.       Autum Bear by Diane Cullin

6.       Bats at the Ballgame by Brian Lies

7.       Bed Head by Margie Palatini

8.       Beetle  McGrady Eats Bugs! By Jane Manning

9.       Boo to You! By Lois Ehlert

10.   rown Bear, Brown Bear, What Do You See? By Eric Carle

11.   Chicken, Pig, Cow by Ruth Ohi

12.   Cook-A-Doodle-Doo! Janet Stevens and Susan Stevens Crummel

13.   Counting Kisses by Karen Katz

14.   Diary of a Wombat by Jackie French

15.   Dog and Bear by Laura Vaccaro Seeger

16.   Easter Parade by Irving Berlin (Youtube Video played in background)

17.   Eeeek, Mouse! By Lydia Monks

18.   Epossumondas by Coleen Salley

19.   Extinct Files My Science Project by Wallace Edwards

20.   Four Seasons Make a Year by Anne Rockwell

21.   Franklin’s Big Dreams by David Teague

22.   Gaspard and Lisa’s Christmas Surprise by Anne Gutman an dGeorg Hallensleben

23.   Gobble, Gobble, Slip, Sop A Tale of a Very Greedy Cat by Meilo So

24.   Gone Again Ptarmigan by Jonathan London

25.   Grady the Goose by Denise Brennan-Nelson

26.   Hey, Little Ant by Phillip and Hannah Hoose

27.   Hieronymus Betts and his Unusual Pets by M.P. Robertson

28.   I Love My Pirate Papa by Laura Leuck

29.   Imagine a Night by Rob Gonsalves

30.   Jungle Gym Jitters by Chuck Richards

31.   Little Night by Yuyi Morales

32.   Lizzie Nonsense A Story of ioneer Days by Jan Ormerod

33.   Mama’s Milk by Michael Elsohn Ross

34.   Moi & Marie Antoinette by Lynn Cullen

35.   MoonDog by John A. Rowe

36.   Mr Bear & The Bear by Frances Thomas

37.   Pepi Sings a New Song by Laura Ljungkvist

38.   Peter Spit a Seed at Sue by Jackie French Koller

39.   Pirates Don’t Chane Diapers by Melinda Long and David Shannon

40.   Polar Bear, Polar Bear, What Do You Hear? By Eric Carle

41.   Sally’s Great Balloon Adventure by Stephen Huneck

42.   Sam and the Lucky Money by Karen Chinn

43.   Santa clause The World’s Number One Toy Expert by Marla Frazee

44.   Say Hello! By Rachel Isadora

45.   Scranimals by Jack Prelutsky

46.   Skunkdog by Emily Jenkins

47.   Sleeping Dragons All Around by Sheree Fitch

48.   Someday When My Cat Can Talk by Caroline Lazo and Kyrsten Brooker

49.   So You Want To Be An Inventor? By Judith St. George and David Small

50.   Stolen Smile by Thierry Robberecht

51.   Tell The Truth, B.B. Wolf by Judy Sierra

52.   The Bunny Who Found Easter by Charlotte Zolotow

53.   The Crow (A Not So Scary Story) by Alison Paul

54.   The Dollhouse Fairy by Jane Ray

55.   The Easter Chick by Geraldine Elschner

56.   The Emperor of Absurdia by Chris Riddell

57.   The Hat by Jan Brett

58.   The Little House by Virginia Lee Burton (CD)

59.   The Longest Night by Marion Dane Bauer

60.   The Night Eater by Ana Juan

61.   The Magic Porridge Pot by Paul Galdone

62.   The Princess and the Pea by Janet Stevens

63.   There by Marie-Louise Fitzpatrick

64.   The Sound of Colors A Journey of the Imagination by Jimmy Liao

65.   The Subway Mouse by Barbara Reid

66.   The Zoo Room by Louse Schofield and Malcolm Geste

67.   Tiger in the Snow! By Nick Butterworth

68.   Touch It! Materials, matter and you by Adrienne Mason

69.   Very  Hairy Bear by Alice Schertle

70.   Vikings by Henry Pluckrose

71.   What Does Bunny See? By Linda Sue Park

72.   What’s the Weather Today? By Allen Fowler

73.   Why Do Stars Twinkle? And other nighttime questions by Catherine Ripley

74.   Winston of Churchill by Jean Davies Okimoto

75.   Woosh Around the Mulberry Bush by Jan Ormerod and Lindsey Gardiner

76.   You’re Finally Here! By Melanie Watt

77.   Zoo in the Sky by Jacqueline Mitton

Zoe:

1.       Always In Trouble by Corinne Demas

2.       Animal Tales The Pup Who Cried Wolf by Chris Kurtz (19 chapters)

3.       Hairy Maclary’s Bone by Lynley Dodd

4.       It’s Nice to Meet You by Natalie Shaw

5.       Mama Cat has three kittens by Denise Fleming

6.       Monster Opposites by Ed Hock (Zoe Read)

7.       Once I ate a Pie by Patricia MacLachlan and Emily MacLauchlan Charest

8.       Sap to Syrup by Inez Snyder

9.       Sunshine by Jan Ormerod (Zoe Read)

10.   Smiley World “My Moods” (Zoe Read)

11.   Up in the Tree by Margaret Atwood (both of us read parts)

12.   Wax to Crayons by Inez Snyder

Austyn:

1.       A Million Dots by Andrew Clements

2.       Berries to Jelly by Inez Snyder (Austyn Read)

3.       Can I Play Too? By Mo Williems (Austyn Read)

4.       Leon and the Place Between by Angela McAllister and Grahame Baker-Smith

5.       Magic Tree House Viking Ships at Sunrise by Mary Pope Osborne (10 Chapters)

6.       My Fathers Dragon by Ruth Stiles Gannett (iPad – 10 Chapters)

7.       So That’s How the Moon Changes Shape! By Allan Fowler (Austyn helped read)

8.       The Sun Is Always Shining Somewhere by Alan Fowler (Austyn Read)

9.       The Pet Dragon by Christoph Niemann

10.   What are Atoms? By Lisa Trumbauer (Austyn helped read)

11.   When You Look Up at the Moon by Allan Fowler (Austyn helped read)

12.   Why the Frog Has Big Eyes by Betsy Franco (Austyn Read)

Go to Home-Grown Love to join in.

this moment - kitty drinking milk

{this moment}

*** *** *** 

{this moment} - A Friday ritual. A single photo - no words - capturing a moment from the week. A simple, special, extraordinary moment. A moment I want to pause, savor and remember. 

If you would like to see what others have posted or if you would like to join in here is the link to SouleMama's Blog:
http://www.soulemama.com/soulemama/2011/01/this-moment.html

Telus World of Science - Friends

 After Lego Club we went to the Telus World of Science with friends. 

 After talking to the Robot who welcomes the kids they stepped back so she could show them how her fighter jet moves.

 After grabbing a snack we caught up with our friends in the presentation room. Here they are reading the label of a CocaCola can to figure out how to make pop.

 They are now learning how to get the fizz into the drink with dry ice.

 They went through a crime scene and collected some clues.

 They learned about other ways to investigate crime scenes. Zoe is dusting for prints. Austyn and his new friend are checking out DNA identification.

 This is a meteorite. They are trying to lift it.

 Zoe is playing a planet game.

 Austyn and his friend are figuring out how to control the mars rover.

 Austyn and one of his friends are figuring out how to fuel a rocket and then blast it off.

Time to goof-off while waiting for another presentation before heading home.

Lego Club - Presentation Skills

 We attended Lego Club this week. It was much busier than our first visit. The weather was better so the streets were clear this time.

 The club is geared to all ages. They have Legos geared to different age groups.

 Each month they choose a theme and the kids can work on things in that theme and bring them in. Austyn didn't know the theme until the morning before we left but he builds so much and saves many of his creations, so he had already made things from that theme. The theme this week was Defense Mechanisms.

This week they held it at a Library. When the little ones get bored they can go and spend time in the children's section. Here is Zoe with her friend playing a video game.

Time is dedicated for everyone to show their creations from the month's theme. Kids can also bring in things they really like that they have made even if they don't follow the theme. Here Austyn is doing his presentation to the group. He is showing how he conducted a drop test on a phone he made.

 Here are most of his creations that he presented. There is a gun, a cell phone. Two guns that shoot. A device that spins and hits a Lego piece making it shoot, a gear, a submarine, and a game he made.

 One of the kids wanted to play his game so Austyn showed him how to play it.

Everyone takes turns and shares what they made. What a great way to practice presentation skills.

A Story + Art = StArt... My Pirate Papa

We enjoyed I Love My Pirate Papa by Laura Leuck.

We also listened to this CD while the kids worked away.

 We picked up a pirate ship craft from the dollar store.

 The kids made their ship as a gift to Daddy. Here is Zoe's ship. She included some custom pieces on it from our own craft supplies. She also made other gifts for Daddy and left them all on his computer chair for him to find when he got home.

This is Austyn's ship. He had me help him with some of it, but did a great job of assembling it.

Join in the fun at  A Mommy's Adventures: stART.

Get To Know Contest

I think we are going to join this contest. It will force me to get to know safe wildlife areas in and around the city to view nature. Get To Know is a contest that was started by Robert Bateman to inspire children to discover the natural world. The goal of this program is to foster a connection with nature through the creative arts. Contest opens on National Wildlife Week. Children are to make art inspired by nature and send it in to be judged against children in the same age range. 

CONNECT. CREATE. CELEBRATE.

To learn more about this program or to join the contest visit
http://www.gettoknow.ca/ca/

Drama Photo

Zoe got new costumes for her birthday. She picked them out herself. Of course as soon as she gets them she needs to act out scenes with her brother. 

Book Sharing Monday - The Secret Life of a Snowflake

 The Secret Life of a Snowflake An Up-Close Look at the Art & Science of Snowflakes by Kenneth Libbrecht is the best book I've found yet for looking at the science of snow flakes. 

 Have you ever wondered how snow flakes form? Why are they all different? Why do they always have the same amount of sides or arms? Why do they look white in a group but under a microscope they look clear? 

This book explained everything we wanted to know and the pictures are amazing.

Science Sunday - Sugar Race

I posted a bit late, but better late then never. 

 We learned about surface area with sugar cubes in water.

 One cube Austyn crushed with a hammer inside a paper towel and the other one Zoe left whole.

 They each put their cube in the water and lightly stirred the top to see which one dissolved first. Of course they needed to taste test the sugar cubes to be sure they were real.

 After getting the results we discussed why this would happen. I used the iPad to draw the image of a cube broken up and one still square and talked about how surface area is larger when something is broken up and how it would make it dissolve sooner. We also compared it to snow and ice melting since we've played with snow and ice many times. This activity was taken from the book Science Projects and Activities by Peter Rillero, Ph.D.

 Of course we need to pull out the baking soda and vinegar for extra fun, again.

I left the room for a few minutes and told them to not make too much of a mess and when I came back the ice cubes and the apple juice were on the table as well. It's funny how one activity turns into many.

To join in or see what others have done, visit Adventures in Mommydom.