teeth and potatoes

I've been a bit lax here about getting photos posted...combination of laziness and forgetfulness. Here's a few from last week:

First, we've got Annie doing a mammal skull lab in which she is examining mammal skulls and trying to determine the animal's diet:





No surprise that Annie is really enjoying our mammals unit. We're using David Attenborough's Life of Mammals as our unofficial textbook, and we've been watching the series on DVD as well. And though we've done it before, we'll probably do some live small mammal trapping in the yard, and head out to somewhere to make some plaster casts of mammal tracks. I'm personally looking forward to Annie's power point presentation, where she can teach me a bit about one of her favorite mammals, the Canadian lynx. A field trip the American Museum of Natural History sure would be a fun culminating activity, but I'm not sure if we'll be able to swing it.
















And here she is cooking up a recipe, potato pancakes, for Idaho:



They were quite yummy, but not nearly as much as that apple pie! Annie and I are a tad jealous...we'll soon be moving on to New Mexico, but while we're reading and watching videos and cooking, Jean will actually be there in person! Not a chance we can fit in her luggage either.

Oh, and I almost forgot to mention that Annie had her first soccer game of the season last night, but her frazzled old mom had forgotten to take the camera.

using that vocab-game 1, week 5

Well, we're taking the day off from school today, so Annie hasn't even seen her vocabulary words for the week yet, but I thought I'd go ahead and get them up in case anyone is in the mood for writing today...

*simile (Is it just me, or does this one seem "too easy" in comparison to the ones usually included? Whatever. Easier to just stick to the book.)

*ingratiate

*charisma

*expurgate

*renascence

*animadversion (Hanging head in shame here, as this one is totally new to me.)

*parody

*blithe

Good luck, writers!

using that vocab-game 1, week 4

Oh, how I hate these weeks when I have to admit that I don't already know all her words. But this is one of those weeks. Inveigle...totally new one on me.

Anyway, good luck contestants! Here are your words for the week:

*animus

*recrimination

*inveigle

*sophistry

*misanthropic

*ebullience

*blandishment

*paroxysm

in the kitchen

It's been a while since we've done any of our "state" cooking, but when we got to Washington, we decided that we just had to make an apple pie. Annie's first pie ever, and let me tell you, it was the best darn apple pie I've ever had in my life!







Well done, Annie!

Science Exploration Day

This event, hosted by St. John Fisher College, has long been a hit with Annie. Gray got his first taste this year, and he definitely agrees with his sister. Each year, area colleges and science-related businesses come together for this event, each setting up some sort of fun science exhibit. Most are hands-on type things.

Rich and a colleague always man the MCC booth in the evening. This year their booth had owl pellets for kids to dissect, pond water to examine for microscopic organisms, and a frog call game.

At other booths, they were able to silver-plate pennies, make a screwdriver, mix concrete, examine a variety of skulls, hunt for shark teeth fossils, see a variety of animals, like coatis and giant millipedes, up close and personal, and numerous other things (there were about 40 booths this year).



(Gray with a model of a real murder victim's skull.)

these glorious spring days

One of the many benefits of homeschooling:



Ahh, who wouldn't love having class outside in this beautiful spring weather, especially with one's trusty beagle at one's side.

In other news, added to the old phys ed column, was an all day archery class last week, and the soccer season officially started last night.

O.K., now we're off to watch another episode of The Life of Mammals.

using that vocab-game 1, week 3

We sure would love to gain some new players...come on, give Jean and Rich a little competition!

It's really quite easy. Listed below are Annie's vocabulary words for this week. Your challenge is to use them in sentences. Choose one and write one sentence. Or write eight sentences. It's up to you. Each one used is a separate entry. Just write them in the comments on this post. And remember, Annie is the judge, so playing to an 11-year-old fantasy/wolves/books/cats and dogs/history loving girl is to your advantage. Humor never hurt either.

*rollick

*drawl

*inure

*sedulous

*anneal

*candor

*guffaw

*void (focusing on the verb "to cancel; to retract")

using that vocab-game 1, week 2

Almost forgot to post this week's list. Oops. For a quick recap of the rules, click here.

*amenable

*interface

*bivouac

*predisposed

*drone (focusing on the verb "to buzz")

*rook (focusing on the verb "to swindle")

*frangible

*sporadic

trash collectors

Yesterday was another Camp Arrowhead day for Annie, and again she had a ball. Hiking day is always one of Annie's favorites, but today there was a bit of a twist...they cleaned up the woods as they hiked. They managed to gather up over 100 pounds of trash!

Click here (and scroll down a bit) for a picture of Annie and the rest of the class with their haul.