One sure sign that it’s football season:
Peter’s legs (and arms) begin to look like this:
He came home from practice tonight telling me about how he kept wiping what he thought was sweat from his fingernail. Only it wasn’t sweat, it was blood. He showed me his crusty, bloody fingernail as soon as he got home. Boys.
Despite the fact that the temperature is unseasonably warm (although, is it ever really “unseasonable” in the wildly unpredictable Chicago area?), the calendar says that today is the official first day of autumn.
The kindergartener in the family marked the beginning of the season in math by drawing pictures of the trees whose leaves are just starting to turn colors.
It’s good to slow down and appreciate God’s creation.
For everything there is a season, and a time for every matter under heaven (Ecclesiastes 3:1)
a.k.a. adjust to, attune to, conform to, come to terms with
Of all of us, Derek has had to adapt the most to the new school year, as he has gone from a fairly laid back, efficient homeschool environment to a structured, work from early morning until late at night environment.
Because of football practice, he doesn’t return home until nearly 7:00. After eating dinner, he retreats to the deck until his homework is finished.
He even had football homework one weekend!
But I am so proud of this guy, as he doesn’t complain about the late nights and early mornings, but rather puts his mind to it and completes the work before him. Like never before, he has the opportunity to live out his life verse:
Whatever you do, work heartily, as for the Lord and not for men, knowing that from the Lord you will receive the inheritance as your reward. You are serving the Lord Christ.
We watched Master Chef Junior for the first time last week, and the kids were inspired.
Before lunch, Jeremy pulled out some ingredients and hid them under a towel while Peter stayed out of sight. Then he called the Master Chef in.
After some contemplation on what to create with the given ingredients, he immediately got to work.
And the judge was quite pleased with the results.
We moved from popcorn to onions in science this week, and sought to answer the question:
Not everyone is happy about this particular unit, given the strong feelings against onions.
But Molly, always ready for a whoops even if it’s an onion, stood eagerly at Peter’s side.
The experiment had the kids attempt to stop the tears with a lit match,
(and despite how it looks, the flame was never near Peter’s hand)
a piece of cheese in the mouth,
sunglasses,
and finally goggles. The goggles did the trick, as they prevented the onion oils in the air from reaching their eyes and causing the oh-so-familiar pain and tears.
The best part of the experiment was making french onion soup for lunch, loaded with swiss cheese and toasted bread. This was also perceived as the worst part of the experiment. Hence, the PB and J backup lunch.
We are studying ancient history this year in school, and began our studies at the very beginning (a very good place to start), the very first historical event of the earth: when God created the heavens and the earth.
Soon after, we learned about the worldwide flood and then the Ice Age. Our small, nearby zoo has mastadon bones on display, so we headed there for our first field trip of the school year.
We introduced ourselves to the mastadon model,
and then walked around to observe the several animals that the zoo has rescued and committed to caring for. We marveled at God’s creativity.
We’ve had some interesting (very typical Chicago) weather the past two weekends.
Last week was chilly and extremely wet. So wet that Jake’s cross country run was cancelled and Jeremy’s game–after being postponed for an hour and a half–was cut short after just one quarter.
He went home wet and disappointed.
The fans were loyal to the end, though.
And Ruthie, as always, managed to make a new canine friend.
Today’s weather was so hot and sticky it felt like late July. Jake ran well.
He’s still easy to spot in a crowd.
Watch out for this one.
It’s been fun to watch Derek play at a whole ‘nother level.
He’s growing up so quickly.
We all miss him terribly during the day, as he is gone from morning until after dinner. This is a new concept for our quiet homeschooling, home-loving family. We love to be together. So when there was no practice on Friday and Derek returned home in the afternoon, everyone cheered. I caught this sweet moment of Ruthie and Derek eating breakfast together this morning.
One of the benefits of homeschooling is that one has the ability to choose curriculum based on kids’ interests and strengths.
This year, I gave the kids a few options to choose from in the area of science, and they unanimously voted on Food Science.
This week, we are learning about why popcorn pops by doing experiments, as well as experimenting with various popcorn recipes.
So far this week, we have made approximately 44 cups of popcorn.
And it’s only Tuesday.
Little Miss Salt-lover is in charge of salting the fluffy goodness.
As always, Molly is in charge of clean-up.
Comparing fluffiness post-experiment: Can you tell which one was soaked in water prior to popping?
