"Boo's" Eye View

Today I learned what the world looks like through the eyes of my not quite walking, still very fond of crawling, 16 month old daughter. I gotta say, I think she may be onto something. It's fascinating all there is to see when you're just 8 inches off the ground!

Okay Princess A,

help us have a look.

(This one is my favorite. This tiny spider was hard at work spinning a web atop a single blade of grass. Click on the pic and zoom in...he's totally looking at me!)

Yes Princess A, you are most definitely onto something!

Sweet Sweet Big Sis

...with a curly on top.

Way to go, Buggy!

Saturday morning Younger Brother had his subject mastery testing for CC. CC (Classical Conversations) is the national, tuition-based, Christian homeschool program that we are a part of. Mastery testing is not mandatory, but it is highly esteemed, and the title a great accomplishment. These kids are truly incredible! I'm reasonably sure that I would not even be able to recite all of what they know.

There are two forms of testing; Memory Master and Subject Master. Memory Masters are able to prove that they know 100% of the material for the whole year in all subjects. Younger Brother is Kindergarten age, so I thought that might be a bit much for him. Subject Masters are able to prove that they know 100% of the material for the whole year in a specified subject. Younger Brother chose Science. And I just have to say of his accomplishment, that this is no Sesame Street science curriculum. I don't have video of him doing his proofing, so I am going to list out the questions he had to answer to pass his test.

While he was off meeting with his tutor, I sat anxiously across the table from Grandpa M. As is always the case with my children, I was far more nervous for him that he was about it! I'm pretty sure he didn't give it a second thought. And I'm told he transformed the Indiana Jones Lego guy in his hand into another character as he was answering the questions. And that is why homeschool is awesome. ;)

Growing more and more anxious as the minutes ticked by, I fiddled around with my camera.
And then, he emerged!


Victorious!


In fact, the reason it took so long was because he had passed his Science proofing with flying colors and decided to go ahead and ace History too!


I hadn't even prepared him for that!


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(Above) He is holding the cards I use to quiz him on his memory work. He does not get to use them for the test. Here is a sample of his testing. He must restate the question in his answer.



Question: What is Newton's first Law of Motion?


Answer: Newton's 1st Law of Motion is...An object at rest tends to remain at rest and an object in motion tends to continue moving in a straight line at a constant speed, unless an outside force acts upon it.


Question: What are some parts of the sun?


Answer: Some parts of the sun are...Core, Radiative Zone, Convective Zone, Sunspots, Photosphere, Solar Flare, Corona.


You get the idea.


Here are the questions he answered correctly to earn the title of Subject Master in Science:


1. What are 7 types of biomes?

2. What are 3 types of consumers?

3. What are the parts of the food chain?

4. What are the natural cycles?

5. How do animals react to environmental change?

6. What are 6 forms of pollution?

7. What are 5 kinds of stars?

8. What are some parts of the sun?

9. What are the names of the planets?

10. What are the phases of the moon?

11. Name the other bodies in our solar system.

12. What are some names of U.S. space missions?

13. What are the states of matter?

14. What is the difference between an acid and a base?

15. What are the 2 forms of energy?

16. What is Newton's 1st Law of Motion?

17. What is Newton's 2nd Law of Motion?

18. What is Newton's 3rd Law of Motion?

19. What is the 1st Law of Thermodynamics?

20. What is the 2nd Law of Thermodynamics?

21. What is the 3rd Law of Thermodynamics?

22. What are 3 characteristics of light?

23. How does heat flow?

24. What units are used to measure electricity?



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I don't know about you, but I think that's pretty darn snappy for a 6 year old!
Of course, I am a little biased. ;)


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The history facts are a little more lengthy, so I won't list them all out.

CC uses history sentence songs to help the kids remember names and dates, and they are tremendously effective!

He correctly answered all 24 questions on history facts beginning in 800 A.D. with Charlemagne and ending in 1994 with the election of Nelson Mandela and the ending of apartheid.


And the crazy part is, he enjoys it!

He loves reciting everything he's learned for grandmas, uncles, friends, whomever.

Clearly a trip to get a special celebratory treat was in order!

So he picked out pretty much the biggest ice cream cone of all time on the way home!

Way to go, Buggy!

You have earned it.

We are oh so very proud of you!

Sweet Scene

Forgive me while I play catch up. It's been a busy weekend, and I have several days worth of posts that I have yet to tend to. Going back to Friday....

It was a very late night for all of the kids! We had booming thunderstorms overhead from bedtime until about midnight. And while Princess A could care less about storms, there wasn't really a good way for me to steal away to feed her and tuck her in with scared siblings at my side. So she stayed up and watched Action Bible Songs with Little Sis.

Well, Princess A did a little better at the "staying up" part than Little Sis.
Exhaustion finally won out for her.

I took advantage of her slumber to go put Princess A in bed, and returned to see quite the sweet little scene in my living room.
Those who have followed my blog for a while know that Younger Brother and Big Sis (not relatively speaking there) are the best of buddies! And he is always very concerned about taking care of her.

I came back to find the two of them curled up on the couch playing DS together, and him occasionally stopping to hug her and give her a kiss on the top of her head.


Even a nervous Beagle dog could see, it was surely the best place to be in a storm.

:)

"Look, Mom! No hands!!!"

Princess A took 4 or 5 steps all by herself today!

And she has officially mastered going from squatting to standing without holding on to anything.

It's so much fun!

See?!

Maiden On A Mission

"Brother and Me"

"My big brother loves me so much! And I love him so much...even after he tried to pick me up, and dropped me off the couch onto my head."

My Son Thinks He's Tron...

Newest Addition part 2

Today is J's 35th birthday! Which can only mean one of two things. Being that I dubuted his new bike two posts ago, that leaves just one more thing it could be....

A New Tattoo!

I really like this one!

That's Sputnik in honor of my dad,

and one star for each one of the kids.

B is for Bipedalism

bi-ped-al-ism: (n) the condition of being two-footed, or of using two feet for standing and walking.

Well, we're not quite there yet...

But we're oh so close!

Newest Addition

Lookout, Daddy has a new bike!

And with this long awaited break in the weather today, he finally had a chance to try it out!

Growing Older...And Younger

I recently celebrated my 31st birthday. Yes, that's right - 31. I have to say, 31 was easier to swallow than 30. And I know that every year, every day, is a gift. And that I have been richly blessed over the course of them. I was reminded of that yet again, when my Dad stopped by for a surprise visit and brought me this fantastic cake!

It looks like a lot more little people than it seems to see them all lined up on a cake. :)

This picture spurred all kinds of jesting comments from my husband and well-meaning friends.

"Where is J?"

"Surprise! You're a single mom of FIVE!" -B

"I'm on the complimentary cupcake with a frown."-J

But we all knew the intention.

And it was an awesome birthday surprise from the kids to me...orchestrated by Grandpa of course!

Best cake ever!

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It also led to perhaps my favorite exchange of the evening:

Me: "Thanks, Dad!"

Little Sis: "That's not Dad. That's Grandpa"

Me: "He's my dad. And your grandpa."

Little Sis: "I'm not Grandpa!! >:( "

Hehehehe.

And speaking of Little Sis, apparently grown-ups aren't the only ones who would enjoy turning back the clock every once in a while.

While I made dinner, I let her ride around in the Moby wrap for the first time in ages. I used to do everything with her strapped to me when she was a baby.

It turns out, she thoroughly enjoyed getting to be the baby again for a little bit.

And I got to spend my birthday with the best company ever!

BEWARE of BOY

Surely warm weather must be almost here, as I found myself looking on the "poetry" of this familiar scene again today.

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And this is surely our fence...

with the padlock, the dog sign, and the boy on top.

And this is the boy, who's superior climbing skills, led me to find myself actually having to make the rule, "No playing on the roof."

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Oh Younger Brother, may gravity never get the best of you!

Face Time

Libbs is such a great dog!

She gets far too little recognition.

Here's your shout out Liberty.

You're the best, and we love you!

Cute As A Button

Twinkle Toes

Aloha, Grandpa!

Grandpa just got back from a trip to Hawaii. And today he came by bearing all kinds of island goodies! Here's a look at just a few...

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If anyone can rock the muumuu look, it's Princess A!

Really, you just have to have a certain kind of figure to pull that off. ;)

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Her sisters got necklaces and hula outfits, which they loved!

And much to Daddy's relief, they felt the coconut portion of the outfit was best suited for the dog.

Oh Liberty, you are infinitely patient!

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The boys weren't around for pictures because they were off having some kind of galactic battle. At least I assumed as much by their occasional appearance with a blaster gun, and one of my island princesses (post-pictures) passing me in the kitchen like this...

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Thanks for thinking of us, Grandpa!

And most importantly, we're very glad that you're home!!!