Creature Feature: Class Act

Today was our first Creature Feature class of the year and the kids got to learn about classification. Amanda explained how scientists classify animals and what the different parts of an animal's classification tell you about it. Then the kids got to classify random things in a bowl that was sitting at their table and break them up into groups of similar things using their own system of classification.

 Amanda explaining how animals are classified

 Amanda giving an example of classifying things
using Halloween Goodies as an example

 Arowyn

 Teagan

Our classification of the items in the bowl

Cooking With Mema: Blackberry Cobbler

Arowyn's cooking video starring Mema.

Arowyn the Cameraman

We are down in Alton Missouri spending some quality time with my grandparents while Chamberlin is in West Plains for his yearly recurrency training with Air-Evac. Arowyn has been Grandma's little shadow ever since we showed up last night especially when she's in the kitchen so when Grandma started making a blackberry cobbler for tonight's dinner Arowyn just couldn't help herself any longer and she whipped out my iPhone's video camera on her and told her she was going to star in her own cooking show. So here's Arowyn's video of Mema making blackberry cobbler.

Mema making blackberry cobbler

Arowyn videotaping Mema 

making blackberry cobbler

Arowyn reviewing her video

A Christmas Carol Improv

Yes I realize that Christmas was twelve days ago but we enjoy celebrating not just Christmas but the twelve days of Christmas like in the song. Anyways today the kids decided that they were going to perform their own Christmas Carol skit. Now this little piece is mostly improv and really has absolutely nothing in common with the real Christmas Carol but that is just what Teagan decided it would be called. From what I could gather it was a skit about their perfect Christmas day. So after a half hour hashing out lines and who was basically going to say what, well here it is.

Arowyn & Teagan's Photography

Today was such a beautiful balmy day. Arowyn asked if she could go outside to go take pictures with her camera. After awhile Teagan joined her and I could tell they were both having a great time getting to get outside and taking turns with Arowyn's camera. When they came inside they begged me to upload their photos so I could see what they had done. Here are a couple of their fun ones.

Arowyn's Picture of our neighbors tree 

Arowyn's picture Teagan jumping

I poked my head out when they were trying to get 

this shot and i heard a lot of "again Teagan jump again" 

and after many tries she got her shot

Arowyn's picture of Teagan swinging 

 Teagan's picture of Arowyn on the gymset

Teagan's picture of Arowyn 

hanging upside down 

Teagan's picture of the house

Both Cham and I thought this was a pretty cool picture because the perspective is so high. Our awe quickly turned to concern as we tried to puzzle out how he took this shot because there is nothing tall enough in our backyard to get this high if a shot from other than a really skinny tree. After inquiring we were told it was took by swinging as high as he could on the swing set and snapping this photo just at the right second. I don't think I would have the guts to take a photo while swinging that high so I'm impressed that both he and the camera walked away from this in one piece.

Oh What Fun We Can Have With Static Electricity

The kids enjoyed using their pop-up pup tents that they got at Christmas today for school. Today was obviously a very dry day though as could be evidenced in Arowyn's hair every time she let her tent her head brushed the top of the tent and her hair stood on end quite nicely. Not wanting to miss an opportunity to learn something fun we deviated from our regularly scheduled work for a little while and took some time learn about static electricity and they fun that can be had with it.

Arowyn exiting her tent 

Teagan after rubbing the balloon very 

vigorously over his head and the little bit 

of hair we were able to get to stand up 

Arowyn with a balloon 

stuck to her head

Ouch!

Well it's the new year and time to learn new things. So yesterday as I was putting Arowyn to bed I found out that she was secretly teaching herself how to sew. I only found out because she was not so careful about returning two of the sewing needles back into their case and they somehow got caught up in the giant tail of her stuffed squirrel toy and when she was carrying it to bed one of the needles got her and she yelped. After tending to her she told me what she'd been doing and so Squirrely got a serious pat down which reveled another needle buried into her tail. After asking her why she decided to hide this from me she said it was because she was afraid if she asked that I would of said no. She has always been headstrong since the day she was born and after talking to her about everything we agreed that the next day I would give her sewing lessons and I would help her finish her pillow she had started. Of course first thing this morning when she woke up she went and grabbed her secret sewing project and brought it to me to hold me to my promise. What she brought to me was what to me looks like a miniature body pillow. It was a piece of yellow felt that she had found downstairs in one of the craft drawers that she had already sewn doing a whip stitch all but one side up. Which she then had proceeded to "stuff" with cotton balls all I really had to do for her was help her tie the ends of in the end and that was it. And yeah tomorrow I need to go buy more cotton balls.

Arowyn's pillow