What we did in school yesterday, and Wed. plans

I am not feeling particularly awake or creative at the moment, but here I am, anyhow.

Nature Study did go well yesterday, the kids were completely sucked in, except for the littlest one, and he held out for an hour, so that's pretty good.

We examined and compared wings, talked about primary and secondary flight feathers, and how they work when the bird is taking off and maneuvering in the air;We talked about down, and how these feathers keep the bird warm and don't have shafts; we examined several different birds' feet (picture me holding a lone seagull foot in one hand and an owl foot in the other), and talked about the difference between feet designed for perching (3 toes face forwards, one facing rear), climbing (a woodpecker has 2 toes facing front, 2 facing rear) , and wading (the coot has double flanges, or ridges, that open as it swims, vs. ducks and gulls webbed feet that act as paddles when they swim.). We also felt the sharp talons of an owl foot, and noticed that they have "trousers" that cover their feet with warm feathers down to its ankle and sometimes to its toes.

While examining an owl head (holding the head of an owlin my hands was just a bit creepy for a second), we talked about the strong senses of sight and hearing that birds have. Did you know that owls usually have one ear opening that is higher than another, and that this increases their hearing ability?

We covered nest-building (Birds engage in cup nest building by placing mud mixed with saliva on the inside of their collection of twigs, moss, etc, and then turning their bodies around and around, to make it round and smooth inside.),including all the different materials that are used, and egg-laying, and looked at 6 pages of different sized eggs.

I didn't focus too much on drawing, but each kid did manage to draw at least one bird. We will meet again next Tuesday, so I will focus on drawing then. The kids still haven't even seen all the birds that are in the box, and we worked over 2 hours! I highly recommend the Eyewitness book Birds. Pages and pages of good stuff.

After the lesson, the moms sat around and laughed together for a bit while the kids rain outside in the rain, and then came in and played with the dollhouse I had set up for them in the living room.

When everyone left around 4, the kids and I headed out to the dreaded shopping mall to do some Christmas returns. The Boy's return was simple enough- we just had to go to Toys R Us and trade a duplicate Bionicle guy for a different Bionicle guy. Girl's proved a bit more challenging. She got this hot pink velour sweatsuit set, and it was too large. After spending a fruitless 30 minutes roaming Penney's looking for something she liked (something modest that wasn't covered in fake rhinestones or said "Love" on the butt, and maybe green vs hot pink), we left with the hot pink sweatsuit, and a promise from me to try to shrink it in the wash for her. We were both appalled at the selection of clothes available to a 10 yr old girl! She wasn't impressed.

We picked up teriyaki for supper, and with lucky timing, happened upon Papa at the bus stop as we were driving home, so all came home together. After supper, Papa read to us from All the Weyrs of Pern, then we tucked the kids in with their books, and Papa and I watched Robin Williams on Broadway, 2002. Man, I do love him. He is cute (those blue eyes), funny, and is a true hope for a mother of a kinesthetic teenager whose talents include being able to sound like 3 different kinds of sprinkler systems. You know, that question, if you could have lunch with anyone on the planet, who would it be? Well, I would love a luncheon with the mothers of Jonathan WInters and Robin Williams. I would love to know how they encouraged the talents of these two boys without sqelching them or trying too hard for them to fit into society's molds.
Anyways, he makes me laugh (though we tried to do it quietly), and I love Robin for that. And for the record, I will never, ever, ever see One Hour Photo. I am amazed by the acting ability of this man and there is no way I want to watch him in that role. Talk about being WIGGED OUT!

So, what does today hold? Luckily, it isn't a killer Wednesday. All I have on the docket this afternoon is Boy's horn lesson, and Tadah!! His horn teacher wants to start having it here at our house! And she wants to knock $5. off the cost of the lesson, because of that. Yay!! I don't have to take an hour out of my day to drive to and from Kent! This really eases my Wicked Wednesdays a great deal, especially on our food bank weeks. I am so psyched!

Other than Nature Study and instrument practice, we didn't cover any school yesterday, so we will need to focus a bit today. I am looking forward to being able to. I am still trying to wrap my brain around Classical Compostition, so I will spend some time going over the teacher's guide, trying to figure out how to implement this program, and also reading Composition in the Classical Tradition (if I can just get through this book without all the tip-overs!!!).

Hope whatever you do today is productive and enjoyable.
LB