Chemistry Lessons

What does chemistry to 10 and 11 year old unschooled girls look like? Well, like this.

And this.

And this.

And this.

Oh yeah, and this.

Wow, chemistry really is fun.

Roses From My Dad's Rose Bush

 

The Sky is Falling

It couldn't have been timed more perfectly. The Perseid Meteor shower comes to us while my girls have been so interested in the night sky. When I told them of the shower they were so excited see the meteors diving across the sky. They decided to make popcorn to take with us.

Here Ice Princess and her friend Bree are popping the kernels. There nothing like the scent of hot, buttery, popcorn.

We decided to drive up to Mount Charleston to view the night sky. So, we met up with Bree's family and headed up the mountain. It is only a short 25 minute drive from the house, but it is far enough away from the city lights. It was an amazing view. I couldn't believe just how many stars we could see. We also observed the milky way, which lead to many more questions about the stars and space. In the conclusion of which Ice Princess and Mighty Girl decided that they really had to have a telescope. There was a chill in the air so everyone was bundled up and smuggled together. But, at about 11:30pm, and after spotting many meteors we all decided that we were too cold to continue. So we said goodbye to our friends and headed home.

On the ride home however, the kids decided that they really weren't done watching the meteors after all. They just wanted a warmer spot to view them. So, I headed toward Indian Springs. After about another twenty minutes after we were back on the highway I located a turn off. It was just a little dirt road. As we pulled up we noticed that other star gazers had had the same idea. So we pulled out the blankets and pillows and cleared the big rocks off of the desert floor. At about 1am we could see up to 3 or 4 meteors a minute. Then we saw one that was about 3 times bigger than any we had observed before. This red and orange orb tore through the night sky quite slower then the others, leaving a pink and white tail behind. If I had only seen this one meteor the entire night it would have been worth it. It was an awesome night filled with friends, laughter, and a heavenly shower.

oohhh my..

This is what I woke up to this morning. It is Mighty Girl and her friend Bree. Don't they look pretty?!?

Too funny

As we were driving home tonight I hear from the back seat of the car,
"His specialties are torture and weaving."
mmmm....kind of a strange combination, really. They are just too funny.

Crafting, Weaving, and Drawing, oh my..

Well, my girls are on a new quest. They have decided to find out all they can about staying up all night and enjoying the sunrise. They have made it the last two nights and tonight will be the third. Not only are they just getting pure pleasure out of the fact that they can stay up all night but, I noticed that they are documenting what they find. They have a piece of paper that has recorded times throughout the night explaining what they observe. They have constellations drawn that have been located in the sky. Mighty Girl has sketched the orange and pink sky in her sketch book. And they have taken many photos and videos of this amazing phenomenon that we casually call sunrise. They are in have found pure bliss in this endeavor.
So needless to say their days have been sleep filled. When they do finally awaken they have been mostly interested in crafting, weaving and drawing. As I am not staying up all night with them I only have a photographs of the daytime activities. Our table looks like a crafter's delight.

Playtime

I have absolutely to be honest. I love that my girls still play with toys. It may seem silly but, I find joy out of watching them play. But, I have to pretend not to be peering at them because they don't like it. So, I sneak a little peak here and grab a few quick glances there. On occasion there are times though when I think that they are truly on "another planet" when they are playing and I can take a few pictures with out being discovered.

I was thinking about this because I was watching the television show, American Inventor and on this program there is a man who invented a toy for kids. With this toy boys and girls would receive an R.C. engine and remote control and a cd for the computer. The child would be able to choose which type of car or plane they wanted to build and then print it out and then eventually build one on their own. That sounded really fun to me. But, when his toy was tested the children (ages 10 through 13) all said that they don't play with toys any more. That they were too old for this toy. What??? Too old for a toy?? Heck I still like toys. I think that our society with all of this pushing and forcing has cut out childhood completely. How terribly sad. So very tragic for those boys and girls that don't play after the age of 10. And how can we as a society be doing this to our youth?? Isn't it time we take our children and their childhoods back!!!