P is for pasta

- by Justus :)

P is for Popcorn and Penguins

Tonight, we've decided to pop some popcorn and watch "Happy Feet." I think the big boys watched this once when it first came out, but of course they did won't mind watching it again!

Don't worry, we read about real penguins this morning and talked about the fact that they don't really sing and dance in real life!! :)

...and just in case you're starting to think there is no real learning going on around here...

We discussed these questions from this website:

• What kind of animals are penguins? birds
• Do penguins fly? no, they can "hop," slide, swim, and waddle
  
• Are penguins found south or north of the equator? (or more simply for the boys, where do they live?) There are cold-weather penguins and warm-weather penguins, but they always live near a lot of water.
• How long can a penguin hold its breath under water? about 3 minutes (Justus loved this fact, because he always likes to time himself holding his breath under water at swim lessons and in the bath tub.)
  
• What do penguins eat? fish
  

We did a very simple science experiment also from the same site
(freeze flat sheet of ice...Bring in various objects from around the house. Will it slide? Use cotton ball, beans, etc.)

We also made rubber eggs (directions here)
(J made a chart for us so we would know when the eggs were "done.")

I didn't feel like taking pics of everything today, since I took so many of the pizza-making yesterday. Hopefully, we can take pictures of our rubber egg experiment when it is complete!

Finally, we watched some YouTube videos showing how penguins get around, how they protect their babies, and how the babies get their food. It was all VERY interesting, and penguins continue to fascinate me. I am itching to watch "March of the Penguins" again :) Maybe next week...

P is for Pizza

Today we read the book, Pete's a Pizza by William Steig


Of course, we had to make pizza!






(can you see the number 65 in the flour above? Justus was practicing writing numbers.)







We also watched this video from YouTube (of course there is a video of a man making pizza on YouTube...you can find everything on YouTube):



And of COURSE I also threw our pizza dough in the air to impress my boys!! ;)

Pp is for a LOT of things!

Do you know how many things start with the letter "p?"
I don't either, but I do know that I have more ideas for this week than we could ever get to...

puzzles
painting
play dough
pennies
pizza
pigs
post office
penguins
pet store
popcorn
pasta
pasta art
popsicles
popsicle stick puppets

(you catch my drift?)

I don't know what we will get to this week (and probably through next week, as well)...
but I do know our Bible verse for this week!

"Pray without ceasing." 1 Thessalonians 5:17

My prayer is that I would be an example of living a life devoted to prayer!!! I love praying with my kids, but so many times I let life and schedules get in the way of praying at specific times during the day. (How ironic and awful is that?!) This week, I hope to come up with a system to help us remember to pray before lunch and dinner (even if it is a big fat ugly sign in the middle of our kitchen table), because those are 2 specific times I KNOW we are all always together.

O!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

"Ohhhhhhhh,

The LORD's been good to me,
and so I thank the LORD
for giving me the things I need:
the sun, and the rain, and the apple seed.
The LORD's been good to me!"

Yep, we're back to our alphabet with the LETTER O!!!!!
Forgive me, but whenever I think of the letter "o," the Johnny Appleseed song comes to mind.

O is for doughnuts!
Well, not really, but they look like O's


O is for Owl Babies by Martin Waddell



O is for Orange
*and another picture for our play room art!!*


O is for Opposites







O is for Octagon


(or at least an attempt at one)

Happy Spring!!

A little project we're working on...

The first picture is by Keri Campbell. Her photo was my inspiration to start making these pictures with the boys. We are going to frame them and hang them up in the play room. I am not that thrilled with our "green" leaves photo, but we couldn't make the letters outside because of the windy day. We ended up making it in the garage, and I think I'll end up retaking a "green" picture. We have blue ice cubes freezing overnight to make our "blue" picture. We'll see how they all turn out!!!

Any ideas for other colors? Red, orange, black, purple, ...
*Trying to think of things that are always naturally that certain color. My first thought for red was blood, but (as much as at least one of my boys would love that), I don't think it would look very welcoming on a play room wall.*

Matthew 22:37

"You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart,
with all your soul, and with all your mind."

Tomorrow...

We begin our lessons!!

We'll see how it goes!!