New to the Coop

While they have not yet been added to the coop, as they are too young and being brand new we don't want to potentially contaminate our very small flock of three chickens, we have added 7 chicks to our flock! They are not sexed, however, so odds are good that at least one or two are actually roosters, and will be leaving our family in about 4-5 months.

The kids are very excited about the new chicks, the black ones are Plymouth Barred Rocks, and slightly heavier than the Golden Comets we got last year. They are a dual purpose hen, which means they will be able to be used as food when they stop laying eggs. The yellow chicks are Silkies, and will look like big balls of fluff even when they are full grown. They lay a small or medium sized cream coloured egg instead of the large to extra large size brown ones the Comets and Rocks lay. 

Week 1 with Weaver

We began using a new curriculum this week. I had been planning to save it until the "new" school year, whenever we began that, but I needed inspiration, the kids needed more to occupy them than asking me to watch The Magic School Bus or to please let them go catch worms for the turtle, so we started using Volume 1 of The Weaver Curriculum. 

In the first unit, the focus in social studies is on the development of civilizations, and the history in the community around you. Therefore, it is suggested that you ought to select some historical sites that may be of interest to your children, and go visit! We started our week with a visit to the location where the Battle of Dam #1, or the Battle of Lee's Mill, took place. 

There wasn't a whole lot to see, but we did sit and sketch the scene anyway.

You can't really tell, but the kids are standing next to one of the earthworks. Lesson learned: specify angle desired when you aren't the one taking the photo.

The first Bible lesson was on the Tower of Babel and how the people disobeyed God and chose to make a name for themselves by using bricks baked in an oven to make them strong, and they were going to do this in order to not be scattered over the earth. We just happened to take a trip later in the week to a place that we actually saw "fired bricks"!

Our next trip took us to visit the old old courthouse, built in 1810, and the oldest government use building in our city,  and the new old courthouse, built in 1884.

Built in 1810, this courthouse has 3 rooms.

The keystone for the 1810 courthouse with the names of those involved in its design and building engraved on it.

You would think they were about to be on trial, based on their expressions, but they actually really enjoyed their outing to the courthouses!

The 1884 courthouse

 The 1884 courthouse was built because the municipal case load had grown too large to be handled in the small 1810 courthouse. The 1810 courthouse became the county clerk's office when the 1884 courthouse opened in 1885.

Another part of the unit focus is on geology, and at this age, the geology we are studying focuses greatly on that which is around us. What sort of land formations are around us, the soil in our neighbourhood, where the highest point in the city is, etc. So... we took a trip to the highest point in our city. A manmade hill. Which isn't even as tall as the trees that grow in the field below it! This is the most popular "sledding hill" in our city, probably because it is the only real hill to my knowledge!

Standing on top of the hill-- they were amazed by this hill. I guess when you live on the coastal plains it doesn't take much!

 Our second Bible lesson was about the parable of the houses built on sandy ground and on a rock. We used popsicle sticks to build houses on sand and on a piece of my old broken baking stone, and used the spray nozzle at the sink to make it rain on each house and its foundation.

Building on the sand.

Building on the rock

Results!

As you can see, the sandy foundation washed out, and the rock stood firm. Point made-- we should build our lives on the solid rock of God instead of the shifting sand of the world. Or at least our houses. They are at a pretty literal age, and took it to heart that we need rocks under our houses. I wonder if they are going to try to dig down under our house's foundation to be sure it is secure... hmmmm.

Anyway, we also went and collected samples of soil and mounted them on a piece of poster board after examining them with magnifying glasses, and when the ground dries out enough to show a difference, we will check out different areas of our yard to determine the best place in our yard to build if we were to build something.

Along with all our activities, we have been reading a book about our state, learning about the symbols of our state, learning about community helpers, reading books about soil, geology, cities, and maps, and generally just enjoying having a lot to keep us busy. Between bouts of vomiting, since we have all been dealing with a stomach virus for a week. It finally seems to have subsided as of yesterday! :)

When it Snows and Rains in the SAME Week...

Terrible things happen to your yard.

Our fence went down. The ground is so soggy that our feet sink a good 2-3 inches with each step in the back yard. The chickens keep having to wade around instead of strutting around. They are looking pretty messy lately despite regular preening. They are still happily laying us an egg a day each however, so I guess it can't be too terrible out there. We are thinking about building an incubator for some eggs and getting some eggs from the local petting farm to try hatching... we'll see how that goes! What a neat experience to be able to have! :)

After all the mud mess of last week, we moved on to everyone having a tummy bug, so we have been washing large quantities of laundry all weekend, and dealing with a lot of yucky messes. I thought that since no one had thrown up since yesterday in the wee morning hours we had cleared the sickies, but now Elias is throwing up and miserable again. He wasn't acting entirely normal this morning anyway though. I guess we aren't quite done with this bug after all.

Playground Days!

Our church put in a playground last summer, and we used it quite a bit in the fall, but it got quite a bit wetter and cooler by mid-December, and we haven't been able to use the playground much on art days for a while now. This week we finally had a mild day on which it was not raining, and the kids were very happy to get back outside on the play sets! Esther just loves climbing up and sliding down repeatedly, and Rebecca and Elias enjoy the whole place. It is really very nice to be able to sit and watch, knowing that the playground is fully fenced with a locked gate, and I hold the only key! 

She walked around with the bit of mulch on her face the entire afternoon, I only realized it was there about 10 minutes before we had to leave!

Spring Has Sprung!

Or at least, we hope it has. We have had some very pleasant temperatures lately, which have allowed us to spend large quantities of time playing outdoors! Hooray for being home and able to drop our indoor plans and spend the day outdoors! If we were out at daycare/school/work we wouldn't be able to enjoy these days! We would love to see the warmer weather remain, especially after our unusually snowy winter, because we have no heat in our van, and it is pretty chilly travelling on the days that are cold, but we will certainly take what we can get!

Esther was attempting to throw rocks into the ditch like her older siblings... she hasn't figured out how to let the rock go at the right time yet though.

 Esther is enjoying the joys of being able to move around outside. This is her first year really being able to do much outside, and she loves to take her little riding toy out to ride up and down our road while the other two ride their bikes! 

Discovering that rocks fit down the holes in the manhole cover.

 We've decided that our children are very observant at church-- they set up the drums and a chair, got out a kazoo, and then got a broom to act as the microphone, and spent about 15 minutes being a praise team on our front lawn. Hopefully, since this occurred in the middle of the morning they didn't bother too many with the noise! :)

And, proof that spring is here (even if it is COLD today-- seriously, we started the day with snow)! Crocuses are blooming in my lawn!