Recent Crafting

My classes at our last co-op focused on nest building. The kids cheered with joy when the learned they would be making nests.  I don't exactly understand kid enthusiasm, but I'm glad they liked it. After carefully watching a robin build her nest, my little bird scholars totally failed to build anything like it.  We learned a lot in the process, though!



Peal has also been sewing some burp cloths for a special baby cousin and a crisis pregnancy center nearby.  At first she could only cut out the pattern, but now she can cut, pin, and sew it from start to finish.  If only I could control the tension on our wayward sewing machine!

Since we've hit our 180 days and have relaxed on the school work just a bit, she has been sewing and knitting up a storm while listening to her audio books.  She designed and knitted a pair of footies that fit her. The little girls are more dependent on me to craft, which seriously limits them.  We are working on making a Fruits of the Spirit Tree. 

Peal has gone to Boston with her daddy for her first tournament. We thought she might be timid sparring, but the little thing earned a bronze medal in two events. 

Washington DC Spring Break Trip

I took the three girls to Washington DC for three days.  We discovered many things about the big city, and none of us got lost.  They seemed to especially enjoy the metro and the escalators connected to it---the taller the better.

The first two days we spent on the Mall.  Pearl was most interested in seeing the National Art Gallery first, so we popped in there. I had hoped to see a few rooms just as exposure to this type of museum, but they kept catching glimpses of beautiful paintings in adjacent galleries, so we really enjoyed the visit.


I did not realize how many famous painters were on display there. We saw a whole wall of van Gophs, Whistlers, Degas, Monets, Gauguins, and one portrait by our ancestor Benjamin West. Yes we made the docents nervous, but with two little hands clutched in mine, we made it out without damaging any national treasures.

We saw dinosaurs and mummies in the Natural History Museum, then rode the carousel on the Mall.  This pleased their little hearts so much, I was glad we paused to do it.  The next day we visited the Native American History Museum, the National Botanic Gardens, the American History Museum, and the Zoo (and carousel #2).

We did pop into the Air and Space Museum, which rated high on all of the "kids and DC" web sites, but the girls all detested it and couldn't wait to leave, no matter how many fascinating moon crafts I pointed out.  It is as I feared, but could not avoid; we are a wholly humanities household. We made our way to Chinatown both nights for fresh sesame balls and dinner, upon the girls' request . 


On our final day, we visited Mount Vernon.  It is sort of cute to hear four-year-old Ruby talk about George Washington.  No carousels here, but we learned to curtsy from Mrs. Washington and toured the mansion.  They all liked the blacksmith's nail-making demonstration best. Once the noisy school groups left, I sighed with relief as we peeked into the outbuildings and figured out what it took to run a plantation. 

The igloo won (Native American History Museum)

The carousel on the Mall

Chinese New Year 2015

The lion dancers steal the show at the Chinese New Year party.  The children can see the students from Johns Hopkins suiting up in the coatroom, and they begin to hop in their seats. When the lions shimmy their way into the auditorium, the children mob them.  These are very patient lions, so they allow the children to pat them while the drum and cymbal troupe plays an unchanging rhythm on the stage. 

One lion danced past our table and snuffled at Ruby's half-eaten cake.  She paused  mid-pat to snatch her cake from under his fluffy white kuos and cram it into her mouth. 

At co-op this week I led a class on egg anatomy.  Pearl's class told me that they never ate chalazae or germinal discs, parts of the egg we had identified in a worksheet.  When we cracked a real egg, they found all those parts and had to admit they ate them regularly.  Examining egg parts might seem blase, but they clearly enjoyed seeing the details for the first time. 





Pearl also tried ice-skating for the first time this week.  Sapphire spun around the rink, making friends with toddlers and seniors alike, while Pearl built up the courage to glide across the rink.  She did much better than we all expected.

The Chinese Dragon powered by the kids