Halloween Party ... and other things

Tonight was my sisters Halloween Party. My sister always has a family friendly party. There were some great costumes, I got pics as best I good before my phone died. I didn't get pics of the kids as they were off playing at the time. The food was great and very Halloween creative. She won a 1 week hot tub rental and booked it for the party. That was fun.

In Other News... (lol)
Indy has taken to cleaning. He has to be the one holding the dustpan when I sweep and he likes to help me clean the walls. I wish they were all like this. I wish he would stay like this (maybe I'll get lucky).

Oh and we finally got to our earth layers project I did get pics of this. We are also learned about weathering. we have an experiment for this but haven't gotten there yet as we are back on our regular schedule.
Earth Layers (candy) Demonstration
Weathering: Shaped By Sun, Wind & Water
This one I made to be read with the chapter (shaped by sun, wind & water) in "the kids book of Canadian Geography". But it could stand on its own I think.

My Halloween Costume

I finally finished my Halloween costume...and I am exhausted. When the kids go to the friendship center today (drum for boys, one on one for Ko-Ko) then I am going to take a nap with Indy.


I am a Gingerbread Woman :)
- Posted using BlogPress from my iPhone

SCORE: A HOCKEY MUSICAL

YOU HAVE GOT TO SEE THIS MOVIE!
and yes it is PG
Ko-Ko and I went to see this movie last night. I think I will be taking the other kids too. It was so good when this comes to DVD I am buying it.
The movie is musical about a 17 yr old boy who is homeschooled. He has hippie parents who shelter him from all the bad out there. He is a sweet, intelligent and articulate boy. Is the homeschool family stereotyped? Yes but no more so then every other character in the movie. Some of the humor in the movie is stereotype. The stereotyping is also not insulting. They show this kid as being smart, thoughtful, kind. He is possibly unschooled but I don't know if a PS family would pick up on that. The rink rats are stereotyped, as are the coaches and hockey players. It is a very Canadian movie. If you live in the States and this movie doesn't come to American theaters then I suggest you find a way to watch it anyway (Internet). I laughed, I cried and I loved that the lesson in the movie is to be true to yourself. In fact I think that is why the writers made Farley be homeschooled and sheltered because he struggles with the teenage question - No the life question - of being ordinary or unique. This is a great movie. I think it will be loved by all who see it and I think HS kids will love the characters of Farley and Eve (Also homeschooled), as will parents.
See the trailer
Read the synopsis
- Posted using BlogPress from my iPhone

AND MORE HALLOWEEN SEWING

I have finished Ko-Ko's cloak / jacket for her witch costume. I think I may add some grommets and lacing in The front. Original I had decided against
that but have since changed my mind.





SW's cheerleader costume is complete. He has a blond braided wig to go with. The kids went out to show off their costumes on our street






- Posted using BlogPress from my iPhone

THE HALLOWEEN SEWING RUSH HAS BEGUN

Yes some sewing moms probably start sewing Halloween costumes earlier but not me. To explain you must understand that from Sept 9 to Oct 10 three of our children have birthdays. This follows the powwow season, school shopping (books etc) and happens during a need for fall clothes. So I wait to do Halloween shopping on baby bonus day (Oct 20). Besides Fabricland's fall "buy 1meter get 2 meters free" sale starts on the 18th. So it is an 11 day rush, less if you count my sisters costume party (which I do).

So I started on sister's costume yesterday. Would have finished too but she was missing a few notions (elastic, right size zipper) and was short on trim. So I am about 30 minutes from done for her. She is being a girl pirate. Ko-Ko is being a which. She is wearing a fancy purple dress she found at Phase 2 a few years ago. We have a hat, purple and black argyle stockings, striped gloves. I an making her a black And purple skirted jacket as her cloak. Tomorrow will be SW's costume. And I have finally decided on a costume for myself. So I will be needing to head back to Fabricland. I will post pics as the costumes become completed. Unfortunately sisters costume has some finishing touches before a picture happens.
Today is also my neighbors pumpkin carving party. It is raining and cold. When we talked last week I told her how we have done that for Ko-Ko's birthday in the past and we always threw a tarp down on the living room floor and then newspaper on top of that. She is thinking of doing it in her backyard under the awning. I hope she uses my suggestion. I don't know how all those kids,Helpers and parents will fit. And I have arthritis and the idea of digging out pumpkin guts in the cold worries me. So we will see how it all goes. Have a good day all!


- Posted using BlogPress from my iPhone

My cake for this month's Full Moon Ceremony

ceremonies are pot luck events in our culture. Once upon a time I wsa the Woman who brought the poop, or timmies (for US readers that is Tim Horton's Donuts, it's what we raise our kids on up here). But as my Grandmother was finally starting to sow her age at 97 I made a decision. I want to be the grandma with the killer deserts at her house. I want my kids to come home with many grandbabies and when they walk in the door I want them to stat salivating over the deserts I made them. This was what it was like walking into my Grandma's house. How ever I was a one dish wonder and I dislike cooking. But I tend to accomplish everything I set out to do.

At my grandma's funeral I gave the speech and this promise was included. Since then I learned to bake. I had a few failures. Then Grandma Claus decided to help me out talking me through things. My first independent success was a Creme Brulee. Yeah I was a surfer & skater once long ago and still believe the old adage "Go big or go home'.

I have since discovered that cooking sucks but baking rocks. I have even recently baked some suppers. And I have become the Woman who brings the cakes. This one is a bunt cake, an iced one...never easy to ice a bunt I think.
CAKE:
3 lg eggs
1 3/4 cups sugar
1 cup veg oil
2 cups flour (all purpose)
1 tsp salt
1 tsp baking soda
1 tsp cinnamon
2 cups peaches (canned ), that's a large can
1 cup chopped walnuts (optional)

Preheat oven to 375. Grease and flour a bunt pan (10 cups)

1. combine eggs, sugar r and oil. Mix on medium until blended.
2. in separate bowl add flour, salt, cinnamon and baking soda. Wisk (it's easier then sifting)
3. add dry ingredients to creamed mixture. The batter will be very thick
4. Rinse peaches and chop them up. I buy half peaches as they are easier to slice. Sliced peaches a re to big and would still need to be sliced.
   
5. with spatula mix in peaches and nuts.
6. pour batter into prepared pan. bake for 50 min.
7. cool well before icing.

Cream cheese Icing
3 ounces cream cheese (room temp)
4 tblsp butter
1 tsp vanilla extract
2 cups icing sugar
1.2 tsp ground ginger

1. cream together cream cheese, butter and vanilla until smooth
2. add in icing sugar & ginger a bit at a time
3. ice cake
   

MOON DAY

I promised the moon today right?.
Links to work pages I used at bottom of page
We were off to a great start today. Ready to go at 9am. I re-told teachings about the moon. The story of Two Face and why the Moon never faces the Sun. We talked about how (scientifically) this is caused by the position of the Sun and Moon.


SW stood in the center of the living room. Runner stood on the coffee table with a flashlight (and Indy dancing around him, it's a huge coffee table). Ko-Ko (Moon) rotated around SW (Earth) and we saw that Runner (Sun) always light up from the front but our view point changed based on her location.


We learned about the phases of the Moon. And why sometimes calendars disagree on which night is full Moon (important to know in our culture). For example the Moon rises this weekend at 1:35am on Saturday October 23rd, or Friday night. This took much going over to figure out.

We made our Moon box. (I got this from our "365 Science experiments Book" We cut 3 circles (evenly spaced). On each long side of a shoe box. On the short end we cut one hole. These 7 holes are all about 6/8 inch. On the last end we cut a whole the side of our large flashlight. The box got painted black on the inside (outside too cuz my instructions were not clear). Then we Took a ping pong ball, (ok we used the gray cannonball from the playmobile pirate ship). And stuck it in the center of the inside of the box with plasticine. It is placed level with the 7 smaller holes. Turn on the flashlight and look inside the different holes to see the different phases. To see full moon you have to look into the hole with the flashlight.


Sounds like a perfect day right? OK. The first half was, but the afternoon fell apart completely. SW went into a pre teen mood. He fought with Runner, was disrespectful and it went on and on. In the end Ko-Ko and I made the moon box. Runner was able to come in as we finished. SW didn't stop with the disrespect and is now grounded for the week. No electronics. No phone! He is angry. The biggest problem is that he won't stand up and take responsibility. He always has some one to blame. The evening was seeming calm when I sent Ko-Ko for a shower before gymnastics. She decided this was a good time to wash her gymnastics shorts. I bought new ones. I know sounds awful but I had enough drama already today (this is not typical behavior for me) and they needed replacing anyway. They had a bad run-in with the dryer. I am at the gym now with her. She is almost done warm up. Time to go.
work pages:
Full Moon
The Moon
Moon Phases
Moon Phases Oreo Lab this will take you to the google page with it at the top cu it doesn't go to a web addy, it jut opens the document.


- Posted using BlogPress from my iPhone

HOW HALLOWEEN HIJACKED MY DAY

So today we would have read a bit more about Edison and learn about the moon. After we were done we were going to go pick up the things we needed for Halloween and for our Earth's layers project. That is what was supposed to happen.

It seemed good to start the day having the kids help me plan our afternoon shopping trip. It would need to be planned since the boys had drumming tonight and Ko-Ko would also be at the Native center as well.

The list turned out huge (we do have a fair number of us in our family). So we typed it up on the computer, organizing what was at which store. It was clearly an all day trip. I couldn't keep postponing. I have 11 days till the day, 9 till my sister's costume party. So I have a fair bit to do, including sisters costume. Plus the stroller was broken, so we would have to start on the other end of town at Walmart, and work our way back home. School got scraped then.

I went to use my phone...no service. I called my wireless company while directing kids to get ready. When it was time to get the bus I left...and left my paper weight of a phone. In hindsight (yep) pics of our excursion would have been nice. So my sis is being a pirate, SW, a dead cheerleader, Sunny Not a dead princess (getting her dress with her later), Runner will be Death (when did they stop being knights & princess' - live ones?), Ko-Ko will be a witch and Indy Curious George (yeah Indy). Runner chose a mask that he liked, but not a "Death" one. There is a pic of it...it "bleeds". We stayed on track and were near the end when we were at Fabricland. Indy fell asleep as we entered (perfect cuz toddlers and fabric stores don't mix). I made it to the counter when my bank card didn't work...not the magnetic strip, the chip. The nearest bank machine - 10 minutes by bus...the bus I just got off). Thankfully they will hold it til I come back tomorrow. So we skipped what was left and headed to the Kingston Center to get a new bank card and do groceries...oh and pumpkins for the pumpkin carving party at our neighbors house on Sunday. Runner was tired and just wanted to go home so I sent SW and Ko-Ko on the bus to the Native center. Runner, Indy and I got home around 4pm...exhausted. I had thought we would do an hour of school. Nope. Too tired. Science week; it will last longer then a week. I don't think the kids will complain.

As for tomorrow, I promise the Moon. OK I promise we will learn (and share) about the moon.

WE MADE A LIGHT BULB

So like I said, this is science week. But Pics first!
Science week day 1, Thomas Edison.


Ko-Ko adding filament
Runner adding negative charge

Then the positive (SW took the pics) Pretending to get an electric shock
LIGHT!!
links to work we did at bottom.
We started our day off with math and spelling. Then we read about Thomas Edison. Stopping at each paragraph (or two) to write down a key note on the white board (working on taking notes). After reading we talked about what we read. How we have movie stars and rock stars and electricity in our homes because of Thomas Edison. How if people had listened to him car motors would have stayed electric and we would have less pollution now. We discussed his work ethic and his attitude towards learning. We discussed the telegraph and how cool it must have seemed to him...kind of like the internet.

The kids worked a bit on their worksheets and then had 30 minutes outside to play (they did have shorter breaks earlier). While outside they invited the kindergarten boy next door (his day off on every other day K). I like to invite the 4 and 5 yr olds to join for experiments sometimes. They find it fun and their parents thinks it's great (the parents are all jealous of what my kids are learning vs their ps kids, so no 'worried neighbors') .

I like to have science be a mix of listening, writing, discussing and hands on. Then I have covered various learning styles because my kids all learn differently. Ko-Ko needs redirecting frequently so this really helps her. It also helps the boys who can get caught up in her antics if I don't keep them all on track. I am thinking Thomas Edison sounded like an easier pupil for his Mom...this may be evident in some of my content on the worksheets. On to the experiment. Finally the time had arrived! We used the experiment I found here. I always look to see if I can find multiple sites with the same instructions (I feel more confident it will work). We followed the directions except we could not find a cork so we used plasticine (worked well).

Today is homework & a hike at the Native center. The kids have a word search (some of the words are answers to the worksheet if they get stuck) to do, plus finish up either their worksheets or finish up their report on the experiment. I made a report page specific to this although I have a general one I usually use. My kids love science and are happy they have it all week. I had fun too. The experiment really was easy (a bit fiddly). Short easy experiment s keeps ADD kids like Ko-Ko involved till the end.
Thomas Edison Worksheet
Our Light Bulb Report
Thomas Edison Word Search
We wrapped up the day singing and learning the drum song "soldier boy". I am sure Edison would have recorded us!

Is this a typical science day? Pretty much, we don't build light bulbs everyday. We tend to do things more like the shoebox moon experiment we will do later this week. We also usually don't use most of the day, so what we did today might be over two days. I do however search the net and books and create our curriculum for each day (all subjects but math). This week you can read about how others do science too over at the currclick blog.

SCIENCE & TRADITION, THEY CAN WORK TOGETHER.

Planning for this week started off based on 3 things from last week

1. I promised the kids that ancient history would be replaced with extra traditional studies of their choice.
2. SW suggested more cultural content outside of our traditional studies
3. we did not do any science last week

So surfing the web, flipping through books, and as it happens our next subject in our geography book i came up with three subjects of science. 2 of which I could bring in traditional studies. (we will also fulfill some of the kids requests (corn husk dolls will have to wait for next week).

THE MOON
we will study the moon both traditionally and scientifically, at the same time. Showing how science backs up our teachings. So when we talk about why the moon never faces the sun when they share the sky, I will have the science to back it up. we are also going to use oreos to demonstrate the moon phases (I have seen this on the internet 3 times this school year, I think it was calling me). This is a good week to because the Full Moon is the end of this week. I also am pulling in Aunty to go over the 13 moons. I promise each day I will post pics and links that I used and links to the PDF files I made for the kids. I have not written down the teachings into the kids work pages. Part of our traditional teachings is to NOT write such things down. If you want to use my pages that I post each day you will need to find the teachings on "why the Moon never faces the Sun" and a list of the 13 moons (which are different in each Nation). we also have a demonstration where we will use a shoebox (with several holes), ping pong ball and a flashlight to create the phases of the moon as we see them using light and shadow. I am excited about this one.

THE EARTH
We have told many teachings of the earth but this week Aunty (Mohawk) will teach them about Sky Woman and Turtle Island (North America). We will also be discussing erosion and weathering and how it effects and shapes the land. The kids and I love geology and geography (well 2 of us love it entirely and 2 love some of it). This set of papers are a little heavier in content and will be in addition to the chapter "Shaped By Sun,Wind & Rain" in our Book Of Canadian Geography. Often I make work pages related directly to the chapter, but this one is more inspired by the chapter. Again Aunty's teaching are not written down. I also came across a site "Eat Your way Through Earth Sciences" we are doing the earth layers desert. YUM

THOMAS EDISON
After reading today's Homeschool Bits blog post about it being the anniversary of Thomas Edison's light bulb invention, I had topic number three. Luckily SW also reminded me today that it was library day. So I got a book on Thomas Edison and found a cool experiment to make a light bulb and got to work. did it all in one evening too. DH went out this evening and got the supplies:
6 volt battery (got it attached to a flashlight for the phases of the moon demonstration)
glass bottle
coated copper wire (from his work room)
picture hanging wire (Aunty has)
cork - no go, but we will replace with one made of clay.
Apparently the glass bottle not so easy to find. I am a little worried about the size of the opening but we will see. I think this will kick off the week. I also found a web page where you cn create word searches (FOR FREE). I had often seen the one at Edu Helper but did not want to pay their fee. So if you want to create word searches (and I did) click on Discovery Education's Puzzle Maker. We will also start off with learning some requested drum songs (which we will work on all week). spelling list for the kids this week is science related Here's My List It will be on the easy side for SW, but that's OK for one week I think. I use ESL Writing Wizard to create spelling lists (also free).
And for a movie I got "ATANARJUAT The Fast Runner" We have some Inuit friends we are very close too. They are going to come watch with us that day and tell us about the Fast Runner. I m really looking forward to this. In fact I am really looking forward to our week.

As for today, we did make it to the library and when we got home the kids all read for a while. I finished up the weeks work. Usually I have the weeks work done by Saturday or Sunday. The fact that I didn't worked out this week. see you all through out the week with pics and links!

OH MY, WHAT A DAY!

It's noon. we have eaten lunch but not done any school work yet...

...The day started with Runner (aka: dark) not doing any getting ready while I had my bath of sanity (the 30 minutes I take every morning so that I resemble a Mo and not an ogre). so we were late being ready to start.

Next SW reminds me it is library day. So we need our bus pasess. Ko-Ko has lost her purse that holds her wallet that has the kids bus pass. We tare apart the living room and a few other rooms, then clean them u and sweep under EVERYTHING in record speed. No purse. But I do find another bus pas...hope it has passes on it.

OK ready to go...when my calendar on my phone chimes to tell me this is Runners final dentist trip. I was going to make ride arrangements this weekend but forgot...Oh and did I mention the stroller broke?

So my ride is do any minute for the trip to the dentist with Runner and Indy. Ko-o and SW will walk to the library. we will meet them there and My friend Marie will then dropoff my carseat back home. We will then bus home from the library. If the kids pass doesn't have enough passes left we will use up mine.

I will post again later when we have accomplished something today.

Oh and we think we found a house to buy. Need to view inside in person. And one more financial hurdle, we need to get a small loan to cover Aunty's loans (to reduce her dept payment) to get the mortgage the broker said he will give us. And the house we found is less then the top amount of the mortgage, so we are all happy that we found one that comes under the max. yeah We are all excited this will be our first house for all of us (Aunty and Grandma will of course be moving with us)

A SEWING PROJECT

I chose to wear skirts for cultural reasons (click on the pic "the Wearing Of Skirts" to read about that, just scroll down, it's on the right) . But at work my uniform includes pants. I keep trying to find a pair I don't feel totally uncomfortable in. So today was another attempt. I made a pair of Thai fisherman pants. The pattern said "one size fits all". I learned this past year that really means size 0-12. So I searched the internet and found a site with instructions to make a pattern based on your own measurements. The site is mediatinker.com I of course made some modifications. First off the pant pieces, I cut on the fold so there is just one piece per leg. Then I added 3 inches to the measurement (which on the fold means, 6 inches to the leg, you could add more for more fold). I cut the bottom of the leg at 12 inch on the fold (for a wider leg)I also cut the waist as two pieces, and the tie (knowing this would make the tie fit on my material better). I cut those pieces on the fold as well (fits on material better). Then I folded the material in half width wise, then length wise. Then I placed all three pieces and cut. When I was done I had 2 of each piece cut on the fold.

• then I ironed everything (except hems). I ironed the 2 tie peices in half length ways. Then opened it up and ironed each side in half towards the center, creating a nice edges strim when folded back in half and sewn shut.
• next I sewed one waist to each pant leg. Then I pined them together from waist to crotch, with the ie inthe middle of the waist section and sewed it all together. Now my tie is attached to the waist as well
• then I repeated on other side.
• then I pined the legs together from one ankle to the other.
• then I ironed and sewed hems.
  

TIME:

• measurements, less then 5 min
• make & cut out pattern, less then 10 min
• pin and cut out pieces, 15 min
• iron, sew and hem the pants 1hr, 10 min

TOTAL TIME: 1hr, 40 min
They are very comfortable.

WHAT I'M ALL EXCITED ABOUT

So I joined a postcard trading club. It is one with the core in Canada (although some Americans and other international people too if your interested) called Canadian Postcard Club for HS Kids. I have read about these in the states so I was quite excited. Today the kids and I went downtown to collect some postcards that represented our city. It was a trip in and of itself...

...Our trip started off with our inability to find the stroller for Indy. we figured we had left it in the van. Since we were busing we decided to give it a try with him walking. We also had no harness (a necessity if your a bit of the scatterbrained type who has trouble concentrating on more then one thing - like me). But hey we have taken him on the ten minute walk to Mac's before. So we set out, then headed back for umbrellas and better footwear. Runner didn't changeout of his crocs which I would notice later. Indy didn't have better footwear for rain. Well he did but it doesn't fit this season. So we bused to the transfer station and ran into Loblaws for rainboots, and socks. Then we headed to the post office for stamps and envelops. Back on the bus and downtown. It was time to eat so we went to "Bop Bop Bop"...confused. Yeah that's what Indy calls McD's (as in their I'm lovin' it jingle). We hit Indigo which had a huge selection on 50% off. Most of the selection was not specific to our city, just our province. We hit a local book store and collected a few more. Then headed down to the water, hit the tourist info center and got some more. Sadly the two most significant landmarks I was looking for I did not find. I found the city hall, nearby attractions, things I excpected but not what I was looking for. One day when I have the opportunity i will have some one drive me to the museums to get them. See I live in the town that was home to Canada's first prime minister and yet I found no postcars with his home, picture or statue...odd. And we have the lovely designation of Canada's prison capitol but no postcard of Canada's oldest and most notorious prison. Souvenirs, but no postcards. Clearly I will need a car trip to fix this. I did find some lovely scenic and historical photos. I stocked up so we will not need such an excursion every week.

Back home still no stroller. Aunty is sure we took it out of the van. We are sure we used it a gain but not sure where. So Aunty watches Indy while we go to the pool. Where we find our stroller! We had it at Ko-Ko's Bday. After a glorious day swimming we came home.

Oh apparently (according to my Mom) there are no postcards of the prison cuz you are not allowed to take pictures of them. Crazy when you can goggle and see inside pics.

SCARY STORY ABOUT A HOMESCHOOLER

Please read this blog I am linking too. this is the blog of a homeschooling Mom who is being harrassed in a most horrific way by DHS and her local Sheriffs department (including breaking into her home). It is horrific and she needs help getting her story to those who can help.
When Hell Came To Our Home

RAMBLINGS

I don't know if that makes this post different then others but I am in a rambling mood.

Our study of Egypt is done (except our mummy) the kids made cartoon strips (one on the left) describing the process of making a mummy. That means for the next week the kids are going to chose what they want to do in Traditional studies (we are having extra of this class). They are still thinking but one suggestion was corn husk dolls. Keep in mind I am Lakota, it is my husband who is Mohawk. I am currently looking into who maybe able to teach us, or at least talk me through it. Grandma can teach us about the dolls though. Another suggestion is to learn some songs. My boys drum on the big drum. I have sang for 14 years now and apparently know a few songs their drum is hoping to learn. Some older songs. I think that's a good idea. Another is sewing...ribbon shirts and skirts. I love all these ideas and as they try to decide on one I am thinking we should do them all. Egypt took way longer then expected, who who cares if we run off track. We have all the time in the world right? with the exception of Runner, there is not a lot of pressure as to what they learn. Preparing for college is not that overwhelming. Preparing for University for Runner - Scary. For those of you who don't live in Canada; College is easier academically, practical and where you go to become a photographer (Sunny Not) or a cop (Ko-Ko). University is the one that you need excellent grades and stuff, go through admissions and hope to attend to become an engineer (Runner) or doctor etc. But for now my concerns lay in math and the ability to write well. The rest is what I think is good to learn.

Speaking of which I think I may be going the wrong direction in Canadian history. Does any one need to know which province confederated when? No. But there are some key moments that I think are important. I think we will make each study of each province about that provinces key moments, especially from a Native perspective and also from current perspectives. In other words it will become more apart of traditional studies. I often tied them together a bit, but I think more so now. This revelation came from SW. Funny thing is, that was my original intent but I was side tracked by a history book that was light on content but was easy to supplement. I think the book will now serve as supplement to my history lesson.

I got in an argument with Grandma Claus tonight. I feel crappy about it. I was ticked off, I am ticked off but not so much at her, more at her words. Part of those words on her part I think show a memory issue. Sometimes I can apologize easily...other times not so much. The problem of a little house...cuz I would like to do so with some privacy. Not much of that when you want it.

Other family stuff we have received a grant for Native families to buy a home. we have one more hoop to jump through before buying. We could be moving around xmas. So it has been suggested by Grandma and Aunty that I scale back at xmas. That would be totally reasonable request but I am WAY more scaled back then most people. My kids get one gift from Santa and two from DH and I. 3 gifts is way scaled back. I know because we did not used to be like that. But after baby Ko-Ko and toddler SW had a melt down for the third day of family xmas, with one more to go, and a mountain of gifts we decided it was ridiculous. It isn't even our holiday. We are totally in it for Santa (remember our kids are related to him through Grandma Claus, which clearly makes him Mohawk). So 3 gifts, one family xmas, and time to spend together playing. The rest of the family we will see for a desert get together. Adult gifts are home made, except between DH and I (and my sis, cuz she is my sis). I find the best deals EVER. How can I sale back a xmas that by western standards is very scaled.

Told You this was a ramble blog

Tomorrow we are going out, but I think we will do Math first. SW didn't follow directions in math very well today. Anyway I have an exciting blog planned tomorrow. Something new we are doing. Okay not winning a star trek costume contest exciting, but still I am excited, hope the kids are too.
See Ya All Tomorrow.

SICK DAY

Runner is sick (more then 24 hrs as it was with Indy). He has a fever and is sleeping on the couch on and off. He seems a little more with it right now.


With it enough to be whinny :)

I declared a sick day this morning. Convinced Runner he would feel better in clean PJ's. At 8, he doesn't believe in clean . So my sick day plan (I had planned in advance in case such a day occurred) was to watch a documentary. I currently have two saved. So we watched one on global warming and current solutions that people are working on. We had a good disscussion on what obstacles (people) are holding these solutions back. Ko-Ko liked the solar panels that worked like satellite dishes and the windmills. She loves to go to the island to see the local windmills. She thinks they look nice. I wish more homeowners saw their beauty. SW thought the sea water turbines were great, especially how they were more efficient. Runner who wants to design skyscrapers and is interested in architecture loved the multi-family home in Montreal that is being built that uses many energy saving and producing techniques and should cost the families about $75 a year in utilities. They were shocked to learn that many grown ups fight things like wind turbine farms because they are not pretty, Ko-Ko especially.

Next we had lunch then outside play. I fell asleep and the rest of our sick day never occurred. I had a whole unit made up on being sick :) although I thought I'd save it this time and watch the news about the miners in Chile. I guess we will watch news of the miners tomorrow cuz I slept til 5pm. See this is one of the benefits of living in a house with four adult family members. Of course one was at work and two more were home sick. Which is the benefit of independent children. Ko-Ko and Sw looked after the kids, and when Indy looked tired they brought him to me and the two of us snuggled up and slept. SW went to the store and got Runner some orange juice and Ko-Ko made him some cedar tea. I woke up a very proud Mom.

I am calling our first sick day of the year a success. My kids have not been sick since last fall when 2 were sick for a few days and i was out for a few weeks with the swine flu. I am also very lucky that my kids are so healthy. In fact SW has never ben sick for even a full 24 hours except the two times he had chicken pox and both times he had 6 or less.

MOVING AT THE SPEED OF DARK

(the opposite of the speed of light)
This was my day, especially with Runner who moves at this speed so often that he is sometime called "dark' by the adult annoyed with trying to get him to get a task done. I was very frustrated with this today. It seemed that the whole world was moving at half my speed. It must have been somewhat in my head cuz we finished school at a reasonable time today. we did start late but LA and Canadian History were rolled into one today and will be for the next while.


I have decided that we are wrapping up Egypt this week. We will still have our mummy chicken to work on but otherwise done. We will take a one week break from ancient history and focus on art. For us art is often History. It is also traditionally studies, so I think this will mean additional traditional studies and will be the kids choice. I know the boys want to build a big powwow drum and have received permission from the Women to do so but I think it will be an after we buy our house thing. Getting the hide is going to be costly. It's not like I can head out to the 401 and hunt me down a buffalo or an elk. They just are not wandering these parts. It will be interesting to see what they choose as opposed to what I choose so I will promise to blog it next week.

Oh how I wandered off course...
yeah so it turns out Runner was procrastinating (today) cuz he was coming down with a fever. You get so upset and then reminded to take time to breathe. So next week, patience from me and my kids choose their own art project...which will also be a practical lesson in consensus.

10/10/10 Ko-Ko's Golden Birthday!

Ko-Ko turned ten today on 10/10/10. It is considered to be a Golden birthday. It is rare. In China it is a lucky day. It is the day I have been waiting ten years for. When she was born on 10/10/2000 I realized we would be having a special party on this day

Usually we celebrate Ko-Ko's birthday the following weekend because this is thanksgiving weekend in Canada. But this year we had to do it on the day. It is hard to get people to a party when families are all visiting but four of her closest friends came. It helps that a number of Native families like ours celebrate harvest instead which is about this time of year but not necessarily the same week.

We went swimming at the





Ambassador which is the big place here to swim. The Native after-school program set it up for free for us being it's her big golden birthday. We swam for two hours, played pool games, sat in the hot tubs and went down the water slide. Back home we had Indian tacos which is everyones favorite powwow food. An Indian taco has all your fave taco toppings except the meat is wild meat and instead of a taco shell it is served on bannock (Native fry bread). You have to eat it with a knife and fork and many napkins. The kids played in the park and on the trampoline and then Ko-Ko open many wonderful gifts and we had cupcakes.





The cupcakes turned out great. I made red velvet cake for the cupcakes using allrecipe.com. I used the advice from one of the ratings to beat the egg mixture for ten minutes and I was careful to fold in the soda vinegar mixture. That is what makes it rise so folding well and pouring into cupcake tins and getting into the oven quickly was essential. I then kept everyone outside while they baked. This I did the day before. Then I iced them and put them in the fridge. The ghost cupcakes were iced with a swirled peak to hold up the fondant. I made marshmallow fondant (also allrecipe.com). It is easy and tasty, unlike regular fondant. I also made this the day before plus I had some in blue from SW's birthday 12 days ago. The ghosts were made from large circles of fondant. I skewered out two eye holes (icing underneath is chocolate cream cheese icing, holds well after being refrigerated overnight). Then I placed on top of icing swirl and pinched in some folds. The mummies I made by placing on two cinnamon heart candies for eyes. Cutting fondant strips and placing them to look like mummy





wrapping. I saw these on a site somewhere and they suggested piping icing for this but it was way easier to do in fondant. The monsters where going to look like skulls, specifically Jack from nightmare before Christmas (her fave movie) but when I ran out of fondant Ko-Ko suggested using the blue from SW's bday. So they became monsters. I made them with a circle on fondant. I used a knife to score in the face and cut licorice shoelace into pieces for the smile. I used a tiny bit of what was left of white fondant on top of the smile like crazy teeth or stitches or something. Then a poked holes and pressed in skittles for eyes.





Ko-Ko is downstairs playing games and watching g movies (not usually available in bedrooms here but it is set up for slumber parties). They are eating the rest of the treats. She is a very happy ten yr old tonight and I am a very happy Mom that my sweetheart has such a special birthday. I hope she remembers it always.





- Posted using BlogPress from my iPhone

MY REVIEW OF BLOG PRESS

Now that I know how to use it.

So first you have to set up your blog. This took two tries the first time it didn't read. Then add a photo sharing site. I used my flicker account. That was way after that I produced a bunch if plain blogs until I figured it all out.

Colour, bold , hyperlinks etc.
When you are typing there are two symbols in the top right corner. (seen when in portrait position. For some reason it disappears in the sideways landscape position). One is a camera picture and one is use that symbol, pick what you want to do and then enter the text in the box provided and hit done.

Pictures


It has been my experience that it is easier to add pictures after. So I write my blog and then save. To save I have to have the phone in portrait mode. Then in the top right corner is a save bottom. Touch and save to draft. Then click manage (bottom left, again portrait position). Then tap on the screen and see the position of your blue cursor. That is where the pic will go. After clicking the camera picture you will chose to take a pic or to get one from your phones gallery. If I chose to take a pic it will do a bot of cropping

All in all I like the app. My only complaint is lack of instructions. There is probably more that I have yet to figure out but right now it does what I need plus some entertainment.

Posted using BlogPress from my iPhone

Runner tells about his Egyptian Lego build

This is Zoshers tomb by Imhotep. This tomb belonged to Zoshers obviously. It is bigger then it looked because





it was on top of another building. It had a huge system of tunnels underneath. It was really really tall, over 200 feet and it was a steeped pyramid. It was the first Egyptian pyramid and I have recreated it out of Lego.

I also made an Egyptian well it was not 60 meters deep it was 60 people deep. Or the one I learned about was anyway.





Ko-ko made a statue of a god with people sitting around it







Posted using BlogPress from my iPhone

MY THOUGHTS ABOUT PLAY

I am trying to wright this (again) without sounding like I am preaching. Without being overly longwinded. Here goes...I think I failed on that count but since this is my fourth attempt I will post anyway

I think play is important. I think one of the benefits to my children of homeschooling has been more time to play. And to play in a safe environment (recess is not so safe for kids if they are bullied or on fear of being bullied.) Unstructured play is important. Kids need to use their imaginations. Outside play is important. Kids, well everyone really needs fresh air, space to move and sunlight. Yes we can not hide ourselves Completely from the sun. It helps form vitamin D in our bodies.

There was a time when play was a luxury. During the industrial revolution poor kids worked in factories much of the day. They had no time to play. They had little exposure to sunlight and they grew sick. At that time rickets was a disease many disadvantaged children would get. It was caused by poor nutrition, most notably vitamin D. At that time foods were not artificially fortified with vitamin D. To get it you had to eat the right foods and play outside in the sun. Since this was not possible they got rickets, causing brittle and deformed bones. It bowed legs and afflicted the pelvis preventing a child from being birthed. This disease became a thing of the past as the west became a developed world. It still occurs in other underdeveloped places where children become child laborers for survival. Playing for some children is a luxury, being out in the sun and properly nourished is also a luxury for some children.

But here in North America kids have school and sports and organized programs and fat bellies...so why is rickets making a comeback? Some say because breastfed babies are not getting vitamin D supplements. Well none of mine did but since I went outside and ate the right foods, my babies were outside and receiving the right nutrients. Also Native people (and many others) breastfed dark skinned babies without supplements an no rickets, but they had sun and healthy diets unlike Europeans at the time. Strange that the developed world is less healthy then my people were hundreds of years ago don't ya think?Well let's look at the life of a child with all the advantages of North America. They get up early, rush out the door and into a car or van or bus to get to school even if they are in walking distance. In the rush they gave cocoa puffs or poptarts or toaster strudel (I know my kids used to go to ps). So a missed opportunity for sunlight and exercise and free play, not to mention no nutritional value. They spend the next 6-8 hours in school. 15 minute recesses. Structured gym (inside). Processed meat sandwiches, fruit roll ups, fruit gummies. Chocolate milk orange drink. Send something healthy and they could complain you forgot their snack so they can get some school provided crap. Mine did this all the time. After school there is no time for the playground they must rush off to a sport or afterschool program. The sport may be outside, but most are inside, sometimes even soccer. This people is not play it is to structured by adults to be play. From afterschool to homework there is no time for a proper supper. Fast food, microwaved, pre-prepared. At this point the sun has set on much of North America and the child is inside in front of some screen or other, possible with pop and chips. You can see that this could translate to a homeschool child as well. If you kid is in ps much of this structured life is not your choice. (unless you chose not to do public school any longer) Add up the school hours including transportation and homework. How much play time is there? Add in the structured Childs life and there is less. Homeschool your child and you have a choice. School at home through an organized system controlling your hours and your child may spend as much school time as his peers. Get creative and cut down the busy work and redundant school hours while still getting in as much learning (it is very possible) and your kids may school 2, or 3 or 4 hours depending on age. Way more time to play. But add in sports and afterschool programs and your kids could end up just as scheduled. I plan very carefully to avoid this because I want my kids playing. I have time for three hot meals a day and homemade, not as easy or practical if the child is not at home.

We must be careful because rickets is back in North America. The more privileged we try to make our kids lives the more we sentence them to the malnourished playless world of the industrial era. The problem is these full fat bellied children with no free time do not have the imagination to see a better life or the mind to think that something needs to be changed, so they are fated to continue the cycle.

There is a charity called right to play, working to make sure kids in war torn and underdeveloped countries have the right to play, a right we have happily tossed out of our own children's windows in the name of 'having more opportunities'.


So that's my thoughts and worries for my kids, making sure they eat real food and get to just play.

- Posted using BlogPress from my iPhone

Lost a post trying to edit

But look what I figured out! Will re do my post on play later

Ready for a weird statement?

First, still have not figured out pics and am still posting from iPhone. Also I had a busy weekend with work and having to bus as our van is being fixed. Now the weird statement.

Today we got library cards. Yeah your thinking 'what I thought this is their third year homeschooling'. Yeah it is. Until now I bough every book we needed or wanted. Yes it was costly. And yes I am sure indigo and amazon are crying today. So why has it taken me so long? Well many years ago when I was much younger I was a bad library patron. Embarrassed I just never returned. So today I sucked it I and went. The kids piled themselves up with books movies and games. I said they needed to get something on a subject we are studying. They did. Also I think Ko-Ko has been fooling us for a while she wanted to get the vampire diaries. I told her she needed to get a book she could read. So she read the first paragraph without assistance. Yeah I though she was years behind. Having taught her to read last year I though she was making slow progress. Apparently not. So we finally have library cards and library books like any other normal family.

Also since I still can't figure out how to get my Mom's laptop to read our Internet connection we will be taking a week where school consists of reading and educational movies and games. We will right about what we learn and make projects. I am looking forward to it.



- Posted using BlogPress from my iPhone

LETS TRY THIS OUT

So here I am on my iPhone still and I have added an app called blog press. I should be able to post pics too. I suspect that will have much to do with me figuring it all out.

So today started with SW making us all some great pancakes. If I pull off posting the pics you will see that we are eating around a giant coffee table. We do not have a dining table because the dinning roo
Is a sewing room / school prep room/ office etc. Beside I do not think it would hold a table that would fit the 9 of us, one in a wheel chair.

Today was science day but I included some LA instead of our quiz game. Yesterday I started reading a book called "Who is Anne Frank". It is a simple child friendly bio. I am glad I made time to finish it today. In some free time I found Runner re-reading the book. I asked him if he would like to read the diary of Anne Frank and he said a detonate yes. I am happy that he wants to read more about this and that he wants to read. It can be hard to find books for some kids. It seems that childrens novels are slim when it comes to variety. I I Should have realized that historical non fiction would have been the best choice for him.

On our walk to swimming today we saw a tree that was turning colour, I texted that to my phone. I am also hoping that I manage to include some pics of the kids doing work.

And as much of Canada prepares for thanksgiving we are getting ready for Harvest Ceremony. My kids are continuing to work on learning the Mohawk Thanksgiving address. This is not related to thanksgiving. Giving thanks is our version of praying. We just do it by giving thanks to the world and universe around us. They are also going over the stories most closely related to this time of year.

- Posted using BlogPress from my iPhone

EDUCATION

First, can't get an Internet connection, need someone more computer savvy, but till then I will blog from my phone.
So Grandma Claus got a magazine about Bill Gates and the documentary "Waiting For Superman". She also recorded the Oprah episodes on it an tonight we finally had a chance to watch. Yes we live in Canada and our schools seem to be ranked higher (although I am not sure how). We have similar problems. Teachers who can't be fired, schools sweeping problems under carpets, graduates who can't read etc etc. Every parent knows what I am talking about. In fact it is why a growing number of us homeschool. While watching it one man mentioned studying. So I had Grandma Claus pause it to tell her the shocking info I brought back from Sunny Nots school on grade 9 parent night. In each class one parent or another asked "what about homework?". "how come I never see any school work?" ..."or text books". Ready for the shocking answer? They are not allowed to bring most work home and not allowed to bring home text books. I wanted to know how they would ever study. Apparently there is time in class, as a class. No studying what you struggle with. No extra study in a subject you may struggle in. I was shocked. I have wondered what do o do about this? All because someone may forget to bring back their work for a day. Or the odd one gets lost an now a whole high school must study while in school. This is single handedly the most Druid thing I have ever run in to. So my solution after much is that I texted Sunny Not, she called and I advised her to just take it come January. Yes I suggested to my child that she steal her ext book an school work. Horrible thong unless you are talking abbey getting your kid to graduate with marks suitable for university or at least college. Yes if my eldest does poorly I will hold them at fault, after all she couldn't even study.
Just one more reason to homeschool


So