Having a day off at home with sick kids is finally giving me time to catch up on our activities for the past month (I can't believe how fast the time has flown!).

NT has been faithfully watching PBS's Cyberchase each morning and picking up lots of math concepts that are actually geared toward 8-12 year-olds. He loves it. We've almost finished a 1st grade math workbook that I picked up at a bookstore for my own comfort. He hates every minute of it since it's boring and "too much like school", but I can get him to breeze through it during Lizzy's dance classes if I promise to play cards or Connect 4 after only a few pages.

NT has been going through library books like crazy. He has 40-60 checked out from Hennepin County and St. Paul libraries at any one time. Subjects are all over the map--his interests are broad: Tropical fish, chickens, Big Foot, Loch Ness Monster, Bermuda Triangle, Lost City of Atlantis, reptiles, inventions and inventors, acid rain, volcanoes, airplanes, building wooden toys, making space ships and boats, reptiles, UFOs, the Trojan Horse...the list goes on and on!

He has watched DVDs on a similar range of subjects, including reptiles, underwater sea creatures, the mechanics of roller coasters, evolution, the history of the chicken, rockets, and more.

We started seeds indoors in late March and have been watching them grow for weeks. We started seeds outdoors at Dowling in the past week and are keeping our fingers crossed! We discovered an active robin's nest near our patio and found a woolly bear caterpillar while uncovering perennials in the yard. The kids filled the pool yesterday for the first time this spring.

Now that the weather is nice, I've been printing off maps for NT to lead us on walks to "mysterious destinations" around the neighborhood, he's been doing all kinds of science experiments in the back yard, and we've been meeting friends at the park, zoo, and at play group.

NT and John have been busy with Cub Scouts. Most recently NT competed at the regional level in the Pinewood Derby and the Raptor Center visited their last pack meeting. John took NT to visit a television station downtown and NT was just awarded his Tiger Cub badge!

Lizzy has been taking three dance classes a week and NT continues with his ceramics class. We took a family trip to Duluth where the kids spent hours in the pool, threw endless rocks into Lake Superior, chased seagulls, and visited the Maritime Museum. The kids have been building endless forts in the living room and consistently inventing all kinds of contraptions with LEGOs and Magna Tiles.

NT and Grampy went to The Works' "Circuit Play" program in March, and the kids and I toured the State Capital last week with a huge homeschool group. We built airplanes at Leondardo's Basement and attended a "Motion Mayhem" presentation at the Wescott Library put on by the Science Museum. The kids have been swimming at the indoor beach with Grampy and Maria, and NT went kite flying with Grandpa Alan while Lizzy and I recently attended an excellent performance of the James Sewell Ballet company.

We have been so busy enjoying the coming of spring that I have not felt compelled to sit down and write!

Since my last post more than two weeks ago we have had many adventures including NT's last basketball game of the season followed by lunch and medals, the Ballare Rhythm Festival, the Cub Scout Pinewood Derby, Mad Science classes, ceramics classes, and lots of dance classes.

NT and I attended a fabulous music and dance performance of "Carnival of the Animals" at Orchestra Hall with our play group, and we all attended the (modified) winter picnic at Grampy's. We have been to the Minnesota Zoo and the Como Conservatory with friends, and the kids have gone swimming at the indoor beach and out for treats with Grampy and Maria.

We walked with Kiki and learned about reptiles and amphibians (and even touched them!) with other homeschoolers at Wescott Library. NT went to an Irish music concert with Grandpa Alan & Minna (it turned out to be a trio including Lizzy's Irish step teacher and her husband--small world!).

We've watched PBS's Cyberchase and PBS's Reading Rainbow DVDs on birds and manatees and transportation, and a 3-part NOVA series on evolution called Becoming Human. We've researched chicken breeds and brooding methods, collected supplies, met another urban homesteading family with chickens, and ordered our chicks.

We've seen bald eagles and wild turkeys and built tons of stuff out of Magna Tiles, the Zoobmobile set, and toothpicks and marshmallows. We've read books on birds, tropical fish (of course!), planets, and guacamole. We've drawn pictures and written letters and cut up stuff (including pajamas--oops!). We've been digging in the dirt and playing outside a LOT and doing lots of running.

And, finally, yesterday we went to see NT's artwork hanging at the Minneapolis Institute of Arts with Minna & Grandpa Alan, followed by lunch outside on the patio at The Black Forest Inn. Afterward the kids went bird watching at Becketwood and saw the resident owl (and a crow) with binoculars before walking all the way home. The kids played in the yard until it was time for Cub Scouts.

NT was up early to watch PBS's Cyberchase on time/distance/speed and then dove right into his tropical fish book. We told him we wouldn't take him back to the fish store for at least a month, but that does not appear to have slowed him down on researching the next kind of fish he wants.

While Lizzy was in ballet class, NT drew and colored a picture of his fish tank to give as a birthday card to Grandpa Alan.

The kids played and read all afternoon and we figured out how to change out some of the water in the fish tank. Then I dropped NT at Minna's for board games and dinner at the restaurant while Liz and I went to Irish step class.

NT was up early to watch PBS's Cyberchase on 2 & 3D geometry. He worked for quite awhile afterward reworking the LEGO model of his bedroom that he had made the day before. He built his "dream bedroom" out of LEGOs to show us how he wants his room set up (there are lots of fish tanks in it).

Lizzy had ballet in the morning and while we waited, NT and I worked a little more in the math workbook for my benefit, though we were interrupted by one of the other moms who sells Usborne books. We spent the rest of the time looking through her samples and they are really amazing. NT was actually jumping up and down with excitement over BOOKS!

The kids spent the afternoon building with K'nex and playing basketball in the basement...until NT decided to bring his dribbling practice up to the dining room, which lasted for quite a while.

Late afternoon NT had a Mad Science Class and then went to Minna's for dinner where they played card games and board games. Meanwhile Lizzy and I went to Irish step where Lizzy had a real live fiddler in class!

Highlights from the past several days:

We tried out the new play group last Friday. They were meeting for a class on endangered species at Woodlake Nature Center. NT at first refused to go and refused to "learn anything" but, wouldn't you know it, he learned a lot, got to touch a live turtle, met some new friends, and had a lot of fun.

Saturday morning NT had a basketball game and had a good-sized cheering section, as usual. He and John went to the fish store afterward and he brought home 5 new tiny fish for his tank--he has been reading about them over and over in his fish book.

Sunday Aunty Em and Craig took the kids ice skating and out for a treat afterward. We had homemade pizza and banana splits in honor of Valentine's Day while watching the Olympics.

Monday Lizzy had ballet and then the kids went swimming with Grampy and Maria at the "indoor beach" and out for a treat afterward. Late afternoon, NT went to play at the neighbors' while Liz and I went to Irish step class--it was a busy day!

All the while, NT has been keeping up with PBS's Cyberchase, reading his fish book like a fiend, inventing all kinds of things, playing like crazy with his Marbulous building set, devising and writing up all kinds of "secret plans" to "trick" his parents with his sister, and conducting all kinds of physics experiments in the living room which make a huge mess and drive his mother crazy. :-)

NT was up to watch PBS's Cyberchase on mixed numbers in fractions.

We were out the door early this morning to get to The Snowy Day at Stages Theatre with a bunch of other homeschoolers. While waiting for the play to start, NT and I talked about the different kinds of jobs people have to create a play--creative director, music director, choreographer, lighting designer, costume/make-up designer, etc.

After the play we had a quick stop at home to change to go check out the homeschool open house sample classes at Ballare where Lizzy takes ballet. Lizzy tried out the homeschool Creative Dance class and NT tried the hip hop class because he is interested in breakdancing...but they didn't do any.

In the end, the director and I decided to keep Lizzy in her regular class instead of switching to the new homeschool class because there is no year-end performance with the homeschool class. The performance is very important to Lizzy!

In between activities NT has been poring over his tropical fish book planning for the trip to the fish store on Saturday. He has all kinds of fish picked out. It will be interesting to see what he comes home with!

NT has invented all kinds of things today--from a sling shot to a paper surf board (to slide down the dance studio stairs) to a bird feeder made out of an egg carton. I can hardly keep up.

Liz surprised me and "cleaned" her room all by herself this afternoon (the floor is picked up and there is a "mountain" piled up on top of her bed, her toy box, her shopping cart...), and she has spent quite a bit of time this afternoon performing with her microphone on her "stage" (today it's the couch). If only I could find her a class where she could sing and dance at the same time!

It will be early to bed tonight!

This morning NT was up early for PBS's Cyberchase on direction and distance.

Lizzy had ballet this morning and while we were waiting, I showed NT how to finger knit. He worked quietly on his rope for the entire time, and then worked for another couple hours once we got home. He plans to make a rope long enough to go around the whole living room.

After lunch we went back out to shovel and the kids played for quite awhile in the new snow.

NT continues to try to teach his sister how to play chess...so far it's not really taking, but he likes to keep trying anyway.

We dropped NT off at his cooking class late-afternoon and then Liz and I were off to her very first Irish step class, which she loved. They learned some dance steps and did some rhythms and learned a song.

NT had dinner at Minna and Grandpa Alan's where he got to play chess!

Last Friday we went with a homeschool group to see Mr. McGee and the Biting Flea at the Children's Theatre and met some new friends who invited us to try out a new play group not far from us which we will do on Friday of this week. After the play we spent a little bit of time at the Minneapolis Institute of Arts, but NT was disappointed that there wasn't any artwork up that was done by kids, like the last time he visited, so we didn't stay long.

Saturday NT had a big audience at his basketball game--Aunty Em, Grampy, Maria, Grandpa Alan, and Minna all joined us and got to see NT make the first basket of the game for the second week in a row!

Afterward we went to the co-op and then John took the kids ice skating (Lizzy's first time!) late afternoon. Grandma Ruth and Bob came to play in the evening and the kids stayed up late taking "pictures" with the old camera they brought and playing all kinds of board games.

Sunday NT and John went briefly to a Cub Scout event and then we had a quiet day. We all stayed up late to watch the Grammy awards. NT wanted to see the Black Eyed Peas perform and Lizzy likes all the singing and dancing ladies.

This morning NT was up early to watch Cyberchase on gears ("algebraic thinking").

Lizzy had ballet class and NT practiced punting his hackey sack up the stairs the entire time. He was trying to figure out how to get the ball to go straight, as opposed to curving or hitting the ceiling--it was an interesting scientific experiment!

The kids played all afternoon and then NT went to cooking class. It will be early to bed tonight!

This morning NT watched PBS's Cyberchase on counter examples.

Lizzy had a make-up gymnastics class today and NT wrote several thank-you notes-turned-art-projects while we waited.

The kids asked to go the IKEA play area for a while on the way home from gymnastics and then they played together at home for the rest of the afternoon. Lizzy did some artwork with water colors and markers and showed me a some new Irish Step dance moves that she learned from watching a video clip.

NT had ceramics this evening and was excited to have been able to use the pottery wheel to make a cup in class.

This evening NT put together a fish mobile from Grampy and Maria all by himself.

NT watched PBS's Cyberchase this morning. The topic was deductive reasoning.

NT was in a crabby mood, so I chose the music selection and put in hip hop again, since it really seems to perk the kids up.

Lizzy had ballet class this morning and NT worked on one of his numbers workbooks the entire time. He read all the clues and found all the numbers. He worked on some spelling as he went along. He learned how to check his answers in the back of the book and practiced looking things up by page number.

We went to the library and NT checked out 27 books on football--books about each of the different teams. He laid them out all over the living room floor when we got home and looked them over while listening to the audio book Dinosaurs Never Say Please by Bill Harley.

Before leaving for his cooking class, NT helped me make homemade egg noodles. We measured out the size of the noodles with a ruler so we knew we were cutting them to the size the recipe called for.

While NT was at cooking class, Lizzy and I discussed how icicles are formed. We read several picture books while we waited to pick NT up after class.

Back at home, we cooked the homemade noodles and decided to give them only 2 stars and cross them off the repeat list. They weren't too bad, but they were a lot of work to chew!

This morning NT was up early for PBS's Cyberchase. The topic was the importance of zeros.

The kids did their new morning routines for the first time in the new year. Our new routines include taking a job from the FlyLady Job Jar and quickly getting it done. At first NT was skeptical, but then he said the job didn't take very long (pulling all the toys/trash/misc. out from behind the couch) so he wanted *another* one to do!

NT's routine also includes choosing a CD for us to listen to each morning while we are getting ready for the day so the kids can be exposed to all different kinds of music. Today's CD was Caribbean music!

While getting ready to leave for ballet, NT and I discussed the difference between offense and defense using the example of the Vikings football team, of course.

While Lizzy was in her ballet class, NT worked on a game that involves figuring out how to get a little ice cream truck out of a traffic jam. It can be very tricky and he kept busy the whole 45 minutes with various "jams" I set up for him.

After ballet the kids went swimming at the "indoor beach" and to lunch with Grampy & Maria. Then we dropped NT at his arts-&-crafts-turned-cooking class. We got the call this afternoon that the class had been changed and he decided to try the cooking class, even though he was skeptical. Of course, he liked it and is already looking forward to next week!

Tonight NT worked way past bedtime in his room practicing writing his name in cursive. He has been asking for weeks to learn cursive, so I picked up a book and some tools/paper for him today. He worked for over an hour practicing his first name and was timing himself to see how long it takes him each time--48 seconds is his best time so far!