NT was up early to watch PBS's Cyberchase on linear measurement. Afterward, he watched an IMAX DVD on Shark Island and a Nature DVD on sharks.

Lizzy asked me to bring the big cardboard blocks up so they could build their own coral reef which didn't last long because NT was back into reading his fish book to figure out what he wants to do now that he's not sure he wants to keep the other blue gourami after the tragedy. He is also very intent on getting a loach, so he's trying to read up to figure out which kind will be suitable for his tank. In the process of his research he came across the term "import", so we talked about what it means to "import" or "export" something.

The kids played Go Fish again. I'm not sure how much Lizzy "gets it", but they seem to enjoy playing it anyway and she is easily identifying the numbers.

We spent the entire afternoon with homeschool friends at the zoo and had a great time getting lots of exercise and learning lots of new things about the many aquatic fish and animals they have there!

Highlights of the past few days include:

Zoo with friends Augie and Louisa on Thursday where NT took a complete inventory of all the fish at the zoo to see if there were any breeds there that he could get for his tank.

Gymnastics for Lizzy on Friday morning. While we were waiting NT and I went through a good portion of the a first grade math workbook (for me) so I could feel comfortable that he does, indeed, know the kinds of things first graders are "supposed" to know.

Friday afternoon NT had homeschool science club at the Science Museum which turned out to be a disaster. We have been repeatedly disappointed with the calibre of those classes and have decided to find other more exciting places to participate in science classes. While NT was being bored to death in class, Lizzy and I hung out with Runa and her mom at the museum. After class all the kids ran crazy together to burn off all their pent up energy!

This morning NT had a basketball game and had Grampy & Maria and Minna & Grandpa Alan in the cheering section. He is making great strides and is really enjoying the game.

After basketball we took a family field trip to the fish store where we spent a huge amount of time talking with the staff about our cloudy water problem, learning about what kind of fish food we need (we ran out of what the fish came with), and asking about what to do about our Betta who doesn't eat. NT got two new powder blue fish for his tank (I can't remember the kind...).

NT has been keeping up with PBS's Cyberchase, and for days the kids have been building with the big cardboard blocks I brought up from the basement. They have also been getting tons of entertainment out of the huge Rubbermaid container that the blocks are stored in. It is fascinating to see the kinds of games the kids come up with on their own.

NT has been drawing, wrote a letter to Ezra, has been asking about the meanings of sooooooooo many words, has been reading his fish book like crazy, and asks so many questions about so many things I can't keep up! :-)

This morning NT flew out of bed to watch PBS's Cyberchase about math in nature.

The kids spent the morning building all kinds of forts in the living room, building with the Marbulous set, and generally making a huge mess of the house.

Lizzy went to Minna's after lunch to bake a birthday cake for Kiki while NT and I went to a homeschool program put on by Mad Science on air pressure at an Eagan library. Afterward, NT and I went to Bridgeman's for a treat. Lizzy went shopping with Minna at the co-op.

We saw another wild turkey on the parkway on the way home.

As we go about our days, NT and I talk about a lot of life issues, most of which I forget to write down, but a teeny tiny number of examples just from the past few days include: restaurant franchises (who owns McDonald's), how Elvis died, how come so many famous people die of drug overdoses, who is more famous (U2 or the Beetles) and why, who are the first and second most-wanted "bad guys" in the world and why, could you start your own organic fast food restaurant or not, why are some people's houses worth more than others, what is debt and why can't the bank just give us more money just because we want it...plus, I am constantly defining words.

I feel pretty confident he wouldn't be learning many of these things sitting in school all day, if for no other reason than that he wouldn't be as exposed to as many real-world things that prompt him to ask! :-)

The kids built with K'nex in the living room late this afternoon and then went out to play with the neighbor girl in the snow before dinner. John and both the kids walked over to NT's basketball practice this evening.

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. :-)

We have been so busy the past few days that I've had a hard time keeping up!

Sunday we had brunch at Minna's with a number of our Seattle relatives who were visiting. Of course, during most of it, NT was glued to the Vikings game in Minna's den.

Late Sunday afternoon NT and Liz went to Grandma Ruth's to decorate Valentine's Day cookies and play with Bob. They came home with a huge stash of craft supplies (and a glue gun!) from Grandma Ruth and a whole bunch of notebooks and pencils and items for NT's Leonardo DaVinci inventions from Bob.

Monday morning Liz had ballet and NT worked with his new multiplication flash cards while we waited. We went to the library and NT checked out a number of books on medieval knights & weaponry, and some books on different types of spy planes, etc.

In the afternoon NT went to Minna's for a walk with some of the Seattle folk and then back to the condo to work with his new glue gun. Meanwhile, Lizzy and I met some of our new friends for a hike by the river and a warm-up afterward at the Riverview.

Tuesday NT asked if we could go to the Science Museum to see the Titanic exhibit once more before the exhibit closes. We saw that exhibit and explored many others, including the Egyptian mummy, which we discussed at length with a docent.

We went to the historic 5.8 for lunch and learned about its history and how it started. We talked about the Prohibition and what a speakeasy was.

Late afternoon NT had ceramics class where they are currently working on tea sets.

Today Liz visited with more Seattle folk at Minna's with Auntie Em for brunch while NT and I went to check out The Works where they had a homeschooler program on estimation and budgeting today. NT really liked it and is looking forward to visiting again soon.

When we got home Maria met us with a HUGE surprise for NT. She found a 20 gallon tank with all the equipment (including fish!) for NT, who has been wanting his own fish tank for a very long time. We spent the afternoon cleaning and filling the tank, and then NT and Maria went to the fish store to learn more about what to do to try to keep the existing fish alive. NT is beside himself with excitement!

Tonight NT and John are at basketball practice.

All week NT has been keeping up with PBS's Cyberchase and we have been practicing a lot of math as it has applied to our everyday life. We have been reading another Hardy Boys' mystery. NT has had his globe out and has been figuring out where places are, like Wisconsin and Iceland. The kids have been building things like crazy with the Magna Tiles and jumping on the trampoline in the living room and making obstacle courses all over the first floor.

I think we're all ready for a day off!

This morning we chose an acoustic guitar CD, Fingerdance, for our morning music. At first NT claimed to be unimpressed, but later he requested that I put the CD back on.

We played a trivia game that NT made up, and then he worked on some tinfoil inventions while pretending that he wasn't listening to the Hello, Mrs. Piggle Wiggle audio book. Since it seems to him (by the title) that it is a book that girls would like, he wants no part of it, but I caught him listening when he didn't know I was around.

Today was Lizzy's first day of "big girl" gymnastics--a class that parents don't have to be in. NT and I watched from the lobby and NT worked on two different math workbooks--which also involved writing and spelling--and his ice cream truck brain-teaser puzzle while we were waiting.

We grocery shopped for much of the afternoon. Along the way NT and I discussed a surprising number of "big life" stuff. We talked about who Elvis Presley was and how he died. We talked about what it means to overdose on drugs and how that can sometimes happen. We talked about why it seems like that happens to a lot of famous people.

We also talked about how "St." is an abbreviation for both "Saint" and "Street". We talked about what a saint is and what it might take to become a saint.

We talked about pro football contracts and how they might be negotiated and how a player gets signed to play for one team or another.

We talked about how hard he would have to work and how long it would take him to save the $5 he wanted me to spend to buy little individually-wrapped Bonabel cheeses that I think are outrageously expensive (over $1 apiece!).

This evening we tried a new recipe for dinner--Croque Monsieur--and NT gave it four stars--five stars when he tried mine with the fried egg on top. I am so proud of him for really stepping out of his comfort zone and trying new foods from the cookbook we are working out of together.

Tonight NT and John went to the Cub Scout pack's game night and had a lot of fun. NT was excited about it all day and was not disappointed. They didn't get home until after 9 p.m.!

NT watched PBS's Cyberchase this morning. The topic was balancing equations.

The music selection for the morning routine today was rap...which in this case was pretty much the same as the hip hop CD the kids have been favoring, so that was kind of a bust.

We read quite a bit of the new Hardy Boys book this morning, looked up several words we didn't know, and then NT worked on writing his last name in cursive. The kids also played with the Magna Tiles and Maria's dogs for a good portion of the morning.

This afternoon we tried a new homeschool playgroup, which the kids loved. There was a whole pack of boys NT's age to sled and play basketball with, and Lizzy played with 3 other girls near her age, which was fun to watch. This was the first time Lizzy has been in an unstructured group of children and she did beautifully.

After playing with the other kids for almost 5 hours, the kids fell right to sleep tonight!

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!

Another big day today...

NT was up early to watch PBS's Cyberchase on angles in bouncing.

The kids listened to Marlo Thomas' Free to Be You and Me while NT played with LEGOs and Lizzy played with the Bright Builders. They raced again on their 2-floor obstacle course and then NT read to me from his book on pet fish while I helped Lizzy get dressed. We discussed the meaning of the word "prone".

Grampy and Maria picked both kids up to go see Disney's The Princess and the Frog and took them to lunch at the Rainforest Cafe. Maria and NT pored over NT's fish books and Maria told him all about all the fish she used to keep. He really wants a big tank and is saving up. Right now he says he wants guppies.

John left work early so he could join us on our trek down to Honeymoon Creamery, just outside of Red Wing, to pick up the last of our fresh milk until spring. While John and I loaded up the milk, the kids romped around on the farm in the snow with the farm dog and got to see a very cold turkey who "leaked" out of the warm barn out into the snow!

On the way home we drove through the city of Red Wing and the kids commented on what a pretty town it is (especially all lit up and decorated for Christmas!). We decided when it warms up a little we would take a field trip to Red Wing and will check out all the cool places like the famous St. James Hotel and Red Wing pottery. NT was especially interested in the limestone bluffs and we told him how they use dynamite to blast the limestone apart so they can put a road right through a bluff. John showed him how you can see the lines where they drilled to insert the dynamite.

Later we stopped to check out the ski hills at Welch Village (the kids approved and want to ski there sometime this season), and then had burgers and crinkle fries at Wiederholt's in Miesville. There, NT and I read more from his fish books (he wants to do tons of research to get his tank!) and then played hangman while we waited for our food. Meantime, Lizzy played waitress and took John's order with her notebook and pen. NT did an experiment to see if he could numb his taste buds with an ice cube so that he couldn't taste the water in his glass (it tasted like iron). He said it worked.

By the time we passed the Koch refinery it was dark outside and the refinery is stunning with all the lights. The kids don't remember seeing it this way before and were quite impressed. We talked about how they change oil into gasoline for our cars there.

Just before home we stopped at our favorite Christmas light house a few blocks from home. The whole house is decorated with millions of tiny little colored lights that are perfectly synced to music on a special radio station you can turn on in your car. It is really impressive and the kids love it. We can't figure out just how they do it, but one of these years we plan to find out!

This morning NT tried out a class at Leonardo's Basement where he joined six other boys for a half-day of "building stuff". First he got to take apart an old tape recorder and then he got to design and put together three of his own inventions, including one with a circuit that lit up a Christmas tree light.

Before we left for the class he asked why it was called "Leonardo's Basement" since Leonardo Da Vinci was a famous artist, and he was going to class to build things, not paint things. So while NT was in class, Lizzy and I went to the library and checked out several age-appropriate books on Leonardo Da Vinci.

We looked over the books this afternoon after class and discovered that Da Vinci was also very famous for being an inventor. We read that he lived over 500 years ago and learned about the Renaissance period. We discussed the definition of "ancestors". One of the books even has directions for lots of cool inventions that NT can do mostly on his own...after we collect a few things like cereal boxes and paper towel rolls.

While we were at the library, Lizzy and I discussed the courtesy of walking up and down the right-hand side of the stairway so as not to block others who were going the opposite direction.

This afternoon the kids listened to Marlo Thomas' Free to be You and Me on CD while building with their Magnatiles, setting up and running an obstacle course that they put together on two floors of the house, and setting up their own bowling alley using some of our over-sized cardboard blocks as pins. Nicholas tried out different balls to figure out which one was the best size and weight to knock over the "pins".

Later the kids helped me grate the cheese for the homemade pizza we made for dinner tonight.

At clean-up time we talked about estimating and NT estimated how long it would take them to clean up the living room and then we played "beat the clock" to get it done. He overestimated the amount of time he thought it would take them by quite a bit!

Lizzy helped her daddy make a special dessert tonight to eat during the Vikings game, which NT and John are watching now. NT is getting really good at following the game, picking up the terminology, and understanding how the teams can get points in different ways.

This morning NT was up bright and early, as usual, to watch PBS's Cyberchase where today's topic was observing and tracking animal behavior.

We read several chapters of our current Hardy Boys mystery and looked up the words "spume" and "cowling" in the dictionary. We also read Silver Spurs by Minnesota author Robert R. Knigge, the story of the elf who helps Santa get into homes like ours that have no chimney!

NT was working on new paper airplane models from one of his books again this morning. I showed him how to use a ruler to make a 6" x 6" square out of an 8.5 x 11 sheet of paper for one of his planes. I also showed him how to make and use a template so he didn't need to keep measuring out 6 x 6 squares whenever he needed one.

Lizzy practiced reading some of her alphabet letters, and then we ran last-minute pre-holiday errands. Along the way we discussed the difference between "building" and "remodeling". We also explained to Lizzy what an "advertisement" is, and I quizzed NT on the "tricks" of multiplication when the numbers have zeros in them, like 10 or 50 or 600.

We stopped at the library for a new round of books, including some for NT on keeping fish as pets since he is really hoping for a big fish tank (the kind that requires lights and filters and heaters...) around his birthday.

The kids spent the late afternoon working on crafts for some of their cousins while listening to an audio book of Encyclopedia Brown mysteries.

This morning NT was up early as usual to learn about grids on PBS's Cyberchase.

Afterward, I read several chapters of Hardy Boys The Secret of the Old Mill aloud while NT designed and created a "Vikings" banner on the floor next to me. He cut the letters freehand out of construction paper and then we punched holes and strung them all together on a ribbon. We talked about spacing and balance and he learned that he needed to string the letters on in reverse so the letters were in the right order when it was all done.

While reading the Hardy Boys we looked up the word "counterfeit" and "oppressive" and talked about what a thesaurus is vs. a dictionary. We talked about what the word "descriptive" means and looked up the words "happy" and "sad" in the thesaurus.

NT and I practiced using a tape measure to measure the table he made for me earlier this year so Grandpa Alan can help him add braces so it doesn't wobble. We measure in both feet and inches and talked about which direction to pull the tape measure in when you are measuring something that goes all the way to the floor.

Liz went to visit Minna & Grandpa Alan where they practiced writing "Sebastien" and watched The Nutcracker ballet on DVD.

NT had one of his favorite friends, Brenna, over and they played both indoors and out for several hours--pirates, Marbulous, sword fights, football (in the living room!), wrestling...they never run out of ideas when they are together!

Late this afternoon NT & Liz set up their own makeshift bowling alley in the living room using cardboard building blocks for bowling pins.

NT wrapped up the long day by quietly working on more paper airplanes out of one of his library books.

This morning NT helped me make breakfast (Minna showed him a great way to crack eggs that works well for him every time!) and then John took the kids for a run around the neighborhood. Afterward, they played outside in the snow for quite awhile and then went sledding at the golf course.

This afternoon the kids and I walked over to see Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs, a movie based on the book of the same name by Judi Barrett and Ron Barrett. It was Liz's first movie in a theater and she loved it.

Since the theater only takes cash and we rarely carry any, I borrowed cash from NT. John took the opportunity to explain to NT that he should charge me interest and explained to him that's how banks make money. I also had NT figure out how much it would cost for the three of us to see the movie ($2 x 3 people) and asked him to figure out how much change I would get back from the cashier.

Earlier in the day NT asked me how people could afford to retire--where do they get money? I explained the concept (and importance) of saving and investing for retirement.

We also discussed, at length, alternate meanings of the word "sharp": That looks sharp and Be there at 5:00 sharp.

The kids were engaged in imaginative play together for quite awhile this afternoon.

This evening the kids helped John put together Liz's castle, NT and I walked the dog around the neighborhood and looked at all the Christmas lights, and NT watched PBS's This Old House before bed "so I can give Daddy some tips".

Today was our first "official" day trying out the unschooling life. Of course, it wasn't any different than any other day, except that I was much more aware of what the kids were learning and absorbing as we went about our business.

NT started the morning bright and early watching Cyberchase on PBS, where he learned about measuring the passage of time.

Later, we picked Minna up and went downtown to see the 8th floor Macy's holiday story, A Day in the Life of an Elf. We arrived just as it opened so we almost had the place to ourselves, giving the kids as much time and space as they liked to check out each animated scene.

Afterward, the kids burned off some energy running around in the skyway while we tracked John down and then walked over to Peter's Grill--the "oldest continually operating restaurant in the city" (94 years!)--where Minna treated us to brunch.

This afternoon NT spent several hours building and rebuilding structures with his new Marbulous set from Gramma Ruth. He talked about gravity and angles as he re-engineered his designs to make the marbles go faster or take different paths. For a little while he had some help from Grandpa Alan.

We read Hardy Boys' Secret of the Old Mill out loud for about an hour. NT asked if he could stop me if he heard a word he didn't understand so I could explain it to him. Today he learned what "genuine" means.

NT also spent quite a bit of time in his basement "studio" working on various crafts, including some pretty cool monsters he fashioned out of sparkly pipe cleaners.

After LL's nap we watched a DVD of Swan Lake from the library so she could see real ballerinas perform. Interestingly, her brother seemed much more interested in the performance than she was!

NT read a book about the Titanic to himself at bedtime. He is really fascinated by shipwrecks. We talked about how scary it must have been for the people who were on the ship when it went down.