summer time photos

It was quite warm for a couple of days. Today is cooler and the kids and I enjoyed a walk in the woods with our dog Jack, who is ALWAYS up for a walk in the woods. Samuel took some photos of me, Eva and Jack. We had a lot of fun taking them. I am giving up modifying them and just picking one to use for the photo for the about me section of this blog. It seemed odd to have a picture of me without anyone else in it because I so rarely find myself completely alone these days. Someone is usually vying for space on my lap or pushing a cat off or something. So the photo is not only a photo of me but is also a photo of how life is right now.



The kids discovered our Japanese Maple in the front yard. Of all the trees it is the most inviting to little climbers. It is close to the ground and they don't have to stand on a stool to reach the first branches as they do with the apple tree. Samuel decided to make it into a club, complete with a club picnic and games. They played water quirting games and sack races. There was another game in between but as I recall it was met with a good many shouts and cries. I got photos of the picnic and the sack races!





Samuel has been wanting to take a class in electricity. His intent is to eventually build a robot and he wants to know how the robots work. We have done some reading about electricity and I have searched around for classes and have not found anything promising, yet. But today we stumbled upon a great electricity kit at a toy store we like called Let's Play in downtown Hillsboro. We were there to replace the plastic sword that Sparrow ate while she was missing us one day while we were out without her. It is this great kit called Snap Circuits Jr. and you can really move around the different components to turn on lights, move fans and make music (although we haven't figured this part out yet). And I am thrilled that it is both visual! and spatial! and very hands-on! Samuel had a the fan up and running and then bypassed the button to keep it running at all times. I love how the kids can move the pieces and get an idea how the electricity flows. There are more complicated components that he can add as he gets the hang of it. We are definitely on our way to building a robot!

We are also enjoying a book we found at the library called Transformed: How Everyday Things are Made by Bill Slavin. This book is great! We've been picking out a couple topics each night. Last night we learned how baseballs and jellybeans are made. The night before it was neon signs and plastic dinosaurs. I am looking forward to pencils.

I took this quiz that will tell you which book you are. I am A Prayer for Owen Meany by John Irving. This is what the quiz said about that- "Despite humble and perhaps literally small beginnings, you inspire faith in almost everyone you know. You are an agent of higher powers, and you manifest this fact in mysterious and loud ways. A sense of destiny pervades your every waking moment, and you prepare with great detail for destiny fulfilled. When you speak, IT SOUNDS LIKE THIS!" I was intrigued and decided to check out the book. I have been so pleasantly surprised and am really enjoying the book. I had no idea John Irving was such a funny guy. He has a real dry whit to be sure.