Dinosaurs!

Well, the dinosaurs have definitely taken over our house. Out came the bucket-o-dinos from the garage. Out came the robot dinosaurs. We have checked out several detailed, not-so-detailed, simple and complex books about dinosaurs of all types from the library. Dinosaurs counting, doing their abc's, going to sleep, chasing people, showing up out of nowhere...The kids have played dinosaur video games, including the Walking With Dinosaurs game, which has a very complicated and fun time line to fill in with dinosaur pictures and names, the likes of which most of us have never heard of!

There have been several videos watched and rewatched about dinosaurs, including one of Eva's favorites, The Land Before Time (and all of the seven or eight! follow up episodes, which aren't nearly as good as the original, in my opinion) as well as Dinosaur and Dinotopia and of course, Walking with Dinosaurs. And did you know there is a Walking with Prehistoric Animals (I can't remember the exact title). Samuel liked this one better than the original one with Dinosaurs. The favorite, by far, has been Chased by Dinosaurs and Allosaurus (the story of Al, the allosaurus). Both specials are made by Walking with Dinosaurs, so the graphics are amazing. And there is much theory woven into a story about how the dinosaurs looked and lived and enjoyed their time on Earth so many years ago.

Last night we read a great book, Did Dinosaurs eat Pizza, which talked about what we don't know about dinosaurs. I enjoyed reading this after Walking with Dinosaurs because it focused on what we know for sure about dinosaurs and what are theories and guesses and ideas about how dinosaurs may have lived. Eva was very happy to find out that some of the momma prehistoric beasties may not have just abandoned their young like the narrator said they did. She was very happy it was just a theory!

In the car Samuel likes to go over many of the dinosaurs and what we know about them. He likes to list off the dinosaurs that *most* people know about, the old standbys like stegosaurus, triceratops, t-rex, you know the usuals...And then he lists some of the dinosaurs that only experts know about. I can't remember those right now and am not sure if he includes me in with the experts or not. I do know that he lists himself as a certified dinosaur expert and on most day he even includes Eva!

This is great. One thing that I really love is finding out what other people are passionate about.

Today I was doing a search online about how shells are made and I came across this blog that has A LOT of information about slugs and snails, which I love, but which this person seems to be dedicated to at a whole other level... It is a real pleasure to look through this blog and see some of his photos and to witness his enthusiasm for snails and slugs- and his knowledge! There are several comments on his page as well, illustrating that others out there are enthusiastic too! And it is nice to know that others are taking photos of slugs out there in the world as well.0.

"There is one common flow, one common breathing. All things are in sympathy."
-Hippocrates

What's going on around here-

-little spiders, really little, making little webs under places like an oregano leaf, so tiny...

-watching our dog Jack peel off tiny pieces of melted parmesan cheese from a slice of zucchini

-Eva telling me she learned something today and me asking what, sweetie and her answering, "cucumber sticks to walls..." and me remembering back through the day and thinking, "ah ha! that's what she was doing"

-after two really dissatisfying days in a playful inventions class, Samuel finally tells me he thought it was going to be a woodworking class (things I wish I had known before...)

-minestrone soup and zucchini and blueberry muffins

-fun art class!

-sunflowers and roses blooming together

-lots of kale, lots and lots of kale

-a cool book called Dragonolgy, all about dragons!

The other day I was making dinner...

and Eva came in to make dinner with me. She plays games while I cook or hang laundry or garden and incorporates her game into what I am doing. So, for instance, she came into the kitchen and explained that she was a woman back in olden times in Britain. And she asked me how I got here and would I like to help her. So I told her the trees brought me and yes I would like to help. And we're off... I cook dinner and through it Eva and I have a dialog going in her game. This one was very curious to me because I have been noticing Eva noticing some of our less than desirable aspects for women in our sometimes misogynistic culture.

Eva talked a lot about the culture where she was *pretending* to be. She said that in her culture, all of the women cook dinner. And all of the men run around outside saying "The British are coming, the British are coming!" And all of the children play all day long. And then she said this was all good because the women LIKED to cook dinner and the men LIKED to run around saying "The British are coming, the British are coming!" and the kids LIKED to play. I thought this was so great. I love that she puts such importance on all of the people enjoying what they do. Of course they enjoy it! Why else would you do something, after all!

After we finished cooking, Eva put everything out on the table because she likes to have a feast! When we had finished I told Eva that I wanted to vacuum. Eva turned to me and said, "Well, Momma, in this culture we only vacuum once a week and that day is, unfortunately, tomorrow."

Brandywine Tomato

Well, the brandywine tomatoes are divine! I made some salsa this week with some of them and it was so out of this world I had to share it!

1 yellow brandywine tomato
1 pink brandywine tomato
some red cherry tomatoes
a red tomato or two
4-ish or more purple tomatillos
1 purple onion
4-5 cloves of garlic or more
cilantro
salt

Chop it all up and mix it up. Wow!

I can't believe that I had never had a tomatillo until this year. They are delicious. Crunchier than tomatoes, slightly sweet and tart. The combination with the brandywines was what really made the salsa. Any kinds of tomatoes, however, could be used to make the salsa, with or without tomatillos! Yum!

We finished up the Tales from the Odyssey series by Mary Pope Osborne last night. At the very end of the story there is a touching scene when Odysseus and his father Laertes finally meet again after so many years apart. It is a touching and sad scene because Laertes talks of his grief and how he missed Odysseus. But at the at one point he does something that seemed so incongruous and silly that Samuel burst out laughing. Then we both laughed and laughed. We are still laughing about it this morning-

"Then the burden of his grief became too much for him. Groaning with misery, he picked up a handful of dirt and poured it over his head."

Ok, so obviously we weren't laughing at the poor man and his grief, but at him pouring the dirt over his head! How did that come up? This morning I was kind of grumpy at one point because I hadn't gotten to eat breakfast, etc. Samuel broke the tension by saying in a very serious tone, "he poured dirt onto his head..." So funny and it lightened things right up! Thank you Laertes!

Freshly gleaned license plate wisdom found at our homeschooling center today-

"Those who say it cannot be done shouldn't interrupt the people doing it!"

Ellen and Eva playing cards and doing stickers. Eva is dressed as a police officer.



Samuel and Evan playing the police officer/ thief game. Samuel is in full officer regalia, catching an elusive thief no doubt. And Jack never misses an opportunity to suggest someone throw the ball for him.



Samuel learning how to play chess with Evan.



Eva and Ellen doing lots of puzzles. This puzzle of the United States prompted Eva to tell me that she really wants to see more of the world.

I am really tired. I must be the only person in this house who ever gets tired, besides the cats, that is. And Jack seems to enjoy sleeping quite a bit lately as well. Samuel is playing last minute video games and Eva is having a picnic!! in the living room. Not sure what is on the agenda for tomorrow. I am sure it will be inspiring whatever it is!