Battle Shields

We are still working on our Middle Age unit. Today we worked on making our battle shields. It was very interesting discovering what the different colors,animals and designs meant. When a knight was in battle they had to be able to distinguish whether another knight was friend or foe. You had to be able to tell all of that from their shield. The colors had to be very bright so that you could see the shields from far away. The boys thought the most interesting thing was if you had an animal that the tongues, claws, eyes were bright red. This stood for courage and fierceness. Very Interesting!!!

Gutenburg Printing Press

Andrew cutting his stamp on the potato

Austin cutting his stamp. Sample of work.

Today we studied about Johann Gutenberg and the printing of the first bible. We did a project with potatoes and cutting out the image that you want on the potato like a stamp. This was a lot more difficult than we thought it was going to be. We also quickly realized how difficult it must have been for Johann to do this, of course he was using blocks of wood. This was one of those times that because of the activity that we put with the lesson that I saw the boys get "it". Very fun. But a note to any of those who might be considering doing this, potatoes are wet and slimy. They also start to turn brown very quickly. Which at that point they start to smell funny:)

Medieval Weapons

We have been studying the middle ages. Today we finally got to the weapons that were used during that time period. Austin was surprised that other things beside swords. We made mini catapults that will later go in our miniature castles . So we spent all afternoon reading the very easy instructions that with both boys weren't very easy. After 2 hours we finally completed our catapults, to our amazment they worked. So now I have little paper balls throughout my house. We have enjoyed studying the middle ages and look forward to the next couple of weeks finishing up. We still have a castle,knight shields a family coat of arms and a grand finale of a feast. It should be fun and exciting.

Day of Baseball

Yesterday we took the boys to the batting cages. They had so much fun spending time doing what they love with Dad. I however sat on the sidelines and watched. I still can't believe how much the boys have grown up in the last few years. Here they were in the batting cages with the balls flying at them at 70MPH, I still remember them trying to hit the ball off the tee.

Ear Candles?

Have you ever heard of such a thing? Well I had heard of it but never done it. Today I made a phone call to our pastor's wife who just happens to be a nurse. Austin was has had an ear ache the last couple of days and I wasn't for sure if there was something I could do over the counter instead of having to have a doctors appointment. She suggested a couple of things and then suggested that we try ear candling. So we went to the health food store and picked up our "candles". Both boys were so interested and wanted to learn more. So the lady at the health food store was so nice and showed them a book showing them what the ear canal looks like and where the waxbuild up was and how the candle would work. So we got home and went to work. Both of the boys and myself did this. Can I just say GROSS!!!! I couldn't believe the yucky wax that came out. I also can't believe how much better I'm hearing. Since it was gross both boys were very interested. I also was able to throw in a lesson on the human body, they don't realize that they had a lesson which was why it was so much fun. I was going to take pictures of what we got out of our ears, but I couldn't bring myself to do this. That is how incredibly gross it was.

Stormy Whether

We were out and about yesterday evening running errands and the clouds starting looking very grim. The boys pointed out the window and said that cloud looks like a tornado. Sure enough it did. I had to try and find whether on the radio to make sure that is wasn't . As soon as I knew that we were safe I thought I should take a picture. As usual I never have my camera when I need it. But thanks to camera phones I was able to snap a picture. Mother Nature is truely amazing. Shortly after we took this picture it started raining big drops and we also had pea size hail. I was very glad to get home.

Spring Fever

I'm trying to post more frequently. Time just flies by so fast. We are trying to push strong for the next month then we will start summer break. The boys are ready and so is Mom. We started a Middle age unit last week and the boys, especially Austin are so excited. I look forward to the next couple of weeks and some of the projects that we are going to do. The boys are going to make their own shields, build a model of a castle and we will finish up with a large feast costumes optional.

Both boys are also starting baseball. They are on different teams this year. John is coaching both teams so the next few months are going to be keeping the road hot.

Last week the boys went to a 70's party at our church so I'm posting a couple pictures of the costumes that they came up with. I promise they aren't making gang symbols this is just their version of a peace sign.