martinzoo

This morning I had to pick my bil up from surgery (He’s ok). And the whole way there I kept being awed by the spectacular color of the Fall foliage this year. This is the best year I’ve seen in many. And my bil and I marveled all the way home.

Then, when I got home, someone had sent me this video featuring Sir Ken Robinson speaking about creativity being killed in the public school system.  And the two events, plus my creative nature, converged, and pointed towards a day of artistic pursuits.

While I was picking up my bil, GB was home with my dh dutifully working on his online German course. So that by the time I got home he was ready for a break. While he was outside on the swing set, I got all my art materials out. And when he came in we painted. I got our project ideas from the amazing woman on this site. I love the way she explains her processes.

Usually, GB does not want to do ‘art’ but if you ask him if he wants to ‘paint’ he always says yes. It’s all in the phraseology.

This first picture was done on watercolor paper. He painted the sky and the grass first with watercolors. Then, while that was drying, he painted a piece of copy paper with fall colors, let that sheet dry, then cut it into little triangles. He then cut a tree trunk with branches and roots out of black construction paper. After all the paint was dry, he glued the tree to the grass line, then started gluing on all the leaves. I think it turned out fabulous. And it makes me smile EVERY time I look at it.

This next picture was done with our pastels. It was very basic shapes which he filled and then smudged. The tree trunks were done with clean brown lines. And we used another sheet of paper to make a mat for his picture. This is my dh’s favorite picture.

GB really enjoyed it. And it was nice to spend an afternoon in artistic oblivion.

I will admit that I had never heard of Mexican sugar skulls until my friend called and asked if GB and I wanted to come over and make some.

It sounded intriguing, so we went.

What a blast!

This is what About.com has to say about our activity:

November first begins the Dia de los Muertos (also known as “Day of the Dead”) festivities with All Saints Day in which the deceased children are honored and remembered. November second All Souls Day is for the remembrance of the adult dead. Dia de los Muertos combines these days to celebrate the the deceased and enjoy their memories. Dia de los Muertos is not at all scary, spooky or somber.

The most popular “Dia de los Muertos” ofrenda is Sugar Skulls. Sugar skulls are a traditional folk art from Central and Southern Mexico used to celebrate Day of the Dead. Mounds of colorful sugar skulls are sold by vendors in the village open air markets during the week preceding Day of the Dead. Increasing numbers of non-traditional colorful candies such as decorated chocolate skulls and other Halloween candies are now competing with the traditional sugar skulls, which are becoming harder and harder to find in Southern Mexico. The skulls are made of a sugar mixture that has been pressed into molds and then dried. The dried sugar skulls are decorated with icing and sometimes non-edible items such as colored foil, feathers or sequins.

Three moms, lots of kids, lots of colored icing……..

Creative juices are flowing……..

And for some, the concentration was fierce!

Check out this awesome skull!

And check out these cheeks. I could just pinch them!

Some skulls just gotta have hair. Don’t you agree?

After the kids were done, the moms decided to give it a go, too. It was nice to sit, decorate, and chat. I had a lot of fun.

This is GB’s skull. He says that his skull is wearing a Jason mask; from the movie, Friday the 13th.

Maybe if I squint my eyes………

And this is mine. He has no theme, just some crazy colors. I think he looks like a happy warrior.

Election day at the Martinzoo began with voting. I was expecting lines out the door, but much to my surprise, we were in and out in less than ten minutes. Clearly, they were expecting huge lines and so they had a well-oiled machine that flowed beautifully.

Once we reached home we began preparation for this evening’s festivities. My good buddy in Texas, Dana, had some great ideas on her blog that I decided to borrow….LOL!

Here, GB cuts out a pop-up White House complete with little Obama and McCain figures.

Now he’s gluing the White House to the grass/sky sheet.

Isn’t that cool looking? We think McCain looks very dapper and Obama looks very approachable.

This was the command center at the Martinzoo tonight. We have the electoral college map that we colored as states were called. And we have a chart that we filled in with the electoral votes.

It is 10:00 p.m. EST, and it’s pretty much a done deal. So I’m sending GB off to bed. But not before he made this funny little video. It’s a spoof of one of his video games, Super Smash Bros. But he’s calling this Super Smash Presidents.

Hilarious!

This was a cool field trip.

I had no idea that there was SO much to do at Mount Vernon. After a two hour trip up I-95, we arrived at 11:30. We stayed until close to 5:00 and suffered the DC traffic on the way home, but it was totally worth it.

One of the absolute highlights of my day, though, was finally getting to meet a woman that I have long admired in the homeschool blogging world, Jennifer, from Toad Haven. Her children, Ethan and Emily, are in the center of this photo with Mr. Washington himself. I’m so happy that she included a visit with us into her busy schedule.

I really loved this wall of stained glass windows.

GB, O-Man, and Wall-E on the lawn in front of Mount Vernon from the land side.

Mount Vernon - Does it bother anyone else that the windows are not symmetrical?

One of the tours we did was called The National Treasure tour. We learned how Mount Vernon was used for the scenes in the movie where the President was abducted by Nicholas Cage’s character. This is the entrance to the basement. In the movie the secret service had to bust this door down. We got to go down in the basement, which is not usually open to the public. Unfortunately, no photography was allowed inside the house anywhere. So, I have no pictures to show. But they also showed us the point at which a secret tunnel comes into the house. It isn’t really a secret tunnel, but the movie makers used plans of the house to come up with the idea of a secret tunnel.

This is the view of the Potomac River from the porch of Mount Vernon.

From the porch you cannot see this wall. It just looks like rolling, grassy lawn. But George Washington had it put in to keep sheep from coming up the hill to his house. They called it a ‘ha-ha wall’ because the sheep got to the wall and could go no further.

This is the entrance to the ice house for Mount Vernon. They used the entrance to the ice house to simulate the entrance to the ’secret tunnel.’

This is a diagram that gave the movie producers the idea for a secret tunnel. The entrance begins in the side of the hill off to the right in the diagram. The top of the diagram shows the trap door to the ice house that you see below.

The trap door.

And this is the exit for the ice house tunnel. Down at the bottom of that hill is the Potomac River.

In the early 1920’s Henry Ford came to visit Mount Vernon and was very dismayed that there was no fire prevention vehicles, so he donated this one.

The boys enjoyed watching the water in the Potomac.

This is the view of Mount Vernon from the river.

This is the tomb of George Washington, his wife, Martha, and 20-something relatives.

George Washington’s tomb is on the right and Martha is on the left. The black gate in the back leads to where all the others are buried.

While George was home, before he became President, his barn burnt down, killing his precious horses. It upset him so much that he insisted the next stable be built of brick. This is his stable.

This was his clerk’s quarters.

This was the slaves dining area. George Washington’s slave quarters were the nicest I’ve ever seen. They had plenty of space.

This was the kitchen.

The boys were fascinated by this huge tree.

As you entered the educational building you were greeted by this eight-foot-high concave sculpture of Washington. He was freaking the boys out. His eyes seem to follow you every where you go.

In the scientific area they showed how scientists and computer technicians had worked together with forensics to pinpoint draw a simulation of what George Washington actually looked like.

And this is what they came up with. They used this image on all the recreated images in the museum.

They have a really cool theater in the educational center. And we watched a movie that detailed, chronologically, the turning point battles of the Revolutionary War. And when cannons were firing during the movie our seats would shake and vibrate. And when it snowed while Washington was crossing the Delaware, it snowed in the theater. It was a really cool movie.

Another great field trip.

You can do a virtual field trip to Mount Vernon here.

We always come back to Science. Our best days are always the Science days. GB loves them.

Today we did two seed dissections. He has been learning about the process of plant reproduction.

This procedure was to show him that the seeds come complete with their own little embryo and plenty of food — all built right in.

First, we soaked the seeds over night to make them easier to split.

This photo clearly shows the seed coat on our lima bean (dicot).

Even without using the stereoscope you could clearly see the embryo, but the stereoscope makes it so much more vivid. Don’t you think? I mean just look at that detail. The embryo is at the top of the photo and all the rest of the bean is the stored food for the embryo.

Vocabulary Definitions:

Seed Coat - Protects the inside of the seed.

Embryo - the beginning of the new plant.

Stored Food - a plant uses stored food until it grows leaves that can make food.

Monocot - a type of seed that has only one cotyledon.

Dicot - a type of seed that has two cotyledons.

Cotyledon - Leaf-like structure that absorbs and digest food stored in the seed.

Germination - the process of growing a new plant from a seed.

This is the inside of a corn kernel (monocot). You can see the embryo right there in the center of the kernel with the stored food all around.

I know I’m old now.

And I can’t be a student.

But I really love this stuff.

I’m so glad I get to homeschool with my little buddy!

Somebody hit me with a truck!

That’s what it feels like. Ugh! The rain and the 40 degree temperature have laid me low.

We had a crazy busy weekend. I spent all weekend getting ready for our neighborhood Fall Festival, which we held on Sunday. I was part of a committee of six who put it all together. I think it went really well. We had a chili cook-off, which was really fun. My chili came in second place in two categories, ‘best tasting’ and ‘wimpiest.’  Pretty funny, huh? I even created a real voting booth to make it all legit…..LOL!

We had a 5K marathon run throughout the neighborhood, a bouncy house, carnival games, basketball tournament, a cake walk, and an activity table with arts and crafts. Oh, yeah! We had hotdogs and snocones too. It was really nice to be able to talk with neighbors I knew and neighbors I had never met before.

Speaking of elections…… I did mention voting……. remember? Anyway, speaking of elections, GB wrote two letters this past Friday. One was to Senator McCain, and the other was to Senator Obama. Omg! They were so funny. You could tell that he was really immersed in our election unit. You can read them by visiting the link on the sidebar, under “Pages” where it says ‘GB activism’ or you can just click here to go right to that page. I loved how he took a lot of the issues that he hears the adults talking about and put a child’s spin on them. And the last sentence of each letter cracked me up so much that I had tears (literal tears) rolling down my face.

At which point, he very seriously looked at me and demanded, “What’s so funny?”

I also got some very good news this weekend, which I’m not at liberty to post about. But I will, when I’ve been given the go-ahead by the proper authorities. But I can tell you this, I am thrilled!

Today we had our usual Math day. And it was going pretty well until after lunch. I am at my wits end with this Math cr*p. I don’t understand why this year he just doesn’t seem to want to even try with it. We’ve been using the Time4Learning web site as our Math curriculum because it is visually rich, which is the way he usually wants to learn. But I’m thinking about switching curriculums. I’m very seriously considering the Math U See program. Have any of you used this product? I know Christine uses it and loves it. So, I’m tempted by it. But I hate to put more money into a new program mid-term.

Big decision.

I’ll look forward to any comments.

For all the wonderful ladies in my homeschool group; this fantastic video made me think of you.

Our homeschool journey keeps getting better and better because of the wonderful support of our group.

Thank you!

Today was Homeschoolers Day at the Museum of the Confederacy.

Typically it would take me about 40 minutes from my house to get into the heart of Richmond for any event. We had to be there between 10:00 and 10:30…….. lots of wiggle room if I left at 9:10.

I’ve been in Richmond many times when something big was going on, such as marathons and concerts (The Boss! How big is that?). BUT this was outrageous!

I knew something was up as soon as I turned onto Marshal Street. The crowds lined up on every sidewalk, crossing the street in all inappropriate places, and traffic was congested to the point of folks making their own lanes out of nowhere! But I still had no idea what was going on until I passed the signs: “Obama for Change.”

Barack Obama was in town; the same day as Homeschool Day at the Museum of the Confederacy. How inconsiderate!…..LOL!

Needless to say, most folks didn’t make it to the museum. Traffic and parking were a complete and total nightmare. But thankfully, for those of us who did (albeit late) they still waited and gave us the whole routine.

And GB loved it. He was so looking forward to talking to people who knew a LOT about the Civil War.

You see this brick sidewalk? Well, the museum finally had to go speak to the police officers who were trying to keep us from coming down this street, and tell them to let homeschoolers through. ALL parking in Richmond was taken by fervent Obama fans, even the hospital parking. So the museum created a little parking lot for us on this brick sidewalk. Wasn’t that nice? We still had to go around police baracades to get to it, but it does make for an exciting story.

Inside, the museum has authentic Confederate flags on display, along with about 50,000 artifacts that are routinely rotated for display.

This is Jeb Stuart’s cavalry hat.

These were among the many uniforms worn by the Confederate Army.

I thought this portable desk, which they called an ‘office,’ was  so cool.

Check out this portrait. Doesn’t Jefferson Davis look just like Abe Lincoln? Apparently, lots of people back then thought so, too, and often commented on it. You can read about his presidency here.

On a sad note, poor President Davis had a tough personal life. While on a honeymoon with his first wife, both he and she came down with malaria. She succumbed to the disease and Davis went into a coma, but ultimately survived.  He and his second wife, Varina, had five children (two while living in the White House). Jefferson Davis was a very loving and tolerant dad. And his rambunctious children often interupted him, no matter who he was conferencing with. Young Jeff Davis, the oldest child, was a member of a street gang, called the Shockhoe Hill Cats, while in Richmond. They battled the rival gang with rocks and sticks for control of play areas. The three Davis boys all died young, one from malaria, one from diptheria, and one from a fall off the balcony of the White House while Jefferson Davis was President. Only one of his daughters married, so all decedents of Jefferson’s can be traced through her.

This is the back of the White House of the Confederacy. This is where Jefferson Davis lived and worked while President of the Confederate states.

Here is GB and his friend O-Man on the wrought iron staircase of the White House.

The inside of the White House was opulently decorated with many original pieces, wall coverings, and flooring. We were particularly awed by the gaseliers (chandeliers that run on gas). They were gorgeous!

After the tour of the house, O-man got to try on a soldier’s uniform.

Here, the children are seeing how much space they would have under their half-shelter tent.  Each soldier was issued one at the beginning of the war. After marching long hours with over 50 lbs. on their backs, many soldiers left these by the side of the road. But if they didn’t, and they needed more space to lay under………

…………. they could join them together at these toggle holes to make a larger shelter. That’s why they called them half-shelters.

Towards the end of the presentation GB asked if they could hold the gun. And since there were only six kids who were able to make it through Obama world, the curator said that they could all give it a try.

After the presentation the kids were ravenous. So we headed off to McDonald’s. I love this picture of GB and O-Man running to catch up with the other homeschoolers.

Such joy!