Spring Flowers

The boys were playing outside today with Aaron while I was at work. Aaron told me that Max had picked some of the newly blooming daffodils out of the garden and Liam came in to "tell on him." Max was very worried about what he had done, and Aaron said he came back in the house carrying a bucket of sand with the flowers poked back in. "Maybe they will grow back?" he asked. Aaron said he just melted seeing that, and assured Max he was not in trouble, but that he can't pick flowers out of the garden. They cleaned the dirt off the flowers and put them in a vase near my chair in the living room. "I picked you these buttercups," he said when I got home. They were just what I needed today.

A Life of Learning

We watched "Herod's Lost Tomb" on Netflix tonight, chosen by Liam. I wasn't sure it would hold his attention, but he was transfixed for the whole hour it was on! They talked about Herod's architectural genius and his building of the port city of Caesarea Maritima using newly developed waterproof cement. The city was thriving and then suddenly collapsed. As they discussed the possible reasons for the literal collapse of the city walls, Liam and I made our own hypotheses.

Liam first came up with the idea that a very large shark had pushed the walls over. I steered him towards a more climactic or geologic explanation and he took it from there. His eyes lit up and he said, "maybe a hurricane...or wait! You know when the earth's plates move and make those big waves?" Yep, a tsunami, I said. "Yeah! Just like in the tub last night when I tried to clap underwater. The faster I clapped the harder the water was!" We had indeed discussed the affect of water on motion the night before, and that he used this knowledge to predict what happened in this instance amazed me.

He then made a series of "predictions" about Herod's tomb and what may have happened to it.

"I predict that the sarcophagi they found IS his and they haven't found the inscription on it yet because pieces are still missing," he said.

He also referenced his knowledge of ancient Egyptian burials when he said, "And I predict that the sarcophagus they found was all smashed because the robbers thought he was buried with treasures and they wanted them." They did not talk about this possibility at all in the show. It was completely his own comparison!

I love his interest in history and his love of learning. He is like a sponge for it all and I hope it never leaves! He is definitely the child of historians...the same historians who spent the evening discussing World War II, The Geneva Convention and the circumstances of liberation and called it a pretty great night! We are planning a family trip to Gettysburg next summer...and our kids may be the only ones to consider this on par with Disney World!

Max' First Field Trip

I took the day off from work to take Max on his first school field trip! We went to the Wildlife Sanctuary for the afternoon, hiked the trails and went on a nature scavenger hunt.

 

 

The naturalists brought out an opossum to show the kids. Max especially liked finding out that opossum's play dead when they are afraid, and poop to scare off prey. :)

 

There was a group of kids and parents from Aldo Leopold School and two other groups from the YWCA, so quite a large group! Max and his friends kept running ahead together and finding things on their scavenger hunt list. He was so excited to see his classmates!

 

He and his friends Isaac and Cole were buddies for most of the hike.

 

Several times during the hike, Max's "legs were SO tired," so we stopped and took some breathers!

 

Isaac and Max

 

Max, Isaac and Konj Chenj

 

Max and his friends throwing corn to the geese.

 

Max got to choose a few souvenirs from the gift shop. He decided on an insect coloring book, a butterfly and moth field guide, and two bags of marbles. One bag of marbles he insisted he needed to get for Liam. He took a long time deciding what kind of marbles to get, and finally settled on ones with a wolf on the front because "Liam likes hunting." He's such a sweet brother and always thinks of Liam first.

"Three of a Kind"

Liam's spring musical "Three of a Kind" was today! He stood next to his buddy Justin and friend Brianna and did very well!

He spotted us right away!

There were costumes related to threes (three blind mice, three little pigs, three bears) and the second graders had most of the speaking parts.

Our neighbor Kaylee sang with the kindergarten class.

She is a sweet girl and the boys love playing with her!

Liam was VERY into projecting his singing voice!

Liam had his hand on his hip for most of the show!

Liam's artwork was on display in the hallway!

Max and his good buddy Owen!

Liam and his very best girl friend, and Owen's sister, Ari!

Easter Morn

1. 

Max plays with Legos for hours every day. He has recently started making really elaborate scenes that are incredibly detailed and well thought out. He positioned these three guys with one leg out behind them to simulate running! He tells the story of what he's made really well and each character has a very specific purpose. I love how his mind works!

DIY Chicken Oasis

 

This is our awesome chicken coop that Aaron and I built together last summer. We designed it ourselves based off of another coop I saw online, and we built it piece by piece on my days off. I'll let him blog about that whole process and will just focus on one component I built just today.

 

It's a gravity chicken feeder made entirely from PVC pipe!

Parts list: 3" PVC pipe, wye connector, end cap, female adaptor, threaded drain plug and pipe hanger mount.

Total cost: $19

 

First, I cut a 6" section of pipe off the large section with the chop saw. I then connected the 6" pipe to the bottom of the wye connector and placed the end cap on the bottom. The large section of pipe fits into the top of the wye connector. The elbow of the connector is the actual feed trough.

 

I filled the entire pipe with feed, and as the chickens eat it the reserve feed empties out into the trough.

 

They got the hang of it right away, and even lined up to take turns at the trough! Here, Marla is eating while Dottie and Kit look on.

 

Marla is a Buff Orpington and is in charge and quite bossy! She is also pretty friendly and good with the boys.

 

Kit, a Golden Laced Wyandotte, is definitely lowest in the pecking order of all three, and she waits until everyone has eaten to take her share.

 

Two chickens can eat at the same time, but it gets a little crowded.

 

This is the female adaptor and the threaded plug connected to the top of the pipe for a convenient closing mechanism. The threaded plug screws in and out to make adding more feed easy, and keeps out snow and rain.

 

"This is our daughter Dottie."

 

"This is our other daughter...Dottie's sister!" (Kit)

 

This gravity feeder keeps food available at all times and prevents the chickens from throwing it all over and letting it go to waste. Before I made the feeder, these ladies would dump over their food trough and then stand on top of it, bawking loudly and refusing to eat what was spilled. Sorry girls...those days are over!