Instilling Patriotism

Sometimes when we go through our school work, I find that I am learning way more than I would have if you hadn't come along.  I mean, for some bizarre reason, it has fallen to ME to try to teach you about the history of the United States and help you love your country and its complexity.

 

Here we were making colored salt art while learning about 4th of July.

 

 

Which means I have to read up, and understand, and remember, and then try to teach it in such a way that you feel a sense of pride and hope and love for your country.

I think I am succeeding, in that sense.  You certainly amaze me with your ability to listen and remember and consolidate, internalize and make things that I tell you something new, and which is so uniquely Jaxon. :)

Toady

We learned about amphibians and reptiles about a month ago, and at that point, I was thinking, "Yeah, right. This is drought-raged Texas.  When am I going to be able to be at a place where we can actually have a real live toad to observe."

Well, God works in mysterious ways, and a couple of weeks ago, we had some massive rain storms, and lo and behold, I was stepping out of the RV one night, and who should be sitting just right at the steps, but Toady.

I mean, seriously.   It was like someone had placed him there for us. "See his eardrums, Jaxon? See his bumpy skin? See his eyes and webbed feet?" LOL

 

I quickly went and got a bottle to "catch" him in, and found some little roly bugs for his dinner.

 

We put him up in our old terrarium for a few days while we "studied" and observed him, and he didn't seem too worse for the wear when we finally released him, about 4 days later, after another rain shower.

I was glad we could release him back into some water/puddle as I did not want to keep him out of his natural surroundings longer than was necessary.  You had fun watching him swim back and forth in the puddle before he finally hopped off into the sunset. :)

School

We read Mrs Katz and Tush a couple of weeks ago, and learnt a little bit about the Jewish culture and practices.  I think the parts you loved best was eating Matzoh with nutella and playing with the home made dreidel :).  In fact, it took you no time at all to memorize what each symbol meant, and you would shout with glee when it fell on the "take all" symbol :)

Dino Week

This week we have been doing work around a Dinosaur Theme.

 

We have been doing art, math, language arts, science and whatnot, around the theme of dinosaurs and fossils.




You loved the two dinosaurs I got for you from the Dollar Tree, and kept making them fight and do silly wrestling moves.

 

Then, we got some of daddy's coffee grounds and made some salt dough clay fossils :)

 

Last but not least ( at least for the moment, since it is only Wednesday ) is our Paper Mache Dinosaur that we are taking several days to complete.  It is all dry and is awaiting a coat of paint.

Summer at the Library

I know I haven't posted much about what has been happening this summer.  Time for blogging and getting pictures ready seem to slip away from me.

One thing we did, was participate in some of the summer programs that the library has.  One of them was a Puppet / Science show and an intro to the William Joyce festival.  As part of prepping you for the festival, I tried to get you to watch "Rise of the Guardians" with me, but parts of it were a little bit too frightening for you, but you at least got to know the different characters.

You enjoyed being part of the crowd, and the Puppetry,

and then getting to meet The Sandman and the Puppeteer/Ventriloquist :)

Joys of Childhood

What good are muddy puddles after a rainstorm if little boys can't jump in them to their hearts' content and get waist deep, almost, in all that gooey goodness??

Before

 

During

*please excuse the lack of galoshes - we have yet to get you some.  Needless to say, those plastic bags were a total exercise in futility and went to pieces within minutes.*

 

After(math)

Yes, I think Peppa Pig does NOTHING to curb our enthusiasm when it comes to muddy puddles.



And her parents are not any better :)

Critters

School is still going along well, and you are eager to learn and show what you know :)

A few weeks ago, we learned about insects, amphibians and reptiles, and did some artsy craftiness.  You LOVED it all :)

Apple Prints and painting

Salt Dough Salamanders and Rocks