The Greatest Generation

Yesterday I went to the funeral of my Great Uncle Mel. I remember this man as a laughing jovial man. When I was a tiny girl he would pick me up and let me rub his flat top back and forth "for luck". He always let me sit on his lap and play with the cb radio he listened to and we would talk to the truckers out there. His wife my Great Aunt (and grandma's sister) passed away several years ago. Each of her sisters has passed away and the only one left alive is my grandmother. An entire generation of our family has nearly become extinct.

This realization had me contemplating how the greatest generation is all slowly slipping from our world. It is just one person at a time and a great history of ours is slipping away from us. Why was this generation of 80-90 year olds called the greatest generation?

1. They were children/teens or early 20's during the Great Depression. This gave them perseverance. The great depression lasted from the late 20s to early 40s. This taught many of them how to make do with what they had. Be creative, and resourceful. It also taught them that you get more in life when you work together. Whole groups of people lived together in communities to pool their resources. In other words people Helped One Another!
2. They were the adults of the World War II era. These men went off to valiantly fight a war against a tyrant that tried to take over the world. This generation of women changed the world for all women by going into the work force during the war effort. 
3. Not only did women work in the work force they were nurses and some even went into the Military.

Is it any wonder that these were the Greatest Generation? These men and women achieved great things in their time and they are slowly slipping from our world. If you have anyone left in your family from this generation talk to them. Get their stories ask them about the time they grew up in. What was the Great Depression really like? What were some of the main meals their family survived on during that time? Did They work in a factory, or were they in the war? Honor them.

Something strikes me as I ponder these things. Our children are growing up during a Depression. This may not be as severe as the Great Depression but things are not getting better as fast as politicians would like us to believe they are. The population of people who are still unemployed is growing, and more and more families are finding themselves put out of homes. I hope that I am doing my children a service by showing them how to persevere during this difficult time, I hope that they grow up to be great people and I hope that we are all learning from the history that is not so distant past.

My grandmother is 90 years old. She is not an easy person to talk to because she does not always remember what shes talking about, or if she told you the same thing 3 times or not. I do not see her often but I am grateful for all her generation did. I hope to learn from them and I hope to honor them.

Recipe's

I have had several requests for a few recipes and I thought today would be a good day to share those with you all. I was going to make them again and take more pictures but life has just been way to busy for that and I really wanted to get the recipes out for those of my friends who really have been patient waiting for them.

Remember all of these recipes are my own. They are copywritted by me as they are my own personal adaptations and creations. If you are inclined to use them please also be inclined to give me the credit I deserve. :)

Zucchini Bread/muffins

2 cups shredded zucchini
2 cups flour (I use whole wheat)
2 eggs
1/2 cup oil (I use coconut oil but you can use just about any oil)
1/2 cup sugar
1/2 cup brown sugar (or use 3/4 cup sugar and 4 tbsp black strap molasses, if you use this method omit the brown sugar completely.)
1 tsp baking powder
1 tsp baking soda
1/4 tsp salt
2 tsp cinnamon
1 tsp nutmeg

Dump everything into a bowl and mix. yep its really that easy! stir everything together just until its all incorporated and then pour into muffin pans or into a loaf pan and bake at 325* for 1 hour for bread pan or 25 minutes for muffins.

Blackberry Oatmeal Bars

Crust
1 cup flour
8 tbsp butter (use REAL butter not that fake stuff!)
1/2 cup sugar
1 1/4 cup whole oats
1/4 cup ground flax seed
1 tsp baking soda

melt the butter and pour over the dry mixture mix well and then press about 3/4 of this mixture into a 13x9 pan. bake the crust for 10-12 minutes in a 375* oven until light golden brown. Place on a wire rack to cool.

add 1/2 cup finely chopped nuts to the remaining crust mixture. This will be your topping.

Berries
in a small sauce pan combine
12 oz of frozen blackberries (if your using fresh you will need a good bit of fresh berries, I also use raspberries, blueberries or a combination of all 3)
1/4 cup orange marmalade
1/4 cup agave nectar (or honey, I prefer this instead of sugar)
simmer on medium heat during the time the crust is in the oven is usually about the right amount of time. The sauce should reduce and thicken slightly but still be fairly thin. You can mash the berries up or leave them whole. Pour over the slightly cooled crust. top with remaining crumb mixture and bake in the oven at 350* for another 10-15 minutes. remove to wire rack and allow to cool completely before cutting.

I hope that you enjoy these recipes.

time flies when your having fun!

Somehow I am the mom to a 16 year old today. She has grown and changed over the years and I am constantly amazed that she is who she is. How did I get so lucky to be her mom? I mean seriously she is an amazing girl woman! She is funny and sweet, very down to earth but loves to dream with her head in the clouds. It doesn't seem possible that she is almost an adult, wasn't it only yesterday when she was a baby?

Then back in September she almost died when her appendix ruptured and leaked into her belly for a week. She did not have any of the typical symptoms at all, only flu like symptoms that did not go away completely for 6 days. She was in the hospital for 13 days, in the ICU for 9 days and it was easily the most terrifying thing I have ever been through. I am glad that she inherited my drive because on day 3 in the ICU she told her father "don't worry I can't die, I have to many things I still have to do."

Now how about a look through the years at my growing beauty? 

M's Kitty cat costume 2 years old

Me, Daughter M (2 1/2) and Son A 

Daughter M age 11

M & Snickerdoodle her first bunny, age 11

M blowin bubbles age 13

M searchin for easter eggs age 14

Me & M @ brooks n dunn concert 

M last week playing with the pottery wheel. 

Happy Birthday my darling Daughter. I am proud to be your mom and I LOVE you! 

Finished... kind of

well I posted a few weeks ago and asked yall to help me decide what to make for myself out of this wonderful luxurious Alpaca yarn, you may remember it but if not you can refresh your memory here. I really struggled with choosing just the right pattern and I had to really think hard about how to decide what was best for the yarn, and for me.

I finally choose this pattern here called the Pineapple Shawl. It was not in the original mix of shawls but I found that it fit best into what I needed and wanted in a shawl.

I finished it a few days ago but was reluctant to post pictures or a blog because really it needs to be blocked to show off its true beauty! The biggest problem is that we have had one cold day after the next and blocking is a wet process and will require me to pin the finished product to my bed. This means I will need a fairly warm day void of rain to be able to leave the bedroom door open and the fan blowing on high in order to vacate the room of the smell that I am told will come from my beautiful project.

If you want to learn more about blocking please check out this blog. It is filled with wonderful tips and tricks on blocking projects.

now for the few pictures I took. I was not very good at taking pictures as I was working the shawl. It really didn't take me long to complete it. I calculated it took about 6 hours total, and only 4 days. that was working on it a bit here or there in those 4 days time.

The first picture I took was the first night and it was only an hour of work.

I used no flash, but I wanted you to see the depth of black

The flash washed out the black a bit in this picture, but you can see the stitches a little better. The edges are curled up slightly which makes viewing the true splendor of this shawl a bit difficult until its blocked. Once its blocked I will have to post a new blog to show you all the wonderful splendor of it completely finished. 

I am in love with my pineapple shawl. It lays perfectly and is warm enough when I just need that something light over my shoulders. I love how pretty it is and how elegant it looks if I use my Great Grandmothers Cameo to pin it shut. Please let me know what you think. 

O and if your so inclined to ask  "Will you make me one?"  or any variation of said question...

The answer is  YES for a price! I charge $10.00 an hour for my labor plus the cost of materials. The cost of Materials is to be paid up front and you are welcome to choose any materials you want. I also charge actual shipping costs, so if you live somewhere in a distant land you will be charged the cost of whatever shipping agent I can find is the cheapest to ship the finished product to you. I am allergic to wool so I do not ever work with it. I however am not allergic to Alpaca, Cotton, or any acrylic yarn. 

its all in the interpretation

There are always different ways to look at everything. I learned a while ago that I needed to stop looking at everything in black in white.

For example take this weekend:

Perspective 1~
we sat around all day long in pjs cuddled under blankets and snacked on food. We watched movie after movie and didn't plan anything else all day.

Perspective 2~
we spent the entire day immersed in education. We explored cyclones, learned all about the great depression & how hope was reborn, we journeyed to China & learned the true meaning of Kung Fu and then we adventured into medieval times where we learned about the code of honor.

Now perspective 1 is the typical view of how things are done. You certainly would not assume that if a family sat and watched movie after movie all day on a Sunday that they learned anything at all. Of course we are talking about movies and can we really trust the Hollywood version of anything? Well the truth is that a movie is where the interest sparks. Once we see interest in a subject we can delve deeper. As an organic learning parent my goal is to teach the children how to recognize their passions. So we spent the day watching movies and exploring where our passions could lead us today. 

For those of you sitting here wondering what movies we watched.

We started with a classic, The wizard of Oz. 

This movie has so much educational experience all rolled into one movie that its no wonder its a childhood favorite. You learn how to make new friends, but keep the old. You learn how to trust your friends will be there for you. You learn how to defeat witches, even if this requires you to have either A) a house or B) water. you learn that sometimes those minions who are doing evil deeds simply are doing them to have a job to do and would be happy to see the evil power vaporized so they could go about doing good instead. Of course you also learn the obvious things like you do not need a degree to be smart, you don't need to be noticed to have courage, you certainly do not need to wear your heart on your sleeve (or your metal chest) in order to prove you have one, and if you are lost Home is only as far away as your loved ones are. 

Next we watched Seabiscut. 

If you do not know the story of this amazing horse you should certainly watch the movie. Not only is this movie done well it is a heart warming story. The story of Seabiscut tells us about the Great Depression and how broken men and a broken horse came together to beat the odds. The horse was a tiny horse in comparison to all other race horses, he was broken in spirit and broken physically when his new owners took him and turned his life around. Seabiscut beat the triple crown winner War Admiral in a Match Race at pimblico. There is something to be learned from watching a little horse with a big heart win a race that most thought he could never win.
If you have never seen this match race before check it out:

Our next movie was the New Karate Kid
This was actually not a movie I had ever wanted to watch because I am a fan of the original and I honestly HATE remakes. That being said this was a great movie. Not only is it done differently with a different feeling and setting but it has same general gist of the original that you are compelled to watch it. Jackie Chan brings his expertise and is a wonderful edition to the movie. Jaden Smith is a talented young actor who I foresee going far in this business. The movie holds some great morals and teaches that fighting isnt always the answer. It also is great at proving that you can and do learn things in ways that are not typical to how everyone else learns. Jacket on Jacket off. ;) its the new wax on wax off. Get with the groove. 


Our final movie choice is a little known movie called Dragonheart. I know that many people do not know this movie but it is a good one. This movie teaches a lot about the code of honor. This code is what honorable knights of the round table fought by and is used throughout the movie as the basis for why the honorable knight does what he does. 


I learned a long time ago that it is important to change the way you view things. If I didn't change the way I viewed things I wouldn't believe that my 7 & 6 year old who are playing at my feet with their duel electric pianos were learning anything at all. I wouldn't believe that children could learn while watching movies, or that not everyone has to do everything exactly alike in order to learn. 

Saturday edition

The weekends are a lot like the weekdays around here only nosier because thats when all the neighborhood kids are around.

We are not early risers in this house. More of the mid morning type, not really late but some people would seriously balk at the idea of getting up every morning between 8-9am. Some mornings I think getting up earlier then the kids would be nice, but on those mornings when I attempt it they just get up early because they hear me doing anything in the kitchen and hate to be left out! That makes it contrary for me to get up. While I love spending as much time as I can with my kids (why would I homeschool if I didn't?) there are times that I really would like to just be alone with my thoughts.

This morning is no different. I got up first this morning. let the dogs outside, did my morning work out and now am sitting here with my hot drink trying to write up this blog and having my thoughts interrupted by children running around behind me tossing the ball with the dogs rolling on the ground playing 'keep away' and making other noises. I just do not understand how to get those quiet moments without them hearing me. Its like they have supper mommy detection or something.

In other news... The shawl is finished! Expect a blog all about it with detailed pictures to come soon. I was going to try and have it done today but I simply do not think that will happen. We are having guests for dinner and I still have to block it. I will take pics of it before blocking, during blocking and after blocking but I wont put the blog together until it is all done and I can show the process. Of course there are not many pictures of it in different stages of starting and stopping because I started it and worked on it a total of 6 hours. There was a few days in between but total work time was only 6 hours and I just never thought to take a picture at the end of the night when I was nearly finished with it.

I hope all you lovely readers have a great Saturday.

Pottery Class & Baked goods

In Awe

This morning I am filled with so much pride for our country and the world as a whole. I awoke to find the news that so far 17 Chilean miners have been removed from what would have been their tomb. 

Chili reached out to all the high tech people all over the globe and brought in as many people as they could to help facilitate a rescue of the miners who were trapped more then 2000 miles under the ground. These miners have spent between 69-70 days underground living off of nutrition supplements and water that was dropped down to them daily. 

It fills me with pride that so many people cared enough about these trapped miners to work day and night to help rescue them. This is what the true spirit of humanity is about. I am touched that so many people have reached out to help miners and their families. 

I have nothing more to add to this blog today. I am simply in Awe of the human spirit and inspired to reach out to people. 

10 reasons Columbus was no hero

My family and I feel very strongly that today is no holiday, should not be celebrated and is in fact a criminals holiday. I am working to set the record straight for some people who may not know the difference.

These are in no particular order and I will furnish links for as much of the information as I can to verify said facts.

1. Columbus did not set foot in what is now known as The United States. In 1492 Columbus discovered the Bahama's. It is unknown precisely what island he landed on, only that the island was named San Salvador by him although the native people of the island had a different name for it. 90-95% of the population he came in contact died within months of his contact. verify here

2. Columbus believed that he had discovered a new route to Asia until he died.

3. Columbus enslaved the native people and returned them to Spain as 'proof' that he made it to Asia. verify here

4. Columbus was arrested on charges of tyranny. Verify here

5. Columbus was a liar. He made up stories of the Native people in order to validate his capture and enslavement of the Native people. " While Columbus once referred to the Taino Indians as cannibals, a story made up by Columbus - which is to this day still taught in some US schools - to help justify his slaughter and enslavement of these people. He wrote to the Spanish monarchs in 1493: "It is possible, with the name of the Holy Trinity, to sell all the slaves which it is possible to sell Here there are so many of these slaves, and also brazilwood, that although they are living things they are as good as gold" Verify here 


6. Columbus was a rapist who encouraged his men to take what they wanted from the enslaved Taino Natives as well. verify here

7. Columbus was a thief. He stole what he wanted from the Native people. verify here

8.  Columbus was a bruit who would disfigure Native people if they simply did not give up what he asked for. verify here

9. Columbus was a racist. You can verify it from the last two links.

10. Columbus was a pedophile. "selling girls as young as 9-10 into sexual slavery" verify here

These are my reasons for not honoring this man on this day in America. My family is of Native heritage and this alone is enough to not celebrate this day as a holiday. These 10 reasons only fuel the fact that he is no hero.

One of the best books we have found in our organic learning adventures is Lies my teacher told me. Please do yourself a favor and read this book. It is a brilliantly written book that exposes the truth of many historical facts we were taught in school.

I would also like to take a moment to do some honor to my Canadian friends. Today is Canadian Thanksgiving. Canadian Thanksgiving began in 1959. I am thankful for my Canadian friends, they are such friendly people. :)

The final decision

I made my choice on the shawl I wanted to start. It ended up not being any of the ones that I had posted pictures of. Go figure!

I took into consideration all the votes and I almost started the vintage pattern. I likely will still do the vintage one but just not in the black alpaca that I so desperately wanted to get my hands on! I love the vintage style and I agree with those that said it was so much like me. However it did not have quite the elegant style I wanted. I love the shape of the vintage style one. I wanted one that was round around the back, and had that flow to it. I wanted something that I didn't have to piece together later, which is the one thing that I hate about any square that you make. The pieces are a pain and it feels tedious! So while I loved the elegant shawl I posted I just could not imagine having to put all those squares together after having made them all.

So onto the style I did choose...

This is called a Pineapple shawl because the pattern resembles the pineapple in the center. I love how simple and lacy it looks and I think its elegant but could easily be worn with jeans and t-shirt. I started it night before last and have already come a good way. I only have worked on it for about an hour and a half so far, but here is a picture of the progress. 

The pattern is free, and can be found by going here. It is supposed to be an intermediate pattern but so far I do not feel it is all that complex. If you know how to triple crochet then it is fairly simple. I will post pictures and blog about the progress and the final process once the project is completed so please check back often to find out how it turned out.

Secretariat ~ movie review

Being an avid horse lover since I can remember this movie was a must see for me. I remember watching replays of this amazing horse from the time I can remember. Of course Big Red won his races before I was ever born so for me he has always just been a legend. I can not think of one horse who deserves to be crowned a legend more then Secretariat though so its ok with me.

Yesterday was opening day, My dad took my daughter M and I to see it. It was a wonderful treat to go see a movie with my daughter and my father. Not at all a normal occurrence and we all enjoyed ourselves so much. So Thank you dad for the wonderful time.

Now onto the movie review! No I will not give away plots or otherwise tell the movie, I want you to go see it yourself!

Here is the trailer



This movie is fantastic! 5 stars all the way around. The cast works together well, you feel a real chemistry between the characters. I loved that while Big Red is the "man of the hour" but the movie focuses on more then just him. You get the whole back story of how he came to be, what turmoil the family went through and how it all played out. The story is a complex one that most people never knew. I love the passion in Penny and how well Diane Lane plays the part. The worst part for some maybe that you ultimately know how the story ends, however you really get caught up in the telling of the story of how he got there, the anxiety of if he would really get there and then the ultimate triumph when he did get there.

There is no way to know if another great will ever emerge like the great Secretariat but us horse lovers can always dream~

Test Anxiety

This week completely flew by! Today is Friday and I feel like yesterday was just Monday.

I had a midterm for my Mexican American history class yesterday and I had so much studying to do that I barely remember the days of the week that I made it through. The kids were left to their own devices a whole lot more then normal. I am so glad that we have the computer with some great games like I Spy and of course Diner Dash. What? Diner Dash is to educational! Just think of all those motor skills they are using when they play it! Plus as the levels advance they have to really use critical thinking to make sure they can meet their goal.  You see everything we do is educational, you just have to find the learning in it.

I remembered this week that I actually have SEVERE test anxiety. It has been so long since I was in school that I had forgotten that fact. Being that I am a life learner, and an unschooling mom we do not focus on an actual test to prove you have knowledge. Unfortuantly for me colleges do require you to take tests to prove that you know what you are supposed to know. Some of you might wonder why I say my test anxiety is severe? If you go to the link I provided you will see that there is 10 questions they ask, if you answer yes to 4 of them you have test anxiety... I can answer yes to 9 of the 10. I am still learning how to deal with this. It is frustrating to do so well on homework (100% on all homework thus far) and to get such low grades because of test anxiety. For example yesterday I had a make up test in my health class. In this health class I get 100% on all my homework, I know the material when we are just discussing it in our discussion groups online, then I take the test yesterday and its a possible 50 point test, I got 38.5 out of 50. Now because it was a make up test I am not beating myself up to bad over it, I mean after all I could have gotten a 0 for that test. That does not change the fact that I obviously know the material and my brain freaks me out so bad that when I take the test to PROVE I know it I simply can not recall much of the information or correctly answer the questions asked.

I believe that I may start working with my older children especially on test anxiety study skills as there will likely come a point in life when they will have to take a test or two. It is inevitable and unfortunate that many people believe that a test is the only way to prove that you know something. I could talk to you for ten minutes and you would discover that I know the material. Put me in a room at a desk with a piece of paper and a pen/pencil and suddenly my brain panics, I know nothing!

Yesterday I was grateful for my yoga because it reminded me to breathe deep when I was feeling the worst stress, and I remembered to stretch out those muscles in my neck and shoulders where my stress builds up and knots. Of course it didn't completely solve the problem and today my shoulder is still knotted horribly but I think its better then it could have been.

Do any of you have Test Anxiety? How did you deal with it?

Today as my reward my dad is taking me to see Secretariat~ The greatest triple crown winner ever! Tomorrow, or maybe even later today look for a review of the movie. :) until then have a great day.

Chocolate Cake is the answer

After hours of studying and reviewing information in my Mexican-American history class I feel brain dead. I am certain that the answer to every question the teacher asked must be chocolate cake. Wasn't it the Aztec's who introduced chocolate to us anyway?

I have hours more to study and several chapters to read. I am certain that this is going to be a challenging essay that I have to write because I simply can not retain the information needed to get me through. I feel as though I am spinning my way through this class and not really getting very far.

So instead I resort to doing what I do best. Cook! I am going to plop a wonderful dressed chicken in the oven and roast it for several hours. I am going to chop veggies and add them to this roasted delight. I will bake a chocolate cake completely from scratch and top it with grandma's coconut pecan frosting. I will make delicacies that everyone can enjoy and will bring me pleasure. I will then come back completely sated and attempt to compile information from the recesses of my brain so that i can pass this test.

I am posting this blog pictureless but will come back and add pictures soon ... Pictures of the beauty of roasting chicken and baking chocolate cake.

Alright folks you have waited all day for pictures of this beautiful cake so here they are!

The Ingredients

Baking tip for the night, when making chocolate cake grease your pan and then "flour" it with coco powder instead of flour. This will prevent your cake from sticking, but will also prevent that flour look on the outside of your cake. :)

before baking

after baking & cooling

The frosting has to be cooked, but it tastes wonderful & is well worth the effort.

start cooking

let it boil

add coconut & pecans

The finished product is calling for me! I pour the frosting on while its still warm right into the center of the cake and work my way out from the center to the edge. This makes a wonderful frosting method especially when its still warm enough to spread easily. I do not like frosting in the center of this cake so I simply make a larger cake and then frost only the outside. 

I hope that you all enjoy the pictures. I may post the recipe for this cake & frosting soon if enough people want it. 

To many choices, help me decide!

With the start of fall I am raring to get my hands on my yarn and start creating! I LOVE this time of year. I have spent hours upon hours already trying desperately to decide what my next project should be. I have an idea of what I am looking for but just can not seem to settle on one style yet. Over the years I have crocheted many beautiful things for many beautiful people but rarely do I make things for myself. The reason I taught myself to crochet is because I wanted to make beautiful things for ME. I wanted hand made sweaters and beautiful blankets to cuddle under. I wanted all these things and instead I taught myself to crochet and made beautiful things for everyone around me. most babies who have been born in the last 15 years in my family, or near and dear friends got a hand made baby blanket as a gift. I have created blankets for each of the children, although my little ones need new ones not baby blankets. The first time I made something for myself was last year when I created the Wool Eater

Now I am ready to create new things for myself. My husband bought me some wonderful alpaca yarn back in February when we went to Fort Bragg California, in a little shop in Mendocino called 

The Mendocino Yarn shop

I loved that little shop, we spent some great time in there touching all the different yarn, except I avoided the wool since I am so ultra sensitive to it! This is where I learned that I am not sensitive to alpaca, and as a gift my wonderful hubby bought me some beautiful stuff, one large black skien, and then 3 smaller skien's in blues. I originally thought I would do this wonderful shall in all the colors but have since changed my mind. 

So now I am trying to decide what I am going to do, I will eventually choose I am sure but for now the choices seem like there are just to many! I have decided that I will put it out there and share some of the patterns I am looking at and ask the public for an opinion. I want something that is versatile enough to be dressed up or down. I want it to be open in the front not closed. But I can't seem to decide if I want it to be rounded at the bottom or pointed into a V shape. I have so many choices to make! Each of these patterns are free patterns and I will likely modify one to be something I want but here are the styles I am looking at. 

All Shall

Vintage style

Cozy shawl

Caplet, closed and I want it open, but I love this style

I think this is elegant and beautiful

this is just a rectangle shawl, but can be wrapped beautifully

Seraphina shall, this was the original inspiration

hand made clasp

back of shawl, I made for a friend

front of shawl, I created this myself

So these are the choices. please tell me what do you think? Which of these lovely shawls should I choose? I am so torn! They are all beautiful and lovely! I just cant decide which I love the most. Post a reply on this blog and let me know what you think. 

The shawl that I made for a friend is not what I am looking for but mostly just a sampling of one that I have done. I do think it was beautiful and I will be creating my own clasp to close the shawl with, but I do not want a shawl that is exactly like this one. This was done for a dainty little person and I am not that person. :) 

Place your vote! 

October 1st

Around here October 1st means many wonderful things.

The REAL start of Autumn.

My daughter M's Birthday

Halloween

and the "official" start to our school year with the filing of our records with the state.

In California we had some serious battles over the right to homeschool and I am so grateful that the state decided the way they did. Filing each year as a Private school allows me to be in complete control over how, what, when, and where my children (pupils) are learning. I am the one solely responsible for their education. I am grateful to all of the people who worked so hard to help ensure my rights and the rights of everyone else wishing to homeschool in such a way.

Since we are what I like to call Organic learners (aka unschoolers) we do not follow traditional school setup. We love to do experiments and get out in the world and discover what learning is really about.  We feel its so very important to get the kids to understand that we learn everyday no matter how old we are, or at least we should strive to learn everyday.

Here are some glimpses from the past, a few of my favorite learning experiences we have had.

making bouncy balls

Little D with his bouncy ball

Military Museum in Sacramento, Ca

display of Navajo Code Talkers

There so many wonderful memories over the years but its hard to choose which ones I love the best to share. So these were a few of the most memorable things we have done over the years. I tried to upload more pictures then this but blogger was being difficult and didn't want to work. I hope this does not become a habitual problem.