What we've been up to since we moved

Well, we've been in Phoenix for three weeks now.  What have we been up to?  Have I managed to take some pictures?  A few.

Up until yesterday, the boys went to the pool every single day.

 

They have been doing fun activities.  In this case, making an animal die from paper, rolling the die, and filling out a graph with the results.  (I love free internet printables.)



The boys got their own library cards!  Which is good, since the checkout limits here are much smaller.

 

We've done some exploring around the neighborhood--in the cooler mornings, of course.
 



Stuart has built many Lego creations.



Marcus has built some lovely Duplo creations.

  

 And there's even been some school.  This was a race to complete handwriting workbook pages.

  

There have also been other activities, but I think I'll blog those separately.

Pieloch. Arizona.

Tanya says I have to get blogging. I don't always do what people tell me, but I've been meaning to start blogging again.

Stu and Stuart arrived in Phoenix on Thursday.  Stuart took some pictures with Stu's phone, and that's all the pictures we have.


 


My moving experiences was less about taking pictures and more about getting rid of stuff, painting, and cleaning.  Here's another of Stuart's pictures.


 

Friday morning, I was dragging stuff out to the dumpster in the cold, hard Oregon rain.  On September 6, which is unseasonable and downright unfriendly.  Marcus, Spike and I flew out Friday afternoon.  That was blessedly uneventful, except they swabbed my hands in airport security.  Because I carried the cat in my arms through the metal detector.  Huh?  Friday evening, we ran to the car in an even heavier rain, but it was about 90 degrees and it ended quickly.

Being homeschoolers, and fitting the stereotype in some ways, our first real non-food outing was to the park and to get library cards.  Our local library branch is about three times the size of our branch back in Portland.  Larry Correia and Sarah Hoyt on the shelf! A wide selection of Terry Pratchett!  Disney movies, just sitting on the DVD rack in the kids' section!  Ten books on the Constitution and the Bill of Rights in kids' nonfiction!

The kids had been getting a bit wild this morning, so it was nice to resume our post-library book-zombie reading party tradition.

Anyway, we are so glad to finally be here.  We have soooooo many things to do, boring things like buying trash cans and getting drivers' licenses and figuring out how to get to church tomorrow.  And finding doctors and a vet and zzzzzzzzzzzzzzz

Spike is now old and blind.  He's having a harder time adjusting to the move, obviously.  Right now he's walking a circle in our living room/dining room, unable to find the litter box or his food bowl.  In a minute he'll meow and I'll pick him up and take him to each location until he stops meowing.

We aren't going to start school until after the truck comes, because all the school stuff went on the truck.  I will be SO GLAD to get back to school.  The boys learn nonstop anyway, but it will be nice to get back to a routine.

We managed to find townhome apartments, so at least we're not disturbing other residents below us when the kids stomp around.  I hope.  I haven't been to the pool yet, but I hear it's lovely.

How to observe tadpoles

How do you observe tadpoles?  Well, first you catch some tadpoles.  There are many places to find tadpoles.  Near our house is an actual "tadpole pond".  That's where we go; there are other places.

Okay, so you stand in the water with your aquarium net until you see something.  Then you try to catch it in your net without hurting it.

 

Once you have actually caught something, you take it back to the plastic shoebox.  Did you know that Mom has learned from last year's outings and now fills the shoebox with water before any boy steps a toe into the pond?

 

Then you carefully release your tadpole (water strider, water boatman, mosquito larva, mud, whatever) into the shoebox filled with pond water.

 

If you look carefully, you can see a frog tadpole along the right edge, and a salamander tadpole along the bottom right.  Plus small sticks, debris, insects, and snails.

 

If you want to observe something more closely, put it (carefully!) into an observation jar.  See how this salamander tadpole already has four legs?



Little brother may choose to stay out of the pond entirely, eat his snack, and merely observe creatures as they appear in the shoebox.

   

Very important:  if you catch something that *might* be a bullfrog tadpole, completely flip out about it.

 

You can at least have your picture taken with the tadpole!

 

After returning all the water creatures (gently) to the pond, you can ride your bike home, stopping to enjoy the scenery.

 

Letting a bug crawl on your arm so that Mom can take a picture of it is optional.

 

Neptune (Space) Suits and Park Fun

The kids started looking for hats and gloves.  Marcus said they were going to Neptune in a space ship.  (I'm pretty sure the space ship was the futon in the basement.)

Here's the space hat...


Space gloves...

 

And space coat.

   

I chose not to ask about what would happen to their bare legs in space.

Here's Stuart's space hat...



His space gloves...


And his space coat.

 
My goodness, Stuart!  Can't you smile?

 

Yesterday we were at a homeschool park day.  Only one other family showed up, but it was a really great family, so that's okay.  Here's Marcus, finally conquering the fireman's pole:

     
Stuart had to show him up, of course, by traveling hand-over-hand to the actual pole.


 
 

One last shot.  The kids were playing some variant of hide-and-seek called Sardines.  Stuart and Marcus took "hide your eyes" a little more seriously than the other kids.  Although maybe they just both needed a nap.

Who Cares if it's Summer, or Math Games are Fun.

We did a little school Monday morning. This morning's math review is a multiplication game, and is the exact opposite of slick, professional design.  I looked for something online, but couldn't find a game like this.  This homemade game has the following features:

• Hand drawn with a Sharpie;
• Straight-ish lines made without a ruler (couldn't find one);
• Game tiles are ceramic mosaic tiles bought at Michael's;
• Game board is unlaminated construction paper; and 
• Taped to the back of a Scrabble board.

This game was primarily for Stuart, who I hope will not forget his multiplication facts over the summer.  Large multiplication table, drawn (in Sharpie!) on construction paper.  Answers written (also in Sharpie) on tiles.  Here's a bag of answers.  Find their place on the table!

Here's the end of the game.  I forgot to get a picture at the beginning, sorry.


I realized that I could include Marcus by having him take the tiles out of the bag and read out the number on each tile.  For Marcus to be able to control a game is heaven.  At least for him.






I did not anticipate the giggling.







This is such a flexible game that you could play any way you like.  I just let Marcus draw random tiles out of the bag.  After a while, he was seeking and pulling out small numbers so that Stuart could fill in the first row quickly.  You could set out just a few tiles for your student to put on the board, to concentrate on specific facts.  Like The Trickster!  (7x9=63.  Stuart gave it that name.)  I suppose I could line up the tiles in order, then have Stuart call for certain numbers (and have Marcus find them in the lineup).  So many different ways to do this.

As Stuart got near the end, Marcus was handing over the tiles too fast.  Stuart lined them up in numerical order at the bottom of the board.

I love it when my boys get along.  Especially when they're doing what I want them to do.

             

I would make this next picture the new blog banner if there wasn't stuff piled on the table behind the kids' heads.  See, Grandma, your package really did arrive!  And we have lots of books!

  

After a while, I had to give Marcus something else to do, so he started "writing a poem" on the chalkboard.

   

And...ta da!  Completed game!  (Yes, this is the exact same picture as the first picture.)



Fun was had by all.  I think they enjoyed this game more because we created it together, using simple supplies we had on hand.  I did buy the tiles for the game, but they're not what you'd expect for a game of this sort--just the best option I could find while walking around like a zombie in Michael's one evening. 

Definitely more fun than Stuart's nemesis--copywork.