Mom, When Can I Have a Falcon?

 My friend Julie planned a fabulous field trip that took place last Friday.  We met at a park and the head of the Utah Falconry Association brought his two falcons and taught us about falcons, how you get them, how you hunt with them, and everything else falconry related.  It was awesome.

 Cowen lucked out and was chosen to be the assistant.  He was able to hold one of the falcons.  He's been asking for one of his own ever since.  (He missed the part where the presenter said that falcons make terrible pets.  They are loud and messy and bite.)

 Homeschoolers.

 Awesome!

Not a falcon, but still pretty cool.  Yes, those are my sunglasses.  *sigh*

Man on a Buffalo!

Frolic and Farce Homeschool (that's what I call us for the Bookit Pizza certificates) has had a tremendously awesome week.  On Tuesday we paid homage to my favorite month by hitting the trails.  One trail, actually.  I call it the Bountiful Temple Trail because the trailhead is pretty close to the Bountiful Temple.  I don't know what it is actually called but you should all go hiking there!  It is one of my very favorite trails.  (If anyone is interested I'll have my hubby figure out what the trail is called.) 

We spent four hours roaming the hillsides, playing hide-n-seek, howling like wolves, singing about erosion, and enjoying each other.  The mountains are truly a balm for a troubled soul.  Not that I have a troubled soul, just a busy one, but sometimes it is beautiful to just breathe in the autumn air and glory in the changing leaves.  

 The next day my friend Marilyn emailed to let me know that she and her six lovely children would be at Antelope Island that afternoon to examine cool rock formations and did I want to join her.  There is nothing I like better than a last-minute-change-of-plans (that wasn't a joke, I really love spontaneity).  We packed ourselves into the van, grabbed some string cheese, and headed to the island.

Above photo: Emeline, Eli, and Malachi riding a buffalo.

 At the visitor's center.  Marilyn, Junie, Daisy, Miriam, with Sebastian and Abraham in the back. I was especially glad to hang out with Marilyn because she doesn't get lost (I always get lost) and she really tries to figure out this rock stuff and therefore succeeds.  Impressive.

We saw a cool sidewinder snake on the sidewalk outside the visitor's center.  We saw two snakes on the Bountiful trail.  In fact, Eli sat right next to one and it was so well camouflaged that we didn't see it until it moved a little bit.  It was a really funky green color--dark green on top with a limier underbelly.  Anyone know what it was?  Is limier a word?  Yes, because I am an English teacher and I just used it.

 Buffalo.

 Lazy buffalo.

 Kids crawling all over a bunch of gneiss rock.  Our first encounter with rock that we could be absolutely sure was metamorphic.  Thanks again, Marilyn, for knowing that.

 Children on rock.

 Gorgeous view.

 More kids on rocks with awesome clouds.

 Boys are happiest with tools--see exhibit A.

 Lady Harriet.  Aww.

 My favorite of the gneiss rocks.  I liked the black stripes.

 Eli likes to pose for the camera.  Marilyn with her baby, Marigold, in the background.  And Abraham (argh, I STILL get Abe and Seb mixed up.  I'm sorry Abe and Seb).  I'm pretty sure it is Abraham.

 This rock was cooler in person because the minerals around the edges were greener than the picture appears.

Cowen found this awesome chunk of mineral stuck in the gneiss rock.  Good eye, Cowen.

 Cake, anyone?

 Buffalo!  We were lucky enough to watch a bunch of buffalo cross the road right in front of us.  There were huge buffalo and cute little baby buffalo and we sang, "Guy on a buffalo," a lot.

Emeline watching the buffalo.  You can see the rain clouds in this picture.  It started to rain a little just as we stopped clambering over rocks and got in our vehicles.  It drizzled a little then rained a lot then drizzled some more.  Our pictures looked like this:

Now, for Marilyn's benefit because she couldn't figure out why I kept singing "Guy on a Buffalo," I'll leave you with a guy on a buffalo.




Because one video about a guy on a buffalo is never enough, here is another one:




Finally, here is another video.  My brother posted it on our family website and my sister commented, "The sophisticated cousin of guy on a buffalo!" Then I laughed really hard.



Happy October!  I hope you're able to get outside a little bit.  I'm watching the weather like a hawk and any rain-free days are hiking days!

Two Gold Star Books

You all know by now that I usually prefer reading silently to listening to an audio book.  Too many things can go wrong with an audio book and it takes forever to get through when you listen to every single word.  However, I wholeheartedly recommend that you check out the AUDIO version of the book Whittington by Alan Armstrong immediately.  The reader is amazing, fantastic, incredible.  He has this deep, raspy voice that is perfect for the story.  The children and I were riveted.

The book is "two books in one" as my son, Cowen, pointed out.  I'd say it is more like three books in one.  It is the story of the cat, Whittington, making friends and a place for himself in the barn.  It is a story about a young boy who struggles with reading.  It is also a story about Dick Whittington (yes, that Dick Whittington) and his cat.  I didn't know what the book was about when I picked it off the shelves, but it is works in beautifully to our Middle Ages unit.  The children were exposed to things like British woolens and trade with the East and Marco Polo.

This book is awesome.  I plan on buying it so I have it in my permanent collection but I can't decide whether to get the audio (it would be the only audio book I own) or novel form.  We just loved this book!

I judged this book by its cover.  I saw it on a library display shelf, thought the dog was cute, thought my son might like it, and grabbed it.  I've seen Eva Ibbotson's name around before but haven't read anything by her.  I'm rectifying that immediately.  I read One Dog and His Boy in one sitting--it is not long--and just loved it.  This is a story of benign neglect, selfishness, the need people (and dogs) have to be useful and wanted.  It is fantastic.

Now, in the spirit of full disclosure, I recommended this book to my sister and she *gasp* didn't like it. She thought it was too cliche.  My daughter, Miriam, loved it, as did my sister's children.  I didn't find it cliche, obviously, but would LOVE for some other people to read it and tell me what they think.  That would be so fun!!  Do it now!!

What else have we been listening to?  Ah, yes, The Lion, The Witch, and the Wardrobe.  My children loved it.  The reader was very good.  We started listening to Amos Fortune, Free Man and I couldn't handle the reader and turned it off.  Anyone read it?  Should I check out the novel and give it another chance?  We listened to the first three Harry Potter books to get ready for our Harry Potter themed family reunion.  The reader was superb and I enjoyed listening to them, but I don't want my younger kids hearing the other books so we're waiting on those.

Have any of you read anything great lately?

First Day of Middle Ages Feast

Julie and I felt like we'd never manage to get together for our back-to-school Middle Ages Feast.  However, despite the fates conspiring against us, we did have our party and the children loved it.

 I was in charge of the food.  I learned a great many things--mainly that I am incredibly grateful for vegetables.  And gravy.  And chocolate.  I also learned that in the Middle Ages everything was cooked in a pie crust.  Most of the recipes I used came from this site:  http://www.godecookery.com/goderec/goderec.htm.

The meat pie was okay and most people liked it.  However, it was just meat.  In a shell.  I was tempted to add gravy but I was trying for authenticity so I didn't.  

 Above: an apple pie type dish that wasn't very good.  You cooked your apples and made an applesauce then added anise flavoring and bread crumbs to thicken.  It just tasted . . . not quite right without being awful.

The gyngerbrede was the runaway favorite of the children.  If you are going to make anything from the Middle Ages definitely try this one: http://www.greneboke.com/recipes/gyngerbrede.shtml.

Our entire menu: meat pie, applesauce pie, gingerbread, and mushroom pie.  (I picked the mushroom pie because I knew it would taste good and it did.)

Julie did the amazing part--creating fun Middle Ages clothing that reflected heraldic values.

 Above: Cowen's excitement when he heard what his animal and color meant.

 Ei in his amazingly awesome tunic.  Notice the green and the eagle.

 The girls got princess hats in their heraldic color and a necklace with an animal charm.

 Our knights.

Our ladies.

Later, on a different day, the kids and I talked about putting on the whole armor of God and developing virtues.  It all ties so beautifully to chivalry and heraldry.  I made the children cards with a picture of their animal followed by their name and what their animal and color mean.  They hung these on their walls.  On our upstairs wall we put a picture of the armor of God.

This one:

Miriam

Purple Peacock

Majesty, justice, beauty, power, and knowledge

Cowen

Dark Red Bear

Doesn’t seek a fight and yet, when required to fight, victorious

Strength, cunning, ferocity in protecting his family

Emeline

Yellow Unicorn

Generosity and thoughtfulness; extreme courage; virtue and strength

Eli

Green Eagle

Hope, joy, loyalty, nobility, strength, bravery, alertness, intelligent, and just

Man of Action

Harriet

Pink Dove

Peace, sincerity, gentleness, constancy 

A Science Update

 Our depiction of the layers of the earth.

 Yay!  Worksheet!

 Patsy (the dog) trying to join in the fun.

 Since we were studying the earth's layers on a Monday, we had a layers of the earth treat for FHE.  Half an oreo (crust, mantle) with chocolate sauce (outer core), and m&m (inner core).  The kids loved it.

 Look out!  The wind is eroding the hill.

Rainstorm!

Good times.  My kids love science.