Jack's Choir Program

 Tonight was Jack's end of the year choir program.

 This was also the last night for Miss Neva, the children's choir director.

 If you want to know how long she's been around, that's her in the pink pants.  And the weird looking girl next to her is none other than me.  That's a long time.

 Jack had a Bible verse to read and he did a great job!  (If I ever can figure out how to get the video on here, I will!)

He also got a sticker for his hymnal for Hymns in My Heart and a High Attendance Award--his third!

Track Meet!

 Today Jack ran in his first track meet!

 In the 50 meter dash he placed fifth out of nine.

 Since I have zero experience with track meets, I was not aware that a huge portion of your time is spent waiting.  We decided next year we would bring snacks and entertainment since the camera was the only thing we had with us to amuse ourselves.

 Partway through the events they let all the little kids come out and run.  The people behind me were dying laughing at Alice's starting stance and were sure she was just going to roll over when they blew the whistle.  I thought they might be right.

 She took off running, though!  They gave them some candy and a towel and Alice thought she was a big kid.

 In the 100 meter dash, he placed third (out of three).  Some of these kids were pretty hard core.  We asked Jack if he wanted some tighter clothes next time and then we all laughed.

 Jack with his PE teacher, Mr. Thor.

Since he's never done any kind of competitive sports, I wasn't sure what he would think of the whole experience.  He seemed to enjoy it, though, and he says he wants to do it again next year.  I think his reasons are a little different from most of the other kids' reasons, though.  When we were talking this evening, he asked if I knew what color the 4th and 6th place ribbons were.  It turns out that he would like one of every color so he can have a complete set.  Some things never change!

Fun Friday: Woolly Weekend

 Today we went to Shepherd's Cross for their Woolly Weekend!

 

We got to watch them shear a sheep.

 

 There is a LOT of wool on them!

 

 As hot as it has been, this sheep has to be feeling much better now!

 Upstairs there are examples of different shawls they have made from the sheep over the last few years.

We got to see them using the spinning wheel.

We also saw a demonstration of how to use a loom.  I told Jack he should be glad I didn't have to make his clothes like that because he'd be wearing leaves.

 Carding wool

Finger weaving

The finished product!

 Warm as Wool is a FIAR book we haven't rowed yet, so we read it this morning before we left.

 We also spent time outside, where Jack found this nest of goose eggs!

 A cat watched us on the garden tour!

 I think the kids would love it if we planted something like this!

 The tour guide said that these were like the bitter herbs used at Passover--I'm not sure what they were called because I was trying to keep Alice from taste testing everything!

 Checking out animals at the petting zoo

 The whole crew!

 After all of that, we spent some time at the playground.

 Jack was so excited to be back at his favorite merry-go-round!

 ~~~~~

 Check out today's post at Metro Family on choosing good books!

 

 Speaking of good books, I read Moon Over Manifest this week and it is one of the best books I've read in ages.  You've got to read it!

Happy Friday!

Paul Revere's Ride

 Last week we rowed Paul Revere's Ride by Henry Wadsworth Longfellow.

 For the cover of his notebook pages, Jack drew a horse using Draw Write Now.  Go ahead and rub your neck a little because you're going to have to keep your head tilted.  Sorry.

 Printables were from Homeschool Share, of course!

 Jack especially enjoyed Sam the Minuteman.

We actually watched the DVD of And Then What Happened, Paul Revere?  Jean Fritz books are the best!

 

 Jack has seen most of the Liberty's Kids episodes before (we bought the DVD set), but we went back and watched the Paul Revere one--and several others, too!

If you know me in real life, you know I could probably draw out colonial times and the American Revolution to cover at least six months, but since Jack's just in second grade, I kept it simple.  We made hats and that was it!

This week we've moved on to Miss Rumphius!

Date Night

 Friday night was date night.  We went to see Oklahoma Originals, a concert with perhaps the most eclectic group I've ever seen.

 If you look behind us, you can see that we were just about the youngest ones there.  I think we might be getting a disapproving look from behind.  You have to keep an eye on those crazy 35 year olds, you know.

 

 This man made my 81 year old grandma look pretty young.  The overwhelming majority of the audience was 60 and up.  I think they were there to hear Grady Nichols, who seems to be a really good musician, even if his music sounds like the soundtrack to an episode of Hunter.

 

We were there to hear Jenny Labow (I can't figure out how to separate these two pictures with the new Blogger interface), who we used to go see a lot on college.  Most of the old people hung on through her set, but only a few made it through RadioRadio.

Though the gray streak in my hair was making me feel pretty old when we started the evening, I felt like a college kid by the time we spent the evening with senior citizens listening to college music.  I think that's how we need to spend all our date nights from now on!

Fun Friday: Abraham Lincoln

This week's president was Abraham Lincoln, so we tried making log cabins today--they're still in progress.

Earlier in the week we made these Abe Lincoln heads from the Evan-Moor President's Day Theme Pockets. (Jack said his was supposed to look serious!)

Just under the heads you can see our line of presidents. I couldn't find a poster I liked, so we're putting up flash cards instead. I had been putting them up as we went, but Jack requested that I put them all up now.

Another activity from the Evan-Moor pack.

We read Abe Lincoln Goes to Washington today, too. This is a great book because the story is simple enough for younger kids to follow but the illustrations contain a lot of information and would be great for older kids--I actually had this from when I was teaching fifth graders. Russell Freedman's Lincoln: A Photobiography (a Newbery winner) is amazing. It's way too much for Jack to read now, but the pictures were great to look through.

We haven't read it yet, but the latest Magic Tree House book is about Abraham Lincoln. Another time travel book that we did read was Just in Time, Abraham Lincoln by Patricia Polacco.

In other news, preparations for this summer's adventure boxes has begun!

This week's post at Metro Family is all about blogs. Check it out!

Happy Friday!