Butterbean's 11th Birthday!

chocolate chip pancake breakfast in bed

late night game of mastermind

my first born and I!

birthday king and his brother

impromptu game of duck duck goose

...gift from Granne (so big boy can be a doctor!)

he's wanted duct tape forever!

drove all over town to find him this duct tape crafting book

the ice cream cake i made for him

birthday boy with little brother and sweet cousin

More Birthdays

How I did not post about this a LONG time ago, I don't know, but I went searching for a photo of Middleman's 7th birthday cake from January and I couldn't find it, so I guess I never posted it here!  Anywho, here it is.  The penguin castle cake he wanted...

Mathletics

For the last few weeks, my boys have been using Mathletics, an "online curriculum-based resource for students at school and home." I received a free three month trial in exchange for writing about the program on my blog. 

As computer time around our house is typically reward-based, I have not used Mathletics as an every day math supplement.  Since it is summer, I wanted my boys to keep up their math skills.  We have not been working on their regular curriculum throughout the summer, so we have been using Mathletics as a fun way to keep up with math facts, etc.

Butterbean was working at approximately a 5th grade math level this past school year, so we sign him in to Mathletics at that level.  Middleman was about 2nd, therefore his Mathletics is set up for 2nd grade.  Babyman has done no formal math program yet, so we are trying his Mathletics program at Kindergarten level, and he's done quite well. 

After signing in the first time, the boys each got to create an avatar with Mathletics' Facemaker. At that point, I pretty much let him take over, working on the activities in his Student Centre and attempting to unlock mini games, which is Middleman's main goal!  Next to the Times Tables Toons, the games are Middleman's favorite part of Mathletics.  Butterbean enjoys trying to earn the most points he can, aiming for those gold bars (meaning he's mastered an activity).  For the most part, the boys are having fun (their main goal of online activities!), and their biggest concern is that there's no sound during the activities.

As students are working through their activities, if they run into a bit of trouble, they can click on the question mark for some help.  A little character will lead them through step by step examples.  The boys enjoy changing those characters around frequently.

There is a Live Mathletics section as well, where a student can play against a computer or another student somewhere in the world, in real time.  We have not tried it out yet.

There is so much to explore at Mathletics and thankfully we still have some time left!  We'll tell you more about it very soon. 

Summer Fun

With the cast of The Legend of Sleepy Hollow from Bright Star Touring Theatre (thank you Ms. Zoe and Mr. Ramone, you were fabulous!)

with Steve Weeks, children's musician (who was very excited to learn that middleman is learning the ukelele!) Thank you, we loved your show!

Cub Scouts



and the Wolves become Bears!



Middleman receiving his awards from his Den leader

sharing a s'more with Mommy for her birthday

my Boy Scout after putting up his own tent

Boy Scout supervising the flag raising

little spelunker

-Middleman "God has mischief"



Happy Memorial Day!



My Boy Scout honoring the fallen soldiers



Discovery Education's Virtual Field Trip

Butterbean (10), Middleman (7) and I just finished "attending" our first Discovery Education Virtual Field trip entitled Egg Farm-to-Table.  To say I was unimpressed would be a gross understatement. 

We took a very short trip to the Hickman family egg farm in Arizona where we took a brief look into a hen "house." 

As our tour guide let us know, all hens, just like humans, live in different types of houses, and these particular hens live in a cage.  We were told that the hens are only in these particular cages between the hours of 7 to 11 am, their egg laying hours.  Oh, and by the way, they typically lay one egg a day.


So,  where do they spend the rest of their day?  That, they didn't say, or show.  The only pan the camera  showed, I didn't see any grass, and that concerned me.  We were invited, as "live" (although I still am not convinced it was live) viewers to send in questions, which I did.  I asked where the grassy area was for the hens to graze and peck in, or where they spent their non-laying hours.  Of course, my questions was not answered. 

Most of the video was spent with the husband and wife Hickman duo at a table outside their hen house (?) answering questions, many of which they never actually answered.  For example, when asked if they had children, and if they involve their children in their family business, the wife answered that their kids are watching from school right now! 

When asked why some eggs contain two yolks, the answer was "it's your lucky day."   When they were asked what their busiest time of year was, the husband answered Easter, and stated that they really "ramp up" for the season.  I'd like to know how you "ramp up" the laying process.  How exactly do your force a hen to lay more eggs? 

When asked if the nutritional value of all eggs are the same, they answered "yes, because all chickens eat the same feed."  To that, I have to utter, NO THEY DON'T! 
According to many free-range chicken experts and cage-free chicken farmers including homestead.org,

"The nutritional value of free-range eggs makes this challenge a worthwhile endeavor for the homesteader wanting to produce higher quality eggs for a healthier diet.  Recently, Mother Earth News did an egg study comparing free-range eggs to the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) nutrient data for commercial eggs.  The findings showed that free-range chicken eggs produced the following results:    • 1/3 less cholesterol    • 1/4 less saturated fat    • 2/3 more vitamin A    • 2 times more omega-3 fatty acids    • 3 times more vitamin E    • 7 times more beta-carotene."

Having really looked forward to our first Discovery Education virtual field trip, I was quite crestfallen.  I went to Hickman family farms so I could learn more about them.  I thought maybe I just hadn't given them the benefit of the doubt, or I'd seen one too many PETA videos, or something, but their website doesn't do much for me either. 

Maybe Discovery Education just needs to do another virtual field trip, one where the chickens live like this. 

I mean, don't children deserve to know that chickens live happily too?! Or heck, maybe we just need to break down and raise some ourselves! 

FYI, this "review," if you want to consider it that, is my own opinion.  No one asked me to write it, nor did they ask me to attend the program.  If you have any questions, or comments, please feel free to let me know.



Catapult

Butterbean created a Catapult today and he wanted to share it with you!

January 15, 2012

Clown Birthday

the invitation



rainbow cake

clown cupcakes

happy birthday 4 year old babyman! (i supposed i can't call you that anymore!)