Back to the Daily Grind

Our three week break was finally over and we had to get back to work this week.  Due to colds and freezing temperatures, we spent the majority of our break at home.  Even though Luke wouldn't admit to it, I think all of us were ready to get back to our routine.  Cabin fever had set in and we needed something to do before one of us (me) completely lost it.

Seriously, we were going to lose it.

Polar Vortex Fun
We were hit with a blizzard followed by ridiculously cold temperatures last week, so we still were not able to get out of the house much.  I saw a blog with some fun winter activities, so we gave some of them a try.

 We added salt to half of an ice cube tray to see if we could lower the temperature enough to prevent it from freezing in our freezer.  It didn't work, but sometimes I think it is important to not be successful and at least we had good discussions on the definition of a freezing point.

We learned about mammals of the ocean and read about whale blubber.   The boys put one hand into a baggie and then put that hand into another baggie filled with shortening.  They then put both hands into a bowl of ice water.  We talked about insulation and ways that animals stay warm.

 

No one was able to keep their bare hand in the water for long!

Because the boys always love anything competitive, we presented them with a little challenge.  They were each given a water bottle and were told to insulate it with one item so that it didn't freeze.

Ben (and Aaron) chose to put the water bottle in a boot.  Luke wrapped his in a scarf.  Both worked pretty well.

An unintentional lesson happened while we were watching the thermometer throughout the week.  The temperature didn't make it above zero for a while, so we kept an eye on the thermometer.  By the time the weather was warming up, Luke was starting to understand that a bigger negative number meant colder temperatures.

We warmed up the car for 20 minutes and everyone still needed blankets to stay warm!


 We also took time to enjoy the weather and being at home together.

We had great packing snow.

The kids spent lots of time giggling in their little fort.

 We made snow ice cream.  The kids loved it, but I couldn't eat more than a bite or two because it was ridiculously sweet.

Sweetened condensed milk, six cups of snow, and vanilla

Sugar buzz!!

 We also completed our regular school work.  With a week's worth of activities cancelled due to weather, completing everything was not a big deal.

Making music with empty bottles

Luke just finished a book called Living Long Ago that talks about culture, transportation, and food from different periods in time.  I tried to explain a covered wagon to him and decided a video would explain it much better, so I found a Little House on the Prairie movie on YouTube.  It wasn't the cheesy TV version that comes to mind and the boys ended up watching the whole thing.  We watched the family cross the iced over Mississippi River (since they had no bridge available), battle wildlife, and talked about the relationship between the settlers and the Native Americans that lived there. 

Hulk watching Little House on the Prairie - quite the juxtaposition

In Math this week, Luke was scheduled to learn about weight.  I had purchased a balance at a school closing sale for $5 and it was worth every penny.  The boys took turns guessing weights of their toys and then using our Base Ten blocks to measure the weight.  After they had weighed a few toys, Luke began determining if the next item weighed more or less than a previous item so that he could make a better prediction. 

 In an attempt to pass on Life Skills and responsibility to the boys, they learned how to peel vegetables this week.