And Another School Year Begins

We just finished our first week of school. Like every year, I had plans for making our first day of school super fun. I would be perfectly patient. The kids would be responsive and excited to learn. We would sing and laugh and love. Ha... Ha... That didn't exactly happen. One of my children was in tears, for say a half-hour or more, over having to learn the names of the states which form the northern border of the U.S. They are, by the way, Washington, Idaho, Montana, North Dakota, Minnesota, Wisconsin, Michigan, Ohio, Pennsylvania, New York, Vermont, New Hampshire and Maine. I wish you could hear me as I type singing the song that helps us remember these states. Wait, no I don't.

Learning the states while singing and using a nifty pointer sounds like fun doesn't it? Not to the perfectionist child who has a hard time accepting that he or she may not get it perfectly right the first time. It's always an adjustment, starting school again. Thankfully, Wednesday's learning of the states which form our southern border found us all smiling and having fun.

Monday was also a day without power, thanks to Hurricane Irene, so that meant we couldn't have our special first-day-of-school breakfast or do our science experiment which involved cooking. Going out for breakfast really wasn't an option as Butterfly was not feeling the best that day.

Then we went to the doctor that afternoon to have one of Butterfly's tubes removed and she SCREAMED... a lot. When they did things to her and when they didn't, when they walked in carrying a bottle, when they removed tape, when they asked her a question when they did things that really do hurt. Poor thing. She was so scared. We were able to distract her a little bit, but not much. But once the thing was out, she was charming and cracking jokes. Isn't it amazing how kids can switch moods in an instant?

So Monday was rough, but the rest of the week was wonderful, all praise to God. Butterfly has felt so much better without the tubes in her bladder. She and her siblings especially enjoyed a Tuesday play date with some of their most favorite friends and we were sent home from that outing with a most-delicious hot dinner. Restoration of our power Wednesday night allowed us to complete our science experiments Friday.

Lizard pouring vinegar and food dye into warm milk.

Butterfly stirs the vinegar and milk until lumps form (i.e. the milk curdles).

Lizard pours the curds and whey into a jar with a stocking sieve.

After ten minutes, Butterfly squeezes liquid from the curds in the stocking. I think her expression is priceless.

The curds form a plastic-like substance called casein which can be squeezed through a cookie cutter to form desired shapes. They'll take two days to dry and are not edible. We're not sure what we'll do with them then, but it was fun to observe this chemical reaction.

If you are wondering where Historian was during these experiments, he opted to finish up some independent school work during the girls' science lesson as he is now in a junior high level science. He did pop out of his study nook to extrude the maple leaf shape from the casein.

Although we didn't get to enjoy the special first-day-of-school breakfast, we did celebrate the end of the first week of school by making a cookie pizza (sent to us as a kit by our extraordinarily kind friends the H Family).

Historian made the giant cookie by himself and did a fantastic job. I, on the other hand, was in charge of making the chocolate icing and I scorched it on the stove, so canned white icing worked in a pinch.

M&Ms and marshmallows and an occasional gummy added to the festive monstrosity.

One happy fifth-grader!