Wednesday, February 22, 2012

This Blog Is For Women

For a long time people have told me that I should write about parenting.  I put them off, saying that I didn't think people would be interested in reading what I had to say.

Recently, I decided to take their advice and I started a blog.  Easier than writing a book, for sure!

Well, it seems from the viewer-ship I've been getting that people do indeed want to read my ideas about family and relationships.  Here's a recent comment one of my readers has posted:
Susan Steadman, RN, BSN 
I have never seen so much good, old-fashioned, common sense in one place…..well, since my parents raised me. Your insight into what to do illuminates what is wrong for so many families; they just don’t know what to do!
….I hope they’ll listen to YOU!!
 If you'd like to check it out, here's the link. http://thisblogisforwomen.com

Sunday, February 12, 2012

Star Gazing

Winter is a great time for star gazing.  It might be a little chilly, but you also don't have to stay up as late.  With longer nights we have more chance to see the stars in the night sky. 

If you're forturnate enough to live a little distance from a city you'll have a view of thousands of stellar objects and even a few planets!

This week we visited our local planetarium and heard a guest lecturer speak about the constellations and asterisms in the winter sky. 

We learned how to navigate by the winter hexagon to find the 6 corner stars: Capella, Aldearan, Rigel, Sirius, Procyon and the twins Castor and Pollux.  Within this figure can be found Taurus, Orion, Canis Major, Canis Minor and Gemini. 

We learned the mythology of the twins Pollux and Castor, one mortal one immortal: both together in the night sky for all eternity.  We chuckled at The Harry Potter References of Sirius (and the dog stars) and Bellatrix (LeStrange.)    

If you don't have a planetarium in your area, you can still find your way around the night sky with the help of a sky map.

Interesting thing to note: Homeschool outing are often great Date Night ideas!

For more information about the astronomy scene in your area visit the Royal Astronomical Society website. 

Friday, February 10, 2012

Sewing with Kids

Sewing with kids is lots of fun.  Sometimes they can find it frustrating when the project is too challenging. 

Stitching pals out of fleece has become somewhat of an obsession around our house.  If you stopped by to visit you'd see for yourself! 

This cute little Shamrock, Sheldon, was designed by my eldest boy. (He's named after his favorite character from The Big Bang Theory!) The project uses basic sewing technique and even my 8-year old had success with it.

Because we believe in cross-curricular studies, I enouraged my son to blog about his sewing.  And now he's even taken it a step farther and published his patterns for sale online. It's never too early to stasrt being an Entrepreneur.


Check out his blog and his online shop!

Thursday, February 9, 2012

Paper Snow Balls

We always find ourselves hibernating in winter.  And with spending time indoors comes craft time!

We found this paper ball online and just HAD to make our own.  They took a little time and were a bit fiddly at first, but they turned out great!

There's a video that shows how it's done.
Check it out!