Project 13 Blog Circle - Around Town

Welcome to the second installment of a monthly collaborative photo project I am thrilled to be participating in with several talented photographers. This project concentrates on focusing on our everyday moments. Together we will share our images at the end of each month focusing on various sub-themes related to the over-arching theme of Everyday Moments.

 As we all know, life slips by very quickly and the images shared will be small glimpses into our everyday lives. It also provides us a place to share images that may or may not be technically perfect, these are the ones that pull at our heartstrings. I invite you to follow along with me on this project.

Our theme this month is "around town."  Do you take photos of your family outings around town? Most of us bring our cameras when we visit museums or take road trips, but it isn't as often that we capture those little everyday moments we have as we go about our daily business. Phone cameras and instagram have enticed us to capture those small moments more frequently, I think. I am thankful for that. Some of those simple little pleasures are what make life worth living. I know I will be so grateful to have captured these memories when my kids have grown. 

On occasion, I even take my big girl camera on errands. It's a fun exercise in creativity to frame the seemingly mundane trips to the store or bank. And one of our favorite family stops is Starbucks. I hope my kids remember those little jaunts as a special family treat.

Thank you for visiting! Please continue on to the next post in the series by my very talented friend Kim of Kim Dupree photography.

Wounded Wear and the Ironman Foundation - Raising funds for Wounded Warriors

Yesterday I had the pleasure of photographing Soonja Heber, who is an Ironman triathlete training to participate in the Ironman event in Louisville, KY on August 26, 2012. Soonja is raising money for Wounded Wear, a non-profit organization, which provides free clothing and clothing modifications to wounded warriors. The organization also raises awareness of the sacrifices made by America's wounded soldiers and their families.

Soonja herself, is a proud veteran and military spouse. And did I mention she's gorgeous? Here are some of my favorite shots from our shoot.

The Ironman Foundation was formed in 2003 as a 501c3 non-profit and makes philanthropic contributions of nearly ten million dollars to numerous beneficiaries across the globe. It's mission is "to leave Ironman's legacy through philanthropy, voluntarism, and grant making; by supporting various athletic, community, education, health, human services and public benefit non-profit organizations around the world."

As a military daughter and spouse, this cause is near and dear to my heart. I was thrilled to have the opportunity to donate my time to Soonja's efforts, and to help get the word out about Wounded Wear.

If you have a moment, I recommend watching this short video about the founder of Wounded Wear,  Lt. Jason Redman, a retired Navy Seal and wounded combat survivor.

To find out more and make a donation, please visit this link: http://ironman.kintera.org/louisville2012/soonja
Give what you can. Every little bit counts! And please help spread the word by sharing this post. Thank you!!

How Does Your Garden Grow?

No veggies for us this year, but our gardens are all abloom. I love the colors!

What's growing at your place?

We The People 9.17 Constitution Contest for All Ages

Constituting America's mission is to reach, educate and inform America's youth and her citizens about the importance of the U.S. Constitution and the foundation it sets forth regarding our freedoms and rights. 


To view last years winner, sign up, or find more info, visit Constituting America .

Summer Reading Programs For Kids

Looking for a way to keep your kids engaged in reading this summer?

There is no shortage of incentive programs to choose from. Check out this varied list:

- This one's new to me: Be sure to check out the Mensa Foundation's
Excellence in Reading Award Program at
http://mensaforkids.com/school_template.cfm?showPage=school_readeraward.cfm

- Half Price Books' program runs June 1st through July 31. If kids read 15
minutes a day, they can earn a $5 gift card. For more information, check
out http://www.hpb.com/community/fyb/. You can get the reading log at:
http://www.hpb.com/community/fyb/pdfs/FYBReadingLog.pdf

- PBS Kids Summer Reading Challenge: PBS/iVillage has a program that could
keep you busy all summer long. There are several aspects to it, and you can
find out more at http://www.pbs.org/parents/read/. Each week there will be
a special theme, and you can read more about that at:
http://www.pbs.org/parents/read/pdfs/themeweekschedule.pdf

- Borders has what they call the "Double Dog Dare Challenge." Kids who read
10 books and track them can get a free book. For more info, check out:
http://www.borders.com/online/store/MediaView_doubledogdare

- Chuck E. Cheese has a number of awards that they will grant 10 free tokens
for, including reading (and no nose picking!). You can find them at:
http://www.chuckecheese.com/promotions/rewards-calendars.php

- Barnes & Noble will give kids a free book for every 8 books they read.
They also have some parent information. Find out more at:
http://www.barnesandnoble.com/summerreading/index.asp

- Scholastic Book also has a summer program in which kids read and log in to
win prizes. Details are available at: http://www.scholastic.com/summer/

- Book It! will give your child a "prize package" for reading. There are
some fun things in it - check out their Web site for more info:
http://www.bookitprogram.com/summerbreak/docs/entryform.pdf. Be sure to
check out the Pizza Hut school year Book It! program as well:
http://www.bookitprogram.com/

- If you are on the east coast, TD Bank has a summer reading program:
http://www.tdbank.com/summerreading/. Commerce Bank will deposit $10 in
young savers' accounts when they read ten books.

- If you are in an area with H-E-B Grocery Store, they have a program as
well. The instructions can be found at:
http://www.hebuddy.com/content/pdf/summerreadingclub.pdf

- Even Pottery Barn has a summer reading program (who knew?!), along
with other kids' events. Check it out at:
http://www.potterybarnkids.com/customer-service/store-events.html

- Old Spaghetti Factory offers a free kids meal to every child who reads
five books. Information at: http://www.osf.com/kids/rewards-of-reading.html

- Sylvan Learning Centers has a free reading incentive program for kids
through grade 8 that runs all the time. You can register and find more
information at: http://www.bookadventure.com/

- Kids 8 & up can be "reading warriors" with this special program built
around Erin Hunter's Warrior series of books. Information:
http://www.readingwarriors.com/rwshell.html

If you're feeling a little less cerebral or need some air conditioning, this
Web site lists places with free summer movies:
http://freebies.about.com/od/familyactivities/tp/free-summer-movies.htm

There are so many great programs from which to choose!  There is bound to be at least one that sparks an interest in every young reader. And there are no rules that say you can't participate in more than one ;) Feel free to share this post. If you participate in any of these programs I'd love to hear your thoughts on your experience.

Happy Summer. Happy reading!

The Luna Moth

Have you ever seen a Luna Moth? Heard of one? Even though I have lived in the same general area for the past 37 years, and these moths are indigenous to this area, I had never seen or heard of one before. That is, until my 8 year old called from the back yard one afternoon, "Hey mom, come look at this huge caterpillar!"

I grabbed my camera, as per my usual M.O., and took a few shots so that we could research this species on the internet. Fortunately I had recently purchased a butterfly cage for the kids, so we put our caterpillar in the cage with some leaves and sticks from a gum tree and waited to see what would happen. The kids affectionately named her Coconut (though we're not sure if it was a male or female). Within two days she had cocooned and about three weeks later she came out and flew away.

This is what we found from the Butterflies and Moths of North America website. You can also find out more by watching this youtube video.

Attributes of Actias luna
Family: Wild Silk Moths (Saturniidae)

Subfamily: Giant Silkworm Moths (Saturniinae)

Identification: Hindwings have long curving tails. Wings are pale green, each with a transparent eyespot. Outer margins are pink in the southern spring brood, yellow in the southern summer brood and in northern populations.

Life history: Adults are nocturnal and very strong fliers. Mating takes place after midnight, and egg-laying begins that evening. Females lay eggs in small groups or singly on both surfaces of host plant leaves. The eggs hatch in about one week and the caterpillars are sedentary and solitary feeders. Leaves and silk are used to spin papery brown cocoons in litter under the host plant.

Flight: One brood from May-July in the north, two to three broods from March-September in the south.

Wing span: 2 15/16 - 4 1/8 inches (7.5 - 10.5 cm)!

Caterpillar hosts: A variety of trees including white birch (Betula papyrifera), persimmon (Diospyros virginiana), sweet gum (Liquidambar styraciflua), hickories (Carya), walnuts (Juglans), and sumacs (Rhus).

Adult food: Adults do not feed. After hatching from their cocoon they live for about 5 days, with the sole purpose of mating. Mature moths do not even have a mouth.

Habitat: Deciduous hardwood forests.

Range: Common. Nova Scotia west to Saskatchewan and eastern North Dakota; south to central Florida, the Gulf Coast, and eastern Texas.

I'm so thankful we had the opportunity to experience this wonder of nature. These moths are bigger than any I've ever seen and are simply beautiful! We have since found two adult moths in out back yard.

Look What Daddy Built For Us!

Yes, it came in a kit, but he still had to "build" it. I think the instructions said "easy assembly in just 5 hours!" Yeah, don't believe everything you read.  He worked a lot longer than that and he's no novice at construction. But, it's a great set and the kids are really enjoying it.  We plan on putting down some more sand and then mulch, but they couldn't wait to play! Hooray, hours of entertainment for the kidlets and, perhaps, a moment's peace for mom....yeah, I'm not holding my breath.

In case you're interested, we bought the set at The Home Depot. It is solid and sturdy and comes with everything except a few pieces of the lumber, and the slide was sold separately (there are a couple of options for that).  They had three different versions and we chose the middle priced option. We also got a military discount so if you are a military family and shop Home Depot, be sure to ask about that.

Kids Art and Youth Art Month

March is Youth Art Month and I have been wanting to share some of the drawings my kids have created lately. I just hadn't gotten around to scanning them until today.

I've been toying with the idea of starting a meme called Inspire Me Monday or something of the sort...but, that would require creating a button for the meme...and getting the word out, and planning more posts, and... geez, why isn't there more time in the day?!

Please do let me know if you'd be interested in participating in such a meme to share things of beauty that inspire you and feed your soul. Could be kids art, could be photos you've taken, anything you've created, a song you love, a poem, etc. Just a way to celebrate the beauty around us and find a little light in these otherwise dreary times. I'll try to get my act together and organize a post for next Monday.

Anyway..on with the show :)
The first drawing is a self-portrait that my daughter created. She is 4. She actually drew pictures of everyone in the family. I love them all and am thinking of making them into charms for a charm bracelet...eh hem....a great Mother's Day gift, don't you think?

The next one is a picture my son drew of a dragon. He is 7. He was playing with his Lego Castle set and then decided to draw this.

I just love these because they are things they simply felt inspired to create. I didn't sit them down for a lesson, or prompt them. They're just freehand doodles and the simplicity and imagination of them touch my heart.

Here is a link to some art lesson plans compliments of Crayola (scroll toward the bottom of the page).
Incredible Art has lessons by grade level. Cool!
Arty Factory has some really cool lessons online for more advanced artists and upper Elementary through teens. Find more free art tutorials at Art Graphica, also for more advanced kids...or even mom.

If you have a post on art that you'd like to share, please leave a link in the comments! I'd love to see it.
Thanks!

February Learning Links

I've collected some links for our homeschooling activities this month and I thought I'd share them here. We plan on exploring Valentine's Day, The Chinese New Year, Black History Month, The Winter Olympics, as well as keeping up with what's going on in Haiti. Plus, I threw in a couple of extras, just for fun  ;)   I hope you find some useful stuff here. And, if you've got something to share, please leave a comment :D

Valentine's Day:
Cute games and activities for kids
Crafts
Links for kids: history, crafts, games, cards and more
About the human heart

China links:
Worksheets
China study: topics ranging from the chronology of dynasties to women, education, population, economy, etc.
China history for beginners
This student-created site covers four periods of Chinese history: The First Emperor, The Great Wall of China, the Ming Dynasty, and the Handover of Hong Kong to China. Includes a quiz. This site is geared toward elementary students.
Walk the Great Wall: Students may view sections of the Great Wall through black and white photos and interactive panoramas.

Black History:
Biographies, videos, quizzes and more.
Activities and links from Family Education.
Time for Kids has featured stories and articles for review.
Find Free Powerpoint presentations here.

Winter Olympics:
Create Mascots and Cards
Online games
Printables and activities and more printables
Unit Study links
Olympic history
And test your knowledge with this Olympics Quiz.

Find news on Haiti and here and info on how to talk to kids about Haiti here.

Learn about Thomas Edison here (his birthday is this month). And, did you know February and March are National Birdfeeding months? Finally, here's some fun for baseball fans.

Recycled Halloween Craft - Make A Haunted House

I found this in my inbox from Highlights and thought it was too cute and clever not to share. What a fun and easy festive craft that uses recycled materials.



Create a Spooky Haunted House

Wash out an empty milk carton--either a quart or half-gallon size will do.
On a separate piece of paper, draw 4 rectangles--each the size of one side of your carton.
On each rectangle draw the outside wall of a house by creating windows, door frames, bricks, and decorations.
Cut out the 4 paper rectangles and glue them to the sides of the house.
Glue on shutters and doors that open and shut.
Add cotton cobwebs for atmosphere.
Use another piece of paper to make a roof.
Draw and cut out people, bats, ghosts, and spooky vehicles and add them to the house.

Make a Ghost Town

This is a great group activity for a party or family. Each person decorates a house, as above. Put the houses together to make a "ghost town."

For other fun craft activities for your kids go to www.highlightskids.com

Recycled Crafts - Make a Boat to Float

By Jennifer Carling & Highlights Magazine

What You’ll Need:

* a large and a small milk or juice carton
* scissors
* ruler
* masking tape
* permanent or waterproof markers
* glue

How to Make It:

Thoroughly wash the inside of two milk or juice cartons of different widths. Cut the larger carton in half the long way. (Discard one half.) Cut the other carton, if necessary, to a height of about 5 inches.

Cover the outside of each piece with masking tape (except for the bottom) and decorate with permanent or waterproof markers.

To make the cabin, cut out doors and windows on the smaller piece, or draw them on with markers.

Glue the bottom of the cabin inside the square end of the larger piece.

After the glue dries, float your boat in a pool or bathtub.

This Day in History - Hurricane Katrina Makes Landfall

Do you remember what you were doing on August 29th, 2005? It's one of those days I remember well, like September 11, 2001 when the U.S. was attacked, or July 16, 1999 when JFK Jr and his wife and sister died in a plane crash. These moments seems to be frozen in time and act as a permanent marker so that we may never forget the victims of these tragedies.

In August 2005 when Katrina hit, it was sweltering hot outside. I had a newborn baby girl and a rambunctious three year old boy who was going through lots of changes. My husband had just returned from deployment in the middle east arriving only a week before our daughter was born. I was holed up in the house with the baby because of the heat (our ac could barely keep up and it was 84 degrees in our living room!). Hubs did his best to keep Aiden busy and let the baby sleep. I remember watching the horrors of Katrina on all the news channels for days. Stories of people trapped on roofs, children washed away from their families in floods, alligators swimming the streets and thousands trapped, helpless. I held my baby tight and counted my blessing over and over again. And prayed for all those who had passed on from this world during the raging storm, and for all those still needing help.

Since hurricane season is upon us (we live on the East Coast), now is a great time to discuss weather disasters and disaster preparedness with your family. A fun project for kids is to keep a hurricane tracker map and mark the coordinates of tropical storms and hurricanes as weather updates come in. Discuss how the coordinates relate to nearby cities and towns, how the strength of the storm changes over time, how predictions in direction are made and what signs signal a need to take cover or get out of harms way. Here are some resources to help you get started:

Weather Wiz Kids
National Weather Service
Hurricane Basics
Orlando Sentinel Hurricane Headquarters
Hurricane Guide Downloadable pdf
Tracking Chart

I have seen first hand the damage a smaller storm can do. During Isabel in 2003, I took my son and my dog and got out of dodge. We came home days later to find no power (for 7 more days), stores, restaurants, stores and gas stations closed, little food to be found and destruction. It was a surreal feeling and one I hope not to revisit.

Lego Lovers Fun Fall Challenge

If you have a young boy in your house, chances are you have Legos too. Of course girls play with Legos too, but boys seem to go through a Lego building phase that lasts longer then most girls. I know not all kids are fans of Legos, but once you open a box of bricks, the building possibilities make them hard to resist.

Family Fun Magazine (which I love by the way), has teamed up with Lego to offer it's readers exclusive designs that can be built with the Lego 650-piece Builders of Tomorrow Set. But, even if you don't subscribe to the mag or don't own the set you can get in on the fun by visiting Legofamilytime.com/FamilyFun to view/print the challenges. Improvising with different bricks can be that much more challenging, and that much more fun! Check it out :D

Post Card Kids - Geography Fun!

Over the past year we have swapped post cards with people all over the U.S., Canada and even Europe. We joined an online Yahoo group called Post Cards for Kids and have collected some really cool cards. We have put up a map and we highlight the cities and states from which we receive cards as we trade. My kids LOVE to get mail; they run down to the curb to collect it when they see the mail man coming! Really, you'd think he was Santa or something.

I love that it's such an interesting way to introduce them to new information. We've gone way beyond geography and discussed history, weather and climates, seasons, famous Americans, transportation, mapping and distances, architecture, and the list goes on. We've discovered places we'd never heard of and lots of places we hope to see some day.

Our collection is ever growing and I've posted an album of some of our cards. We have tons more that I will add...one day, when I find the time to scan them all and upload them.

This has been a great project for us. I think we'll keep collecting as long as we are enjoying it and learning new things. This year I hope to take our project around the globe and add a flat Stanley collection to our project.
Here are some more links to fun geography-related project for kids:
Pen Pal Resources @ A to Z Home's Cool
Pen Pal Notes
Little Passports

Firefly Science Project for Kids

Be a firefly scientist and join us for some firefly fun!! Check out Ready, Set, Glow! and get your kids involved in a fun summer science project. The National Children's Museum's Ready, Set, Glow! project is a unique collaboration between the National Children's Museum (NCM) and the Museum of Science, Boston (MOS), designed to help children become "citizen scientists" through studying fireflies in their own backyards and inputting data online. The goal of the project is to engage kids in inquiry-based learning and stewardship of the environment, and above all, to have fun! Here's more from the website:

What states have fireflies?

Fireflies that glow are found in the eastern United States, east of the Mississippi River all the way from Maine to Florida. If you live in the West, in states like California, Oregon and Washington, you probably won't see fireflies. Fireflies like warm, moist climates and scientists think it may be too dry in these states.
When can I start watching fireflies?

Fireflies can be seen starting in late spring or early summer. Watch for them starting in June until mid to late August or even September, depending upon where you live.

Counting fireflies is easy and fun!
Just follow these simple steps:

Pick a location (like your own backyard!) and register your location on the Museum of Science Boston website.

Spend 10-15 minutes once a week observing fireflies and answer some easy questions like:

Citizen Scientist
* How many fireflies did you see?
* How many different firefly colors did you see?
* How many flashing patterns did you see?
* Where were the fireflies that you watched?

Record the answers on the MOS data sheet and upload your observations to the website. Use the online tools to have fun helping scientists map where fireflies are found and interacting with fellow Citizen Scientists.

Use the MOS web site to have fun helping scientists map where fireflies are found and interacting with fellow Citizen Scientists.

To learn more about fireflies and to join the Museum of Science, Boston (“MOS”) Firefly Watch Project go to www.mos.org/fireflywatch/.

Science Is A Blast!

I wanted to order Aiden one of those Steve Spangler Geyser Tubes and just had not gotten around to it. Well, the other day I stumbled upon them at Michael's and for $4.95 (plus a 40% off coupon) I knew I could not resist. I was certain this mini explosion would be a big hit with him and this kit did not disappoint.

From Steve Spangler's website, here's how it works:

"As you probably know, soda pop is basically sugar (or diet sweetener), flavoring, water and preservatives. The thing that makes soda bubbly is invisible carbon dioxide gas, which is pumped into bottles at the bottling factory using tons of pressure. Until you open the bottle and pour a glass of soda, the gas mostly stays suspended in the liquid and cannot expand to form more bubbles, which gases naturally do.

But there's more... If you shake the bottle and then open it, the gas is released from the protective hold of the water molecules and escapes with a whoosh, taking some of the soda along with it. What other ways can you cause the gas to escape? Just drop something into a glass of soda and notice how bubbles immediately form on the surface of the object.

For example, adding salt to soda causes it to foam up because thousands of little bubbles form on the surface of each grain of salt. Many scientists, including Lee Marek, claim that the Mentos phenomenon is a physical reaction, not a chemical one.

Water molecules strongly attract each other, linking together to form a tight mesh around each bubble of carbon dioxide gas in the soda. In order to form a new bubble, or even to expand a bubble that has already formed, water molecules must push away from each other. It takes extra energy to break this "surface tension." In other words, water "resists" the expansion of bubbles in the soda.

When you drop the Mentos into the soda, the gelatin and gum arabic from the dissolving candy break the surface tension. This disrupts the water mesh, so that it takes less work to expand and form new bubbles. Each Mentos candy has thousands of tiny pits all over the surface. These tiny pits are called nucleation sites - perfect places for carbon dioxide bubbles to form. As soon as the Mentos hit the soda, bubbles form all over the surface of the candy.

Couple this with the fact that the Mentos candies are heavy and sink to the bottom of the bottle and you've got a double-whammy. When all this gas is released, it literally pushes all of the liquid up and out of the bottle in an incredible soda blast. You can see a similar effect when cooking potatoes or pasta are lowered into a pot of boiling water. The water will sometimes boil over because organic materials that leach out of the cooking potatoes or pasta disrupt the tight mesh of water molecules at the surface of the water, making it easier for bubbles and foam to form."

This is one science experiment that is a blast for kids and grown ups alike!



Sorry the video is horizontal. Damn that photographer!

Do You Compost?

Are you planning a garden this summer or have you already gotten one started? We planted a veggie garden Easter weekend and are anxiously awaiting a crisp summer salad! Gardening is a fun way to spend time together as a family engaged in a long term project. Kids love to get dirty, and learn so much from tending a garden and watching their hard work come to fruition. Whether you plan a big plot full of a variety of produce, or a small container herb garden, working on it together with your kids will bring you both great joy.

My reputation for having a black thumb precedes me (my husband will certainly attest to this- two things always end up black in my care, plants and bread). But I am determined this year to taste the fruits of my labor!

We started planning a few months ago and began composting all of our biodegradable waste. I bought a tall bin with a lid that has holes in it and placed it out back near our kitchen door for easy access. I lined it with a trash bag to keep the juices from oozing all over. I throw in whatever is compostable as I cook or clean up the kitchen. A better idea would probably be to put a wooden crate out back or even just heap the stuff in a pile in the corner of the yard (forgoing the plastic bag), but most days I'm too busy to pee, let alone run back and forth across the yard with our trash. So, I did what would work for us (yes, sometimes I'm more brown than green, but I'm trying). Anyway, we mixed in all this muck when we tilled the garden and we're expecting sweet rewards (coffee grounds are supposed to be fab for growing tasty tomatoes).

Here's a pick of our newly planted garden, I saw our first sprouts today!


If you'd like to learn more about composting, check out these sites:
Ecocycle
Compostguide
Mastercomposter
How to Compost

Our Gardening Project