the Mays' Days

May 12, 2009

Happy Birthday to James!

The fire truck came with a working hose and siren!

Last week it was rainy, so we did an experiment inside. During a break in the rain, we dashed out and picked a variety of leaves. Then we ripped and mashed them up and covered them in rubbing alcohol to extract the chlorophyll.

Nature Study

Yesterday we met with some friends at the Nature Center to study flowers. Before we left, the kids and I gathered some different kinds of flowers from the neighborhood. Once we were all gathered and fed, I did an impromptu presentation on the parts of the flower (that's me in the pink hat), and then moms and kids dissected the flowers to see if we could identify the parts inside. One mom handed me a dissected day lily which was really exciting since the stamen and pistil were so easy to identify, and an iris bulb yielded the best view of the ovules inside the ovary of the flower. The weather was cool and overcast but stayed dry so when the kids were done playing, a few of us (3 moms and 13 kids) decided to go on a hike down to pond. As soon as we got back to the center, Charles and Cecilia went to a class on Salamanders which works in perfectly with what we'll be studying next week.

May 6, 2009

BASEBALL not softball

Even though she had the option, Maria chose to play co-ed baseball instead of girls' softball this year. She plays on the Texas Rangers in the machine pitch league and has been very enthusiastic and focused. Bill has seen more of her games, but when I've been there, she has made some really nice hits.