recyling trip

We visited a recycling center today. I asked J to write 3 things she learned today. And this is what she wrote,

"1. I learned you need to wear a helmet, a vest and a pair of glasses. (She means safety goggles; this is for our protection as we toured a little bit of the facility.) 2. We also learned how they recycle. They just drop it. ( The truck dumps the materials, then a machine put them (i.e card board) up on the conveyor belt to where people sort it by hand.) 3. Then we learned how to make paper. First, we get scraps, then we grind, last we blend. (She is talking about how to make pulp. First get scraps of paper, add water and put into a blender to get pulp. With the pulp, you can drain and press to make paper.) "

Prime says he learned "you can recycle containers, and paper, cans, and water bottle."

Prime could not go on the tour but he got to wear a hard hat, safety vest and goggle. :)


Prime is pressing on the pulp with a sponge to make paper... there it is... waiting to be dried.

Share a few things I learned...
1. Paper can be recycled only 10-13 times due to the wearing down of the fiber in the paper each time it is recycled.
2. 1 ton (2000lb) of soda can are sold for $1,200 vs. 1 ton of glass is sold for only $1.
3. Different cities have different policies. My city recycles #1 -5 inside the recycle sign. Other city recycle only #1-2 and yet others will recycle #1-7. The #s denotes different chemical components and are usually on the bottom of the container.

On a totally separate note, anyone know what kind of plant is this? Apple? Cherry? We planted apple and cherry pit in separate containers last summer but nothing came up and I thought it died but now this. Of course, this could be something entirely different. If you have an idea what this might be, I would love to know.

Book sharing Monday

I'm participating in book sharing Mondays. For my book sharing this week, I want to share one of J's favorite books of all time. I apologize for not having a picture to share with you, but there is a picture of the cover on amazon.

The Lemonade Club by Patrica Polacco.

J says she like this book because it is about best friends helping each other.

Summary from Amazon in case you you'd like to know.

"Everyone loves Miss Wichelman’s fifth-grade class—especially best friends Traci and Marilyn. That’s where they learn that when life hands you lemons, make lemonade! They are having a great year until Traci begins to notice some changes in Marilyn. She’s losing weight, and seems tired all the time. She has leukemia—and a tough road of chemotherapy ahead. It is not only Traci and Miss Wichelman who stand up for her, but in a surprising and unexpected turn, the whole fifth-grade class, who figures out a way to say we’re with you. In true Polacco fashion, this book turns lemons into lemonade and celebrates amazing life itself. "

my practice knit and fun paper toys

Here is my practice knit.... it has so many mistakes I finally decided to call it quits and plan to start another one. Though I'm sure I'm going to run into the same problems as I have no idea how to correct my mistakes. Another problem I have is with the needles. I have plastic, metal and bamboo and none of them works right. With the particular yarn (cotton/acrylic blend) I have (per the supply list), I think plastic actually works fine, but the one I have are too long. I'll have to hunt for a shorter one next time I go to class. Anyone has any suggestions or advice??? I sure could use some. It's suppose to be a mesh knit washcloths.




First I turned my practice knit into J's headband. Then J wanted to use it as eye mask. It's all hers now.

The kids had fun with the printed "panda palace" sheet from The Toy maker. They have other free paper toy maker too.


That is Jojo, a boy panda whom Prime just adores. He cut many Jojo. J constructed the panda house and Prime is coloring Panda house. See how Prime holds his pencils? I hope he outgrows this at some point in time. We also tried the penny butterfly.

a day of nothing

Today, as we normally do on Sundays drove to church, only to find out it was canceled. A friend actually called us but dh didn't see it on his cell phone until later and learned the church service was canceled because the school will not allow our church to use their facility this weekend due to you know what!

So with the extra time on hand, I finally got a chance to get my eyeliner and a new tube of lipstick. :) I also got convinced to purchase this kit for my nails. I must have been in a mood to splurg. The lady made my nails shine so much I couldn't believe it and all without chemicals and she says it will keep for 2 weeks. So that was a really nice treat for myself and also because I liked her. She wasn't pushy but she is definitely an excellent saleswoman. She is from Israel and her accent is pretty. She even convinced me to get few extra kits for my friends which is good because I will be visiting my friend later this month and I don't want to go empty handed. In China, whenever you visit someone, it is always customary to bring a gift, usually edibles like fruits.

Our small group is also canceled tonight so I don't feel this mad rush to clean up my house. I'm still going to clean but its not as urgent. I even got to knit a little bit while listening to a waldorf teacher who owns a shop called "A little Garden Flower" . Her voice is so soothing and I enjoyed listening to what she had to say. Most of it I know but its really good to be reminded about it.

J didn't sleep well last night so she is taking a very needed nap while Prime and daddy are outside digging and getting the soil ready for some planting. Oh, how cute they look... hard at work.

Okay, I'm going to have some tea and then clean up the house. I'm enjoying this day of nothing. I need more days like this just to chill. :)

Hope you all had wonderful day!

Unexpected fun

J woke up this morning and made a little person with a cape using wool stuffing. Then she skipped off to make a needle felted girl. For a while, she was afraid the needle might hurt her but this morning she was feeling brave for some reason.


There she goes, making her little person. She says she is going to give it away.


Here is the finished product. Then I decided to glue it to a piece of paper, protect it with saran wrap and make a Popsicle stick frame. J found a magnet that came off so we glued it to the back and now it is on our fridge.

Later, J went outside and had a little building fun... another unexpected fun. She is going to write and share more pictures about that on her blog. I really like the flowering crab apple tree. It will be ever prettier in a week when the flowers bloom.


Then, as we had planned, we can finally do some digging and prepare the soil for some planting. J was super excited about it and couldn't wait to dig.


Prime already tired out after only a little digging. He came back after a little while only to be lured out again by J with the promise of sharper shovel. So, he is sharpening his shovel.


I think they are playing more than digging. J says they are like the family who pulls up the turnip. :-) Prime finally doing some pulling and real work. It is not easy work; good thing we have daddy. :)

Later, their friend A, came out unexpectedly, and the kids had fun jumping on the trampoline. Our Mexican primrose is really blooming... so pretty... I love the light pink.

Books we read

I almost forgot to record the books we read. Anyway,

J loved reading

1. Little Princess (classic starts)
2. Tom Sawyer (classic starts)

Thanks Lisa! These are the best! We love them.

We also enjoyed reading,

1. Rookie Read-about Science series
a. Vegetables, Vegetables;
b. Giant Pandas: Gifts from China
c. Busy, Buzzy Bees
2. Children Just like Me
3. My first pocket Guide Backyard Wilderness
4. The Usborne First Encyclopedia of Space
5. The Rainbabies by Laura K. Melmed
(and some other children's books on gardening that I returned before writing the titles down- but we enjoyed those as well)

We also watched Little Travelers- British Isles. The kids really liked this video so we are planning to watch more. I believer there are 2 more videos in this series.

May fun day @ the pond

Today was a fun day. I do love field trips. :) I'm learning every day at home with the kids and are doing some fun stuff I enjoy and learning and exploring new stuff I never got a chance to do at school.

We went to explore, and learn all about pond life with other local homeschoolers for the last " fun day" of the school year.

First, we saw turtles lying on logs. Look at those baby turtles! Aren't they cute?



Then the kids was catching the tadpoles with their nets.. After that, it was off to find pond life for themselves. I learned that as tadpoles, they breathe with gills. And later, as frogs, they breathe with lungs.



J got lucky and found a diving beetle and later we were able to see it under the microscope on the TV. It had what looked like oars on a boat. Other pond creatures that other children found were seed shrimp which does a vibrating shake, water flea, and may fly which has 3 tails. We also saw a dragonfly nymph and learned the difference between complete (4 stages) and incomplete metamorphosis (3 stages).



Free time fun! This boy came up to me and wanted to give me the dandelions he picked. I say, oh that is so sweet. Your mom would love that. So he ran to give it to his mommy and then he came back and picked one more dandelion just for me. :)


Hi Lisa! J tried your curly and it worked like a charm. Thank you for the fun idea. There is Prime dipping his in the water to see if his will curl.


Then we went back for some cool learning and saw more cool creatures. Check them out on J's blog. She wanted to share the pictures and tell you what she saw and learned. I was quite surprised J actually raised her hand to answer a question (and got it right). She is usually shy and it's rare she will raise her hand to answer a question voluntarily unless she is feeling especially brave. I guess today was one of those days. Way to go, J!!

I learned depending what pond creatures you find, you will know about how good the water quality is.

Look what else we saw, a mommy robin. The woman there told me she is sitting on the eggs. Prime couldn't resist climbing a tree as we are leaving.