A Month of Poetry

April was National Poetry Month.  And we're kind of a wordy bunch over here, so we had lots of fun with that!

It reminded us to peruse the poetry section of the library at every visit. 

It guided cd selections for our daily commutes.  We enjoyed everything from A.A. Milne to Silverstein's Runny Babbit, to this new gem, with classics sung by Natalie Merchant.  My personal favorites have to be Adventures of Isabel by Ogden Nash (done in bluegrass-style), The Janitor's Boy by Nathalia   

 Crane, The Blind Men and the Elephant by John Godfrey Saxe -- oh no!  I can't choose!  It's really, really good.

We celebrated Poem in Your Pocket Day.  I wonder if my friend will recognize this poem I carried in my pocket.  It's the copy she gave me a few years ago, when we celebrated it for the first time.

We had a poetry party with friends.  Kids, mamas, kids and mamas together, shared a poem they had memorized.  Sela chose Puck's final speech from A Midsummer Night's Dream, and Linus and I shared an original co-created work.  About a dinosaur.  Four sweet, sweet little lines.  One proud, proud smile.  And a salute.  Go figure.

Make + Listen Along: Morning

This morning's all about comfort and home as we make + listen along with Dawn.  So Good.

Listening along:
Francis England

Making: 
Milo's Dutch babie
Memories

We made our FUN
playing Sleeping Queens
while we waited
for breakfast to cook

Here Comes Science Sampler: Dinosaurs!

I am a payyyyyy-leon-taaaaah-lo-giiiiist!
It's who I am, it's who I am, it's who I aaaaaaam.
(Watch the video -- it's a jazzy song you just have to sing all day.  At least that's what we do.  It's Linus's favorite.  It's good, I promise.  Even if you don't love dinosaurs.)

We're back!!  The Here Comes Science Sampler is BACK!  Resurrecting a lot of things lately (no seasonal pun intended)!

We've read a lot of dinosaur books.  This is the best glossary we've unearthed -- hands down.  (Bonus: minimal number of pictures of bloody, fleshy predator-prey situations.  It is what it is, of course, but so many dinosaur fans are about 3 years old -- it's nice to have books that are enjoyable and less likely to cause this question to be asked at bedtime, "Mama, do predators come to our house?"  No, honey, they don't  <3 )

I could go on (and on and on and on) with good titles.  But, you can discover your favorites at the library.  The section is usually well marked.  Or, the carpet is worn in that patch, about the size of three-year-old feet.

If you like dinosaurs, why not:

put together little dinos? (Thank you, Michael's dollar section.)

 Or BIG dinos?

Or excavate dinos? (We ARE paleontologists.)

There's also Diggin' Dinos Monopoly Jr. and breadstick "bones."
We're starting some dioramas next.  Sela renamed them "dinoramas."  That cracked us up.

I'm actually really fascinated at this point, too.  How to hold the dinosaur phenomenon in one's head??  The geography of it, the climates, the concept of time, extinction.  The factoids.  For instance, the skull of the T. rex weighed... 750 pounds.  The brain of a stegasaurus... size of a walnut.  A creature that weighed 100 tons.  100. Tons.

It's good stuff!

Something Funny. And Touching. To Me. And Maybe You?

Lots of traffic tonight. (TOO much traffic). So, I thought I was entertaining my kids as I s-l-o-w-l-y drove us home, really singing with feeling to Justin Roberts' She Sits (which is a very funny song about babysitting).  There may, or may not, have been dance moves involved.

Stopped in traffic, after realizing what was actually happening behind me, I threw my phone up and quickly snapped these pictures over my shoulder.  Ha!

child 1:

child 2:

Well, at least I was entertaining myself with lines like this:

Cause don't you know she makes mac and cheese 
With no recipes just straight from the box
---
At first I thought this girl's a freak 
Playing simon says and hide and go seek
Then I came to understand
Why she is in such high demand
And all across the land they're singing this song
Or at least your neighbors will have to admit
---
She is so convenient
She's like Mom but lenient


And while I'm at it, I might as well tell you that I had a nice little cry to the next song -- Giant-Sized Butterflies. In fact, I cry Every. Single. Time.

Can you believe I couldn't find a good, full link to either of these?!  So disappointing.  (Well, there is a sweet one on You Tube about a little girl's first day of preschool.  I don't even know them, and I cried again watching it because it was so so sweet.)  I really wanted you to enjoy them, too.  Guess you'll have to buy the cd.  Totally worth it.  All his lyrics are great.  (You can launch his "radio station" here.)

Can I just share with you his lyrics to Giant-Sized Butterflies?  At the risk of being over the top (who, me?!)...

I felt so nervous in the morning light
My Mom said it would be all right
Still I had giant-sized butterflies 
On that first day

So she made me some hot oatmeal
It couldn't change the way I feel
How was I to know how it would go?
On that first day?

We're in the car and we're on our way
When we get there, Mom, will you stay?
I might need the space, but just in case
On that first day

It's my first day

Then Mom told me "when you first came
Into this world we felt the same
We had giant-sized butterflies 
On that first day"

"If there were some kind of magic spell
That could protect like a turtle's shell
Everyone would be wearing one 
On that first day"

And when she opened the back seat door
Told me what butterflies are for
How they were meant to fly
And they were born to be your guide

Now Mom's beside me and the school's in sight
And everything is gonna be alright
Cause I've got giant-sized butterflies 
On my first day

It's my first day

And my butterflies are well-disguised
But those butterflies they're giant-sized
Yeah, my butterflies are giant-sized

The Hero in YOU

We're listening to a CD that we really enjoy. And we're listening to it a lot.
It's Ellis Paul's Hero in You -- it's got a fantastic title track (mama-approved message & a catchy beat) and the rest of the tracks highlight various heroes, from Rachel Carson to Augustus Jackson.

So, naturally, we stopped by the biography section at the library to gather an armload.  (Of course, we couldn't stick just to the CD's heroes.  I was more than a little pleased to see Sela delight in all the possibilities and ask to get extras! I love biographies, too.)

And, even better, Ellis Paul will be here this week!  Live!  Two shows!  If you're not sure where to get tickets, call me!

Make Your Fun (& Dinner, Too)

While I had my afternoon cuppa, we watched a DVD about musical instruments.  Ready to wiggle (them) and make dinner (me) - we put the instruments front and center.  They had a blast while I attended to all-things-kitchen.

 Music-making led to ice skating and fancy shoes -- instruments in their own right.  A good reminder about what we each need in order to go into this part of our day fortified.  We do a lot in a day.  It feels so good when we can wrap it up with some ease.

Here Comes Science Sampler: Put It to the Test

Today's Song:  Put It to the Test
It's the Scientific Method!
It's Science Fair time.

  

are you sure that thing is true? or did someone just tell it to you?  
come up with a test

yeah, think of a test

 

Great books to make learning about & practicing the scientific method easy & fun:
Make it Work! Science Fair by World Book
Guide to More of the Best Science Fair Projects by VanCleave
Science Fair Success Secrets by Haduch
And these are just the ones I found at the most recent book sale for a dollar!  The library shelves are loaded.

 

if you want to know if it's the truth, then, my friend, you are going to need proof

come up with a test

yeah, you need a test

  

My advice: Don't wait for an Official science fair - just do it!  You can do them at breakfast, or set up experiments to explore more ideas.  They don't have to be hard.  Sela said to me, shocked and in disbelief, when I told her that some people think science fairs are a lot of work, "What?!  Science fairs are AWESOME!"  That's my girl.

More unsolicited advice: Organize a small science fair for a group of friends.

  

don't believe it 'cause they say it's so.  if it's not true, you have a right to know! 
put it to the test!

  

We all use the scientific method all the time & don't even realize it.

• What's my question?
• How can I test it?
• What do I think will happen?
• Test it out.
• What happened?
• What does it mean?

What will you test out next?

 

 

Our International House of Pancakes, Day 5: Scotland

Very similar to the pancakes my family is (was!) most familiar with, we went to Scotland for these.
Aaaaaand, we really wanted to play "Blueberry Pancakes" by Frances England over and over (and over and over).  (To take a listen for free, scroll down to Blueberry Pancakes on the third album, "Fascinating Creatures" & click.)  Aaaaand, "Curious George Makes Pancakes" was Sela's favorite when she was two.  Now Linus loves it.  So many good reasons to eat Blue-ber-ry Paaa-aa-aaan-cakes...  Heart, heart, heart.

em's best pancakes
(seriously, the best pancakes I've ever made - these are not your everyday pancakes)
2 cups flour
2 Tbsp sugar
2 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp salt
1 egg
3 Tbsp melted butter
2 cups butter

Whisk dry ingredients together.
Whisk egg & butter.
Add buttermilk.
Add wet ingredients to dry.
Don't overmix.
Cook on oiled griddle.
Try to eat them using good table manners.  You can try...

Here Comes Science: A Science Sampler

Do you know the cd Here Comes Science  by They Might Be Giants?  If you don't: you must!
In service of fun, science & education, we're going to work our way through it -- one science-y song at a time!  Now, this is a science curriculum.

Turn yours on & join us!
Stay tuned for our first selection...

"A scientific theory isn't just a hunch or guess--it's more like a question that's been put through a lot of tests."

"Science is reeeeeal..."