Learning Piano

We have been having SO much fun with piano lessons. I know the basics of playing piano- most of them, at least. But I am not "qualified" to teach it. However, with the piano books I bought a couple years ago, it is easy to teach. 6yo is doing great! I was going to wait and start my 4yo when he turned 5, but he was begging me to do it with him, so he started a couple months ago. He loves it, too.

The lessons are as long or short as I want them to be and it takes no preparation. (I've done lessons as short as 5 minutes and the boys still progressed.) The boys each feel accomplished after they practice, and its a little one on one time where I get to praise them for their efforts.

Even if I didn't know the basics, with this I could teach piano. It covers the things I wouldn't think to teach and at a good pace. I'm sure a higher level of instruction is eventually beneficial. I hope to get through them all. After that, I can better tell what level these books reach. If you're thinking about getting them, I would suggest getting at least the first few so you can see where you're headed. Here's the website-Have fun!

http://pianimals.com/index.htm

Update:  I exacto knife-ed the pages and put them in clear plastic page protectors, then in a folder.  They were getting kind of beat up with all the kids around!  Now, we can also write on the assignments with whiteboard markers and wipe off.

Noah's Ark in the Park

Back in the fall, I took the boys to the park to measure out the size of Noah's ark. It is an idea from our Student of the Word curriculum while we were studying Genesis 6-9. We took orange cones and a measuring tape with us. We measured out 450ft. for the length and 75ft for width. We just imagined the height. (Of course, the ark may have been bigger- Noah's "cubit" was probably bigger than ours'. But this is the average measurement.)

I didn't take any pictures, so when we were at the park yesterday (I can't believe how fast all the snow melted!) we took pictures. In this picture, you can see my husband holding 5mo daughter, 2yo, and 6yo all standing by the light pole. That is where we started measuring.

The second picture is the other end of the ark, where 4yo is standing. You might be able to see my husband still standing in the same spot way back there.

We also "built" a little paper model of the ark that I found online to show what it probably looked like. I have tried to save it from total destruction long enough to take this picture. I took it just in time, too, because 4yo completely smashed it in the mud when he was "driving a race car" to get back to where the rest of the family was, and wiped out.


It was kind of amusing to see the looks on people's faces the day we were measuring the ark's dimensions after I told them what we were doing. They didn't know whether to take me seriously. And one little boy had never even heard of Noah's ark- or the Bible.

Sweet, Yummy Rocks

Last week the boys and I made a cake. We decorated it with chocolates that looked like rocks. Why did we do that? We studied rocks, why else? Okay, maybe that has no real value in learning about rocks- except possibly to teach my 2yo that its okay to eat rocks. But it was fun and raised interest in the older two boys.

After we made the cake, the boys decided they were worn out.

We really did study rocks. 6yo was so excited about matching the rocks from our kit with a book we have.

We had been collecting rocks to study when we got to it. We kept them all together in a spot outside, but I didn't want to dig them out from under all the snow! We'll be able to do it soon since its all melting away. YEAH!

Oil infusions

When I make lotion, lip balm, or skin salves, I like to infuse the oils with herbs. I use one of two ways of infusion. They are called cold and hot. Today, I will post about cold infusions with dried herbs.

I will be (finally) making some more lotion very soon. I have put this off WAY too long, so my oil has actually infused for an extended amount of time.

First, I put the dried herbs I want to use into a jar. There are exact measurements out there, I just eyeball it. This time, I used calendula petals and lavender flowers. Both of these herbs have great qualities for skin. I put some dried herbs in a jar and covered it with oil.

The oils I will be using for my lotion are sweet almond oil and grapeseed oil. They're not as greasy as other oils. They're also more delicate than other oils, which is why I'm choosing the cold infusion method.

Okay, on to the second step. Stir the mixture around and poke out any air bubbles around the petals and flowers. Put the lid on the jar and place it in a very sunny window. Even though this is called cold infusion, it actually gets hot sometimes. (I guess some don't put the jar in a sunny window, but rather a dark place.)

Shake it every day, at least for the first week or more. Leave it there to let the oil keep extracting the herbs' qualities for 3 weeks or more.

Last, strain out the herbs with a fine strainer or cheesecloth. That is what it takes to make calendula and lavender infused sweet almond and grapeseed oil.