Naturalist Nancy

Annie has been studying with Naturalist Nancy down at Crab Cove Nature Center twice a month here in Alameda and learning so much. She has done a unit on insects, shells and pond life to name a few. Because of it Annie has been asking to visit a nearby pond to do sketches, study and discover new forms of life. Just today she spent over two hours focusing on life around this pond and she has named a few small pond insects (squirmy shrimp-like creatures) that are new to her. There is Kangaroo of the Sea and Electric Glitter (see sketches above, after her list).

Seeing Yellow

Annie has been studying Kung Fu since late January and she has just taken her test to pass to the yellow belt level. To pass the test you have to master the white belt set of forms and break a board with a kick. She passed!

Baking

Baking cherry pie after reading, Cherries and Cherry Pie, by Vera Williams. We've loved the book for a long time...and this time it inspired a pie.

Young Frida

Annie's been studying the Mexican artist Frida Kahlo for years, and with a newly published addition of Frida's diaries, Annie has been re-inspired.

Salamander Surprise!

Annie and her friend Lily found some California Slender Salamanders in the back yard yesterday. Annie put them in a critter cage with soil and water, plus a few Rolly Pollies, slugs and worms as food offerings. We read about them, and found out a few things. 1.) Salamandars don't have lungs so they breath through their skin, and 2.) Salamanders evolved from fish, so need to be kept very moist and 3.) they like the dark. We brought them to the nature center at Crab Cove here in Alameda and the docents there really enjoyed seeing them. Then we released them last night, and first thing this morning we found two more in a different spot. These delicate creatures have four toes, and big dark eyes. We just released the new pair back into the yard tonight.

SnakeSex

Annie has a mature female Corn Snake, and another homeschooler in the area has a male. So we've entered into research and dialog about breeding them. We have read all about snakes and how they breed. It's very interesting! We brought "Cutie' into the local vivarium and had her sexed, and talked to them about the risks and rewards of Corn snake breeding.
So our first project has been to create a flyer to pass out at all of our homeschool events so that we can get an idea of how many kids might want a snake, before we consider it further. Annie found out that a clutch can be 10-20, or double in rare instances. So we've outlined what it takes to care for a snake, including expenses, and now we will distribute our flyers next week at Perpetual Recess.

Deep Sea Life

Annie is absorbed in a vintage book about animals. You think she'd love mammals, but it is the fish, the deep water creatures to be exact, that have caught her attention. Viperfish, Dragonfish, and Angles to name a few. We have a lot of drawings of them and now she's chosen canvas and acrylics as her latest medium.
By the way, it's an Angler.

Little Monk

I have seen Annie grow in strength, poise and flexibility since she started Kung Fu about five weeks ago. She started with two days a week and quickly added another day so she trains three days a week with Sifu Sam, Danny and Yvan. We rented and watched the Little Shaolin Monks and we marveled at the dedication and spiritual study the students seem to bring to their lives.
I also love the teaches for teaching in Mandarin, which ties in nicely to the classes Annie has been taking for the last five months.

Yahtzee & Battleship

We are going through a phase with games. Annie has just discovered Yahtzee and she really likes going for her numbers. That and Battleship. I'm unsure when we're playing if she knows when I've made a hit or not...
I think it's all creating a lot of awarness for numbers and grids and sequences.

Making Cheescake

Annie and I made a three-step cheesecake. She loves using the food processor and measuring out ingredients. And cracking and beating eggs. She made a special small one for her Kung Fu teacher, and we made a small family size for dear Jen, John and Johnny. Annie really wanted Johnny to be her Valentine.

Go Dog Go

We've had an explosion of reading and writing from Annie in the last month. She can read most of what she puts her mind to. Last night she read quite a bit from Go Dog Go. Today she was having fun reading street signs. "No Parking." "Road Closed." Sometimes when she's making breakfast, I think she reads the recipe for pancakes, but really I think she has it memorized.

Color and Chemicals

We've been going step-by-step through the science of color and chemicals. Mixing primary colors together to make secondary colors was very exciting for Annie. She made the following notes on what color made what color.

R + B = P

Y + R = O

Y + B = G

Mushroom Hunt

We've been finding a lot of mushrooms up at Redwood State Park in the Oakland Hills between rainstorms. Usually when we hunt we call out to each other to show off our find. After a hike these days, we stop calling after a while because there are so many! We've been identifing and bringing home some samples to draw and look up in our reference books when we can't figure it out.

After the Rain

Wow! It rained all day yesterday and it felt wonderful and Wintery. And then today was sparkling and bright so Annie and I took lunch and warm drinks to the beach. Ahhh! It was so bright and pretty, for about an hour, then it turned bitter cold so we had to roll up in our beach blanket and snuggle. I was hoping to get a beach picture that could be used for our holiday card, but nothing is really screaming out at me. These four are the best. Do you vote for any of them?

Yesterday the Homeschooler Craft Fair went really well! Annie almost sold out of her watercolor cards and I sold stuff too. We'll definitely do it again next year. I was pleased that the soup I made for the soup sale was one of the first to sell out! Yeah! I am feeling much gratitude for the homeschool mom's who work hard at organizing the many wonderful events here in the Bay Area. I'm glad to be a part of it all!

Chinese Brush Work

Here are some samples of characters and animals Annie has been practicing. There is a character for Ann, one for tiger, and the rest, I don't know.

Greeting Cards

Annie and I are selling our wares at the homeschool craft faire and these are some of the greeting cards she has made. She use salt and watercolors. Part of the proceeds go to support the Berkeley Women Homeless Drop-in Center. We're also donating a big pot of turkey soup we made and froze after Thanksgiving.

On the Ice

Annie has dreamed of ice skating, so we finally went and she is starting to get the hang of it. It feels scary to be on such a slick surface with thin metal blades because you get going fast very quickly and you need a lot of strength and balance. We are working on it.
She wore her "cat spirit" hat (from Northern China) to help her with her bravery and balance. And to keep her warm!

Thanks Mr. President

Annie received a response to the letter she sent President Bush. He didn't address her concerns about the war, or the environment. He did enclosed a photo though.

metamorphasis

First they came as small caterpillars, that climbed to the top of their jars,
then they each created a chrysalis around their bodies, and started to transform themselves,
then they hatched into Painted Lady Butterflies which we enjoyed for a few days, then released!
Annie documented the stages with these drawings.

"I Feel Christmas in My Bones"

It took most of the day, and into the night, to set up our multi-generations of ornaments, knick knacks, and treasures! This year Annie did a bunch of the decorating herself, and nearly matched me in my excitement and enthusiasm. She whistled, sang and danced around most of the day, driving us a little nuts, but mostly delighting us! We still have a few areas to finish, plus knowing us, we will keep on shifting things around until we're satisfied!

At one point Annie said "I feel Christmas in my bones!" She comes from a long line of women in my family who LOVE Christmas. My Grandmother and my Mother would have been so proud. I am.

So far we/I have plans to;

Go ice skating today!
Annie and I are in the Homeschool Craft Fair
Have a kids holiday party
Have a neighborhood, more grown up get together
Annie wants to go visit Santa
The Meyers' homeschoolers are coming to visit
Sara & Ezra are coming to visit
Grandma & Grandpa are coming to visit
Tuesday playdates with Ilana
Thursday playdates with Lily