This and that

T2 made a 'sponge doll family'. Not sure where she got the idea from but she had been asking for a packet of sponges for weeks and I finally remembered and $3 later she had an afternoon of fun with them. She wanted to pose them with the flags she has been making.

In the summer T2 bought horse sheets with some Birthday money. They didn't match her comforter or any duvet covers we had so I made her one from the flat sheet she wasn't using and another unused flat sheet. She loves them.

A little math.

I love soup season - especially home made soup

Sunsets are beautiful but a little earlier than I would like.

T2's Halloween pumpkin - I for got to take Halloween pics this year. T2 was a butterfly. T1 does not like Halloween at all.

Our preservation and decay experiment

 OK, so we started this experiment two weeks ago. The experiment was to last one week. I used packaged sliced bread. Two weeks later the bread has not changed at all - just shows how many preservatives are in that type of bread!! So we restarted a week ago with freshly baked bread and we have seen changes, gross changes!

 By day 4 there was quite a bit of growth on the plain bread and also the antibiotic bread but not where the antibiotic cream was. The toast was still as it was when it started. After a week only the toast shows no growth and remains the same in appearance but feels drier than when we started. I think we'll keep observing until the weekend and then into the garbage they will go. It has been interesting and both kids are surprised that the toasted bread had zero mould growth.

Tuesday, is it really only Tuesday?

It feels like it should be Thursday and how I wish it were in some ways. G has been away for a couple of days for a business trip and although the days went smoothly, it feels like he was gone longer.

We read our next book for our homeschool book club and tomorrow T2 will be the questioner. She needs to prepare 5 questions to ask the others relating to the book. The book was ok but I preferred the one we read last month.

Today we did a science experiment which should be interesting for the kids to observe each day for the next week. I chose it from this book

The experiment is to demonstrate preservation and decay using three slices of bread. The first slice we kept plain and simply sealed it in a bag. The second slice we toasted to dry it out and sealed in a bag once it had to cooled. The final slice was not toasted but we spread antibiotic cream over one side before sealing that in a bag also. Each day we will check for changes and see if their hypotheses are correct.

Catching up

We recently met up with some friends at Ball's Falls conservation area in our region. It was a glorious day to wander, appreciate the foliage and chat all the while.

We did a chromatography science experiment. I found the experiment in one of our science books (see pic below for book). It went really well and was interesting.

I had no idea that only one bamboo farm existed in Canada. I also had no idea that the current one and only was a mere hour away until a member of one of the homeschool groups we belong to organized a visit to the farm where we planted 100 bamboo plants which will eventually be fed to the Pandas at Toronto Zoo. I am not a supporter of zoos but I guess its cool that our Bamboo will feed such stunning animals. We are invited to return in two years to harvest the bamboo and if desired deliver it to the zoo.

www.ontariobamboo.com

In January I decided to change from a vegetarian which I had been for over twenty years to a vegan. Although the decision was ethical - I had hoped that as a bonus I might lose some of these extra pounds that I have been unable to shift (mmm chocolate). Nine months later and not a pound lost, I decided that I had to up the fruits and vegetables even more and lessen the carbs. At the same time G decided to go on a fruits and vegetables juice cleanse. We have a full size fridge and a full size freezer that stand side by side. They are huge but apparently the fridge is no longer big enough to house the produce required for two people to eat pretty much nothing  other than produce.

I was concerned my meals might be boring. I was so wrong.

G down 16lbs in 2 weeks and I am down about 8lbs. Yay us : )

Last week T2 became a Brownie. She had enjoyed being a Spark for two years and was very excited to see what Brownies would hold. First thing on the agenda - selling GG cookies. Luckily G's co-workers are crazy for Thin Mints and he has sold several cases. We have not consumed a single cookie. I found a picture of me aged 11 graduating from Brownies. I was so sad to leave.