StoneyRidge Farm 2010

(we met up with some friends and piled them all in the pumpkin wagon for a pic, not bad for 9 kids all together)

So last year when we went to Stoney Ridge Farm my family was visiting and Hannah Bear was just 2 weeks old. It brought back a lot of memories. I thought "wow I have 'memories' made in Washington as a family" it was bitter, sweet. The weather started off nice and then poured on us...ah Washington!

Elijah on top of the 580 lbs pumpkin.

Hannah Bear our little pumpkin.

This picture CRACKS me up. Look at Isaiah, (granted he was feeling a little under the weather) he is very unimpressed sticking his head in the cow hole.

Apple donuts...Hannah loved them!

From the desks of Isaiah Elijah and Hannah

So we started our unit on motion this week. And this weeks lesson were all about Newton's laws, and velocity. Check out this cute experiments we did. Which will win the chicken or the clam? If we roll the two cans down a slop at the same time which can will reach the finish line first? The chicken or the clam?

On your mark, get set, go!

And the winner is.....the chicken.

The chicken soup wins, for a very simple reason. Imagine that the cans are transparent, so you can see what does on inside the cans as they roll down the ramp. Which one has just the can rolling down the ramp, and which has the entire contents locked together as it rolls? The can of the chicken soup will rotate around the soup itself, while the clam chowder acts as a solid cylinder and rotates together. So the inertial mass of the clam is much greater than the inertial mass of the soup, even though the cans weigh the same
Ok this one was super fun. Get a glass, a ball that is bigger than the opening of a toilet paper roll but smaller than the opening of the glass and a pie plate. Set it up as shown and then hit the rim of the pit plate.

TA DA the ball falls into the cup.

We got brave and did it with an egg.

TA DA it worked with the egg in tact.

Elijah had to double check the egg was ok.

This experiment is all about inertia. The force of your hand got the pie plate moving. The friction between the book and the tube causes the tube to move. The ball, which has a decent amount of weight, which means a decent amount of inertia, is not effected much by the moving tube. The ball, thanks to gravity, falls straight down and, hopefully, into the cup.

This is like the old trick of removing the table cloth and all the dishes stay on the table. My kids so wanted to try that so we did.

Check out these videos:

Safeway Field Trip

So in Maine it's Shaws or Hannaford in Washington it's Fred Myer of Safeway. We chose Safeway for our grocery store field trip and it was a blast. Being welcomed by the store manager. He was so awesome with our kids.

Showing the kids the security camera. He said he might see them if they try to steal a candy bar or he might not "But there is someone always watching and knows and that is God" How awesome was that?

Watching friends on the screen.

Of course any place with a Starbucks is a good place to be. The kids got treated to a strawberry frappe.

Hannah Bear has a new friend, Sydney. They are 2 months apart. They loved each other on this field trip.

Isaiah being a gentlemen holding the door open for the group.

The floral department!

The produce department. Where he talked about how God has made such awesome foods to keep us healthy.

The Bakery....my favorite.

The kids got to watch how they make and decorate donuts. And not to leave their mouths watering...

got to eat one for a treat!

Hannah loved the donut but had her sights on something bigger and chocolate!!

HOVERCRAFT

By far the coolest thing we have done in school. I must admit I was tempted to just skip this part of our awesome curriculum but I decided to try it with the boys and figured if we failed we would still learn. Oh have mentioned how much we love our new science for this year? Supercharged Science is an amazing curriculum. It's super homeschooler friendly and the lady Aurora Lipper and her staff her run it are awesome. Everything is clearly laid out with amazing video. The hardest part was collecting the materials. When we got home from Maine there was a package from Aurora with two propellers (the last of my items to collect) It was just a thank you gift from her to us. How sweet was that? I took that as a clear sign we should go ahead an attempt this project. This hovercraft project was so easy to follow. We just watched the video, paused when needed and would you look at that we have a hovercraft. This was the final hands on project to wrap up our section on friction in case you were wondering why we would be interested in making a hovercraft.
Who knew with some foam trays, hot glue gun, Popsicle stick, some little motors and a few other parts we could create an actual moving working hovercraft.

Elijah is twisting the wires that we stripped for a better connection.

Isaiah is very careful to twist the wires tight.

Elijah is connecting the wires to the 'hover' motor. This motor gives the craft the lift we needed.

Isaiah is connecting the other side of the motor that will connect to the battery.

The cup was placed over the thruster so we wouldn't cut our fingers on the propeller. Safety first! Speaking of which Elijah cut his finger pretty bad trying to remove an unwanted gear from one of the motors. He took one for the team.

Will it work? Yes!

They were so proud and amazed at what they were able to create. They are already scheming on other projects they can make. I am up for it if they are!!

Check out the video of the craft in action!

Amazing Fall in Maine

Not the best family picture...it still alludes us. But here we are hiking up Gorham mountain in Acadia National park...it's our favorite place ever! Isaiah was not feeling good at all but was a super trooper and did the whole hike! Notice even though he is a big 10 year old, he still wants his mommy. Check out classic Elijah and of course Hannah Bear on my back.

Bubby looking out over the Atlantic Ocean. BEAUTIFUL.

Hannah may have been born in Washington but she was made in Maine and she is a true Main-ah. She climbed up parts of the mountain by herself. She loved it.

Look at her go! She was born to climb!

They are still adorable in the matching outfits.

Oh yeah I love fall in Maine!

Isaiah taking a rest and looking out over the ocean.

Look at that ocean!

Could we have gotten a more amazing day to take in the foliage?

Sand Beach in the left corner.

Hills of changing leaves.

Just love the red and orange.

The day was warm and perfect.

Friends & Family

There were so many people to see on our trip back to Maine. It was almost impossible to see everyone. We did our best. It was amazing to see everyone. I especially loved seeing all the kids who have grown so much in the past year in a half. Here is a photo parade of all the amazing people we got to see on our trip.
Isaiah and Taylor! She has grown so tall! They LOVED hanging out with each other.

COUSINS! Taylor and Miguel!

Grammie helping Hannah Bear walk. She really "took off" walking in Maine.

The cutest little face ever. "Baby" Miggy! My favorite quote from him was when we saw his baby sister on the ultrasound. I said "wow the baby looks so much like you Miguel" and he said all distraught "No it doesn't, that baby looks like poop" HA the things kids say.

More Cousins Taylor and Alannah!

The oldest Grandkids Alannah and Isaiah.

Alannah and Hannah!

Me and Fle in front of the Bean Boot in Freeport. It was an amazingly beautiful day for a fall drive to do some shopping.

Isaiah and Miguel at Governors.

Peter with his RED hotdogs! YUMMMM

Celebrating Angela's baby! I threw a little shower for her and was super happy to see some friends. We go back many years. From left to right Stephanie, Becky (thanks for opening your beautiful home), Angela and baby, Me, Felecia and Noah, and Aura.

Hannah and Nana (Peter's Mom)

Hannah and Noah meeting for the first time.

Ok so this wasn't the best of the 3 pictures I took but it's so Elijah I had to post it. Here's Peter, his dad, and the kids.

Becky, me and Lisa!

Lots of fun at the cornmaze! From left to right Naomi, Peter,Penny Ethan,Mayline,Serina,Paul,Peter, Isaiah, Elijah, and Lia

Peter and Bob

Hannah and Eliana! These two girls are "answered prayers"

Longtime friends, Lia,Naomi, Isaiah, Elijah, Emma and Ethan. The older kids have been friends since the womb practically!

Amazing wonderful friends...Emma, Eli, Eric and Elissa

Peter and I we celebrated 11 years of marriage in Maine

Lots of friends squeezed on on hayride!

More friends! Isaiah, Alyssa, Calli, Isaac, Isaiah and Noah

Amy and I. Not nearly enough time spent visiting Amy!

Stephanie and I and the BIG FLUFF!!

Hannah and Levi

And the friends keep on coming. Joseph,Isaac, Isaiah, Davey and Solomon.

Hannah Bear warming up to Grammie and Papa's hand.

I love this picture. Hannah loves the Papa

A bast from the past! LHS girls! I got to visit with some high school friends. Jen (my bff) Cyndi (whose bed I threw up in) and Sue (who actually goes to my moms church now...small world) and me! All grown up with tons of babies!

Hannah and Sue's little girl

Hannah and Isaiah (yep Jen's little boy is Isaiah,she also has a son Elijah TOO funny

My brother Jonathan had us over for the BEST chicken parm EVER! So good!

Hannah Bear in her favorite spot at Grammie and Papa's house.