The Rest Of The Story....

Isn't this adorable? Owen's friend, Aaron, wrote back. And look at all the train stickers he gave Owen. Upon looking at it, Owen kept saying...."Aaron loves me, mom!"

Making Maple Syrup!

Today, Owen and I were invited to a friend's house, where they were making maple syrup! It was very interesting and fun. Did you know that it takes 40 gallons of sap to make ONE gallon of syrup? And sap is almost clear. It tastes very slightly sweet, like a weak Koolaid. Then much thicker and sweeter by the time it's done. Also, I learned that Grade A is the maple syrup that has been made at the beginning of the season. It is very light in color, and is the best syrup. In a commercial setting, all the trees are linked by lines, so that all the sap comes to one place, easier to harvest. But, also, as the season continues, the sun has a chance to heat up the lines, creating bacteria to build up in them. Thus, it affects the sap, and you get a more bitter flavor, as it is boiled. This is what the other grades are a result of.
Here is a cooler in a wagon, that they used to go from tree to tree, collecting sap.


Owen could only carry the smaller, half full buckets. But, everyone was able to help.


They let us get a taste of the sap before it is cooked down.

Stoaking the fire under the HUGE vat of syrup cooking.

Getting more buckets...

Playing inbetween times.

Boiling sap.

More muddy, boy play! You should have seen his shoes, pants, and socks after we came home. BATHTIME! lol

2010 March Home Depot: Rain Gauge

Another thing Owen did this past Saturday morning, was to go to Home Depot with Daddy. This time the project was a Rain Gauge. Charlie posted it right above our temperature sensor on the deck. Hopefully, we will see warmer temps, and lots of rain for the flowers to grow. :)

2010 Winter Olympics

This past weekend was really busy. One of the things we did was to join 5 other homeschooling families to put on our very own winter olympics. We were responsible to bring a dish from our chosen country,(Spain, in our case), speak a little about our country, and to make a flag also. We had a potluck feast, then, and got our energy for the games.





Playing on the snow hill.


Lighting the torch.

Representatives from Spain.

Canada

Afghanistan

Bahrain (Not pictured were China and USA. My camera kept getting cold, and not functioning all that great.)

Comparing snowballs to use in the Biathlon.

They hit this tree (for the target), and then ran around the house 2 times. Owen won Bronze for this event.

Getting ready for the Slalom, where big kids pulled little ones on their sleds through a maze of trees. Owen didn't place in this event...but he sure did love riding.



Some of the friends, lining up for "Curling"-the snowball throw. Owen threw about half as far as the girls. What does that say? lol

Then they had a race to see who could make the largest snowball in three minutes. Owen show much perseverance, but his ended up not much bigger than when he started.



Hosts of our event...

There was "Snowboarding," and "Ice Hocky" also. The younger kids used their sleds to go down the snow hill. They were given points for style and distance. Owen went the farthest in distance, but without much style. He received the Silver for this event. YAY, Owen!
Here he is receiving his medals.




He was so proud of himself. "Look, mom. I got three medals."

Beautiful Writing...

I am just so proud of Owen. You'll have to excuse my "boasting" a little. He wrote this letter to his friend, Aaron. What I really loved, was how much fun he had doing it. We didn't do it in a day...it's too big a project for that. First, Owen dictated what he wanted to say to me, and I wrote it down. Then he copied it on his special guided paper. The only thing I wrote was the mailing address. He did the return address. What a super job!

Ruff Readers #3 Reading to "Chance," the Standard Schnauzer, at the library.

Owen Read "Froggy's Baby Sister," by Jonathan London. (My personal favorite of his series.) He also got to read, "Mighty Machines: Wheel Loaders," by Derek Zobel. "Chance" didn't want to lay down much, according to Charlie. But, he still got these two pictures.

Talking to Grandpa Wager

Here is Owen, talking to Grandpa Wager, as he is walking around the table. He is talking about the movie he saw recently, "Bedknobbs and Broomsticks." If you listen well, you can hear him kiss Grandpa goodby. Grandpa and Miss Betty are coming over this Thursday, just to visit.