Homemade Xylophone

K was required to build an instrument for her Prims group. She thought of making a simple drum out of paper and cardboard, but I encouraged her to step it up a notch. That is when she suggested a xylophone.

I looked online and found some simple instructions using readily available materials. Timo bought the pipe and wood at a local home improvement store, and I found the foam at Hobby Lobby.

Grant it, K had some help on this project. I did not expect her to be able to cut the pipe. She did help cut the foam and assemble the whole instrument, though.

K sawing some hard foam. We ended up using something else, but this was good experience in measuring and cutting.

K playing her new instrument

Top view of the xylophone

I am happy with the way the xylophone turned out. Not only do we have an instrument that she can actually keep and play, but I hope K learned that if it is worth doing, it is worth doing well.

A.J.'s Story

A.J. wrote a story at church this week. He has no experience with spelling, and this is the first time he has written a story. I am proud of his being willing to write without being afraid of misspelling a word.

Translation: I went to Hobby Lobby and got a rocket and get to fly it at Farmor and Farfar's house and it is going to be really cool.

At least, that's what I think it says. :)

Easter Day 2012

S in his Sunday best

Easter morning held extraordinary promise. The kids woke up to find their jelly bean jars sitting at their places at the breakfast table. We made it to the early service at church, and I even had started the roast in the crock pot early that morning. Our refrigerator held a tremendous number of dyed hard-boiled eggs, and our front yard beckoned me to utilize its hiding places for the egg-hunt.


 
After church, we drove home where I hurried to get the rest of dinner going in order to enjoy a mid-day meal. While the food was in the oven, I hid the eggs. Then, I rallied my troops and sent them out to hunt for the hidden eggs. They excitedly ran around the yard, filling their baskets with eggs. H needed a little help, so I eventually guided him to the proximity of the evasive eggs. Toward the end of the hunt, we experienced some unhappiness due to certain eggs not being found by the proper person, but that passed, and we enjoyed an Easter dinner as a family. The rest of the afternoon was spent on unplanned activities.

One of the marbled eggs waiting to be found

H reaching for an egg

H opening an egg. He spilled jelly beans all over the ground.

AJ looking across the yard

K finding an egg



Things I Never Thought I Would Say Before I had Kids

Why is there a sock on a piece of toast?

Get those toys out of my measuring cup!

More Easter Traditions

On Good Friday, the kids and I baked Resurrection Rolls. The simple ingredients provide a hands-on explanation to children about the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ. A marshmallow represents His body, which is dipped in melted butter and cinnamon and sugar. These represent the oils and spices that were used on Jesus' body before burial. The crescent roll dough represents the tomb where he was buried. After baking, the marshmallow has melted, leaving an empty "tomb".

I had seen these made before, but this is the first year we used them as part of our Easter education. The children all enjoyed them, and I think I will keep them as a yearly tradition in our family.

We also boiled and dyed more eggs in preparation for the Easter egg hunt. I had seen instructions online detailing how to marbleize eggs, and I was "dyeing" to try it (excuse the pun). I didn't want to get too messy, so I only used three colors as the base and one to create the marbleized effect. I thought they turned out looking pretty cool, and I plan on doing this in future years.

Easter Eggs

We took yesterday off from school. I wanted to focus a little on Easter and share in some Easter-related activities with my kiddos. I boiled 31 eggs in the morning, and we dyed all but the four that cracked during the boiling process or due to mishandling by a certain two-year-old. This provided my kids with nine eggs each to dye.

K dissolved the tablets in vinegar, and we added water. Then the kids gathered around the table to add color to the egg-shell palates. They worked well together, and they seemed to really enjoy the process.

One of the best parts of the process was that they wanted to eat some of the eggs when they were done. This gives me hope that we won't have a fridge full of hard-boiled eggs that no one will eat. We are down to 19 eggs, and we haven't even held a hunt, yet.  

Homeschool Headlamp

We have been studying batteries in science class, and this week, we talked about how a switch works. One of the projects/experiments was to build a headlamp with an on/off switch. We experienced issues with the switch not staying on without being held in place. Our battery pack also gave us some problems. The batteries did not want to stay together, providing a connection only when being held tightly. Our result was a lamp that only worked when being held on both sides -- hardly practical for spelunking. However, the kids enjoyed building it, and they learned in the process. Because of this, the project was ultimately a success.