Just for you Grandpa Rich

It looks as though we were not the only ones grateful for the melted snow. These big guys came up into the yard for a quick dinner this evening. I absolutely love it when they do that.

Feast of St. Jane

February 4th was the feast of St. Jane Valois. She was the daughter of King Louis XI of France. The king wanted a son and was very disappointed at the birth of Jane, especially due to her physical deformity. At the age of five, he had her sent to live with other people. Despite this cast off, Jane was good and gentle, finding her strength in the confidence of Jesus' and Mary's love. Jane decided not to marry, but to dedicate her life to God. Her father ignored her wishes and forced her to marry the Duke of Orleans. She was a devoted wife for 22 years. However, when the Duke became King, he sent Jane to live by herself in a far-off township. Rather than be resentful, she immersed her life in prayer and practiced penances and acts of kindness. She gave all her money to the poor. She even started an order of sisters. She spent the rest of her life joyfully serving Jesus and Mary.

St. Jane reminds us that we are precious to God, no matter how others treat us. She also inspires us to to be patient, forgiving, and sacrificial. In honor of St. Jane, we pulled out our sacrifice beads which Prez had made last week while learning about patterns in Math class.

Feast of St. John Bosco

January 31st was the feast of Saint John Bosco, a very well known saint. He was born in Italy and his father died when John was only two. He worked very hard helping his mother on the farm even though he greatly desired the priesthood. Eventually, through the help of another priest, John was able to attend seminary and become a priest. Initially, he worked in the prisons which is where he discovered many young boys who had ruined their lives through criminal activities. Don Bosco, (Don is an endearing term used by the Italians for their priests) decided to start a home for troubled boys. He offered them hope for their future through education, vocational training, and prayer and sacraments. Don Bosco even started his own order called the Salesians, based on St. Francis de Sales. St. John Bosco is an example to us to use our skills and talents to encourage and help others.

The above picture is of some Italian bread we made in honor of Don Bosco. We decided that the community of boys resembled the lumps of bread--a tight knit bunch with generous helping of seasoning, or rather grace. We added a little spiced up tomato sauce for dipping, which of course resembles the love we should be adding to everything we do.

A Recent Picture

The thing I love best about this picture is the reflection of admiration and love that Prez has for his sisters.

The picture only mirrors what is amplified at home. Bubbles, the mastiff and matriarch of the crew, Prez, the trusting and loving one with a touch of mischievous, then Sweetness, the oblivious one, except to her fingers which she has finally discovered and figured out to be her own.

Back in the School Room

It has been a busy two weeks in the school room.

History: We continued our study of the many trials in Europe. Mary, the Queen of Scots is sentenced to die by Queen Elizabeth, Sir Walter Raleigh campaigns his plan to the Queen to finance an expedition to the new world for what would become Roanoke, Virginia (the lost colony) , Prince William of Orange from the Netherlands has been assassinated and England promises to help in their fight for Independence from Spain, the Spanish Armada attacks England and loses, France's king, Henry III, has Henry of Guise (a Catholic fighting for Catholic control) assassinated, then he gets assassinated and Henry of Navarre (the Protestant contender for the throne) takes charge. This is the start of a five year French war.

Roanoke model of the tree that was carved with the word CROATAN.
Our scroll which I used as a sequencing activity to retell the story of Roanoke, the Lost Colony.

Geography: We continued maps of the regions as well as flags for each of the countries we have been studying.

Science: We continued our study of ships since so many expeditions and wars revolved around them. These two weeks we were studying buoyancy and different kinds of waves (wind, tidal, and tsunami). The first experiment had Bubbles discovering how water molecules moved when the wind affected them and for Prez, he was experimenting with different wind forces. A lesson quickly turned into a game which immediately turned into seemingly chaos. Check out this video: The next experiment was to test Archimedes' principle of buoyant force and discover the relationship between diameter and density of a boat. The last experiment was testing the capability of different shapes of boats to float and to hold cargo. We were trying to discover a mathematical ratio of mass of boat versus mass of cargo and when the numbers predicted floating or sinking.

Boat Number One:Boat Number Two:
Boat Number Three:
Boat Number Four:

Art: We took the opportunity to study famous paintings of the Spanish Armada attack on England. Bubbles immediately knew which ships belonged to which country based on our study of their flags. We also exposed ourselves to some paintings of Mary, Queen of Scots.

Memorization: We continued our academic vocabulary as well as our Anima Christi. Bubbles was having difficulties memorizing it so I suggested she put it to music. Little did I realize that she would compose a beautiful piece of music with the use of chords. I have asked her piano teacher for some sheet music paper for her to write out the notes. (She is not thrilled about what she considers "extra work".) Bubbles also memorized a poem by Sir Walter Raleigh entitled: The night before his death. As she puts it, "This is the worst poem ever." I explained to her that not every poem had to rhyme. I guess I've spent too much time memorizing Shel Silverstein. Prez had to memorize a poem entitled, Who can see the wind by Christina Rossetti. This was to complement his Science on wind and waves.

Writing: Bubbles had to write a message and then code it. This was based on our study of Mary, Queen of Scots, and her coded messages that were used to convict her of attempted murder of Queen Elizabeth. Bubbles also wrote a paper about something she did that she regretted. This was after learning about the French assassinations of the two Henrys.

And This is Why We Do It

A note Bubbles left for me to find the other night. Isn't it adorable? It's moments like these that I don't want to forget.

Sneakers and Snickers

The sneakers, a gift from my nephew, are just too precious! I think I have about ten shots of them, which explains the unenthusiastic look on Hubby's face.
This is the girl we know and love. Who remembers what was so funny and who cares. These days she's all belly laughs. It's good to be four months old.