Homeschool Project - Papyrus vs. Clay Tablets

Here is the last of the homeschool projects for a bit.  Scroll down for the others. :)

We did an experiment to see why it was that clay/stone tablets lasted longer than papyrus.  They really had fun with this one.

First we had to make our clay tablets.

Next they did some cuneiform on them.

These are Little One's initials

The "I" of Ira's initials took a lot of room so she stuck with just "I."

Next we made a papyrus scroll that they painted some hieroglyphs on with grape juice.

We left them outside for a couple of weeks and through a couple of different storms.  Our papyrus didn't hold up so well.

Next they got caught in the water when the Nile flooded.

Post flood

Finally, they were lost in the Sahara Desert for awhile.

The clay tablets won.  Still readable and almost as good as new.  The papyrus didn't fair so well. :)

Field Trip - Red Butte Gardens

Arbor Day is free to visit Red Butte every year so we braved the cold that day and went.  It had been so nice and warm earlier in the week, but it snowed that morning!  It melted by the time we went later that afternoon, but it was still pretty nippy.  We didn't stay too long because of it, but had fun nonetheless.  The girls liked seeing what all the different plants were.

I thought the texture and color of this branch was awesome!

Little One especially liked the ducks. :)

My cute girls...freezing but happy.

Homeschool Project - Sugar Cube Pyramids

These were quite fun to make too.

Little One's completed pyramid!

Ira with her pyramid!

Of course, no child's life is complete without having eaten a sugar cube.

Yum!

Homeschool Project - The Nile

After Spring Break we started a new history program and have been loving it!  So far I think our favorite section has been ancient Egypt.  Man, I want to go to Cairo!

First off we made a model of the Nile.  It didn't turn out quite like we'd wanted, but it was still very fun and the girls had a blast. :)

We made a river bed out of foil.  The delta started out easy to tell but became less so in the end.  Ah well.

Then they painted glue on the bottom so the river bottom (kitty litter) would stick.

Next was to fill the sides with dirt.

We sprouted some wheat for our grass.  Once it started to sprout we planted it.

Then we had to flood it, of course.

After a few days of flooding, we had some nice grass growing!

Easter

Easter was very nice.  We had Patrice and the kids over for our annual egg hunt a few days before.  Terry was working.  It was a bit chilly, but you'd never know it except for Lexi wearing Mom's coat.  The others didn't have sense enough to be cold. :)

Mom and I had fun filling and hiding the eggs.  We do it so that each of them have the same number of eggs but we put initials on them and hide them according to age/ability.  Justin's were pretty much just in the grass.  Little One and Nathan's were in similar places, Lexi's a bit harder and then Ira's even harder.  It was very fun.

One of Justin's

One of Little One's

Justin with his spoils

I hid this one and it was one Ira had trouble finding.  Bwahahaha!

Little One with her eggs

Nathan with his eggs

On Easter itself we were in Pocatello.  We had done a really cool thing the day before though.  Their church up there does a "Walk with Christ" every year that was really, really neat.  It's for the whole community and they did a great job with it.  Once we got home that evening we colored eggs.  That was fun too.  The girls did a good job.

And of course, they got their stuff.

Spring Break

We had fun for Spring Break.  We couldn't go much of anywhere or do a whole lot, but we had lots of fun, nonetheless.  First off, was to check out the new City Creek Mall.  It was pretty cool. :)

I've heard parking is expensive there so we went to the Gateway and rode Trax over.  The girls loved it!

They've got cool fireplaces all set up for the winter months.

A Disney store!!!!!  Alas, it is mostly little kid clothes.  We got Little One a bathing suit, but it didn't fit so we had to take it back.  She got some goggles instead.

This picture is for Masha!  Her favorite store has another location.  We spent hours in Forever 21 when she was here.

This is the cool retractable roof over most of the mall.  Pretty snazy!

The three of us by the fountain.  We didn't get to see the show and it was too cold to wait around for the next time.    Another time....

One of the next days we went to TGI Fridays to have our yummy dessert like we did in Ukraine.  The girls have been working really hard toward a reward and this is what they decided to do.  Since they earned it, it was a good time to go.  Even though the dessert was a little different (and much smaller) than in Ukraine it was still yummy!  We were missing Masha though.

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So good!

Horrible picture of me, but cute one of the girls.

 On Friday the three of us took off for Pocatello.  My best friends from college live up there and it's been quite awhile since we've seen them.  It was an awesome way to spend the weekend!

I know my eyes are closed, but it was SO BRIGHT!  Not to mention cold.  HOLY COW!  I was freezing!

We got to go to church with them Easter Sunday and then head back home after lunch.  They made us a yummy lunch and we had a great time!  Here is Little One with their two middle kids.

Wendell, Katiemarie and I!  I'm so grateful for good friends. :)

Their oldest

#2 with the baby. :)