After getting a foot of snow a few days ago, we woke up this morning with more snow!  Even Gavin didn't go outside for too long today so I think we have about had enough of it for this winter.

Since we had to stay inside we played with electricity!  First we read a chapter in our science book about electricity and then a library book about electricity.  Then we got out Snap Circuit Jr, a toy from fatbraintoys.com, which is one of my favorite stores for kids toys.  The boys loved it!  Basically it has different parts you can connect together with batteries to make things happen.  First we just did a simple circuit to turn on a little light bulb.  Then Gavin took over and made another circuit that caused a fan to spin.   Here he is working on the fan.

And it works!

Next he attached a speaker to the batteries and it played 'Happy Birthday'.  The boys thought this was hilarious!

Finally, Gavin attached a resistor to the circuit and played the music again and it played more quietly than before.  We had so much fun we decided to do some more on Thursday!

These are the books we read today.

Today in Bible we started a book about the armor of God.  I found a neat website that has all kinds of resources for ancient Egypt, Greece and Rome, and one of the activities was to dress a Roman soldier.  So Gavin dressed his soldier and then in his Bible notebook, Gavin drew a picture of a Roman soldier. 

In math, he reviewed making change.

For our pioneer activity, Gavin tried his hand at weaving.  I got the directions for this craft from this website: http://ourhouse.typepad.com/full_circle/2008/04/over-under-over.html

He stuck with it really well because it took a while.  It's not the tightest weaving job ever but he was proud of it and put it in the pioneer wagon he made so the imaginary pioneer family would have a more comfortable ride west.

Austin is starting to get into Legos and he is making some very cool things!

Adelaide has finally started to take a few steps unassisted.  Today she was using the giraffe to walk.  If she pushes it sideways it doesn't go too fast for her to keep up.  She really wants to walk but she has got to work up her confidence.

But, she took her first couple steps on Friday and we are practicing with her going from one person to the other.  She's getting lots of encouragement and is now clapping for herself when she makes it!

This is the Bible study we've started.

We read a couple more chapters from A Pioneer Sampler.

We read a book about a girl in South Africa and used her for our 'Children Just Like Me' page in our geography notebook.  Gavin also added an animal and he picked the elephant this week.

Yesterday Gavin and I read a little more about atoms.  We learned that the parts to an atom, electrons, protons and neutrons, all have electrical charges.  To test this, we rubbed a balloon against different surfaces then placed it on the wall to see if it would stick to the wall.  If the balloon stuck, it was because electrons had passed from the object to the balloon, giving it a negative charge, allowing it to stick to the wall.  Without this charge, the balloon just falls to the floor.  We rubbed the balloon on silk, cotton, fleece, wool, leather and wood to see what would happen.  Gavin made a hypothesis before each one and recorded his results in his science journal.

Gavin thought the balloon sticking to the wall was neat.

And, we got just over 12 inches of snow yesterday!  The nice thing is that Austin hasn't had to go to school yesterday or today, so Gavin got his work done earlier than usual.  He played outside for several hours yesterday even though we didn't make it above freezing.  He's outside playing right now too!

Steven got the day off from work too.  For some reason he duct taped grocery bags over Austin's snow boots and then Austin refused to go outside.  He was not amused (Austin that is, Steven was very amused).

Gavin kept sticking his face in the snow.  I think it was because Austin and Adelaide (watching from inside) would laugh every time he would do it.  At seven, he needs no encouragement to be silly.

Today we read these books about pioneers and explorers.

We also read a book about Jim Bridger but I can't find a picture of it and I'm too lazy to take a picture and download it to my computer.

Since we have had two whole days in which we haven't had to leave the house, we had time to finish Gavin's Science Fair Project!  He did an amazing job and I think it looks great.  He is very proud of his display.  He had finished the research paper earlier this week and flew his airplanes on Wednesday.  Today he typed most of what is on the board.  I made the graphs, one I did in color, the other I made him color in himself.  Here is his display board.

We are back to school this week!  Austin has been sick the last couple of days but seems to be feeling a little  better today.  I'm not sure why we have been hit so hard by sickness this last few weeks but we are really looking forward to warmer weather and springtime.  

Gavin has continued to work on his paper airplane science fair project.  He made his paper airplanes, with some help from Dad (a few were very complicated).  This morning we flew the airplanes and gathered our data.   Now we just have to put it all together and get our display board ready.

We flew them at the church where Austin's school is because they have a big empty room that already has tape on the floor to mark off a starting line.

We celebrated Valentine's Day.  The kids got little stuffed friends and a mailbox with candy and small things inside.

Gavin got a book of jokes I found in the dollar section of Target.  It was the perfect gift for him since he is in to all things silly.  The downside is I've been told a lot of silly jokes this week :)

This month we are studying South Africa.  Today Gavin watched a video about South Africa and then did an art project.  He drew giraffe 'skin' on a piece of paper and then glued a silhouette of a giraffe on top to explore texture.  I can't remember if I posted the day we opened our envelope from Little Passports but if not, he got a bird whistle.

Yesterday we read more about atoms and chemical reactions.  We mixed vinegar and baking soda in a bottle to watch it explode.  We were going to make a battery using lemons but Gavin told me he did that at robotics camp last summer and he didn't need to do it again.

We are in the middle of three different chapter books in history.  Before bed we are reading Singing Wheels.  

During history time we are reading A Pioneer Sampler.  Both this book and Singing Wheels follow a family and details their day to day activities on the prairie.   

At lunch we are reading Children of the Covered Wagon.

Monday Gavin had his Blue and Gold Banquet for Cub Scouts.  He received his Tiger Badge and belt loops for soccer, chess and language and culture.