After reading about maple sugaring in both Singing Wheels and Pioneer Sampler, yesterday we attempted to make maple sugar candy out of maple syrup.  It didn't go too well.  We tried, but our syrup is still syrup and hasn't changed into sugar.  I think our thermometer wasn't accurate and I was having a hard time reading it.  We are all very disappointed.

We have started a new chore system this week.  The boys are fairly good at doing their chores but I've noticed that during the day we are so busy that a lot of times they just don't have time to get to them.  So this week they have assigned chores that have to be done before they eat breakfast.  Hopefully, they will get done quickly and with minimal complaining since they always wake up hungry.  So far it seems to be working well but we'll see how it goes in a few weeks.  I have also assigned some new chores for them.  Gavin is now helping with the dishes.  Since it's a new chore, he really enjoys doing dishes!

Today Austin played with Play-Doh. 

Adelaide just played!

After lunch we all went outside to enjoy a beautiful spring day.  Adelaide hasn't actually gotten to spend much time outside since she screamed through last summer.  She had a wonderful day today and refused to take a nap because she wanted to play in the grass.

One of Austin's chores is to fill the bird feeders.  This has actually been his chore for a few months now.  He also has to feed the dogs every evening.

He was actually pretending to be a knight, despite the baseball hat.

Adelaide is already lording over the neighborhood.

Austin broke open a red bud pod and showed me the seed.  He was fascinated by the idea that the tiny seed would grow into a tree.

Gavin was supposed to be finishing up his schoolwork when we first went out.  You can tell he was concentrating!

We read these books in science today.

This is a great book that teaches about Isaac Newton and breaks down some of his most important laws into words kids Gavin's age can understand.

We sort of did our experiment today.  We've been learning that white light is really made up of many different colors.  So today we filled a glass with water and shined a flashlight into the water until a rainbow reflected onto a piece of white paper.  I was going to have Gavin copy the colors into his science journal but we ran out of time.  He was supposed to finish it while Adelaide was napping this afternoon but we went outside instead.  It was just to pretty outside to be stuck inside!

We started reading this book at lunchtime since we finished the covered wagon book.  It's jumping ahead a little.  We have a couple more weeks of pioneers, then we will learning a bit about the pony express and then we'll move on to the Industrial Revolution and immigration and should end the year in the early 1900s.