Halloween 2011

I am so glad that they did Trick or Treating here in our town on Monday rather than Saturday. I actually got to enjoy the kids, their costumes, and we had a blast taking pictures as you can see. Biscuit will do just about anything for a duck treat which she loves more than anything. DJ is really learning the ins and outs of our digital camera now. He has taken a ton of pictures this last week, between Seaworld and Halloween. Next week we are heading to the Gulf of Mexico to see what kinds of shots he can get there. He didn't take all of these. I have to upload them to his blog or his online photo journal and that takes a while. I think he has already picked the one he wants to enter for contests this year for 4H. I must admit it is a beauty. I won't share it yet though. I hope everyone had a wonderful Halloween and I will be glad when all this chocolate is gone. I am trying so hard to cut my sugar intake. Yesterday was writing and reading and household chores for school.

Lesson Plans For 11/01/2011:

DJ:
Adventures in Literature: The Stone
Science: 4H entomology, Classifying animals test, Elements
Math: Saxon 65 chapter 44
Social Studies: Chapter 10 Middle Ages
Reading Comprehension
Cursive Writing
Language Arts: Commas

Caitlin:
Science: 4H entomology, wind
Cursive Writing and Printing Practice
Head of the Class: 2 cycles
Social Studies: Fire Safety
Language Arts
Math: Saxon 1, Measurement

To Scare Or Not To Scare?

Happy Monday and Happy Halloween. Since today is Monday, that means it is time for a writing challenge. Today, DJ and I will be writing about being scared. Do you like being scared, or scaring others and why? If you would like to check out what DJ had to say head on over to DJ's blog. If you, or your children would like to join the Monday writing challenge please feel free to do so. Leave me a link in the comments so I can read your post. Have fun!

Do I like to be scared? Short answer is yes! I love scary movies and books. The scarier the better. Why? Because I like excitement and the feeling it gives me when I am scared. The rush of adrenaline, the nervous anxiety and the feeling of being on the edge of my seat. I watch scary movies alone in the dark, my husband doesn't like them. DJ would watch them with me, but he is still young for some of the ones I watch. I think personally the movie that scared me the most was, The Serpent and the Rainbow. I still am not sure why, but it scared the pants off of me, seemed too real maybe. I think those are the scariest books and movies, the realistic ones. They don't have to even be horror but books like A Child Called It, or When Rabbit Howls, both true stories, can be very frightening. I don't like to be bored, LOL! And I also love the dark. I have sensitive eyes and have worked night shift so many years, that I just prefer the darkness.

Do I like scaring other people? No, actually I don't. I don't find humor in other people's pain. If it is someone who I know doesn't mind being startled or scared then I might play a prank, but sticking a snake or spider in front of someone that is petrified I do not find funny at all. I like the excitement of being scared others might not.

So what do you say about this topic? To Scare or Not To Scare?

Happy Halloween Pictures Comments - Photobucket

The History Of Halloween and Pilgrim Virtual Field Trip

I have a lot to share in one little post. I don't want anyone to miss anything they might want to use in their educational adventures. If you go to Scholastic, you can sign up for a free Thanksgiving virtual tour with educational resources. The first tour is Wed Nov 2nd, so I am sharing the link so you can sign up in time. We did it last year too, but the link didn't work great and they have added more stuff and updated the tour. They will send you email reminders so you don't miss any episodes.

Monday is of course Halloween. While I do not consider Halloween a holiday many people refer to it as such. Have you ever wondered why Halloween is even celebrated? The History Channel has put together an awesome show so you can find out. You can view it below or Tivo it Oct 31st at 10 PM on the History Channel.

One more Tivo alert, Nov 7th at 6 AM the History Channel will be having a documentary to cover Veteran's Day, called The True Story of Veterans Day. There is a teacher's guide that goes along with the documentary, but it is a pdf file that I am not sure I am supposed to share. But, you could go to the History Channel website and get the teacher guide there. We will be doing this one as well.

We have been learning about pumpkins lately. Those of you who are used the themed units then you know that there are a ton of different ways to cover a topic. We have painted on pumpkins, learned how pumpkins grow, looked at some pumpkin recipes, made pumpkin crafts and coloring pages. I want to make homemade pumpkin pie but I am not optimistic that this is something I can achieve. If anyone knows of a super easy homemade pumpkin pie recipe for a novice please share it with me.

Happy Saturday, everyone.

The Last Hoorah!

Yesterday was sadly our last trip to Seaworld on our year pass. The kids and I could go forever, just to feed the dolphins. It was the most amazing experience. It is hard to take pictures of live animals and feed them at the same time, LOL! I almost dunked the camera several times. You could pet them, and talk to them we loved it! The Shamu show was a new show and since the park was basically not busy there was only like 10 min waits for attractions. That meant we got to ride, see shows, eat and see all exhibits in one day. We didn't get to do that the other times. It was quite warm so we were more than happy to sit in the soak zone for the dolphin show, which was splendid I might add. Not as splendid as feeding the dolphins but still splendid. We will miss going to Seaworld, we can always go again, but there are other places we want to visit. A great day indeed!