Merry Christmas!!!

From our family to yours...have a very Holy and Blessed Christmas!!!

Wordless Wednesday

Science

We got to get a lot of our Science exploration in last week. Kerry read up on what we were looking for...

Sting Ray living in the Mangroves...

Some nice specimens we actually got from the Jersey beaches.

Kerry is now working on her shell collection due before Christmas.

Check out way more at http://www.lapazfarm.wordpress.com

Science

Mangroves...we were able to explore some mangroves this past week..finally!

Kerry was braver then I she got right in there...finding ...crabs, minnows, a string ray, tree oysters and multiple fish an birds.

We paddled over to this area the closer we got we noticed two eyeballs and a snout...alligator...we turned and left. So this area will have to wait til next time..right? Ha!

Check out more Mangroves over at www.lapazfarm.wordpress.com

We are to celebrate our small successes here..1. Last year I lost my Father in October so Christmas gifts really were not done properly. This year I vowed to get them done prior to Thanksgiving. I am done!!!! Yes you read that right I am done!!!2. Not only did I finish my shopping but I also wrapped them! I know, I know ...you are thinking she is crazy...but it is true everything is finished.3. My daughter plays the harp and has been asking for a new floor harp for about a year. I knew if I took my time and went on e-bay I could get something pretty good. Well that is my 3rd accomplishment!! I was eyeing it for a week right down to the nail biting last 10 seconds when I threw in a higher bid in order to safe guard myself against another bidder. You could hear the screaming in my house a block away as my ebay account read how would you like to pay? "We won!!" shouted the kids!! Great fun and I walked away with a beautiful harp for my daughter. I feel pretty darn good!!!

Wordless Wednesday

Yummy Truffle Dessert for Sunday dinner

Church Dance

Father and daughter dancing ....

Everyone cutting the rug... What fun!!!

Four little boys tuckered out at the end of the night. Great time had by all!!!

This was our Fall Fest and silent auction...We also ended up with a Christmas dinner at the rectory with the Pastor. What a wonderful way to bring in the Christmas Season.

All Saints Day

Saint Joan of Arc, Saint Francis and Saint Steven came for a visit on All Saints Day.

Science

This is Kerry's scale model of the ocean floor. Notice the basket sponge and tube coral. I love it!! Check out more projects on http://www.lapazfarm.wordpress.com/

Science Experiment

A guest post by : Kerry

There are no pics this week because the camera is not working. Today I did an experiment on whale blubber and how it keeps them warm. I figured out that it keeps them approximately 29 degrees warmer. (Fahrenheit of course) The experiment I used is as follows.

First since I only had one thermometer I put it in an empty cup for 30 minutes in the freezer. During which I put cotton balls at the bottom of the second cup. After the 30 minutes were over the thermometer read 0 degrees Fahrenheit. After placing the thermometer in the second cup I filled it up with cotton balls and poured 3/4s oz. of cooking oil in the cup. After being in the freezer for the 30 minutes the thermometer read 29 degrees.

Whale Blubber is like the cotton balls and oil it keeps the whale or in this case thermometer considerably warmer. I also did a reserach paper about whale blubber finding that it also stores food and energy. Blubber is a multi-purpose fat it gives added metabolism as well.
When Mom's camera is fixed I will take a pic of my lab report.

1. I finally found a coffee table. I have been looking for a year. It gets even better, I found it at a Thrift store!
2. We have been trying to get our house enthroned to The Sacred Heart of Jesus and The Immaculate Heart of Mary with other homeschooling families. Our schedules never would cooperate...finally we did it on Monday. It was a long day but well worth the wait. Fr. Jose is a very holy priest and we were all blessed to have him enthrone our families and homes to Our Lady and Our Lord.






3. Since we were having Father come to enthrone our home we cleaned top to bottom even the closets were cleaned out. So, not only is my home Blessed it is CLEAN!!

Science class

We gathered our seaweed ...

Took a few pieces and put it on our slides...
This is what it looked like under the microscope at 600x.... we were fascinated!!

Here is some plankton under the scope as well. Go over to www.lapazfarm.wordpress.com to check out some more field work.

A Thrifting Weekend

Kerry and I set out for a coffee table...now the one I had was way too big for the area. It was also too dark being that our couch is a brown leather and the side chair is brown and gold, the floors are a darker wood as well. So we wanted to brighten up the area with a lighter table. We came up with this quaint little red painted table with a removable tray on top. Our shopping appetite was satisfied. Then Kerry spied this old Breyer horse to add to her collection...I was in need of a new glass water pitcher and saw this lovely cobalt blue, glass one.

Low a behold this milk glass candy dish caught our eyes and we found that our rosaries which were overflowing in their old glass dish could all fit nicely with room to spare.

Kerry was in Heaven when she found all this yummy fabric!!!

We had a wonderful lunch in town as we discussed our treasure finds and our thrifting adventures. It was a lovely day!

Science Homework,,gotta love it!!!

We had to make sushi for Science today...I know, I know what a great Science class and it is! Kerry prepared her fillings...

Then came the rolling...this was so difficult. We had several attempts until we came up with....

This...but we ended up doing much better then this ....my memory card on my camera was full so no pics..honest. You'll have to trust me..ha But I must say they were delicious!!

Wordless Wednesday

Science

Some dried out seaweed specimens....

Thermocline chart...

Thermocline Circulation....

We are learning so much!!! We have to make sushi this week and thanks to the pioneers that have gone before us[Theresa] we have their recipe to use. Will post pics later....

Wordless Wednesday

Science class

We gathered our water...

Tested the PH levels...The first PH was 6.0 but keep in mind we had our Sea water in the fridge for 2 weeks..so it would have been higher.
Blew our C02 into it...giving us a PH of 5.5. Then blew some more hitting a low of 5.0.

Boiled the Sea water till we were left with this....1 teaspoon of salt per 1 cup of Sea water

Jake's Birthday

Here are a few pictures from Jake's birthday this weekend.

Marine biology/Oceanography

For Science this year we have tagged along with some wonderful bloggers over at http://www.lapazfarm.wordpress.com/ . It is a hands on course which will find us at the beach often this year. Not bad. My daughter loves the Ocean and all of it's inhabitants so this is right up her alley. We will be investigating together and the boys can join us in this adventurous journey.

Week 1

Our first works... Wave diagrams with summary paragraph.

Ocean zones diagram with summary paragraph.

The Ocean Currents of the World.

Very interesting course and we are thrilled to be a part of it. Check out the rest of the class work over at http://www.lapazfarm.wordpress.com/ Thanks Theresa!!!

Daddy

Happy Birthday my Dear Sweet Daddy!! You are so missed!!! Enjoy your birthday this year with our Lord and we will celebrate again when we are all together. I love you!!

Happy Birthday Jake

Happy Birthday to my little man!!! 10 years old today. We love you buddy!!!! Enjoy your special day!!

Wordless Wednesday