Wednesday 7 August 2013

Classical Music

With two sick children today we abandoned formal 'schoolwork'.  However we still had a great day of learning.  Following the arts lesson plan in our Five in a Row Volume 2 Manual (in which we are rowing Babar: To Duet or not to Duet) we spent the day learning about classical music and specifically the Austrian composer Franz-Joseph Haydn. 
First we snuggled up together on the lounge and read the Babar story.  This story mentions Haydn's Surprise Symphony.  Then we read a book I picked up at an op-shop a couple of years ago called Joseph Haydn The Merry Little Peasant.  This book told the story of his life and was interspersed with piano music he had written which I attempted to play. 
After this we enjoyed watching on Youtube Haydn's Toy Symphony (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1miohLVZobE) and part of the Surprise Symphony (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lLjwkamp3lI).  The children enjoyed this after discovering he wrote this specifically so the ladies watching his orchestra who were nodding off would be startled awake by a loud surprise chord.  Then we watched an interesting Youtube clip on the four different groups of musical instruments in an orchestra and the different ways in which they produce their sounds. (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=haLtMkNL84g)

The sun was shining beautifully today so we ventured out onto the front lawn with a blanket to soak up some Vitamin D.  We potted some fuchsia's into hanging baskets.  We can't wait to see what colour flowers they have.  After this we picnicked in the sun and then planted some seeds out into seedling trays.


As fevers returned we retreated to the lounge to watch some DVD's I had borrowed from the library on classical and orchestral music.  Matthew fell asleep during the first one, succumbing to his fevers.
 The girls brightened up again and headed back outside for some more fresh air.

To finish off our theme of classical music we dined in front of the TV while watching Andre Rieu's Live in Melbourne 2008 concert on DVD.  This was a really enjoyable show and certainly brought classical music to life.  All in all not a bad day of learning considering the fevers and headaches going on amongst us.

Catch-Up

A quick catch-up - we were looking forward to the addition of a new baby to our family in October 2012. Unfortunately he arrived on ANZAC Day - perfect and tiny but too young to be able to live on this earth.  Losing Our Little ANZAC Boy has been heartbreaking but we cling to the promise that while "Weeping endures for a night, joy comes in the morning" Psalm 30:5. 

June 12, 2013 brought another heart-break as we miscarried at 10 weeks.  Losing three in a row has been extraordinarily difficult but we are still standing, united by God's love and hope. 



Our Little Boy's hand and foot prints taken the morning after his birth.
 
 
The bear with his ashes and the things that belonged to him.
I put this together in honour of him on his due date.

 

Thursday 28 June 2012

March Memories

Our first memory in March was made when we went to the Mt French Section of the Main Ranges National Park just up the road from us.  Hadassah was doing a biological survey for a Science project.  We spent a delightful couple of hours wandering about looking at plants and insects, examining the soil and listening for birds.  We even managed to chat to a couple of National Parks Officers who told us they were planning to burn off a section of the park the next day.








A few days later we headed out to Moogerah Dam with some family and friends to celebrate my birthday.  It was a beautiful Sabbath day - perfect for spreading out a rug or two and having a singalong with the guitar.  We ate tea as the sun set over the mountain ranges.






We created our third memory in March by visiting the RAAF Amberley Aviation Heritage Centre at Ipswich.  We caught the bus onto the airforce base and spent a couple of hours wandering around and looking at all the static aircraft displays and battle memorabilia.

Children in the Caribou

F-111
While we were looking around we were most surprised to hear the roar of F-18F Super Hornets taking off.  Given that it was Sunday we were not expecting to see any aircraft active on the base.  However we saw ten take off that day.



We awoke to this unusual sunrise one morning.  It was so beautiful.  Later that day the children and I returned to Mt French National Park with some friends to see what a difference the burning off had made.

The children had great fun spotting frogs and crickets in the blackened ground whilst dodging showers of rain.



School kept us very busy in March.  Hadassah made pikelets as part of a Maths investigation while Matthew learned about how salt is obtained through evaporation. 




As part of his Busy Bee work for Adventurers, Matthew completed the Collectors Award.  He decided to put together a collection of toy vehicles.  He had to label his collection and present it to the other Busy Bees in his class.  A bit daunting for our shy boy but he rose to the occasion and did a good job!

Another enjoyable event was a trip down memory lane for Boonah when the Model A Ford club held it's annual meet in Ipswich and drove out to Boonah for a day.  Suddenly the town was taken over by these old shining cars.  My mum and I took the children down into town to see the parade and get up close and personal with the cars.



My most treasured memory of March was hearing our baby's heartbeat for the first time at my ten week check-up with the obstetrician.  Such a precious sound.  The children were so excited to discover that they were going to have a baby brother or sister even to the point of arguing about whose room the baby was going to sleep in!

Thus ends the planting of March memories in my Memory Patch.

Sunday 12 February 2012

Matthew and Maps

Matthew is reading a book about Louis Bleriot who was the first to fly across the English Channel.  This morning saw us pouring over maps finding France, England and the English Channel.  From here the conversation naturally progressed to a discussion of the English Channel in World War Two and the Normandy Invasion on D-Day.  I love the beauty of school days at home where there is room for spontaneous, natural learning.