The Gang (May 2008)

Zach has a group of buddies that have been his amigos since before he could walk. Whenever people give us the old "socialization" talk about homeschooling I just point to these guys. He's plenty socialized, usually with one or all of these kids three or four or more days a week. And you can see how much they love each other!
From the left -- Neel, Thomasa, Gavin, Zach.













Young Love




















The Three Amigos (triple trouble)
Neel, Hugo, & Zach

Aaargh Matey! (June 2008)

Playsilk in the Cockpit (May 2008)

A Boy & His Dog (May 2008)

Early Summer Beach Finds

Some flowers from around the marina...




... amd treasures from the Chesapeake Bay found around the marina and on Back Creek.

April Sunshine 2008

Zach and Miss T at the beach...















Building a fort...

Wildlife

Here is a list of animals we have seen in the marina right around the boat...

Ducks/ baby ducks
Crabs
Horse Shoe Crabs
Muskrats
Water Snakes
Jellyfish
Turkey Vultures
Geese and baby geese
Deer
Night Heron
Great Blue Heron
Turtle
Osprey
Seagull
Oyster
Fox
Rabbits
Cardinals
Bats

Winter Solstice

We went to Back Creek Nature Park right next to the marina and decorated the little live Christmas tree that we used on the boat last year. Doug and Zach planted it last year and it seemed to be thriving well! We strung popcorn and cranberries at home and brought it over the tree.




This is what the tree looked like when we were all done. Hopefully the local deer, squirrels, and birds enjoyed the treat.



When we got home we lit candles and made sun cookies. We also read the book The Sun Egg
and had oranges and honey comb to eat. When Zach woke up in the morning he said, "Welcome back sun!" And he's already noticing the days getting longer.

Twinkle, twinkle...

Last night Zach woke up in the middle of the night and stood on my belly to open the hatch. He let the cold air whoosh in and popped his head out in to the night.

"Zach what are you doing?!?!?" I mumbled in an antibiotic induced haze (I have pneumonia).

"I'm trying to find the North Star. Where's the North Star mommy?"

"North" I said with my eyes sealed shut hoping this would be the end of the conversation.

"Where north? I can't see it! I need to find it mommy!"

"Honey why do you need to find the north star."

"Sailors use the north star, and I'm a sailor. The north star is like a compass to sailors. It's how we know where we're going."

"oh."

Then I fell back asleep. I assume he found it because when I woke up later the hatch was closed and he was sleeping. Sideways. With his head pointing north.

12-21-07

I was getting dressed and tidying up in our room and he was
unusually quiet up in the salon. If you have a 3 year old boy you know, they are never quiet.

So I crept up expecting the worst (permanent marker on the walls, the
dog getting a haircut while he sleeps...) and there he is quietly at
the table with pen in hand.

Now this is the child who NEVER draws. At all. Anything. Crayons and
paper just don't do it for him. Except for making "hieroglyphics" in
marker on the walls (thank goodness we have a big plastic catamaran we
can bleach) I have never seen him make any marks on paper.

So I say, "hey Z what are you doing?"

I look and he has some dry erase cards that are supposed to be play
postcards for a play mailbox he has. He found the dry erase marker and
he was drawing on the cards. I bought the set because he really wanted
a mailbox. And we've never done anything further with the rest of the
contents. Each little "postcard" has a lower case and capital letter
on it and he was carefully tracing every letter of the alphabet on
these cards and then trying to write the letter himself in the blank
space next to it!!!!

I almost passed out! I have had unschoolers tell me he would just
magically one day become interested in things like hand writing and
math and do it on his own and I thought "yeah, right."

And here he was. My son who has never even drawn me a picture --
he BEAMED and said "Mommy I can write just like you do!"

And now he pulls out this set and "practices" his letter writing
practically every morning. On his own free will. Quietly.



Here's he funny kicker. I asked him one of those ridiculous grown up
questions when I first saw how well he was copying the letters... I
said "Wow, who taught you how to write like that honey?"

He said: "Thoth."

Hmmmmm. Mommy is stumped. Maybe it's a friend from somewhere I don't
remember. Hmmmm???

"Honey, who is Thoth?"

Zach sighs like he is forever trying to explain things to us silly
adults. "He's the Egyptian god of writing."

I googled it. He's right.

Celebrating the Seasons...

This year we got inspired to make Waldorf-style "nature tables" for each season. Basically Zach and I go out walking in the woods or just around and he collects things that he finds for the season. Then we add this and that from crafts we do, or things we get from friends.
Here is our winter nature table... so far.




And this is the one we did for the fall...

November 3 2007

My little guy is growing so fast!