No School Day 20

No School day 20

Apr 7

Sometimes you have a crappy day.

 

Sometimes you get to study where all that crap goes.

 

Sometimes you realize that your job isn't as crappy as someone else's.

 

Sometimes people with that crappy job are glad to have it because even during quarantine they are still working and getting paid because their job is essential!

 

Science- Decided it was time to get the septic tank emptied and thought it was a wonderful opportunity for some home school learning.

 

We watched several videos about how septic tanks work and anaerobic bacteria do their job.

Then for our science lab we watched the septic company up close open up the tank and pump it out. Kids were less than thrilled for this up close science lesson. But hey, it's an important thing to know about if you live out in the country. How many of my friends have looked into a septic tank?

 

By the way, just an FYI those flushable wipes you all are using because you can't find any TP, those might be flushable but they are just sitting there in the septic tank NOT biodegrading.

 

PE- After a crappy morning the girls decided to continue on with the theme and drag the horse pastures to break up the piles and make it easier to decompose. To make it more interesting they wanted to use their dog sled team to do it. They engineered a new center line and attached it to some wire fence for the dog sled team to pull and off they went. It actually worked pretty well and the girls got lots and lots of exercise running all over the field with their dogs.

 

Home ec- After all the running Carissa worked on sewing in the cool basement. She made 20+ elastic straps for the kayak trailer foamies. Now we won't have any blow off the trailer when we shuttle the empty trailer around on river floats this season.

No School Day 19

No School day 19

Apr 6

History- Rode our horses at Fort Crowder Conservation area. This was once part of the World War II camp Crowder Army Base where thousands of soldiers went through basic training.

Including Mort Walker who called the the place "Camp Swampy" in his comic strip Beetle Bailey.

 

It was fun to imagine all the soldiers who were once here, perhaps from far off places in the country where they hadn't seen this type of countryside.

 

We also discovered a few interesting remains of buildings. But the most curious was a large stone circle. Not sure what it was from. Any ideas?

 

Horticulture- Brittney is on the endless hunt for 4 leaf clovers, she can spot them anywhere. She has to be the luckiest girl there ever was. Before we left home she found multiple lucky clovers then again when were were riding she spotted some from the back of her horse! She must have eagle eyes!

 

We also saw lots of flowering trees like the beautiful Red Bud (AKA Princess trees) and identified the state tree of Missouri, the Dogwood. Seeing the beautiful trees up close in their natural environment is the best way to study and appreciate their beauty.

 

Earth Science- Stopped at Gibson Spring for lunch and got to observe the mouth of the spring in action. It looks like it is "born" from the base of a tree. It flows right out of the bottom of it. The crystal clear water and pond it forms before becoming a river is just stunning. It is our favorite spot we have found to stop for a picnic on any horse trail thus far!

 

Family time- One of the best things about the time of quarantine is that the girls are having so much fun together. They have always been good friends. Nice that we get to spend so much time together.

 

 

 *After the pictures, there are some links to sites giving some history to Fort Crowder*

 

 Some interesting History on Fort Crowder:

U. S. Army base used during WWII

• https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fort_Crowder
• https://www.sos.mo.gov/archives/mdh_splash/default.asp?coll=crowder
• https://www.newstribune.com/news/local/story/2018/mar/03/built-in-wwii-camp-crowder-missouri-was-once-a-booming-us-army-post/715848/ 
• https://armyhistory.org/camp-enoch-h-crowder-missouri/
• https://www.pinterest.com/flathead8/camp-crowder-mo/

 For info on the current area known as the Fort Crowder Conservation Area

• https://nature.mdc.mo.gov/discover-nature/places/fort-crowder-ca

No School Days 16 & 17

April 3 - 4

Home economics- after the big baking day yesterday Brittney had to spend some time cleaning the kitchen.

 

Photography- Carissa helped me try to get a group photo all our puppies at the same time. Ever heard of herding cats? Ya that is about what that experience is like! Trying to get ONE puppy to sit still and smile for the camera is hard enough, getting 7 to do it at the same time is pretty much impossible! Carissa was pretty creative in her modeling poses, so after about a million takes this is as close as it gets. Her comment, wow taking pictures of puppies is hard Mom!

 

Foreign Language & 4H- Brittney decided her French Bulldog needed to learn French so she is teaching her obedience commands in French. The dog is doing great, we are having a hard time remembering the French Words for all the commands. The 4H is having kids upload their dog training videos so other kids in quarantine can train with their dogs too.

 

Community service- Neighbor Ginger needed some helpers to make some face masks for the nursing home that was out masks. Carissa cut and sewed 30+ masks for the cause!