Blood, Hearts, Presidents, and Judges

We continued studying the circulatory system with a couple of projects last week. We made candy "blood."

Red Hots = Red Blood Cells

Marshmallows = White Blood Cells

Sprinkles = Platelets

Karo Syrup = Plasma

We also made a graham cracker "heart" showing the way deoxygenated and oxygenated blood flows through it.

The book and video below were two fantastic and fun resources. 

February 12 was Abraham Lincoln's birthday. We read several books but Our Abe Lincoln was their favorite, probably because I sang it! Here is Jonathan singing the last verse  "Strong Abe Lincoln died hard for the noble deeds" 

 

And of course February 14 was Valentine's Day!

One of our very favorite family traditions is our heart box which we start on February 1 and do each evening before bed until February 14. Each family member's name is placed in the box on a paper heart. Then we take turns drawing a name from the box, and you share one thing you love about how God made that person, something special, unique, what you really love about them. My favorite part is watching each boy's face when someone draws his name and talks about him. One of the best moments this year was Luke telling Kennon he loved his "loveness." When we asked him what that was, he replied, " you know your loveness, the way you love me" :-)

I normally leave all colored pancake making to grandad, but since it was a special occasion we had pink hearts for breakfast. 

Heart patterns on Valentine's Day 

 Caleb's FIAR book last week was Who Owns The Sun written and illustrated by Stacy Chbosky when she was 14 years old. This books deals with slavery and talks about things that are too wonderful to be owned. You feel the emotions of the main two characters in this book which is a good thing, for "empathy and compassion provide a healthy gateway to difficult topics."

Caleb made a list (with picture symbols) from the book of the things Big Jim told his son were too wonderful to be owned. Then Caleb added the last four things he thought should also be on the list. I loved seeing what he came up with it.

Chbosky painted beautiful illustrations in her book, and Caleb and Luke painted their own pictures of things too wonderful to own... a sunset and a rainbow. We talked about layering watercolor and mixing paints to get more variety of color.

 Our Bible time last week was spent learning about Israel's Judges. We focused on Othniel, Deborah, Gideon, Samson, Eli, and Samuel.

Here are a few pages from our Judges book. Thanks to Bible Fun for Kids for the printables!

And those are some highlights from the Vaughan home of chaos, love, and learning!