Columbus Ships Nina and Pinta Home-School Trip

As promised, here are some more pictures of our home-schooling adventures. This was a trip we took with our home-school group to see the Nina and Pinta reproductions--they are a floating mini museum and the tour guides are very knowledgeable and informative. Here is a link for anyone interested...they tour all around the U.S. (anywhere the ships are able to sail) http://www.thenina.com/. The Nina is the most historically accurate Columbus ship reproduction ever built.

Munchkin walking towards the Nina. This ship is the one actually built to the scale of the original and with tools like what they would have used in Columbus' time.

Here, the kids are listening to the tour guide tell them about the shore boat on the Nina.

View of the Pinta from shore. This ship was built a bit bigger than the original scale, and built with more modern tools as well if I am remembering correctly. All in all this was a pretty fun trip with the group, though it got a little warm before the tour was over (we went in early September). 

This is my view of the Pinta from the deck of the Nina. I like the perspective here with the beam above me showing in the foreground. I need to play with these pictures some, because I know they would look nicer with some editing. I'll have to remember to do that in all of this spare time I have.

I do occasionally find snippets of spare time; it was in one such snippet that I wrote the following poem. (Inspired by how crowded I felt surrounded by the other home-schoolers...which our guide informed us was about how many sailors would have been on the deck.)

Standing hunched:

Ceiling too low.

Feeling bunched

As others crowd close.

We all want to see.

There floats a ship;

What once was a tree.

Covered in pitch,

Black in the night,

The moon and stars

Might be their only light.

Aboard the Nina,

Columbus' favorite ship,

I look toward the Pinta

Glad I didn't take this trip.

Three little boats

On the ocean so large

Wind in the sails...

Sailing so far.

But to where and to what?

West to the Indies...

But what if they got lost?

I wonder if they were scared.

I would be...wouldn't you?

Unwashed bodies

All crowded close.

No bathing for months...

That would be gross!

Long dangerous journey 

On a ship so small.

It's a wonder they lived,

Any one of them all.

But lived they did, 

And made history too!

There it is...hope you enjoyed it. I am planning to try to write poems about historical events, people, or places to make learning about them more fun and perhaps a little easier. This one was more for fun and my own amusement...and to sharpen my poetry skills hopefully.

Check out my Link Parties page for a list of all the parties I link to each week.

Home-School Headache

I am sure I am not the only one who feels this way, and certainly it is not limited to home-schoolers, but Munchkin has been driving me nuts today. Our routine was changed this morning due to needing to drive a-ways to do some shopping, and only having time to do it first thing in the morning. Sometimes these changes in routine don't bother Munchkin at all, but today it really threw her off. We are still doing school work and it is after 6pm.

Actually thinking back over this week I am thinking maybe she and I need a short break from school. There is a part of me that feels like to give her a break I am only rewarding her bad behavior from the past few days, but I think maybe we are just both a bit burnt out right now. If nothing else, I plan to change up the type of work we are doing...she has a mental block about having to finish her workbook work every day, but has no problems with worksheets...so we may do a worksheet or two. Honestly though, we may just go ride bikes and play at the park in the morning. She chooses activities in the evening that include learning, and begs me to let her read to me or do sight word flashcards or play games (that just happen to be educational). I wonder what the weather will be in the morning..?

To cheer myself up, here are some pictures of what home-school occasionally looks like for us. These are just teaser pics, I hope to post a bit more about what is going on in each picture in the next few days/weeks, as well as posting more pictures from that day.

Which picture do you want me to talk about first? Leave a comment or I can just pick one!

Check out my Link Parties page for a list of all the parties I link to each week.

Time to Blog!

The title of today's post has a double meaning: 1. It's time for me to get back to blogging, and 2. I finally found some time to blog!

Midget said "In your dreams, Mom!" as he woke up early from his nap just as I finished typing my first sentence. So here I am typing one-handed while feeding the baby with the other. I have made up my mind that, while I am still job-hunting, I am going to try to find the time to blog a little bit daily about our lives, which currently consists of eating, sleeping, diapers, home-school, church, job-hunting, and an occasional sewing project. Ahhh the luxurious life of a mom! (Loads of sarcasm intended).

Big Sis is doing her schoolwork as slowly as possible this morning. However, I managed to make a few phone calls and send an e-mail to organize some field trips for our home-school group, so I am feeling as though I accomplished something today at least.

I'll leave my post short and sweet today as I am needed to help keep Sis on topic with her school work.

BBQ on the River

Saturday night, Dave and I went with some friends to the BBQ on the River in Paducah, KY. There was tons of food and a few other vendors...and some wine tastings! We had a pretty good time, and I brought home a bottle of wine from the Purple Toad Winery...a very tasty strawberry wine. Other than that, we basically just walked around and ate food...I got to try some super awesome ribbon fries which are basically potato chips, but they were still awesome!

Aly and I had gone to the festivities a little earlier in the day, so I am posting some pictures below of she and I wandering around doing some fun stuff.

Doing some quilting!

Extra concentration needed...hence the tongue.

Dippin Dots as finger food! (Sticky hands!)

Dots are the Best!

Not sure why, but Aly has decided she really likes these hand dryers...she was doing a little dance in McDs bathroom (and I just happened to have my camera still in my purse!)

Definition of a Paradox

Paradox means a contradiction or puzzle. It's synonyms are: anomoly, inconsistency, ambiguity, enigma, nonsense, opposite and reverse.

I consider myself to be a paradox. I am complicated; my likes, dislikes, and hobbies don't seem to mesh into what you would expect all from the same person.

First and foremost, I am a mother. I am also a motorcycle mechanic and enthusiast. I enjoy crafting, scrapbooking, sewing and crochet. I love using recycled/repurposed materials to make new and useful items. I enjoy reading, rock climbing, white-water rafting, hiking, sunbathing, playing computer games and just about everything in between. I will be graduating from motorcycle mechanic school soon, and plan to start school again in the fall working towards my RN (Registered Nurse) degree.

I am starting this blog because I wanted to consolidate my hobbies and likes into one place for convenience for myself. My life is multi-faceted and this blog will be as well. One post may be about something new I made for dinner, and the next about my trip to Sturgis...my life, pure and simple (complicated though it may be) and in one place.