Space Week

Ok, we are back again...we were very busy this past week so I will lump the whole week into 1 big post.  Our week kicked off by watching Daniel in the Berner Rundfahrt race, which was about 70 km long.  Sadly, it was pouring rain!  Swiss star Fabian Cancellara was there, but I missed him going by because I was busy nursing Emma under an umbrella and keeping an eye on Eva!  Both girls wore shirts saying "pedal daddy pedal"!  As soon as we saw Daniel go by we cheered, held up our sign and then ran back to the car to warm up and go home!  It was far too cold out.  Daniel took the train home, shivering and surrounded by a puddle as though he had just jumped out of a pond. I am sure a few people nervously switched their seats once he sat down. 

Happy and dry before the race

Having fun in the pouring rain

This week for homeschooling, Eva and I built a rocket (a fine NASA replica) and blasted off into space.  Fun fact:  I want to one day be an astronaut.  Daniel finds this to be very amusing considering my fear of flying and the fact that thinking of space for too long gives me the heebie jeebies.  Dream big, I say! 

Emma got a cute label, but was not so pleased when she picked it off her shirt and it stuck to her hands!

Eva's finished owls lap book from a few weeks ago.  We had watched owl videos and dissected owl pellets.  Eva always loved finding the skulls of tiny mice and shrews

The rest of the owl book

Ok, now on to space-related things.  Here is Eva tracing some pretend constellations.  We also made flashcards of all of the constellations and spoke about them

Y is for Yoda.  It isn't a week about space without doing a bit of Star Wars related work!

Speaking of Star Wars, this is Emma's Sith Inquisitor look

I found this cool model online for less than 10 Euros

Eva painting the sun from our model.  She enjoyed learning the names of all of the planets.  Her favorite is Earth!  Lucky her!

We decided to break out the astronaut food that I gave Daniel for Christmas in his stocking.  I guess it was not his favorite present :)  I have to remember that being an astronaut is my dream, not his!

Looks.....delicious

The ice cream sandwich tasted surprisingly good, but we were really thirsty afterward.  While we ate it, we watched videos on National Geographic Kids about the Sun, the moon landing and a space shuttle launch

We downloaded these moon clip cards from 2teachingmommies.  Eva had to count the craters and choose the correct number.  Although she can count, this is a good way for her to learn what each number looks like

Here Eva is studying her space flashcards I printed from 1plus1plus1equals1.  When I asked her what she thought the comet was, she said "A poopster coming out really quickly".  Oh well.

Eva loved these little astronauts I printed from totally tots.  They came with a little rhyme "Five little astronauts".  We did this several times!

Here are the books from this week!  Most are from the library, which is a fantastic resource, of course!

Here is the fantastic puzzle that I grabbed for Eva from Aldi.  I didn't bother to read the fine print that it was 500 pieces!!!!  So now you know what I did while nursing Emma in the middle of the night.  Eva helped ahead of time by sorting into different colored piles and separating out the edges.

Our NASA space shuttle blasting off

Eva made this model of the solar system, where the planets revolve around the sun.  I know they are not in any order, but it is more of an abstract craft.  We also made a space jar to demonstrate the big bang theory, but that ended up looking horrid and leaking oil everywhere.  It was quietly disposed of in the night.  You can find out how to make one here if you are interested in trying it.

In other news, our bike trailer came in!  Now the girls are able to ride to daycare in style.  Daniel and Eva have tested it out several times now.  Emma has to be 4 months old to use it, but she is shown here testing out her seat in the safety of our basement.  It is a Leggero Vento. 

Oh!  And it was mother's day.  I got these beautiful flowers.  Lucky me!

<3

Sisterly love

Emma has reached a real turning point this week.  She had the dreaded "colic" signs the first few weeks (crying for a couple of hours at the same time every night no matter what).  Now she only cries for about 5-15 minutes before falling asleep and she is smiling.  Usually we are too busy smiling back at her to take a picture, but here is a photo of a little smile!  Of course she saves her biggest smiles for Daniel.

I guess that is all for this week.  I started running this week in preparation for a marathon or half marathon in Cologne this October.  I will decide depending on how the next few weeks go.  It isn't as bad as I thought it would be after several months of bedrest and 6 weeks post partum, but I am taking it slow to avoid injury. 

Starting on Monday we will start our Ocean and Pond Week.  I have lots of fun activities planned, so check back soon.  And we will be getting our guests for Emma's baptism:  Oma Nana (Tschomana, Auntie Carla and Uncle Robert).  We are all very excited!