Wednesday, September 8th 2010

Today we planned on building the model dam, but only actually accomplished a discussion of ideas on how we are going to go about it. Mike thinks I am going overboard with it, and I think I am not going elaborate enough. The biggest hold-up right now is deciding on a base for it, and finding the best place to purchase a large quantity of modeling clay. Josiah just wants to hurry up and build the dam thing already...lol

Most of the morning the boys played with the pups and dogs, and did Wii-Schooling, a new concept for us. Mike asked if there were any "educational" Wii games out there. We found one over the weekend and purchased it, and it seems to be a hit. Not as big of a hit as Star Wars Clone Wars, but a bigger hit than math worksheets ;) The guinea pig, Abbie, got lots of loving today and ate carrots from the boys' hands.

Because we are so excited to be visiting the Yiasou Greek Festival tomorrow, we found Greece on our map. It is a "kiddo-style" map, so what do we see on the map over Greece, none other than the Parthenon. But the Parthenon is in Nashville, TN, Mom. We visited it just this past August!

Parthenon Nashville, TN ~ August 2010

   After much discussion about how the Parthenon is actually in Greece, and the Parthenon we visited in Nashville, TN is a replica, Josiah (5) finally wraps his mind around it, and exclaims, "So the one in Tennessee is a FAKE!" Too funny. This is one of those moments I tell Mike about during our Mike-just-got-home-from-work-bedroom-discussion we have every day while he changes into his comfy clothes.

Now that we are all clear on the difference between the authentic Parthenon in Greece and the FAKE Parthenon in Nashville, TN under our belts, we move on to read some Greek Mythology. Our interest in Greek Mythology came into existence a few months ago after we watched the movie Percy Jackson & The Olympians: The Lightning Thief for family movie night. I shared what I already knew about Greek Mythology, and ordered D'Aulaires' Book Of Greek Myths from Amazon.com  for our further exploration. On our visit to the Parthenon in Nashville, TN, we purchased Mini Greek Myths for Young Children (Mini Usborne Classics), which we read today and absolutely LOVE. We cuddled up on my king-sized bed, Mom in the middle and a boy on each side, and read About the Greek Myths, The Gift of Fire, Pandora's Box, Persephone and the Seasons, The Story of Arachne, The Many Tasks of Heracles, The Man-Eating Lion, The Nine-Headed Hydra, The Stag with Golden Antlers, all of us falling into a one hour nap somewhere in the middle of The Huge Wild Boar. At some point during our Greek Mythology reading adventure, Mount Olympus was mentioned, so we took a snack break and googled Mount Olympus to read more about it and see some pictures.

I absolutely LOVE having Cassidy driving now, and any excuse she has to drive is welcome. I sent her to the library this afternoon to pick us up some books on Greece, and she came back with three that look really good: Cultures of the World - Greece by Jill Dubois/Xenia Skoura/Olga Gratsaniti, A True Book: Greece by Christine Petersen and David Petersen, and Greece - Enchantment of The World by Ann Heinrichs. I don't mean to bore anyone who might be reading this with lists of books, it's just that this blog serves as my home school records, and for books we check out from the library, I am especially bad about returning them without listing them on my reading log. This way, I have something to reference back to. We will read these books at bedtime tonight.

Thoroughly in the Greek/Roman spirit by 5pm, I then sent Cassidy after some good and bloody movies. We have Gladiator, Troy, and 300. We really wanted The Odyssey after Cassidy insisted that it was great, but we can't find it anywhere. If anyone reading has a copy they would like to loan us, we would so appreciate it! I am about to make home-made organic pizza with fresh mozzarella for us to enjoy while we watch some blood spill.

I looked over the website for the details about the Greek Festival and from looking at the food photos, I plan on going on an empty stomach...YUMMY!!!