Storms, Science, SHS

The last week of February was surreal in several ways. After a not o snowy month we had two BIG snowstorms leaving over a foot of snow EACH. We had ice and rain too and we had hurricane force winds which resulted in a power outage Thursday evening...which lasted 3 days. Thursday the 25th we went to animal class a 2 hour drive away in Massachusetts since there was a break in the weather. Friday we were also scheduled to go to Massachusetts to meet several SHS (support for home and school) email group members. These women were coming from all over New England and New York and the gal who spearheaded the get together was on vacation all the way from Montana! I was so hoping for reasonable weather so we could make the drive and that's just what we go. the only problem was on the evening between the 25th and 26th we had high winds and the power went out, and stayed out. I hardly slept because I was worried I wouldn't wake in time for the long drive without my electric alarm clocks. The morning came and the power did not. It was hard to get up and going with no heat, water, phone or any electric at all. We were going to be driving to the meet up with another New Hampshire family who live 30 minutes south. We stopped at a store on the way that early morning and found that the shopkeeer had heard from the electric company that the power would be out for days. Argh. I picked up bottled water and a multitude of snacks both for the trip and also for Hubby and Trevor who were staying home with no electric. We met up with our friends at another shop which had no power. We tried to go to a dunkin donuts and the line was very, very long so all we did there was give the kids a bathroom break. We went to a third store and got some breakfast, then began the 2 hour drive south. All the way to Boston we saw trees down and heard conflicting weather and power outage reports. On of the surreal parts was driving to a place with power and knowing we'd be going back home at the end of the day to no power and possibly days or even a week without it. Also not knowing it would be a long power outage until on the way led to worry about Trevor who had chosen to stay home. My last words to Bobby after he dropped us off with our friends was try to go shopping for more water (since we have a well pump that means no water when the electric is out) and bring Trevor with you!

Another surreal part was knowing we'd be meeting 6 people from SHS and many of their children who we'd only known through email previously! Some of them I'd known for 10 years on the homeschool email group!!!

We arrived in Boston and got somewhat lost, ended up at the airport not the science museum! We had to o back through a pricey toll and got in the wrong lane. The van had easy pass but the toll taker said we were in a non easy pass lane and could back up and go through the other rather than pay. My friend promptly paid the toll and we laughed thinking that maybe city fold could back up in all that Boston traffic but it was not worth saving a few dollars to us country folks to try it!

Finally arrived at the museum and the kids were in awe of the city. We don't get there often and it all seems so foreign to country kids. They started running through the parking garage and we had to shout and let them know it was not safe to do so.

We made our way into the museum and soon saw some of the SHS Moms! It was very exciting yet overwhelming. The kids, again not used to busy city places, started to run of to see statues and exhibits, I had to keep calling Tristan back. Yet here were almost all the SHS'ers we were meeting, Christy and family had already headed into the museum proper but there were Cynthia, Lisa, Debbie, Laura and Rene! Definitely surreal! We posed for pictures, organized all our tickets and show times and found out when to meet again for some of the shows and exhibits. It was so nice to meet everyone but there was little time to chat in the busy museum foyer with many children wanting to get going in many directions. We saw some families at different times through the museum and at shows but there was no sit down at chat time for which I was a little sad. It was so busy that we didn't even realize some o us were in the cafe at the same time. I even lost my friend who we rode with for a couple hours and we lost her youngest daughter for a time too but thankfully a museum employee helped her find her way back. We saw the Harry Potter travelling exhibit which was better than I imagined it would be but we weren't allowed to take photos. We saw several educational shows and an imax movie. We saw maybe 1/4th of the museum and definitely plan to go back. Hopefully some day we'll get to meet SHS'ers again in a calmer atmosphere too :-).

Photos;
The day begins in the NH countryside buried in snow, with rain to come and no electricity. Flower the cat says nevermind when going outdoors in it.








Potty breaks before the long ride.


Breakfast break at a shop with electricity. Here in the country you can run through the parking lot!


In Boston, here one should not run through the parking lot!


SHS! Laura B from Conneticut, Jeannine P from New Hampshire, Me in the green top from NH, Lisa B from Maine, Debbie A from New York, Rene C. from Massachusetts and Cynthia B from Montana! Missing from photo Christy.


Many things to do, see and touch in the museum of science.




Tristan made me take this photo a dozen times before we finally got one where he is "holding the world"!




space exhibit






electricity show which was mainly about lightning, I wasn't able to photograph it but the lightning was cool.

more things to do:


dinos!





lunch with a view


snake show


imax theater



butterfly exhibit




nano juggling- very funny and learned a lot too!


Nano measurement:




We had planned to take in a 3D show and also a sharks show with some of the SHS'ers but we heard reports that the weather to the north was worsening so we let the museum early. We had a little of everything on the way home. Traffic, clear skies, rain, icy mix, a little snow and then thankfully clear roads and skies for the last hour. The 2 hour trip took nearly 3.5 hours.

Home at 8:30 pm, no power. No husband (did he go to work???) No Trevor (HUH?) No Note. Scared Me. Did a little detective work in the dark, cold house and figured out that Bobby must not have gone to work and that he and Trevor must be somewhere, but why so late? Finally heard from them at 10:00 they didn't want to hang around the house with no power so went shopping for batteries, water and other essentials and then ate lunch and dinner out. Finally everyone was home at 10:30 and we all wet to bed hoping the power would be back on in the morning. Of course it wasn't but the outage only lasted 3 days so it could have been much worse. The memories of the 7 day outage just over a year ago were still fresh in our minds and we are thankful it wasn't so long this time.

February animal academy

The February theme for animals class was reptiles and the kids worked with several types of lizards and then each group did an educational presentation on one particular lizard. The goal was for the kids to learn more about lizards and to try their hand at educating others since if they should choose to work with animals one job possibility would be animal educator.

Degu babies!

It seemed to take forever between the fact that Degu are not prolific breeders and the gestation period is 3 months but at last we have Degu babies! In all 6 babies were born, one not fully formed and not viable, one very small baby who only lived one day and 4 babies, 3 boys and one girl, who thrived and are now 3 weeks old! This has been very educational and mostly fun. Degu pups are born fully furred and their eyes open between day 1 and 2. They soon start trying to explore and taste adults food. The parents work together to raise their young and constantly try to keep the little explorers in the nest. Even at 3 weeks the babies are usually in the ever growing nest with the parents on top! Those little hooligans do escape more and more though and I'm sure soon the parents will give up and let them wander at will.

The proud and overworked parents on the nest.


birth day


a first little wander around the cage for one baby


a peek in the nest


Parents with babies at 2 weeks old.

Catch Up

I'll be attempting to catch up my blog this weekend, not sure if I'll be successful! A lot has been going on with work, homeschooling, girl an boy scouts, various classes, a three day power outage and the big trip to the Boston Science museum with change to meet some long time SHS homeschool email friends.

For weather we've had everything from blizzards with feet of snow to ice storms to rain to hurricane force winds to sunny and 40 plus degrees with melting snow these last three week.

Work has been so-so. I don't really regret doing it but I wonder I it has been too much for me. I am always tired or frazzled and constantly behind. Running a household, mothering and homeschooling 4 children, some with special needs, keeping a house full of animal friends and all the rest already feels like a full time job. yet I know many mothers do work and do it successfully. I know I care for some of their children at my work! Yet they too always seem frazzled or tired and we see the results right in their children's diaper bags and back packs and hear some of the stress right from the mothers themselves. All I can say is no matter how we do it working full time, staying at home full time or a combination, motherhood is a big job! At first I loved the easier convenience foods which seemed to save me time now that I'm working but now I can't wait for weekends when I have time to make something better. I find my body craving less processed foods by Saturday! yet the weekends go so fast it is hard to fit everything in, laundry, cleaning, lesson planning, bill paying, phone calls, cooking, and then last weekend most of that couldn't be done due to the power outage! It's not all been bad but I'll be glad when my seasonal job ends in 3 weeks!

What has happened since my last blog post in case I don't catch up-though I fully intend to! The Feb. animals class where we learned about reptiles, two Boy scout meetings, and Tristan giving a speech to try and be elected a patrol leader even though I'm fairly sure he's the youngest boy in the troop and certainly the smallest-gotta love that confidence. The Degus 4 babies. The ups and downs of rabbits. A little skiing but not much, work at a ski place and no time to ski! A girl scout meeting. Joining a third library, what a library addict I am but there is a library right next to where Boy Scouts meets and an out of town card was only $20! The science museum, SHS meet up, The dreaded power outage and it was cold, we didn't fare too badly considering but sadly several of our aquarium fish passed away. Maple syrup tapping, the Eastenders Christmas shows, why must we always wait until February for them, two colds in a row (I knew working in a childcare would catch up with me!) bringing my kids to work for a day and a very surprising bunny birth, yes again and despite the fact that our 3 bunnies now live in three different cages :-). Colin's 12th birthday- he got a new bike, full grown up size orange mountain bike, he's grown so much this past year!

Still a lot of snow on the ground but trying to think spring, I have nearly made it through yet another winter! The temps are warming and the days are brighter, spring will come.