Artist Trading Cards Horse-Like Animal Trade

The kids were agitated that we didn't partake in Campfire's Swim Party at Juniper Swim & Fitness Center this afternoon, followed by COOL Cougar's Sleepover at Campfire's office.

DD#1 is still under the weather and I am not up to par. I believe it's a sign telling us we need to slow down and cuddle.

Instead, we had another virtual science expedition. What's black and white and red all over? Our kids said it's a newspaper. If you said a zebra in a union suit, you . . . . have a weird sense of humor. But you also have good instincts for camouflage. One basic type of animal camouflage is called DISRUPTIVE COLORING. In this case, the animal's markings don't blend in with the landscape. Instead, the markings are meant to confuse predators. The zebra is a good example. To us, the zebra looks almost garish--this horse with crazy black and white stripes. But to a lion, the zebra may look like a big Rorshact ink blot. The stripes break up the outline of the animal, making it less distinct to color-blind predators. It's believed that the zebra evolved from another horse-like animal that didn't have stripes. Rare foals born with white stripes might have survived due to their protective coloring. Through natural selection, this breed survived to become the modern day zebra.

Why Zebra? You ask. DD#1 and I are excited about participating in a trade hosted by a member of Imagination Tribe. Theme is horse-like animal. Together, we came up inititally with a list of possibilities: zebra, giraffe, unicorn, pegasus, foal, donkey, rhinoceros, hippopotamus, deer, rabbit, clysdale...After spending hours googling, our horse-like animal knowledge expanded to include burro, okapi, quagga (pronounced kwag-uh), Hyracotherium (aka Eohippus), Orohippus, Epihippus, Mesohippus, Miohippus, Kalobatippus, Parahippus, Merychippus, Hipparion, Pliohippus, Dinohippus, Plesippus, Equus, and Onager (aka half ass or the Asian Wild Ass).

What comes after facts...it's time to create...more artist trading cards (aka ATC). This trade is due in Arizona by end of November. However, we'd like to send them in together with the Word Play trade due by Nov. 15 to the same hostess. We'd better get right to work.

There you have it...another typical life in an unschooler.

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ATC Cards Day/Weekend...

After procrastinating for four long months, it is time to get the "ENABLE COOKIES" challenge fixed which was caused by McAfee Privacy Protection as we suspected. YIPPY...we now have our own BLOG as evident here! Really...How does one go about commencing a blog? We started with the idea that it ought to begin something really profound because it is, after all, our very FIRST blog entry...Nahhhh...Let's just have some fun instead! Like everything we try, we hope to learn and grow each and every moment in this exciting blogging world.

So often we are asked what we do all day. The assumption is that, as homeschoolers, we spend our day pouring over textbooks, doing "school at home". Nothing could be further from the truth. Take a glimpse into our lives by visiting our blog as frequently as you'd like. You may be surprised to see all the "learning" that is going on.

The Halloween Party hosted by COOL Kid's Club was a smashing success, attended by 10 COOL families. Three weeks of hardwork and detailed planning by the COOL Kid's Club did not go unnoticed. We didn't do a head count but were certain there were 10 families with 40+ people in our small home! Party started at 5 pm and ended shortly after 8 pm on Wednesday, October 17. Besides the haunted house maze, fortune-teller offering, many special treats awaited the kids, there was no shortage of good food and companies. Can you imagine what was on the dinner menu? Just to name a few...Dried Mummy Bones, Fresh Brains, Eyeball Surprise, Ghostie Toasties, Bloody Worms, Vampire Blood, Bat Wings, Old Rotten Pumpkin Guts, Pickled Eyeballs...we even saved the creative place cards for these to-die-for main courses and desserts. It was a memorable, fun-filled evening for all.

What will next year's be? Will COOL Kid's Club be around then to host another fabulous party? Who knows? "While the house is still tidy, perhaps we should have a Thanksgiving and Christmas party next week." suggested dh. No joke...he really was serious about that!

Moving on...we spent most of the weekend making Halloween Artist Trading Cards (ATC) for a swap hosted by our local friend, Chloe. This is our first official trade through Imagination Tribe. Many techniques were used in the making and we're quite pleased with how they all turned out.

DD#2 decided to give it a try after observing how much fun DD#1 has been having with making ATC cards. As always, DD#1 is a good "mentor." We'll take more pictures and upload them tomorrow.

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