Cross-Country Race

Three of the Marshwiggles were entered in a cross-country race that took place this past weekend. There were over 200 homeschoolers who ran in the race! Tim and Ben were in the boys group ages 5-8 and had to run 800 m. Emmi was in the girls group, ages 9-12, and she had to run 1500 m. The day was cool, but not rainy, so good weather for running.

Here is Emmi with some of the friends we went with, doing a walk-through of her race.



Here is where the run was held, on a lovely, large farm.

Tim at the starting line. The line was much wider than this!

Everyone from our group seemed to have a good time, and the Marshwiggles all finished in the middle of their groups. Ben finished ahead of Tim; watch out for Ben - he's one fast guy!

More Montreal

Here are a few more pictures to entertain you all from our trip to Montreal. This is the very iconic Bio Sphere, we were able to ride here on our Bixi bikes, and also around the Gilles Villeneve Formula One racetrack - we felt so fast!

David enjoyed mugging for the camera in many of our pictures. Here he is with one of the well known mayors of Montreal, they seem to be thinking similar thoughts..

And here is David trying to get into the Bank of Montreal. Did they shrink my husband, or just build really big doors?

There was a fair bit of art about, and here is David with an interesting sculpture. There are lots more pictures, but I will treat you all to the shortened version of the "friends and relatives vacation slide show", and let you get back to something more useful.

Bixi!

So here is a neat idea! David and I were in Montreal this past weekend. While we were there, we used bicycles to get around quite a bit. In Montreal, they have a bicycle system called Bixi. Throughout the city there are Bixi stations, with a bunch of bikes at each station. You pay $5, and for a 24 hour period, you are allowed to use a Bixi for a short trip (less than 30 minutes) as many times as you like. It was very convenient, and fun too!


Here is David at a typical Bixi station.

And here he is on the Bixi bike. The seats are adjustable up and down, and there are front and rear lights that come on as soon as you start riding. There is a little basket-type thing in the front with a bungee, so you can put your bag there.

And now, David is at another Bixi station!

The stations are very close (only a few blocks apart), so in the section we were, it was always easy to find a Bixi station. Bixi seems to solve some of the problems of mass transportation, so here's hoping it catches on, and maybe we'll see Bixi's in other cities!

Thanksgiving with the Marshwiggles

Happy Thanksgiving! Let us give thanks to the Lord for all the good things He has blessed us with! We were blessed to have a lovely day, with family, and a great big meal. Here are a few scenes from our Thanksgiving!

Welcome to our home!

The happy occupants of the home:

Our centrepiece for the meal, we're still able to get some flowers from the garden!

The decoration as you come in, I got this idea from a magazine and thought it worked out pretty well!

Off to School

We had the opportunity again this year to go to the Jordan Schoolhouse, which is a one-room school set up as it would have been in 1908. We went last year and had a great time! This year, I had a little more time before the trip, and was able to sew Emmi a new pinnafore to wear (with some matching hair ribbons!), and along with an old dress from the dress-up box, and with her lunch in hand, I thought she was pretty cute! The boys were a little less interesting, they wore white shirts and dress pants. I pity the mothers of that era, with the laundering of those white shirts!!

Mummifying the Chicken - Update

Well it's been a couple of days, and the chicken needed fresh salt solution. We opened him up, wearing rubber gloves this time because who knows what else is in there besides the salt, and put him on a cookie sheet. Yummy. We rubbed off his wet salt as best we could, and then dusted and stuffed him with new, dry stuff. Then back in the bags! (new bags) He really didn't smell bad at all, I think it's more a psychological effect that makes you feel so squeamish. Just imagine doing this to a whole human body! Yikes!

In Which We Start Mummifying a Chicken

As part of our homeschooling curriculum we use Susan Wise Bauer's Story of the World, and the accompanying activity book. For the Ancient Egypt section, there are instructions on how to mummify a chicken, so we thought we'd give it a try. It's a rather long project, so we're not done yet. But here's how you get started:

To Mummify a Chicken:

1. Unwrap supermarket chicken

2. Wash with water

3. Pat dry

4. Wash with wine

5. Pat dry

6. Prepare "natron" substitute (in this case it's a mix of salt, baking powder and baking soda). Natron was the natural salt the Egyptian's used to embalm their dead.

7.Dust chicken liberally with salt solution, stuff with salt

8. Double Ziploc bag, and let him rest for a while!

Now you keep an eye on him, and when you notice his salt solution around him is wet (it's sucking the moisture out of him!) then you get to open him up and change his salt for new, dry stuff. It should take about 6 weeks all together, we'll keep you posted.