Interrupted!

It's amazing how life has thrown it all at us over the last couple of months!  Friends visiting from out of town, birthday parties, sickness, and finally a hurricane, complete with almost a week without power, closely followed by a howling, snow-dumping Nor'easter, have been formidable speed bumps and roadblocks in our educational flow to say the least!

Even Halloween had to be postponed for almost a week, which was weird, but ultimately a chance for the boys to wear their costumes several extra times, since most parties and parades were also postponed to various days...here they are finally getting to go trick or treating.  Kiran as a convincing God of Thunder, and Lucas as a Cyborg Alien, natch!

Fortunately, the past week or so has finally seen things settle, and our groove has been slowly rediscovered, with, I dare say it, more rhythm and more intentions made reality, perhaps because I had so much time to read, scheme, and think during those semi dark hours.

There were times, of course, that a certain kind of panic was felt by me, (although I'm sure not  by Lucas), that "school" just wasn't getting "done", but there were also many times when I just took a deep breath and tried to realize that there really was no other option than to be Zen about the literal and figurative storms swirling around us, and I was able to enjoy many precious moments with my two boys that would never have presented themselves had those storms not developed.  Roasting marshmallows and hot dogs in our fireplace, endless games of connect four, books read by candlelight and twenty questions under the cozy covers at bedtime proved that electricity is certainly not necessary for connection and fun.  If anything, it was a little sad to have the TV back on at the end of that week, and I'm hoping to rely on it less in the cold months to come with those alternative activities in mind.  It also didn't hurt that all the local schools were also off, so it wasn't like anyone else was doing much "schooling" either!

So, with our groove finally being rediscovered, we decided to take advantage of a fantastic nearby resource, the Liberty Science Center, this week.  Lucas and I watched an amazing IMAX movie about the migratory flight of the monarch butterflies, discovered how different animals protect themselves with camouflage and poisonous defenses, and even made our very own stop-motion animation film in an exhibit about the science of animation, sponsored by the Cartoon Network.

I also signed up for a year's membership for Lucas and me, so that we can go back at least once a month and really take advantage of all of the great programs the center has to offer; everything from live science presentations to an ever changing schedule of IMAX and 3D movies.  The LSC even offers workshops for homeschooled kids at various times throughout the year.  Lucas is, if nothing else, a hands on learner, so I'm hoping that this will be a museum that we will be taking advantage of for many years to come!

 www.lsc.org