Minuet Music

Light has been doing so awesome on the violin. He began lessons a year and a half ago, but started actually "playing" the violin a bit over a year ago. Most days he remembers to practice himself, and he has developed a great relationship with his violin instructor. She has gotten really good at letting him run with a musical idea, then reigning him back in for the lesson. He makes so many musical intuitive leaps while he is learning a song that it can be hard to keep up with him (he moves at the speed of light....remember!) She has commented several times on his passion and enthusiasm!

He is finishing up the Suzuki book 1 and is so excited to begin book 2. He really loves music and can often be heard running around the house humming the latest song he is working on. This summer he learned 3 Minuets by Bach, and Minuet 2 is his favorite. Enjoy hearing him play.

Learning happens all the time....even at 4:30 am!

Light loves space. Everything about it, including our very own moon. Well, yesterday he found out about the lunar eclipse was going to happen this morning. He let me know that he didn't care how early it was, or how tired I was, he wanted to see it! So, as dad was leaving for work (yep, he gets up early) he woke me at 4:30 to let me know the sky was perfectly clear and we would be able to see the total lunar eclipse. I REALLY wanted to keep sleeping (I really LIKE my sleep!), but I knew Light would be so disappointed if we didn't get up. As soon as I whispered to him that the eclipse would be starting soon, he popped out of bed faster than if it was Christmas! He couldn't have been more excited! We took our bean bag chair out to the yard with blankets and camped out to watch the spectacle! It was really cool to see! Light kept saying, "I can't believe it. This has got to be the coolest thing ever." "Mom, you don't understand, this is like a once in a lifetime chance. I mean it!" He was right.... this was the longest lunar eclipse in 7 years, about an hour and a half of total shadow, and the chance to be up and not have a cloud in the sky........priceless! One of the many joys and perks of homeschooling; you can get up in the middle of the night to see a lunar eclipse, then go back to bed and not worry about school buses or schedules! Learning is 24/7 around here! I love it! Enjoy the pictures I took, so if YOU happened to be sleeping, you won't have missed it completely!











Why does the moon look red during a lunar eclipse?
Astronomy.com has the answer.

Don't want to miss the next one? Want to know more about lunar eclipses?
Check out NASA's Lunar Eclipse site.

Harry Potter.....the wait is over!

Yeah!!! Finally, Harry Potter and the Deathly Hollows is here! Light was so excited! He thought it was so cool to be going to the release of book 7 when he was 7 (lucky 7 as he tells it!) He started reading the series in September, when he was still 6, and he completed Harry Potter and the Half Blood Prince this week. We went to the midnight party at our local bookstore and couldn't wait to get our copy of the seventh book. So many people were dressed up for the big day, and Light was no exception. He went as his favorite character, Harry Potter, of course! He loved running around, bellowing out spells at other kids, and even found that our lovely fountain by our bookstore makes a great pensive (you gotta read Harry Potter to understand!), if you use your imagination (and Light has plenty of that!). He kept "placing his thoughts" in the "pensive" with his wand. He even grabbed a few random strangers thoughts as well. He was so excited he could hardly contain himself in line to purchase the book, and he got a jump on reading it on the way home, at 1 o'clock in the morning! I was jealous....I couldn't read yet because I had to drive!

Catching Butterflies

This wonderful butterfly stopped by while we were out swimming, a red-spotted purple admiral. We have so many butterfly bushes planted out by our pool that we get a terrific variety of butterflies and moths. Light had friends over and they decided that they should try to catch this butterfly. They only had a tiny net and a quick little butterfly to catch, but Light was successful! He was thrilled to catch this guy, and was sad to have to let it go! It was a very fun day watching the kids chase after it. I love summer by the pool!Want to know more about butterflies? Check out The Butterfly Website.