Ben is our nine-year old, who builds with paper and tape. He wakes up every morning with a new plan, and goes after it with a rare determination. We have recently started homeschooling him because spending all those hours at school every day with no access to his art supplies was actually really hard on him. Here at home, we can work on grammar or … Continue reading Keeping up with Ben
In addition to all the Christmas presents Ben made out of paper and tape, and the tree itself, and all the decorations, he didn’t think the living room was quite festive enough until he created a life-sized Elf. I just sat back and watched him create this in a matter of minutes. His creativity totally blows my mind. Continue reading Christmas Elf
For the next year, give or take a few hours, we will have to refer to him as a nine-year old. However, this latest paper and tape creation was made by an eight-year old. He is nearly a tween, but still, to his mom, a boy with big dreams. He wants to do everything. He is at the age where everything is possible, and there are … Continue reading Motorcycle Builders, Be Prepared. You have Some Competition Growing.
Ben has been working on a new motorcycle model made of paper for the last week. I don’t know what else to say. He leaves me rather speechless. Continue reading Paper Creation that Leaves Mom Speechless – Again!
It started out like any other night. Ben got an idea, and sat down with some paper, tape, scissors and stapler, and started creating. He does this all the time. What is funny to me is that sometimes the intricate things he tasks himself to build aren’t even very familiar things. Last week, he built a cash register out of cardboard, with a lever that … Continue reading Once Again I am Floored by a Paper Creation
Today, I am not only the invalid, I am also the one in charge of this joint. It turns out that only one hand is still needing to be swaddled in gauze. The other hand had surface burns, but healed really quickly. Today Scott goes to work. Both boys are home. I have to attempt a one-handed shower, and the boys have said they will … Continue reading It Could be a Disaster, or It Could be Kind of Funny!
For a Friday Night Movie night not long ago, we watched, The World’s Fastest Indian, the story of Burt Munro and his Indian Motorcycle and the story of him setting land speed records at the Bonneville Salt Flats. Ben has been obsessed with it ever since. Tonight, he built a miniature, including canning salt sprinkled onto glue on cardboard to make the Salt Flats Continue reading The Salt Flats
We did this on the wrong day. It’s okay. I’m going to date this so it looks like I’m way more organized than I am, there, at least I’m honest! Science really isn’t my forte. But, I want my kids to see Science as this magical discovery of things that they are interested in, things that matter, things that go boom and light up the … Continue reading Smithsonian Institute Paper Airplane Challenge
There are rarely days when Ben is not dressed as some sort of Knight. This is Ben helping in the garden. It had been a quiet couple of hours in the garden weeding. Already, I had pulled several buckets full of weeds to fill an entire wheelbarrow. It’s been raining in Southern Oregon, so everything is blooming, most dramatically – the weeds. I love how quiet … Continue reading Catapult to feed the Chickens
Bean being outfitted as a Knight for Jousting We are starting early at raising our boys to be Renaissance Men! A renaissance man or polymath is a person who is skilled in multiple fields or multiple disciplines, and who has a broad base of knowledge. The term renaissance man is largely based on the various artists and scholars of the European Renaissance, (starting in about … Continue reading With Great Success and Aplomb
