Dry Ice

(originally posted on my other blog 3-31-08)

My neighbor called at about 8:45 this evening with an offer I couldn't refuse. She had some leftover dry ice and was willing to give it to us. I have never shown the Lambies any, so I happily accepted. That led to an unexpected experiment at bedtime.
My eldest thought to grab and pour some of the fog (the pouring shot was blurry, though).


We will learn more about dry ice tomorrow during school time. I needed to get them to bed, since I am planning on painting tomorrow and need to get taping! I got much less done today than I had hoped!

A Visit with Diane Stanley

(Originally posted on my other blog 3-17-2008)
Recently we were blessed to be able to visit with renowned children's biography writer Diane Stanley. Her work is used extensively throughout the homeschool world. Have you used her books? She's written on Joan of Arc, Michelangelo, Da Vinci, Shakespeare, Queen Elizabeth, Cleopatra and many more. We have most of her biographies.

She had a very interesting presentation; shared about her childhood, her early career as a medical illustrator and how she researches and creates her books. She travels extensively, visiting sites where the person lived and uses the actual architecture photographed to construct her paintings. Everything included in the illustrations is historically accurate down to the smallest detail. She even gave us a tour through her newest biography: Mozart. It is a lovely book with an interesting detail, his story is told through a play performed using marionettes. I learned quite a bit about him from the preview she gave.

She autographed all our many books with a kind smile and thoughtful words to the children. We enjoyed our visit with her very much.