Frosty Fun

That's the name of the Girl Scout badge that Big Sister completed today. I figured that as long as we had snow on the ground, and I was thinking about it, I should have her work on the badge. The badge books are actually a great homeschooling resource. Today we read all about signs, symptoms, treatment and prevention of frostbite and hypothermia; did some snow painting using colored water and a spray bottle; and explored the benefits of blubber for arctic animals by coating Sister's hand in vegetable shortening (aka. Crisco) and immersing both hands in ice water. The badge requirements provide great jumping-off points for a wide range of subjects.

Big Sister also completed the last of the activities for her Inauguration 2009 patch. Today she created a president flashcard for Barack Obama, to go with the other 43 cards in our set. It wasn't actually one of the activities to earn the patch, but it was that, or go out and buy a whole new pack of cards, but that seemed silly and unnecessary.

Then tonight she attended a cookie rally, and earned another badge. An interesting bit of trivia - did you know that back when girl scouts first started selling cookies in the 1930s, they cost less than a quarter per box, and there were 44 cookies in a package? Anyway, it was quite the busy scouting day. Little Brother wasn't to keen on being dragged along to the cookie rally, where the girls were participating in a variety of activities to get them ready for, and excited about, site sales. He did meet another little brother who was also stuck tagging along. Turns out this other boy is about five months younger, and goes to the same school as he does. They had both brough along LEGOs to play with, so they really hit it off.

Speaking of Little Brother, he made me laugh earlier today. I was asking Big Sister if she remembered what it means for fractions to be equivalent, and he chimed in "It means they're pregnant!" Oy.

Looks like tomorrow will be another snowy morning, since we've accumulated an inch so far, and it's falling fast. Winter is determined to stick around!