My Son the Engineer

It's been a while since I've posted about a kid project on this blog.  So, since school is back in session, and I officially have a student, it seemed like the ideal time to post a first "School Project."  For our Social Studies curriculum this year we are using something called Road Trip USA.  During our lesson on Delaware, part of the information covered was on the Delaware Memorial Bridge (the longest twin suspension bridge in the world), with the option of a project building a suspension bridge.  My junior engineer perked right up at that, and began making plans and then design modifications before we even completed the lesson.

The building began after supper, with sticks, cardboard and yarn as the building materials.

The project was a big success!  The finished product remained on our kitchen table all weekend, until the play dough bases started to crumble and generally get in the way.  However, the Memorial Bridge was further memorialized in digital form, to be stored for the ages.

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And in other news, the "Front Hall Closet" doors got hung.  It may not seem like much, but since we have never had an actual coat closet before this is a major household improvement.  Next comes the hanging rod!

At Long Last

Well, we've been home for a while now, so I'm sure you all are wondering why I haven't posted.  In keeping with the rest of my summer - in which my house, my car and my phone all malfunctioned in some way, my camera also died.  It's hard to do project updates without a camera.  However, the internet is always there for me.  Below is the paint color we chose for the living room:

Yes, that is a bagel.  I just love paint colors named after yummy food.  

Below is what we have been doing with that paint color.  The living room, two closets and the hallway have been primed, sand-textured, and painted in the last week-and-a-half.  Thanks to all you lovely people who helped (specifically my mom and my brother).

In addition, I've been painting in the basement, which is another update waiting to happen.  The school room didn't get finished in time for the start of the school year, but it's getting there.  Since we didn't actually live in our house for most of the summer, I suppose we can manage to do school every day in a room not specifically designed for it (i.e. the kitchen).

I'll be getting a camera soon, and then I can post some real update shots.  Until then, you'll have to be satisfied with internet-supplied substitutes.