Pedranti Online

Plant Update-May 11

2010-05-11T09:38:00.000-07:00

Posted by Paola

We have finally gotten our first ripe tomatillo! When we get more we might make them into a stew or soup.

One of our tomatoes is starting to turn red!

Most of our tomato plants are a decent size.

Our biggest tomato plant already has buds on it.

We have a small jalenpeno on one of our plants.

Gardening Update - April 26th

2010-04-26T11:18:00.000-07:00

Posted by Paola

This week was the first time we got more than than three ripe strawberries on our plant at a time.

The tomato plant we sprayed with lavender now has more tomatoes. We still haven't gotten a ripe one on it.

One of the tomato plants we planted as a seed is now very big.

We have a very big pepper on our pepper plant; but we are still waiting for it to get red.

Introducing Argentina

2010-04-20T13:04:00.000-07:00

Argentina is a country in South America. I have some relatives that live there so that is why I decided to write about the country. Argentina is the second biggest country in its continent.

The capital city of Argentina is Buenos Aires. 36 million people live on Argentina's territory of 1,068,303 miles. Half of its population live in the province of Buenos Aires.

There are seven regions in Argentina. They are The Pampas, The Andes, The Amazon, Iguacu Falls, Patagonia, Tierra del Fuego, and Gran Chaco.

Stay tuned for the future posts about the regions of Argentina and my interviews with people who lived or live in Argentina.

Gardening Update - April 19th

2010-04-19T14:56:00.000-07:00

Posted by Paola
We couldn't do much this week since it was raining hard almost all week.

One of the few changes we have seen this week were the buds on the jalapeno plants. We also have lots of red strawberries on our strawberry plant. We found more buds on the tomatillo plant and the lettuces are bigger.

One of the most important changes in our garden is that our unhealthy tomato plant, thanks to some spraying with lavender oil, is healthy again. The leaves are turning green again. We also bought one more tomato plant.

Well, that is pretty much all. I will give you a post next week. Bye.

Gardening Update - April 12th

2010-04-12T10:09:00.000-07:00

Posted by Paola

The most exciting thing that happened this week was getting our first ripe strawberry! Alex and I split it in half and tried it. It was delicious.

On the weekend, we transplanted the tomato plants.

We had to cut open the plastic container that held the tomato plants.

Before we added soil to the boxes, we had to fill it with rocks so the water drains slower.

Both of our pepper plants have one large pepper on it. I can't wait until it is ripe.

We also planted some of the tomatoes and peppers in one pot. In the other pots, we planted three tomatoes next to each other.

The lettuce we bought at the store are very big now.

We have two tomatillos on the tomatillo plant. Our jalepeno plants are a little bit bigger now. I can't wait until we can get a jalepeno pepper to eat.

Our parsley are a lot bigger now.

Our thyme is very delicious.

We also have a mint plant and the leaves smell good.

Our rosemary plant is one of my favorite herbs.

My favorite herb that I have tried is oregano. My family used rosemary, thyme, and oregano in the frittata we had for dinner last night.

Bye! We hope you come back and see our next gardening update.

Dinosaurs - Link Page

2010-04-07T16:39:00.000-07:00

Our Favorite Books - Link Page

2010-04-07T16:12:00.000-07:00

A Glory of Unicorns

My Favorite Horse Books

My Favorite Book- Walking with Dinosaurs

The Alamo

2010-04-07T13:23:00.000-07:00

Posted by Alex

The Battle of the Alamo took place in San Antonio, Texas Sunday March 6th, 1836. Alamo had about 200 hundred people and Santa Ana had 5000 men in his army. Santa Ana attacked about 5 am on the last day and he won 90 minutes later.

The battle lasted 14 days and only the women and children survived. Santa Ana executed the seven men that survived the battle, and Davy Crockett was one of them. According to some records two defenders managed to escape. There are many stories that tell slightly different versions of what really happened. The next few weeks I will tell you what happened before, during and after the battle of Alamo.

Here I am outside the Alamo with my brother and sister.

I am going to build this model of Alamo that I got for Christmas. I also have soldiers, horses and cannons that I need to paint in the right colors.

These are some of the pieces of the model. I have to put the bricks together with the mortar paste.

Davy Crockett

2010-04-05T14:38:00.000-07:00

Posted by Alex

One of my favorite American heroes is Davy Crockett. I have liked him ever since I watched the movie a couple of years back. Last year I went to the Alamo three times, and my family will go there soon again. I also have a model of the Alamo and I will post pictures as I build it.

Davy Crockett was born in Tennessee 1786. Tennessee became a state in 1796, witch means he was 10 when Tennessee became a state. His family moved many times when he was a young boy, but they stayed close the east side of Tennessee. He had to end school when he was nine years old to go on a trip, and he returned back home when he was 15. He named his rifle Betsy and he cooked his food over fire.

Crockett claimed that he fought a bear when he was two years old. By the time he was thirteen he was already a skilled hunter, and he also loved to tell tall tales about himself. He was so popular that he got a seat in the Tennessee legislature. In 1828 he became a senator of the Congress but he lost his seat in 1835 because he spoke against President Jackson and lost his seat.

He left for Texas in 1835 to make a fortune but he got involved in the Texas Independence and the Alamo.

Stay tuned for more information about what happened to Davy Crockett at the Alamo.

Gardening Update April Fifth

2010-04-05T11:35:00.000-07:00

Posted by Paola and Alex

During the last week we noticed many changes.

One of our pepper plants has grown a pepper. I think it will be huge by next month.

We also have one tomato on our tomato plant.

There is a big strawberry on the strawberry plant. It looks like it is it's full size. I think it will just get redder by the week.

We have seventeen strawberries on the strawberry plant! It also has one flower. There is one flower with no petals on the strawberry too. On Easter, I found a plastic egg in the strawberry plant.

Our newest strawberry has a strawberry on it. It also has two flowers with no petals, and one flower.

The tomatillo has four flowers and two tomatillos on it. It also has nine buds.

Next week we will transplant some more of our tomatoes. Bye!
Check out:
Planting Seeds
Plant Update
Plant Update and New Experiement
Gardening - Update - 28 Days
Gardening 35 Days

The Grand National

2010-03-31T09:22:00.000-07:00

Posted by Paola

The Grand National is coming up soon! It is held on a Saturday every April, and it is a famous race which is held in Aintree England. In the race the horses run a distance of about 4 miles and 856 yards. There are also 30 fences to be jumped in the race. The most famous horse ever to race in the Grand National is Red Rum. He won The Grand National 3 times and lost it twice. The years he won the race were 1973, 1974, and 1977, unfortunately he lost the race in the years 1975 and 1976. This year the race is going to be held April 8th through April 10th.

There are big hedges in the Grand National race. If someone fell off his horse while it was jumping, he would have to lay at the bottom of the jump until all the other horses have jumped over it. This way, he would not get ran over by a horse.

The Grand National is a long and tiring race. Most people fall off their horses before the end of the race. If it happens the rider will have to catch his own horse!

Becher's Brook, an eight foot fence is the hardest jump on the course. Many racers fall off their horses on that jump. It is a tall hedge with a pond on the landing end. Becher was a famous jockey that raced in the Grand National. He was most famous for falling off his horse on a jump with a brook on the other side. He managed to remount his horse and on the next lap, he fell off on the same jump with the brook! That jump was soon known as Becher's Brook.

Here is a map of the Grand National course. Riders have to take two laps around the course.

Bye! I hope you enjoyed the post.
Check out my posts about Red Rum if you want to learn more about the most famous Grand National Winner.
Red Rum part 1
Red Rum part 2
Red Rum part 3

Gardening 35 Days

2010-03-29T09:35:00.000-07:00

Posted by Paola and Alex

On day thirty- five we bought a couple new plants! We got a new strawberry plant, a mint plant, a tomatillo, and some jalapeno plants. The day's project was to transplant the new plants.

First we put some rocks in the bottom of the boxes. This helped with making the soil drain slower.

Then, we filled the boxes with soil.

After that, Alex transplanted some of the jalapeno plants. He dug three evenly spaced holes in a soil
box. Then, he pulled the jalapeno plants up by the middle and dropped them in a hole. Finally, he buried the roots and watered the plants.

I also helped with transplanting some of the jalapenos.

When they were buried in the ground, I smoothened out the soil and watered the plants.

I planted the tomatillo in a planting box. I had to squeeze the roots to loosen them.

Then, I placed the tomatillo in the ground and pushed soil around it.

We also got our first flower on the pepper plants!

There are thirteen strawberries on the the strawberry plant. All of them are green. We also have four flowers and one bud on the plant.

Most of the beans our dead. We are going to plant new ones in their places. Our seedlings in our miniature greenhouses are growing but they are not ready to be transplanted yet.

Check out our other posts about gardening:
Planting Seeds
Plant Update
Plant Update and New Experiement
Gardening - Update - 28 Days

Gardening Update - 28 Days

2010-03-22T10:17:00.000-07:00

Posted by Paola and Alex

Yesterday, we transplanted some of our plants. We used a garden kit. It came with a large box, volcanic ash, plant food, and a hollow pipe to water the plants.

This is how the inside of the planter box looks like.

Alex and I poured the soil into the large planter box.

We also had to pour volcanic ash over the soil. It gives the plants more calcium.

Next, we poured more soil into the box so it was filled near to the top. We dug a small canal in the middle of the box, and then I filled it with plant food.

Then, we covered the canal with soil, and started to transplant the plants. We put four tomatoes into the box. Then, we covered it with the black plastic sheet in the picture below.

I transplanted the lettuce we had bought from the store. I pulled them up from the middle, and then I put them in a hole which was in a bigger pot.

We don't think the beans will make it. We had learned that you should plant beans in a big pot to begin with. The are hard to transplant.

The strawberry plant is starting to get strawberries on it. At the end of next week we might get some red strawberries.

One of the buds on the pepper plant is starting to transform into a flower.

The most surprising thing that happened last week was seeing the pepper plants grow. Alex has nine peppers in his pot, and there is only one pepper in the green house. The pepper plants might have grown on day 26. Since we had almost given up hope, we didn't see them. We had realized the pepper plants on day 27.

Lastly, our experiments have grown. My plant has not went out of the ground yet, but Alex's has.

We will update you next week, bye!

Check out our other posts about gardening!
Planting Seeds
Plant Update
Plant Update and New Experiement

Our Museum

2010-03-19T13:23:00.000-07:00

Posted by Paola and Alex
On Saturday the 13, Alex and I had the grand opening of Al's Dino World The Natural History Museum. We even made a news paper about the grand opening. It was published on the Friday before the grand opening. We gave our family a tour around the small museum we made.

The Dilophosaurus was ten feet tall and who lived in the early Jurassic period. (a Dilophosaurus skull is on the left side.) The Utahraptor was the size of and it lived in the early Cretaceous period. (Utahraptor claws and teeth are in the middle of the photo. Next to them is the hip bone of the Utahraptor.)

Below are Utahraptor skulls.

Utahraptor skulls are in the picture above.

Above are Utahraptor teeth.

Above are Utahraptor teeth, claws, and skulls.

In the picture above are Cynodont skulls. They are creatures that look like dogs. They were the first creatures to evolve hair.

Alex is showing our family the herbivore exhibit.

Qantassaurus lived in the early Cretaceous. It's skull is in the picture below.

The Protoceratops lived in the early Cretaceous period. The Protoceratops is to the hip of a human.

The Allosaurus lived in the late Jurassic period. The dinosaur was about 16 ft. tall. We found it's skull.

The Giganotosaurus was twelve ft. tall. We found it's teeth and a part that goes under it's tail.

The famous Tyrannosaurus Rex lived in the late Cretaceous. We found two of it's teeth.
Alex and I dug up rocks and pretended they were fossils.We found them all in our yard.

Plant Updates and a New Experiment

2010-03-15T08:32:00.000-07:00

Posted by Paola
Yesterday was day twenty one, and we saw many changes. I am going to tell you about them.

We saw eight flowers on the strawberry plant. I just can't wait until those flowers start turning into strawberries.

On the tomato plant we have three flowers that are in full bloom. We also have three buds on the tomato plant.

Every day Alex, Mom or I notice differences in the plants, Alex and I write it down in our journal. At the top of the page, we write which day it is since we got the plants.

This is how the inside of my plant journal looks like. We made the journals from writing paper and construction paper. I called my journal, "My Plant Journal."

Next week's project is to transplant the beans in the miniature greenhouse.

Yesterday we conducted an experiment. Above are all the tools we needed.

First we had to see how much construction paper we needed to wrap around a glass jar.

Next, we filled the jars with soil.

We wrapped the construction paper around the glass jars.

We also cut a window in the paper so you can see the soil.

Lastly, we planted a bean at the side of the jar so you can see it and we wrapped a rubber band around the jar to seal the window tight. In the picture above is my jar.

Now you might be able to tell that the experiment is to see how the roots of plants grow.

I hope you see the post next week about transplanting the beans. Bye! See you guys later. Be sure to check out our other posts about our plants!
Planting Seeds
Plant Update

Making Herbal Shampoo

2010-03-13T15:39:00.000-08:00

Posted by Paola

Today, my mom decided that we should make shampoo. We followed a herbal recipe.

The first step is to put put four tablespoons of flowers into a big cup. We used dried chamomile, calendula, and lavender.

Alex and I took turns pouring in the ingredients. Alex poured in the chamomile, and I poured in the lavender and calendula.

After we dropped the flowers into a cup, we boiled one cup of water. After we boiled it, we let it sit for a while and then we poured it in with the flowers.

I mixed the flowers well so that were under water.

After letting it sit for 20 minutes, we used a coffee filter to strain the flowers. But the best thing to use to strain the flowers is a cheese cloth. Handy Tip: Make sure you don't pour any of the flower material into the herbal tea, otherwise it will get bad quicker.

After that we poured a cup of soap into the infusion from the flowers.

Another thing we had to do was pour glycerine and essential oils into the herbal tea. But first, you have to mix them separately. We used lemon oil, manuka oil, and lavender.

Then, we poured the glycerine mixture into the herbal tea, and stirred it slowly.

Lastly, use a funnel to pour the herbal tea into a container. It is best to use a dark container since essential oils go bad if they are exposed to sunlight too long.

I named my shampoo the Essential Oil Shampoo. If you are interested in making a shampoo with essential oils like this, then you will have to be careful while putting it in your hair. You do not want to get it in your eyes.

Plant Update

2010-03-11T08:50:00.000-08:00

Posted by Paola and Alex
It has been two weeks since we have planted our seeds.

Plants Bought as Seedlings

The beans were the first to start to grow. Only three of them haven't grown yet.

My tomatoes were the second to start to grow. I was surprised when I first saw some green in my tomato pot. Once one tomato plant started to grow, the others seemed to grow in the next couple of days. Most of them grew over night.

The lettuce grew about the same time as my tomato. Now, it seems like all of them have grown. Imagine that each of those tiny little plants will turn into one lettuce head.

The tomatoes in the miniature greenhouse grew after my tomatoes did.

None of the peppers have grown yet. They are probably going to be late like the tomatoes in the miniature greenhouse.

The parsley should start growing in a couple of weeks.

Plants Bought Already Grown

I have good news about the pepper and the tomato plant we bought. The tomato plant is starting to get a flower, and the pepper plants are starting to get some buds. The oregano, rosemary, thyme, and strawberry have only gotten taller.

I can't wait to eat a nice soup with chopped peppers, oregano, thyme, parsley, and rosemary in it. I am also looking forward to having a bowl of delicious lettuce with tomatoes. All of it will come straight from our garden. Mmmm.

A Book I Love

2010-03-09T15:52:00.000-08:00

Posted by Paola

Anyone who loves unicorns will enjoy the book "A Glory of Unicorns."
The book is a collection of many fairy tales about unicorns. Each chapter is written by a different author. The book is easy to read and the authors have a lot of imagination. I love unicorns and that is why I love the book "A Glory of Unicorns."

If you or anyone you know loves unicorns, then this is the book to get.

Other books about unicorns:

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My Favorite Book

2010-03-09T14:27:00.000-08:00

Posted by Alex
My favorite book is "Walking With Dinosaurs" and I read it often. The book passes between different dinosaur periods. It is good for learning about what happened to the dinosaurs before they died. Each chapter has at least five or six different kinds of dinosaurs. The author of this book is Tim Haines and the book has lots of pictures. I like the book because the book goes through the different dinosaur time periods describing what they were doing at what time.

I also like:

Pyramids

2010-03-08T19:01:00.000-08:00

Posted by Alex

The first pyramid was called a mastaba and it was created by a priest named Imhotepe. Imhotepe built the biggest mastaba for king Zoser.

When the big mastaba was still being built Zoser wanted something better. Imhotepe decided to make more mastabas on top of each offer and it was called a step pyramid.

The pyramids were built as tombs to bury their pharaohs in. Today there are about eighty pyramids left and the most famous is called The Great Pyramid and is located in Giza. The word pyramid comes from pyramis which means 'wheat cake' in Greek because the Greeks thought they looked like wheat cakes. The Egyptians called the pyramids 'mer'.

Egytian Gods and Godesses

2010-03-08T11:01:00.000-08:00

Posted by Paola

Alex and I have written a small book about Egypt. This is what I wrote about the Egyptian gods and goddesses. There were many different Egyptian gods, so I couldn't write about them all. Here are a few of my favorite gods.

Anubis

Anubis helped making mummies. He looks like a man with a jackal head. When the gods do the weighing of the heart to determine if someone has been good or bad in life, Anubis holds up the scale. If someone has been bad in life, a jaguar with a crocodile heads eats the person's heart.

The Egyptians put statues of their gods in temples. They prayed in front of these statues.

Ra was the sun god. The Egyptians believed that he had a falcon head. He sails his ship across the sky every morning. At sun set, he sails to the Underworld. The Egyptians also believed that Ra makes the the sun rise and set when he sails his boat across the morning and evening sky.

This is a golden statue of the god Ra in falcon form. Only rich pharaohs were able to afford these golden items.

Osiris and Isis

Osiris is the ruler of the Underworld. When his brother Set killed him, Isis brought him back to life. Isis later became known as the god of Motherhood and healing.

Thoth

Thoth is the moon god. The Egyptians believed that he gave them the gift of writing. He was the god of medicine and mathematics. He is sometimes shown as a baboon, but other times a man with the head of a bird.

The Egyptians made paintings of their gods and pharaohs on stone. This is a painting of Thoth, the moon god.

Beset

Beset was Ra's daughter. She was a cat goddess, and she looked like a woman with a cat head. Egyptians believed that she had the power to make the crops grow. Every year, they prayed to her for a good harvest. She is also the goddess of dancing, music, joy and love.

Horus

Horus is the son of Isis and Osiris. Egyptians believed that Horus was their pharaoh in human form.

This is a statue of the god, Horus.

Interesting links about Egypt:

The British Museum

History for Kids

BBC

Ancient Egypt

2010-03-08T10:52:00.000-08:00

Ancient Egypt is one of our favorite times in history so we made our own book about it. We will post interesting things that we learned in from our studies.

Posts

Egyptian Gods and Goddesses

Pyramids

The Ferocious Great White Shark

2010-03-04T12:09:00.000-08:00

Posted by Alex

My favorite sea animal is the shark. My favorite type of shark is the great white shark, so I decided to share some exciting facts about this ferocious creature.

The Great White Shark can be found off the coast of North America, south Africa, Australia, New Zealand and, Japan.

The great white shark is a carnivore and it eats fish, dolphin, seals, squids and, sea birds. It prefers to eat alone. Sharks have many rows of teeth so that if they lose a tooth, another tooth in the other row

will replace it. A shark uses 20,000 teeth in a lifetime.

The great shark's life span is 30 to 50 years, and it weighs 7,040 pounds. A full grown great white shark is 12 to 20 feet long, and the female is usually bigger than the male. It gives birth to 1 to 2 or pups. The shark's big black eyes give it superb vision for navigating and hunting. They roll back into their sockets for protection just before an attack.

The great white shark is the most dangerous of all the sharks. There are about 100 shark attacks per year and only 10 of them cause human death. More people die from bees than sharks every year.

The Amazing Bears

2010-03-04T06:58:00.000-08:00

Posted by Paola
I've some research on bears and I would like to share some information about them with you.

Bears are some of the best known animals in the world, and one of the places they can be found is in Yosemite National Park.

An interesting thing about bears is that their body temperature hardly ever changes. Even if the temperature around them changes!

Senses

Bears usually stand upon their hind legs to get a better view, to catch a sent, or to threaten other animals. Bears sense of smell play an important roll in life. They use it to find food, to identify cubs, and to find mates. They also use it to help find any near by danger.

Species of Bear

There are many of species of bear. Some of them are the Grizzly, which is named for it's grizzled patches of white fur among it's brown coat, the American Black Bear, the Asian Black Bear, and the Sun Bear.

The Asian Black Bear has a white patch on it's chest, that is where it got it's nickname, the Moon Bear.

Hibernating

Black Bears aren't always black, the can sometimes come in brownBears eat a lot in the fall so they could build body fat which will keep them warm in long winter months. The American Black Bear hibernates for seven months without food.

Stay tuned, I will post more about bears. Bye for now!

Animals of the Week

2010-03-03T19:31:00.000-08:00

Every week, Alex and I will each pick an animal to write about. This is the page where we will post all the links to our posts. Keep an eye out for our animal posts tomorrow!

Paola and Alex

Animal Posts

Amazing Bears

The Ferocious Great White Shark

A Cool Magic Show

2010-03-02T11:37:00.000-08:00

Posted by Paola
On February 20, 2010, my family and I went to a magic show. Robin's friend, Ray was a magician at the show. Cool, right? Well there is something even cooler. My big brother Robin, was also performing at the show. I am going to tell you about my favorite tricks, and about Robin's performance.

Unfortunately, you were not allowed to bring a camera, but here is a picture of the whole crew. My brother is the one in the middle of the back row.

The first trick I am going to tell you about is really funny. Ray, the magician gets a magic trick every month. He got a package which was supposed to contain a yellow bandana, but instead, it contained a banana. He folded the banana up, and placed it in a small sheet. He held the sheet tight in a ball. When he unfolded the sheet, the banana was gone! He reached in his pocket, and pulled out a yellow bandana! It was amazing!

Another cool trick was called "Mission Impossible." Ray had a big box, and he proved to the audience it was empty. He took a balloon dog, and placed it in the box. He closed and locked the box. When he opened it, he pulled out a real dog!

Now I am going to tell you about Robin's performance. The lights on the stage were turned off, and Robin pulled out a glowing red light. He showed it to the audience, and then swallowed it. Then, it appeared in his hand. He held the light in one hand, and he put it into his pocket with the other hand. But it seemed to be multiplying! When he pulled one into his pocket, one was still in his hand. He did some other stuff with the light and the trick ended.

This is a picture of Robin doing the lights trick.

The next trick Robin did was with a bottle and a cup. He had two hollow cylinders made of metal. He put one over the glass and the other over the bottle. But when he moved one cylinder over the bottle another bottle appeared. "The trick only works if I have one extra bottle," Robin said. When he removed the the metal cylinders, I realized the glass and the bottle had switched places! He did this several times, and he also found several more bottles. Each time he found an extra bottle he said, "But you have to have one extra bottle." And he also says that his magic only works because he has belief.

This is Robin doing the bottle trick.

We had a great time at the show and I can't wait to see more magic.
To find out more about Robin's magic tricks or to book a show go to:

Colorado Dinosaur Museum

2010-03-01T13:24:00.000-08:00

Posted by Alex

My family and I went to a dinosaur museum in Woodland Park, Colorado. We drove passed the museum on our long road trip, so we decided to check it out. There were many interesting fossils, and they came in a variety of shapes and sizes. Here are some photos of what we saw.

A map of the early Cretaceous period.

This is me standing by a dinosaur fossil

Utahraptors hunt big herbivores, like the Iguanodon. They used the big claw on their feet to scratch open prey.

The Pteranodon was a large flying reptile that lived near the ocean. It ate fish and squid. It had a wing span of thirty five feet from tip to tip.

This is one of several dinosaur museums that I've been to around the world. Stay tuned for more posts about the other museums I visited.

My Favorite Horse Books

2010-03-01T07:44:00.000-08:00

Posted by Paola
This is a post I originally wrote on my Horse blog:

Today I want to tell you a little bit about my favorite horse books.

I like to read a book series called "The Phantom Stallion." It is about a girl who fell off her wild colt, and the colt ran away. The girl's name is Sam. The colt grew up to be a leader of a herd of wild horses. At night, when people see the stallion, they think it is a phantom. It's white coat probably makes it look like one too, especially at night. Sam decides to let the horse stay in the wild. Every night, she goes out to the river, and her horse comes to her. He seems to be calmer with her at night.

The "Black Stallion" is also one of my favorite book series. It is about a boy named Alec and a wild black horse that only he can get near. Its name is The Black, and he has many adventures in many places. In one book, he goes to the Everglades National Park. There is even a TV series about Alec and the Black. The name of the TV series is "The Adventures of the Black Stallion."

I am also reading a book called "A Glory of Unicorns." It is a book with many fairy tales about unicorns.

Stay tuned, I will make posts about each chapter in the book.

We were featured on the Homeschool Desk

2010-02-26T11:10:00.000-08:00

Posted by Paola and Alex

On February 24, Jodi wrote about our blog on The Homeschool Desk . You should check it out! She loves our blog. Alex and I really appreciate the nice things she said. The Homeschool Desk is a great blog if you want home school tips.

Planting Seeds

2010-02-24T16:09:00.000-08:00

On Sunday the twenty first, my family and I went to the hardware store to buy seeds and plants. We bought black tomato, bell peppers, beans, lettuce, and parsley seeds. Here are the grown plants we bought, rosemary, basil, sage, bell peppers, and tomatoes.

We also bought a miniature greenhouse. These are the steps to plant the seeds. First, we put soil in the little holes. Then, we pour lukewarm water into the soil. While the soil was still moist, used the blunt end of a pencil, and dug small holes in each section. After that, we put two of the same types of seeds in each hole. Then, we buried them. Lastly, we labeled each plant and put on the greenhouse lid. We will give them water a couple times a day.

Since we had extra seeds, Mom let Alex and I take care of our own plants. I chose a black tomato, and Alex chose a bell pepper. First we poured soil into our pots. Then, we took the blunt end of a pencil and dug a few small holes in our pots. ( One in the center and a few around it.) We followed the same drill as in the miniature greenhouse, and put two seeds in each hole. Then, we watered the plants. The last thing we did was put a small piece of plastic over are pots and fastened it with a rubber band.

We had an exciting day!

Posted by Paola and Alex

How to Make Infused Calendula Oil

2010-02-17T15:14:00.000-08:00

Posted by Paola

Yesterday I helped my mom make Calendula oil to put in my soap and to use for my dog. Here are the steps to make the oil in the crock pot.

1. Place 1/2 ounce of Calendula flowers and 1 cup grape seed oil in the the the crock pot. (You can also use massage oil.)

2. Let it boil at a low heat for two hours.

3. Put a cheese cloth over a cup. Pour the oil into it. Pull the cheese cloth out of the cup and let the oil drip from it.

4. Let the oil cool. Then pour the oil into a jar. (If you have to, use a funnel.)

I use the oil on bruises, cuts, muscle soreness, sprains, stings, and wounds. It is useful to have in a first aid kits. Most people have Marigold flowers in their gardens.

Plant Family:Asteraceae

It is also known as Marigold.

Later I am going to make my Calendula oil into soap.

Which Country Has the Most Medals

2010-02-16T11:04:00.000-08:00

Posted by Paola
Lets find out which country has the most medals in the Olympic Winter Games.

These are some of the countries that we lived in that are also competing in the Winter Olympics.

These are the top five countries that won the most medals, in the Olympic Winter games so far. The United States of America won the most medals. They won two gold medals, two silver, and four bronze. Germany won one gold, three silver, and one bronze. France won two gold, zero silver, and two bronze. Canada won one gold, two silver, and one bronze. And finally, Switzerland won three gold, zero silver, and zero bronze.

I want to tell you what Sweden won since my big brother Robin, and my mom are from there. Sweden won one gold, zero silver, and zero bronze.

If you want to find out what other countries won, go to http://www.vancouver2010.com/

The Olympic Rings

2010-02-16T09:55:00.000-08:00

Posted by Alex

The Olympic rings represent five major continents. The colors in order are blue, yellow, black, green and red. These color were used because at least one color is in each flag. The colors are used to symbolize friendship of all humankind.

The Olympic Medals

2010-02-12T15:08:00.000-08:00

Posted by Paola
The Olympic medals show a Greek goddess, the Olympic rings, the coliseum of ancient Athens, a Greek vase called Amphora, a horse drawn, the year, and the number of Olympiad, since 1928. Each host city is allowed to add special details. The Atlanta Committee for the Olympics selected a picture of athletes doing the sport the medal is awarded for.

These are some Olympic rings I saw at the Olympic Museum in Park City, Utah.

There is a total of 1,838 Olympic medals used each year of Olympic Games. There are 604 gold medals, 604 silver medals, and 630 bronze medals. Some Olympic events don't have third or fourth placers.

In ancient Greece, the winner was rewarded with a crown of olive leaves. Second and third placers received nothing.

In 1896, the first placer received a silver medal, not a gold medal. In 1904, the Olympic Games of St. Louis replaced the silver medal with a gold one. Other people didn't like this.

Today's Olympic gold medal is actually sterling silver covered in pure gold. The Olympic medals are two inches in diameter.

The Opening Ceremony

2010-02-11T14:07:00.000-08:00

Posted by Paola
The Olympic Winter Games start tomorrow, and I'm going to tell you about the opening ceremony.

The modern opening ceremony started in 1896, at that time 258 athletes from thirteen different countries marched through the stadium in Athens Greece. It is called, the Parade of Nations. First, the Greek flags comes. It is followed by Greek athletes. The rest of the countries' flags come in alphabetical order. They are followed by their athletes. There were more than 70,000 people watching at that time. Today millions of people are watching around the world.

The king of Greece announces that the Olympic games begin. Every country that participates in the Olympic games, hold a party on the day the games begin. The party includes, music, dancing, and anything else you can think of.

After that, the president of the Organizing Committee and the president of the I.O.C (International Olympic Committee) make speeches. Then, the Olympic flag is raised, and the Olympic hymn is played. Next, the Olympic torch lights the Olympic flame. Then, doves fly through the stadium. They are a symbol of peace. Next, the athletes and an official take the Olympic Oath. Lastly, the host city provides cultural entertainment.

Olympics

2010-02-11T13:46:00.000-08:00

A couple of years ago we went to the Olympic Training Center in Colorado Springs and the Olympic Park in Utah. We learned a lot of things about the Olympics, so we thought we would share some of our information with you.

Alex and Paola

The Olympic Training Center in Colorado Springs

The Official Vancouver Winter Olympic site:

http://www.vancouver2010.com/

Alex:

The Torch:

http://pedrantionline.blogspot.com/2010/02/olympic-torch.html
The Olympic Rings:
http://pedrantionline.blogspot.com/2010/02/olympic-rings.html

Paola:
The Opening Ceremony:
http://pedrantionline.blogspot.com/2010/02/opening-ceremony.html
The Olympic Medals:
http://pedrantionline.blogspot.com/2010/02/olympic-medals.html

The Olympic Torch

2010-02-11T13:35:00.000-08:00

Posted by Alex
The torch is lit by the sun at Olympia, Greece. The torch is passed from runner to runner in a relay from city to city across the world until it reaches the host city. The flame from the torch is used to light the Olympic Flame at the Olympic Stadium during the opening ceremonies. The flame burns until the games are over.

The modern Olympic torch began at the Berlin Games in 1936. It is a link between the ancient and the modern Olympic Games.

Here is a picture of me with the torch at the Olympic Park in Park City, Utah. We went there and saw the museum and the park.

Dinosaur Facts

2009-11-06T13:05:00.000-08:00

Here is some facts about dinosaurs.

Dilophsaurus (the one in the back)

Length: 40 feet

Weight: 12 000 pounds

Lived: North America during early Jurassic Period

Diet: Meat.

Baryonyx (the dinosaur in front)

Length: 30 feet

Lived: England during early Cretaceous Period

Diet: Meat

Velociraptor (the purple dinosaur)

Length: 5 feet

Weight: 65 pounds

Lived: Asia, China, Mongolia during late Cretaceous Period.

Diet: Meat

T-Rex (the brown dinosaur in the back)

Length: 40 feet

Weight: 12 000 pounds

Lived: North America during late Cretaceous period

Diet: Meat

Spinosaurus ( the green dinosaur in the back)

Length: 46 feet

Weight: 6 000 pounds

Lived: Egypt during Cretaceous

Diet: Meat

This is a T-Rex trying to eat me and my sister but luckily we managed to get away.

Styracosarurus

Length: 18 feet

Lived: Canada during the late Cretaceous period.

Diet: Plants

Posted by Alex

Alexander's Dinosaur Project

2009-11-06T12:05:00.000-08:00

Hi,
I am Alex and I am doing a dinosaur project. I am going to teach you about all kinds of dinosaurs. My favorite dinosaur is the Spinosaurus from the Cretaceous Period. I have spent a lot of time researching all kinds of dinosaurs in books and on the internet. All my work will be put in my Lap Book.

I am making the Cretaceous Period.

This is the America during the Cretaceous Period.

Horse Breed Facts

2009-11-06T11:19:00.000-08:00

Quarter Horse

Height: 14 to 16 hands

Common Color: Sorrell (a dark brownish-reddish color)

What Is It Used For: English and Western style riding. Fast at quarter-mile races.Usaully used as a ranch horse or cow pony.

Place Of Origin: United States

Temperament: Kind and easy going attitude with outstanding performance.

American Quarter Horse

The American Quarter horse is known as America's Horse. It is the first recognized breed of North America. In the 1700s American colonists found imported English mares and stallions with little horses that descended from a stock brought to the United States by Spanish explorers. The result was a tough reliable horse. It was used for riding, working cows, pulling plows, wagons and good for quarter-mile races. And that is where it got it's name from.

Arabian

Height: 14.2 to 15 hands

Common Colors: Any solid color

What it is used for: Used for riding and driving. Good for any English and Western riding. Good at endurance racing.

Place Of Origin: The Middle East

Temperament: Spirited, Willing Intelligent, and kind.

Arabian

If you search the background of the world's many horse breeds you will come across the Arabian bloodlines.This ancient breed was developed in the deserts of the Middle East as far back as 2,500 B.C. Historians don't know the exact place of origin, but it was in the areas of Saudi Arabia, Syria, Iraq, Iran, Turkey, and Egypt. To Bedouin tribes, the Arabian horse was considered a gift from God, and endurance, courage, and beauty was celebrated. Bedouin tribes are credited for selectively breeding the horse, and many of today's Arabians trace back to the ancient breeding program. The Muslim conquest of the seventh an eighth centuries helped spread the Arabian horse throughout most of the world at that time. The Arabs remarkable versatility and influence is known worldwide.

Posted By Paola

Football Game

2009-10-09T13:11:00.000-07:00

Before the game Alex and I made signs to show that we support our brother.

Yesterday we went to a football game. Alex and I made signs to cheer on Robin and our team. On the first quarter our team, The Hawks got eight points and the other team, Wimberley Texans got zero. By the end of the third quarter we had thirty-two points. Robin had made an amazing catch and wasn't even aimed at him. He dove and caught the ball landing out of bounce. The game ended tied thirty-eight to thirty-eight.

At the end of the game Alex and I were playing tag football two hand touch with our friend Isaac. Alex and I were on a team and our touchdown was on the cement. On down one, Alex had the ball and I was blocking him so Isaac didn't tag him. On down two I had the ball and I ran for the touchdown, but right before the touchdown something terrible happened. Isaac acidently pushed me and I fell face first on the cement. I got a black eye and a swollen lip and the whole left part of my face stung. I felt like I couldn't smile even if something made me really happy. My face and lip hurt too much. When I got home Mom put natural herbs on my wounds. She also put on ice and put some herbs under my tongue.

Posted By Paola

Paola's Horse Project - Posted by Paola

2009-09-29T16:37:00.000-07:00

I am doing research about horses and I want to post my projects here on the blog. I will write about some famous horses, races as well as different breeds. My favorite books are about horses so I will also post some book reports here.

Here I am making a Red Rum project. I am setting up

the horses.

Here I am painting the jumps so they look like bushes.

The red colored horse with a black mane is Red Rum.

The horse that is jumping is supposed to be Crisp.

As you might have read in the story Red Rum's Life Crisp almost beat Red Rum.

Red Rum - Part 1, Posted by Paola

2009-09-29T16:35:00.000-07:00

Part 2, Part 3
Red Rum's Life
Lets find out about the first horse ever to win the Grand National more than once.

Red Rum was born May 3, 1965. His sire's name was Quorum and his dam's name was Mared. Red Rum was a famous racehorse. He achieved an unmatched historic memory when he won the Grand National.

He raced the years 1973,1974, and 1977.

In 1973 he beat the great Australian racer Crisp who carried 23 pounds. Crisp lead for almost the whole race until Red Rum caught about 20 yards from the finish. It was considered the best Grand National in history.

In his first two victories Red Rum was ridden by Brian Fletcher. In 1975 when L'escargot was victorious Fletcher was blamed for costing him wins by holding Red Rum back.

In 1976 Tommy Stack replaced Fletcher but was held back by Rag Trade. The following year Stack rode Red Rum to his third triumphant victory in the Grand National. It was considered one of the greatest moments in British sporting history.

Go to part 2

Red Rum - Part 2

2009-09-29T16:34:00.000-07:00

Part 1, Part 3
The Most Loved Horse
Red Rum became one of the most loved horses in the United Kingdom and Ireland. He also became a celebrity opened supermarkets and lead Grand National parades. He was liked so much he was put on playing cards, mugs, posters, models, pain tings, and jigasaw puzzles.

See my Red Rum Project

Books have been written about him by his trainer, jockeys, and author Ivor Herbert. Children's books about his life have been written by Christine Pemperton. Red Rum opened the Steeple Chase. It is a rollercoster ride with 3 tracks. It was designed by arrow dynamics Rum's hoof print is at the exit.

Red Rum was bred at Rossenarra Stud in Kells. Bred to win one mile races he won four miles and four furlongs. He started running cheap races and dead heated in 5 furlongs at the Aintree racetrack. In his early career he was ridden by Lester Peggot.

One day Red Rum slipped when the Liverpool car dealer Ginger McCain pulled up. MacCain bought him from his vet Noelle Mare and famously trained the horse on the sand of Southport Merseyside. He was mad when he found out Red Rum was lame. MacCain who also won the Grand National in 2004 with Amberliegh House took Red Rum for a swim before every Grand National.

Sadly Red Rum Suffered from a deliberately incurable bone disease. He died on the 18, Oct. and was buried at the winning post of the Aintree racetrack.

Go to part 3

Red Rum- Part 3

2009-09-29T16:27:00.000-07:00

Part 1, Part 2

What Things Are

What is a Sire?
A sire is the dad of a foal( a baby horse). A dam is a mom of a foal.

Grand National
The Grand National is a famous race held at Aintree England. It is run at a distance about 4 miles and 856 yards and has 30 fences to be jumped. It is always held an a Saturday of April.

Furlongs
The name furlong comes from an old English word furth ( furrow) and lang (long). Dating back to the ninth century it referred to the length of a furrow in a one acre long field. The system arose from turning a team of oxen with a heavy plow was hard.

Racehorse
A racehorse is a horse that races against fast horses on a racetrack.

Go to part 1, part 2

New Semester

2009-09-08T06:51:00.000-07:00

This blog is going to be about daily life of the Pedrantis and it will focus on home schooling mostly. I believe you never stop learning so to us schooling could be going places for examples...

Paola and Alexander put together their own learning list in the beginning of the school year. They wrote down what they wanted to learn this year and we will go down the list and learn about their choices. We also have regular classes but I have realized that you can take the things the children are interested in and incorporate language art, social studies, spelling etc in a fun way. It makes it more fun than studying 30 words for a spelling test. Paola and Alexander can now sit for hours with the projects and tey learn to read and process information in a fun way.

Paola wants to learn about horses so she is currently learning about famous race horses and we will post her project on this site.. This project will teach her to research a subject and to take notes about the important things as well as reading, writing, art and computer skills.

Alexander is really interested in dinosaurs. He reads many dinosaur books, take notes, make his own time line and learn about his favorite dinosaurs. Alex will also learn how to research a subject and to take notes about important things. All of a sudden writing and reading is not boring because it is about his very favorite things in the world.