It is a miracle. For the second weekend in a row (or "start of the weekend") I have spent a considerable amount of time in Barnes and Noble, with my husband, without three children in tow. Translated, this means actual time to choose books, browse and ponder the selection. Tonight, I was most impressed by this book, "Merry & Bright".
I know, I know. Christmas is two months away. BUT, in preparation of the merry holiday, I have decided to gather ideas about decorating, gift making/giving and celebrating this blessed day in general EARLY this year.
We say every year that we desire to "keep it simple" in terms of gift giving and the hustle and bustle of the season in general. And typically, we do well. But this year I really want to focus in on the spirit of the season and the "Reason for the season" and push to the wayside all of the commercialism, debt-digging and hair-pulling stress-fullness of the season that many find their way into at this time of year.
Some of the highlights? I would have to say that simple decorating in general was what really stuck with me. Really working with what you have and using items from nature, handmade ornaments and lots of good old-fashioned pieces. Lots of using natural decorations like herbs and sapling trees potted in milk glass. But also very "crafty" ideas for creating wreaths made of comic strips and other fun ideas.
Me? I have been inspired to
add a mirror to my mantle so that I can trim it with garland and, perhaps, beads of some sort, to (hopefully begin, if not finish) handmade stocking for ALL FIVE OF US, and to make these amazing handmade ornaments made from strips of fabric, bits of felt and ribbons (some of these just might be given as gifts for friends).
It is always good to be inspired. And that I am after getting excited for Christmas (a bit early) tonight!
I had a chance to visit with a good friend of mine today. We each have three children- girl, boy, boy- who are all about the same ages. It is fun to see the children “pair off” with one another and do “their thing”.
Often times it’s the girls chasing the boys out of their club or secret society that they’ve just set up. Or else it’s the boys destroying something the girls are using, often times domestic items. And let us not forget the new dynamic between my toddler and her infant- this usually involves some sort of pushing, hitting or plain-old tackling. There is never a dull moment when we are together. It's always a pleasure to visit with this friend and there is rarely ever a lull in our conversation. In fact the only time there is a break in our chatting is when one of the children calls us to “come see” or to help them in some way.
Two main events brought us outdoors from the cozy living room in which we were spending our afternoon today. Both of which I wish we had captured on film/photo because they were pretty unbelievable. I must say also that these two events really depict the difference in natures between boys and girls.
The boys experienced their "first real tree-climbing experience” together today. We had seen our boys "climb" trees before, but this just usually meant gaining a couple of feet and perching on a few of the lower limbs of a tree. When the girls shrieked for us to “come see the boys climbing trees", we slowly made our way outside, lingering a bit to finish a sentence or two.
We were not prepared to see that the boys had practically climbed to the TOP of a pine tree! Now I am not a good judge of distance/heights, but I will venture to say that they were a good ten to twelve feet up in the tree. We were impressed, terrified and asked them to come down nice and slow.
Next it was the girls' turn. They called us out to see their "mud pie". This was not your ordinary mud pie. It was the most beautiful mud pie that I have ever seen. They had carefully mixed dirt and water to the perfect consistency and packed it into a bowl, turned it out onto a plate and decorated it gorgeously. This pie was garnished with Bittersweet on top and miniature pumpkins trimming the edges. They then proceeded to slice us pieces with a real butter knife and served us on paper plates. We laughed, applauded them for their hard work and creativity and headed in with the two youngest boys.
I was secretly proud of the boys for climbing so high and letting their adventurous little inner people take over and rule for an afternoon. Very dangerous living.
And as for the gourmet mud pie... I can say that I am proud of my little girl's desire to prepare such a pretty dish. Even if it was just dirt
Mike took part in the Greater Hartford Marathon for the third year in a row on Saturday. Unlike the last two years, where he ran the full marathon, this year he was only able to run the half-marathon. His knee had been bothering him for a bit and he didn't want to push it by running 26.2 miles on it, so... he opted to cut his run in half.
Well, as for his experience he happened to remark that the half-marathon is "Half the distance and twice the fun"! He (and I) were not nearly as anxious about the race in the days leading up to it and he (I mean I) was able to enjoy the day even more without the added negatives like complete exhaustions, muscle and joint pain and lying invalid on the couch. Mike after the race... he felt good and although we missed him at the finish line (I mean who would be able to identify their own husband amongst a crowd of hundreds while simultaneously trying to tame a toddler and lift larger children over the gates to sneak a peek??) we met up with him nearby on a bench where we found him gorging himself on the delicious post-marathon food provided to the runners by Wild Oats. Sophia and Nicolas ran their first "official" races on Saturday. They participated in the "Kids K" races and won medals, t-shirts and goody bags. They both ran the 50 yard dash and then Sophia also chose to run in the 1/4 mile. I was quite proud of all THREE of them! Really, my kids are semi-athletic... despite the ridiculous pre-race stretching that they were attempting on the sidelines of the course! I think this was a combination of ballet and some form of popping/breakdancing. A riot. The proud pair after their much-anticipated races. They had been talking about it for exactly ONE YEAR since we first learned about the kids races last year. Bushnell Park was full of activities and vendors for everyone to enjoy after the races. Sophia attempted to climb the rock wall and did a great job for her first time. We rode the Bushnell Park Carousel afterwards. I can remember riding on it long ago! We shall see what next year holds.
There are several websites especially designed for children to explore culture, art and geography. Basically, an interesting way for children to learn more about the world around them through the click of a mouse. Second to experiencing it first hand, this is a nice way for kids to explore, right?
I came across a few sites recently that were very enriching and amazingly interesting (even to me, the mother, the one who is supposed to have seen all and know all).
Here are a few of my recommendations:
The Metropolitan Museum of Art's "museum kids". Click on "For Kids to Try Right Now". The "How Van Gogh Made His Mark" is so beautiful and inspiring. What child would not love to see all of his art moving steadily and slowly before their very eyes?
This Eiffel Tower site is one of our favorites. We discovered it last Fall while studying France through Ludwig Bemelmans' Madeline series. It is Hector at the Eiffel Tower and Sophia especially enjoys the eiffel tower puzzles. Love it! Jan Brett's Homepageis just full of every activity under the sun. From coloring to games to calendars to download. Adorable.
And last, but certianly not least, Eric Carle Museum of Picture Book Art has a very inspiring and creative book list among other ideas for choosing and reading books with your children. I LOVE the "Twelve Of Our Favorite Picture Books List". We have read almost all of the selections and they are great choices.
Please enjoy my modest yet resourceful list of recommendations and resources!
My kids could hear the whip cracking shortly after breakfast was finished. We had just come off of an ultra relaxing and fun-all-the-day weekend and I was determined to settle into our routine as quickly as we could. For you see, for me, routine equals comfort zone and comfort zone equals a very happy, patient and content mother. Yes, despite the holiday, we schooled today.
We had a few lessons to catch up on and I figured that my children are small and trusting enough not to argue with me about the public school children having the day off. They were confused when they saw our neighbor skateboarding and mentioned that they thought it to be strange that "he was home from school so early". What a blessing though! We had a very productive and peaceful day as we went through our daily schedule:
Bible: Luke 2:41- 52 Math: finish lesson 13, begin lesson 14 (we also constructed "Decimal Street"- the concept in our math curriculum) Reading/Spelling/Copywork: "The Little Engine that Could" (they were amazed to learn that this book was written the year that their "Grand Nana" was ten years old) Poetry: "Where Go the Boats" by Robert Louis Stevenson Literature: "How the Camel Got Its Hump" by Rudyard Kipling Geography: "Paddle-to-the-Sea" by Holling Clancey Holling Extra: (I always leave this spot open for a new learning experience. As we know, most of these are quite spontaneous and best kept that way)
One of the beautiful aspects of homeschooling is that a short lesson can spark curiosity and interest and lead then to a day of "looking deeper" at a certain subject, person, geographical place, custom, etc. Today, as I read "Paddle-to-the-Sea" to my older two, they begged for "more" and "more". We read a total of 4 lessons instead of the 1 that we had scheduled. Now, these were short lessons (Charlotte Mason advised keeping lessons 10- 15 minutes for younger students to help train them to give full attention to what they are experiencing. I guess you could say that "No Dawdling" was a motto of sorts for her!).
Sophia became so interested in the Great Lakes and the Canadian/U.S. border that I had to track down a map. We then colored each Lake with blue colored pencils and the states and Canada green to show land (this was her idea). Through this experience with the map, along with our narrative about an Indian boy and his wooden "paddle person", Sophia learned the names of the five lakes, the states that border (and a few of their capitals), several Canadian provinces and their capitals and how to describe the lakes in reference to their positions (ex: "Lake Ontario is the most eastern lake").
Amazing. Truly amazing.
And as for that unpenciled-in "extra" on our schedule... well Nicolas took care of that for us today when he asked to have his training wheels removed and rode on two wheels for the first time. It was precious. He must have stunt driver blood in him because he kept purposely wiping out on the grass every time he wanted to stop. And not a scratch.
I was so uplifted and encouraged by our day that I just had to share.
I've had a couple of blog posts rolling around in my head for the last week and decided to lay it all out on the table at once! I tried to highlight at least one "event" or something newsworthy for each member of our family...
1. ELIAS is once and for all night-weaned and sleeping through the night All I can say is a big "HALLELUJAH"! I don't know exactly how it happened, but it must have been the right time in his 17-month old brain for his brain to tell his mouth to tell his body to go go sleep if you wake up and feel like nursing at 12 am, 2 am, 4 am and 6:30 am. I was beginning to feel like I had a newborn again. No wait, I take that back. My newborns never nursed that frequently. I feel a tremendous sense of relief and freedom over this new phase in our life.
2.NICOLAS is showing a keen interest in the alphabet The other day, I noticed the word "ET" written in light pencil at the top of a page he had colored on. "ET"? His first written word besides his name! I know I may be getting sentimental over such a small feat, but the thing is that he figured out how to spell that little alien's name phonetically and was correct. He has also been identifying more letters and has been pretty obsessed with a new show on PBS called "Super Why". I have to admit that I underestimated this young lad and thought that he cared more about swords than sounds.
3. What's been keeping JILL up late at night For many years I have complained to my husband about a) not having any free time for leisure and hobbies and b) not knowing what I would do with my free time if I had it. I know, I know... my poor husband. Imagine what a quandary he would find himself in trying to solve THIS dilemma! Well, after three babies, 50 months of cumulative time spent nursing those three babies and some down time to think about what I enjoy doing with my free time, I am proud to say that I have finally and officially chosen "hobbies and interests" to pursue! These hobbies/interests include sewing/quilting, reading, singing and blogging. I cannot tell you the great satisfaction that is derived from these hobbies. Just the other night I stayed up way too late making bibs! I have to say that I am very happy with them. I found some adorable masculine fabrics in brown and blue and put them with green, blue and cream colored flannel backings. These bibs are intended for a gift for a new baby boy that we know. And as for reading, I am currently reading My Sister's Keeper that my friend Amanda has let me borrow. I am loving the story, but admit to be a slow reader. Thank you Amanda for putting some fiction under my nose! It has forced me to take a break from all of the "useful and reality-driven" manuals/books that I usually read in my spare time. 4. MIKE's change of plans for the Hartford MarathonMike brought up his old high school football and lacrosse jerseys the other night. Nicolas couldn't get enough role playing out of them and thought that Elias would too. He was soooo wrong!
Mike is very athletic and always has been. Whereas he used to play lacrosse and football, he has now switched gears in his "old age" and began running marathons two years ago. He was really looking forward to running in the Hartford Marathon in two weeks. It would be his third time in this race. But after a visit with an orthopedic physician, he was given the red light for the marathon. His knee has been bothering him for a couple of months now and although it is nothing that physical therapy cannot help, he simply cannot run 26 miles on it. So, in true go-with-the-flow Mike fashion, he has switched gears and will instead run the half-marathon. Race day is October 13th.
5. SOPHIA's role in the Nutcracker this ChristmasSophia is in her second year of ballet at CT Concert Ballet and auditioned for the Nutcracker performance that the school puts on every December. She was very anxious to find out what role she would be cast in and was really "trying for Clara"! I tried not to burst her bubble, but rather chose to let her down gently when I reminded her that the role of "Clara" would be reserved for a girl who was much older than she and who had been studying ballet for years and years. She took the reality check well, then remarked that she "did not want to be an animal," that she was tired of playing animals (she was a sheep last year in our church Christmas play)! Drum roll please... she will be playing the part of a "party boy" and a "reindeer" this year. She is relieved and humored that she will be playing a boy. 6. Our trip to Mystic Aquarium My Mom and I have made it a tradition to visit the aquarium every Fall. Our "group" seems to be growing by the year so far every year we've had a stroller in tow.
So this is what our family is doing these days in a nutshell...
I know, I know. Christmas is two months away. BUT, in preparation of the merry holiday, I have decided to gather ideas about decorating, gift making/giving and celebrating this blessed day in general EARLY this year.
We say every year that we desire to "keep it simple" in terms of gift giving and the hustle and bustle of the season in general. And typically, we do well. But this year I really want to focus in on the spirit of the season and the "Reason for the season" and push to the wayside all of the commercialism, debt-digging and hair-pulling stress-fullness of the season that many find their way into at this time of year.
