Week 20 ~ Friday Wrap-Up

On My Mind ~ This week flew by. It was a good week. I am totally engrossed in the book, Nourishing Traditions by Sally Fallon.  I find it has good research and many of the facts ring true in my family's life. We are already eating this way to some degree (organic, very few grains, lots of whole foods). We will be implementing more of her ideas in the coming months, although I don't think we will be moving to raw milk. However, we may drop milk (but not dairy) from our diet altogether. We already are eating raw cheese and whole milk yogurt. I plan on learning how to make yogurt very soon. We are planning on getting chickens in the spring and having cage-free, pasture-fed eggs.

Our Field Trip ~ We went to the Nasher Museum to see the Cone Sister exhibit and visit the Duke Gardens. I talk more about it here. We loved seeing close up so many Matisse and Picasso works of art!

Science ~ Our ants finally arrived. We are having so much fun watching them dig their new home. They sure are busy creatures. Hopefully, they will inspire my children to clean their rooms more often, ha ha!

Literature ~ We are working our way through Laura Ingalls' book, The Long Winter, and doing projects to go along with the book. I will be posting about it when we are done. We are also enjoying the audiobook, Al Capone Shines My Shoes, in the car. It is a great book that keeps us on the edge of our seats.

The Three R's ~ We finished Level 1 of All About Spelling this week. They all liked it very much. It was easy for two of my kids but a real struggle for one. I will be moving all of them on to Level 2. Math is going well and I need to order the next level of Teaching Textbooks. I am waiting for all of them to have their multiplication tables down pat just a bit better. I am requiring a short paper from each child each week now. This involves much whining from Tom Sawyer. Nonetheless, I am seeing improvements already in week three of this new technique.

Charity Work ~ We are well on the way with our project to do 26 acts of kindness in remembrance of the Newtown tragedy. I will be posting about this in a week or two when we are done.

In Other News ~ There is a small portion of our land that looked like it was ours, but alas was mistakenly left out of the foreclosure. It still belongs to the previous owner. However, the city is about to take it because she has not paid taxes on it in a few years. Fortunately, she has agreed to sell it to us, and we are trying to jump through all the hoops with the lawyer before the 1st of February (the date when the city says it will take the land). Please pray that this all goes well, and we get the land before the government does. Thank you! We will be paying the back taxes in the process of buying the land.

I am joining Homegrown Learners.

Blessings, Dawn

The Nasher Museum ~ Our Study of Matisse

We made the trek to Durham this week to see the exhibit of post-impressionism art collected by the Baltimore ladies, the Cone sisters. It is visiting the Nasher Museum, part of Duke University. This is an excellent exhibit, and I encourage anyone who is near the Nasher Museum to go see it before the exhibit leaves in mid-February. We were able to see works by Matisse, Cezanne, Picasso, Renoir, Van Gogh and Gauguin. It is not every day that you are able to find so many famous artists in one place. The works were not the most famous representations of the artists, but they were recognizable in each artist's style.

I was particularly pleased with my children's knowledge when we entered one room that had three works of art on the wall. I asked the children to pick the Picasso (his Blue Period), the Van Gogh and the Gauguin. They got them all with a simple glance around the room. It is always nice to see lessons learned and absorbed! I was also pleased to see my children showing interest in the works of art. There were three other children at the exhibit while we were there. One child sat the entire time on a bench playing with his hand-held computer game; another was walking along after his parents looking at the floor; and the third was trying not to fall asleep on a bench (since the guard said he could lie down). I thought it was very sad to see their lack of interest.

However, children are only going to learn to appreciate art if it is made fun and interesting for them. My kids still love the game I taught them when they were toddlers. Yes, they have been going to art galleries for that long. As we enter each room, I ask the kids to tell me their favorite work of art in that room. It motivates them to slow down and look at each work of art. Children love to share their opinions, and this is a great way to open a dialogue with them. Children also love gift shops. Art museum gifts shops are often great places to pick up art activities and lovely children's books.

Goldilocks was with us, too ... but missed being in this photo.

After four hours in the car and two hours in the museum, the kids were in need of an activity to burn off energy. We went to the Duke gardens and had a lovely walk through the Japanese gardens there. I look forward to going back and exploring the rest of the gardens another time.

We took Boomer with us. He did great hanging out in the car while we were in the museum.

We then caught a bite to eat and headed home. It was a great trip. We hope to do more long day trips this coming year.

Blessings, Dawn

Week 19 ~ Welcome Back, Sun!

I am so glad to see the sun again.  It has rained steadily since last Saturday. Then we were promised snow ~ 100% chance! However, all we got was 2 more inches of rain ... bringing our grand total to 7 inches in six days. I have spent the week fighting to keep the mud out, the kids calm and engaged and convince the dog that he really could survive a little bit of rain ~ REALLY! We ended up having a great week.

Science ~ I realized that we did not get to do much science last quarter. I am making a real effort to get more science done this quarter. Math and science are Little Red Riding Hood's and Tom Sawyer's favorite subjects. This week we did some water experiments to learn the difference between hydrophilic and hydrophobic.

We also studied the medicinal uses of ginger. We made ginger water, ginger ale, and did ginger foot soaks.  

 

Poetry Tea ~  We enjoyed our second quarter poetry tea this week. I wrote more about it here.

On The Home front ~ We are almost done with this round of renovations to our home. There is more to do, but we are running short on money. Still, we got lots done. This week nine windows were replaced. We plan to do the rest as soon as we can. However, a new roof will probably have to come first. Why do we always buy houses with great "bones" that have been neglected for years?!

Blessings, Dawn



Pretty, Happy, Funny, Real ~ A Poetry Tea

We had our second quarter poetry tea this week. My kids love having tea and using special tableware.  They are not always thrilled with poetry. However, poetry is always fun with tea, cakes, tea cups and a fancy tablecloth.

PRETTY ~ We enjoyed this poetry tea during lunch time. We had bacon, cheese, celery, carrots, apples, french fries, grain-free Blondies, chocolate chips and gluten-free vanilla wafers. We also had three kinds of tea! We used tiny tea cups so the kids could have many cups of tea.

HAPPY ~ What a happy time we had together sharing tea, conversation and poems.

FUNNY ~ My funny boy loved performing for us. He is such a funny character.

REAL ~ I love filling my children with a "moral diet". I try to do this in every activity I do with them.  A poetry tea is a perfect time to read them lovely little moral poems. This year I am using an Anthology of poems published by Child Craft in 1949. I love the illustrations and messages in the poems.

WHEN YOUNG MELISSA SWEEPS

an excerpt by Nancy Byrd

When young Melissa sweeps a room

I vow she dances with the broom!

She curtsies in a corner brightly

And leads her partner forth politely.

Then up and down in jigs and reels

With gold dust flying at their heels,

They caper. With a whirl or two

They make the wainscot shine like new!

 THE UMBRELLA BRIGADE 

an excerpt by Laura E. Richard

Such a plashing! Such a dashing!

Will it e'er be dry again?

Down the gutter rolls a flood,

And the crossings deep in mud;

And the puddles! oh, the puddles

Are a sight to stir one's blood!



Blessings, Dawn

10 Lessons on Henri Matisse

We spent our 18th week of school learning about Henri Matisse. The kids loved this artist because he used several techniques ~ painting and cut outs. After we finished the 3R's each day, we did different art activities.

1. We read the books, Matisse the King of Color, Weekend With Matisse, Famous Artists Matisse, and Henri Matisse Drawing With Scissors.
2. We enjoyed the Matisse Art Activity Pack, which had lovely stencils to help with our cut outs.
3. We watched a library video on Matisse.
4. The children wrote a nine sentence paragraph on what they learned about Matisse.
5. We watched this You Tube video slide show. 
6. We did picture studies of "The Romanian Blouse", "Icarus", and "The Horse".
7. We maintained our art notebooks.
8. We made story color collages on our windows. This idea was adapted by Pinterest ideas and the book Discovering Great Artists. We used tissue paper with watered down Mod Podge.
9. We made several cut outs and put them up on our walls to enjoy.
10. We plan to go to the Nasher Museum in the next few weeks to see a wonderful exhibit of many modern masters, including Matisse.

From notebook on artist:

Story collages we put up on our window:

I am joining Ten Tuesday at ManyLittle Blessings.

Blessings, Dawn

A Day in the Life ~ The Day After Chaos

Yesterday was a day that was just hard! Everything was difficult; the kids were rowdy; I felt a bit under the weather and multiple things went wrong. The day ended on a high note of chaos with one child flooding the bathroom, which leaked into the basement, and another child flooding the dishwasher, which also flooded the basement and loosened ceiling tiles. Can you say, "MOMMY NOT HAPPY"?! The dishwasher incident was because Goldilocks thought she would make the dishes extra clean by putting in two dishwasher detergent blocks and 90% of a bottle of the dish cleaning soap. There were bubbles across the kitchen and dining room! To say the least, we started today with no clean towels, soaking wet throw rugs, a sink full of dishes in different states of cleanliness, a dismantled dishwasher, and furniture moved because of flooding. Then there is the reality that most of our light fixtures are going in today (which will be noisy, messy and add its own brand of chaos to our lives). I am very excited about having lights throughout the house -- the candlelight dinners were sweet, but it was getting a little old.

My goals for today are to do some light schooling, be on hand to answer questions of the work men, keep line of sight of my girl who needs structure so very much, get Tim to and from his volunteer job, get the kids to dance class and do many, many loads of laundry.

7:00 am ~ The look of my kitchen does not cheer me. It will take strength to get through today.

8:00 am ~ The work men arrive. I am reminded that I did not buy a ceiling fan for the kitchen and they need it by lunch time. Within a few hours almost every room has ladders, displaced furniture, sawdust and fancy tools strewn about. I am not complaining, though. We knew it would take a lot of work to pull this home up to snuff. Buying a foreclosure is not for the faint of heart. I am delighted to have lights again ... now, if I could just pick a paint color and paint all the cabinet doors and get them back up in the kitchen.

9:00 am ~ We drop Timothy off  at his volunteer job and return home. Since everyone is still stressed out from the day before and tension is still high, I decide to take the kids and dogs on a long walk. 

10:00 am ~ We return home and settle down to some light schooling. We are studying the artist Henri Matisse this week. The kids did a picture study and filled in their art workbooks with a new picture study worksheet (art). Next, they took turns reading with me, doing language art workbook pages or playing multiplication games on the computer (the three R's). We finish off school for today with group time. We learn three new vocabulary words from the book, In a Word, practiced our new telephone number and worked on the next lesson in our special needs social skills book, Social Stories.

12:00 pm ~ We head out to buy the ceiling fan. Since the kitchen has only improved a little bit since 7:00 am and there are now tarps all over the counters, I decide to feed everyone out on the road. Due to our son's food allergies, we have limited places where we can eat out. I decide on Zoe's and enjoy a healthy lunch.

1:30 pm ~ We return home and everyone works on hanging the laundry out to dry. It's been about a year that we've been without a dryer. It is such a blessing that the day is warm and I hang three loads out.

2:00 pm ~ We pick up Tim and return home to finish the laundry. The kids play outside. After an hour of play, we get ready to go to dance class. 

4:00 pm ~ Tom Sawyer and Little Red Riding Hood are in ballet class while Goldilocks waits through the first hour for her class, modern dance,

 

6:00 pm ~ We pick up our FREE kid's meals at the local health food supermarket and return home for a picnic in the dark. (You see, the kids had made a fort during play time and want to eat by candlelight outside.) Maybe tomorrow I will get to eat by electric light inside the house! LOL!!

The evening is spent playing a quick board game with the kids and cleaning up the kitchen.  I am happy to have it back to manageable levels.

8:00 pm ~ Oh, oh! I don't believe it -- yet ANOTHER flood! Little Red Riding Hood spills a dishpan of water in the bathroom, and water is leaking down all over the tools and my dh's dress shirts in the basement! Tomorrow we will have to seriously look at caulking the bathrooms!

 Blessings, Dawn







Friday Wrap-Up ~ So Blessed!

On My Mind ~ 2012 was filled with so many blessings. It almost feels like too much. I am not used to things going as smoothly as they did (of course, there were all kinds of hiccups). We start off 2013 with a fresh, new, SAFE neighborhood, new to us minivan, loving relatives, strong marriage and children that are growing healthier and stronger each day. Yet, I feel like a dark cloud is just over the horizon.  Perhaps it is just that I have been so abundantly blessed recently that it doesn't feel fair. Maybe it is because our friends and family are taking to their beds with this flu epidemic, or the horrors of the final days of 2012 committed upon our nation's children, or the realization of some big financial expenditures still looming in our immediate future. I must stay in the present and just enjoy the blessings that we are experiencing. We will be cared for ... All shall be well!

Out of the Home Classes ~ We are rewarding the children for all of their hard work during the move by allowing them to take an extra dance class for the spring semester.  Tom Sawyer is taking Ballet 2, in addition to his usual boy theater/dance class. He is excited about it and likes the teacher, even though he thinks bar work is boring. Tom Sawyer and Little Red Riding Hood are doing well in the same class together. She is helping him catch up on different moves at home. The girls are adding an aerial arts class to their dance schedule. We will be skipping choir this spring.

One Word ~ In years past we have picked a word to focus on for the year. This year it is two words ~ DO LESS. This is going to be a huge struggle for me. However, I think much of the friction in our family is due to constantly rushing and trying to jump through too many hoops. Sometimes everything seems like a priority. This year I am looking at the master list each night and picking the five most important things for the next day (beyond meals, love and chores). If I get through those five things and there still is time left, I can look at the master list and pick something else to do. Otherwise, JUST 5 THINGS!

Goldilocks Is 12 ~ How did this girl of mine get to be 12?! She enjoyed her birthday. I think she loved best getting a new bike and going out for a manicure. (She picked a very bright blue nail polish!) We also went to the local ceramic painting place and she painted a dog dish for our dog, Lady. I'm looking forward to seeing the final project when it is fired in the kiln.

Material Blessings ~ This next section is for the out-of-town relatives who want to see what is being done in our new home. Here is the library (living room) that is on the main floor. The room is 90% done. 

If you look carefully in the top picture, you can see where there used to be a doorway to Tim's room. It is now a wall that gave us all more space for books!!

The next room is the family room in the basement. This room has a new vinyl plank floor (called Allure) and hearth for the wood burning stove. We will need to replace the stove/piping or change to a propane stove, since the piping failed the chimney sweep inspection. We still have to move things back into the house from the car port, so ignore the mess outside of the windows. We found the huge sofa at the Habitat for Humanity ReStore for a sweet deal.

Then there is our new to us Honda Odyssey minivan! After about five months of getting by with only one vehicle which didn't fit our whole family ... this is a dream come true! We named her Bluebell.

Plans ~ We kick off school next week. In the next few weeks, we are planning on doing unit studies about the artist, Henri Matisse; Laura Ingalls' The Long Winter; and the great scientist, George Washington Carver. It should be lots of fun. I also added a fun list of ideas for the month on our morning board.

The list is as follows ~

• Celebrate the end of the quarter at Chuck E. Cheese
• Read The Long Winter and do projects
• Celebrate our 100th day of school
• Play Truth or Dare with new foods
• Have a poetry tea
• Have a hot chocolate bar
• Learn about Henri Matisse
• Have a double feature movie night
• Perform 26 acts of kindness in remembrance of Newtown, Connecticut
• Make gingerbread cookies for Dr. Martin Luther King Day (this is a tradition)
• Start an ant farm
• Have a spelling bee with prizes

Blessings, Dawn