Last Class

The last six weeks of our homeschool classes just flew by! I can't believe the fall semester is DONE!!

Here is Meredith with her tutor. She learned the basics of music theory this semester and learned how to play some simple tunes on a tin whistle.

 

Here is Meredith's class, minus one little boy. Tho' they don't look too happy to have their picture taken ...

 

The kids learned about the constellations. This was the last in a series of sessions focusing on outer space.

 

For the final oral presentation, the kids were asked to bring their favorite stuffed animal.

 

Here is Clara in her "class." She is playing with her friend Elyssa.

 

I think I'm going to really like this schooling schedule! It's 12 weeks of intense learning with a really nice long break afterward. We will do phonics and math and some review during the next few weeks, but otherwise, it's pretty easy sailing until January. I'm SO looking forward to Christmas this year!!

Fiction

Today I have been thinking a lot about fiction.  I know of several people who have told me that they think reading fiction is a waste of time for them personally when there are so many Christian self-help type books they could be reading to improve their lives.  While I can understand and appreciate the desire to grow spiritually by reading good, non-fiction books, I also think that reading good fiction has made my life fuller, has made me think deeply, and has enhanced my understanding of the world and my enjoyment and quality of life overall. I am a huge proponent of reading good quality fiction. 

Several years ago I read a non-fiction book that challenged my way of thinking about the value of fiction in everyday life. The book was "Reading Lolita in Tehran" (Nafisi). The author spoke of what it was like living in Iran under Taliban rule where artistic expression of all kinds was banned, including the freedom to read Western literature. Nafisi spoke of how this form of tyranny was the kind that did not kill the body, but killed the spirit, which in many ways was even more cruel and sadistic. 

Good fiction feeds my soul. Good fiction adds beauty of language to my life. Curling up with a good book and getting lost in beautiful word pictures is akin to going to the art museum and gazing deeply into a masterpiece and losing yourself in the beauty of the painting. 

Fiction is powerful and transformative. Fiction is often the best method of highlighting truth and relaying a moral lesson.

Good fiction is invaluable to me. Life would be drab and dreary without art, including beautiful and masterful literature.

Sleepy Sophia

I called this post Sleepy Sophia. I could have also called it Stubborn Sophia, because she absoultely refused to take her morning nap, screaming at the top of her lungs for a long while. Finally, I just took her out of her crib and set her down to play, which is exactly what she wanted.

At about 11:30, I gave her a bottle while I prepared her sisters' lunch. I looked over a few minutes later, and this is what I saw:

 

 

Playing Pretend

One of my absolute favorite things to see is my girls playing pretend together. Sometimes they set up these elaborate things--for instance, the other day they set up a "Children's Museum" that took up our entire house. There was a cash register at the entrance, and various rooms for various activities. It totally cracks me up! I love to see the creative juices flow in my children. I love seeing them "just be kids" together.

The other day they set up a covered wagon. The Little House books are their favorite, can you tell?

 

Here is Meredith, pretending to be Justice Elena Kagan. (We read about her in God's World magazine, and then she immediately went to find her bathrobe so she could be a judge too.)

 

Here is Kevin, obliging Clara. I forget whether he is her horse or her dog. Probably her dog, since she is not riding him in the picture!

 

"Someday I will play pretend too. But right now I just like to eat and get into drawers!"

 

Owl Snack

What child doesn't love funny-face food? We saw an idea for a new twist on this--creating an owl snack--in our Big Backyard magazine.

It was also really awesome that, after reading about owls in Big Backyard, our library offered a class on owls. At the end of the class, the kids walked to the local nature center to learn more, and then had the opportunity to dissect owl pellets. If you don't know what an owl pellet is, they are really gross. Apparently they were sterilized, but it was still really gross. Meredith and Clara found two different sets of mouse bones, including two skulls, with yellowed teeth attached. They thought it was pretty awesome. I wish I had pictures of it!!!

But, here is our snack:

 

Another Morning Board Pic

Here is another picture of our Morning Board, since I had several people email me about it. In this one you can see the "money pocket." It's really simple (an idea I found somewhere on the internet)--the kids add a penny every day and we switch out the pennies for higher valued coins when we get five pennies. I always have Clara count the coins and Meredith count how many cents we have.

 

Movie Food Party

I have some really awesome friends who helped me brainstorm on Facebook, to get ready for a movie-themed food party we attended. It was so much fun to put this together!

 

Sunny Days

We have been having these amazing 70-degree weather days. I see each of these days as a gift. We have been outside a lot.

My children are at ages that I personally think are really adorable. I am really enjoying them. I recently read that, if you have to choose between cleaning and cuddling, you should cuddle. That’s definitely easier said than done, but I know that it must be true. I simply cannot believe how quickly my kids are growing up.

The other day we walked to the park, savoring each drop of sunshine. That’s something that is great about the weather changing—you know that you need to put aside your regularly scheduled programming, and just really enjoy a good weather day when you have one. People in California take the good weather for granted. People in Indiana (or at least in my neighborhood) all come out to socialize and be in their yards when the weather is nice.

The girls played while I sat on a bench and watched. Then we all took turns being “human pizzas” while letting the others put toppings on us—dried leaves, acorns, twigs, berries, etc. (One of their current favorite books is “Pete’s a Pizza.”) We all had such a great time.

I love the opportunity to just be with my kids, and watch them have fun. It’s the random, joyful moments like this that make mothering so rewarding.

Pumpkin Crafts

While we don’t celebrate Halloween we do let the girls carve happy faces on pumpkins, which they always love. Thankfully Kevin always volunteers to oversee this project. (Bless him!) What a fun day with dad!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

House Projects

To be honest, I get really discouraged by how long it takes to accomplish little things. I have been wanting to paint a lot of rooms in my house and it just hasn't happened. I have a book shelf that is orange, that I want to paint white, and it just hasn't happened. Don't even get me started about how far behind I am with photo organization!

But here are a few little things we have done recently.

Kevin's mom helped me make a table runner for our dining room and I LOVE it!

 

Kevin totally impressed me and figured out how to install a tile backsplash behind our stove. This is such a great focal point for the kitchen now. And very practical too!

 

And here is our nursery which we finally finished. Yay! I just really hate white walls. It makes me happy to have some color and make things look complete.

 

 

America

Today I took my kids to the polls and exercised that sweet American right, voting. I let Meredith and Clara push the red "send" button at the end so they could feel a part of the process too. Later I mentioned something on Facebook about being thankful for voting and the opportunity to tell my kids about what a great country America is. I got a comment from someone who isn't convinced America is great anymore. I thought I would post my reply here just because this is something I truly believe and I am truly thankful.

For all of its flaws, America is still the greatest nation on earth.  The issues I have with our government are a direct result of the lack of moral fiber and/or apathy of the American people.  I feel so blessed to live in a country where I don't worry about my husband being arrested in the middle of the night and being tortured without a trial.  I feel so blessed to be able to speak my mind freely, vote for my elected officials, and attend the church of my own choosing.  I feel very blessed to have as many children as I want and educate them according to the dictates of my own conscience.  There will always be doomsayers and lots of info floating around on the Internet that I could allow to bog me down.  But I am thankful to be an American.  God has blessed me by allowing me to be born here.  I love my country and will pass this on to my children.  I want them to be aware of the blessings they enjoy that many others will never know.

Our "Morning Board"

I totally stole this idea from several other moms! But I wanted to post a picture because it's been a big part of our homeschooling this year and the kids LOVE it. Basically it's a science fair-type board that I got at WalMart. I stapled plastic page protectors to it. Every week I switch out the paper inside it, with our new memory work of the week. I've also added some fun stuff, like a monthly calendar where we discuss the day of the week, weather, etc. And a map of the states, with a corresponding workbook (Clara gets one too and loves it!) where the kids learn about a new state every day. Their FAVORITE part is learning about money. They add a penny every day, switching it out for a nickel, dime, etc., when they get enough money. This board only takes about 15 minutes a day and is an awesome way to review all of our memory work. In addition to our Classical Conversations memory, I'm having the kids memorize a poem about the months, and also a good character habit of the week and corresponding bible verse. They look forward to doing our "morning board" every day.

 

Renaissance Lady

We have been studying the Renaissance with our homeschool program and I found a really great picture book at the library that shows what types of clothing ladies of the Renaissance wore. After reading it, Meredith ran to the basement to rummage through all her dress up. She found this ensemble and declared that she is a Renaissance lady (I'm not sure where she got the sunglasses idea, except that she knew she'd need lots of accessories).

 

Sophia is Nine Months--Watch out world!

Our docile, smiley, content little girl has transformed into a strong-willed, very determined, Type-A child. (Sin nature?) Kevin's dad asked, "How did you get three first borns?" All three of our girls are pretty strong-minded. Sophia loves nothing more than interacting with her big sisters, and they always oblige! Clara and Sophia play a game where Sophia mimics sounds that Clara makes. And no one can make Sophia belly laugh like Meredith. When her big sisters run around and play, Sophia squeals and bounces with excitement. Sophia is army crawling everywhere and loves to clap and wave. She has five teeth, weighs 21 pounds, and loves to eat paper. Seriously! She finds paper everywhere and I can't believe how quickly she swallows it before I can get to her. She has eaten half of a magazine cover, nearly a whole receipt, and she took a big bite out of a library book last week. I'm having a hard time keeping up with this one!

 

 

 

 

Pumpkin Day 2010