We had an awesome & busy weekend. Parties, caroling, open house at a horse trainer's place & a Christmas Cantata at church. We thoroughly enjoyed it all. But last night (Sunday) Hannah was acting miserable & when I asked her what was wrong she said she was dreading the next day (Monday). She said Mondays are always so frustrating because the house is in a shambles from the weekend & we have to do schooling plus cleaning & it seems like most Mondays just don't go well. Plus she's having trouble w/ conversions in Math & didn't want to do it. LOL We talked about things for awhile-math, routines, what she wants to do with her life, etc.
So, this morning, I got up at 5:30 & did the dishes, started laundry, picked up the living room & got some of the school subjects ready. The kids got up, did chores & then I made breakfast. I thought I'd try to make Monday breakfast more special than any other week day. So, we had pumpkin spice pancakes (a mix) with maple cream spread on them & cool whip on top of that. YUM. Also had clementine oranges.
I told the kids it was up to them to help keep the house picked up & the sink empty. My goal was to keep the sink empty & so far it's gone well. Even with deer butchering going on!
So, I'm very pleased with how today went. The baby makes the most mess & isn't old enough to pick up much, but I got her to put some books back on the shelf & push in chairs. Everyone's schooling got done, some extra house cleaning got done & a little Christmas decorating, too. It was a good day!
We had so much fun at our Christmas party yesterday!! My friend, Louisa has quite the flair for entertaining. There were close to 50 kids there & many of them played outside sledding & participated in the mystery scavenger hunt. There was a bonfire out there, too. The dads hung out there. There were kids running every which way-it was so fun to watch from inside the warm house. LOL
There were also games in the house that were really fun. They played a game called "Catch Phrase" that was a big hit. There were all sorts of yummy treats to eat & warm drinks, Christmas music playing in the background.
All of us moms shared about the cookies we brought, including special stories that went along with them. I only knew 3 adults there, but everyone was so friendly, it didn't matter. I don't usually like to do big crowds without my dh. He had to work a double shift & couldn't make it unfortunately.
Alyssa had a temper tantrum at one point because she loves cats & their cat wouldn't cooperate with her & stay still to be petted. LOL. They have a gorgeous slate gray European Great Dane who gladly tolerated all of her attentions, though. He's used to 7 kids in his household & is amazing with children. When you sit down, this dog rests his head on your shoulder, not your leg. LOL
Today, Jonah has 4-H from 10:00 to 1:00. His group is metals & machines & he loves it. Today they're tearing down an engine. He can barely wait. :)
Hannah helps out with a therapeutic riding class every Saturday, so she has from 12:00 to 2:00. The riders are either physical or mental challenges or have learning disabilites. She really enjoys helping with this.
Tonight I'm super excited because we're going Christmas carolling. We've not ever done this before & I can't wait! We're going house to house in a group. I hope it won't be too terribly cold for Alyssa, though. That's my only concern. She's a tough little nut, so hopefully we'll be good to go.
Merry Christmas, everyone!!
Oh, I've so missed my blog & didn't realize it until I saw my pretty homey template that Tamara made for me. I'm trying to catch up on my friend's here, too-I'm sorry if I haven't commented in awhile.
I am SO enjoying the Christmas season. We have less money to spend on Christmas than ever before, but I'm enjoying it so much more! We're making so many fun ornaments & went to our homeschool group's Christmas craft day. Everyone that goes brings enough supplies for about 20 kids to make a craft at your table. The parent stays at the table & helps the kids. All the kids go from one table to another to make the crafts. They flit from one table to another & visit with each other. Everyone also brings a snack to share. I brought a craft that didn't involve glue, so it was very laid back & easy for me.
This week has been super cold & snowy & windy. I'm hoping the weather cooperates for this weekend. Tomorrow we're going to a Christmas Cookie Exchange party w/ 14 other homeschool families. So, today we're baking over 100 chocolate covered cherry cookies. :)
Saturday we were invited to go Christmas caroling!! It's in a little town & we're going to go house to house and sing with several other families. I have never done this before & am extremely excited about it.
Sunday we might be going to a horse trainer's open house (Hannah went to a barrel racing clinic there recently) and then in the evening we're going to the Christmas Cantata at church w/ another family. We've been to that church before, so we already know several people there.
These are the Christmas activities that are my favorite!! Plus, the crafts-we've done crafts almost every day with Christmas music playing in the background.
Plus, there's Christmas parties to go to for Hannah's 4-H group & Teen Council. The one for Teen Council is being held here, but in January. Well, I'll write more later-there's so many things I need to catch up on with my blog. We were very sick for about 5 weeks (flu, bronchitis, pneumonia) and that is partially the reason I haven't blogged. But, my reason for blogging is so I can read & remember these special days raising my children, so I need to get back in the game. LOL
Lots to talk about! First, my men (husband & son, 11 yrs) took a plane trip to Idaho to go elk hunting w/ friends. They were gone for 8 days. They didn't get anything, but they had a blast. While they were gone, Hannah had a horse show w/ Casey (below). He's been back from the trainer for about 3 months or so and they did fantastic. They won several ribbons as well as winning Grand Champion for 1 division and Reserve Grand Champion for another division. He was such a good boy & I'm so proud of all the hard work Hannah has put into training him. He's a 4 yr old palomino quarterhorse.
Here's a pic of my dh & Alyssa on the tractor. It was a day of moving hay & sawdust. Alyssa loves the tractor, the 4-wheeler-just about anything that moves. :)
In this pic below, Hannah was in a skit for 4-H teen council. She's sitting at the table in the middle. They did a great job & was very funny. It was also 4-H achievement night. She was givin an award for doing well at the state fair hippology tournament & won 33 dollars, too.
Here's Susanna (on the right) & her friend, Brooke. We've had a lot of extra kids here lately to play. These 2 love playing dolls & doing crafts.
Here's a craft that Susanna & I did together. We cut the branch out of a paperbag and glued real leaves to it. Then we covered the whole thing with modpodge. I totally love modpodge!
We've been doing lots of leaf art-I love Autumn! This weekend is a fun one. We had 3 extra kids here yesterday. 1 extra kid here today that is riding w/ Hannah & there's 2 parties that they're both going to tomorrow. One at the stable they help out at & another one for 4-H. Hannah helps with the therapeutic riding lessons at that stable.
Today Jonah was walking Alyssa in the stroller outside. It turned into a 4WD excursion thru mud puddles at high speeds. LOL She apparently loved it until the stroller tipped forward & she got covered in mud. Wish I had gotten a picture, but forgot in the melee of crying & mud flinging. LOL That's all for now!
My son, Jonah, was a late reader. My dd (his older sister) learned to read on her own just before she turned 5, so I was alarmed. I read a book by John Holt called Better Late than Early and I relaxed & just read him lots of books. I stayed calm when he was 6 and still couldn't read. I started to worry again when he was 7 and still couldn't read & didn't even want to try. But, he loved to listen to stories & I had him listening to good quality books on tape & CD. His imagination was great & he narrated to me all sorts of great stories that he made up.
Well, he didn't learn to read until he was 8-but he was still limited & didn't choose to read much on his own. I'd say he really improved when he was 9, but still didn't read much independently-same for age 10.
Now he's 11. He reads. A lot. In the last 2 weeks, he's read 4 chapter books(3 Hardy Boys & Snow Treasure). And he listened to 3 stories on CD-Tom Sawyer, Where the Red Fern Grows & Peter Pan.
And he's also doing his other schoolwork, chores & playing.
Yesterday he said to me, "Mom, do you know of a boy that loves to read so much that he just finished a book that he couldn't put down?"
I looked up, smiled and said, "a boy in THIS house?"
He smiled. Here he is reading a book in the 4-wheeler trailer. He finds the most unusual places to read. And our dog, Freya, usually chooses to keep him company.
I'm SO glad I followed the advice in the above mentioned book. I'm so glad I didn't force him to read before he was ready.
If you're exeriencing this late reader phenomenon, don't worry! Waiting really does work! Just hang on & you'll see.
Last Sunday we had 2 families over for dinner, a huge bonfire, pony rides & 4-wheeling. There were 13 kids total here. We all had a fantastic time. The next morning, Jonah checked out the embers & got a small fire going. The kids asked if they could roast marshmellows at 8:00am!
I thought about it for a minute, but then said, "oh, why not, I guess." LOL. A thought popped into my head to make it a special memory by surprising them with a campfire breakfast.
We used to cook breakfast over the campfire a lot when we were camping here & building our house. Eggs taste better over an open fire for some reason. LOL. The kids were very excited to see me come out with stuff for breakfast.
Jonah helped cook the eggs. We got some ashes in them, but they still tasted good! What a beautiful morning it was & I'm glad we made fun memories.
I've been sick all this week & have done a lot of resting and reading. I read a biography about Louisa May Alcott that was really inspiring. She's one of my many favorite authors and I so enjoyed reading about her childhood & her family. Did you know her family were very closer personal friends w/ Emerson & Thoreau ?? Her father apparently did a lot of research on educational philosophies & gave lectures. They were pretty poor, however. Anyway, a fact about her father is that at one point he was a peddler before he married & would often stay at people's homes on his journeys, sometimes for several days. He'd read books in their libraries & then think about what he read as he walked from farm to farm, town to town. Here's what it says...
"...After this feast of learning, he had what is another priceless necessity--long quiet hours in which to think over and appraise what he had read. He tramped the woods alone, sat under the hedgerows and ate his solitary lunch, exchanged brief greetings with the travelers he passed, but always went on thinking, thinking. Very few are the courses in education which allow time to think; but this education in Bronson's was complete, even to that final need..."
Isn't that profound?? I've been thinking about it all week & realizing that I don't give the kids enough time to think on what they've learned-mostly due to outside pressures. I don't give myself enough to think either-mostly from outside pressures & distractions. But, I purpose to improve on this complete & final need to our education!
If you're wondering what the book is, it's called Invincible Louisa by Cornelia Meigs. This author has also written another wonderful book that I'm going to use as a family read-aloud called The Covered Bridge.
I can't believe it's been so long since I've posted. I've been so totally consumed with doctoring up an injured horse & keeping up with everything else around here that my blog went by the wayside. But, I have missed it!! Our horse is doing so much better-he's still recovering, but his prognosis is looking much better than before-we're feeling hopeful that he'll be able to barrel race & do other gymkhana events next summer. He's so full energy & is doing all his gaits without lameness.
Anyway, Susanna & I had a lot of fun with this book, some baggies & paint. Susanna is 4.5 & is really wanting to "do school" like the older kids. The only problem is she never believes me that she's doing school. LOL This book is so sweet & each time the mouse w/ paint on his fur jumped into a puddle of paint & found it had changed colors, we mixed those colors in baggies. She had so much fun with this & I so loved watching her face-she was truly amazed. I can't believe we haven't mixed colors before. She's doing it all the time now-it's so magical for her! Don't you just love how into everything little kids are?? How new & fresh old things become when you do them with little ones?
The yellow mouse jumped into a yellow puddle...and the puddle turned green!
The blue mouse in a red puddle made purple...
I really didn't want to return this sweet book back to the library!! Does anyone else have that problem with library books sometimes??
