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Bird School

Bluebird and nest, made by dd10

The mother's heart is the child's schoolroom.

November 4, 2009

November Lessons

Dear Friends,

The Liturgical Calendar holds such treasure to inspire our children this month. Themes of gratitude, remembrance, and preparation help our hearts stay open and receptive to the needs of others. I've assembled some of my family's favorite resources and traditions here.

Please help yourself to anything that might be nourishing to you.

On The Liturgical Calendar for November:

All Saints Day ( Nov. 1)

Commemoration of All Faithful Departed (All Souls, Nov. 2)

A beautiful reason to make a Saints & Souls Tree

(This is nice way to decorate the dining room for Thanksgiving, too.)

St. Martin (Nov. 11)

This is one of my favorite days of the church year. Here's an especially lovely version (thank you, Lisa) of the story of Martin, Bishop of Tours.

Today, the children and I will be culling warm layers from closets and dressers and taking these donations to the thrift shop, making soup, and lighting our lanterns to enjoy on the supper table.

Advent Begins (Nov. 29)
From the archives:

Advent Inspiration

Advent, Part 1

Advent, Part 2

Advent, Part 3

Advent, Part 4

Lighting the first candle

St. Andrew (Nov. 30)

Another beautiful story to share with your children.

Poetry: Poetry For Young People Series: Walt Whitman

Geography: European countries and capitals

Natural History & Science:

These topics are combined this month as we finish up Biology class with a project; Kevin has chosen to study the garden spiders who are weaving amazing orb webs all around our yard these days. So far, he's been creating art in several different media and taking lots macro photographs. We've found a chapter in this book to be very helpful: Discover Nature Close to Home by Elizabeth P. Lawlor

Oh, and honey bees! Our art teacher's husband is a beekeeper. His delicious honey won a prize at The State Fair this year. It was so kind of him to share his knowledge and enthusiasm with the children yesterday. We read about bees beforehand in Jean Henri Fabre's, Storybook of Science. The bee stories come near the end of the book-- so wonderfully told and informative-- a must read for Charlotte Mason-inspired folks like us.

Math:

Continuing Saxon 6/5

Book Club: Our theme this month is "Hard Times". And who knows hard times better than Dickens? We're reading The Cricket on the Hearth, Librivox has a free audio version that is very good-- grab a cup of cocoa and read along!

On the recommendation of a friend, we're also enjoying a lovely biography by Michael Rosen-- gorgeously illustrated by Robert Ingpen.

Picture Study:

Yesterday, we toured the Picasso exhibit at The Nasher Museum of Art. The docent was wonderful and our small group of children was very engaged. They allowed us to stay and sketch for a bit after the tour which was very cool. Kevin ended up sketching a study of the child's feet that Picasso had done for this painting:

First Steps, 1943

I love the face on this baby ♥

Happy Learning, Dear Ones.

xo Ann

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Monday, November 2, 2009

Halloween 2009 Recap

Our older daughter dressed up all day, in one form or another--

She just wanted to wear the arm warmers. LOL
She only wore this around the house.

We dabbled with a costume idea for baby sister:

Thinking she could go as a "toy"...

At first she thought it was funny:

But that soon wore off and we knew that wasn't going to get it!

So instead I took a few more photos

Note the attempt at decorating her pumpkin w/ her feet!LOL

The weather this Halloween was no where near as nice as it was last year! Brrrr. I heard lots of passersby commenting on the fact, too. Everyone was cold. Except for baby Girl... she was toasty enclosed in her stroller seat! Though no one could see her all covered up in the stroller parts-- she made a cute pumpkin!

Sporting a LL Bean fleece bunting under a piece
of bright orange soft fabric I had in my stash... I just
sort of wrapped it around her to keep warm!

DD12 went Trick-or-Treating as a Vampire Beauty Queen this year. (Her idea.) The costume was pretty easy to make as she already had a formal red dress (one my mother had bought YEARS ago that i'd taken in for her to play dress-ups. Well it actually FITS now! GASP!), and had gotten shoes from a lady here locally that gave her whole wedding ensemble away (including the tiara she wore.)

note the pantyhose--- she improvised (tore them) so they'd allow her big toe into the shoes. LOL

I sewed the sash from some white cotton fabric I had in my stash and she painted the lettering.

it says "MISS TRANSYLVANIA 1863"

Makeup base was from a vampire kit and the eye makeup and blush was from my own makeup bag. Teeth were from the mall and a big spot of laughter for us the whole afternoon!LOL

After two hours were were tired and her feet were hurting:

Blisters were starting to form on her little toes! Ouch!

None the worse for the wear, baby Girl was still content in her stroller, playing with her toys when we arrived back home!

Hope EVERYONE had a safe & FUN Halloween!

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November 1, 2009

November Abiding

Well now. If I were able to stop time, I would do it today.
Our pretty little town is nicknamed "The Southern Part of Heaven," a name that suits it well.
When we first came for a visit many years ago, my husband warned,
"If I take you there, you will never want to leave."

That was, and still is, true.

As daylight savings time ends, I relish this downshifting into "the slow time." The mornings are misty
and chilly; the afternoons are brief, golden, and ripe. Long evenings are the time to pull on a sweater and inhale the ancient smell of woodsmoke and fallen leaves. I want to walk fast and far,
on and on-- forever-- in the damp forest. Instead, I come home and kiss my sweeties, stir the soup, light the candles, and feel a longing for something that I cannot name.

Since I can't stop time, I promise to savor every single hour.
And I hope that you are happy, well, and soaking up the blessings that rain down all around us
every golden day.

xo Ann

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Sunday, October 18, 2009

16 WEEKS

Time sure is flying!

hanging out on activity mat next to Mommy's computer desk

Shes' rolling to her sides nowadays, but not quite rolling over. LOL
Congrats to her friend, though, who rolled over this week!

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October 16, 2009

true

You can understand and relate to most people better

if you look at them ~

no matter how old or impressive they may be ~

as if they are children.

For most of us never really grow up or mature all that much ~

we simply grow taller.

O, to be sure, we laugh less and play less and wear

uncomfortable disguises like adults,

but beneath the costume is the child we always are,

whose needs are simple,

whose daily life is still best described by fairy tales.

~Leo Rosten

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October 20, 2009

October Lessons

This post has been quietly waiting (and waiting) for me to add the hyperlinks.

I'm so glad that the major holy days fell later in the month this time.

As always, help yourself to anything useful here.

On The Liturgical Calendar for October:

St. Luke ( Oct. 18th)

Lectionary Readings

Information about St. Luke

St. James ( Oct. 23rd)

Lectionary Readings

Information about St. James “The Just”

Help sorting out all those Biblical references to “James”

St. Simon and St. Jude ( Oct 28th)

Lectionary Readings

The Twelve Apostles by Marianna Mayer (pp. 18-20)

Traditionally, Christians used to begin making soul cakes on this day for the coming feast of All Souls.

Poetry:

Poetry For Young People Series: Edgar Allan Poe

Geography:

Europe: Try this fun and effective game to help you memorize the countries and their capital cities.

Natural History:

Walks in the gorgeous autumn woods...oh, heaven!

Barb inspires us to use Comstock’s Handbook of Nature Study to its fullest—

you must go visit her beautiful blog.

Science:

Biology & Drawing

This class is being taught by two wonderfully talented moms from our local homeschool group. I am forever grateful to them. It's just another example of the generosity of our community.

My hope is that these Wednesday afternoon explorations will help to foster Kevin's curiosity and wonder for the world of science. The time with friends is always a lovely treat for him, and I enjoy a little tea break in the pretty village nearby.

Math:

Saxon 6/5

Book Club:

This is biography month and I'm leading the discussion for the older kids. Kevin has chosen to read about a wonderful man... here's a snippet from Theodore Roosevelt's Letters to His Children:

For unflagging interest and enjoyment, a household of children, if things go reasonably well, certainly all other forms of success and achievement lose their importance by comparison. ~T.R.

Wishing you joy as you share these autumn days with your children... xo Ann

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Sunday, October 11, 2009

Sissy Schooling

Usually I manage to get a shower in the early morning hours BEFORE baby girl wakes up. However, sometimes that just doesn't happen. October 6, 2009, was such a morning.

But daily showering is vital to sanity. Plain and simple. Thus, DD12 relocated for a bit to my bed and watched baby girl while I showered.

She finished up her grammar assignment then read aloud from her Zoology book while holding a toy up for baby girl to entertain herself with. (Note additional toys on the side at the ready.)

DD12 actually commented that schooling like that was fun. LOL

We ran errands after that.

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Sunday, October 11, 2009

Joy in Motion

Baby Girl got a new toy recently and she just loves it...

The Oball. We lucked out in getting a pink one as "colors may vary" when ordering. It is super easy to hold, makes just a GENTLE rattle noise, can hook on to things with those link type things, is soft and lightweight. I highly recommend this toy for all little ones & toddlers. There are larger sizes as well, but this little one is perfect for little hands.This would be an excellent gift for the holidays.

See.
This is what I have to work with.
Snapping print-worthy photos for my scrapbooking is NOT an easy task.
But yes, I consider even this blur of joy print-worthy!

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Sunday, October 11, 2009

Baby Quilt DONE!!

It has been done for a few days but I'm just getting time to post it.

Completed quilt:

Quilt Back:

Standard folded up shots:

I'm so happy to have this done! It is the biggest quilted project I've made so far! I've only made 2.5 table runners previously. (I've yet to finish my Easter one.) Baby girl and I used the quilt yesterday for napping together on the living room floor. It fits nicely over my arms and around her little body.

I learned a lot while making this quilt. I learned for small projects like this I can sandwich & baste (spray or pins) on the wall. That I should plan out the desired quilting method BEFORE I actually start quilting. That I should take into account what the quilting will look like on the back. That having contrasting thread on the back isn't horrible after all. That I need to try a different method of binding- I'm not all that pleased with the final pass of stitching.

All in all, however, I love it! From the front it looks really nice, I must say. The back would be just as nice if only I'd done a different method of tacking the binding on. No biggie though. The quilt is utilitarian for sure; it wasn't made for storing away as an heirloom.

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Saturday, October 10, 2009

Rainy Day Outing

Hubby had Friday off so we took a day off of schooling to enjoy a day together. The fact that it was raining like crazy (and continued to all day long) didn't stop us. We were a family on a mission. LOL

First stop was to return some books to a library, then the post office for me to mail out some fat quarters(a swap) for a quilting list I'm on and DD12 got some library books from the library in that small town (closer to us than the other library.) By this time we were all getting hungry so thought to go get some lunch somewhere.

Well-- anyone who lives in my area KNOWS that every Friday is graduation day at the Navy Base (bootcamp) thus making lunch out on Friday a huge headache-- way too many sailors AND their families out and about, long lines, long waits, etc. This was definitely not something we wanted to deal with.

We had thought we'd go to Sweet Tomato (a favorite) but,yep-- lines. Chili's next door, same thing. So I mentioned trying a Chinese restaurant instead just down the way. So we pulled into there ... lot not too full- good sign! But before going in I had to nurse the baby (4 months old next week!) so she's be happy & content. And by the time that was done... well the parking lot was FULL!!! Definitely not wanting to deal with that crowd!

Off we went again. By this time we were all rather famished (except the baby, of course!) and really would have eaten anywhere. But unbeknownst to me hubby had a grand plan and surprised us by driving to the next town over and taking us to a Japanese steakhouse. I'd known he had been wanting to go- but didn't think it was "lunchtime material" ... I was wrong.

They offered a simple menu (various entrees in hibachi or teriyaki flavor), not too pricey, and we enjoyed ourselves a lot! It was the first time any of us had experienced such a thing and we can't wait to go back! (Mom, I told you we'll have to go there next time you come to visit!)

This was our chef.
(A group of senior citizens were just being seated around the grill behind him.)

DD12 ordered Chicken Teriyaki, I ordered Sirloin Teriyaki, and hubby had a bit of both in a combo plate. Our meals were accompanied by a small salad for each of us. Baby girl just watched with interest...

Notice the smoking onion in the center. Our chef made "train noises" as
he pushed it around the grill-- assuming it was to entertain the baby. LOL

DD12 waiting patiently for the food to be done cooking.

Hubby chatting with us while we watch the culinary spectacle.

Notice the little dishes at the bottom of the photo.
We each had our own dipping sauces to try out:
Ginger, Yum-Yum, Teriyaki (and hubby had a spicy one as well.)

Ignore the mountain of hair at the back/top of my head and the fact that my bangs are
all askew, AND that I have no makeup on.... like I said, it was a rainy day.
I had thought I would ONLY be popping into post office that day, not
ending up someplace in sitting public getting my photo taken.
Note the sling behind me on my chair-- taken inside just
in case baby girl got restless in her seat. Suffice it to say
the culinary show kept her entertained for the most part, sling was not used.

This was DD12's plate of Chicken Teriyaki

My Sirloin Teriyaki.

No photo for hubby's plate- I was too busy eating my own to remember
to take a photo of his!LOL

Lunch was super tasty! The total check WITH tip was what we would have paid had we gone to Chili's for lunch and just a few dollars more than had we eaten at Sweet Tomato. We all commented that the fare wasn't heavy and didn't leave us overly full. In fact, hubby and I both said we'd have liked MORE vegetables- and will inquire about adding more veggies to our meal next time we go.

Local folks, the restaurant was:

Hanakana Japanese Steakhouse

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