Kaira was a very excited princess when the big day finally arrived.  We were were joined by Lady Beverly, Sir Richard, the Bowman James, Lady Lorelle, the beautiful princess Kaitlyn, and the delightful jester Sirhc!  The games were underway when the Royal executioner showed up, escorting a servant girl he had found fleeing the Manor of Lord S and Lady K. 

The servant girl threw herself to the ground and begged the princess for mercy, and the executioner inquired what should be done with the servant, who was no doubt an accomplice in helping the Lord and Lady escape.  Kaira looked upon the groveling servant girl in mercy and answered the executioner emphatically, "Let her have fun!" 

And so, have fun we did.  The games included a quest for the grail, tests of archery, musical chairs, and tiara and shield making.  James the Bowman provided a demonstration of his skill, putting arrows through our bales with such force that we found broken shafts the next day!  The Lady Lorelle even brought along her pet draglet, whom Kaira took to immediately. 

Kaira's cousins attempted to present her with her very own prince, (who had journeyed all the way from Prague) but alas, her mischievous cousin, the wee jester Sirhc had enchanted the poor fellow and turned the Prague Prince into a Frog Prince.  The counter enchantment required she recite "Prairie Frog Fairy Prince" seven times in succession before kissing him three times.  (Seven plus three adding up to ten--her age, of course!)  Poor Kaira failed to recite it properly each time, and he remained amphibious.  Fortunately the fellow seems content to remain a pet.  (She's too young for a real prince anyway, so I'm secretly relieved.)

"Kenneth O'Laughlan" read the Fools Prayer, and the wee jester Sirhc did a Sirhcus act for us!  We feasted on shish kabob and raspberry cream filled cake. 

I should have required a few guests stand still for a quick photo op.  I didn't manage to capture my niece and nephew's beautiful costumes as fully as I'd like, and somehow the Lady Beverly managed to avoid the camera lens.  I also neglected to capture my own wee knights, Sir Keegan and Sir Kieran before they shed their armor.  (And, I was behind the camera instead of in front of it.  Which is all very good and well.)

A good time was had by all!  Huzzah!

After mailing out the invitations, Kaira was delighted to see her courtiers respond.  Here are a couple of the more interesting replies:

To the Attention of Princess Kaira,

It is my grievous duty to bring a matter of utmost importance to your attention. Reliable sources have informed me that the party invitees of (Lastname) Manor are planning to be late for the festivities. Such blatant disrespect for the royal Princess needs to be dealt with quickly and harshly to keep order in the kindgdom.  Therefore, on the appointed date, I will personally apprehend the culprits and bring them in haste for you to make a ruling on their punishment. I pray this will not cause too much disruption in the roayl festivities.

Signed in my own hand

X

His Majesty's Royal Executioner

And a little later, from her Aunt:

She sent invitations: sealed in wax, and delivered by national courior:



Most PrairieFrog birthdays are quiet affairs, with just our own little family.  Every ten years, however, for the entire duration of their childhood, we'll treat each child to a party with other guests! 

This year, as Kaira celebrated the completion of her first decade,  we hosted our first such event! 

I'll confess that the date gave me pause.  Although we do give a nod to Reformation day, the 31st of October is typically just another day for us.  We don't recognize the event our neighbors celebrate, or do any "alternatives".  But, with Kaira's birthday falling on Sunday, the day prior became a perfect choice.  (I think we've celebrated Ken's birthday on that date as well--He was born on October 29th--but it was a quiet family affair.)  Hosting a costume party on the 31st was new for me!

Stay tuned, for the courtiers' responses!

My blogging has been sporadic lately.  Last week consisted of beautiful snow storms that kept my sweetie home by my side.  We were delightfully derailed by family time, and I was blissfully kept from the computer by snug, homey delights!

This week another phenomenon has kept me busy.  Although we are typically home-bodies, it seems we've had more going on lately.  When extreme weather shut down the city, last week became rescheduled to this week.  This week, however insisted on continuing a forward march of its own, and the two are rather superimposed atop each other!

Busy as the week may be, an important update is in order!  After pressing "post" on this blog entry, I will make a subtle but important change to my blog sidebar.  Kaira's age requires updating!  She refused to remain a nine year old, and has now accomplished a decade!  She had lovely medieval-themed party which shall be blogged as soon as I finish sorting through pictures. 

   Have you seen the Christmas decorations up in town? Have you been stocking up on special holiday foods and gift wrap yet? Well, here is one more holiday sale - but this time for your homeschool!

   Currclick do instantly downloadable ebooks of Home ed curriculum and resources. If you do pop over to take a look please consider clicking on the Currclick box in the sidebar as that is our affiliate link and we get a small commision on your order if you do. Thanks - Deedee

   I know I'm loooooong overdue for an update. I'll try to get on soon, but there has been alot going on around here. Please pray for us as we deal with some situations in our life that are less than pleasant!

   In the meantime here is a sale that is going on at Currclick starting today! If you pop over please us the affiliate link box in the right hand sidebar as we get a small commision your your purchase at no cost to you - Thank you! - Deedee

There are two incidents that have happened around here in the last week or so that I just shake my head over – it doesn’t happen every day – thankfully!  Let me tell…

The other day Pete had an early start to his day.  He was filling up with fuel at the 24hour BP at 3.00am.   As he was at the bowsers he felt the car drop down – he just thought the car was adjusting to the weight of the fuel but then the car started up and started to drive away on him.  He looked up and there was someone in his car – driving it away. Someone was stealing his car – and he was standing right there!!   He had the presence of mind to pull out the fuel hose, jump in the back seat and whack the gear stick into Park.  The car stopped.  He realised the woman in the car was so ‘out of it’ drunk that he got out of the back and walked around to help her get out of the car.  She was very drunk, very distraught and had no idea!!  Obviously she was still able to steal a car though.

I am personally very impressed with Peter's presence of mind.  I would have had no idea what to do.

Second thing happening in our life is that we have acquired a Bull – he’s not a pet bull, he isn’t even really our bull but he seems to like us.  Next to our farm there is a scrub block and it appears as if this bull has lived there quite happily for some time.  But he has since found our place and seems to like the company.  He has been right upto the house yard fence, grazes down near the chook shed, and today has been enjoying the shade of the mango trees.  We would like him to be gone!  He is very big.

Bull near our house yard fence

Bull grazing on old bale of hay down near chook shed and veggie garden

Bull near backyard play area

This week’s newsletter talked about training each of our children even though they are all at different levels of skill and understanding.  One of the ways that has worked for me is by breaking down a skill or moral truth into bite size pieces.  Each step is progressive and therefore each of my children can be working at a different stage and yet I keep my focus knowing that we are working on one thing at this moment in time.

An example of working with these progressive steps is going grocery shopping.  We do this every week; it is a fantastic training opportunity and yet we miss that opportunity because we want it over and done with real quick!  And yet the learning that goes on is huge. Here is a progressive list (it may not be exhaustive) that will move our children through grocery shopping training. 

• Stay in the trolley or pram
• Keep voices quiet, inside voices
• Hold onto the trolley, don’t leave mum
• Don’t ask for things!
• Greet people politely, say a big hello to the checkout lady
• Be patient if mummy talks to a friend
• Follow instructions, help mummy by getting things off the shelf (the right things, the things I need!)
• Help unload the groceries into the car, and then into the house and pantry once we get home.
• Go off by yourself and get 2-5 items (initially in the same isle, eventually in a different isle than mum)
• Understand comparing prices, understand quality for money
• Go off by yourself and do ½ the shopping
• Understanding the family budget and nutritional needs
• Go off by yourself and do the whole shopping

When I look at this progressive list I can immediately see what Daniel, my youngest, can achieve and what I can teach him next.  I can also see what training needs to happen for each of my children.  This means I go into my weekly task of grocery shopping ready to teach and practice and I come out knowing that each of my children have grown in this area of responsibility.

These are some character qualities that we can train towards while grocery shopping

• Obedience – do what I am told with a happy attitude
• Gratefulness – be thankful for the many blessings I have
• Respect – the other person counts
• Thriftiness – being wise with my money
• Responsibility – to be dependable in all that I’m asked to do

Yes, it is true, if we train our children while we do the grocery shop it will take longer, but in the long run you will have trained your children in a very valuable life skill.  But grocery shopping is just one situation in our day where we need to be training our children.