Pinewood Castle

More Fun for Locals

Have you ever attended the Urban Expedition Days at the Landmark Center in Downtown St. Paul?

These free events are from 1 pm - 3 pm and offer music, dance and crafts from various countries. On the schedule this year: Chile, Somalia, Egypt and Czech Republic. We have found these events a great addition to geography studies!

While Our Minds are on Taxes . . .

Have you ever taken the time to apply for the non-profit sales tax exempt status for your homeschool?

Relatively quick and easy instructions and links can be found here. It really only takes ten minutes (without interruptions) to print and fill out two simple forms.

Our are ready to place in the mail!

A Very Belated Happy St. Valentine's to You!

Yes, this is a holiday under fire for the mix of pagan and Christian traditions - but who can resist a holiday focused on love in all of it's many forms?

Originally we had planned to "do school" and not do too much to celebrate, but we couldn't help ourselves. There were just too many ideas garnered from magazines we just had to use!

School did get done, but with this for breakfast to start the day (except for Little Princess - she just got the cut-out heart toast with raspberry jam))

 

and this for lunch

and many Valentines exchanged -

 

 

We made them all on Saturday

 

and I finally used these cardboard heart cut-outs to make a garland

 

Joe brought home tulips, irises and daffodils for me

and I supplied him with some candy to take to work.

The Little Princess is wondering when all the decorations will come down. I think, probably not until Lent begins. Then it's back to purple.

Every Six Months

Today we made the the bi-annual trek to the dentist. We drive into the cities to be able to see someone specialized in holistic dentistry (no mercury fillings). With the weekday morning traffic this trip typically takes over an hour. This morning was no different - each interstate we tried was tied up with accidents due to yesterday's 12+" snowfall.

My husband is on his own appointment schedule but I schedule my appointment on the same day as the children's. Luckily, my husband has always worked more or less close to this dentist's location and usually comes along to watch the littles while the rest of us get scraped and polished and then we all go out to lunch. The older girls are just not quite old enough to be left in the waiting room with the baby and a 3yo.

On the up side, we were cavity-free for the first time in a long time and we do not have to go back for another six months! (Must be because I actually flossed a few times!) We decided to buy this Vitality electric toothbrush for the children with four interchangeable heads and try to keep up the good work. We got to see Dad all morning and lunch at the Neapolitan pizza place was tasty as usual.

On the down side, over the years it gets harder for Joe to get away from his increasing responsibilities at work. I feel guilty about taking up his whole morning and asking him to help me out. How does a homeschooling mom of many (without parents or in-laws nearby to babysit) get to the dentist any other way? What do you do?

 

Plans for a Mid-Winter Break!

Checking in here - has it really been over a week since I last blogged? Oh my! It seems I never have chunks of computer time lately or have chosen rest or reading over the glowing screen before bedtime. We have also been dealing with various viruses the last several weeks that have caused fevers, coughing, and sudden messes on the floor necessitating a Rug Doctor rental. Then there are the various mishaps that put the whole day behind - the baby peed on me while waiting for the 3yo to bring a diaper, the toilet overflowed, you get the idea!

At least in the midst of this busyness the 3yo tantrums are down about 90% after the egg allergy diagnoses. Do you know how much time this saves? Hours. Yes, she still has a strong personality and can't take "no" for an answer, but at least now, if she gets started, she can STOP after a few minutes instead of carrying on for an hour or more. Thanks for all of your help in this department. Moms are the true experts!

We have been working diligently with our schoolwork for six weeks straight and plan to take a midwinter break next week! Yeah! Today we might head over to the Scottish Ramble since the forecast predicts 5-12" of snow for Sunday when we originally planned to go. We are not an ounce of Scottish, but love a strong dose of the festive music, food, dancing, pipes and plaids this time of year. Then my little choir boy is supposed to have his first overnighter at the choir building with rehearsals and fun planned for Monday. We will see if the roads are passable by Sunday night!

Monday brings vision check-ups and making these cupcakes for President's Day. This year I am having the kids memorize the presidents on all the coins and bills (among other various and helpful facts) in case they ever have some fun-loving uncle offer a $100 bill to the first kid at a family reunion who can name the president memorialized on the front. I am hoping to have time write up some blog posts before violin lessons and my monthly homeschool mom's meeting.

Tuesday we head to The Cities for dental check-ups. This means dad will scoot out from work to help with the Littles in the waiting room and we get to go out to lunch with him too - maybe to the Neapolitan pizza place! While we are in the city I am thinking of going somewhere warm and tropical after lunch like Como Conservatory. This will tie in wonderfully to Dancer's reading about South America in geography and rain forests in science. We will have to beat the traffic to get back in time for group violin.

Wednesday morning is always piano and the afternoon is blocked out for Peabody testing and a quick trip to town for karate. These tests are always interesting - how to take great scores with a grain of salt and what to make of scores that are "just" at or below grade level. For me it's a crash course in statistics as well as curbing the horrid tendency for pride and comparison among siblings. I have to admit, though, that it is also a time to pat myself (and other moms) on the back and breathe a sigh of reassurance that a mere mom really can successfully homeschool her children.

Thursday is still up for grabs. I wanted to take them to an indoor trampoline jumping place, but they are not open to big kids until after school hours. We might go to a juried art show at the government center or just stay home and play games before Rocky goes to choir.

Friday we are heading halfway into the metro. DH is taking the older kids snow tubing while I take the littles to an indoor park. Hopefully they won't get too worn out for an afternoon of ballet and karate. Oooh - I just realized it's parent observation week at ballet and daddy will be off to watch!

Next Saturday dh is going to a Catholic Men's Conference. The Holy Spirit nudged me to sign him up, put the printed info in an envelope and set it on his dinner plate as a surprise. I hope and pray he enjoys the day!

A week from tomorrow is the opening of "The Real George Washington" exhibit at MHS. A perfect dessert for all the Revolutionary War reading my 5th grader has done recently!

Here is a description to entice you locals:

Activities include 18th-century style military drilling; a visit to the colonial doctor; a look at the fashions of our founding fathers and mothers from elaborate wigs to buckled shoes; demonstrations of Martha Washington's favorite dishes; music, dance and etiquette performed by Dance Revels Moving History; and a Shadowy Silhouettes History HiJinx activity. Visitors also can join in the Washington’s Adventure Gallery Game, learn how to read a compass and follow clues through the museum, collect facts about the real George Washington along the way and win a prize. Revolutionary War reenactor John Neitz, Minneapolis’ official Town Crier, will transform the History Center into a colonial village, announcing events and activities throughout the day.

That's all, folks! Hope to catch up with a belated Valentine's post and some book/CD reviews with my time off this week.

One more thing - I just can't leave you without a picture of my very busy baby who is causing daddy to install locks on every single drawer and cabinet within his reach!

 Actually we are taking pity by leaving the one cabinet open for him - the one with the plastic bowls. He just has too much fun whipping them around and we have too much fun watching him!

Busy School Days

Busy Baby Days

 

Eggscellent Behavior?

For months now I have had a hunch that our family doctor believes I am in denial about my three year old whirling dervish. I think that he thinks that I must not want to admit that her daily tantrums are simply due to her strong temperament or (worse) to my ineffective discipline methods. As a parent of young children himself, he has sympathized with me and laughed along with me but in the end I have felt like a failure as a mother - because I can't get my little girl under control.  I have questioned him over and over whether her temper could be caused by some physical discomfort and he has humored me over and over by testing for this and for that. Every test result has yielded a negative result - until today.

A dear reader recently suggested food allergy testing after viewing my last post so I reluctantly phoned the appointment line and requested our doctor to send in lab orders for testing. After piano lessons yesterday we stopped by the clinic and I shuttled the children across the snowy parking lot in seven degree weather. My little girl bravely bore the sight of a needle in her arm as we tried to keep her mind on the prized band-aid. When it was over I could not tell if she was laughing or crying - but it was in fact a laugh followed by, "That willy huwt!"

When the clinic called today I was fully expecting another negative test result so the news that she actually has an egg allergy caught me by surprise. I have spent all evening thinking about how hard it has been to get her to eat eggs at all and how much we have pushed them, thinking that some protein in the morning would help stabilize her.

In the short term we will continue this chart we started last week with the coveted Lalaloopsy doll as a prize. I do hope there is a correlation here between the egg allergy and her behavior and that a solution has been found. Time will tell. In the meantime - where do I go from here? Can anyone tell me the best website for more info or the best egg-free baking book out there?