Pinewood Castle

New Croc Day

A biennial event!

Studio Recital

Dim the lights, sit back, and enjoy!

Sunshine performed Lully's Gavotte in a minor from Suzuki Book 2:

In Suzuki Book 4, students are introduced to concerto playing. This is the third movement of Seitz's Concerto No. 2:

 

Bravo, my girls! You have improved more this year than any other year since we began in 2004. God knew what He was doing when He gave you to us and to one another.

Invention Club

Two kids + one free morning =

 

Thankful Thursday

For my husband who, for the first time in . . . a long time, brought me flowers after a trying day.

 

For the short periods in time when I can see my son look, sing, and behave like an angel. Thank you, boy's choir.

 

Black belts two for $10 at Target. For choir, not karate.

 

For allergy meds that allow me to once again enjoy a real Frasier Fir.

And for close proximity to a real tree farm.

 

For strong daddies who lift up their littlest girl so she can be the one to place the angel on top.

 

For eyes (and hands) full of wonder and delight.

 

For the photo ornaments my sister sends every Christmas to each of the children.

 

For candle light and colored light, Jesse Tree and Star Path, advent wreaths and advent calendars that help us mark the days and prepare our hearts for Christmas.

Amazon Prime.

For the chance to get out of the house and resume book club after a very long baby break.

For the chance to see the December Full Cold Moon rise over Lake of the Isles.

 For kitties who curl up in the darndest places.

 

For the ability to drink coffee and own a smart phone without having to constantly hold one or the other like a fashion accessory.

For the completion of at least some of our hand made Christmas gifts ~ phone cases for teachers made by the children and the knitted gingerbread boy I made for the Little Princess (from Kid's Knitting).

 

For this beautiful dresser scarf one of my oldest and dearest friends sent me years ago. I try not to think of how long it took her to embroider this:

When it takes me four hours just to do this:

 

 For the upcoming reprieve from running to choir and ballet and karate and violin and piano.

For the decision to switch Sunshine from ballet to theater beginning in January. This better fits her passion and personality - and I won't have to make that extra trip back to ballet to pick her up at 7:30 pm.

For friends who call or write to catch up. Some relationships are best nurtured off-line.

And best of all - thankful that we are not yet knee deep in snow! Winter in Minnesota lasts long enough!

 

 

More Thoughts on St. Nicholas

Jamie at Lord Make Me a Saint has a great post up about St. Nicholas/Santa. Definitely worth a read and the comments are fascinating as well. I just added a comment that went something like:

There are only a few precious years of life when we are capable of such wonder and awe. It seems cruel to deny the children the experiences that bring this out, and frankly, I think we adults benefit from seeing the sparkle in their eyes and the fullness of their trusting hearts.

We do read "The Real Santa Claus" book and make sure they know about the very real saint and the miracles attributed to him. We don't use the term "Santa" even though he takes on some Santa-like attributes when he "visits" our home.  The kids realized somewhere along the way that this is a pretend game we play, but it doesn't make it any less fun! Couple these beloved family traditions with the opportunity to teach the little siblings about St. Nicholas and the older ones have more fun than ever.

Last night while I was resting on the sofa I overheard my eldest girl helping her 4yo sister write her letter to St. Nicholas. It was about the most precious thing I have ever heard in my mothering life. No one asked her to do this, the older ones took the initiative to "be in on the secret" and get their letters and shoes ready. Everyone had fun this morning finding the goodies in their shoes, but the sparkle in the 4yo's eyes was the best gift of all - to everyone!

If you don't already know about the St. Nicholas Center, click over to find a treasure trove of ideas for celebrating! This is where I gathered ideas for the letter from St. Nicholas (posted previously), printed it out onto parchment paper, rolled it up and tied it with a ribbon. Now I am off to put my cookie cutters to use!

How Boys Learn

Wordless Wednesday

Feast for the Eyes

Did you happen to see the Carl Warner edible landscapes segment on CBS Sunday? We are having way too much fun exploring his website.

Another fun site: Real Simple's gallery of Matthew Sporzynski's paper constructions. And yes, he is the same genius behind the Sherwin-Willliams' paint chip creations. We finally figured this out last week after years of suspicion.

Definitely worth a click or two or three or one hundred (to see them all).

 

Saints in the Making

Happy Feast of All Saints, everyone!

Isn't it amazing to ponder how many saints are in heaven, canonized and uncanonized? I think of family members who have gone before us and am grateful for the gift of faith that has been passed down through generations. I pray for their help in fostering the gift of faith in our own children and hope that we might see them one day in heaven to thank them. Some days this hope is stronger than others - depending on how we are coming along in developing basic virtues. For most of September and October, my hope was pretty low.

After years and years of "laying down the rails" it can be pretty discouraging when our train derails so frequently. My children (one in particular) continue to be challenged with the basic expectations in our family regarding obedience, responsibility, respect, and keeping on task with the rhythm of the day even though we have had daily plans and rules  visibly posted for years. As much as I wish it could all become automatic and habitual, I find that keeping a home (with children in it) and homeschooling takes constant vigilance.

The other night my husband let the kids watch as he unclogged globs of hair and goop from the shower drain. One sister, teasing her brother said, "See, this is what you will have to do if you become a dad!" The brother replied, "Then I'll be a monk instead!" At times like these I think about the future of our children and realize that one of them may very well end up in the religious life - and I panic. Will they be prepared? Do we pray enough? Are they developing virtues? Will they wish we had raised them differently? I guess if God calls them and they follow, everything will work out with His help and grace. I just want them to be prepared for whatever God does call them to do - in religious or married life. This motivates me to learn, to grow, to read and try new ideas that might help me  achieve my goals in raising up saints. Sally Clarkson just discussed this very thing - 

The problem with motherhood and the need for women to build godly estates of godly leaders in their homes, through multiple children that a woman will invest her life into, is that most women had no training, preparation or education of what it would take or how much it would cost them. Most just got married with the hope that someone would love them and take care of them and provide security and affirmation, and then babies came, and overwhelmed them.  They had never been trained for the job, never seen it modeled when they grew up,  never had a vision for how powerful a house (family) for God could be or how much work it would take.

I love reading Sally's blog and her books. She speaks to my heart.

I am also slowly working my way through a stack of very practical and hysterically funny Carol Barnier books such as this one for "highly distractable moms". I say slowly, because every three or four pages she has an idea I want to implement, then I get distracted and it's a week or two before I pick up the book again. See, this book fits me to a T.

One idea I borrowed and adapted is the Dial-a-Child Chart. This is working out rather well for us even though it's basically our old chore chart in a more exciting format. Here's what it looks like hanging on the pantry door:

The dials get turned on Sunday morning. One glance and everyone knows who is supposed to do what.

Another passage from the Barnier books inspired me to fine tune our Family Rules and Consequences. These will look different for every family, of course, but this is what is important enough to our family to post on the wall:

One - We respect God, our Heavenly Father, and the earthly parents He has placed in authority over us.

• We are made to know Him, love Him, and serve Him in this life and be happy with Him in heaven. 
• Obedience, service, reverence, honor, truthfulness. 
• “Children, obey your parents in the Lord: for this is right.” Ephesians 6:1

Two - We respect others: parents, our siblings, friends, and guests in our home. 

• Peacefulness, cheerfulness, truthfulness, generosity, sharing, hospitality, helpfulness, forgiving, compassionate, kindness, gentleness, polite table manners.
• “And whatever you do, do it heartily, as to the Lord and not to men, knowing that from the Lord you will receive the reward of the inheritance.” Colossians 3:23-24

Three - We respect property and are good stewards of our belongings and our bodies.

• Clothing, shoes, books, toys, furniture, bathrooms, musical instruments, the van interior, personal hygiene, pets, etc. 
• Orderliness, cleanliness, responsibility, being trustworthy.

Four - We are self-disciplined in our home work, school work, music practice, and commitments to outside activities. 

• Diligence, perseverance, sanctifying and meaningful work.
• “Do you see a man who excels in his work? He will stand before kings.” Proverbs 22:29

(If you have a good quote for #3 let me know - most scripture quotes refer to detaching from our belongings rather than taking good care of them. It's a fine line - not giving stuff too much attention, yet giving them proper care. I tell the kids that you can usually tell a lot about a person by the way they take care of their things.)

We are experimenting with consequences - I suspect I have been at fault by having far too few consequences because they have so few privileges to revoke compared to the average American child. Here's the new routine: when a child is having a problem, I call them over and ask them to tell me which rule they are having trouble with. They get a check mark for each rule violated. For instance, if a certain child (without naming names) leaves dirty socks on the floor they get a check mark for #3. If I ask them to put them in the hamper and 15 minutes later they are still there, they get another check mark under #1.

Two check marks result in allowance reduction and another consequence is added for each additional check mark: an extra job, do dessert, temporary loss of a prized possession, and an 8pm bedtime. No check marks by Saturday = Wii time and some of Mom's birthday chocolate. Plus marks can be earned for extra spectacular behavior like volunteering to take on jobs or being a great example of cheerful service.

Plus mark behavior can also make check marks disappear! Children without any checks and at least one plus mark get to go out for ice cream with Dad Saturday night. Two kids out of four made it this week. We are hoping that at least three kids make it next week, but of course what we are really aiming for is that all five make it to heaven with the rest of the saints we honor today.

We feebly struggle, they in glory shine.

Pumpkin Monday

My little pun'kins!

One Woman's Trash is Another Child's Treasure

Obviously, one of my children needs more time for independent art projects!

Flower Matching

Here is a little game I like to play with my preschoolers before Jack Frost arrives ~

:: wander around the yard and pick various blossoms

:: enthusiastically announce that we are going to play a Garden Game

:: give them a flower and ask them to find a match

:: talk about the name of the flower, the color, and the details such as the number of petals or shape

:: help search as needed ; )

:: collect them all in bowl of water and admire the beauty of God's creation

:: be prepared to do it again upon request!

Wordless Wednesday

Calendar Capers

This morning I put the kids in charge of changing the classroom calendar and this is the agenda they designed ~

Kids like to have something to do every day. Gives them a reason to get out of bed in the morning.

Evidently, this is why they have been so unmotivated the last three weeks. They tell me that staying at home, doing school, and practicing music all week was not exciting enough. Ouch. Here I was looking forward to more time at home and a reduced activity budget not to mention fostering domestic contentment.

Keeping the "home" in homeschooling is sage advice, to a point. I am still learning how to discern what is best for our family. I am a Libra. I strive for balance. I realize now that our September schedule was too music-heavy, and I was getting burned out with my role as Practice Supervisor. I finally started to realize why most parents prefer to sign their kids up for sports rather than music.

 

After a big heart-to-heart we decided resume our old habits of celebrating the saint days and liturgical calendar, I have signed up for the All About Thyme newsletter to have fun with things like National Butterscotch Pudding Day (like Dawn's family), and last but not least (thanks to a strict grocery budget and local Aldi store) ballet will now be back in our lives twice a week in addition to continuing martial arts for my Karate Kid.

Honestly, life just didn't feel right without ballet. Ballet makes for happy girl hearts, strong bodies, and gives us all a reason to rise & shine, especially since I will not have to supervise daily ballet practice!

Wordless Wednesday

The Mystery Booth

So we were in line for confession last Saturday and the Little Princess studied her siblings waiting quietly in line and taking turns in the confessional. After a while she requested, "When Sunshine is done going potty I want to try too!"

No More Monkeys Jumping on the Bed!

One fell off and broke her collarbone!

Sunshine's First Big Bike Wreck

Three big scrapes, but no head injuries thanks to this helmet. We are all praying God sends this child an extra guardian angel!

Poor Little Third Girl

After admiring a few new spring outfits recently purchased at Target for the eldest girl and eldest boy, the third girl asked where her new spring clothes were.

"Your new spring clothes are in the basement in a storage bin," we explained, trying to build her excitement.

This did not fly with her, "No! I want REAL new spring clothes!"

Too smart, and too cold for spring clothes here anyway -

How the Egg-Free Girl is Doing

My little girl is a different child these days.

She talks more, she smiles more, she hugs more.

She says funny little things like, "Why is morning always the first thing?"

She has even gained three pounds since being off of eggs. This makes me wonder now if my skin and bones son has a food allergy.

We are still learning the ropes of the egg allergy world. We have a lot to learn about candy and fast food and packaging labels. Like Annie's bunny crackers that are made on shared equipment - are they safe for her? I am afraid to try, especially after our chicken nugget episode.

After quizzing the guy at the Wendy's drive-through about which products had egg and which did not, I was assured that the chicken nuggets did not have egg so I ordered them for her. By the time we reached our destination she was acting irritable. When we got home she threw an hour long tantrum before crashing on her floor. As soon as she woke up she resumed the tantrum for another hour. Somewhere in there I managed to check the Wendy's website only to discover that their chicken nuggets are fried in the same oil as food with egg ingredients.

I am incredibly grateful for the knowledgeable moms who have emailed me with tips and recipes. Keep it coming, please - I am a little overwhelmed but eventually it will all sink in.

In the meantime our budding girl has moved from drawing faces to adding arms and legs - M&M people.

One morning she colored one little red dot, held it up and announced, "This is a tiny, tiny baby in the womb!"

So precious. Such a joy. I cried tears of surprise and joy that day! I actually look forward to spending time with now instead of dreading what the day will bring with her. That's the way it should be. I am grateful for this little blog and the reader who prompted me to have her tested. Thank you, thank you, thank you!

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?

Photo Booth Fun

My Husband is a Genius

Me, wistfully, "Oh, I wish I had time to go out and refill the bird feeders. I wish the kids were tall enough to reach them."

My husband, the genius, "Well, they could use the step stool in the garage."

One more job permanently delegated.

I Really Need to Read This Every Day

If children live with criticism, they learn to condemn.

If children live with hostility, they learn to fight.

If children live with fear, they learn to be apprehensive.

If children live with pity, they learn to feel sorry for themselves.

If children live with ridicule, they learn to feel shy.

If children live with jealousy, they learn to feel envy.

If children live with shame, they learn to feel guilty.

If children live with encouragement, they learn confidence.

If children live with tolerance, they learn patience.

If children live with praise, they learn appreciation.

If children live with acceptance, they learn to love.

If children live with approval, they learn to like themselves.

If children live with recognition, they learn it is good to have a goal.

If children live with sharing, they learn generosity.

If children live with honesty, they learn truthfulness.

If children live with fairness, they learn justice.

If children live with kindness and consideration, they learn respect.

If children live with security, they learn to have faith in themselves and in those about them.

If children live with friendliness, they learn the world is a nice place in which to live.

Excerpted from the book CHILDREN LEARN WHAT THEY LIVE
©1998 by Dorothy Law Nolte and Rachel Harris

For the Poor Souls (All Four of Them)

Child (who shall not only remain nameless but also get in for a hearing test):

"You mean there are only four souls in purgatory?"

Just Like a Sonlight Cover

Three-isms

She thinks she's got everything all figured out.

The other night at the dinner table when she wouldn't eat her dinner but wanted dessert and mom said no, "Mom, say YES!"

When her big brother was pestering her, "Don't make me cry!"

After we announced that we were going to have caramel apples for dessert, "I want mine without the apple!"

First Day Pics

We started school August 30th - two weeks ago. That's how behind I am with blogging!

My 5th grade Dancer will be a dancer again this year after having a year off. She will be in a homeschool class once a week at the new ballet academy located up here in the outer metro. She will also continue piano and violin. Instead of the theater class she did last year the girls are going to try out a children's choir taught by the same seasoned instructor. So far she likes the 5th grade work in Mother of Divine Grace. Not too many complaints other than the challenge of finishing seatwork before lunchtime - it hasn't happened yet and we have not cracked open the IEW writing class. Fifth graders just have more work to do but she is handling it all well.

 

Sunshine shines as bright as ever even after falling out of a tree and fracturing her radius. She gets the cast off this week! My 3rd grader will continue in piano, take up the violin again after an eight month sabbatical, and sing in the children's choir previously mentioned. After a month long session of fall soccer she hopes to start gymnastics again for some P.E (daring girl that she is). Her MODG 3rd grade work is off to a great start.

 

Rocky is still bringing rocks into the house by the dozens. This new 2nd grader will continue piano, begin the prep program in a renown boy's choir, play some soccer for a month and continue karate after enjoying the introductory lessons he tried this summer. (We all need some P.E. during the winter months up here!) He is preparing for First Holy Communion and finding the 2nd grade MODG a good fit.

 

What have I been calling this little whirlwind? Wild Strawberry, Little Princess, Pipsqueak? All of these nicknames still fit - she is as darling as she is demanding and definitely the tiniest squeaky wheel you ever saw. A strong choleric already, she throws two or three tantrums a day if she doesn't get her way. This is often, unfortunately. She just doesn not take "no" for an answer and "no" is not a word that my DH and I are afraid to use. One would think she would have figured out by now that mom & dad don't give in on anything. We are more stubborn than she is.

Anyway, she is officially a pre-preschooler around here and pleased as punch about it, constantly asking, "What I do for schoo-woo-wool?" She loves her daily dose of Shirley's Crafts, Preschool Activity Bags, and Kumon books for ages 2-3-4. She is thrilled about taking part in a Creative Movement ballet class that meets at the same time as her older sister's. She carries the ballet bag around all week, everyday asking if it is ballet day yet. I think she will learn the days of the week quickly at this rate.

 

Then there's the baby who, if we are lucky, sleeps through most of the morning seatwork. If he does wake up I end up holding him at my desk while trying to accomplish one-on-one time with each of the older children. This is not at all easy. He is suddenly at the age of wanting to handle everything on my desk within his reach. This is his work. The learning has begun.

Overheard

Dino/Rocky while eating a chocolate and vanilla swirl Jello pudding cup, "It's so beautiful - just like an agate."

Braces OFF!

Books for Age Three

Because you asked, here is a sampling of books I have on my little girl's shelf. These titles are specifically suited for age three: lots of repetition, predictable format (animals in threes), songs and nursery rhymes. Some of these books were the first ones my older children "read" (memorized). Our little girl started this for the first time today - retelling the story of Three Billy Goats Gruff at the dinner table. Precious!

I also have storage boxes in the basement set aside for age four and another box for age five. I'll post those eventually if you really want me to, but how about after I finally finish my Circle Time plans? I now have my new 2010-11 planner so I can revise the plans for next year.

But for now - the three year old list:

Richard Scarry - Best First Book Ever, Best Storybook Ever

Szekeres - I Love My Busy Book

Beskow - The Tale of the Little Little Old Woman

McClintock - Goldilocks and the Three Bears

Galdone - Three Little Kittens

Goldman - Three Little Pigs

Paparone - Five Little Ducks

Carstrom - Jesse Bear books

Udry - A Tree is Nice

Hall Ets - Play With Me

Hillenbrand - Down By the Station

Tranpani - Itsy Bitsy Spider

Child's Play - There Was an Old Lady

Cauley - Clap Your Hands

Hunter - Humphrey's Corner

dePaola - Favorite Nursery Tales

The Real Mother Goose

Lindvall - Read Aloud Bible Stories

Zolotow - Over and Over

Palazzo - Who's Who at the Zoo

Ormerod - When We Went to the Zoo

Degen - Jamberry

Am I Big or Little?

Leuck - Teeny Tiny Mouse

Lewison - Going to Sleep on the Farm

Berger - Grandfather Twillight

Gag - Millions of Cats

Numeroff/Bond - If You Give a Mouse a Cookie, Pig a Pancake, Moose a Muffin

Hobermann - The Seven Silly Eaters

Lenski - The Little Train, Fire Engine, Airplane

Gramatky - Little Toot

Eloise Wilkin Stories

Flack - Ask Mr. Bear, Angus Lost

Brown - The Runaway Bunny

Lear/Jan Brett - The Owl and the Pussycat

Zion - Harry the Dirty Dog

Rosen/Oxenbury - We're Going on a Bear Hunt

Golden Book - The Little Red Hen

Usborne - Farmyard Tales

Wilkin - My Little Golden Book About God

Lucy Micklethwait Art Books

Puppet Story Books (can be found on Ebay)

*******************

If I could only buy one book for my three year old, hands down I would get the Read-Aloud Treasury. My sister gave me the copy her daughters loved and each of my children have loved it book too. I have spent hours on the sofa reading this to little ones I almost have the whole thing memorized. The book is a collection of nursery rhymes, poems, short stories, a rebus and finger-plays. There is something about the illustrations kids absolutely love. They point to the pictures and demand,  "Read this one." I have been reading this book to the Little Princess before naptime and bedtime. She demands her two favorites (Three Billy Goats Gruff and Little Red Riding Hood) and then I have to convince her to let me read one new story.

Wordless Wednesday

Scenes from Theater Camp & Pony Class

Why the light blogging? Busy and fun summer days . . .

Custom Made

"God made ello (yellow) for me!"

All I Want for My Birthday

Is my two front teeth!

Double Duty

Driver's Ed and orthodontic treatment all in one morning appointment!

A Hole is to Dig

One Less

My tooth fell out and left a space

So big my tongue can touch my face,

And every time I smile I show

The place where something used to grow.

I miss my tooth as you can guess

But now I have to brush one less!

The Children's Turn for Tea

Last week the Little Prince went out for his first field trip with the school aged kids while Pipsqueak stayed with Dad while he worked from home. Our destination: a theater performance of Nick Tickle Fairy Tale Detective. Being a most accommodating little babe, he was still asleep in the sling when the performance ended so we walked a block down Main Street to the very same tea room where several MN bloggers have enjoyed three annual luncheons. Each year I have slipped out of the house for this gathering feeling slightly guilty for going and each year my children have felt slightly jealous at my going - even my little boy asked when I would take him to the tea room! Needless to say they were thrilled to have a turn.

Although I remembered something printed in their menu that stated their "inability to accommodate infants" I approached the proprietor and politely asked if I could treat my children to lunch. Seeing that the children were nicely dressed and the baby was safely sleeping she showed us to a table by a fountain.

Even better than the delicious tea, chicken salad, fruit and scone was the experience the children gained from dining in a tea room. I could not believe how unusually mannerly they behaved. Dino asked, "Do people who have bad manners here get kicked out?" To which I answered, "No, but the beauty of the surroundings helps inspire people to use their best manners."

As we were discussing the play, a lady at the next table who was out with her three year old granddaughter asked if we home schooled. We entered into a nice conversation about education, teas (she hosts an annual tea at her senior community center), sewing (she is a seamstress) and music (her granddaughter was named Elsa and I mentioned how much I liked Wagner's Elsa's Procession to the Cathedral).

I have to admit that it felt good to have represented homeschoolers well and to finally have three children old enough to behave in public, at least for a couple of hours. Like most parents we have endured our fair share of public embarrassments. When things actually go well (and even when they don't) I give myself permission to smile and feel grateful to be a mother, to have received a calling and granted the freedom to homeschool, and to receive the graces God provides to continue this vocation, day by day. Not in a gloating or bragging way, just out of appreciation for our family life and God's goodness.

This was a refreshing break for all of us, not just me. It was nice to just enjoy the one another's  company without the constant chatter or a two year old or a fussy baby. At home it seems my patience is tested at least once every three minutes so three hours of peace was a Godsend!

 

P.S. My husband thought it was a Godsend that I resisted the store-wide 20% off sale in their gift shop.

P.S.S. if you are a MN blogger I didn't know about last year or you were inadvertently left off the invitation list and would like to participate in our annual tea this summer please pipe up and I will add you to the guest list!

Quote for the Weekend - The Value of a Quarter

Do your kids like to earn extra quarters? I tend to get them by the roll to dole out for extra jobs. Or just to help get their extra energy out.

Case in point -

Me to Dino: Go outside and run around, would you? I'll give you a dime for every lap you run around the house.

Dino: Nahhh.

Me: Ok, how about five laps for a quarter?

Dino: OK!!!

Performance Time

Last month the children were in one violin recital, one piano recital and a theater performance. The photos are rather blurry and might not mean much without sound, but I thought Grandma and Aunt Terri might want to see some photos anyway. (We will really try to make a DVD of the year for Christmas, OK?)

Dino played Cuckoo and Peter Pumpkin Eater

 

Sunshine played a duet with her teacher, Showboat, and the right hand of Christmas Day Secrets.
 

Dancer's selections were two-handed Allegretto II and Little Playmates.
 

Rescue in the Night is a music theater setting of Daniel and the Lion's Den story.

Dino is in blue beside Sunshine in orange.

 

Dancer (in pink) enjoyed being in the circle of Israeli Dancers
 

Sunshine (in orange) was a ferocious lion!

Cheap Fun

Progress Report - Dino

This is Dino, our 6yo cutie-pie boy. Lover of dinosaurs and trains. Resistant and easily discouraged, but full of joy when achieving success or actually liking something new he tries. Full of questions and constantly asking how things work. Every day looking older and taller and more like a little young man. Even though he still has most of his baby teeth!

Being the third child, he has wanted to be somewhat involved in his sister's school time for the last four years. He has learned so much just from osmosis. This year he finally has his own official curriculum. His 1st grade MODG books look like this all laid out on my desk:

His daily work starts with math, followed by phonics, handwriting and religion, and poetry memorization. His blank books are starting to fill with illustrations of memorized poems and narrations of Aesop Fables. Mommy it's a Renoir is in there too - just not a daily subject.

So far this seems enough for him. Almost. On days when he seems up to more I add these and activities from ArtPac 1:

The main challenge I am still wading through is whether to have him complete his work right away when he is fresh or let him play with Wild Strawberry and keep her occupied while the girls begin. His work would take less than an hour without distractions, but takes two or three hours with everything else going on. If only I didn't need a nap after lunch I would sit down with him one-on-one and get it done without distractions. 

Another question I ponder is the difficulty level of 1st grade. Kids this age seem so bright and capable of so much more than a typical 1st grade curriculum offers. And yet, kids this age often  excel in some subjects but not others. For Dino, his handwriting seems right on track after completing two years of Handwriting Without Tears. His is right on track with reading, not having been an early reader like the girls.

It's the math that stumps me. He can tell me that 80 + 20 = 100. He figured out that if there are 8 rows and 8 columns on the chess board that there must be 64 squares all together. He loves helping my 4th grader with her math. In other words, he is way beyond the 3 + 2 problems in his math book but he doesn't want to skip ahead and doesn't seem to mind filling out the pages anyway. I don't think he is a math whiz or anything, I just think that most first graders are can do way more than first grade math books expect.

I think the lady at the local homeschool store would remind me why math books are written (for the masses, in public or private school) and how they are designed to fill up 180 days, to catch up the kids who are behind, to review, etc. This makes me tempted to skip math books with him until around 3rd grade, but know that there will be more concepts coming up in his math book that I might forget to cover if we didn't use one. So I will probably keep him on grade level with math, supplement with Games for Math and let him help Dancer when she needs it!

The other little struggle is that my Dino can focus better if he sits across from me at the Teacher's Help Desk but Wild Strawberry think he is invading her territory and throws a royal tantrum. Sometimes she is willing to share the chair  -

We aim to eat lunch by noon and I send the kids outside before or after lunch. Nap Time/Quiet Time is at 1:00 until I wake up and then he has some time to play before music practice. Here are a few things Dino enjoys in his spare time -

Looking through his favorite book -

Watching Dinosaur Train at 2:30 -

Learning to ride without training wheels!

Bear hunting  in the backyard (he finally likes exploring the backyard by himself)

Learning to read notes on piano:

He is tolerating his second year of violin better that the first and is having his first taste of participating in a theatrical production of Daniel and the Lions Den with his sisters and dozens of other home-schooled kids.

He also loves rocks, insects, constructing with K'Nex and Legos, domino run, marble run and playing with his sisters. He loves Wild Strawberry so much that he was in tears the other day as he accused Sunshine of stealing her away from him. Good thing we have another one coming!

Does that bring be to the guilt factor segment (otherwise known as Are We Meeting His Needs?) of this series of posts? I have to admit that I am a little bit worried that we will have another girl in April. Even the neighbors are concerned that he will be the lone boy sandwiched between two sets of girls. Not much I can do about it, though, is there? God will have to know best on this one. If we do have another girl he will have a lot of sisters to protect and torture.

What I do think about when I can't sleep at night are all of the activities I think he would enjoy if we had the time, money and energy to get him there.

• Cub Scouts
• Karate or Tae Kwon Do
• 4H
• an internationally acclaimed boy's choir in the area
• after-school Lego robotics classes through community ed
• more after school sports like soccer, basket ball or hockey

But then I think, he's only in first grade. Can these activities wait? Or will he be hopelessly behind in some sports unless he starts early? Personally, I would like to see each of the children narrow their interests to one musical activity and one physical sport.

I know parents hold wide opinions about outside activities. Some strongly believe in keeping their children home without the hustle and bustle of chauffeuring children around and exposing them to outside attitudes and language. Others believe the effort is worth it when they see their children blossom and develop their passions and talents.

For me, well, I have three other children to tow along, dinner to cook, enough $$$ being shelled out for our current music lessons and a bedtime to keep. Some of these activities go awfully late for little ones!

So, what do you do? Do you let each child pick one activity at a time? Do you require piano for a certain number of years? Do you try to get as many kids in the same activity as possible? Or do you encourage each child to have their own sport or instrument suited to their talents and interests? I would love to hear your replies!

*** I found out just today a little reason why it takes Dino so long to do such easy math lessons. He explained, "I like math the best and just want it to last longer!"

Progress Report - Wild Strawberry

Oh, this child.

One of these children is not like the others:

She is the first child of ours to:

• have blue eyes
• be a picky eater
• be picky about what clothes she wears
• throw full-fledged tantrums
• climb out of the crib
• like to help around the house
• be more willing to repeat Latin words than English words

And she is accomplishing some feats earlier than the others did such as:

• jumping down the stairs with two feet, step-by-step
• jumping down two or three stairs at a time
• climbing up to the top bunk and getting herself down
• dress herself
• undress herself (sometimes in public)

This one is equal parts delight and agony. Like the nursery rhyme about the little girl who had a little curl, "When she was good she was very, very good. When she was bad she was horrid!"

Out little Wild Strawberry thinks she is big like her siblings. She will not be left out. She even thinks she can read Bob books like her big brother! (every page sounds like "Da, da, bee, bee.")

She is behind in only two areas - weight and speech. Our 28 mo girl weighs in at 24 lbs. and uses only around 25 words, the most recent acquisition being, "No, mine!"

I can't really do much about her weight - she is offered all kinds of healthy food and chooses to eat or not. It's feast or famine with her. When served any milk but sweetened Almond Breeze she throws her cup across the kitchen. I do put extra butter on her toast.

The speech, though, should be coming along with so much language in the house. Or maybe she is overloaded by it all? Perhaps she became too dependent on baby sign language?

Worried mother that I am, I called for help. A team from the school district came over for a little play-date evaluation. Because her overall score included understanding and development, she does not qualify for services at this time. But they will check back at 2 1/2. In the meantime we are supposed to learn some visual cues to go with starting consonants when we speak to her. I'll have to study up during my "sofa time"!

During school time, however, we do try to keep her happily occupied. What seems to work best is to have Dino (6yo) play with her as much as possible in the morning. His work is easily accomplished in under an hour so I have learned to let him do it later in the day.

Our front closet used to hold board games. Now it is home to this:

Five storage tubs of toddler toys to rotate on school days. Here's a sampling of their contents:

Around the school room she has her own stack of paper and crayons as well as a BIG floor pad:

I picked up these Kumon books for half-price at Target remembering how much Dino enjoyed them at age 2:

I used to try to keep up with the activities in Slow and Steady Get Me Ready but have fallen way behind. As much as possible I try to include messier activities like painting and play-dough. We have big tubs, one with rice, the other with beans, for her to play in (and the older kids make a bigger mess with this than she does!). With supervision she loves Montessori type works such as  using a dropper to transfer colored water from one glass to another. But here's only so much messy stuff I can let her do while schooling the others. 

Enter in: The Guilt Factor.

Do you get this too? I look through our local ECFE and Parks & Rec course offerings as think, "If only the kids were in school I could take her to Tumble Tots or Library Story Time or Musikgarten or Princess Party class . . . " After this line of thinking I have a pity party, "If only I had a relative or friend in my life who could pick her up and take her to these while the rest of us homeschool . . . "

It's a dangerous trajectory. Moms of many sometimes have to accept that some of these activities are for the privileged first or second child and are increasingly difficult with a bigger brood.

So I read something like Homegrown Kids and feel reassured that the best place for a young child is in the home. She is getting plenty of stimulation, socialization, regularity and love. And boy do we love her! She is wild and sweet and the life of the family. It is difficult for the children to remember what life was like before she came and we can't imagine our family without her!

"Spring" Photo Practice

Just before leaving for the studio -

 

Fun Week

Dino's "Praise Parade"
 

The girls' dance camp

Baby Princess wanting to get in on the action!

Midsummer Fairy Ball

According to Mrs. Sharp's Traditions,

If you want to introduce this delightful summertime custom into your family's repertoire of pastimes, begin by telling your children that legend says that on Midsummer Night, the fairy realm holds it's annual revels (fairy ball).

Any human child who prepares a feast for the fairies on Midsummer Night will be well rewarded. . .  The fairies leave presents only for the child who is kind enough to provide a party for them . . .  little hand can set up tables with doll dishes in the garden for a fairy feast.

Doll House Tour

All this reading about doll's houses (Big Susan, Racketty-Packetty House) has piqued my girls' interest in the set up that we have.  Just a few months ago I was ready to get rid of the doll house because it seemed as if they never played with it!

Dancer requested that I photograph the rooms she has set up and would like to give you a personal tour.

"This is the playroom and the children are all playing hide and seek. The girl in the green is Ann and she is seeking. Sarah and Hannah are hiding. Can you find them?




This is the children's bedroom. Hannah sleeps in the crib and the twins, Ann and Sarah sleep in the purple beds.



This is the family room. Mommy and Daddy are talking about how the kids do naughty things. They are trying to figure out what to do. The toddler, Hannah, is just doing silly things and the twins are doing things like turning on the oven to hot so the bread gets burnt.




This is the bathroom. The children like to play rubber duckies in the bath. There is no hook so the towels are leaning against the wall. The bottle in the corner of the bath is shampoo and the mirror on the basin really works.In the cup there is toothpaste and two toothbrushes.




This is the Mom and Dad's room. The children are not supposed to go here at all because in the cabinet is full of poisonous chemicals. The statue I made myself out of chenille sticks and yarn. Like the bathroom mirror, the mirror here works too. There is nothing in the drawers because nothing is small enough to fit! The picture is of their old house.




Now to the kitchen! The tiny foods in the kitchen are choking hazards for our real baby. Hannah likes to climb in the oven! In the corner under the stairs is the girls' hidey-home and Hannah also likes to hide under the table. In the big bowl is pizza and Hannah likes to get into things in the cabinets but the watermelon is too high for her. The rug is in the left corner where you can't see all of it.


Well, goodbye! This doll house is really fun to play with but be sure to show this to your children. If they have a doll house, make sure that they take good care of it!"