Anna's Birthday

      I've never been one to go all out for birthdays; the fact that all of my children were born in yucky weather months probably has something to with it, as well as always being an a budget that doesn't include spending hundreds on a party.  However, I always try to do what I can to make birthdays a special event.  This year for Anna that meant having her cousins over, making her a fun "Happy Birthday" banner, and letting her decorate her own cake.  The banner idea I got from "Pink and Green Mama's" blog. Her's was made out of felt, but since I was running low in time, I made Anna's out of construction paper.  I would like to make a felt one that I can reuse every year for all of their Birthdays. 

     I always make and decorate my own cakes; it's very fun thinking up the theme, and then decorating it, but this year Anna said she wanted to decorate her own cake.  She wanted a "Fall" cake- blue with orange leaves.  I was impressed with her design; it sounded like it could be beautiful, so I suggested that she cut the leaf shapes out of fruit roll ups (a pretty good idea, if I do say so myself) but she wanted to do it her way.    So I stepped back and let her do her thing, which was surprisingly hard for me.  I made the cake (pumpkin for Fall) and mixed up the icing (cream cheese), but she was in charge of the rest.  Like me, she hates the taste of food dye, so she didn't want the colors too dark.  I wrote "Happy Birthday" and did some piping around the bottom, and she did the rest. It turned out very nice.

  

Time Outdoors

    The past few days I've been feeling winter creeping in on us, as the beautiful crisp days of October have turned into the cold soggy days of November.  I must admit, I am dreading winter this year, not just for the cold, but because with the cold means more time inside.  There will probably be a lot of days that we wont be able to go out at all.  The girls will be fine with this, but Samuel needs to be outside at least some every day.  He is never more content than when he is playing around in the dirt, or some other busy outside task he has found.  And he is never more discontented on rainy days when he can't go out at all. Then he's a terror. I'd hate to raise a child like Samuel in a city.
     Charlotte Mason advocated getting out even in rainy weather, and where as I don't see anything wrong with this per se, I just don't particularly like going out in the rain. Especially winter rain.  I wonder if Miss Mason did, or just recommended it for other people.  At this point in time I can't send the twins out even if there are puddles on the ground, as they drink out of puddles.  It's embarrassing, particularly in public, but I can't seem to break them of it.  Maybe they'll grow out of it before winter hits in earnest... Maybe.

Our Island Story - St. Alban

I love finding good pictures to go with Our Island Story, since the copy we own is not illustrated.  I thought I would share a couple I found for the story of St. Alban, for those of you who are going through Our Island Story as well. They're a little gory, but so is the story...

Pumpkin Carving

     I've carved a pumpkin every October since I've been married.  Last year was the only year I didn't.  I just didn't have the energy to do anything extra, but I missed my tradition.
    

    This year however, the babies were old enough to "help", and it was something we could all do together.  As the twins are approaching two, they are able to be a bigger part of our family activities, and taking their own roles in our family.  I'm starting to get a sense on how it is to be the mother of more than one child.

For instance, when it was time to clean out the pumpkin, I just cut off the top, and let the kids go at it.  I didn't feel compelled to be down there with them, because I knew they were having fun doing it themselves.  It has freed me from being a play mate to Anna, and can enjoy just being a mommy. 

     I am looking forward to when the twins can fully participate in everything we do, and become friends for each other and Anna. In many ways they already are.  This morning while Anna was watching TV, Samuel walks up to her and taps her shoulder; she says "what?", and he gives her a big hug.  Sometimes sisters just need hugs.

  Our finished "buppy", as Abriel calls it.

Halloween

 
     Well, I did get my Raggedy Ann and Andy for Halloween, and they looked adorable.  We went out for a little trick or treating, and then to Awanas for their Halloween themed night. 












Anna was a Princess, of course.  Although I think this might be the last year she wants to be one, as she seems to be growing out of loving all things princessy.

 




Here is Anna wearing her mask.  I guess she wanted to give her costume a feel of mystery, so she asked that I make a mask to go with her outfit.  The hat and mask are made from poster board, and were a cinch to make.

Samuel with his Daddy.  He was a little intimidated by everyone's costumes, a football player in particular, for some reason.  Unbelievably, both Samuel and Abriel kept their wigs on for more than a few seconds.  If I had a little more time I would have made their wigs so that they wouldn't gap, but I thought that there would be no way I would be able to keep them on anyway.  Maybe all the oooing and ahhing over how cute they were helped. They do like to be cute.

Learning Opportunities Are All Around

     Anna had an Ophthalmologist appointment today to get her eyes measured again before having surgery to correct her exotropia.  Her last appointment took about three hours of mostly waiting, so this time I stayed at home with the twins, and Hubby took her to the Dr. Not knowing if they would have to dilate her eyes, I wanted her to get as much school done while in the waiting room, as possible.    So I packed her backpack with everything she would need for school today, and was looking forward to a day off from teaching.  It turned out that the wait was not as long this time, and all she got done before coming home was her math. 
     I have to admit I was slightly disappointed at losing my teacher break, but I was pleasantly surprised when I saw the picture Anna had drawn while I was getting lunch made.  It's a pretty accurate drawing of an eye ball, with a very happy girl underneath. Apparently, the girl is "happy about her eyes".  Anna then told me what they were going to do with her eye muscles when they  operate on her eyes, and that her eye has six muscles.  It was a nice reminder that you don't have to sit down with the books to learn something.   

Notebooking

     I recently decided to incorporate notebooking into our schooling.  Anna is very into anything crafty, so this seemed like a good fit for her.  When I first suggested it to her she seemed uninterested in the idea, but I started going through ideas about what she could do with it, and the next thing I know she is asking if she can start on 

one right away!  She wanted to make her own "book" so we chose to use a paper binder, instead of a three ring one.  I thought it would be fun to do a notebook on The Adventures of Peter Cottontail as this is the book she is reading to get her "Book It" pizza this month.  Making the notebook helped perk up her interest in reading the book, and become more attached to the book it's self.  It has also been a great way for her to practice her growing cursive skills.  I think the next book I would like for her to do a notebook on is Our Island Story.  She has been having a hard time getting into it, and a note book might help it come to life.
     Here's a look at some of her pages.

Reddy Fox is laying in wait for Peter in a hollow log.  You have to lift the flap to see him.

Here's another lift the flap page. Reddy Fox is taking a stroll with Sammy Jay...

...and when you lift the flap you see Blacky Crow.

I suggested to Anna that she write an excerpt from the book, but she didn't like that idea and so she wrote this. For Anna, originality is very important.
     The next one is a collage, depicting Peter talking to Grandfather Frog.
     Notebooking has turned out to be more educational than I first thought that it would be, and Anna really seems to enjoy it.  I would love to see other peoples finished notebooks for more ideas on how to put it together.



Monday, Monday

     Well it's Monday again, after an another exhausting weekend, Monday can seem like a break.  I don't think it's suppose to be like that, but some where in the effort to do "fun" things, we end up making more work for ourselves. 
     Once in awhile when my house get too chaotic, I go on a tossing out spree.  I can sometimes be ruthless, but I have yet to miss anything I have gotten rid of, and I sure do appreciate having a few less things to pick up.  Maybe that's what I need to do with my schedule.  Go through and "toss" the activities that we don't absolutely need. It just might make things more laid back around here.
     And now this tired Mama is going to bed.

I love dressing up twins!

     

     I've known what I wanted to dress the twins up as for months, because one of the perks of having twins is dressing them up in cute coordinating outfits for Halloween.  I don't know how many more years they will let me do this, but while they don't have a choice, I'm sure having fun! 

Last year they were baby gnomes, in the style of Rien Poortuliet and Wil Huygen's Gnomes.  I've been in love with this book since I can remember, and getting to dress my little tootles up like that was a blast.  If you aren't  familiar with the book, you should definitely check it out.

  

Can you see the resemblance?   This year they are going to be Raggedy Ann and Andy, another one of my favorite books.                                                                                                                                                                                                                                

Fun Spelling Resource

     Spelling is the one subject that I am not completely happy with the way I am teaching it, so I have been changing things up lately in an attempt to find something that works well for us.  Actually, teaching spelling in First Grade isn't being a pure follower of Charlotte Mason's teachings, but since I learned to spell in a way very similar to what Charlotte Mason recommended,  yet am a horrible speller, I decided to veer off the Charlotte Mason path a bit for this one.
      Last year, and the beginning of this year, I taught spelling by having Anna go through a list of common English words, studying them ten at a time with flash cards, and then writing them on the marker board.  This seemed to be going okay in terms of ease for me and not too much grumbling from her, but she didn't seem to be retaining the words she was learning that well, so I went looking for something better. On the Internet of course.  What would I do without the Internet?  Several sites I found say that teaching spelling by memorizing lists isn't the best way, as lists are easily learned, and forgotten. (Ah-ha!) These sites recommended "wall words" as a teaching tool.  So, what are wall words?  Turns out they can be flash cards, (This made me happy, as I am rather fond of my homemade flash cards.) but instead of using them for just rote memorization, you use them to play games, sort, write sentences that use as many of them as possible, etc. 
     Now the way I teach spelling is to rack my brain every day for fun ways to use my wall words, aka flash cards.  Anna is having more fun, but what I really need is a system.  I have a tentative one forming, but was missing an activity for one day.  Now I have it.  A spelling word, word finder puzzle.  It's fun, and you really have to think about the way a word is spelled in order to find it.  The best thing is that I found a site that will put a puzzle together for you in a matter of seconds. Of course I found it right after I had already created a puzzle using a graph spread sheet, but oh well. This will really come in handy next week!
Here is the link for those who may wish to know.  puzzlemaker