So how was your Thanksgiving?

Ours was nice and peaceful. We went to my mom's house to have dinner - she and my sister did most of the cooking, and I provided pies.... one pumpkin-hazelnut, and one apple-quince-mince pie from the beautiful cookbook Local Flavors. That pie was a lot of work, but it was good! I have never eaten mince pie before, or made one for that matter, so I am really glad it turned out well. We also read The Very First Thanksgiving Day, played games, talked about what we are thankful for, etc....

We're now gearing up for Christmas Around the World, which will take us through the next 3 weeks before our winter break. I have a few books from the library that I am still going through (will let you know what I think), but I did thumb through Christmas Crafts from around the World, and it looks promising. The crafts seem simple enough without being too easy or silly. Someone on one of the homeschooling boards I go to recommended this web site for Christmas cookie recipes from around the world. So it seems that we'll have a good full unit this month!

We're starting (tomorrow) to read Story of the World again too, just as a "story" book. After much thought, I decided to start at the beginning again, to refresh their memories. I figure if we read 2 chapters a week, we'll get through volumes one and two by the time we start a new academic year next fall. That will get us up to the Age of Exploration right in time for the Elf (and the Fairy) to dive into Native Americans, explorers, colonization, and so forth. Then I can read through volumes 3 and 4 over the next couple of years after that. I think that by doing this, even as we pursue other interests, the kids will get an idea of the flow of history.

My semester is winding down. I have two fairly major assignments left, and then nearly a month's break. In the spring, I'll be taking an additional class (have to finish my math off someday!), so I need to figure out a better schedule for homework... I'm a bit nervous about work too, as my store's manager is retiring early next month, and I have no idea what the new management will be like. Thankfully my schedule seems to actually be set in the computer, so hopefully there will be no changes to it. We'll see though - I have had Saturdays off cause a lot of dissention in the past.

In other news, our winter veggie garden is doing well. We have planted beets, carrots, various greens, snow peas, cauliflower and broccoli. I added some pansies to my front yard, planted spring bulbs (crocus and daffodils), and the Elf has taken over the chore of mowing the front lawn using our spiffy push-mower. That reminds me, I owe him two dollars for last week's efforts. We don't do allowances, but the kids can earn money going above and beyond with their chores. We got a "new" couch and chair-&-a-half for our family room yesterday, so the futon has moved into the kids room for the Elf. He is really happy to have the space to stretch out in bed, having now moved from a twin bed up to a full-sized one.

And that's it from our little corner of the world!

Our week in review...

Ooops. We didn't do much, honestly. It's just been one of those weeks, you know? I did read a lot to the kids, both books about South America and more of The Cricket in Times Square. the Elf read more in Danny and the Dinosaur. But somehow, time for sitting down and doing lessons seemed elusive... evasive. So I'll chalk this week up to unschooling!

I also had a lot of reading this week. For my class, I read Of Water and Spirit: Ritual, Magic & Initiation in the Life of an African Shaman, which was fascinating and enjoyable, especially after too many weeks of Freud. I also read Plenty and am now reading Animal, Vegetable, Miracle - both just for my own reasons. Both Plenty and AVM have really made me think about food differently. I do try in general to buy local, to support local businesses and local farmers, but I think I need to be more consistant with my efforts. I added an "Eat Locally" button to my sidebar, which helps find restaurants, farmer's markets and much more just by typing in a zip code! I realized too, in talking with my husband yesterday, that we are very fortunate to live where we do, as nearly every food we eat (except coffee, chocolate and a couple of other little things) can be grown locally. So while I can't say I'll go to the lengths of the authors whose books inspire me, I can try much harder to live more lightly on the planet.

Enough lecturing and rambling... it's a gorgeous day here and we need to get outside!

A stitch and other fun...

Last Sunday, we definately hit a milestone, or marker of some sort - the Fairy's first emergency room trip for an injury (she went to the ER once before when she had RSV at the age of 7 months). Anyhow, we have a lovely, waist-high (on me) chain link fence out in front. I was gardening, and she and the Elf were chasing each other. She slammed the metal gate, and it came back and slammed into her. Right through her upper lip...

So, off to the ER we went, as she was bleeding everywhere. the Elf came along, and brought his library book, Danny & the Dinosaur, in case we had a long wait. They saw her within 5 minutes of arriving though, and she was very brave! Thankfully, she only had to get one stitch, which can come out on Saturday. We also learned that unlike me, and her brother, she does not seem to have a penicillin allergy, though the pharmacist warned me it could show up in the future. After our hospital trip, the Elf announced he wants to be a "people doctor", while the Fairy is still set on being an "animal doctor". I can see lots of college financial aid in those futures!

Let's see, what else? We had a meeting with our resource teacher this week. the Elf read aloud from the aforementioned library book to her, and she declared it the best he has ever done! He has a huge tendancy to fidget so much while reading aloud that it distracts him from reading, so a while ago the resource teacher suggested giving him an object like one of those squeeze balls, or a balloon filled with flour, to fidget with. He chose a sand-filled lizard toy, and while I was skeptical, it really has helped with his distraction level.

And just for fun, here is a picture of our lovely red living room wall:

Don't mind the clutter!

4-H Projects

the Fairy's totem pole, with (in descending order) a werewolf, an owl and a dolphin.

the Elf's totem pole, with a leopard, a Dalmation, and a tiger. He even took the time to put tails on all the animals, which you can just see in this picture.

the Fairy's pinch pot, all painted up (she loved the gold craft paint).

the Elf's pinch pot, which he painted very carefully.

Wow, a weekly report 2 weeks in a row!

Sometimes I amaze even myself ;)

Here's this week's run-down....

Language Arts
the Elf is getting more confident with reading. We have been practicing a lot this week with the reader - it's really nice to cosy up together in our big chair and take turns reading aloud. He also worked in ETC (4 more pages), filled out a report on a rainforest animal, and worked on the book he is writing. We are enjoying the story of Paddy Muskrat, and the Elf wrote a few sentences about what we read this week (and drew a picture) in his MLB (main lesson book).

This week, the Fairy concentrated on the letter "H". We read The Tale of Two Bad Mice, and she did her uppercase and lowercase "H" drawings in her MLB. She did a printout from Starfall, and colored the Herb Twopence Fairy in a Flower Fairy Alphabet while I read the corresponding poem to her. We read The Big Honey Hunt and The Happy Hedgehog Band.

We also finished up Charlotte's Web at long, long, loooong last. I ended up reading the last 6 chapters straight through because the kids knew the end was coming (they've seen both versions of the movie). We all had tears when Charlotte died despite being forewarned. Now I need to pick a new "big" book! Edited to add: We just came back from the library, having picked "The Cricket in Times Square" as our new bedtime book.

Math
Math was surprisingly easy this week. the Elf buzzed through more addition and subtraction lessons, money problems, and more. the Fairy is right on track with her math lessons too. We also played Go Fish at least 3 times this week, which I count as math at least for the Fairy (matching numbers, counting how many cards and then pairs she has, etc.)

Social Studies & Science
We are still in South America. This week we read Mira & the Stone Tortoise, and two legends about the Peruvian god of thunder. While I read, the kids worked on maps of South America I printed up from Enchanted Learning. We also read some more about rainforests, and the kids finally did their animal report forms - an iguana and a tortoise. This weekend, we're doing tissue paper rainforest art.

Nature Studies
All about bats this week. We read Zipping, Zapping, Zooming Bats. We read StellaLuna and then watched the video, which the Fairy picked out from the library last week just coincidentally. The kids put wings on and pretended to be bats, trying to hang upside down of the back of the futon couch. As the first book contained instructions for building a bat house, the Elf has asked M to help him build one. They also watched the Magic School Bus episode on bats, which is one of their alltime favorite episodes!

Other
We went to another American Kids Crafts project at 4-H. You can view the finished creations here. They painted the pinch pots they had made before, and made totem poles. My kids are really enjoying the crafts so far! Of course, they also enjoyed going out for ice cream and then playing tag with the other kids in their project group afterwards.

Side Notes
In the grocery business, you get paid extra (time and third, though it used to be time and a half) to work on Sundays. And I always assumed that really boosted my paycheck a bit, so I have always worked as many Sundays as possible. Well, the last two weeks, I have not worked Sundays. I have had the entire weekend off instead (except that I spend a decent chunk of my Saturdays either in class or doing online homework), and having that time with my family has been really nice, but I was worried about the pay thing. Got my check for the first Sunday-pay-free week yesterday, and you know what? Only $15 difference between yesterday's check and the average check. I think I'll keep my Sundays off as long as they keep giving them to me!

Oh, and there's a reason I am not afraid to tear up the carpeting in the kids room - I've already had it peeled back to the middle of the room (can't help that curiosity), and the floor is very nice underneath. Of course, I've also peeled it back in the hall and livingroom, where it was apparently never sealed and finished, but will make a great subfloor for bamboo flooring at some point.

I also learned this week that we do function best if we do lessons in the morning, when we are all relatively fresh, but today I feel like I am coming down with M's nasty cold (no park day for us), so I think it'll be a slow day.

Just tweaking my blog...

I added my list of mostly free resources back into my sidebar - hopefully something on there will be useful to someone! I also added my Elementary Plans to my other blog. This is mainly for my own benefit, as it helps me keep track of potential resources.

Other than that, all is well in our household. We are finally painting the interior of our home - so far, we have done a deep red accent wall in the living room, which really makes the white and deep red fireplace stand out, and my BIL is picking up more paint today or tomorrow. The kids have definately settled on colors for their room: soft blue walls, white trim, and a deeper blue ceiling with the night sky stenciled on it in glow-in-the-dark paint (I plan on doing the stencil with white paint, then the glow-in-the-dark, so they can see the stars day and night). We're also tearing up the carpeting in their room, as there are lovely hardwood floors underneath. First, I plan on using the carpet as a giant drop-cloth for painting, then I'll rip it out! I am also having my mom, who was a professional landscape designer, help me with sketches for the front yard.

Schooling is going well too, but I'll save that for tomorrow!

Halloween Pics...

A fairy princess

Jack o'lanterns (the Elf's on far left, the Fairy's in the middle and mine on the right. the Elf completely designed and cut his own this year)

And a bloodthirsty vampire