Receiving

and the gifts continue... 
 

0016. Friends to spend an entire day with, in a car, at the beach.
0017. A hill with apples, friends and lots of rolling down hills.
0018. Maleiah's fashion sense or lack thereof.  It makes me smile.

0019. A school day done by noon.
0020. Rain and wind, leaves twirling off the trees.
0021. Art projects to make with the twirling leaves.

0022. My husband who works hard days to provide for our family, even when he feels sick.
0023. Birthdays to plan for.  :)
0024. Heads to knit hats for.
0025. My dad, and his optimism that carries him through his stroke recovery.
0026. My step-sister who now feels more like what I imagine a sister might feel like.
0027. Bloggers that inspire.
0028. A new day.
0029. Friday Night Movie Night at the movie theater!
0030. Dinner with friends, celebrating another year. 
0031. A brother and a sister

For more go here...

Tot School~Week 1

To say that I have struggled with what to do with Maleiah this year is an understatement.  There are so many great websites devoted to preschoolers, curriculum, lesson plans and arts and craft ideas that it can make a mommy's head spin.  I used to be a preschool teacher and I have resource books coming out of my ears.

Overload set in weeks ago and I could not make a choice and so I kind of just threw things at her (not literally) to try and keep her busy but I was not happy with that either.  So I did some looking around at Carisa's Totally Tots site and what I liked was that there was a lot to pick from (Alphabet, Bible, Literature...) but I could pick and choose what my focus was going to be.  I grabbed the Tot School Planning Form here because I only had to pick 3 things to purposely do with her each day and then anything else is extra.  I needed to have a plan so I cold have things ready when our time starts.  if not, well she's lost her interest waiting on me to get my act together and then I am frustrated with myself and her and...you can see where the day is going, right?

Okay, so I made a plan based on this part of the site: Now I Know My ABC's and added in activities from my own books and things I did when I taught 3-4 year old's.  We are adding some seasonal themes during the week and activities from our library readings too.  Overall it was a great week and I am actually looking forward to next week!

Maleiah is 36 months. :)

We read Chicka Chicka Boom Boom this week to introduce the ABC's!  For October we were also focusing on the color orange and triangles.

These are the things Maleiah made this week:

• a triangle collage
• all things orange collage
• painted with orange
• painted a pumpkin and then glued on triangle shapes for the eyes, mouth and nose
• mixed red and yellow to make orange
• and painted with ABC cookie cutters

Other activities she enjoyed

• Play-Doh
• Leapfrog Word Whammer (singing the song mainly)
• Starfall  

Pumpkins~Outdoor Hour Challenge

We are so behind on the Outdoor Hour Challenges!  We finally tweaked our schedule to make it happen on Fridays and we are having lots of fun with them.

We wrote down some things we learned from the book about pumpkins and then we did a drawing.  We also talked about the life cycle and Caeden did a cut and paste activity.  We grew pumpkins last year so we had some prior experience with the vines and flowers and for the study we had a pumpkin we purchased at the store.

Next week:  Oaks and Acorns!

Trick or Treat~2009

Robin Hood (or Harry Potter/Frodo...whatever your vote may be)

A Fairy Princess

Apple Hill 2009

Another year, another trip to Apple Hill. 

Caramel Apples, Apple Fritters, Apple Pie...

Pumpkins and rolling down hills. 

See you next year...

Happy Birthday Maleiah!

She's 3.  

Although she says she is 8.  

And sometimes her name is 7.

She asked for monster cupcakes which seemed appropriate.

And at the end of the night she turned into a princess.

We love you Maleiah Joye...you are a blessing everyday.

Going On A Leaf Hunt

A spontaneous family art night.

 

We're Going On A Leaf Hunt

Stained Glass Leaves: 

• wax paper
• leaves
• hot iron
• construction paper cut into strips for frame. 

 *Make sure the wax paper is ironed right side together or it won't melt correctly.  These are so pretty hanging in a window!

From Wonder to Wonder...

Existence opens...

Wonder:

To think or speculate curiously.
To be filled with admiration, amazement or awe.

We have the plague. Well the kids do, hopefully the adults are spared.

Fevers, coughs, sleeping children and quarantined to the house.....all....week....long.

So, I have been collecting every morsel I can find about Charlotte Mason. I used to wonder if I was more Classical or Charlotte Mason minded and I am definitely the latter although I do love pieces of the former. I ordered books and I have been searching for blogs like a crazy woman.

Some faves...

Simply Charlotte Mason
His Mercy Is New
Our Journey Westward
In the Heart of My Home

and finding inspiration through all of them.

I spent some time here:

wandering, soaking and again inspired.

Rearranging, nesting, purging, snuggling, and watching more cartoons than I would like to admit: This has been my week.

Chinese Pistache~Autumn Tree Study

This our first Outdoor Hour Challenge and I am so excited!


So we have a tree in our backyard that we actually wanted to rip out but now I have grown to like it very much. It has berries that the birds eat which is great for bird watching. We also have squirrels that chase each other and then eat the seeds out of the bird feeder. The berries are beautiful when they change colors in the fall and winter. I did not know what kind of tree it was until last week but thanks to Google I am now a little smarter. :)


We watched, we listened, we did some drawing, rubbing and smelling. And it was good.

From Ringorland

Chinese Pistache