Gaze Into the Heavens

A little rearrangement and a trip!

2012-01-10T13:09:00.000-06:00

Action shot

I cut the legs down on our sad attempt at a door-turned-table. It's a great size for all of us to eat at and do "work".

The awesome hammock in the corner is a Zaza Hammock we got for my youngest at Christmas. It was a pain finding studs in our old house, not to mention screwing them into oak studs. But it's secure! The kids all fight over it, and it even safely holds an adult and child.

Indianapolis Children's Museum. I love the colors the sky changes in the dinosaur exhibit area. We were not very impressed with how crowded it was, though. There were too many people and too few things for older kids to do.

Yeah...I am confused.

Being a giant dork, I was intrigued by the Arabic science texts and workbooks they had in the Egypt area. I want these for my kids!

Attacking Sphinx

Children being attacked right and left!

The playland for younger kids was ok. So crowded you could barely move, though. The Cincinnati Museum has a definite advantage in both crowds and activities.

Simple Woman's Daybook 12/21/11

2011-12-21T18:49:00.000-06:00

FOR TODAY

Outside my window...foggy gray weather. The kids are mad there is no bitter cold or snow.

I am thinking...I have so much material to sift through to prepare for homeschooling next month. I admit I'm in a bit of an information binge.

I am thankful...For clear weather for holiday traveling! I am also thankful my cat's newfound illness is relatively benign and treatable (hyperthyroidism).

From the learning rooms...Nothing but Christmas and Chanukah books lately!

In the kitchen...We made some pretty terrible gluten free doughnuts this morning. They were soggy inside and greasy. But we do have plans to make all sorts of goodies for Ari's birthday and Christmas celebrations.

I am creating...I just finished the features of my one year old's Waldorf doll. I need to make it some clothes and steal it back to give it to her as a Christmas gift. I also need to finish her striped elf hat. I really hate stripes in the round...

I am going...a little crazy.

I am wondering...How on Earth my house will ever be clean again.

I am reading...Underworld by Hancock, A Christmas Carol, The Adventures of Tom Sawyer, and Positive Pushing.

I am hoping...That I can finish my holiday crafting in time!

I am looking forward to...Seeing my family in a few days.

I am hearing...Lots of ruckus.

Around the house...Christmas books and new presents everywhere! But most of the Advent stockings are down now.

I am pondering...TPR use in teaching French.

One of my favorite things...Big baby kisses.

A few plans for the rest of the week:

Here are some pictures for thought I am sharing...

Gluten Free 101

2011-12-15T14:46:00.001-06:00

I started writing this up for my mother. My little brother was just diagnosed with Celiac's disease. Hopefully all of this information is correct! This is what we've been doing at our house after weighing going gluten free for years.

1. First thing to do-get rid of everything you own with gluten in it, or gluten contamination. Look for: rye, barley, wheat, gluten, or anything saying "malt" in the ingredients. You would be amazed here. Some broth, most soups, licorice, many candies, some condiments, some kinds of vanilla, etc. are not gluten free. Really check those ingredient lists, and if in doubt, google it. Your oatmeal is NOT safe. You have to have certified gluten free oats.

2. Check for foods labeled "gluten free", stick to whole foods like fresh/frozen meat cuts, potatoes, fruits, and vegetables. Udi's or Rudi's has good frozen gluten free bread. Van's makes great gluten free waffles. We eat cases of Bush's Vegetarian Baked Beans and gluten free hot dogs which the kids like. Lay's regular chips, Natural Cheetohs, Pirate Booty, many kinds of tortilla chips (check) are also ok. King Arthur's Gluten Free pancake or muffin mixes are wonderful but expensive. BEER IS NOT GLUTEN FREE.

3. I buy Honeyville almond flour, and whatever brand of coconut flour, sorghum flour, arrowroot, garbanzo (chickpea) bean flour, cornstarch, and tapioca flour.

4. Get rid of your toaster. It's contaminated. Use a toaster oven lined with foil or a toaster specifically for gluten free foods. Put all of your dishes through the sanitize cycle on your dishwasher. It's best to get rid of and replace wood utensils and cutting boards. The rest need sanitized because those gluten molecules get stuck in stuff.

5. Amazon has a great bulk deal on GF stuff if you find something you like. We like kinnikinnick and Udi's brand anything. Chex and Rice Crispies have gluten free varieties, and so does Annie's. Annie's even has GF mac & cheese for a great deal on Amazon if you like it. I thought it tasted exactly the same. Teff and Millet are ok to eat and they can sometimes be found as wraps in restaurants.

6. Keep in mind cross-contamination-watch what knife you use for peanut butter does not go on wheat bread and take crumbs back in the jar. Replace your peanut butter and jelly. They've been dipped into after bread has been on the knife. Also, your butter if you use a tub is probably unsafe. Buy sticks of butter and get rid of anything else contaminated.

7. Check your personal care products. Shampoos, conditioner, soaps, lotion, etc. sometimes have wheat protein in them. Bumble & Bumble's Hair Masque gives me hives from the wheat protein or something in it.

8. Stick to the first month of naturally gluten free foods. Make rice instead of serving bread with food.

Here are some options (make enough for leftovers!):

Breakfast:
Eggs
Bacon (check ingredients!)
Sausage
Rice pudding
Tapioca Pudding
Chex or Rice Krispies cereal (check for the gluten free symbol!)
Mini cheesecakes (crustless)
Pumpkin custard-pumpkin pie without the crust
Fruit crisps with gluten free oats (vitacost.com has the best prices)
Clafoutis
Buckwheat pancakes (not wheat-use buckwheat. It's gluten free!)
Smoothies
Banana Bread

Lunches and Dinner:
Roast with vegetables
Nachos
Enchiladas with corn tortillas
Rice or Quinoa pasta for spaghetti, goulash, chili, lasagna, etc.
Steak, Brisket, Chicken-roast, pan fried, grilled, or any other meat with vegetable or rice sides.
Tacos with corn tortillas
Ribs
Beans and cornbread using gluten free flour as replacer or sweet corn cake
Chili with gluten free pasta or tortilla chips
Soup-split pea, french onion (minus the bread), lentil, vegetable
Chinese Fried Rice or General Tso's Chicken (made at home)
Big Salads with meat, chickpeas, hardboiled eggs, etc.
Baked beans
French fries (Ore Ida Extra Crispy Fast Food Fries or just home fried potatoes are best)
Eggs-hardboiled, deviled, scrambled, omelettes, etc.
Quiche without the crust

Dessert and more:
Flourless chocolate cake
Flourless chocolate cookies (I use chocolate chips instead of walnuts)
Flourless peanut butter chocolate chip cookies
No bake cookies
IKEA's Daim Almond Torte (in the frozen foods section by the restaurant)

Eating Out near Cincinnati:
A list of local restaurant experiences
More experiences

Cheeseburgers in Paradise
PF Chang's
Bonefish Grill
Carrabba's Italian Grill
BJ's Restaurant & Brewhouse
Shaan Indian
Buffalo Wild Wings
Macaroni Grill (VERY accommodating towards food allergies)
Indian Bistro
Skyline Chili
Chestnut Cakery
Outback Steakhouse
Red Robin
First Watch
Burger King
Lonestar Steakhouse
Longhorn Steakhouse
Old Spaghetti Factory
Olive Garden
Original Gino's Pizza
Sojourner's Baked Subs
Uno's
TGI Friday's
On the Border Mexican Grill
O'Charley's
Noodles & Company
Godfather's Pizza (some locations only)
Chili's
Chipotle
Chick Fil-A
Maggiano's
Carino's Italian
Wendy's (menu on their wall has allergen info)

http://celiacsinthehouse.com/2010/08/greek-and-gluten-free-in-cincinnati.html
http://www.cinciceliac.com/
http://www.livingwithout.com/issues/4_8/tips_for_safe_restaurant_dining-2070-1.html
http://celiacdisease.about.com/od/socializingwithoutgluten/a/DiningOutTips.htm
TIPS: Always tell your server that you can not have gluten (gluten allergy usually gets the point clear). Ask for gluten free or allergy menus. Specify new salads and not salads with the croutons picked off!
McDonalds is NEVER ok. Print off the gluten free menus and keep them with you in your purse or car at all times so you always know what is ok.

Some of my favorite gluten free links:
http://glutenfreemommy.com/10-silly-mistakes-i-have-made-on-the-gluten-free-diet/
http://amandeleine.com/tag/gluten-free/
http://thesensitiveepicure.blogspot.com/
http://glutenfreehomemaker.com/
http://www.elanaspantry.com/
http://glutenfreegoddess.blogspot.com/

What we've been up to, and gluten free cookies save Advent

2011-12-14T21:28:00.000-06:00

My son's first real speech (on tigers).

My oldest daughter's first real speech (on leopards).

Too small woolies.

Handprint ornaments

We used Model Magic rolled out. Make sure to put holes in it to hang it up before it dries!

New Friends

And awesome gluten free cookies.

When I started planning our Advent activities, I wanted to keep in all of the good holiday treats. The kids love rolling out cookies. We used Gluten-Free Girl's Sugar Cookie recipe with some modifications. I find gluten free all purpose mix too expensive, so we made our own for cookies:

1 cup blanched almond flour (we use Honeyville)

1/2 cup cornstarch (or potato, tapioca, or arrowroot)

1/2 cup coconut flour

1/2 cup sorghum flour

1 tsp. Xantham Gum (omit the gum called for in the above recipe)

These were so amazing. Absolutely spot on for "real" sugar cookies with a slight almond flavor. The dough was so addictive that I couldn't even get pictures of it. We all demolished it as soon as it was mixed. They rolled out and baked wonderfully, too, though I found cooking for 7-8 minutes worked best in my oven with slightly thinner cookies. You can probably even leave out the Xantham Gum entirely if you use almond flour. I also used all butter and about 3/4 cup sugar. I never use as much as is called for. Make sure you follow the recipe pretty exactly, though. Don't overmix your sugar and butter at the beginning or they spread!

Moving into winter

2011-12-01T10:07:00.001-06:00

The tree is ready with it's ornaments above baby-height. Babies have warm pajamas and new woolies on the needles. This has been a long, hard year. We are still trying to find our rhythm with a new little one around, and she doesn't mind all of the attention. A lot of changes have happened here. We've cut out gluten for several of us because of medical issues, and we're still working on figuring more out. Our homeschooling has changed, too. It's gone up with the tides and been very scheduled and heavy, and down with the tides to just reading our Tapestry of Grace history books when we remember. Hopefully next year will bring us some stability in our routine.

King Arthur Flour Gluten Free Muffins with blueberries

I love gluten. It's been difficult cutting it out, and I try not to eat too many "replacements". But an occasional splurge is needed for the mind. We've had great luck so far with the King Arthur Flour mixes. The muffins and pancakes were absolutely spot on for the real thing. The only downside is the price, but it's such a drive for us to buy any, anyway, that it gets to be a rare treat.

Our favorite breakfast right now is mini-crustless cheesecakes. Sometimes I cook up some frozen fruit to put on top or add almond meal to the bottom as a crust. I don't think it's possible for there to be a better breakfast.

Home school 10/11/2011

2011-10-11T20:51:00.000-05:00

Today we did angles. In spelling we learned ur. I am reading the battle of the labyrinth and Devon is reading the Lost Hero.

Home school 10/10/2011

2011-10-10T20:38:00.000-05:00

Today we had to get up early to go to piano. When we got home we did math. Later that day we went to Devon's soccer game.

Maddie

home school 10/5/2011

2011-10-05T20:36:00.000-05:00

Today we studied more about Ancient Egypt. And Devon and I had soccer practice. Ari had gymnastics. And in math we reviewed. And in grammar we learned about the stems in words.

Maddie

Home school 9/30/2011

2011-09-30T20:52:00.000-05:00

Today we went to a coffee place. When we got home we did science and read Alice in Wonderland.

Home school 9/28/2011

2011-09-28T20:43:00.000-05:00

Today we made maps of Mesopotamia. In math we did area and perimeter. And we watched The Time Machine.

Home school 9/26/2011

2011-09-27T20:47:00.000-05:00

Today in science we made a cell out of jello. we used different foods for the parts of the cell. In history we did hieroglyphs and cuneiform.

Home school 9/19/2011

2011-09-20T08:09:00.000-05:00

Today in math we learned fractions. And in science we learned that an egg is a cell. and we learned about bacteria and archaea. Archaea live in extreme environments such as volcanoes, in the oceans and so on. The difference between bacteria and archaea is there cell wall. Archaea have strong and thick walls. And we had piano lessons.

Home school day 6.

2011-09-13T20:49:00.000-05:00

Today we learned a new word in Latin, et. It means and. And in math we learned about miles, weight, and bar models. In grammar we learned about clauses.

Maddie

Home school day 12.

2011-09-08T20:46:00.000-05:00

Today we we wrote our short stories. Devon, his short story was '' Jax the sad snow tiger.'' Abby did ''Three famous cats.'' I did ( Maddie ) '' Leo the leopard.''

Maddie

Home school day one.

2011-09-07T20:53:00.000-05:00

Today we went on a walk, it was sort of cold out but it was nice out. Then when we got home we talked about our money system, we picked our jobs to do to get our fake money. Ari picked home school helper and insurance officer, Abby picked dishwasher patrol, equipment manager, dinner helper, and librarian

Maddie

Harvest time has begun

2011-08-12T20:28:00.000-05:00

Jack be Littles and mini bell peppers

Lemon Cucumbers

And more Lemon cucumbers!

Project 365 for 8/9

2011-08-12T20:22:00.000-05:00

Fun at Six Flags

Project 365 for 8/8

2011-08-12T20:20:00.001-05:00

Attack! She's big enough to cause damage now.

Project 365 for 8/7

2011-08-12T20:17:00.000-05:00

We've had a great melon harvest this year. Molly is eating part of the Golden Midget and one that I forget the name of!

Project 365 for 8/5

2011-08-11T20:08:00.002-05:00

Project 365 for 8/3

2011-08-11T20:04:00.001-05:00

Project 365 for 8/2

2011-08-11T20:02:00.002-05:00

First harvests from the garden

Project 365 for 8/1

2011-08-01T20:28:00.000-05:00

I can not believe how big my Ari is getting. It feels like just yesterday I felt her quickening. Time is going by so fast.

Project 365 for 7/31

2011-08-01T20:26:00.001-05:00

Cattle panel trellises

2011-07-29T17:21:00.000-05:00

As part of my Project 365, I figured I could share the progress in our garden. We put up new 4' x 8' raised beds with cattle panel arches in the spring. Our melons are taking off so fast. The kids are anxious to eat them!

Working? Working?

2011-07-28T11:26:00.000-05:00

I have switched browsers a few times in the hopes that this may work. So here is me restarting the Project 365!

ummmm...

2011-05-21T18:07:00.002-05:00

I seem to be having technical difficulties posting any pictures on blogger. It hasn't let me for a couple of days. And I have so many to share!

First Harvests

2011-05-15T10:41:00.000-05:00


Strawberries! The slugs haven't eaten them all this year.


Radishes! My super picky 3 and 6 year olds will actually eat them with dip, too.

Photo 365

2011-05-14T13:20:00.000-05:00

A few of my friends are doing a Photo 365 project. Maybe this will help bust my blog block. We've been doing a lot of gardening, baseball, softball, and learning here. The problem is that I've taken to using my iTouch for photos instead of my Canon. I need to break that habit! The quality is nowhere near as good.

We have found two turtles by our house. We had to rescue them and take them to the local creek because there are lots of lawnmowers and dogs near us.

I made two new babycarriers from Dupioni. Molly is starting to get used to sunshine and green landscape.

Lots of messes mean maybe there is some learning going on.

My Self-Education plan

2011-02-20T09:20:00.003-06:00

One of the best things I have ever done is homeschool my children. Even though I was a high honors student in college not so long ago and a member of various award societies, homeschooling has shown major gaps in my own education. Some of the material I "knew" but it had not really sunk in to total understanding of the subject. So after switching my kids back to a more classical homeschooling plan, I decided to undertake my own self-education. Sure I could go take classes at the local community college or finish the last 5-10 credits I need to graduate with my B.S., but at the moment I simply do not have the time or resources. My momnesia has been particularly bad lately, so the sooner I start, the sooner my brain hopefully gets a decent workout.

This is my own personal plan based on my interests and fields that I feel need to be refreshed. The hardest parts to decide were in the religion category. I want a good overview and study of different religions but have no interest, at present, in conversion. I am very interested in history of religion and knowing what it is my friends and family believe, as well. If anyone has good suggestions, please let me know.

This plan will probably take at least 3 years for me.

Basic spines for general study and studying skills:

An Incomplete Education
The Well Educated Mind

Math

Mathematics: A Human Endeavor by Harold Jacobs
Mathematics: From the Birth of Numbers by Jan Gullberg and Peter Hilton
Algebra and Trigonometry by Foerster
Calculus Concepts and Applications by Foerster
Mathematics for the Nonmathematician

Language Arts

A rulebook for argument
Vocabulary From Classical Roots
New Oxford Guide To Writing
Woe Is I,
Eats Shoots & Leaves,
Elephants Of Style
Sin & Sintax
Classical Rhetoric for the Modern Student
Reading Poetry

Logic & Philosophy

Science

Human Physiology (text from college)
Zoology (text from college)
Genetics
Introduction to Biology
Musculoskeletal Pathophysiology
Physics
Chemistry-probably just borrow my husband's books

History

DK History
The Century
A People’s History of the United States by Zinn
Herodotus’s Histories
http://www.ux1.eiu.edu/~nekey/syllabi/his3100.pdf
http://www.ux1.eiu.edu/~cfnek/syllabi/brit.htm
http://www.ux1.eiu.edu/~cfnek/syllabi/3100.htm

French

Rosetta Stone French

Latin

Wheelock
Vergil’s Aeneid by Clyde Pharr
Pallas and Turnus by Barbara Weiden Boyd
38 Latin Stories
http://www.luc.edu/faculty/pgraha1/131sylla.htm

Greek

Greek: An Intensive Course
English grammar for students of writing
Reading Course in Homeric Greek
http://www.cornellcollege.edu/classical_studies/greek/gre101sch.shtml
http://www.cornellcollege.edu/classical_studies/ariadne/

Music

Alfred’s Adult Piano Course
Teach Yourself To Sing by Surmani
Violin (working on Suzuki book 1 & 2 at present)
A Student's Guide to Music History

Religion

Living A Sacred Life
Bible
Harry Potter and Philosophy
Catholic Bible In A Year or http://www.bible-reading.com/bible-plan.pdf
After the New Testament: A Reader in Early Christianity by Ehrman
A Brief Introduction to the New Testament
The Quran
Tao Te Ching
Bhagavad Gita
Tao of Pooh

Literature

Complete works of Shakespeare
Complete works of Hugo
Complete works of Dickens
WEM Readings
Medieval Literature: Medieval Women Writers

German

Deutsch Heute
German in 10 minutes a day

Handwriting

Write Now

Arts

The Story of Art
Drawing on the Right Side of the Brain

Molly's photoshoot

2011-01-08T12:40:00.000-06:00

Postnatal exercise

2011-01-08T12:17:00.000-06:00

I'm a little late in my "resolutions" this year. Of course, that's probably not a bad thing as I never keep them and then end up being disappointed in myself. Like the book of meditations I've vowed to work through every year for four years now. So I have decided to take them one at a time.

This month is probably one of the most stressful months of my life. We have a new baby. Beautiful, wonderful, but with yet another dairy allergy to contend with which is certainly manageable but a little harder to do in a small town with a limited selection of dairy alternatives. My son is seeing a neurologist out of state this month, which at least puts us in proximity of a Whole Foods. And one of my daughters was diagnosed with Hypothyroidism, and possibly Celiac's. So that will be another trip out of state next month to see a specialist.

In the midst of all this (and more) I have messed up my neck and have been almost continuously dizzy. All I can say is, thank God for Chiropractors! I am taking this time to not work out like the exercise addict I can be but to heal. So I have started a 30 day yoga dedication. I have only missed one day so far and still managed to do sun salutations that day. I am doing several yoga videos to switch it up day to day.

Postnatal Yoga with Gurmukh is the first, which is fantastic. It incorporates yoga with baby and some fun baby exercises. It is Kundalini which is new to me, but I am really enjoying it. It is a long movie, so I can not find time for it every day, though.

Next up is Element's Postnatal Yoga with Elena Brower. This is also wonderful and thankfully, much shorter at just over 30 minutes. This gives me a relaxing but thorough stretch but does not have baby-participation which is nice some days.

I am also randomly using The Perfect Postnatal Workout and I just love Karyne Steben. I used the Prenatal version during my pregnancy and can highly recommend that one, as well. And of course I am doing yoga and belly dance with Rachel Brice's dvds when I have time. I love her work and she breaks each move down very thoroughly.

I suppose now is the time when I admit that I have far too many workout movies. I have more than these listed here. Really you do not need to buy anything thanks to Youtube and the internet, though. I recommend the following *free* exercises for all new moms, which help getting your pelvic floor and abdomen back in shape!

May I announce...

2010-11-14T12:28:00.000-06:00

Little Miss Molly

An update on us

2010-10-21T09:33:00.001-05:00

We started back doing "school" in August. So far, of course, not everything has gone to my plans and tons of things have changed. One of these was going from Waldorf curriculum to a very loosely inspired Waldorf basis with a lot of other stuff thrown in. The great part of homeschooling is being able to change what you do to suit your kids. As much as I love Waldorf, it just does not seem to suit us and I go through this every year, it seems.

We've also been doing some major nesting to get ready for baby. I knit up tons of woolies, went to wash and block them to share on ravelry...and accidently felted them. So they are pretty much ruined. I'm afraid to take pictures of the evidence. I have started re-knitting many things and I only have about 3 weeks until my due date, so it's going to be a race to finish!

Some pictures to show a bit of what we've been up to...

Enjoying painting the belly all kinds of ridiculous things.

Making fun of my cat who seemed a little too nice at the moment.

And more belly painting!

Changing around some rooms of the house. I love these big masonite boards. They were supposed to be blackboards but I can't stand the chalk on chalkboard sound. And yes, that is my terrible handwriting.

Again, don't mind the mess. This bookshelf is where the kids have started keeping all of their schoolbooks and supplies so we can work in the dining room at our new huge table we built. In fact, I don't know if I've even taken a picture of it yet...

Autumn is almost here!

2010-09-01T08:58:00.000-05:00

We started some homeschooling things last month with a Communities block for the big kids. We went and saw Lincoln Log Cabin and talked about our area, which is a little hard to do when you're not from here and there are few resources. This month we have started Norse Myths for my 4th grader and Old Testament stories for my 3rd grader, and I will be sharing some of their work. I'm really proud of them, they have been doing so wonderful.

I can barely contain my excitement about summer almost being over. It has been so hot this year, and I am ready for everything Autumn. My belly is getting bigger and I have a full-scale nesting urge again. It's hard to imagine I only have 6-10 weeks left before we have a new little one in the house.

Rhythm of the Home also has their new Autumn 2010 edition out now! I love this site and I love Autumn, so do check it out if you haven't already.

Some finished baby knits

2010-08-23T16:03:00.000-05:00

I have been very slowly working on some projects. I have another soaker done, but no picture of it yet. Forgive the poor lighting and unblocked knits you are about to see!

Newborn pilot cap with Malabrigo Silky Merino.

Newborn longies with Treliske organic merino yarn. Unblocked and not as wonky as the picture is showing! My camera doesn't want to focus right anymore.

A little over 28 weeks! I'm getting huge!

Homeschool planning 4: Daily rhythm

2010-08-04T18:40:00.006-05:00

This has been the hardest part of planning so far. Trying to schedule around blocks of time with four children including one toddler who wants constant attention is really difficult. To put it mildly. I have a much prettier version in a Pages document for Macs but do not have Word on this computer. So if you have Pages and would like a copy, leave me a note and I can email it.

I have this printed out with appropriate page breaks and then put into page protectors for me to glance at through the day. I also have put it into a Pages file in boxes so that I could cut them out like flash cards-that way I can take one small card with me on walks to remember our songs instead of a large stack of papers.

I have tried to add links to where some of the inspiration for these things have come from. I highly recommend going to the original sources as they are pretty invaluable. Some are not the actual sources I used as they have been printed out and the sources lost over the years, so I have put alternate sources for a lot of the songs.

Morning Work

Greeting the day, we welcome each other back into the world.

Wake, sing, cuddle
Quick clean bedroom & make bed
Begin laundry
Start breakfast
Start dinner prep
Empty & reload dishes
Review day ahead and read affirmations

Breakfast

Set table with children
Blessing
Meals:

Monday: Oatmeal and fresh fruit
Tuesday: Cream of wheat and dried fruit
Wednesday: Rice pudding with raisins.
Thursday: Couscous and sunflower seeds.
Friday: Oatmeal with banana
Saturday: French toast
Sunday: Pancakes and berries

Recall stories from last night with A
Read something positive
Clear Table and quick tidy kitchen
Brush teeth
Make beds
Chores

Walk

Come follow

Come follow, follow, follow, follow, follow, follow me.

Wither shall I follow, follow, follow

Wither shall I follow, follow thee.

To the greenwood, to the greenwood,

To the greenwood, greenwood tree.

Far Out at Sea

Far out at sea

There are horses to ride

Little white horses that

Run with the tide

Their tossing manes

Are the white sea foam

And the lashing winds

Are driving them home

Sally Go Round the Sun

Sally go round the sun

Sally go round the moon

Sally go round the chimney pots

Every afternoon

Old Brass Wagon

Circle around the old brass wagon

You’re the one, my darling.

Trees in the Wind

Standing in the morning sun

Branches wide; the day’s begun...

Frogs

Hopping cross the meadow grass,

Little frogs go bounding past.

Down and up, they hop all day...

Circle Time

Blessing and candle

Good morning strong earth

Good morning bright sun

Good morning great stones and flowers everyone

Good morning fine beasts and birds on the tree

The day has begun, so full and so free.

Hello song:

Hello (name), Hello (name)

How are you?

We're so glad to have you.

Here at home.

Weather and Calendar
Poems
Fingerplays and Songs
French review

Rote memory - number or learning songs and rhymes.
Daily mental math
Recorder
Movement: Body engagement, midline crossing, spin and fold

Spinning Wheel

Whirring, whirring, softly whirring,

Round and round the spinning wheel goes.

Humming, humming, always humming,

Spin the flax to make the clothes.

Owl (EduK also has a great Owl movement)

As the shades of evening fall,

Whoo, whoo, whoo, whoo we hear her call...

Closing:

I can turn myself and turn myself

And curl up when I will

I can stand on tiptoe reaching high

Or I can hold myself quite still

I can be as small as a tiny seed

Or grow as tall as a tall, tall tree

I can be as wide as the whole wide world

Or I can be just me

Set up snack area and kids do independent work

Snacks:

Yogurt and fruit
Apple or banana with peanut butter
granola bars
popcorn
hard boiled eggs

Toddler:

Clay or Model Magic
Pouring/transferring activities
Water table
Sensory table
Coloring
Cutting activities

Handwriting
Edit a sentence
Spelling word practice- moveable alphabet, writing
Math practice
Journal and write the date
Buddy reading
Piano or violin
Language practice

Daily:

Poem
Phonics
Math

Sunday: New story at bedtime
Monday: Recorder and recall story. Verse and artwork.
Tuesday: New story and recall/write verse from first story.

Wednesday: Recall story. Verse and artwork.
Thursday: New story and recall/write verse from second story.
Friday: : Recall story. Verse and artwork. Nature story.
Saturday: Nature story art and project. Field trip?

Daily:

Poem
Phonics/word family
Math
Read together

Monday: Spelling pre-test, form drawing, MLB work.
Tuesday: MLB work.

Wednesday: MLB work. Dictation
Thursday: MLB work.
Friday: MLB work. Tongue twister. Spelling test.

Project together

Monday: Handwork
Tuesday: Painting

Wednesday: Modeling
Thursday: Crafts
Friday: Baking

Clean up

Play outside

I love to go a-wandering along the mountain track

And as I go I love to sing, my knapsack on my back

Valdaree, valdara, valdaree,valdara-ha-ha-ha-ha-ha

Valdaree, valdara, my knapsack on my back.

I love to wander by the stream

That dances in the sun.

So joyously it calls to me,

“come join my happy song.”

Valdaree, valdara, valdaree,valdara-ha-ha-ha-ha-ha

Valdaree, valdara, my knapsack on my back.

I wave my hat to all I meet

And they wave back to me,

And blackbirds call so loud and sweet

From every greenwood tree.

Valdaree, valdara, valdaree,valdara-ha-ha-ha-ha-ha

Valdaree, valdara, my knapsack on my back.

Freeze games, tag, jump rope, sneaking games.

Children’s Meditation for outdoors: (With a long pause in between each, recite the following words):
Pick up outside toys

Make lunch with Ari while kids play outside

Lunch

Set table for lunch
Wash hands
Blessing & candles
Clear table and quick tidy kitchen
Brush teeth
Read alouds

Quiet time

Get Ari to sleep (hilarious)
Books on tape/music for kids
Exercise
Shower
Knitting and meditation
Switch laundry
Hypnobabies

Tea Time: Bring in snacks and read a story

Owl

Spoken slowly and mysteriously. Hold one shoulder muscle (next to the neck) with the opposite hand. Squeeze quite hard. Turn the head slowly from one side to the other, keeping the head upright. Switch hands with each verse and continue turning.

Gripping tightly to his branch

Wise old owl seeks his chance.

Whoo, Whoo, Whoo, Whoo

Before he flies into the night

Wise old owl holds on tight.

Whoo, Whoo, Whoo, Whoo.

TIghtly holding with his claws

Across the night old owl calls.

Whoo, Whoo, Whoo, Whoo.

During the second to last verse, cross both arms over and in the “Whoo, whoo’s” bend neck forward.

From high above owl calls down

Below all hear an eerie sound

Whoo, Whoo, Whoo, Whoo.

In the final verse put hands to the sides, look up to the sky, stretch neck, and then hang heads down in a full release.

With wings so full and flight so high.

Now silent wings, seek a silent sky.

Lessons

Monday: History Story during tea. Drawing lesson.
Tuesday: History-art and narration.

Wednesday: History project. Art lesson.
Thursday: Violin
Friday: Graphic practice.

Music practice

Time with Ariana

Lavender's blue, diddle diddle

Lavender's green,

When I am king, diddle diddle

You shall be queen.

Lavender's green, diddle diddle

Lavender's blue,

You must love me, diddle diddle

'Cause I love you.

Down in the vale, diddle diddle

Where flowers grow,

And the birds sing, diddle diddle

All in a row.

Kookaburra

Kookaburra sits in the old gum tree

Merry, merry king of the bush is he.

Laugh, kookaburra, laugh, kookaburra

Gay your life must be

Kookaburra climbs up the old gum tree

Merry, merry king of the bush is he.

Laugh, kookaburra, laugh, kookaburra

Gay your life must be

Kookaburra hops in the old gum tree (hop frog style) (jumps, crawls, turns, runs, tiptoe, climbs, skips)

Mother Goose & Fairy Tales

Closing Oh How Lovely is the Evening (round)

Oh how lovely is the evening is the evening.

When the bells are sweetly singing, sweetly singing.

Ding. Dong. Ding. Dong. Ding. Dong

Cleaning

Zone clean
Vaccum/mop
Put away laundry

Play outside until dinner

Dinner

Wash hands
Set table
Hold hands and say something we’re grateful for.
Blessing & candles
Clear table and tidy kitchen
Dishes

Family Time or Walk

Friday: Movie and popcorn

Get ready for bed

Clean up house together
Baths: Ariana every night

M: Devon T: Mad & Abby W: Devon R: Mad F: Devon & Abby S: Mad Su: Abby

Snack

brown rice pudding
hot pretzels with cheese
buttered toast with honey and warm milk with honey and cinnamon.
wildberry zinger tea

Brush teeth
Yoga poses
Story / Book

Wynken, Blynken and Nod one night

Sailed off in a wooden shoe --

Sailed on a river of crystal light

Into a sea of dew.

"Where are you going and what do you wish?"

The old moon asked the three.

"We have come to fish for the herring fish

That live in this beautiful sea;

Nets of silver and gold have we!"

Said Wynken,Blynken,And Nod.

The old moon laughed and sang a song,

As they rocked in the wooden shoe,

And the wind that sped them all night long

Ruffled the waves of dew.

The little stars were the herring fish

That lived in that beautiful sea --

"Now cast your nets wherever you wish --

Never afeard are we!"

So cried the stars to the fishermen three:

Wynken,Blynken,and Nod.

All night long their nets they threw

To the stars in the twinkling foam.

Then down from the skies came the wooden shoe,

Bringing the fishermen home.

'Twas all so pretty a sail it seemed

As if it could not be

And some folks thought 'twas a dream they'd dreamed

Of sailing that beautiful sea --

But I shall name you the fishermen three:

Wynken,Blynken,and Nod.

Wynken and Blynken are two little eyes,

And Nod is a little head,

And the wooden shoe that sailed the skies

Is a wee one's trundle bed.

So shut your eyes while mother sings

Of wonderful sights that be,

And you shall see the beautiful things

As you rock in the misty sea,

Where the old shoe rocked the fishermen three:

Wynken,Blynken,and Nod.

Songs
Back rubs

8:00 Tight tuck in “Pretend to sleep”

Music: Books on CD / Classical music

Daily:

Poem
French
Greek & Latin help
Math
Read together

Monday: Spelling pre-test, form drawing, MLB work.
Tuesday: MLB work.

Wednesday: MLB work. Dictation
Thursday: MLB work.
Friday: MLB work. Tongue twister. Spelling test.

Get ready for tomorrow

Check calendar, to do list, 15 minute clean up
Run dishwasher, clear drains
Read stories for upcoming week
Prep breakfast for tomorrow

More movement sources to use: http://www.sasksport.sk.ca/cis/pdf/movement.pdf

Excellent synopsis of Heaven On Earth: http://mothering.com/discussions/showthread.php?t=1236331

Homeschool planning part 3: Yearly rhythm

2010-08-04T18:26:00.004-05:00

We are sticking with Main Lesson blocks this year for the three school age children. This does not mean these are the only things that we do or practice, but just our main focus of the month.

August:

All: Human Anatomy, Communities and local history

A: The consonants

D: Form drawing, community block with M, local creation and Native stories, Start time

M: Local geography and community, Norse myths

September:

All: Human Anatomy

A: Number quantities

D: Time and Old Testament Stories

M: Norse myths, Fractions

October:

All: Human Anatomy

A: More consonants

D: Old Testament and Native stories, start reading world creation myths

M: Man & Animal block, start Kalevala

November:

A: Try to finish letters before baby comes!

D: World Creation myths

M: Kalevala

~This month will likely be just a few days of work and the rest will just be independent math and reading practice, stories on our blocks with me when I am able, and my husband doing science activities (chemistry and physics) with them to keep them busy.

December:

January:

A: Word families

D: Time, Homebuilding and Native homes

M: Grammar with Norse Myths

February:

All: Russian Tales from Marsha Johnson's yahoo group-grammar studies is included in this.

A: Four Processes

D: Focus on grammar during Russian Tales

M: Fractions, Man & Animal

March:

All: Farm visits and gardening

A: Word families

D: Home building, Measurement

M: Man & Animal, Grammar with Norse Myths

April:

A: Fact families

D: Measurement, Textiles, Math and Measurement

M: State studies-trip to capital, Beowulf

May:

All: Gardening and building project

A: Reading work

D: Money and farming, weather, Native stories

M: Beowulf, zoology

June:

Review month

Homeschool planning part 2: Narrowing down resources

2010-08-04T17:57:00.005-05:00

It took me forever and my house was an avalanche of papers for awhile, but I'm done! I'm using the file crate system like last year. I do like the way Kara at Rockin Granola did her file crates this year, though, so I may have to start that next year. There is no way I can get all of the information I am using or have filed put up on here, but I am going to try to use this blog to track at least part of what we do each week. We started back to "school" this week so that we can have a nice chunk of time off in November & December. There will be a new baby and the holidays always feel like a good time to be laid back and just read, anyway.

I narrowed down what we are using considerably but still probably have too much on our plate.

We are not "pure" Waldorf homeschoolers. Much more laid back than it might appear on here, and I do include non-traditionally Waldorf materials into our education. Mostly things that my kids are interested in or we need extra work on.

Here are some of the most invaluable resources I have found, personally, to begin homeschool planning:

The Waldorf Curriculum Overview for Homeschoolers

Heaven On Earth

Dawn's File Crate System (as well as her whole blog-very inspirational!)

Mothering discussion boards

Marsha Johnson's Yahoo group

Our Little Nature Nest

2.5 year old: Just toddler stuff to feel like a "big kid"

Nursery rhymes (with 5 yo): http://www.rhymes.org.uk/

Mother goose

LOTW preparatory curriculum just for fun-no pressure!

5.5 year old: Kindergarten

Earth School Alphabet of Storybooks

Earth School Numbers

Alphabet activities

Right Start Math Level B

Fairy Tales

Suzuki Violin Book 1

Ordinary Parent's Guide to Teaching Reading

Handwriting without Tears

Enki and Christopherus Kindergarten and 1st grade stories

8.5 year old: 3rd grade

Earth School Dinosaurs (for fun)

Right Start Math level B & C

Piano lessons

Tae Kwon Do

Waldorf lesson inspiration for MLB: Native Americans, farming, measurement, and Old Testament Stories.

Some lessons from Ordinary Parent's Guide to Teaching Reading

Handwriting without Tears

Singapore Math 2A and 2B

Some resources from Christopherus 3rd grade

9.5 year old: 4th grade

Live Ed 4th grade

Suzuki Violin Book 2 & maybe 3

Tae Kwon Do

Skymaps

Rosetta Stone French if we get the money.

Milestones in Science kit

Word Problems from the Hobbit

More hobbit math

Greek Alphabet Code Cracker

Italic handwriting D & E

Theory Time for music

Real Science 4 Kids Physics Level 1

Song School Greek

Editor in Chief

L'Art de Lire

Lessons from Harrer's english book (waldorf)

All kids together:

Growing Food- LIFE book

Drawing with Children by Mona Brookes along with free lesson plans

Handbook of Nature Study (been saying I'd start this for years!)

Chemistry lessons along with

Periodic table book

Riddles for periodic tables

PTOE projects (awesome!)

UU books for read alouds

Pop Bottle Science

Talking to Fireflies and Drawing Down the Moon

The Three Sisters Garden guide for fall gardening stories and projects

Story of the World: The Middle Ages book and activity book

A Child's Seasonal Treasury

Seasons of Joy Summer and Fall plans for circle time

Artistic Pursuits K-3 Book 1

L'Art de Dire during Circle Time

Character Study (made secular)

Human Anatomy and birth studies. Mostly birth videos, anatomy worksheets I find online, and diagrams of the body systems.

Homeschool planning for a bunch of kids

2010-07-18T16:54:00.003-05:00

It's amazing how hard it is to plan homeschooling things when you have a large family. Unschooling just is not working for us, so we are going back to relaxed homeschooling. The kids like plans and routine and activities, so I am trying to organize a school year that somehow accomodates a new baby coming in November and starting a month early so we can get things done. So far I have to plan Kindergarten, 3rd grade, and 4th grade for my kids with a toddler in the mix who likes to be involved. I have no money to really spend, so thank goodness for the library! I have tons of homeschooling stuff to sell so we can buy things for this coming year that I can't find at the library and that is a big hassle, too. I think I should have started this in January...

So far these are the things I am pondering and trying to shorten. This is way to much to actually do! Some of the things like physics and chemistry are for when the baby is born and little. My husband is a chemist and these are things he would be really good at teaching them to give them something to do!

2.5 year old: Just toddler stuff to feel like a "big kid"

Nursery rhymes (with 5 yo): http://www.rhymes.org.uk/

Beginning to learn Twinkle songs for violin

Mother goose

LOTW preparatory curriculum just for fun-no pressure!

Get Ready, Set, Grow!

5.5 year old: Kindergarten

Earth School Alphabet of Storybooks

Earth School Numbers

Alphabet activities

Right Start Math Level B

Fairy Tales

Suzuki Violin Book 1

Ordinary Parent's Guide to Teaching Reading

Handwriting without Tears

Christopherus Kindergarten (maybe)

8.5 year old: 3rd grade

Earth School Dinosaurs (for fun)

Right Start Math level C

Suzuki Violin Book 1

Piano lessons

Aikido or Tae Kwon Do

Waldorf lesson inspiration for MLB: Native Americans, farming, measurement, and Old Testament Stories.

Some lessons from Ordinary Parent's Guide to Teaching Reading to reinforce phonics (he has sensory issues)

Handwriting without Tears

Singapore Math 2A and 2B

Song School Greek

Spelling Wisdom Book 1

Some resources from Christopherus 3rd grade

9.5 year old: 4th grade

Waldorf MLB: Norse Mythology, fractions, Man & Animal (zoology)

Fractions: http://extranet.edfac.unimelb.edu.au/DSME/arithmetic/FTACDROM1.1/fractions/teaching/teachfract.shtml

Right Start Math level C

Suzuki Violin Book 2 & maybe 3

Piano lessons

Aikido or Tae Kwon Do

Skymaps to help with our telescope studies: http://www.skymaps.com/downloads.html

French, Latin, and German Rosetta Stone worksheets. Rosetta Stone French if we get the money.

Milestones in Science kit

Music notation

Word Problems from the Hobbit

More hobbit math

Greek Alphabet Code Cracker

Italic handwriting D & E

Theory Time for music

Real Science 4 Kids Physics Level 1

Song School Greek

Song School Latin

Math for Smarty Pants

Writing Strands Level 2?

Editor in Chief?

L'Art de Lire

Montessori Grammar and Language materials for word study

Lessons from Harrer's english book (waldorf)

All kids together:

Growing Food- LIFE book

Serendipity US history & geography

Drawing with Children by Mona Brookes along with free lesson plans

50 states

FREE copies of Rosetta Stone homeschool worksheets

Reading your way through history for read aloud suggestions

Handbook of Nature Study (been saying I'd start this for years!)

Living math books for read alouds

Composer studies

Chemistry lessons along with

Periodic table book

Riddles for periodic tables

PTOE projects (awesome!)

UU books for read alouds

Montessori activities for practical life and sensorial from Getty's Basic Montessori book

Pop Bottle Science

Talking to Fireflies and Drawing Down the Moon

The Three Sisters Garden guide for fall gardening stories and projects

Story of the World: The Middle Ages book and activity book

Healing Stories for Challenging Behavior

A Child's Seasonal Treasury

Seasons of Joy Summer and Fall plans for circle time

Usborne Complete Book of the Microscope

Rapid Math Tricks and Tips

Artistic Pursuits K-3 Book 1

L'Art de Dire

Character Study (made secular)

Lots of books on peace and conflict resolution from Montessori sources through our library-like Zen Shorts

Gross Science

Need resources or are scattered in a word file:

birth and human anatomy studies

Random resources and inspiration

MEP math (free): http://www.cimt.plymouth.ac.uk/projects/mepres/primary/default.htm

Zaner bloser fonts: http://www.zaner-bloser.com/zbfontsonline/index.htm

Filth wizardry: http://www.filthwizardry.com/

Art projects: http://www.artistshelpingchildren.org/artscraftsideaskids/

More art projects: http://artfulparent.wordpress.com/

Room inspiration: http://www.playfulearning.com/Playful_Learning/Blog/Entries/2009/2/26_Our_Altelier.html

Monthly resources: http://www.egreenway.com/months/

Waldorf daily rhythm inspiration: http://www.littleleafhome.org/homeschoolgradeclasses.htm

Think! projects: http://kidswhothink.blogspot.com/

Big family homeschooling: http://angelaboord.typepad.com/three_plus_two/

Waldorf Mama for inspiration and verses

This all doesn't include most circle time things, multiplication and math songs/verses, movement activities that teach sensory skills, montessori materials printed off the web, etc.

My overgrown garden

2010-07-18T16:13:00.005-05:00

I had big hopes for the garden this year. Our first year with a yard to actually put in a garden. How exciting! Then I got morning sickness and just have not had the energy to keep up with it or plan it as carefully as I should have. We do have tons of stuff growing and succeeding, though. A ton of weeds so the whole place looks like a forest, but some were pleasant surprises, like corn left by digging squirrels and some random weed that attracts Japanese Beetles away from my edible plants.

I hurt my back pretty badly last time I weeded, so it's been a couple of weeks. But my husband has been very helpful in propping up and trellising my tomatoes that are way too big for traditional trellises. A lot of them self-seeded after last year and they were welcome surprises, so I let them be. They are doing better than most of the ones I laboriously raised from seedlings. Not to mention he started my compost pile I've been procrastinating on for ages! I think I've trained him well. ;)

For some reason, Blogger keeps saying "bad request" when I try to upload pictures, so here is a link: http://www.flickr.com/photos/36722567@N06/

2010-06-14T15:25:00.003-05:00

Sorry I've been missing. It has been a long and very lazy Spring and Summer. We found out that we are expecting baby #5 so my motivation has been lacking. Then I nearly killed myself trying to use Diatomaceous Earth to get rid of fleas organically. And finally, we are all feeling a bit better and have been working on building a new dining room table. We just finished cutting the wood for the benches so I will update once I have some progress pictures. I have wanted a new table for a long time, so I'm excited!

18th Century Child Stays Part 2

2010-04-28T08:55:00.002-05:00

So they are officially done! I do need to go back when I get time to fix the binding. I put the top binding on backwards, so I will rip it off and do it again when I don't have 10 projects going. In these pictures, they are not laced up completely as I was just testing them. And we are also redoing her shift. This is the second one we have made with the New France Girls pattern and their pattern just does not work for my daughter. So we will use Mill Farm's pattern later this week when I make my own. We are also almost done with the Mill Farm girl's gown. We are using a gray-blue linen from William Booth & Turner and I love it. It's soft and beautiful. We only have the pleating and hemming the bottom edge to go. Unfortunately, the pleating instructions are sorely lacking in any sort of illustration or picture of what it's supposed to look like or what you're really supposed to do, so it's going to take some thinking on my part.

Sorry for the weird pics. She hates her picture being taken almost as much as I do. It was quite a struggle.

18th Century Child Stays Part 1

2010-04-21T09:50:00.004-05:00

I am not done with these yet. They are for my nine year old daughter. I haven't taken pictures of the last few steps, but I am done with boning them (with reeds) and am sewing on the leather binding. Wow. That is painful! I've sewn leather before but even with my glover's needle it takes a lot out of your fingers to push through the leather and canvas.

Note: She will not be forced to wear these or tight-lacing them. She chose to have them and will wear them to the reenactment as part of her full costume. They are only half boned and comfortable on her.

I used plain blue cotton fabric for the exterior, two layers of cotton canvas for the inside boning channels, and a white linen/cotton blend that is really soft for the interior. I used cotton Gutterman's thread as I was too impatient to wait for my linen thread to arrive and Coats & Clark topstitching thread for the boning channels. I am using chamois leather to bind and it's quite yellow. My daughter likes yellow, though, so it works. Next time I believe I will use wool or silk tape/ribbon for binding if I have some.

The pattern is based off a few child stays I found online: http://www.philamuseum.org/collections/permanent/83935.html?mulR=30324 http://memorialhall.mass.edu/collection/itempage.jsp?itemid=6265 I enlarged the picture from mass.edu and traced it from the computer. I used the boning idea from the philamuseum.org picture, though, and altered them to be longer based on other pictures I can't find the link to at the moment. I made a cardboard mockup to try on my daughter and changed it a bit from there-made the armhole area larger as well as the bottom tab. They also needed extended out a bit on each side...but I forgot to cut them that way. They will do and can be altered later, if need be. If you want my pattern, I can trace it out and put it on here, but I have not done so yet.

They were constructed by (mostly) following these instructions-which were a lifesaver: http://www.cherrydawson.com/StaysWorkshop/stays_notes.htm

Sorry for the bad pictures! I was working mostly under growlights from my seedlings to keep my little one asleep.

This is my pattern traced out on the canvas. I traced it on the blue fabric about a 1/2" larger to bind over the outer edges...then I messed up and only used it to bind the eyelet edges as done in many 18th century womens' stays. Note my fabric is not as wrinkly as this photo shows. That linen wrinkles quickly but I think the camera caught all the right shady spots.

Here is my pattern on all four layers with the boning channels lined out with pencil. The angled lines are 60 degrees to the middle. It was easier to do with my ruler that way. ;) After they were marked, I just sewed the channels with my machine and hand finished the rest (so far)

It's only been two months

2010-04-16T13:12:00.003-05:00

Just a quick drop in post. Things have been pretty crazy here. After much drama, my husband's job is secure for next year. Illinois is RIFing over 17,000 teachers this year just in the public schools. My husband's college laid off almost 20% of faculty as well. It has been a hard year financially here in Illinois. But hopefully it will look up next year.

Projects for 2010

2010-02-06T10:27:00.004-06:00

I have been in a total funk for the past year when it comes to craftiness. I will knit one sock or fingerless mitt and throw them in a box to be forgotten. I think I have at least 9 mismatched halves of patterns I've never finished. I've decided I need some sort of accountablity for my projects, and have been running through all of my patterns and ideas. So here is my list of things to finish this year.

The left fingerless mitt
Guitar bag
Yoga Capris for me.
Yoga Capris for Maddie.
Ironing board cover.
Ipod Nano cases (3 of them!)
Rag nests for Easter.
Knitted bunny for Easter.
Felt hats for my girls.
Ojo de Dios
Kids' tent
Space party
Wax seals
Make our own linoleum stamps.
School cones in August.
Buy a bunch of foam for window seats, floor cushions, and bench cushions.
Pirate coat for Devon.
Make a Rag Rug.
18th century stays.
18th century Robe à l’Anglaise.
18th century Basic 6 piece wardrobe.
Another, better Chemise a la Reine.
1770 Polonaise.
18th century hat.
Drop Front Regency dress.
Bird Mobile.
Knitted underthings.
Choli
Couch slipcovers
Pleated purse
Ruffle scarf
Money pouches
More viking shoes for the kids and myself.
Fairy garden
Bed canopy
Slime
Floating shelves
Sand and water tables
Dishcloths
Bead wreath for the girls' room
Family rules canvas
Hem my jeans
Color coded towels and shaker pegs in bathroom
Light table
Basket dresser?
Ruffle shower curtain
Cat run and outdoor room
Table linens: like these.
King sized bed like this or this. With a canopy?
Side tables
Trundle bed
Kids activity table for Devon
Farmhouse table to seat 8+
Farmhouse benches
Cameron storage hutches and bases (and these and these) like Pottery Barn for girls' room.
Toy washer and dryer.
Possibly Grace's town for outside
Parsons chairs
Recycling center for kitchen.
Kids chairs
Lap tables
Entryway unit
Slightly modified nightstands
Kids beds like this or this.
Corner office desk

I have more furniture ideas, but I'll leave it there until I post again with my idea board. ;)

My Learning Plan

2010-02-06T10:14:00.002-06:00

I wouldn't leave you thinking that my kids are the only ones learning this year. Though I may not get to finish my Bachelor's degree quite yet, I still have a lot I want to learn. Here are my goals to work on for the year:

Re-learn French. Sure, I used to be a member of the French National Honors Society, but I'm a bad girl who has forgotten all but the basics.
Learn Greek with my kids.
Work on my German.
Learn Latin.
Actually finish the C25K program.
Continue belly dancing.
Continue wood working and make a bunch of furniture.
Learn to do really cool braids. Though I may have to have my 9 year old do this to me...or convince my son to let me braid his hair since my girls' hair is not long enough...
Recycle more.
Finally, after multiple failures, learn to use a drop spindle.
Work on singing well enough to not cause injuries to others.
Be a nicer mom.
Spend more quality time with the kids-individually.
Bake bread more often.
Draw with the kids more.
Plant a beautiful garden. Or at least try to.
Maybe follow this 52 project blog. It sounds fascinating.

Spring homeschool planning a la Charlotte Mason

2010-02-01T11:20:00.005-06:00

I'm sorry I keep dropping off the face of the earth. We are having some serious cabin fever here and I have been working on cleaning and reading through my mountains of library books. So two things are on my mind. First of all, I have decided to do a massive purge and redecorating of our house. I have spent the winter cooped up looking at clutter and then I fell in love. First with Knock Off Wood, then with Motivated Moms, and then with Fly Lady. Motivated Moms calls to the list loving part of me, and Fly Lady calls to the lazy but clean-loving part of me. I am on step 3 of Fly Lady and once I get on track, I will move back over to Motivated Moms, I think. The tips for kids from Kelly on her Facebook page are really great, too. Sometime soon I will post about our plans for decorating the house. I am so terrible at decorating, so I am open to ideas!

I spent a good deal of December and January reading about Charlotte Mason. We had tried her methods and Ambleside in the past, but it never really stuck. Looking back now, I can see that I had some very wrong ideas about the methods and philosophy. It is more than a booklist and narration. I am currently reading her Home Education book after reading about every other Charlotte Mason book I could find through our library and hope to put some of my notes about it on here. I am also now in love with Mater Amablis online. I have found great book lists and ideas on here. Ambleside is good, too.

Here are our Charlotte Mason-inspired plans for the spring excluding the regular gardening and crafts we do.

Our schedule: http://spreadsheets.google.com/ccc?key=0Al3I_D43tcdTdGtoNWRGRXdoUjNrOHBycXQyb1dXNUE&hl=en

On the above schedule, it seems overwhelming. But honestly, the kids get tons of down time. We are always done by 11 am unless we plan on reading a novel together. We do science on the weekends or evening and work with them each on individual things in the evening most days. A lot of it is independent work, thankfully, and we are really flexible! This just gives me a goal list to keep me on track of making sure we read certain books. Every sunday I sit down with the schedule and a general outline of what we want to cover and for each day, I write down books/resources to use and other ideas-like what we need to do next in our Drawing With Children book.

This is not a comprehensive list as I am not including anything that I will get from the library or decide to order later when our interests change.

I can *not* recommend all of these books. Some of them have notes, others we have not read yet, so I don't know whether they are good or not.

Poetry-

Child's garden of verses / Robert Louis Stevenson
Sing-song; a nursery rhyme book by Rosetti
Book of nonsense

Languages-

Papaloizos Greek for Greek and possibly Song School Greek until we can afford Rosetta Stone Greek next year.
A few Greek books from here.
Rummy Roots
English From the Roots Up.
Le Français Facile! (Very Christian resource, and honestly I don't think as good as our L'Art de Lire from N'Allenart)
Rosetta Stone French (hopefully! If we have enough tax money)

English-

The Ordinary Parent's Guide to Teaching Reading (we go through one rule a day for the older kids as review and my 5 year old is just learning from the beginning with 2-3 lessons a week at her pace).
Sequential Spelling for my 9 year old.
Editor in Chief for my 9 year old.
If You're Trying to Teach Kids How to Write, You've Gotta Have This Book
Handwriting and copywork practice from Handwriting Without Tears or Getty-Dubay italic depending on the child.

Habits/Virtues-

Aesop's Fables
Benjamin Franklin's The Art of Virtue
The Lord of the Rings
Children's Book of Virtues by Bennett
Character Study from Lower Case Learning-but without the biblical parts.
Laying Down the Rails from Simply Charlotte Mason.

Math-

Singapore 2A/2B for my 8 year old.
Math U See Beta for my 9 year old.
I am going to buy Singapore Kindergarten or Math U See Primer for my 5 year old when I get the money. She loves math but her Miquon books...I really dislike.
We are also reading through the booklist from the Living Math site. Right now we are on How To Count Like a Martian.

Science-

Nature Walks with Handbook of Nature Study
Nature drawings and paintings
Gardening
Pop Bottle Science
Every Astronomy book in our library or through Amazon such as Keepers of the Night, DK Stargazer, Space Stars and Slimy Aliens, Turn Left at Orion: A Hundred Night Sky Objects to See in a Small Telescope--and How to Find Them, How the universe works by Heather Couper & Nigel Henbest, Exploring the night sky : the equinox astronomy guide for beginners by Terence Dickinson, and Galileo for Kids.
Mater Amablis Year 2 Science: Ancient Greece.
Geology and Dinosaur Study with DK Rock and Fossil Hunter, our rock collection from Rainbow Resource, a Grandma who is a rock hound, a museum pass, and what is probably every evolution encompassing dinosaur book ever written.

Ancient History (Percy Jackson is our newest obsession-can you tell?)

Every Ancient Greece book we can find including:
Story of the Greek People
Ten Kings
Selections from 50 Famous Stories and Story of the World
Classical Myths to Read Aloud
The Children's Homer
Old World Hero Stories
Black Ships Before Troy
Percy Jackson and the Olympians series
Bulfinch's Mythology
We Goddesses: Athena, Aphrodite, Hera
Tales of the Greek Heroes
Greek Gods and Goddesses (Dover Coloring Book)
A Wonder Book: Heroes and Monsters of Greek Mythology
Classic Treasury of Bulfinch's Mythology
Daily life of the ancient Greeks
Women in ancient Greece by Fiona Macdonald.

American History-

A is for America and all of the other state books-one per week.
Encounter by Jane Yolen
Samuel Eaton's day : a day in the life of a Pilgrim boy by Kate Waters
Exploration and conquest : the Americas after Columbus, 1500-1620 by Betsy and Giulio Maestro
Struggle for a continent : the French and Indian Wars, 1689-1763 Betsy Maestro
Discovery of the Americas by Betsy and Giulio Maestro
We the kids : the preamble to the Constitution of the United States by David Catrow
Pocahontas by Joseph Bruchac
if you sailed on the Mayflower by Ann McGovern
Young people's history of the United States by Howard Zinn, adapted by Rebecca Stefoff
Uppity women of the New World by Vicki León

Geography-

A Child's Geography of the World by Hillyer
Charlotte Mason Geography book (from online)
Paddle to the Sea by Holling
Seabird by Holling
Pagoo by Holling
Maps from our history work (the kids love maps)
Around the World in 100 years by Fritz (great book! Even acknowledges other explorers and the mistreatment of Native Americans and all of that.)
Extraordinary explorers and adventurers by Judy Alter
Explorer's handbook : how to become an intrepid voyager by Marilyn Tolhurst

Just some pictures

2010-01-13T14:44:00.007-06:00

New beginnings

2010-01-13T13:59:00.004-06:00

To start off the new year, I have chosen one word to work with this year. That word is mindful. This is something I have been working on for a long time, but this year, it is my main goal.

Most of my resolutions this year center around this one word. I got to the point where I'm totally overwhelmed by everything. My house has been a total mess since the holiday influx of "stuff". So I am slowly working on simplifying things and getting rid of things. Being on the computer less (and not before lunchtime/afternoon) has given me much more time to get things going and focus on the house more. I am most actively working on being a more peaceful and mindful mother, as well.

On New Years Eve, we took an impromptu trip to Cincinnati to see my family. We bought a lot of books, ate a lot of Skyline, visited two very busy art and history museums and saw a lot of family I sorely miss. It certainly did not help my financial resolutions, but it was a much needed respite.

The kids and I have started rolling forward with schoolwork, as well. Right now we are doing phonics and math with my 5 year old when she wants to (she's still so young!) and she is learning piano and violin. Her new 1/10 size violin is just the tiniest, most adorable thing I've ever seen! She is learning the first two lines of Twinkle Twinkle Little Star and it's just adorable.

My 7 (8 next month!) year old is going to start piano and violin as well, is learning guitar, we are doing dino studies (writing books, making figures and dioramas, reading books, doing science experiments), and learning Greek, Latin/Greek root words with Rummy Roots, doing handwriting, Wii fit for OT, Singapore Math 2A, and Explode the Code book 3. My 9 year old is learning Greek, French, Root words, plus Multiplication and Measuring/Geometry with Kumon, reading like a maniac, and learning everything she can about Astronomy. She is almost done with Violin Book 1 and will be moving on to Book 2 in the next few weeks!

We have a new telescope, Le Francais Facile, Rummy Roots, Alfred's piano course, and a bunch of new things, so learning is going on full force more than usual. I plan on refreshing my French along with my oldest daughter and buying Rosetta Stone with tax return money. I have been really upset over the lack of secular and affordable French programs for children. I have been toying with the idea of making my own or at least writing up something on here to help others with this issue.

Here is my new routine that I have worked on. It still needs a bit of tweaking to get it just right, but we have been pretty good at starting on it. The kids seem happier and less bored, too. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Morning Work

"Greeting the day, we welcome each other back into the world." (Mitten Strings for God)

wake, sing, cuddle

quick clean bedroom & make bed

begin laundry

start breakfast with Abby

empty & reload dishes

Breakfast with little kids

Set table with children

Blessing

Recall stories from last night

Clear Table and quick tidy kitchen

Make beds

Chores

Exercise (alternate Wii fit, yoga and belly dance with Sadie's Complete Bellydance Guide)

Circle Time

Blessing and candle Weather and Calendar:

Poems: _______________________________________________________________ Fingerplays and Songs: ______________________________________________________ French review

Rote memory - number or learning songs and rhymes.

Daily mental math

Movement: Body engagement, midline crossing, spin and fold

Closing:

Daily Activity

Monday: Baking / Cooking

Tuesday: Painting

Wednesday: Coloring

Thursday: Crafts / Games

Friday: Modeling

Wonderboxes: handwriting, math, foreign language, weather, main lesson work, fun, challenge/game

Abby: Monday – New story

Tuesday – Painting with story. Math & phonics.

Wednesday – Story and coloring. Math & phonics.

Thursday – Story and craft. Math & phonics.

Friday – Nature story Snack, Walk and Outdoor Free Play Pick up toys

Lunch

Play works by composer: _________________________

Set table for lunch with littlest kid

Blessing & candles

Clear table and Quick Tidy Kitchen

Play outdoors or inside

Read aloud

Rest Time

switch laundry

Work with older kids:

Devon: Phonics Math Dino study

Read stories together to practice oral reading: _______________________________________ Wii fit

Afternoon:

Wake up littles, bring in snacks and read a history story

Violin

Art or science lessons

Arts and crafts time

Music practice

Clean up

Pick up

Wipe down

Vacuum

zone clean

Play outside until dinner

Dinner

Set table

Hold hands and say something we’re grateful for.

Blessing & candles

Clear table and Tidy kitchen.

Family Time or Walk

Get ready for bed

Baths

Snack with Devon

Story / Book

8:00 Devon and Abby: tight tuck in “Pretend to sleep”

Music: Books on CD / Classical music / Boomerang / Adagios

Madeline: Math Astronomy Languages

Read stories together to practice oral reading

Lay Ari down to sleep

Fill wonderboxes and set up projects for tomorrow

What I've been up to

2010-01-13T12:49:00.004-06:00

Lately I have been...

Reading this ,this, this, this, this and this.

Contemplating Ambleside more and more again.

Making fingerless mitts. I changed the pattern quite a bit to be ruffly with ribs, too. And I'm about to make this.

Watching this, Heroes and dying for the return of LOST.

Listening to this and this.

Coveting this and this and this and this.

Happy Holidays!

2009-12-25T12:35:00.006-06:00

My baby turned two on Christmas Eve. We keep her birthday seperate. This is a great wood sewing machine I got on etsy for her so she can sew when I do.

This is a wood train I found for a great deal on etsy. She loves trains. It even has little peg people that go inside it. It's a huge train!

The tree before the storm of children hit!

Free presents tend to be the best: a free handed down Melissa & Doug chalkboard puppet theatre and free dryer box playhouse.

The fridge doors are not on yet. I tried to put them on but had some problems, so I have to wait for a new saw and for the hardware store to open! But I moved an IKEA side table and chair in for a little play table where Ari can use playdough and help make food while I work in the kitchen.

The best gift of all, it turns out: homemade playdough. Blue sparkly= peppermint, lavender sparkly=lavender, yellow=lemon, pink=sweet orange. All made with essential oils. This was fun to make! I also made chocolate playdough, but didn't snap a picture.

The finished doll house monstrosity. This was a huge pain. I couldn't find the right size boards. Birch plywood would have been much better to use. But gluing and doweling boards without a workshop with the help of a two year old turned out to be a bit frustrating. It works, though. My 5 year old wants to paint it in the spring. I also ended up shortening it by 8 inches on two sides because it was just too big. For size comparison, my toddler can crawl into the bottom section. I plan on adding a bottom with legs to make a table for them to more easily use it. And to keep the toddler and cats out!

Gifts for my two year old from the "big kids". My 7 and 8 year olds made the blankets and pillow all by themselves with their fabric stash and they regifted the dog from one they had as toddlers. She loves it!

Santa, sleigh, and reindeer I made. Santa has some standing up issues! The dress is from Bayan Hippo-it was a birthday present to her. I'm having tying problems, though.

Christmas hurricane.

I made the cubbies, doll house, and all the wood figures (except the Melissa & Doug puzzle and tool box at the end) for my two year old for Christmas. She's actually played with it today which made me happy. I'll try to get close ups later. She did help me paint the figures which made them more special to her. Her perfectionist Mama had a bit of a panic attack when I walked in to a purple paintbrush rubbing down my hard work, though!

Dollhouse closeup. This turned out really well.

Another view.

It's been total holiday preparation chaos around here. Thankfully, I finished most of my woodworking and returned the scroll saw to family. Talk about a mess! The kids have all been sick and I have been working nonstop, but now Christmas is done and the kids have their presents minus a few I'm still working on.

Learning Tower giveaway at Ohana Mama!

2009-12-17T10:52:00.002-06:00

I have wanted one of these Learning Towers for so long! The Ohana Mama is hosting a giveaway of one that ends 12/25. So check out her site and enter to win!

Also check out the Little Partners, Inc. site for all the color choices here: http://littlepartners.com/

After Ari just got another good sized bump on her head from trying to share the kitchen step stool with Abby, our need for one of these has gotten to desperation!

The change to winter

2009-12-01T12:47:00.005-06:00

Christmas is the one day of the year that carries real hope and promise for all mankind. ~Edgar Guest

This Thanksgiving I found it very difficult to find much to be thankful for. We have had seeming nonstop crises of one sort or another since October. I would like to keep this blog as positive as possible, so I won't go into details here.

So here is a late and brief collection of things I have found myself thankful of this year:

The year is almost over. Good-bye 2009, don't let the door hit you on your way out.

Dogs who sense things we ignore. Like carbon monoxide slowly killing us.

Flour and pumpkins on sale right now.

Expired batteries that still work.

Good insulation.

Ghiradelli chocolate chips. Also on sale.

Watching a cardinal family that lives on the north side of my house. They are always going to and fro and are so beautiful. Their red feathers brighten up the gray background.

A woodpecker who has decided to take up residence in our Ash tree and visits our bird feeders regularly.

French doors off my room that let me study the beautiful feather patterns on our squirrel and bird friends without disturbing them.

The Percy Jackson & The Olympians series. If you haven't read them, now is the time.

Kids who know the best time to give moms hugs and kisses and tell them it will be okay.

It seems like every year about this time, different but equally stressing things pile up. What I want most for Christmas even once is to give me children a happy, peaceful Christmas season. Without emergencies, disasters, or financial calamities. I now this won't happen this year. But I am trying to make it as fun and loving as I can.

Here are some articles that I have found particularly meaningful lately.

Making Christmas Hope

A Great UU sermon for Christmas

A Thinking Unitarian's Christmas

This Christmas is going to be a mostly homemade one. Which I am very excited about. There are a few things I have already bought. But I have been having a lot of fun with a scroll saw! We are also doing Advent this year. We have been making stockings and we may be a little late, but we have most of them put up on our line. I think next year we will make something a bit smaller. All of those huge stockings take up an entire wall and they're not even all up yet!

Here is our first advent calendar:

1st December – Make paper snowflakes

2nd December – Love letters to kids

3rd December – Read While the Bear Sleeps. Make brownies.

4th December – Make window stars

5th December – Make Christmas cards

6th December – Read Owl Moon.

7th December – Watch Prancer

8th December – Make stitched Christmas tree ornaments

9th December – Listen to Classical Kids Christmas and send Oscar birthday present.

10th December – A Charlie Brown Christmas

11th December – How to Draw Avatar comics. Start reading Christmas carol by Charles Dickens.

12th December – Call my brother on his birthday. Walk around the neighbourhood and have a look at Christmas displays. Read Christmas In Noisy Village by Astrid Lindgren.

13th December – Make star lanterns

14th December – Watch The Polar Express

15th December – Treasure map to Calvin & Hobbes book.

16th December – Dream Snow by Eric Carle. Make Candy canes.

17th December – How the Grinch Stole Christmas

18th December – Go see Christmas lights.

19th December – Bake Christmas cookies and decorate them to give to family.

20th December – Visit grandma and grandpa and give cookies.

21st December – Make gingerbread houses

22nd December – Read Christmas stories all day. Including: Little Critter's the night before Christmas by Mercer Mayer, and Teddy Bears' Night before Christmas by Clement Clarke Moore.

23rd December – Camp out by Christmas tree

24th December – Ari’s birthday. Bake Christmas cookies for Christmas Eve dinner and some for Santa. Read Night before Christmas by Clement Clarke Moore.

25th December-Fill fireplace stockings with candy canes, disposable cameras, and chocolates.

Where has fall gone?

2009-11-19T12:38:00.004-06:00

It even looks like winter outside.

Cold, frosty weather, Christmas shopping started, the holidays are upon us. This year has flown by. I think a good motto for this year has been "change".

Gaze Into the Heavens

A little rearrangement and a trip!

Simple Woman's Daybook 12/21/11

Gluten Free 101

What we've been up to, and gluten free cookies save Advent

Moving into winter

Home school 10/11/2011

Home school 10/10/2011

home school 10/5/2011

Home school 9/30/2011

Home school 9/28/2011

Home school 9/26/2011

Home school 9/19/2011

Home school day 6.

Home school day 12.

Home school day one.

Harvest time has begun

Project 365 for 8/9

Project 365 for 8/8

Project 365 for 8/7

Project 365 for 8/5

Project 365 for 8/3

Project 365 for 8/2

Project 365 for 8/1

Project 365 for 7/31

Cattle panel trellises

Working? Working?

ummmm...

First Harvests

Photo 365

My Self-Education plan

Molly's photoshoot

Postnatal exercise

May I announce...

An update on us

Autumn is almost here!

Some finished baby knits

Homeschool planning 4: Daily rhythm

Homeschool planning part 3: Yearly rhythm

Homeschool planning part 2: Narrowing down resources

Homeschool planning for a bunch of kids

My overgrown garden

18th Century Child Stays Part 2

18th Century Child Stays Part 1

It's *only* been two months

Projects for 2010

My Learning Plan

Spring homeschool planning a la Charlotte Mason

Just some pictures

New beginnings

What I've been up to

Happy Holidays!

Learning Tower giveaway at Ohana Mama!

The change to winter

Where has fall gone?

It's only been two months