Naptime Seamstress

Puzzle!

2012-01-15T16:17:00.000-08:00

You'll notice a definite theme here! First up, the diaper bag that I designed myself. And made a paper pattern for. And sewed. AND, my very first ever lined, zippered bag!

I wanted to make a diaper bag for C to use for Freezy. I wanted it to be lined, have a zipper, and be stuff-able. After looking around the internet, I found this to use as inspiration. It's obviously quite a bit smaller, but I liked the pleats because they would lend themselves to being stuffed.

I drew my own pattern, using an 8.5 x 11 sheet of paper and my french curve. I couldn't figure out how to pleat my pattern (printer paper is rather un-workable!); so I just gathered it. I did use Skip to My Lou's instructions and they were very easy to follow. Of course, I had to add the straps and the ruffle at some point, I can't remember when. This was another one of those think about it some now / cut some out then / sew some now / sew some later / hide it when I hear footsteps - kind of project.

But, I'm tickled with it and so is C, so it's a winner!

Here's the nightgown I wanted to make her. (Look at that face. This child has a million funny faces.) It could be a dress. In fact, for two days (separated by a washing machine) she wore it as a night gown AND during the day as a dress. Whatever. It made getting everyone ready in the morning easier.

There are some imperfections, which I won't point out due to space considerations!!! Well, there really aren't that many, but there are a few. This is that old, worn out Ottobre pattern - Spring 2005, #15. There are many incarnations of this (the pattern is actually for a shirt, but I lengthened it sometimes).

these are just a few. I could look them all up, but the natives are getting restless.

Now my machine is at the shop, being cleaned and serviced. So - no sewing for a time.

Long Time No Post

2011-12-21T09:17:00.000-08:00

But I've not been idle! I have no pictures for some of the things I've been busy at. You know, the normal laundry, dishes, meals, etc. We've been fighting a stomach bug for about 1 1/2 weeks now, I'm hoping we're soon done with that.

I have sewn just a little. Not near enough. Not nearly what I'd like to have sewn in the last month. Anyway. Some pictures of what I've been doing.

A tote bag for O's violin teacher. I got these pieces of vinyl something-or-other out of the pound box at my favorite fabric shop, intending to make a tote bag for myself. But, I needed a gift for O's violin teacher and not another tote bag for myself. So, there it went. She's a fabulous lady; and now she has a new bag!

Next up, a Christmas present for C. She doesn't know about it, so don't tell her! She loves puzzles. And we happened to be walking (very fast - the girls were all grumpy) through JoAnn Fabrics a couple months ago and we spotted this fabric. It's Autism Awareness fabric, which I didn't know until I read the selvedge egdes. But - more important to C is that it's puzzles! So I went back and bought some. I intended to make C a nightgown for Cmas, but ran out of time. So, Freezy got the nightgown and I'll have to make something for C later on. Maybe for her birthday.

I made this the oh-so-technical way: layed the bear down on some scrap fabric, traced around her, stitched up the "pattern", made the necessary changes, and then used the pattern to cut out the real fabric. I'm tickled with how it turned out - especially since I got it done in 2 hours! (And my Mother-in-law still has the girls!! Free time!!!)

I used my very neat snap press for the snaps on the back. And it works great. I'm so glad I got the press that you have to hammer instead of the pliers. I'm really liking them. (And thinking up new projects, just to use snaps!)

And last, a picture of something else I do. No, I don't sit and spin (or spit and sin, as the younger two girls say). But I do take pictures of the new, dangerous ways they find to entertain themselves!! I have no idea what possessed G to put the sit and spin on the kiddie table. But she did. After I snapped a picture, I reprimanded her. She hasn't done it again, but it's only been two days!

Self-drafted

2011-11-13T11:23:00.001-08:00

I forgot to blog about this, but I meant to. Because I'm really tickled with how it turned out.

I wanted a long sleeve pull-over shirt to replace my favorite one, which is beginning to look very worn. So, after looking at a youtube video done my Nancy Zieman, I made my own pattern.

First I pinned all the seams on one side of my shirt. So, the shoulder seam, the arm hole seam, and the side seam all got pins in them. By in them, I mean in the ditch - right down there in the middle.

Then I traced it - put Swedish Tracing Paper over it and drew over the pins with a marker. Then I added a seam allowance. Then I cut out the pattern, then cut the fabric. Then sewed it up. And it worked! I was so tickled. (But like I said before, I can only live three days on the warm-fuzzies from a project working up good - then I forget).

So, this is how I looked at church this morning.

And here's G and Emma Mary.

Here's G teaching Emma Mary the alphabet. In the wrong order. Perhaps I should say an alternative order.

Sweat Shirt!

2011-11-10T13:08:00.001-08:00

Until about four years ago, I had no idea people could make sweatshirts for themselves. But I saw some sweatshirt fabric at a fabric shop and bought some. (I know - I need to get out more - or at least have more magazine subscriptions or something!) However, I didn't have any patterns. Or any idea what I really was going to do with that fabric.

Well, I actually did have a pattern - Mom gave me a pile of patterns that she used to make clothing for me, and after looking through them, I came across a sweatshirt pattern (OOP, obviously - I'm approaching 40 (but my sister-in-law IS turning 40 today! *L*) I digress.

It's a 6x, H's size. So - I made it! It was my first time using this heavy knit. My first time using a stretchy collar and cuffs and band. And it turned out great! It is missing the snaps on the left shoulder - they're in the mail, according to JoAnn Fabrics.com!

The only thing that didn't go right was the collar. The inside, actually. The directions said to sew the collar on. Then fold the collar in half, and catch that inside stuff by topstitching from the outside. Ummm. yeah. That is such a messy way of doing it. But, since it has an opening on the left side, I was flummoxed and just followed the directions. If I make this again, I need to figure out another way to do it - and get the inside nicer.

Naturally, the pattern didn't say to topstitch any of the seams - but I learned that from Ottobre. And so I did topstitch them and am glad I did. I checked one of my sweatshirts (from MU, about a million years ago) and it's topstitched on both sides of the seams. I'll be keeping that in mind for next time.

I added a little pink ribbon to the sleeve, which is another first for me. :) I'm improving! Yay!!! I can live for about three days on the warm fuzzy feeling from finishing a project and being happy with it *L*.

Here's an up-close of the embroidery. Mom did this. H asked for a lamb about 2 months ago, when I cut this out. Yesterday, when she saw the completed shirt, she said, "That looks perfect! Did I ask for a lamb?" Silly girl! Of course, when you're 5, it's easy to forget things from 2 months prior. But, that's unfortunately how long it takes me to do a project - another reason I get so excited about completing something. It happens so infrequently.

Other interesting news: We thought we killed a opossum last night, my Farmer and I. And this morning it was gone. Hmmmm. I hope the opossum won't be seeking revenge. He was in the hen house.

And, we saw a bald eagle today. We think the last one spotted on this farm was about 4 years ago. So we were excited.

And, funny - we were talking about an offering at church and O said she thought we ought to take a "Three Wheel Offering" ! *L* Made us laugh.

Chicken Dressing.....Un-dressing

2011-10-14T13:17:00.000-07:00

We butchered / dressed/ undressed / harvested/ whatever our second batch of chickens. There were 29 birds from our original 32. The stats: 172.25 pounds of bird (including carcasses); the smallest bird was 4 3/4 pounds; the largest was 7 pounds (there were two that size); Total cost of feed + birds divided by pounds was $1.23 per pound. Not bad - even if our chicken were to just taste "as good" as store-bought, we still have the valuable knowledge of how these birds were treated and what they were fed. I must say - these birds were extremely happy their whole lives. From polka-dot cage

to broiler buggy

these birds were very well-cared for. (I know - I had to feed and water them and move the buggy twice a day while my Farmer recovered from hernia-repair surgery.)

I still need to clean up - do dishes, wipe counters down with clorox, sweep and mop floors. But from start to this point, it took 7 hours to process all those birds. Naturally, we didn't do this alone. We had SUPERB help in the form of a sister-in-law, a nephew, two nieces, and a mother-in-law. Oh. And it rained for about the first 4 hours. That slowed things down, I'm sure.

So, I'm off to clean up!

Sanity Saver

2011-10-11T12:12:00.000-07:00

This school year, we're doing something different. We're actually doing a couple things differently. One thing is that I have a sort of "schedule" where O practices violin while I do Language Arts with H and C (that usually works nicely). And H and G are supposed to play together while I work with O and while C does something quietly (that doesn't work nicely!). G and C are really too young to do anything exciting by themselves and still fight quite a bit, but I have high hopes of them getting used to playing together and eventually keeping each other entertained. (Without the use of diaper rash cream or any other "not-supposed-to-touch" things!)

Another different thing we're doing is a Naptime - each and every day. (well, most days). After snack, we all lay down. The girls make nests out of blankets and get comfy. I put a CD in the player (for a while now it's been Schubert's 8th and 9th Symphonies - not exactly sleepy music, but I keep it down low). Then I lay down and read either Heidi or On the Other Side of the Hill. Then, the girls are supposed to go to sleep. Sometimes this works and sometimes it doesn't - but at least I get to lay down!

So if you come to our house after 1 pm, now you know what to expect - and why it looks so MESSY!!!

Just found a very nice book!

2011-10-04T13:27:00.000-07:00

We just found this at the library - Thimbleberry Stories by Cynthia Rylant.

We've read two of the four stories - and all the girls (even G) are listening intently while I read.

In my unprofessional opinion, these stories are just as good as Beatrix Potter's. I enjoy the illustrations, but confess to liking Beatrix Potter's style of illustrating better. But it's still a very good book!

O can read these on her own - the print is large, the vocabulary is great! Lots of good words, all defined by way of the story.

More skirts!

2011-10-02T15:48:00.000-07:00

The two skirts, one for O, one for H, that I just finished.

This is the orphan shirt (they each have one) that needed a skirt. Currently, they don't really have anything else to wear with the skirt. See that? My Farmer would say that it's a trick of the devil: put things on a really good sale, people buy them and then have to buy more to make sense of what they already bought. *L*
Since I've got a generous, fabric-loving mom, I didn't have to buy the fabric. Or the ricrac - which, by the way, I'm pretty sure is vintage. :)

And, just for fun: C seems to find the most unusual places to sleep. Here she is in an up-ended laundry basket. With a blanket covering the basket. Maybe she was trying to create an inner-sanctum. *L* What a girl!

2011-09-16T17:24:00.000-07:00

An embarrassing picture of a jumper that wasn't meant to be. It's an Ottobre Woman, 2/2011 #2. It's supposed to have bust darts. But I don't need darts. So I made gathers. Then I added length and then it looked worse than maternity wear. So. I cut it up. It was nice fabric, I hated to waste it.

So I made it into two skirts! One for H, One for O. O's has her name embroidered on a scrap (mom did that) and appliqued (with silver ricrac - O's choice) onto the front. I think these will be church skirts. Our church is not as dressy as some. (And not as casual as others.)

The skirt pattern is Ottobre 4/2004 #10 - and these are the 19th and 20th skirts from this pattern. A variety of sizes, of course. I know that's crazy, but I like the pattern. It's probably also crazy that I keep track like that. But with computers, it's so easy. I try to take pictures of everything I make for the girls and list the pattern numbers and sizes. I think it's because I want to be a librarian someday and have everything cataloged. Or perhaps it's pure craziness. No matter. It makes me feel like I've done something with my "free" time.

Oh, and I'm still paying myself $1 for every skirt for the girls, etc. I have no idea how much I've "made" because I spent some of the money on fabric and patterns a while ago.

Terrible Two's

2011-09-14T09:51:00.000-07:00

The day before G's birthday. Notice how sweet she looks.

The day of her birthday. Notice how thrilled she is to have turned 2. How cute she looks.

20 minutes before her birthday supper. Notice the thrilled look on her face. It's diaper rash cream on G's face cheeks. Not the child's bum cheeks. I sent O to take the picture so that I wouldn't be seen laughing. Just so you know, it takes three washings to get the diaper rash cream out of hair.

This child is trouble. With a capital T. She's also very sweet (by times). And very huggable.

We did let her open her birthday present - new boots.

Busy, Busy, Busy

2011-09-05T14:49:00.000-07:00

I have not been idle - lest you think I have nothing to say because I've done nothing. No, no, no. I've been very busy.

I canned up 4 quarts of chicken in broth (lots o' chicken, little broth); 3 quarts of all broth; 10 pints of all broth. That's right. This was all done in hopes of emtpying the freezer of the 15 or 16 chicken carcasses left from our last butchering day. I mean from our last "chicken dressing" day. And, wonder of wonders, all the carcasses fit into my stock ~~cauldron~~ pot. I do love that pot.

Then, because in my naivety I thought cooking and de-boning carcasses would take three days, I had two days with no school planned. So, rather than do school (and waste those hours of planning nothing), the girls and I went through their closets. They now have mostly fall and winter clothes with a few summer outfits. And I now know what fits them and what doesn't.

So I've made a list of things to buy and a list of things to sew. And just for the record, G's closet took the longest. For being a small child, and the last child, she sure does have a lot of clothes. I think it took longer because of all the "help" I had. She needs nothing. C needs next to nothing. H and O need the most.

To get started on filling the needs, I spent the other night cutting things out. And tonight, I spent an hour sewing this skirt.

I actually cut this out of a maternity jumper mom made me when I was pregnant with C. The embroidery was on the bodice, centered under the neckline. This is an Ottobre skirt, 4/04 #10. And this is the 19th time I've sewn it. I know. I'm am so in a rut. However, in my defense, this pattern takes such a little amount of fabric and sews up so quickly and is the perfect fullness (not too full, not too straight) that I can't stop sewing it!!!

In other news, we are definitely one of "those" families now!

Yup. We had three caterpillars in a bucket. One crawled out and found his way to the underside of the mudroom table. There he spun a chrysalis and changed into a butterfly. And took his first flight in the mudroom.

The two other caterpillars found their way to a basket on top of the mudroom table. One is now a butterfly (outside) and the other is still a chrysalis. Very educational of us.

Lest you think all we do is focus on learning and cooking and sewing - proof that I put even the little people to work! I just heard the tail end of Focus on the Family today and they were talking about how children who don't have to do chores don't feel loved. Well. Mine don't feel that way about it! The older three complain about chores - however, I'm mean enough to make them do chores anyway! Especially since the experts say that they'll feel loved when they're older! After all, my mom made me do chores...

A page from my lesson planner.

2011-08-27T15:24:00.000-07:00

Okay, Well, I'm trying to learn how to put a document up here. And it's not working. Maybe later. :)

If you've the patience and imagination for it, you can scroll over and down and see what's in the planner.

There are some empty squares that aren't in my real planner - the computer put them there when I uploaded it.

I gray things that we aren't doing on a particular day; have the things O is doing plain; have the things H is doing on a brown background; the things C is doing on a green background.

I also try to note what's going on in our week - so I don't get upset about not getting so much accomplished.

As we're working through the week, it's super-easy to check off (usually with a colored crayon) what we've done; note any changes (did more or move to another day something we didn't get done); or fix any typos.

It takes me about 30 minutes a week to plan for the next week. Doing the colors for each child (new this year) does take longer, but it is easier to see at a glance who should be doing what and whether we're doing a subject that day or not.

I used Garden Patch planning as a spring-board. Naturally, in order to make it work for my situation, I had to make some changes. But that's what I like about this planning CD - everything is in Microsoft Word, so you CAN change things around and make it fit your situation.

Now, if only I could plan and make meals as quickly as I can plan school!

Uncomfortable, Pretty Chicks

2011-08-21T14:35:00.000-07:00

Have you ever seen such uncomfortable sleep???

This girl, the fourth one, was very disobedient and wouldn't take a nap upstairs in her bed. So, after I found her outside (no, she didn't ask permission, she just went) I made her sit on the couch and read three books. She didn't make it past one book! And, yes. I know that Jim Trelease, in the Read Aloud Handbook says to not punish your children by making them read. But, really. When you're frustrated and want the little blessings out of your hair and you don't want them to watch movies and you want them to be quiet, what are you supposed to do?? None of the girls seem to resent this forced book reading. They all still beg to be read to. And they even stay up late reading. :)

And, my husband won the battle. I wasn't horribly opposed to his idea, but I think he has unrealistic ideas about what our freezers look like. However, since he wears the pants in this house, we are raising more broiler chickens.

Please notice the very cute enclosure. We needed something to go around it that wasn't wire (too pokey) and that would give a little so the girls could examine the chicks at their leisure. Enter my fabric stash and some very perky polka dot fabric. I really enjoy polka dots. Honestly. I even wore a polka dot dress to church today. I was told I looked "very 40s" - my husband was wondering if the giver of the compliment meant 40 years old. No - she didn't. She meant 1940s-ish. I like that compliment. And I'm not yet 40. Approaching, but not there yet.

Back to the enclosure:

At least I smile when I smell the chicks in the mud room. *L*

Pot Love

2011-08-09T15:37:00.000-07:00

On which side of the fence are you? Do you like getting kitchen items as gifts? Or does that remind you of work?

I enjoy getting kitchen items for gifts- usually they make me less work, or make my work more enjoyable.

Today, for no reason (other than I said I needed one) my husband brought me home a stock pot. Or stock cauldron - it's HUGE!

Here it is, next to the biggest pot I own (well, the OLD biggest pot I own). The old pot was my Grammy's - Mom calls it the "corn pot". I guess they used it to cook corn on the cob. My new HUGE pot is a 25 quart pot. Stainless steel. WIDE, and not too tall, as you can see. Right now there's spaghetti sauce in it - to thicken, then to can. Yippee!

In a few days, I'll have no excuse left to not cook down those chicken carcasses from when we "dressed" our broilers.

So, I guess I'm slightly odd - liking things that are "tools" for gifts. But - I'm learning (not always remembering, though) that embracing the work I have to do as a way to love my family makes me happier and more grateful.

Off to stir the sauce!

Our Curriculum this year

2011-08-07T20:08:00.000-07:00

Angie asked about our curriculum this year.

It's not anything too different from last year. One thing I'm starting to think about is what I'll do when I have a 3rd grader and a 1st grader - next year. I'm considering My Father's World. But I'm open to suggestions!

Anyway. This year:

O - 2nd grade
Math - Christian Light Education, grade 2
Language Arts - First Language Lessons, 2nd year - This copy is out of print -and they've updated it - but we're using the old one anyway. We like it just fine!
Handwriting - Queen's Cursive series, primer level
Spelling - Sequential Spelling - our first time using this - so far we really like it.

H - Kindergarten
We're focusing on learning to read. She's reluctant. :)

We did The Ordinary's Parent's Guide to Teaching Reading (which I really like) - we just did up through the sounds of the letters. She was not quite ready for blending sounds into words. So then, we played some of the games in Reading Reflex for a few months (not intensive, you know?). She got the hang of that. But , then, she wasn't able to sit still long enough to do the reading exercises in The Ordinary Parent's Guide. So we switched to Queen's Language Lesson for Little Ones, level 2. And that is just perfect. At some point, we might go back to The Ordinary Parent's Guide; for sure, we'll use it just for reading practice. But the Queen book is so good at having short lessons and a variety of lessons - one day it's a picture study, one day it's reading words, one day it's copying words, etc..

Handwriting - we're using the Queen printing book - Printing with Pictures. So far, she really likes this. Again, the lessons are so short that you almost wonder if it's worth it. But it is- the idea is that the student concentrates and does her best on this little lesson, instead of doing a whole page of sloppy work.

Combined - O and H
History - Story of the World, v. 2
Science - Living Learning Books, v. 2 To be completely honest, I bought this because it was cheap - but we liked last year's science lessons, and so I think we'll like this year's too.
Picture Study - I'm really excited about this - Simply Charlotte Mason's Picture Study packets. We're doing Giotto right now. These portfolios are so well-put-together. They include 8 pictures on cardstock and a book explaining how to do picture study and a story to read to the children. We spread the story out over three sessions. I found some library books that we're reading, too. But - for $15, I have 8 pictures that are appropriate for children; a story to get us going; and it's all right here in my school room! No searching through big art books hoping to find a good picture or two. I plan to buy more portfolios as they come available.

To finish it off, we're doing a Together Time - memorizing a Bible verse (or passage); singing a hymn (the same one for TWO weeks!); reading a Bible story; and trying to remember to pray!

It sounds like it takes forever, but it really only eats up about 3 hours of our day - that includes snack time.
It only takes all day because we have to stop to do laundry and dishes and make meals and talk to wonderful Daddy person and change diapers and take naps and read stories and........

Our First week of school!

2011-08-07T19:36:00.000-07:00

Ha! Isn't that awful??? We started school on Aug. 1! Poor girls. They have NO IDEA that starting Aug. 1 is early. I so like that!

We actually only did three days this week - one day of errands and one day of freezing corn took up our other days.

We lived our schedule on those three days, and it works! I do need to revamp the naps. C keeps G awake - creating noise and havoc while I'm trying to concentrate on the older two girls. So, I'll be thinking up another scheme for that section of our day.

I also want to add things like breakfast and morning (we call them "Room") chores. Just to help me not feel behind; I like to be able to look at the schedule while I'm making breakfast and see that we've accomplished something already for the day.

And- while making the weekly schedule, I discovered something. After poking around some Charlotte Mason sites (like simplycharlottemason.com) I noticed that most people only do Hymn study once a week.
And some other things that other people only do once or twice a week - different than what I want.

Anyway, I made an executive decision. We will do hymn study every day. It's not necessary for a "Charlotte Mason" education. However, since we all enjoy singing the same hymn every day for two weeks (I find that so hard to believe, but it's true); and since I think music and singing are important; and since hymns impart a great deal of doctrinal education effortlessly; and since when the girls are old and have alzheimers they'll still be able to sing hymns; we are doing hymn study every day.

I mentioned that we sing the same hymn every day for two weeks. We do. Usually, until the last two or three days, I'm beginning to get really bored with whatever hymn - just my impatient personality, I guess. (Or the fact that I'm stuck singing melody because the girls are too young to sing melody and have me sing alto or tenor or anything else). Anyway, we're doing Guide Me O, Thou Great Jehovah - a good Welsh tune - they're really liking it and singing it during the day, and outside and whatnot. So I asked if they'd like a new hymn for next week - since they know this one pretty well. And the answer was "NO". They like the same things over and over.

I don't think I was like that as a child. Was I???
Oh, wait. Yeah. I was. My Country Tis of Thee - on the piano. for weeks and weeks.

You might like to see our schedule...

2011-07-30T16:27:00.000-07:00

I am always curious to see what others are doing as far as a routine or schedule is concerned. So, in hopes that some other will share their schedules, here's ours.

I know it's not on the page right. I don't know how to get it here so that it's nicely visible. And I don't know how else to share it. (And I can't learn in the 3 minutes I have of "free" time!)

So. I know it won't work everyday. But, having it on paper helps us to know what we *should* be doing; and it helps us to know what we can skip or rearrange. Having this frees my mind from constantly thinking "we have to do this....; or what if we do this now..., etc."

Notice that there are only a few real times written in. These things generally happen around those times. They are by no means set in stone. We are definitely a "free willy" family - but I do like having a routine. So that, even if we get a late start (or an early one) we do things in the same order.

Monday	Tuesday	Wednesday	Thursday	Friday	Saturday
Together Time: Hymn Memory Verses Prayer Bible Story	Together Time: Hymn Memory Verses Prayer Bible Story	Together Time: Hymn Memory Verses Prayer Bible Story	Together Time: Hymn Memory Verses Prayer Bible Story	Together Time: Hymn Memory Verses Prayer Bible Story	Tog. Time: Hymn Memory Prayer Bible Story	30 min
O – practice violin H – Language Arts C – play / color G – play	O – practice violin H – Language Arts C – play / color G – play	O – practice violin H – Language Arts C – play / color G – play	O – practice violin H – Language Arts C – play / color G – play	O – practice violin H – Language Arts C – play / color G – play	O – picture st. H – picture st. C – picture st. G – picture st.	15 min
O – Handwriting & LA H – play with Gwen C – Language Arts, play G – play with Heidi	O – Handwriting & Sp H – – play with Gwen C – Language Arts, play G – play with Heidi	O – Handw. & LA H – – play with G C – Language Arts, play G – play with Heidi	O – Handw. & Sp H – – play with G C – Language Arts, play G – play with Heidi	O – Handw. & LA H – – play with G C – Language Arts, play G – play with Heidi	O – H – C – G -	30 min
Snack time (11:45 – 12:15)						30 min
O – chore time, play H – chore time, play C – story time & nap G – story time & nap	O – chore time, play H – chore time, play C – story time & nap G – story time & nap	O – chore time, play H – chore time, play C – story time & nap G – story time & nap	O – chores & play H – chores & play C – story & nap G – story & nap	O – chores & play H – chores & play C – story & nap G – story & nap	OHchores/play C – story/nap G – story/nap	20 min 90 min
Clean-up, Dinner prep (12:45 – 1:15)						30 min
O – math H – math play C – napping G - napping	O – math H – math play C – napping G - napping	O – chess H – chess C – napping G - napping	O – math H – math play C – napping G - napping	O – math H – math play C – napping G - napping	O – H – C – G -	30 min
O – History H – History C – napping G - napping	O – Science H – Science C – napping G – napping	O – History H – History C – napping G - napping	O – Science H – Science C – napping G - napping	O – project day H – project day C – napping G - napping		30 min
Dinner prep, Dinner, Clean-up, Supper prep						2hrs
Free Time						2hrs
Baths
Read aloud until suppertime

My lesson plan page looks different; I'll try to learn how to put that up here correctly. :)

Upside down and donkey pants

2011-07-30T14:04:00.000-07:00

There's the donkey - see the two braids being reins? I have no idea why, but they were playing pack animals today. And going on a journey. I don't know where to. Anyway, baler twine stopped working for tying on the packs and now the baler twine is all over the living room. I think clean up is in order before we have cookies.

I can't figure out how to turn the picture - so I'll tell you what's wrong with the sleep-pants. They're upside down! When I was sewing them, I couldn't find my pins telling me where the top front was. So I sewed the legs together, making the crotch on the wrong end of the pants. O says they're comfortable, but they don't look it - the crotch is wonky and things seem off-centered. How weird. I've never done that before, I hope I never do it again! *L*

The Importance of Flour

2011-07-27T14:18:00.000-07:00

I'd just like to go on record saying that my mother-in-law and my sister-in-law, and all those other wonderful women who told me to just add more flour to my cookies .... were RIGHT!

It's not me. It's not my oven. It's not my cookie sheets. It is the amount of flour.
See this cookie? I added one whole cup more of flour to the recipe.

See this cookie? It's the un-added-to recipe.

I guess I just have to learn what good cookie dough looks like - and add flour until it looks that way, huh.

I forgot. We saw this the other night on the screen - outside.....

2011-07-10T13:39:00.000-07:00

And since it was 10:00 pm and the girls didn't want to go to bed, it was the perfect opportunity to throw a little school work into the day....night.

We had great fun (ok, they had great fun) catching him- Daddy actually did the deed. And we looked up in a book what he was - a Stag Beetle - and then I drew him into the girls' nature journals while they watched. (they don't like to draw. silly girls. neither do I - and I'm not good at it, either).

And after teasing us about letting him go in the house, my husband who wanted to sleep in his bed with his wife left Stag Beetle go outside.

New blouse!

2011-07-10T12:44:00.000-07:00

I'm not exactly sure about those faces she's wearing! She's really growing up, isn't she? Scary and wonderful all at the same time.

Anyway, I finished another rendition of 1/2010 #15. I really like that blouse. It goes together well.
Katie at Kadiddlehopper made a very cute one and lined the yoke on hers; she also showed two different ways to do collars.

Something I'd like to be able to do is to sew something not like the directions tell me to. I'd like to be that confident - but I'm not. Which is why I rarely sew Simplicity or Butterick or McCall's patterns. I don't like the way they end up and I'm not sure enough of what I'm doing to just go do what I think ought to be done.

Warning! This is long and potentially boring! But I need a place to keep it where I'll find it later.

2011-07-08T16:42:00.000-07:00

What we liked, disliked, learned, and didn’t learn from 2010-11

In order of our routine:

Together Time

- I really liked starting each school day with a hymn, Bible memory verse, and Bible story. The girls seemed to enjoy it also, and usually after the Bible story we read one book for each girl.

- Depending on how we all were feeling, this sometimes went right into science – reading whatever book went with our topic. Together Time was too long for H (4 years old back then) and C (2 ½ years old back then) to handle sometimes. Now they’re older and experienced listeners and can sit for upwards of an hour – on a good day. J

- More recently, since we have a dedicated school / sewing/ office room, we would go to the school room for the science reading while the girls colored the pages of the science lesson.

I did learn something practical: don’t let your 3, 4, and 6 year olds use the actual hymnal. The hymnals are heavy and bulky for them. We learned the hard way – with torn pages and damaged spines. Now I photocopy the hymn and put it in the clear front pocket of my Planning Binder. This way, we all share, and it’s protected.

- One thing I disliked is that we were so anxious to get to the story that we forgot to pray! We really need to change that. So this coming year, I hope to start with a prayer, either before or after the hymn.

- Also, the Together Time has been an easy thing to carry over into summer. We still do our Together Time every day that we can – sometimes we can’t because of running errands or whatever, but we try to do it at some point in the day. Although, my back porch and its swing are getting larger from all this sitting!

School Room Time

- One thing I dislike about being in our school room is that O is the only one with a desk. C sits at the little kiddy table, but that’s not really big enough for two girls to sit with coloring books spread wide and crayons rolling around. It’s way too easy for the girls to squabble about having their books pushed around and whatnot.

- The school room is not big enough for any more furniture, but we need a solution for this – especially since H seems to currently have an uncomfortable place. Maybe I’ll put someone in the mudroom or at the kitchen table. OR maybe we’ll all go back to the kitchen table.

- We LOVED our math curriculum. We’re using it again next year.

- We LOVED our science curriculum. I do wish we’d have dragged it out some more, but the topics I wanted to drag out O didn’t like and vice versa. Maybe this year we’ll be more in sync!

- I didn’t like History. We all enjoyed the curriculum and the way it was set up (Story of the World). But I didn’t enjoy the topics. Ancient history just doesn’t get me excited. I liked when it meshed with the Bible stories, but after that…. Ick. I really didn’t like learning about Gilgamesh or whoever doing whatever he did.

- I’m looking forward to the Middle Ages and the Renaissance – YAY! Some music! Something more than rocks banging together!! Something with some rhythm (I don’t enjoy plainchant!) – I’m really excited to get into the Renaissance and start using some of my exciting CD collection from my teaching days (King’s Singers – singing madrigals?? I LOVE that CD!)

- We really enjoyed our Language Arts Curriculum and are using it again next year.

- I disliked that we didn’t do any spelling. For one thing, it made me feel slightly inferior as a teacher. So, we’re remedying that situation and next year, O will be using Sequential Spelling.

- I disliked that we didn’t do very much with Art Appreciation or Music. I think my hang-up was that I wanted the Art and the Music to correlate with our history. And since we were studying the Ancients, I felt like there wasn’t much. Or at least none that I like (I dislike plainchant and tubal throat singing). Maybe the next time through the Ancients we’ll find more to like about it.

That’s all for the actual work in our school room.

Now, some random thoughts:

Read Alouds:

- I liked that our read aloud book had nothing to do with anything we were studying (we read through the Little House books, the Laura years, and we’re still going through the Rose years).

- I disliked that it seemed like I never had the time to read everything I wanted to read to O. I sometimes felt that I had to choose between reading a science book and reading the current read aloud book.

Charlotte Mason:

-One thing I want to do more consistently next year is to use the black board and write down the “vocab” words and briefly discuss them before we do our readings for each subject.

We are blessed to have a small easel for our living room (I need to rearrange that room to better use the easel, I think) AND, we have a small black board in our school room. I want to use them (and feel like a REAL teacher! *L*)

- One thing I haven’t learned this year – is when should the narrations be done??? Right after the reading (seems too easy – no time to think on the reading) or at supper (we forget!).

New Things

- I am pleased that we’ve begun reading poetry. We finally got our own copy of “Favorite Poems Old and New” for $1 at a book sale – and we are especially enjoying Mr. Nobody and Hiding by Dorothy Aldis.

- We don’t read a poem every day, but we do read a poem or two 2 -3 times per week. It really depends on our moods.

My Planner

- I really liked the way I had the school year laid out. I tried to plan the whole year - and got interrupted. So, what ended up happening is that I just planned it week by week, each week. After I had a page template that worked for me, I just took about 15 - 20 minutes each Sat. or Sunday night and filled in what I wanted us to accomplish that next week.

As we accomplished something, I checked it off. If we did more, I had enough space to jot that down. If we skipped it, I could tell because it wasn't checked off and I just added it to the next week.

I was also keeping track of how many weeks of school were in our school year - about 40 - but we didn't do school all those weeks. And how many days - 180 - some days were field trips, some days we did two or three days' worth of work in some subjects.

I don't think I'll be changing anything about my method of planning - unless I run out of room on my page because of H being in Kindergarten this year.

So that’s my wrap-up of the school year. Makes 180 days look quick and easy, huh? *L*

Now I’m ready to plan the next 180 days! I LOVE thinking about school and planning school and reading about school stuff!

My immediate goals are to re-organize the entire house (!); then mesh the History books I have with our spine (Story of the World); then start laying out the year.

An OUTFIT done!

2011-06-26T13:07:00.000-07:00

I finished an actual outfit! A skirt and a blouse to go with it.
The blouse is Ottobre 1/10 #15 - I was afraid of it for a while - the button bands are cut separately and then sewed on (new thing for me). And it has a collar - I'm just generally timid when it comes to collars. And to make it worse, I decided to add an undercollar made of the same baby cord as the skirt.

I am tickled with the ruffles. They're cute and went on really nicely.

The skirt is Ottobre 4/04 #10 - our TNT pattern. I think this is the 13th time I've made this skirt. But I have no real desire for another pattern - this pattern is the perfect amount of fullness - full enough to ride her bike and not so full that it gets in the way of riding her bike.

It's blurry because it's moving. The little turtle wouldn't stay still - this is the second little baby turtle we've found in the driveway. We ought to go hunt the nest - or figure out how turtles are born anyway. But the girls are too busy enjoying running around outside and seeing everything there is to see on a farm. And I'm too busy doing their laundry! Farms and girls make for lots of laundry! I'm sure it would be worse if it were boys. *L*

Pizza Crust Recipe

2011-06-20T13:29:00.000-07:00

I've found a new pizza crust recipe - purported to taste like Pizza Hut's. And it almost does.
I found it in the June 4 edition of Lancaster Farming. No pictures, because we ate it all. :)
In this recipe, I used 1 1/3 c. all-purpose flour and 1 c. whole wheat flour.

Perfect Pan Pizza

(Lancaster Farming, June 4, 2011)

2 T. oil 2 ⅓ c. flour

scant 1 c. milk, 110* 1 T. yeast

2 t. sugar ½ t. salt

Mix dough ingredients; knead about 10 minutes. Place in greased bowl to raise until doubled.

Put 2 T. oil in each of two 9-inch cake pans (or 4 T. in 9x13 cake pan). Shape dough into oiled pan and set in a warm place until puffy and slightly risen.

Ladle sauce over dough; place toppings on dough. Bake about 20 minutes. Remove from oven, let rest 1 minute. Serve.

For wrapping hotdogs, I still use Gina's recipe.

Dressing Day

2011-06-11T19:30:00.000-07:00

Without giving you the gory details - or the gory pictures - Friday was "Dressing Day" . We dressed our broilers. I was telling everyone that we were butchering our broilers, but The Farmer corrected me and told me we "dressed" our chickens!

It really wasn't all that bad. Mind you, I didn't get dirty. I had nothing to do with the holding down or the wacking off of heads, or the skinning or the eviscerating. I actually couldn't watch the killing of the chickens. That's not unusual. I don't like to see things die - even fish or snakes or bugs. I think if you're going to kill some animal, you need to do it quick and not have the animal suffer. That's a rabbit trail. These chickens did not suffer. We had a very fine ax-man. And very fine holders.

So, in 5 hours, they went from being in the broiler buggy:

To being vacuum-packed and in the freezer. The largest birds were 7 pounds, the smallest was 4.5 pounds.
Just so you have an idea of how big one of the bigger ones was:

At the end of the day, I realized that we were "homesteading"!! Here I've been sort of taken with the notion of homesteading and without realizing it, we did it - we raised our own broilers (bought as chicks, so not totally homegrown), processed them, and we ate some for dinner today. Rather cool. Especially since some of you reading this blog can't believe it! Surprises me, too. *L*

Another surprising thing: We're officially one of those families. O found a young bird that was unable to fly and captured him. We brought him into the mudroom and he lived all night in a box with some chicken feed and grass and water. In the morning, he had hopped out of his box. So she had the pleasure of capturing him again. We finally convinced her that he'd be better off outside, learning to fly. And that if he didn't learn to fly, he was to be a cat's dinner. (That might seem like a nasty thing to tell a child, but isn't honesty the best policy? I was very compassionate while explaining that. And she took it well. I think she's starting to understand the food chain thing.)

Here's another example, from today. I didn't see this in person, my Farmer took the pictures.

The snake is eating a baby pigeon. a "scrub"?? I forget what he called it. He said the snake wasn't all curled up like this at first, but it did that after he sent O for the camera. So perhaps the snake was feeling threatened. Anyway, it took 18 minutes from that picture to this one:

I'd never seen anything like this. I didn't think a snake would eat a baby bird, either. I thought they only ate eggs.

Now, after all that, perhaps you're wondering if I even sew anymore. I do. I made three barn skirts for O; a nightgown for O; and am in the process of making another skirt for church - with a coordinating blouse for O. Since she's the oldest, she seems to need the most, poor girl. Pictures when it's all done!

Pork, Anyone?

2011-05-31T14:26:00.000-07:00

The power cord that plugged in our freezers died. I found a pile of thawed pork products (we buy it by the hog) yesterday afternoon. All our fruits and veggies had thawed. 8 pounds of ground beef had thawed.

So. I'm hot. I've been canning, baking, cooking, etc. all day yesterday and today. I'm nearly done. I can see a faint glimmer of light at the end of the tunnel. The last cannerful is on. I have a batch of links in the oven, a batch waiting in the fridge. Then I have one lonely ham loaf to do. Maybe that'll be supper tomorrow night.

In the meantime, my kitchen floor is really dirty. My children are hungry, my Farmer is thirsty. I'm working with so much food, I'm not even interested in eating. Well, I'm nibbling at the cookies my nieces baked and my Honey put in my freezer!

I want to mention a fabulous book I just finished. Actually I finished two - one for me, one for O.

For O:
The Doll People by Ann Martin. I really enjoyed this. A china doll family meets a plastic doll family, and there's an adventure involving humans and cats. Very good. O's enjoying it now.

For me:
Everything I Want to Do is Illegal by Joel Salatin. Fabulous rant. And that's what it is. But it's fun to read. I really considered ordering copies for my favorite politicians and sending them a copy. But would they read it? I don't have money just to throw away, you know. Maybe someone else has the extra money to give reading material to politicians.

Dismal Failure

2011-05-28T19:57:00.000-07:00

Well, I've learned a few things about having a yard sale.

Location matters. Signs matter. Advertising in the small, local, free "merchant" paper is a REALLY good idea.

Having two friends to visit with all day is a necessity. Having children of similar ages to keep one's own children occupied is a necessity.

And, yard sales don't always turn out the way you hope. Here's my tale of woe:

For years, ever since O was a baby, I'd buy nice looking, modest clothes at yard sales. I'd buy ahead (I still do - she was only a size 6 when I bought size 14 church dresses at a yard sale). Nice, modest clothes for girls are SO hard to find. Anyway, I'd buy these clothes. I'd wear them on my girls. They'd get dirty or stained, and I'd take much care in removing the stain.

To tell the truth, I enjoyed removing the stains - visible proof of my hard work.

And I'd think - I want to keep these clothes nice so I can sell them at my very own yard sale. Surely, the conservative people in our area are just as hard up for nice modest clothes as I am.

So for years, I've been getting excited of purchasing these clothes; then getting excited about how well I can get stains out; then getting excited at thinking about how much some mother is going to enjoy finding PILES of nice modest clothes at one yard sale. I'd also think how nice it'd be to have that money to fund the clothing purchases for the girls' next years.

Truly, my main motivation was not the money. I mean, the money is obviously a nice benefit, but it was not my main motivation.And it's a good thing it wasn't.

Because, for all my hard work, I made just a bit more than the advertising cost.

Very disappointing.

After some good conversation with my good friend Rosene, my good friend Gina, and my wonderful honey, I decided to NOT have another yard sale. My goal was to make another mother excited with nice clothes. Not to make money.

So, the Pregnancy Ministries lady came and got what she thought they could use. Then I bagged up the other clothes - into 7 (eeek! - that's SEVEN) 13-gallon trash bags to go to Christian Aid Ministries. (And that was just the clothes that G has grown out of - 0 - 24 months!!!!)

I'm still disappointed that I couldn't see the excitement on some young mom's face as she brought a pile of clothes to be bagged up and paid for. Or hear her excitedly call her friends and tell them about the nice dresses or jumpers she found for 25 cents or 50 cents or $1 or $2 a piece.

I'm praying that some mom somewhere will praise the Lord for supplying her desire for nice dresses for her baby.

So, if I see one of "my" dresses on your baby, will you think I'm weird if I ask to see green thread I sewed into the label? (my sisters-in-law and I used to share baby clothes).

Books

2011-05-23T10:32:00.000-07:00

We really enjoy these books illustrated by Tim Ladwig.

Just thought you'd like to know!

Sundry Pictures - sort of long!

2011-05-17T20:51:00.000-07:00

Can you tell that I like vocab words? I just like words, period!

Anyway. We've been busy, and I've been thinking about posts and not actually writing them! So, here are the ones I've been thinking about, in a short version.

We have two fabulous books for keeping Littles busy at school time. C, at 3 years old still loves these books. We only had one, this one:

until that book sale I went to - when I found this one.

These books are a lot of fun. G is sort of young and doesn't quite get that you're supposed to fill in the little holes with cheerios and then pick them out and eat them. But that's okay. This gave us the 10 minutes we needed to finish math the other day! There are a bunch of these available at Amazon.

A couple of weeks ago, Mom and Dad came down and Mom and I made ham and bean soup and canned it. 7 quarts and 7 pints-full! That was the first I ever canned with my mom! quite fun. And much easier to have two people devoted to food prep and childcare. Well, Dad helped with the childcare by taking some girls for walks and reading them books. :)

We had three kittens born recently - two black and one gray. The gray one is currently O's favorite and is named "Cuddly". I'm so glad we live on a farm. Even though I dislike cats - mainly because they make me sneeze and itch and because they're sneaky. And they've fangs. How can you hug something with fangs??? Anyway.

We are immensely enjoying our study of the body with this book.

It's organized by body part. I traced the older three girls' bodies. (That was a tickly, giggly time!) Then we photocopied (allowed) the body part we're studying. There's a little blurb written about each part in the book - I read that while they color. We're also reading some books from the library on whatever part we're talking about.

I have to say that I'm proud of me for covering the reproduction section! You know how, as a mom, you HATE to even bring up that subject. And I thought about not bringing it up - and then I thought about how I want to be the one they come to with questions, not their peers from wherever with whatever ideas.

So I knuckled down and talked about the uterus. I didn't feel it necessary to talk about the boy stuff. So, we just talked about the girl stuff. At 6, 5, and 3, I think that's enough info. In our house, in order to get a baby, you pray and ask Jesus for one. The egg comes out of the ovary and sticks in the uterus, you get a big belly, and then Jesus helps the baby come out - with the doctor's wonderful medicine! *L*

I really had a time trying to get them to understand that the egg we were talking about was not a chicken egg. That still makes me laugh. *L* O just can't get it - how does the egg get in there????

And, I sewed. This is an Ottobre, #25 from 4/2010. It's a circle skirt - loved for the twirl factor. It takes a lot of fabric, when compared to some others.

Book Sale Report

2011-05-07T05:07:00.000-07:00

Yesterday I went to a book sale, the biggest that I know of in our area. I thoroughly enjoyed pushing my way through the crowds to look at what books were on the tables. I enjoyed seeing what books others were looking at.

I bought 28 books for $19.75. The two purchases I am most excited about are as follows:

The Door in the Wall, by Marguerite de Angeli. I've seen this on several reading lists for our next year's history lessons.

And the one I'm really excited about:
Favorite Poems Old and New, Selected for boys and girls by Helen Ferris.

I have seen this on several book lists, also - and had borrowed it from the library to determine if I really wanted it. And I did. Amazon is selling it for over $17. That's a lot for us right now - so I just put it on my wishlist and figured I'd buy it when I had the money. How excited I was to see it at the book sale for $4!!! It's missing its dust jacket, has the corner where someone's name was ripped out, but is otherwise in great shape.

I feel as though I can't read enough poetry - as a student, I HATED the poetry units. I didn't mind figuring out the rhythms of the lines (iambic pentameter, anyone?), but I absolutely despised having to figure out what the poem was about. And my ideas were not what was in the teacher's book.

So, when we started homeschooling the girls, I just thought we'd occasionally read a poem, just so they'd not learn to hate it. And, lo and behold, here I am, ENJOYING poetry! I don't think any teacher ever said that poems are to be enjoyed and thought about.

I am of the opinion that while teachers are just doing what the administrators are telling them (part of the problem with mass schooling, in my opinion), they would do far better to just read a poem a day, starting in kindergarten. Then, when the student gets to high school, instead of drudgery, the studying of poems could be fun and meaningful.

I am so blessed to be able to homeschool! Wouldn't that make a great post - How has homeschooling enriched your life (your life as an adult?)

Reading books

2011-05-02T18:05:00.000-07:00

Well, O is reading through all the books I have for a girl her size! I'm so glad I'm going to a book sale on Friday - I need books for her!

For various reasons, I've decided to not introduce the Magic Tree House books. I've decided to not have the "candy-type" books (Junie B., etc.) around. I'm not introducing Judy Blume until I get my thoughts in order. She's resisted my attempts to get her to read the Ralph books - The Mouse and the Motorcycle, etc. by Beverly Cleary. So, right now, we're limited!

She is currently reading E.B. White's The Trumpet of the Swan and enjoying it. She gave me a short narration - I've never read the book, so I don't know what all is going on. But, she just suggested that I give her a notebook so that she can record her thoughts about animals and any questions she might have. And this is the girl who resists nature journals! So I'm going to encourage this!!!

She also asked me how I thought the swan could play the trumpet. I said, "Hmmm, I don't know. What do you think?" She said, "I think he stands on one leg, like a flamingo, and holds the trumpet with his other foot." And laughed.

This age is so funny. I used to think I didn't enjoy children this size. There is definitely a lot to like about this age. (Along with the stuff that I hope is just a stage!)

Sundry Musings

2011-04-28T11:48:00.000-07:00

Well, I finished another skirt for myself, a dark green one. No picture, I forgot when I had it on. And I have another skirt nearly finished - for me! And another one cut out! Then it will be time to focus on the girls.

Speaking of girls:

Can't you hear her thinking that her work here is done? I'd say she'd done enough for that day!

And here are the two trouble-makers. Yup, on the counter. Eating the blueberries that were supposed to go in the pancakes. At least they haven't found my secret stash of chocolate!

And we got the girls some more wedgit pieces for Easter. I love wedgits. H, C, and G are more taken with them than O. But she still plays with them once in a while.

And last, what's wrong with my carrot? Why are those bumps on it? My baby carrots get this way after a while. I have no idea why. Does anyone else have this problem?

a Living Book!

2011-04-15T15:39:00.000-07:00

I think I found my first living book. Or I should say that for the first time, I recognized a living book when I tripped over it!! (not counting the Bible, of course).

Give Me a Home Where the Dairy Cows Roam by LeAnn Ralph. The lady on the bookmobile put this book aside for me (we have cows), thinking I might like it. (I love that about small-town libraries and bookmobiles). And she was right, I LOVED it!

LeAnn Ralph grew up on a dairy farm a generation ago. (or two, depending on how you count generations, I guess). She tells lots of stories about her family's life on the farm. Very enjoyable.

I was into the 3rd chapter when I realized that O would probably enjoy this book - and I think it qualifies as a living book. LeAnn Ralph is one author; writes with passion about dairy farming about 50 years go; and includes facts. Nothing is presented in a dry fashion.

I actually think this helped me understand O a little more. O very much likes to be outside with her daddy, "helping" as much as a 6 year old can "help". I on the other hand, would prefer to be inside, reading - or cooking or cleaning - anything but outside getting dirty!

So, for me to read about a little girl working with her father was a good thing. It's okay for O to get dirty, I guess. *L*

So, we're getting our own copy, as soon as the income tax refund comes! *L*
LeAnn Ralph has apparently written other books, and I'll be looking into those as well.

New skirt!

2011-04-13T19:35:00.000-07:00

Yippee!! I actually finished some sewing today. :) For me!

Photo shoots in this house are always hectic and include more than intended. C's skirt is also new - I had cut it out some time ago, intending it for H. But H had outgrown that size overnight. So I put it at the bottom of my "works in progress" bin. Today I found it and since I had the right colored thread on the serger and machine, I sewed it up. Nothing fancy.

My skirt - mom made me a maternity jumper out of the same fabric and put some embroidery on the top part of it, just below the neckline. Since this fabric doesn't have a nap, I cut apart the jumper and placed the skirt panel pattern so that the embroidery ended up on the bottom of the skirt. Being tone-on-tone embroidery, it's really more noticeable in pictures than in real life.

O took the pictures. I'm blaming the "big belly, thick middle" look on the fact that 6 year olds are short. *L*

Oh, my skirt is Ottobre 2/2009 #11. It's meant to be done with knits - I traced a size larger and use wovens. Really, I'm quite happy with the fullness - it twirls, which I just LOVE. Having a house full of girls, we consider twirl-factor quite important. And we often twirl!

C's skirt is the old stand-by - 4/2004 #10. I have really gotten my money's worth out of that issue. The skirts (which go up to a size 152, O's in a 122 right now); their Christmas aprons; underwear, that C likes. I have hopes of also making the capes in that issue. I think they'd be fun for dress-up. And there's a blouse for O, H, or C in that issue I'd like. And a blouse and skirt for me - but I need more time!

Next, another skirt for me. And then I want to cut out 2 more for me!!! And now I need tops to wear with these skirts!

Books

2011-04-12T13:30:00.000-07:00

O has read a few of the Junie B. Jones books. She seemed to enjoy them, but not overly so. I'm not sure if that was because she read them too fast (she seems to have inherited that awful habit from me), or if the jokes went over her head, or what.

Anyway, in preparation for a recent road trip, I borrowed some of the Junie B. Jones books on CD. They were read by a lady (I forget her name) who did a FANTASTIC job of reading them. The CDs were so enjoyable that my husband even asked to hear more. And there was so little fighting on our road trip! I was sure we found the solution to the annoying things that happen on a trip.

However, after we got home, we started noticing that O's tone of voice and some mannerisms were resembling those of Junie B.'s. Not that they were particularly BAD, but they weren't what we want to see in our little girl.

Not being able to put all I was thinking and feeling into words, I was delighted when I came across a whole chapter on books in my When Children Love to Learn. Here's a portion of what I was feeling, but couldn't put my finger on:

Yet the question is not what the book does not do, but instead what silly stories and twaddle does cultivate in children. What enthusiasms are generated by this kind of thought? What tastes are cultivated?

Children must grow up on the best. There must never be a period in their lives when they are allowed to read or listen to twaddle or reading-made-easy. There is never a time when they are unequal to worthy thoughts well put and inspiring tales well told.

So there it is. It is not that Junie B. (or any other children's books) are BAD, it is that they are inferior. If O can be moved to tears reading Charlotte's Web, and if she thoroughly enjoys The Rose Years (books about Laura Ingalls Wilder's daughter), why not encourage her to read those and just not have inferior books around?

I think the reading made easy books do have a place - you know the "Step into Reading" series or whatever they're called. They were great for encouraging O's reading when she was reading lots of words, but not yet ready to read books like Charlotte's Web type books. So, we'll keep those books, but I think we will not buy anymore of the Junie B. sort of books.

Again, we thoroughly enjoyed listening to the series, but I think they're better for people who know how to behave - not for children in their formative years. Part of me wonders if her imitation of Junie B. was due to the fantastic reading on the CD - if we wouldn't have noticed anything if she's just read the books and not heard them.

A side note: the When Children Love to Learn book is fantastic for a discussion of how to implement Charlotte Mason's techniques in your homeschool. My first time reading it, I thought it was more for schools. And it is written from that perspective, but I'm gleaning so much that I want to put into practice in our homeschool. I highly recommend it!

Apron - done!

2011-04-11T15:15:00.000-07:00

I didn't have to cook today - leftovers. :)

And we only did Together Time and math (2 lessons) and the read aloud (In the Land of the Big Red Apple, by Roger Lea MacBride - part of the Rose series, Laura Ingalls Wilder's daughter.).

The only cleaning I did was to show H how to clean the toilets; sweep the kitchen floor; wash dishes once. I've done laundry, but O's job today is to help with laundry, so that has been a big help.

Soooo, I sewed! Yeah!!

You can see that it's not perfect ( the ties are not even - ick! But, the pleats are topstitched, and I'm in too much of a rush to get on to my skirts and some skirts for O to unpick them and do it right) I seriously doubt that my pots and pans will mind. And I don't stand still enough in the kitchen for anyone else to notice. Need anymore reasons? *L*

I'm not sure why it's baggy at the neck - it was supposed to have binding, but I didn't have any and didn't feel like making any, so I just serged it and turned it under. I don't think that has anything to do with the bagginess, though. I'm wondering if it'll loosen up in the wash.

If I ever do this again, I'll probably make the skirt a little longer. I'm messy. And sometimes I like an apron to give the girls baths. Powder doesn't look so great on church outfits, you know? Of course, the girls are getting older and O gets baths alone or with H; H gets baths with C; and I do C a time or so a week, just to make sure she's clean! I always wash G, but she's getting older, too! I probably shouldn't rejoice so much (people are always saying that I'll miss these days - I might) but woo-hoo ! wouldn't it be nice to spend bath time sewing?? I HATE giving baths!

Keeping Busy

2011-04-10T14:05:00.000-07:00

You see the girls standing still above. They don't do that normally. Sometimes, just their presence in a room makes things jump out of place. Books end up on the floor. CDs get scratched. DVDs escape their cases. Food walks to the floor.

Needless to say, I've been busy. The girls keep me busy, Hubby keeps me busy, and I keep me busy! I do have an apron cut out - yay! and I have two skirts for myself cut out - double yay!!! I'm ignoring the quilt that I ought to finish. I feel guilty every time I walk into our bedroom and see the curtains and think about that beautiful hydrangea fabric. And realize that it would match the bedroom better than the spread I'm currently using on the bed. Oh well.

I've included a picture of G, just because she was crying in the first photo.

Easter Time

2011-03-23T14:52:00.000-07:00

I've always wondered why we conservative people don't do more with the "Church" calendar. You know, teaching about what Lent is (and why we observe it or not), Pentecost (and why we observe it or not), etc.

Anyway, we happen to have a fabulous resource for leading up to Easter Sunday - Passion Hymns for a Kid's Heart.

So, we're using it instead of what we normally do for our Together Time. We listening and singing along with one hymn each day, reading the story that goes along with the hymn, and the accompanying Bible verse and prayer. The hymns are so very well done, the stories so well-written, I'm really enjoying this book. I heartily recommend that you get yourself a copy!

Book Report

2011-03-21T21:27:00.000-07:00

I just finished (staying up too late) End of the Spear by Steve Saint. Fabulous book - in many ways. It's a true story; it's a page-turner; it's encouraging; it's convicting. This book is sort of the sequel to Through the Gates of Splendor, which I had to read after seeing the movie End of the Spear. Steve Saint gives a synopsis of his father's goals, life, and death and then tells the story of how he and his family decided to move back with the Waodani people. And then tells how they decided to move back to the States. Parts of the book are just hilarious, some parts are so sad, all of the book is God-centered and encouraging. If you're wondering what God is up to, read this book!

Further Proof

2011-03-20T14:36:00.000-07:00

Further proof that our beds are not comfy enough:

We colored Easter eggs! I really enjoy this crafty, messy activity.

I know that children can play anytime they're together - but it's really neat that since our girls are homeschooled, they're together nearly all the time and can play all the time. Or fight, but we'll pretend that doesn't happen! *L*

Let's Talk Laundry

2011-03-15T20:43:00.000-07:00

More than a year ago, I tried out an 80 load container of Charlie's Soap. I liked it, so I bought 1280 loads' worth - that was $150.00 worth. (Yes, I know it's not on that link. They don't sell it in 1280 load size any more).
It lasted more than a year. Tomorrow is the anniversary of me opening my 1280 bucket - and I have at least another two days' worth in my container. Maybe 3 days.

I think this is remarkable - It was supposed to last a year and it did - using two scoops for farmer clothes (one scoop in the soak cycle, one in the wash cycle); washing clothes and bed sheets like a crazy woman when people had colds or the flu; accidentally spilling some in the washer when I'd already put some in; washing aobut 10 loads of laundry a week, sometimes less, sometimes more. AND, our clothes are clean.

So. I bought me some more. This time, I bought the 1000 load size from CharlieSoapForYou. And, in a few days, I'll open my large bucket and start using it! I bought it from CharlieSoaprForYou because it was about $30 cheaper than the Charlie's Soap site. Both places have good customer service and I'm happy with both.

Who told me about this in the first place? Gina.http://homejoys.blogspot.com/

Also, I started using dryer balls instead of fabric softener sheets. (Scroll down a bit to see them). I ordered the kits, and they were easy and fun to make. I am happy with those, also. They do control static to some degree. Now, our house has hot air heat and four girls who all have fleecy pajamas and fleecy blankets. Obviously, laundry loads with pj's and blankets are quite staticky. However, normal loads (my clothes) are fine. An added bonus is that no one at the barn asks my husband what perfume he's wearing! *L*

Just thought you'd like to know!

2011-03-13T13:19:00.000-07:00

Evidently my cupboards aren't full enough!

Neither are our bed comfortable. We must sleep in the toy box - for close to two hours.

However, we did sew and the girl did wear it. :) This is a Simplicity pattern, I've made it before, but can't remember the number or find the picture of H wearing her version.

She also lost her tooth, her wibbly, wobbly tooth. So it was a profitable week.

Donut Day!

2011-03-08T11:08:00.000-08:00

Today we celebrated "Fat Tuesday" by making our own donut holes. I was not wanting all the work of donuts; or the frying and the hot oil required by donuts, so I searched online and found this recipe for baked donut holes.

We made it - it was easy! The recipe yielded 5 dozen, a respectable number of donut holes. I set O to dipping them in butter, since I don't like to get my hands dirty, and she plopped them in a bag of powdered sugar. I took care of shaking the bag and using the hot dog tongs to get them out and put them in the container we'll keep them in (or not - I've had three already!!)

Not the best picture, but they really taste good!

Untitled

2011-03-02T14:28:00.000-08:00

This girl likes her icecream!

So, I still love homeschooling. However, I'm noticing that I get stressed out when certain girls don't put things away. Any tips for controlling the paper clutter, book clutter, crayon clutter, etc. while cooking meals and watching the 18 month old and removing the 3 year old from whatever dangerous situation she's gotten herself in and listening to the nearly 5 year old whine about whatever you've asked her to do???

I've not sewed any - still have that jumper. It just needs a zipper now.

Two things to go...

2011-02-20T13:51:00.000-08:00

I finished another skirt for O - the same pattern I've been using, this must be the 13th.
Anyway, I'm learning that I need to learn to look at trims and things from far away. This is the trim, and I thought the green would be more noticeable than it is. From far away, it actually looks blue.

Now. After a jumper that needs the armholes finished and the zipper put in, and a skirt that will be another attempt at learning zippers and fly-type zipper plackets, I MUST finish my bed quilt. I will just freely admit that I am scared to work on my Delectable Mountains quilt. I'll have to review my blog posts to see where I am in that process. I'm afraid to open the beautiful box I have it stored in!!

but I have to work on it. Our bedroom has the curtains up, the wall-hanging up, it needs the quilt I started more than 6 years ago.

OH, I forgot.

2011-02-15T15:10:00.000-08:00

I wanted to ask if anyone was interested in buying my nursing clothes patterns. They're all from Elizabeth Lee Designs, #203, 204, 205, 207, 208, 210, 307. They are used. Some are cut to my size; some are cut apart, but I traced the pattern, so it's not cut to a size.

Anyway, if you're interested, let me a comment and we'll talk turkey!

I love homeschooling!

2011-02-15T15:06:00.000-08:00

It happened on Sunday. I had another "I love homeschooling" moment. We don't do any school work on Sunday; the girls do no chores; and I try to do as little housework as possible. (I should be honest and say that this past Sunday, my "ox was in the ditch" and I HAD to do laundry as there were no clean towels or kitchen linens and the girls had no undershirts, etc.).

So, we weren't "doing" school. I was in the kitchen, doing something and O was in the living room reading through the new library books. She asked for help with reading a word (she spelled it and I told her how to pronounce it). She asked what it meant. I told her. The word was "Triton" who was a sea god of some type in Greek or Roman mythology - I didn't bother to look it all up. Anyway, I explained the bare bones about Triton. The book included a map, showing the traveling path of this whale named Triton. And she spontaneously narrated the book to her daddy, who soaked it up like it was the best thing he'd heard all day.

In the course of reading one book, we touched on mythology, literature, geography and science all in one afternoon of not doing school.

And, just so you can see a picture: We left the chickens out today to enjoy the sun. These are some of our newest chickens, Silver Spangled Hamburgs. They lay small white eggs. They love to forage and are so neat to look at - they're polka-dotted.

I sewed again!

2011-02-04T12:37:00.000-08:00

And completed another skirt for O. It's the same pattern most of her skirts have been - I think this is the 15th skirt from that pattern. It goes together fast. This is using a remnant left of some brown cord given to me and I cut apart a maternity jumper that my mom made me. I up-cycled. Why do we have to invent new words? I would have been content to say that I recycled.

Anyway.

Mom knitted the girls some new winter hats. This is one. I really like them. I wish I wore hats. :)

We bought the girls Wedgits for Christmas. They were a pricey toy for our budget- about $30 for the set of 30 pieces. But now that we have them, I think we want more! ALL the girls enjoy playing with them. They are so easy to play with that even 17 month old G really enjoys them. She plays with them while I'm reading our read-aloud or doing Together Time with the older girls. She also likes knocking them over - they make a terrific crash that sounds like glass shattering. The 30 pieces are enough for two girls to play with without a lot of fighting about who needs what piece. But they're getting more for Easter, don't tell! :)

And last - This was so funny. I don't know how to write it to make it as funny as it was. G took H's baby, Lisa, to the step and laid her down and was tickling her and laughing and making funny noises while holding up the baby's legs and trying to change her diaper. It was just so funny. And scary - they imitate what they see and hear and experience.

Watership Down

2011-01-27T11:21:00.000-08:00

I finished reading Watership Down by Richard Adams.

I'm not a particularly animal-friendly type person. In other words, I don't touch animals. I don't like to see them in pain or abused, but I don't pamper animals. If I'm wearing gloves, I'll pet the farm dog. That's as affectionate as I get with animals. Oh, yeah, and I talk nicely to the farm dog while giving her a plate of leftovers. (Doesn't it seem odd that God paired me with a dairy farmer???? Wonder who's supposed to change - me or him! *L*)

That being said, I bet it's no surprise that I don't enjoy books about animals. I don't enjoy movies where animals are the "people" or characters.

However, I thoroughly enjoyed Watership Down! It's about wild bunnies whose warren is about to be destroyed by construction. Some of the bunnies band together and leave the warren in search of a new place. The book is about their adventures. In amongst the adventures these bunnies have are stories about the mythical bunny El-ahrairah. El-ahrairah is a sort of Robin Hood type hero bunny. Very tricky, very loyal to his bunny friends.

There are no bad words. There are some violent fight scenes that I just glossed over because I don't like reading gore. But, it wasn't offensive gore - it's just that I don't like to read about punches and kicks.

It's a long book. 470some pages. It took me about two weeks to read through it - that's reading a chapter or two every night for the most part.

So there you have it. I read a book that was on some "Books You Ought To Read" list I saw somewhere.

Yay! another skirt completed

2011-01-23T12:59:00.000-08:00

This was a profitable week.

I canned 7 qt. of chicken corn soup (no pictures).

And I traced, cut out and sewed another version of Ottobre 4/2010 #25 - the circle skirt with the ribbing waistband. You remember this version:

Well, I tried it again. This time, I didn't cut the waistband on the fold - the picture in the magazine shows that it should be cut on the fold, but I think that's a typo. Sprouting Flowers said she did that too, the first time, and suggested I try it the other way. So I finally did.

And, ignoring the belly button, you'll see that the waistband does lay flatter and nicer. I think that for my girls, who hate anything to be at their true waist (and therefore covering the waistband) I think eliminating the elastic, and just using the ribbing would work.

I sort of liked the funky look of the other way, but it would require the shirt to be tucked in, and my girls won't do that.

In case you're wondering, the fabric is the same and I do have more. I was daydreaming about making a jumper for C or G - or both??? there might be that much fabric there. Anyway, the new Ottobre 1/2011, #8 is a jumper with ribbing around the waist. I might. I might not. all depends.

And now. For those of you intimately acquainted with our situation, you'll notice that what I complain about is true. When my man is in the house, he's either eating or laying down.

Haha! don't you love that?

He's actually putting up a paper towel holder for me. He had about two hours Friday (?) afternoon to do some of the odd jobs around the house that have been waiting for him. He has about four more hours of odd jobs to do. That sounds awful, but you wouldn't want me wielding a power drill, would you???

Behind Door #1....

2011-01-16T13:21:00.000-08:00

Notice how the closet door is closed.

Notice how Steve opened the door and found C.

She went in the closet to sleep and shut the door. Herself. She said there was too much sunlight in her room. (It does get the afternoon sun and I don't have curtains up yet.)

This is the girl who scares me - you know, you read stories about children playing in toy boxes and getting stuck in them. Or playing in empty fridges or freezers. *shudder* Right now, thankfully, the toy box is too full to shut the top. And we have no empty fridges or freezers. And I use the dryer too much to not notice a girl in there. So I think we're safe.

But, she also climbs up the handles on our kitchen drawers and stands on the counter to reach things in the cupboard. I'm predicting she will have a dangerous job when she grows up. She seems to thrive on challenges.

Some sewing

2011-01-11T15:18:00.000-08:00

I sewed!!!

We have this ugly door next to our furnace in our mud room. And it really bothered me.

Since I had no plans for this shower curtain, it became a curtain to cover up that door. It ended up shorter than I wanted, but that was inevitable.

I turned the shower curtain upside down, took out the hem, and re-hemmed it with a 3-inch hem. Then I sewed another line of stitching about 3/4 inch or 1 inch (I wasn't real precise - just looking for straight, really). That made my pocket and little ruffle above the curtain.

I really am not one for home dec type sewing. But I've been away from my machine for so long that even this two-straight-line-sewing was exciting. And then there's the euphoria of actually completing a project!! Wow. I may not sleep tonight. *L*

Finally! Pictures of those aprons

2010-12-27T16:30:00.000-08:00

Here are Christmas morning pictures of the girls in their aprons. Notice how we could only get three at a time to stand still. So, the picture of G is in motion.

Mom knitted the awesome hat that's on the doll baby. It was knit in one of those round hoop things. I'd like to try it some day - when I have a spare moment. (Ha!)

Notice how G is not claustrophobic? This girl will crawl under anything!

Hope you all had a Merry Christmas!

Cinnamon ornaments

2010-12-05T09:13:00.000-08:00

After mulling over what the girls could give their Sunday School teachers for Christmas, I decided on Cinnamon Ornaments. My second roommate in college, Kristie, made these one year and ever since then, I've thought they were a neat idea. Lancaster Farming had the recipe in and here it is:

3/4 c. ground cinnamon
2 T. ground cloves
1 T. ground nutmeg
1/2 t. salt
1 c. applesauce

ribbon or twine.

Blend the dry ingredients together and then stir in the applesauce. It should make a thick paste. Use a rolling pin to roll it out ot 1/4-inch thickness. Cut with cookie cutter. Using a straw, poke a hole in the ornament.

Heat oven to 150*F, bake on an ungreased baking sheet for 90 minutes. Remove from cookie sheet and let cool. Thread ribbon through the hole and tie.

We had a bit of a time with the "dough" as it was really sticky, so we added another 1/4 c. ground cinnamon and that made it better. Also - you have to be careful moving the ornaments before they're baked. I did that part. The girls did the rest - Olivia did the measuring and Heidi and Charlotte the kneading (I had them knead it just so they'd all have some part to do).

Being the silly goose I am, I forgot to take a picture before we wrapped them.

Finally!

2010-11-28T13:09:00.000-08:00

Okay. So maybe I was being a bit thick-headed last time I tried to post. This time, I figured out the picture thing right away. Above you see a dead shrew. Steve thought it was a mouse when he killed it in the wash-house. (Used for storage, not for washing). While I was not truly "Charlotte Mason" home-educating at the moment - we did NOT keep the dead thing in the house long enough to draw it - we did look it up in our book. And found out that shrews are actually helpful little creatures. They eat insects. They have venomous saliva that they use against other creatures their size. Isn't that interesting??

And this is the first outfit I have ever sewed myself. Both the top and the skirt are Ottobre patterns. The top from the most recent women's magazine. The skirt is from a year or so ago. That pattern is my favorite skirt pattern.

And, the three oldest girls this morning. G wouldn't stay in the picture, so I had to take it without her. What's notable? Well, we had enough time to snap the picture on a Sunday morning. That alone should get me a round of applause! Also, O is wearing a red vest and skirt that Mom made me - that I remember wearing. I always liked it. It's pretty cool to have an outfit (I do have more than this one) that I wore that is still in good enough shape for my girls to wear. I guess that's a testament to my mother's great sewing abilities!

That's all!

Christmas present progress

2010-11-16T19:19:00.000-08:00

Well, I was going to show you a picture of one of the aprons I'm working on for the girls. But it's been a while since I uploaded (? - I always mix upload, download, etc. - I can't get the words right) and I think they changed something and I can't figure out how to do it.

Just take my word for it - I'm working on them! I have all the bias tape made, the side seams sewn. I have to do the button/buttonhole areas and then bind the edges. And I'll be done after sewing on the buttons. Yippee! Because then I need to get hopping on some skirts for Olivia - I'd like to do a brown cord.

Applesauce and Firemen

2010-11-07T12:13:00.000-08:00

Some canning projects are three-generation projects in this household! I'm too much of a wimp to attempt things like applesauce canning by myself. Thankfully, my Mother-in-law enjoys canning and enjoys having little girls underfoot! (G helped by sleeping well!)

And, we took a field trip to the local FireHouse. Only O and H went - C and G were babysat by Grandma. Since my girls are rather scared of things, I took pictures of the fireman in his uniform so that they'll hopefully not be afraid of the firemen should they ever need to come here. (I hope not - housefires are my biggest fear).

Which begs a question: do you count a 2-hr. field trip as a whole day of school?? I know from personal experience how much time is wasted in public school on field trip days. But, I don't want to be guilty of counting things as full days that weren't. What do you do??

Also, I feel like we need to do something about Thanksgiving. I'm not sure I want to stop our Science or History in order to make time for a full-blown Thanksgiving study. But neither do I just want to gloss over the topic.

I found these poems at Ambleside Online. And at this point, I hope to read one or two a day. What are you doing about Thanksgiving?

On the topic of Christmas, I'm in the middle of sewing four aprons - one for each girl. I have them cut out; I have the pockets serged around; I have the bias binding cut out. All I need to do is put on the pockets; iron the bias binding into singlefold bias binding, sew two seams on each apron; put on the buttons; make the button-holes; and bind the edges of the aprons. It sounds like a lot. And it is. But it's a fun, rather easy, but time-consuming project.

One last thing. I went to a booksale and bought 46 books for $6. Yippee! That's 13 cents per book. No real super finds, but some really nice books - like Dr. DeSoto goes to Africa. I didn't know there were two books about Dr. DeSoto, so I was a little excited about that. And a nice book that's an animal encyclopedia.

Cookies and More unders!

2010-10-29T20:55:00.000-07:00

See how much G enjoyed that oatmeal chocolate chip cookie???

And this is the fourth pair of unders. The Otto 4/04 pattern, this time with ribbing at the legs instead of elastic.

The that*darn*kat pattern is definitely faster. And a bit easier, too. Mostly because there are only two pattern pieces - the crotch and crotch lining are made by overlapping the two pattern pieces. also, cutting sewing binding for the legs is easier than wrangling the elastic - in my opinion.

My next sewing project is to finish the diaper cover I cut out and have half sewed for G. I mostly just don't feel like finishing it because I accidentally stained the dress I intended to wear them with. AND, when I went to work on it today, my serger thread kept coming out (one of the looper threads). AFter re-threading it, I realized that it was happening because the threads are cut at the top of the spool. I questioned C about it first, because, let's face it, she is the trickiest girl we have (so far). And she denies any wrong-doing. However. She is two and has no idea what a lie is. And I doubt the spool came that way from the factory. So, before I do anything, I really need to get another spool of thread.

After that (and before doing unders for me), I have the girls' Christmas present to do. I'm wanting to make them all aprons this year. I have the fabric, have it all cut out. I want to make my own binding, so they will all be perfectly coordinated. I have less than two months to do this, so hopefully I'll get it done.

Unders!

2010-10-22T20:27:00.000-07:00

Yay! I finally had a chance to make the undies I've wanted to make for over a year. (Time really does go faster when you're old!). Anyway, the pattern is from That*Darn*Kat's etsy shop. The instructions are very well-written, very easy to follow, with pictures. I made two pair (a size 2 and a size 4) in one hour. (I had the pattern already traced and fabric already cut out). I'm sure I'll be able to do it faster the next time. It really is very easy.

The size 4 fit C perfectly, she's 2.5 years old and rather small for her age. I think she still only weighs around 25 pounds. And in RTW, she's wearing 2T/3T, but the Faded Glory brand from WalMart is big on her and the Fruit of the Loom (same size) is a perfect fit. So, I'm not sure if the pattern maybe runs a little small or if I used the wrong seam allowance - I didn't bother checking it, I was so excited to just sew them up! I'll check it next time. And there will be a next time for this pattern!

I read about the pattern on Dawn's blog a long time ago. And ever since then I've wanted to try making unders. You really ought to read those posts. They're very funny and she made some very cute unders.

I also have unders cut out from the 4/04 issue of Ottobre. I'll be making those next. And then I want to try making some for me.

Next up: a picture of the bright-eyed and bushy-tailed G. She's getting more and more mobile. She climbed up the stairs three times today - and never told anyone what she was doing. When she got to the top, she laughed. She's tricky.

Math!

2010-10-18T23:12:00.000-07:00

I've decided on a new math curriculum. I chose to go with Christian Light Publications' Christian Light Education Math.

I considered and rejected Saxon Math because the teacher's manual is LARGE. And, things were just not arranged for my eyes. I had a hard time seeing all that I wanted to see at a glance. I think that some people would like the way the teacher's pages are arranged, but I didn't. (I realize that I'm different :))

Also, the workbook pages are tear-out, with three holes so that you could put them in a binder later. That did not appeal to me. And, there was NO color. I'm usually okay with that, but after seeing CLE Math, I didn't like the plain old black and white. And, you are supposed to do one side of the page in the morning and one side in the afternoon. I was worried about that.

And, the Meeting book seemed scary to me. I think because the calendars were blank and my eyes couldn't just fall upon the explanation of it in the teacher manual.

I considered and rejected Horizons Math. Mostly because of the color. (Am I never pleased?) Actually, there was not too much color, but my eyes were so confused by the multiple colors on the student pages. I think it's because I've learned to read fast - my eyes automatically scan the page and try to group the page into sections, then I go back and actually read. With Horizons' pages having two or three or four colors per page, it was too much. And, to make it worse, there was no rhyme or reason for the colors. For example, all the X + 1 type questions were not in the same color; or all the 1 + X questions in another color. I would have bought it had it been that way.

I considered and rejected Math-U-See. Mostly because I couldn't see it! *L*. I don't bother trying to watch videos online because we have dial-up. And no one I know is using it. So, I couldn't see it.

So, what's so great about CLE's Math? Well. The teacher's manual is split into two spiral bound books. Very manageable.
The teacher's manual also shows you the student pages (with answers). Now, for some of the lessons, you have to page back a page to see the student book because of the space the teacher-explanation takes up. That's somewhat annoying, but not annoying enough to make me annoyed.

The student book is split into 10 books. Very manageable. Sets one up for the success of finishing a book 10 times during the school year. The books are thin enough that there's no trouble for the student to write on either page. (Unlike our Zaner-Bloser handwriting book).
The color. The student book is black and shades of green. Just enough color to make it interesting, not enough to confuse the eyes.
The activities/ problems. Like Saxon, there are a variety of problems on the lesson pages. I really like that the student has to write 3+1=4 horizontally and vertically. And then the story problem also requires the student to write it again. And there's money involved, in a money cup.

The Calendar book is very nice. It's all black and white, with drawings to color; graphs and things. But, unlike Saxon, the calendar book is not tied to any specific lesson. So, I can use it some months and not others. Or use it for one week every month. Or whatever.

I also like that the questions and pictures/ drawings are all conservatively Christian. There's no mention of videos or t.v. or Halloween or dances or things like that. The girls are all in dresses, the boys in pants.

Reasonable cost. $76 got me the two teacher books, the 10 student books, the flashcards, the Calendar book, the Counting Book, and a little clock, and the UPS man bringing it to my door.

So far, we got the box today around 3 pm and O has done 6 lessons already. So, I'm sure we'll be caught up in no time.

So who in the world showed me this curriculum? Gina, of course. She has the best ideas! Just goes to show that homeschooling is a group effort! And look! My girls learned to "network" by watching mom talk to other moms about math books; by seeing other people's math books. What else did they learn? OH, that it's okay to stop using something that isn't working. That's it's okay to ask for help. That there's more than one way to skin a cat.

I have known this - but this experience made me conscious of it again - that no one curriculum will be right for every student. Or for every teacher. I'm thinking that we needed a new curriculum mostly for me. And that's okay. After all, the teacher is as important as the student, right? You can't have one without the other.

My Day Off

2010-10-12T12:11:00.000-07:00

Today is my day off. My husband so sweetly understands that I need several hours in a row away from the girls and the house. So, once a month, I take about 5 or 6 (today it might be 7) hours and go away. We hire a babysitter for this. It costs more money than we'd like, but I've come to view this as much as a necessity as taking a nap!

Sometimes I go to the Library and soak up the quiet. Today I am running errands (nice errands - two fabric stores, the homeschool store, two book stores, and of course, Walmart!).

I usually work on homeschool stuff - you know, the planning, the reserving of library books. But I also make sure to do things just for me - like the two magazines I'm going to buy myself (! - that's quite a splurge - magazines are SOOOO expensive!). Oh, and I always eat something - by myself, with a book, as slowly or as quickly as I want.

I look forward to these days. As much as a week before my day off, I'm writing lists of places to go and things to do. Then I pare it down, try to figure out how much time it will take, pare some more off, and come up with a plan for hte day that will take about 6 hours to do. Like I said, today it will be more like 7 hours - the lady in front of me at the fabric store bought tooooooo much fabric. I felt bad for the girl cutting it!

Anyway. This day fills my need for being alone. And quiet. And doing what I want, by myself! That sounds awful, but it's what I need!

So. I'm off to Walmart, now. To walk slowly and look at what I want to look at. (And buy some groceries *L*)

Busy Night, Busy Day

2010-10-02T11:53:00.000-07:00

As you can see, we made applesauce today. My mother-in-law came up and helped. Thank goodness - otherwise, I'd still be cutting the apples! We made 19 qt. Not all are out of the canner yet, and not all have sealed yet.

And, please ignore the belly-button, I finished a skirt for Olivia last night. It took a little over two hours to sew up (not including the tracing and cutting out). It is a circle skirt with three pleats in the front, three in the back, and ribbing (with elastic encased in the ribbing) for a waist band. #25 from the 4/2010 issue of Ottobre. Definitely different. I'm very glad she is slender and has no hips. You wouldn't catch me in this style! She likes it. So I might make another or so. Judging from the picture in the magazine, I added 3" to the length. (Making it a 17" long skirt) . I see now that she needs a little more length. Rats. I have two other skirts cut out for her - that will be about 16 1/2" long. I hate it when they grow and don't tell me!!!

Heifer!

2010-09-23T14:45:00.000-07:00

Our Gina heifer gave birth, making her a first-cow heifer. This is Gillian. So named because her mothercow's name starts with a G and because I always wanted to name one of our girls Gillian. Steve doesn't like the name, so I couldn't. :)

Thoughts on school: We're having a good time with Science and History and Language (I really like First Language Lessons - it's so easy to do, all scripted). Handwriting is somewhat less enjoyed, but okay. The trouble?? MATH!! So, now I'm wondering if it's just that O is over the honeymoon phase or is it the curriculum or what? One thing that's bothering me is that O can now add numbers she can't say - she's adding 3 and 4 digit numbers, but the book hasn't taught her to say them. And I don't know how to teach that. So I'm not sure if I should bite the bullet and buy another curriculum or what.

My plan is to wait and see! We're using the Queen's Math copybook to review the math facts she does / should know. Then we'll pick back up in our book, Attacking Addition. But if you have any ideas for me, please let me know!

As to scheduling, I've found that I need to have 6 days per week scheduled, with 3 weeks on, 1 week off. That way, when we only do 4 or 5 days, I'm okay because I know we have a make-up week coming. I think I would stress out if I knew I had to do 4 or 5 days every single week. I would feel like I was always behind.

And our daily schedule has not been the same more than three times! Today, for example, we haven't done school yet! And it's 5:40 pm and they're all sleeping!!! Arhghgghgh! Oh, well. There's always "Make-up week"!!!

I have noticed that O's violin lessons really chew up the time. We try to practice violin while the others are sleeping - but right now it requires me to be in on her practicing to keep watch on the bow hold, the posture, the right rhythms, right notes, etc.

Birthday, Crayons

2010-09-12T13:06:00.000-07:00

This last week I've been thinking over and over how blessed we are that G is home and completely healthy. She turned ONE this past week. And what a change from a month ago! The picture above was taken a month ago, in the intermediate care unit. The picture below was take on her birthday.

I know I've said it before, but I'll say it again: Thank you for praying for her and for us. God still does make miracles happen!

I got some books from PaperBackSwap and we tried out one of the experiments. The books are Mudpies to Magnets and More Mudpies to Magnets. I'm not sure I would pay full price for these books - just because I love a bargain and because I'm not exactly a hands-on type of girl. I think I'd rather read a book about something than actually do it. I think for most elementary-school-teacher-types, though, they'd really like these books.

So, what we did was we made crayons. We took the old, broken ones (except my favorite silver crayon that I've had ever since I can remember!) and took off the paper wrappers, and if they weren't already small, we made them small. We put them in some little cake pans I had laying around. The book said to use a muffin tin. But we didn't.

We put the tins in an electric skillet filled with water and turned it on. They took a while to melt. Every bit of a half hour. I probably could have turned up the heat some, but I was also making supper at the same time and I wasn't really watching to make sure that our most mischievous daughter wasn't doing something she oughtn't.

Then I took the tins out of the water and put them in to a bowl of ice water. They hardened faster than they melt.

And then we had three new crayons! Charlotte already broke hers. I think she wants to make more.

2nd week of school

2010-09-02T15:28:00.000-07:00

First off, a picture of a skirt I finished last week. Thank goodness these are easy to make. I literally sewed this one one seam at a time. Well, yes, that's how things are normally accomplished. But what I mean is that I was able to sit at the sewing machine only long enough to sew one seam. It used to annoy me, but I've resigned myself to the fact that at this point in my life, I will not be able to sit down and do anything for any length of time. So, by accepting that fact, I have become happier and less angry at the interruptions. (And I've learned to steal minutes here and there to get my one-seam-a-day in.)

What I've learned in school these two weeks:
It's nothing like teaching in a high school. Or an elementary school. We have lots of interruptions. But, we get done quicker. And I can concentrate on my students and make sure they know what they need to know. This part is very nice. I used to be the neurotic teacher trying to get the kid who didn't care to learn the stuff so he could pass the class. Oh, wait. I still am that way. It's just easier because the students are having fun and enjoying what they're learning. And they remember it. I'm really surprised at this, but I think the whole Charlotte Mason thing / narration thing is really the way an elementary aged child learns.

We needed to do something about History and Science. They were too much reading to do on the same day. So now we are alternating days. That's working out very well for this Charlotte Mason approach. We have three days each week (remember we're supposedly doing school 6 days per week) to read all the fabulous books about snakes (eek! thankfully this is the last week for snakes.) and about early farmers and what have you.

Doing either History or Science each day has added about a half hour to our school day, but we don't really notice it because it's fun and interesting. And we don't notice it because we end up taking a break mid-day for me to nurse the baby (who's really soon a toddler because she's trying to walk!!!) and we take a break for snack time and we take a break when Daddy comes home for dinner and we take a break to nurse again and we take a break to hang up laundry. We take a lot of breaks.

And yet, I've been able to wash dishes and do laundry and sweeper and mop the kitchen floor. Mostly that's because I'm not cooking! (people are still bringing us meals as a kindness from when G was in the hospital). I will have to start cooking tomorrow, so you can say a prayer for us!!! *L*

I do plan tonight to plan some meals and hopefullly that will help with the timing of making the meals and all.

How's your school year going?? I LOVE reading blog entries and books about homeschooling days!

Good News!

2010-08-30T13:55:00.000-07:00

G had her post-hospitalization appointment with the Nephrology doctors and - she's healthy! Normal numbers everywhere in her bloodwork! Yay! At this point, they say she has no residual damage to her kidneys, too. :) And she has to only take one dose of high blood pressure medicine each day.

We are to go back in one month and re-do labs to keep check on the kidney function and blood count numbers and re-examine the blood pressure medication. They want to follow her for one year and make sure nothing comes up.

So. As far as we're concerned, God has touched her and healed her little body. We are so blessed. If you prayed for Gwen, please take a moment and thank God for healing her. And thank you for praying for her and for us during her illness. :)

Planning Pages

2010-08-25T13:32:00.000-07:00

Because I can't figure out another way to do it, here are two pictures of what I'm using for a planner this year. Both of these pages come from the Garden Patch CD-ROM. I also bought the other two that Rainbow Resource sells. I like the GArden Patch one the best, but I think I will use pages from the other two as well. The Master Planner one I was the most disappointed in because it's only .pdf files and I can't figure out how to change the headings, add and subtract fields, etc. The Organize Your Homeschool one is also helpful AND change-able.

The first is my "month at a glance" planner.

You can see that I planned to do three weeks on, one week off. the dates are wrong, because of G's stint in the hospital, but that's easily changed. My reason for having a month-at-a-glance was so that I could look at it and plan to have the Library books we need at the right time. It will also be helpful for planning dr. appointments and things.

Planning so far in advance was a pain. It took a lot of time. But, because I LOVE that sort of nonsense, it was bearable. I only planned the first 16 weeks. I still have more to do, but wanted to live a little and see if anything needed to be changed.

This is my week-at-a-glance planner. I have it planned out in more detail - exactly which pages on which days. Notice, though, that the squares are big enough for me to write in what we did and what we need to do. Again, a lot of work. But oh-so-nice now. And I like the planning as much as I like the teaching. Maybe more! I've always been that way. Did you know that I wrote an entire 7th grade music curriculum? Yup. And enjoyed every minute of it. Of course, I was unmarried, not a mom, and had nothing better to do.

So. How did our third day go? Well, it's not over yet!!! Reading the History (Story of the World) and the Science (we really enjoyed the Usborne Snake books. Oops. "Enjoyed" shouldn't be in the same sentence as "snake") took a while. We still have Together Time, Read Aloud, and the math game to do. I hope to finish all that in this next half hour. Then baths!! (I hate bath time). Anyway. I'm thinking we might monkey with the schedule and put Science and History not on the same day. We'll see. (ahh, the beauty of homeschooling).

Oh. And the daily posting will stop soon. It takes a lot of time!!

2nd Day of School

2010-08-24T10:22:00.000-07:00

First off, a picture of G. I realized that through her two weeks of illness, I'd never once posted a picture of her. I do have some of her in the hospital, but I'll spare you. They aren't horrible - I took the pics to show the other girls so that they'd know she was okay.

Someone asked if I'll be scrapbooking about that experience. Umm. No. I don't scrapbook. And I'd NEVER do that! It's bad enough I have to remember some medical info for her as she ages - I do NOT want to remember that experience. I think it's quite enough to just look at her and remember that God has touched her.

And, H's new skirt. Now that I see it from "afar", maybe it needs something. I'll think on it awhile. Feel free to share your thoughts! This is, of course, and Otto - the same pattern I've been making! 4/ 2004, #10.

And, our second day of school is done except for the scheduled piano lesson. We'll do that later. Honestly, I wonder if I planned enough in each day? Well, I'm thinking math will take a bit longer when we get past the "pre-addition" pages of our Math book.

Anyway, it was a good morning. We got breakfast around 9, started cleaning up around 10, started school around 11 and were done by a little after 12. I even swept and mopped the kitchen floor. (And cleaned the high chair and all the boosters. I have an idea about these boosters. We're going to work on it later today. Maybe I'll show you. Depends on how it turns out!)

First Day of School

2010-08-23T10:24:00.000-07:00

We've started school in our corner of the world. This is the kindergartener, H, and her teacher. We're not officially doing "Kindergarten," I'm just teaching her to read and letting her listen and "do" what O is doing.

This is the first grader, O, and her teacher. Please notice her teacher's new skirt, fashioned from an Ottobre pattern, 2/2009. It was a pattern meant for knits, but her teacher made traced the pattern about three sizes to big and am using it for wovens. Works just fine. She also added three inches to the top for the elastic casing and added about three inches somewhere down where the gore gets wider. It's a really comfortable skirt and has a great twirl factor - which she is not too old to appreciate!

So, what did the children do in school today??

Well. It only took about 1 1/2 hours. I hope that was long enough!!! We did our "Together Time" - sang a hymn and learned a Bible verse (we'll use the same hymn and Bible verse for two weeks, then switch). Did our "Read Aloud" - The Long Winter, a Laura Ingalls book. O is really enjoying it - me too. I'm surprised at how much I look forward to reading the story.

Then we went to the kitchen table and I started C on some activities in the magazine that Mom ordered for the girls. I forget the name, but it has neat activities and I use it for "school" for the girls that are too young for real school work. H worked on her handwriting book. She's finishing up "Handwriting without Tears", the K book. She'll start on Zaner-Bloser K book next. O was working in her Zaner-Bloser 1 book.

Then C escaped and went with Daddy (I confess to sighing in relief). H colored while O and I did math. We used M&M's to add numbers. It was a very tasty time.

Then I did some phonics work with H. I forget what O was doing. Then, O and I started her "First Language Lessons" (by Jessie Wise). That was painless. Seemed almost too easy.

Next up, I need to help O practice the piano. And we'll call the first day of school a success. :) Yay!

Tomorrow will be more of the same. Wednesday will be different - we'll do Science and History.

Now I just need to figure out a meal for supper. Or dinner. Or pray that the leftovers multiply!!!

A week at home!

2010-08-21T16:31:00.000-07:00

G's been home for a week now. And doing rather well. We did have a scare last night - well, okay, I was scared. G only had three wet diapers yesterday - the pediatrician told me she should have 5 - 6. So, after a trip to the pediatrician today, and after some lab work, it turns out her kidney function is actually better today than it was three days ago. So yesterday was... hot? a fluke?? Who knows.

Her other numbers were pretty good, too. I forgot to ask about the blood count thing, but her lipase, potassium, etc. were all good.

So - we're still praising the Lord for the answer to prayer. And believing for a full recovery. We see the kidney doctors this Friday and I'm hoping we'll find out that she's completely better!

I have sewn this week. No pictures yet. And, I did sew before G got sick - I keep forgetting to take pictures. Maybe tomorrow??

We're Home!

2010-08-15T14:18:00.000-07:00

Yippee!!

Gwen was discharged today and we are at home! Gwen is now getting used to having little people in her face instead of big people in yellow gowns with blue hands :).

Her kidney function is still a little below normal; her blood count was continuing to fall a little; and she's still on high blood pressure medication. That's all that's wrong with her. But, they sent her home because she's acting better; no longer needs the dialysis; is acting interested in food; and is nursing well. The hope is that she will continue to get better - completely well - here at home. She will be getting labs drawn this week and seeing the Hershey doctors next week; with some visits in the weeks and months ahead.

Thank you all very much for your prayers and help and support through these past two weeks. God has answered prayer - the nurses are just amazed that Gwen is able to come home after only two weeks of hospital care. One patient this summer (they've had 5 so far this summer with HUS) is awaiting a kidney transplant; 1 is still on dialysis; 1 went home with a feeding tube; the average stay in the hospital 4 - 6 weeks. And when we remember how awful Gwen felt two weeks ago - and how awful she looked - oh, my! What a change for the better. We have been very blessed!

Gwen has picked up where she left off as far as developmental milestones are concerned. She's been standing up in the crib at the hospital and trying to let go of the crib rails; she learned to wave good-bye in the hospital; and she is crawling again, now that we're home. She's also throwing temper tantrums. Yay. (NOT). *L*

So, please continue to remember us in your prayers while we get used to being together as a family and as Gwen continues to heal. And again, thank you so much for the prayers and other means of support you've given us. We deeply appreciate all of you!

Good News

2010-08-11T12:46:00.000-07:00

Guess What?? God has answered prayer, and Gwen no longer needs dialysis. So they took out the dialysis catheter. And while she was "under" they put in an NJ feeding tube. Her being asleep was an answer to a prayer of mine. Normally, they do NJ feeding tubes without having the child asleep - but Gwen has been through so much and is so afraid of anyone in scrubs / coat / gloves, that I knew she'd be so afraid during that process. And so it was nice to put the two procedures together.

They've stopped the IV nutrients and started giving her breastmilk through the feeding tube. 4 tsp. every hour. AND, hubby tells me that they want to give her clear liquids by mouth tonight. I'm hoping to get back there in time to nurse her - if they'll let me - so that we can limit exposure to juice (and other sugary evils!).

The dr. are pleased with the blood work and at this point have not ordered any more transfusions.

Her potassium is still low; her blood pressure is high - so those are the prayer requests.

She's returning to her happy little self, standing up in the crib; being allowed wagon rides in the corridors; reading books; smiling; and starting to giggle some.

We are so glad! Thank you for your prayers - and don't forget to give thanks for what the Lord has done already. :)

Update on Gwen

2010-08-08T08:48:00.000-07:00

Thank you, Gina, for asking for prayer for G. So many of your readers hopped over and left me such encouraging comments - Thanks to all of you, too.

G's kidney function is making the "King of Nephrology" happy - not dancing in the streets happy, but not mad - that is a good thing. He thinks she will need more blood, so that's evidence that not all things are looking up. But, we're encouraged at the number of wet diapers she's having. So, no dialysis today, but maybe tomorrow.

G's pancreas problem is getting worse, so they're ordering an ultrasound, more bloodwork, and the potential insertion of an NJ (?) feeding tube.

Also, her potassium is very low, so they're monkeying with the IV nutrition bags.

She's been acting a bit more like herself - a wee bit fussy at the nurses, but not bad; pulling on the different wires; and trying to sit up (she falls over right away, because she's so weak, but she's trying).

Thank you all for your prayers - it's trying, but we certainly do feel God's Hand moving in all of this - from the nurses and roommates we get, the other parents we've met, how the doctors are testing and treating - all of it has been passed through God's Hands first and we're resting in that thought.

"Vacation"

2010-08-03T06:49:00.000-07:00

Just so you know: I'm taking a little blog and sewing vacation. G (the baby - just about 11 mos. old) got sick with E. coli, which led to the disease HUS. I can't remember what it's full name is, but it means that her kidneys are not working properly. There is no medicine to "cure" the disease, so what the doctors are doing is supporting her kidneys by giving platelets, watching her diet, monitoring her platelet count, other stuff.

The hopsital we're in (the big teaching one nearest us) has had three of these "HUS" cases in the last month. I think we're case #3, but the doctors are saying that one child went home after 6 weeks, and one went home after 3 weeks of being in the hospital. Also, there is the possibility that she'll need dialysis for a time (could be short, could be long), it'll just depend on how her body heals.

So, if you think of us, we'd appreciate your prayers for Gwen's full recovery and for us as a family. As you can imagine, it's hard on O,H,C to be without G and me. (I've been staying at the hospital.) And it's extra stress on Steve, thankfully, it's a dry year (did I just say that?!?!?) and so the hay is growing more slowly, the hay harvest isn't quite as big - which takes less time to deal with. And while that's not ideal in the long run, it definitely helps Steve to get away and spend some time with us at the hospital.

I will not be keeping my computer with me in the hospital, so updates here will be spotty. If you know us and want more info or up to date info, call someone who knows us!!! Thanks for your prayers!

Birthdays, Sewing

2010-07-27T14:58:00.000-07:00

Here's G's new dress. I know the plaid fabric is a little funky. I know it's not a match that makes one say "oooohhhhhh". But, I'm trying to reduce the stash. And, on a little girl with that much hair, who'll notice?!??! The dress is an Ottobre, 3/2009 (I think), #5 "Alicia". The diaper cover is also from that issue, #2. This time, I did the pleats correctly the first time. I really like the pattern, it sews up quickly when certain girls take the right length of naps!

H got a new nightie. Mom embroidered her name on some fabric and I appliqued it (by machine, of course. I do NOT enjoy hand-sewing). It was my first-ever attempt at machine applique. It won't be my last, but I'm not real anxious to do it again. Maybe on a different day, in a different mood, I'll be excited to do it.

The birthday girl! She turned 6 on Saturday. Isn't that amazing?? When they're so little and just born, you don't think about how they'll look when they're 6. Or what kinds of things will make them laugh. Or what their favorite colors will be. And then they turn 6 and it's really important to think of all those things. I ought to write it all down somewhere, but I'm really bad at doing things like that. I should get her a scrap book and have her start to do those kinds of things for herself. Can we call that school???

Anyway, H's nightgown and O's (one of her bday presents) are both that pattern that I worked to death from the 1/2005 issue of Ottobre. I forget which number. But it's supposed to be a shirt (which I have made) and I just lengthened it and we like it as nightgowns. The ricrac is VINTAGE. (In other words, mom gave it to me and it's the real deal. Definitely from the 80s, 70s or 60s, depending on where she found it - attic or sewing room!) It's huge! But I think it looks cute on the nightgown. Oh, she's eating cheese. That's why her hand is at her mouth.

And, since every one else's picture is here, I don't want to leave out C, our most adventuresome girl. Who knows, maybe in 20 years she'll be reading this and wonder where her picture was. Better safe than sorry! I think this picture really captures her personality. And her actions (flushing ALL the wipes, using LOTS of lotion on 1 leg, adding baking soda to my 3 lb. container of dry macaroni, dumping buttons on the floor, I could go on, but I'll start to worry about her again!! *L*)

I have finished planning out 14 weeks of our school year. We're going to start Monday, Aug. 2 Or whatever the date of Monday is. I want to post our schedule, but I haven't figured out how to do it. Once I do, I will.

Hair

2010-07-17T17:30:00.000-07:00

Look at that girl's hair! And she's only 10 months old.