pre-school

On Monday, I went through some capital letter flash cards with Stephen. He almost knew them all. He made one little mistake - calling 'W' 'M'. Today we went through the lowercase letters. He wasn't sure about 'g' the first time through, but got it on the second round and also corrected calling 'l', 'I'. He didn't know 'a' either time. The other letter he didn't know was funny. The first time through he called 'd' 'b'. I showed him both and asked him to name them again and he called both of them 'b'. I said, "That's silly, they can't both be 'b'! This one is 'd'." The second time through he paused at 'd', looked at me and said, "It can't be 'b'!"

winnings!

We were among the top scorers on the Holy Heroes Advent Adventure Quiz #1. Our prize? A free CD! We just ordered it, but I have to put in a plug for this music: Songs of Faith and Joy,. Holy Heroes isn't making me do this nor did they even ask me to. We have the original "Catholic Songs for Children" and "Sweet Mary" cassette tapes that these songs were originally released on and we love them! Now we'll be able to listen to the songs in our van, too. Hooray!

Also, and perhaps more exciting...I won last week's Great Monday Give at Vintage Kids Book My Kids Love! "Obsessively seeking vintage kids books of old to share with my son" sounds a lot like me, eh? I will be blogging about the great books we get over in Our Little Library in January.

Advent Adventure

Sacrifice beads* were highlighted on Holy Heroes Advent Adventure and I thought the girls were finally old enough to make their own (Thanks to Kristi for the beads and Andrea for the yarn):



Teresa chose a vibrant rainbow of colors: red, orange, yellow, green, blue, purple followed by brown, black, gray and white for her ten beads. She used her St. Teresa of Avila and St. Rose of Lima medals on one end, a small crucifix at the other and wanted to use the brown yarn to lace them together. It is beautiful.

Catherine chose a random assortment of colors that struck her fancy and put them on purple yarn with a pretty cross at one end and two Miraculous medals at the other. It is unique as is Catherine.

I followed Teresa's lead and used the brown yarn and an assortment of jewel and pastel toned colors arranged in a modified rainbow order. My medals are (small) Our Lady of Perpetual Help / St. Gerard and (large) a medal I got when installed in the Archconfraternity of Christian Mothers at my parish. The front is an image of the Pieta and reads "MOST SORROWFUL HEART OF MARY, HAVE PITY ON US AND OUR CHILDREN" and the reverse is an image of St. Joseph with the Child Jesus that reads, "ST. JOSEPH POWERFUL INTERCESSOR, PRAY FOR US AND OUR CHILDREN"

We also made one for Anthony with green yarn and ten different green beads with a cross on one end and a Holy Spirit / Holy Family medal on the other. (His choices). I didn't get a picture of it because he lost it already. When we find it, we'll attach his blue carabiner clip to it like the ones Holy Heroes has for sale.

Holy Heroes also has the Catholic Treasure Box books newly available. I highly recommend this series for every Catholic bookshelf. We have all 20 since Grandma Q bought them when she was homeschooling. (Thanks, Grandma!) They are pricey, but The first 6 books are only $27 and contain the complete set of beautiful stories about St. Therese, "The Little Flower". Books 5 and 6 tell about how she was given her first set of sacrifice beads and learned how to make presents for God with them, helping her to become less selfish and more holy.

I hope they help us, too!

Seven Quick Takes (Vol. 4)

ONE
I spent money (gasp) on the kitten. She's just a farm cat, but she was under the tractor last time daddy started it up to mow the lawn and she got hurt. All I could see was a kitten dragging a leg around and mewing in pain when we picked her up. So - for $8 I got some reassurance from the vet that she only has torn and damaged ligaments in her knee and hip that will heal on their own in 6 weeks. I think the vet helped get things back in place a bit, too, because she's already using her leg more than she did before. Now Catherine wants her to be a house cat...


TWO
School continues to go well - as long as we get started right away in the morning. We can be "done" by 10 if I get up by 7, have my outside chores done and breakfast ready so the kids can eat breakfast and start school by 8. We do lots of little "enrichment" activities in the afternoon, which includes reading a lot of picture books and going off on little "rabbit trails" from there. We had a "field trip" to the dentist recently while we were learning about teeth in Science and found out that Anthony has a little cavity that needs to be filled. Yikes! Our first cavity! We have another "field trip" scheduled at the optometrist when I am getting my eyes checked for new glasses in a few weeks.

Catherine is getting some extra practice with her numbers and number words 0-12 with some Montessori-ish 3-part cards I made for her and it looks like that is helping a lot. Teresa continues to read...read...read and I'm trying to decide how to help Catherine in that regard. The other day, when she was being stubborn about sounding out some words, I left her for a few minutes and when I came back, she had written: "I Dot no haw tw reb" at the top of the page. I decided to let her start the "Learn to Read" section at Starfall and she's really enjoying it - and doing well! I'm thinking of paying the $35 annual fee for "MORE Starfall", which opened earlier this year. All the kids (including Stephen) love this site. Stephen always wants to play "/a/, /a/, /a/", which is the first step: "ABCs" He knows a lot of letters and can use the computer mouse really well. Adam was impressed.


THREE
Stephen finally had his 2nd doctor's appointment with our family doctor...third in his life. He's closing in on 27 lbs (10th %), is 36 inches tall (25th %), with a head circumference in the 50th %. He got his 2nd shot (we have a very laid back approach to the recommended "vaccination schedule") and he handled it well, but he's having growing pains in his legs (he's been very restless at night) and the shot didn't help much. It also didn't help him get over a tiny cold he had - it's worse. Daddy asked him, "What's that coming out of your nose?" Stephen felt around his nose and replied, "Concrete?"



Another cute Stephen conversation:
mom: Can I give you kisses?
stephen: On my cheek.
mom: (kiss-kiss-kiss-kiss-kiss)
stephen: That's enough, now.

FOUR
Moving books and bookshelves has me in a nostalgic mood where I want to sit down with all my "friends" and read away. I love the "I Can Read" books by Arnold Lobel. Frog and Toad are my favorites. We have two, the library has one - I've been on the lookout for the fourth. Uncle Elephant is sweet. Owl at Home is funny. I would love to find Mouse Tales, Mouse Soup, Small Pig and Grasshopper On the Road, being the collector of books that I am...and speaking of collecting books, I picked up two new ones at a garage sale: Emily's Runaway Imagination by Beverly Cleary (which I also read over the weekend and loved it - Emily is such a real girl!) and Charlie's Raven by Jean Craighead George.

FIVE
We finally got the manganese and iron out of our water. I enjoyed working with Jack, again. He helped me understand a lot about water treatment when I was at the University and working on a report that addressed the water quality at the CK Motherhouse. When we bought our house, our options were extremely expensive or involved a lot of chemical intervention, so we've lived with the problem. A reasonably affordable and easily maintainable solution came out a few years ago, so we bit the bullet and finally fixed our water problem. Our water is not extraordinarily delicious, but it does taste much better and I can have whites again! I'm also hoping that this will make laundering cloth diapers less complicated.

NOTE: Jack was very impressed with the excellent job Adam did with the plumbing / installation of the unit. He is used to having to fix things that homeowners screw up. Kudos to Adam!

SIX

Teresa asked if she could have a chore to do in order to get to get a toy back from the bucket under my bed. (She had her eye on a little stuffed Pooh bear). She unloaded and sorted the laundry from the dryer. Before she picked out her toy she changed her mind, though: "I don't want a toy back, mom. I decided just to do it for love." Wow!

SEVEN
The Applejack Festival was not worth it. We aren't into spending a lot of money and were disappointed that there weren't more free demonstrations, tours, etc. The only differences we noticed between going to Nebraska City for the "Applejack Festival" and going a week earlier or later was: 1)a lot more people / less parking and 2)more things to spend money on. We decided that we'd go back in a few weeks when the trees are changing colors and it's not quite so crowded to take the kids on the Arbor Day Farm Tree Adventure.

A PICTURE THOUGHT I AM SHARING:

We did some re-arranging. This is the new family room. The new living room and dining room/school room are in progress...(i.e. right now they're a mess).

Happy Labor Day

One of the 'newletters' I subscribe to is CurrClick, a homeschooling resource. There is a weekly free pdf and I often download and save them for future use. This poem was in last week's Labor Day Holiday Helper.

Against Idleness and Mischief
~Sir Isaac Watts

How doth the little busy bee
Improve each shining hour,
And gather honey all the day
From every opening flower!

How skillfully she builds her cell,
How neat she spreads the wax!
And labors hard to store it well
With the sweet food she makes.

In works of labor or of skill,
I would be busy too;
For Satan finds some mischief still
For idle hands to do.

In books, or work, or healthful play,
Let my first years be past,
That I may give for every day
Some good account at last.

Do you recognize it? I've never heard the original - and I love it! (We read about bees all week, so this is perfect for my girls who don't like to work...) I only knew the Caterpillar's "improved" version from Alice in Wonderland. *blush*

Seven Quick Takes (Vol.2)

ONE:

The girls finally got to paint! (Dad took the boys to a local auction last Saturday morning, so I wasn't afraid of an overwhelming mess). They painted "The Little Red Lighthouse and the Great Gray Bridge" Next, we mixed up some green and brown because they wanted to paint their play fort.

I have been discovering books that are based on real places. There really is a little red lighthouse and a great gray bridge in New York! We also discovered that the places in Boston that were featured in Make Way For Ducklings, are real, too. We went to a medeival German town in Once Upon a Dinkelsbuhl and flew across the English Channel with Louis Bleriot in The Glorious Flight. Teresa thinks it's great that these places are real, but she doesn't just want to look at them on the computer. She wants to go see them!) Maybe a Little House on the Prairie trip next summer. Do you have a favorite "real" book?

TWO:
If you let your kids watch The Swan Princess be prepared for them to pick up on a key phrase* from THIS SONG and sing that when it's time to do chores rather than THIS ONE or THIS ONE.

*the key phrase in "This is My Idea" is what the boy and girl sing alternately and then in chorus: "This isn't my idea...this isn't my idea...this isn't my idea of fun." NOT what I want the kids singing during clean-up time

THREE:
Adam has been reading up on and collecting (and making) beer and wine brewing supplies for the past year or so. He finally started his first batch of something: Mead. He also started his first batch of beer this weekend with a friend/co-worker. It is a wheat beer that is supposed to be similar to Blue Moon's Belgian White. I've requested that his next batch be something that tastes like the Empyrean Brewing Co.'s Oatmeal Stout. Michaela should be born by then...

FOUR:
Adam took the kids with him on Saturday so I could visit Jennie and do some shopping. I found lots of cute NB winter clothes for Michaela and I think that I should have everything I need for her, now. I also bought a few new footed pjs for Anthony and winter coats for the girls at Once Upon a Child. I'm glad I didn't have the kids because it is one of those stores you have to be careful in. One cute sleeper will be $2.50 and the next one that is the exact same style and brand will be $4.50.

Speaking of shopping carefully, I had a lovely time browsing at Adoremus Books . I could have spent a LOT of money, there, but kept it under $50...with a $10 off coupon. I also got to pick out a free prayer coin and was especially drawn to this one. Two new books that I'm excited to have are Mary Reed Newland's The Year and Our Children and Hubert van Zeller's Holiness for Housewives. Have you read this book?

The girls want to learn how to play the piano, so I stopped at a few music stores. I learned with Bastien's Piano Basics but instead of using my Primer, which I started with in 3rd grade, I bought Piano for Young Beginners Primers A and B. It was kind of fun to browse through a music store again.

While I was in town, I decided to pop into Michaels to get some things for the kids to make plaques to hold their Rosaries (I was inspired/reminded by the Wooden Rosary Holder Kit's I had seen at Adoremus Books.) For less than $4/kid, rather than $7.50, everyone will have their own. It will be a Sunday afternoon craft project and they should be ready by October, the month of the Rosary. I also found a cute Mary Engelbreit calendar for our school room and when I was done there, I walked over to Schlotzky's to enjoy a (Medium) Original Deluxe. It was 956 calories, but YUM!

FIVE:
When I was working with the girls on something last week, Anthony asked if he could go outside to get the truck he'd left out yesterday. I told him yes and Stephen said, "Me go too, okay?" with a tilt of the head and his very serious look. I let him go, but apparently he didn't. Instead, he took a Sharpie *gasp* from Daddy's drawer and did some decorating downstairs:

slip-covered couch and cushion


coffee table and daddy's chair


shoe shelf and, of course, himself.

Anyone know of a magic trick to get permanent marker out of upholstery or finished wood?

SIX:
I read this quote by Blessed Mother Teresa at the bottom of a forwarded email. "The success of love is in the loving - it is not in the result of loving. Of course it is natural in love to want the best for the other person, but whether it turns out that way or not does not determine the value of what we have done." I've never heard that one before.

SEVEN: Some friends came over for dinner on Sunday night. Shannon is due about a week after me and Catherine asked, "Are you going to have a baby, too?" Shannon affirmed this and Catherine observed, "Your baby is bigger than ours." We both laughed. My babies have all been small (<7lbs) and I never look as big as I feel. Another mother whom I met up with recently, due in January, observed that she is already bigger than me, as well...as I'm sure most of the expectant moms I know are or soon will be.

A PICTURE THOUGHT I AM SHARING:
(I hope no one is offended by this...you're all moms and things like this happen all the time in your house too, right?) Stephen is spending much more time here lately. He has woken up dry and kept his training pants dry for a few days, now! I wasn't really expecting it, so I haven't been counting...but it looks like Stephen will be out of diapers by the time Michaela is born!

Seven Quick Takes (Vol. 1)

I'm not going to commit to doing this on Fridays, or even weekly - I'm just going to write about 7 things that come to mind as I have time and post when it's full. "Big News" will still get a separate post.

ONE: My reading of Witness to Hope has come to an abrupt halt as I have finally had to return it to the library. This is a book, to quote Sir Francis Bacon, that it is one of the "...few to be chewed and digested: that is, ...to be read wholly, and with diligence and attention." I read the first four chapters and Chapter 10. This is a book that will be on my shelf someday, dog-eared and underlined. Now is not the time for it, though.

TWO: During a recent thunderstorm:
Catherine: If you get hit by lightning, will you die?
Dad: Yes, most people who get hit by lightning die.
(mom interjects to diffuse the conversation before it ends in tears): but sometimes things like getting hit by lightning or getting bit by a spider gives you superpowers, but that doesn't happen very often. I don't know any superheroes.
Dad: I'm a superhero.
Catherine: No, you're not.
Dad: Anthony thinks I'm a superhero.
Catherine: I think you're just an old man.

THREE: I read these quotes on a homeschooling forum and wanted to share them with all mothers who are teaching their very young children at home every day:

"All who undertake to teach must be endowed with deep love, the greatest of patience, and, most of all, profound humility. They must perform their work with earnest zeal. Then, through their humble prayers, the Lord will find them worthy to become fellow workers with him in the cause of truth. He will console them in the fulfillment of this most noble duty, and finally, will enrich them with the gift of heaven." - St. Joseph Calasanz

"A roof to keep out the rain. Four walls to keep out the wind. Floors to keep out the cold. Yes, but home is more than that. It is the laugh of a baby, the song of a mother, the strength of a father. Warmth of loving hearts, light from happy eyes, kindness, loyalty, comradeship. Home is first school...for the young ones where they learn what is right, what is good, and what is kind. Where they go for comfort when they are hurt or sick. Where joy is shared and sorrow eased. Where fathers and mothers are respected and loved. Where children are wanted. Where the simplest food is good enough for kings because it is earned. Where money is not so important as loving-kindness. Where even the teakettle sings from happiness. That is home." - Ernestine Schumann-Heink

FOUR: Some friends of ours are building a house nearby and Adam went to help them other evening. Anthony joined their boys imitating their fathers: smoothing out the concrete. These boys may not be in pre-school, but there is some real learning going on, here.

They have a blog that we can use to follow their progress as we read: What's it like to be a...HOME BUILDER by Kira Daniel and hopefully we'll have a few more opportunitites to get some 'field trips' in.

FIVE: I know that homeschooling is right for us this year, but it is not easy. With fondness I look at my friends "first day of school" posts and read about how much their children love their new school, new teacher and new friends. By comparison, our first day of school was...not something to blog about. The grass is always greener...but there are a lot I don't miss about school. It was was not perfect and there were a lot of things that made that green grass taste bitter to me.

I love that homeschooling frees me to make what I feel are the the best choices for my young kids' growth and development as individuals, whether it is what they eat, hear, read, or watch, and to be able to celebrate the year, seasons, and feasts as a family.

SIX: We use disposable diapers overnight and this morning Stephen decided to swing his around by one of the tabs on the way from the bedroom to the bathroom trashcan. It busted open and I had quite a mess to clean up. School started a little late.

SEVEN: Anthony is really enjoying the book, Johnny Appleseed, a tall tale retold and illustrated by Steven Kellog. He's been walking around singing, "John the apple seed". I was excited to find a smiliar book, Pecos Bill, a tall tale retold and illustrated by Steven Kellogg at the Friends of the Library bookstore. I searched the shelves and actually found 15 new books (3/$1 = $5). Most were "educational" in nature, such as Fossils Tell of Long Ago by Aliki. A few were little treasures to me:

A Tree is Nice by Janice May Udry
Little Bear's Friend, but Else Holmelund Minarik
Nate the Great by Marjorie Weinman Sharmat
a library bound copy of Ten Apples Up On Top by Theo LeSieg aka Dr. Seuss, whose sometimes altered his name, Theodore Geisel.
and a hardback copy of The Little Red Lighthouse and the Great Gray Bridge by Hildegarde H. Swift

Finally, incorporating this addition from The Simple Woman's Daybook:
Here Is A Picture Thought I'm Sharing:
The boys are working on the alphabet. Anthony arranged these in order from 52 randomly shuffled alphabet cards and only needed a little bit of help.

our homeschool

Christ the King Home School is in session. Catherine is enrolled with Seton Home School in First Grade. We are using a combination of Kindergarten and extra first grade materials for Teresa. There are things we like and things we don't. Some of it seems to hard, other things seem too easy. There have been days where we supplement and days where we barely get what has to be done finished before daddy gets home. We're not using any kind of curriculum with Anthony, yet. There are a few "circle time" ideas that I need to implement at the beginning of the day once we are a bit more settled.

Since we've started school(which happily coincided with the beginning of my third trimester) I have deleted more blogs from my Google Reader list. I've unsubscribed from a few things to keep my inbox more manageable. I hope I'll be able to post a weekly update (a non-linked version of Jennifer's "7 Quick Takes Friday", but my kids and my house (and our garden, right now) need me more than I need 'my time' on the computer every day.

Hope you're all having a great school year!

I am loving this...

Brightly Beaming Resources

Anthony can hardly wait to "start school" so I've been looking for something he can do while the girls are busy with their Seton Home School lessons. This looks like a great "go-to" guide that gives me a weekly plan for him. I'm looking at the "Preparatory" and "Letter of the Week" curriculums...they're free!

I've considered Catholic Heritage Curricula Pre-school;
Mater Amabilis preparatory level;
The Angelicum Academy's Nursery and Pre-school level curricula;
I really like the sound of the Little Saints Preschool Program (and it helps that our Bishop gave the imprimatur) but it's a little pricey and I've read that it's too time intensive...if I could find a used copy I think it would be worth it.
I've heard good things about Five in a Row (and Before Five In a Row), but am not too sure about investing in it (and the books that we/our library doesn't have).

When it comes down to it, I like the idea of FREE and the "Letter of the Week" curriculum matches my style - it is a lot like what I started doing with a letter of the week for Teresa last year except that it's "done" and gives me a great starting point that I can modify with books from our house and library as we go and I have time. Since school starts soon...that's what I'm going with for now.

cleaning..

Catherine is enrolled in Seton Home School for first grade this year. I'll be using duplicate workbooks and some Kindergarten materials to teach Teresa. We'll be using CHC Preschool and some Montessori-inspired activities to keep Anthony and Stephen busy. I'm getting the school room ready while the girls are visiting Grandma Q this week. Adam is going to fix her dryer and pick them up on Saturday. He's taking the boys, which will give me some uninterrupted time to get a lot more done than I was able to get with the boys here over the last 3 days.

I had to turn on the computer to send Adam a file and got distracted (of course). I ended up replying to a 4Real forum question about your favorite childhood toy (as part of my cleaning has been dealing with toys all over the house). Can I take a moment to tell you about my favorite baby-doll? She was my "broken neck" doll (she didn't have a broken neck, originally, but my brother grabbed her hair and tried to pull her away from me once, making her more like a "real" baby, who needs her head supported). My grandma sewed her clothes and my dad made her cradle. She's a 1977 Fisher Price "My Baby Beth"). She is Teresa's dolly, now.



Catherine has one of my old dolls that is just marked "Hong Kong" on the neck...but she loves it. There are also a few stuffed animals and soft dolls that survived along with Rainbow Brite and Baby Brite. (My mom never let me have a Cabbage Patch Kid. She thought they were ugly.) We also have a set of wooden blocks and a few other miscellaneous toys from my childhood that the kids play with.

Other favorites I kept were 1) my old Lite Brite. Right now I have visions of colored pegs ALL OVER the floor so that is staying in the attic with 2) my Barbie Dream Kitchen, which also has WAY too many little pieces for the kids right now. Adam has his Western Playmobil set for when the boys get older.

Do you have any favorite toys in storage or around the house that your kids (will) play with?

Teresa

One of Teresa's new favorite things to do is collect eggs from our laying hens. We collect them 3x a day because we have a rooster and we just don't want to give them a chance to start incubating. She is very slow and careful so as not to frighten - or provoke - these big chickens! (Nevertheless, she is not allowed to go in the chicken coop without mom or dad.)

Here is a picture of our little fashion queen! This was a day that she had a dresser full of clean clothes - it was not because this was all that was left in her drawer...although that happens quite often at the rate she soils her clothes. I wish she could have "play clothes" to re-wear outside every day, but she get them - and herself - SO dirty that it's just not an option. She loves being outside, whether it's sitting on the porch petting our cat, Princess (who we expect will be having a litter of kittens close to the same time as last year), or climbing trees, digging in the dirt and making mud. There is no going to bed without at least a quick scrub in the tub for this one.



Indoors, she likes to read. She will sit in our closet library with a pile of books and read...read...read. We finished Level 1 and Level 2 of CHC's Little Stories for Little Folks. We took a break from those to read the American Cardinal Reader Primer, which is wonderful. She has 7 stories left to coincide with the 7 remaining days of school. She wants to continue reading in Book One even after school is out because, in her words: "I want to read about Jesus". After she read the story about everyone trying to wake up Jean, where Jean says a morning prayer before coming to breakfast, she wanted me to print out a copy of Jean's Morning Prayer to tape on her dresser next to her bed to pray every morning. There is also a Prayer Before Meals taped up by the play food that she says with her paper doll, Mary, before they "eat" and a Guardian Angel that we taped that one up under the Night Prayer, copied and colored from our Catholic Children's Treasure Box series. It is such a privilege to see her growing in her love for God (which is, incidentally, as much as the whole wide world and the whole outer space. She only loves Mary as much as the whole wide world and half of outer space - because Mary wants us to love God more - and she only loves mom and dad as much as the whole world and all the planets.)

thunderstorms

Last night we had thunder and lightning and heavy rain. We are expecting more tonight. It is a perfect day to read: The Real Princess (The Princess and the Pea): "One evening there was a terrible storm; it thundered and lightninged and the rain poured down in torrents; indeed it was a fearful night."

(Check out the other illustrated stories and poems on this small, but beautiful site! There are a lot of good ones for little kids - some are for older children, though. I won't be reading Bluebeard aloud, for example.)

Anyway, I printed out the story for Teresa to read along with one of our *saved* free Dover Publications Sampler pages from the Favorite Fairy Tales Coloring Book by Fran Newman-D'Amico to color...it's not exactly Dulac, but there are twenty mattresses to count and color:

100th Day of School

Well, today marks the 100th day of school, and Adam is taking off work early to see Catherine's classroom this afternoon as they celebrate Catholic School's Week with an Open House. For her "100" project, Catherine strung 100 pretty beads to make a necklace. (Thanks for the beads, Kristi!)

To answer the question, "What would you buy with $100" Catherine wrote:
1. Legos (here, I think she must be copying off some boy's paper, she told Adam that she never plays with the Legos at school)
2. computer (for playing games)
3. Swimming Pool (she clarified that she is talking about a kiddie pool to replace the blow-up one that popped last fall)
4. teddy bear for my sister (say it with me...AWWWW!)

At home, we did some reading at Starfall (both the kids and I love this free on-line resource) Anthony continued working on his ABCs and Teresa continues to Learn to Read and played the "100th Day!" story. Since they counted by 10's in the story, we did the same with 10 small cookies for a snack...and when Catherine got home we did it again with M&M's.

Finally, a Teresa funny: While were coloring in their free "Wonders of America" coloring books from the post office, Teresa was circling the animals that live in the swamp. Some of the animals, like the cow, did not belong in the swamp. When I asked if she knew where kangaroos lived she said, "The zoo?"

all I want for Christmas...

...is my two front teeth!



*you may notice in the background, the word MASS in extra-large letters across the chalkboard. Teresa is so proud of all the words she is learning and the stories she can read. We're working through Level 1 of Little Stories for Little Folks: Catholic Phonics Readers from Catholic Heritage Curricula. They are wonderful!

We are parents, again!

Godparents, this time. We were honored that our friends chose us to be the godparents to their third child, a beautiful baby girl. Her chosen patron saints are Saint Elizabeth of Hungary and St. Catherine of Alexandria. I don't have any pictures because by the time I remembered my camera, we were already on our way to leaving late for the baptism. Please pray for us that we may fulfill our role well:

"In all, godparents serve a special role in the life of the baptized person. Therefore, each parent should choose a godparent not just because of a blood relationship or friendship; rather, a godparent should be a trustworthy witness of the faith who will help the godchild attain salvation." The Role of Godparents by Father William Saunders.

After our afternoon with our friends, seeing and holding a new baby, the kids began discussing our family size around the dinner table. Catherine counted up the kids in a family with whom we are friends and decided that we should have seven kids just like them. I counted Catherine, Teresa, Anthony, Stephen, and added five, six, seven; that would be three more children. "Well," she considered, "Maybe we should just have six kids, then. One more boy and one more girl." Then she added, "When I grow up, I can have seven kids. Or eighty." This sounds like a trend. I'll have to work more on mathematical concepts with her.

school decisions (part 2)

As I was been working on this post, I came across this thread at the 4Real Forum. I am so grateful for what Jennifer posted. I've included here the excerpts that reflect the conclusions I've come to:

Feel confident that you are making the right decision for YOUR family, YOUR children, in this season of life. Sending one or two to school doesn't mean you are giving up on homeschooling or a homeschool failure.

Here is what Cay Gibson wrote to me-I still return to it now and again.

"There is still so much you can do with her at home to continue that home schooling mentality that so many of us love and desire.

I think it's more important that you make your home beautiful and wonderful for your girls than worrying about "schooling" them. Make it a haven that invites your girls and your dh to want to come home to. Make it warm and loving.

There is real substance in what we do within our homes with our dc, whether they are there 24 hours, 17 hours, or only every other weekend of the month...

We are all in different situations. And we are all still learning. That's the beauty of Real Learning. It isn't institutionalized or boxed in holes. It isn't a clock on the wall. It isn't something that happens in 7 hours a day or 17 hours a day. It's the atmosphere, the environment, the self-discipline that happens every day of our lives. It's the life we make for ourselves and for those we love.""


As I look forward to next fall, where Catherine will be attending Kindergarten at the Catholic school and I will have Teresa, Anthony, and Stephen at home, I anticipate a routine that will benefit all of us. The best part of our new schedule will be the opportunity to go to daily Mass. Catherine will get on the bus at 7:25AM in our nearby very small town (a 3 mile drive) and since we'll all be up and dressed and in town, we might as well stay for 7:30AM Mass.

After Mass our day will look something like this: breakfast, cleaning/training in practical life skills, lunch, pre-school fun in the afternoon, then we'll head back to town to pick up Catherine at 3:45. Back at home the kids will have time to play together while mom makes dinner, with help from the kids, particularly on special Feasts and Solemnities, when we make something special. In the evenings we'll have time to read, talk, play, and work together, according to the season. We'll continue to refine our bedtime routine and prayers as the children grow and their needs change.

I don't know exactly what form our afternoon "pre-school fun" will take but I am sure that it will involve reading a lot of good books and getting a lot of fresh air, which is mostly what we are doing, now. It is the religious instruction of my children, that I'm feeling particularly called to focus on. I have a used copy of The Religious Potential of the Child on the way and am thinking of buying Moira Farrell's CGS Home Atrium Albums as some of my IRL friends have done. In addition to the encyclopedia of information on the Catholic Culture website, I love the ideas that other moms have on their blogs and over at the 4Real Learning Forum: Life in the Domestic Church for living the Liturgical Year at home. I'm excited about this new blog: First Heralds, as well.

In the meantime, I trying to keep up with Rebecca as she continues her Home Organization/Decluttering project and am devouring Elizabeth's posts on Homemaking. If you've read through all of this, thanks! Writing it out was mostly for my own benefit, but I decided to post it, thinking that perhaps someone will pick up a tidbit from it that will help them in their own vocation.

+AMDG+

school decisions (part 1)

My husband and I attended the Kindergarten round-up at the nearby Catholic elementary school a few weeks ago. The first thing my husband said when it was over was, "We're sending Catherine to Kindergarten."

My husband was homeschooled and during our engagement he told me that it was important to him that I was open to the idea of homeschooling our children. I talked to his mother about homeschooling and she gave me "Catholic Homeschooling" by Mary Kay Clark to read. I met other homeschooling families. I was impressed by how well-behaved and mature their children were. This was one of the things that made Adam stand out to me, as well.

As I continued to read and think about homeschooling while our children were very young, I came across an article by Danielle Bean that made me laugh out loud. At the bottom of the article I saw www.daniellebean.com and went to type it in my browser, opening another world of homeschooling families in the blogosphere. I love what I've read. I love what I see. I wish it were what God was calling me to, but He's not...at least not right now.

We have a good, affordable Catholic school nearby. We have a superintendent, Father T., who understands: "You are the primary educators of your children. We are here to help." This is where the decision comes in. Do I need help? Yes - of course I need help. First and foremost, I need the help that comes from God through the sacraments, whether I homeschool or not. I need the help of my husband in raising and forming our children. Do I need the help of our Catholic schools in educating them? This is where the answer sounds like "yes".

As I read and learned about homeschooling, I came to see it as the "best" way to educate our kids. Sending them to a good Catholic school would be our second choice, public schools would be our last option. Then, of the various homeschooling options, I began to try and figure out which was the "best": Montessori, Charlotte Mason, Classical, Traditional? Better yet, I could pick the best elements of each method and design my own curriculum - tailored to meet each of my child's needs. That is the essence of homeschooling, after all.

Hmmm...where have I seen this before? Oh yes, in college I decided that being a nun or sister was the "best" vocation followed by consecrated lay person, then wife and mother. I started out locally, with the orders present in our diocese. I chose "the best": a young, vibrant teaching order, and began to discern my vocation with them. I am thankful for that period of quiet reflection with a wonderful order of Sisters and for an excellent spiritual director. He helped me to see that only part of a vocation involves an attraction to it. The other elements didn't fall into place then, as they are not falling into place now, in our homeschool.

This "vocation within a vocation" of homeschooling is not what God is asking of me. I am thankful for this year of homeschooling; I have learned a lot. As I continue to listen to the whisper of God (1 Kings 19), an image of the plans He has for us is starting to form in my mind...

"For I know well the plans I have in mind for you, says the LORD, plans for your welfare, not for woe! plans to give you a future full of hope." Jeremiah 29:11

fall feathered friends

As the weather continues to cool down, I have been noticing a flurry of activity in our big backyard. Robins and starlings drink and splash while house sparrows and finches dart in and out to sneak a sip from our birdbath. The blue jays are repeatedly driven away while the cardinals wait patiently. Squirrels stuff their cheeks at the bird feeder while dark-eyed juncos flit about the yard.

This morning, however, we woke up to a silent backyard because, as we soon saw, there was a hawk surveying the feeders and birdbath from a cedar tree. He was being carefully watched by a brave squirrel, but there was not another bird in sight! I wasn't able to get a good picture (something I really need to work on) but after some careful observation and consulting a few different bird identification resources, I'm pretty sure that what we saw was an immature Cooper's Hawk. The iris was definitely yellow; the breast had reddish-brown and white striped feathers, and the belly was white, which is something that distinguishes immature Cooper's Hawks from immature Sharp-shinned Hawks. I was able to see that the feathers under the wings were boldly striped, but never got a chance to see its tail, back, or flight. It may have been a Broad-winged hawk, but now that it's gone, and without a clear photograph, I will never know for sure...

Some birds are just so difficult to identify. But, I'm learning. My husband surprised me with an early Christmas present last week and, although I've missed the beginning of the season, I am also looking forward to receiving a Project FeederWatch Research Kit by Christmas. In addition to this being a fun hobby for me, there are so many great ideas for incorporating this into our homeschooling. The kids already enjoy watching the birds, and helping me clean and fill the feeders and birdbath. I was so happy that Teresa asked us for a hummingbird feeder for her birthday this year. She was so sad when we took it down at the beginning of October, but the return of some of the birds that we didn't see very much of this summer (the bright red cardinals, in particular) and the excitement of observing birds that we've never seen before has kept us all interested.

amazed...

Inspired by this thread, I turned two computer boxes into a stove and a cupboard for the girls to play with upstairs. They spent the afternoon preparing a delicious meal and invited us up for a light show and dinner after...dinner. If their enthusiasm for this kitchen lasts longer than the cardboard, we'll have to buy (or build) a play kitchen for them. After dinner, when we were cleaning up, Anthony was excitedly lining up blocks to "build a word". What word? Sink. We needed a sink to wash the dishes in, and while mom was looking for something practical like an ice-cream bucket, Anthony decided just to make one like they do on our new favorite show.

I decided to run with it and we pulled out the alphabet blocks. We spelled SINK, BALL, and I quickly noticed that Anthony was picking out the letters that I was looking for. Then he handed me one and told me that it was the letter "O". It was. He accurately identified all the letters I've been teaching Catherine and Teresa and a few more to boot! I humbly acknowledge that watching Word World may have something to do with this, but more so, I am sure he is picking it up from all the alphabet books we read, alphabet flash card games we play, forming letters out of playdoh, poker chips and food, tracing letters in shaving cream on the table or in the dirt outside, coloring alphabet letter pages, and writing letters on the chalkboard. Still, I'm amazed that at 2 and a half years old he has picked up so much just by playing along.

Living the Liturgy: November

Our CHC Theme for November is "We Share Our Gifts With Others"

November 1: All Saints Day. Read stories of the saints. Color pictures of the saints. Go to Mass.

November 2: All Souls Day. Visit a cemetery, pray especially for the souls of our family and friends who have died. Read The Fall of Freddie the Leaf by Leo Buscaglia

November 21: Presentation of Mary. Color pictures of Mary as a girl. Talk about and try to do the things she would have done as a girl: "These girls, while serving God, learned to spin, weave, and embroider the vestments and curtains around the temple. Helping to take care of the many priests on duty, they also learned to prepare food. They had to read long passages from Holy Scriptures, like the Book of Psalms; and they had to learn by heart parts of the Prophets and Proverbs." (from Around the Year with the Trapp Family) I'm learning much of these things, myself, and I am looking forward to getting these books to help me along the way.

November 23: Thanksgiving Day. Talk about all the things for which we are thankful. Share our blessings with others. This is a good time of year to go through toys, clothes, books and household items to give away.

November 25: The Solemnity of Christ the King. Make crowns to wear, decorate crown-shaped cookies with candy "jewels".