When Anna was little my husband would reach behind her neck each night and turn off her "growth switch". He was always bewildered that God had turned it on by the next morning. It's turned into a ritual to turn off that switch on our children each night, but why doesn't it work?
This week I've been very nostalgic.
Maybe it is because my little guy's eighth birthday is approaching, or maybe it's because my oldest started phase one of braces.
Or, maybe it's because (while preparing for an all day field trip to a ranch) my son told me I didn't need to wear my tennis shoes because "you're getting too old to run around with the little kids". What?!?!
I'm getting more wrinkles and finding myself not among the "young moms" anyore. All this is fine - just entering a new stage of life, but like I said, it's making me nostalgic!
This seems like just yesterday:
Whatever the case, in the words of a dear friend, I am going to "savor, savor, savor". So, during a trip to Wal-Mart last Sunday Grant and I snapped pictures of ourselves and he suckered me into an Angry Birds shirt. You only live once!
I'm trying not to be The Drill Sergeant Mom, but old habits die hard. Reading a new book that came in the mail is helping me IMMENSELY, but I still need daily reminders to enjoy these moments, because all too soon they will be GONE.
I was a little worried our plans for Monday would be changed because Anna was recovering from not feeling well all weekend. I'm so thankful for my sister-in-law, who offered to let Anna spend the day with her while Grant and I went on our scheduled field trip. Anna was able to sew and enjoy her day, and Grant was able to spend the day at The Rock Ranch with me.
The kids learned all about what it was like to be a pioneer, from corn grinding to the Oregon Trail, to living in a log cabin. Probably the best thing about the day was the pure FUN all of the children had.
I was blessed to spend the drive to and from with a sweet friend of mine and her children. She and I talked at length about our faith and our children. Turns out later in the week we connected again and learned firsthand about GRACE and parenting. God's working on me, and He's sending me just the right people to help me on this journey.
Wednesday we took a slight interest led learning tangent. I got up in the morning and read on Twitter that it was Robert Louis Stevenson's birthday. I can't just let this kind of information pass by unnoticed. I read the kids his poem My Shadow, and then we listened to "Me and My Shadow" on YouTube. (I had forgotten how much I loved this song!)
I was going to leave it at that, but then we got to the library in the afternoon and sitting right on the top shelf was My Shadow. Perfect! We sat right there and read it (then checked it out, of course), then had fun making different shadows on the sidewalk as we left.
It was one of those I LOVE HOMESCHOOL moments.
We got home and the kids wanted to play more with their shadows outside, so I gave them a broom and a rake and had them work raking leaves at the same time.
This was such a simple and fun lesson. We read a little about Stevenson, then talked about the poem. The kids did this copywork (thank you Simply Charlotte Mason!). We analyzed the music and sang along a little.
In addition to our normal routine, the kids did a TON OF READING. I was also reading quite a bit, too.
- Grant's selection in Writing With Ease this week was Socks, by Beverly Cleary. We downloaded the book onto the iPad and he had fun reading it that way. What a cute book. He is thinking he might want this to be his literature fair book this year!
- Many pictures books came home from the library. One of the favorites was The Philharmonic Gets Dressed. It's such a simple book that has a huge appeal for kids.
- Another Crinkleroot book was read, too - Crinkleroot's Visit to Crinkle Cove.
- I am participating in the blog tour for LET.IT.GO. It's a fabulous book, and I'll be reviewing it and giving one away next week!
- Anna is getting more shy about being on the blog and that's fine. I want to respect her privacy. She finished the Inkheart series and started the Left Behind books this week.
- Our read aloud is The Great Turkey Walk. Oh my goodness! This is such a cute book, and it dovetails so nicely with our trip we just took out west. I think everyone in the family would say this was the favorite book of the week.
All in all we had a very productive week. It was a little off kilter because of people not feeling 100% healthy and orthodontist appointments, but I cannot complain.
Other events from the blog this week include:
(Click on the pictures to visit the post!)
Please join me for Collage Friday. Reading the posts from the bloggers that link up each week is a huge blessing to me! All I ask if that you grab the Collage Friday button (or text link back to this post) and display it in your post or on your blog. Then, sign the linky and visit others in the list to gain ideas and offer encouragement.
