MommyCoddle

five senses

I have to admit, I'm often a fly-by-the-seat-of-my-pants homeschooler. In fact, I remember being the same way when I was an elementary school teacher. Not so much that I'm not prepared, as much as I'm often struck with an idea when we're in the middle of something else, and I scramble to pull it together.

That happened this morning when we were reading a (very boring) thrifted Science textbook, while we waited for the mobile veterinarian to make a visit to our little farm. The first chapter talked about how we learn about the world around us and discussed using our five senses.

It gave me the idea to let the girls play a little blind-folded guessing game, using all their senses except sight, to figure out what all the items were on my mystery tray.

While they played in the other room, I wandered around the kitchen  looking for things that had texture and smell, sound, and even flavor. (I clued them in when they were safe to taste something. Though I did let them taste the clothespin, just for fun!)

I blindfolded both girls and sat them down at the kitchen table. We worked through the tray of objects and I had them whisper in my ear what they thought each item was. (Whispering was key, because Mary tends to just guess whatever Emma guesses. And I was anxious to see how well she'd do at this game.) 

They loved it and it was fun to see how well they did with their guessing, and what clued them in to what each object was.

Later this afternoon, while Emma was drawing at the dining room table, I gave her a few small circles and asked her to make some observations in each circle based upon her five senses. She was in "a mood" at the moment and gave me a head slumped down on the table, "when can I get back to what I want to do?" kind of effort, but I think I'll try it again tonight, when I'm in the kitchen making supper.

So now after all this, I'm not sure if my girls know more about their five senses, or more about how much fun it is to blindfold each other and make them stick their hands in unknown bowls of food.

Hopefully, a little something was learned along the way.

five (and four days)

Happy Birthday.

study buddy

My mother always used to tell us, "Make sure there are always people in your pictures. Or else they'll be very boring." So forgive me if these pictures bore you, but I can't stop photographing the tiny wonders of spring that are taking place all around our home.

Inspired by an activity on the Green Hour website, Emma and I have each "adopted" a bud on the Maple tree in the side yard, that we'll be watching for the next few weeks.

Today was the first day. We marked the buds with a piece of string, took a few pictures and drew some sketches of what our buds looked like.

After a dormant winter, it seems like changes are happening daily, so we'll be revisiting our buds regularly to take more pictures, drawings and observations.

(And for the sake of full disclosure, I just want to note that my dear children spent more time decorating the title of this chart than they did studying the buds. Isn't that the way it goes?)

I think it will be really neat to compare all the photographs once the leaves emerge. To see how these spindly, fragile red buds change and develop into broad maple leaves.

If I'm not careful, spring will creep up on me, and next thing I know I'll be looking at green leaves, and long grass, and flowering trees. Hopefully, this little project will help us savor the change of seasons a bit more.

how we do things

This is how we keep her pants on during naps. Onesie snapped on the outside, superhero-style.

This is how she carries a v e r y patient cat.

This is how she apologizes to that v e r y patient cat.

Hope you all had a lovely spring weekend.  Here are a few things I'm enjoying right now:

How Do You Start Your Day? :: The Small Notebook

New music :: Josh Garrels

20 Tips for Finding Your Routine With Kids :: Simple Mom

Spring Trees :: Stitched Leaves :: Ocean Kit (it's about as addicting as fabric shopping)

Green Hour Activities :: National Wildlife Federation

Felted Easter Eggs :: Waldorf Mama

family stories

Every year my family puts out a calendar. When there are fifteen children and forty-plus grandchildren, and 10 great grand children, there are a lot of birthdays and anniversaries to keep track of.

Since I moved back here to Maryland, I've been helping with the calendar--taking over the picture-collecting and sorting, and laying out each month's photo pages. It never fails, no matter how many "cushion months" I give myself on the previous year's calendar, I find myself scrambling at the last minute to get it done. It's a lot of work, and my plate is full, but I don't have the heart to give it up or let it slide.

This winter, when I was putting something away for my grandmother in a back closet, I found a big box of slides hiding on a top shelf, boxes with faded labels and years scribbled on the sides. Weddings. Parties. Hand-raised owls and hawks. Big snow storms. Peacocks. Lambs and Jersey milk cows.

Last night, after everyone was in bed, I sat down at the dining room table, turned down the lights and clicked on the fan and bulb of my grandmother's old silver slide projector. I sat with the box of slides and told myself I'd just try to go through two or three boxes and see if there were any good pictures I could put in this year's calendar.

A few hours later, I found myself sitting among stacks of small, banded paper boxes, hard plastic cases and carousels and the original box, empty. I went through each slide, all the way to the bottom of the box.

I sorted, tried to make out faces, noticed how much someone's children look exactly like they did, when they were that age. Marveled at my grandmother, poolside--a handful of kids splashing in the water, a few toddlers watching from wooden playpens in the grass. Children spread around long wooden tables covered in newspaper on the patio, dipping eggs into colored water. Girls bareback on horses. Weddings on the front lawn with green tents, bright yellow table cloths and daisies. Volkswagen buses and BB guns.

Those boxes are full of family stories. Most I don't know. A few I do, but only because some things just don't seem to change. But because I'm a part of this family, I guess it does make it part of my history as well.

And somehow, I going to find a way to save these bits of our family's story before I box them back up and slide them into the top shelf of that closet.

a new day

I'm not sure how it got to be Thursday already. Between a trip to the aquarium and fighting colds all around, the days have seemed to tumble by. People say that February is a tough month, but this March, with all its gray skies and cold rains sure sucks the energy out of me.

Now, how's that for a depressing start to a blog post? Yikes.

But today, I'm feeling the clouds lift and things are finally making the move back to normal. I set one goal for myself today: to get the dining room table cleaned off. It may sound like a small task, but if you saw the piles of books and spilled markers and "stuff" brought in from a car clean out, and mail and fabric and....you'd be impressed.

Emma and Mary went riding all morning, which was a much needed gift. Elizabeth toddled around half naked and happy, making messes in other rooms, while I focused on getting the dining room done.

Isn't it funny how having a mess like that can not only clutter up your house, but also clutter up your mind (and attitude) as well? I'm feeling much better, tons better now that the job is done.

I've been finding it really relaxing in the evenings, once the house is quiet, to continue dipping my toes in the world of digital scrapbooking. Or at least my take on digital scrapbooking. Though they are mostly paper scrappers, I've been finding a lot of inspiration digging around on the blogs of Molly Irwin and Ali Edwards. 

There is something really intriguing about it for me--it satisfies some of my creative longings, it keeps with my love of capturing and taking note of every day life, and I can easily work something from start to finish in a (fairly) short period of time.

I am also really intrigued by the idea of using it as a tool for projects and journaling with the girls, where they are doing the designing and creating and storytelling.

So these are the last two projects I've been working on. The first is a page with my pictures from Sunday's naps--because I just loved them too much to only have them on my blog.

The second is a recipe that Emma created, that I've been wanting to share with all of you. It's really good. So pass it on to your children and let them whip you up a batch.

++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++

Sunday Naps: details here

In The Kitchen:

Background : Andrea Victoria Pina Kit

Frames : Katie Pertiet Basic Bare Frames

Recipe Card : Katie Pertiet File Cards No. 2

"Mom's Notes" : Lynn Grieveson Journaling Spots and Strips

Doilie: Jesse Edwards Doilie Paper Pack

Button: Katie Pertiet Alandia Meadow Kit

Font: Report School

Mom's Note text: "She's starting to dream up recipes, sneaking into the kitchen to try new things. This experiment is actually pretty tasty. She came up with it one Saturday afternoon while I was away. She gave it to Dan as a snack. He loved it. She was proud of herself. She's been copying the recipe, giving it to friends, encouraging them to try it. And she makes it a few times a week. What's a little peanut butter and butterscotch in exchange for creativity and independence? "

pie tester

This morning I'm wondering if homeschooled children get a sick day when the teacher is sick? Actually, it's nothing that bad, I'm just beginning to feel the achy cold that my children suffered through all last week.

Sunday was rainy and gray here, a good day for naps. I found myself tucked in the flannel sheets of my bed with a little girl and a loudly purring cat, who looks to me like she was quite happy to have slipped inside from the rain.

Saturday we all went over to my Grandpa Sayre's farm with my cousin Katie to take pictures of the new calves.

And while none of them were very cooperative with my camera, (we'll have to wait until Katie shares her pictures), I did get a few shots of the resident "pie-tester". Who felt it her duty to stick a shoe in each one, if you know what I mean.....

Alright, on to the good stuff.

Roz Streeten, the designer and illustrator of the Rosie Flo books , sent me an email over the weekend. She shared this neat video of her girls (for whom the Rosie Flo name came from) working on the books. She also told me about the gallery for the books, and anyone who submits a colored illustration is included. There is some great inspiration in the gallery.

Now for the winners. Please send me an email with your mailing info, so I can pass it on to Chronicle. Thanks!

Rosie Flo book:

Such cute books for budding artists! Thanks.

Posted by: Andrea | March 13, 2009 at 10:33 PM

The Duck!Rabbit! book:

Oh wow, either of those giveaways would be awesome. please add my name. thank you.

Posted by: Colleen | March 13, 2009 at 08:39 PM

Show & Tell: Good books for kids

This new book Duck! Rabbit! by Chronicle Books has my kids cracking up and begging for another reading. Maybe it's because I'm a stellar storyteller, or maybe it's because Amy Krouse Rosenthal, who wrote two of our favorites (Little Pea and Little Hoot ) has done it again with her great sense of humor. The classic optical illusion (drawn by Tom Lichtenheld), and banter between the two "characters" in the story is classic and my kids loved it. But we'll leave the answer up to you--is it a duck or is it a rabbit?

You can get a sneak peek for yourself here:

The other new books that have been making the rounds at our kitchen table are these amazing Rosie Flo coloring books. I honestly don't know who has more fun with these, the girls or me. The outfits and illustrations in this book are amazing, and children (or their parents) only need to add the missing "body parts" and color the clothing and accessories. There are three versions of this book...

the original

the garden coloring book

and the Animals Coloring Book

Here are a few peeks into the original, and one that Emma worked on today:

         

    

And I'm excited that Chronicle Books has given me one copy of the original Rosie Flo coloring book, and one copy of Duck!Rabbit! to give away...two winners!! You know the drill, leave a comment. I'll announce two random winners Monday afternoon.

Happy weekend, friends!!

random bits

** Thank you for all your food suggestions. It is amazing to see how many of you have had children who struggle similarly when they are hungry. And remember that (*cough* crazy) idea I had about combining your ideas all in one place? Not gonna happen. It would take me weeks, and that would be if I ignored every other responsibility I have in life. But read the comments because there are some fabulous suggestions, recipes, cookbooks, links, etc.

**You probably noticed that since the new year I have a few sponsor ads appearing on my sidebar. I don't want to get into the whole "having ads on blogs" discussion, but I want to let you all know that I am slowly moving towards having sponsors that are etsy sellers, small businesses, handmade goods, websites, etc. It is important to me, to share sites and shops with you, that I enjoy or that inspire me. I have a few new sponsors already lined up, but if you have any interest in having a sponsor spot, please send me an email, and I'll offer you the details. To get the ball rolling, I'm offering the spots for half off during the month of March.

**Mary has gone on a pants strike. Dresses. All day. All the time. I did manage to get her in pants today because all her dresses were dirty. I told her if she didn't put on pants, she couldn't have lunch with her Pa. It worked like a charm. But, as if I weren't having enough problems finding appropriate clothes from my children already, she's now narrowed my shopping options to dresses-only. Hanna Andersson is having a dress sale right now. Kyrie sent me a link to this site, Basic Brilliance to me which looks great, too. So, I'm back on the hunt for clothes once again.

**As of 3:30 this afternoon, our hens have given us 79 eggs. Wow.

**I forgot to share the great gifts that Erin and Jennifer gave me during our bloggy weekend. Erin gave the girls these zip pouches with colored pencils (and chubby crayons for Elizabeth) and moleskine journals. I'm seriously jealous. And she gave me one of her fabric camera straps. (Am I lucky or what?) and stitched up a set of these napkins. I think they are pretty much perfect for our chicken-loving family. Thank you, Erin. And Jennifer gave me this "crazy" :) quilted pillow--just like the ones I have admired on her blog for quite awhile. It is the perfect squishyness for bedtime reading. Thank you, Jennifer. I love it. And yes, it is still in my room. It hasn't been stolen, yet.....

(photos by Emma' 4-H leader)

**Over the weekend, Emma's 4-H "Meal Appeal" group gave their demonstration in front of the judges at 4-H Week at the local Mall. The group of 4-Hers presented a themed recipe and each shared something about the ingredients they were adding. They had a "ski lodge" theme, and made chili. Emma was salt and pepper and she shared some facts about the spices. She also served the judges the chili at the end of the recipe. And guess what? She came home with Grand Champion!  She was pretty pleased with herself, to say the least. And proud of that purple rosette. I was pretty proud, too.

protein + whole grains

For some reason, my eldest child seems to always give me a rough go of things for several weeks right around her birthday. I remember it when she turned six. And it happened again this January when she turned seven. Maybe it's coincidence. Maybe not. But this year, to be honest, it was a particularly tough several weeks.

It was one of those parenting seasons where I began to question all the decisions I was making for her, wonder if I was somehow "wronging" her, and how I'd failed as a parent. I found myself faced with situations where there was nothing in my parenting bag of tools and tricks that seemed to work.

Eventually, things began to settle down. I think a big part of it, was my change in perspective, which seemed to have a calming effect on our home.

Dan and I also began to notice a pattern. Many of our tough episodes with her seemed to be related to food--whether she was flat-out hungry or coming off some sort of sugary-high. So my focus began to shift, and I realized that I needed to start making some eating habit changes around our house.

On one particularly rough evening, I called Emily and we talked about all this. By the end of the conversation, she encouraged me to focus on two things: getting protein in at every meal (and snack), and making the transition to more whole wheat and grains.

I also started counting points, like I mentioned before, which always helps me be more mindful of where the calories are going, and keeps more filling foods in our diet.

And I have to tell you, the changes have been really good. The rough season appears to be behind us. And on the rare occasion that it shows its ugly head, she's in a much better place to be able to deal with it, and move on.  Me, too.

So I'm back to meal-planning. I'm getting very familiar with my Cooking Light magazine again and delving into out my grandmother's old Moosewood Cookbook.

But you all never fail me...what are some of your best high protein snacks, or whole grain meals and dishes? What's your favorite way to cook with beans? What resources, magazines or cookbooks do you like best? (have you seen this super natural recipe search?? It's great!)  I'd love to have some more recipes and ideas in my repertoire, I think most of us would. Share a link, a post, a recipe. And hopefully, I'll have some time to combine them all into one place so that they are easily accessible for all of you, too.

Thank you, friends.

bloggers, streamside

This weekend, Emily and I had the pleasure of hosting Erin. I hate to try to sum up the weekend with lots of gushing and ranting about how wonderful it was, because it just wouldn't quite capture it all. Spending time with Erin was easy and comfortable. Like we'd been doing this for years....old and dear friends.

Saturday, everyone came to Thomas Run and Mama Urchin and her little urchin joined us, as well. We spent a good chunk of the time streamside, and rest of the time standing around the kitchen table munching on bagels and egg salad (what else would you expect from me?).

Saturday evening, Erin, Emily and I spent some time together wandering around the cute parts of Baltimore and stopping for Mexican, the regular routine for me and Emily.

I was sad to see the weekend end. But still hold on to all that was so, so good.

one question

I'm going to put off the post I had planned to write this evening, with one simple (apparently in our family, not-so-simple) question:

What is your system for staying on top of (and not losing!) checked-out library materials?

Because seriously, I'm ready to put a ban on all library borrowing around here. If we don't get a system that works in place soon, they'll be dedicating a reading room in our honor.

I tried to create a little central gathering place for all the library materials to live--this nice little basket in the front hall. But darn if my kids don't want to read the library books! And carry them to secret nooks and crannies around the house; leaving my sweet little basket completely empty about two days after our library trip. Today I walked passed it, saw it empty, and tossed some mail in there, just so it wasn't so bare.

My no-nonsense husband says, "Well, they're in the house somewhere." True. I know they're not in the garden shed. I know they're not in the chicken coop. I know they're not on the front porch. They could be in the car. But obviously there is some black hole, perhaps under the girls' beds, that is swallowing up library books, and has a particular hunger for movies about baby deer and soccer tips from the 80s.

crazy egg

Good Monday morning, friends. Like most of the east coast, we're getting blanketed with snow this morning. I'm looking forward to tucking in, cranking up the stove, and once things settle down, eventually heading outside to play a little bit. They're calling for lots of wind later today though, which is usually the one snowy combination that my kids aren't so crazy about playing in.

Meanwhile, the chickens have been keeping things interesting around here.

I know I read in one of my chicken books that the eggs would start off small and gradually get bigger. Our eggs have been pretty average except for the one the size of a large marble I found on the floor of the coop.

But this one, from last week, has us all pretty speechless.

All I can think of is the poor hen who laid it.

We haven't cracked it open yet. It's sitting in a bowl in our refrigerator. I'm a  little scared to see what's inside. A dinosaur? An ostrich? A little lizard? A giant chicken? My children have lots of interesting ideas.

Since this is the second time I've written this post this morning (thank you, typepad for losing the first when I hit save, and not recovering it) I'll save the rest of it for another time.

Be sure to stop by the habit blog to meet our new March guests.