Acorns!

Three, Jack o'Hearts, and Four went about one month ago (or so) to one of our local forest preserves, for a little letterboxing. (Hey, Drama Mama - about 500 yards from where the JM's Monster party was!) Found the letterbox, and also couldn't help but notice the acorns! They were everywhere!

Now, I've read here: Acorn Harvesting and here that you could eat acorns. So, trying to follow directions, we sorted, dried, sorted, sorted, and sorted the acorns. Today was processing day for the acorns.

Naturally the best part is the kids' reactions when they find the little grubs that have come out of some of the acorns down at the bottom of the bucket or bowl. EEEK! I keep telling them that they are just extra protein, but so far, they haven't warmed up to them. Can't say I blame them. They're creepy.

We soaked them in boiling water once, twice, thrice, four, five and now six times. They're still bitter, but getting better with every wash. I'm hopeful that before I go to bed, we'll have some edible acorns. Then I plan to make: ACORN Cookies.

Back in the Saddle?

Jack O'Hearts has announced to me that he is "ready" for some school, like the big sisters. He can write his name, knows the alphabet, can count to twenty, and knows all his shapes and colors. So to give him his own thing, I blew the dust off of our Five-in-a-Row manuals, and have begun anew with Five in a Row, starting with Lentil.

My poor Lentil book. I really need to replace it. It has lost the front cover long ago, and the pages are so ancient that they are "crispy." They've cracked down the center of the book and are now held in by packing tape. Nevertheless, the story is still a classic, and JOH has absolutely adored the lessons.

By far the most interesting thing, though, is the reaction of the bigger sisters. Ace love FIAR. We rowed all the books numerous times. Everytime was a delight. Naturally, Deuce couldn't tolerate FIAR. She had no interest in the format, or in the stories, so it went back on the shelf. Three was, and still is, a workbook girl. Go figure. She would rather do pages (and pages) in a workbook, than get involved with a bunch of hands on stuff, or literature studies. FIAR wasn't really a fit with her either. However, pulling out the books, and reading them, discussing the lessons and doing hands on activites has pulled both Deuce and Three out of the woodwork, where they hang on the ends of the couch, and actively participate in the discussions and activities. So much so, that I need to remind them that this is actually JOH's lesson, and to let him talk or do the activity first.

What a dilemma. My girls are so eager to learn that they try to out do my son! Freaky. So, tonight as a bedtime story, we read Lentil and then my son, Three and I drew a giant map of what we though Alto, Ohio would look like. There were houses, and businesses, churches and parks. There were farms, bridges, a train station and all sorts of other things. JOH was so proud, we hung it up on the back of the bedroom door. So they were up 45 minutes past their bedtimes, there was learnin' going on!

My Kids Have Their Own Agenda

It drives me a little nuts sometimes, when despite my well-made plans, my kids have their own agenda, and it isn't what I've got planned at all. To wit: today we were going to spend the morning on academics and music. The kids were amenable to this. Ace practiced piano for an hour and did part of her American History, and some math (although it was difficult to tell her she was going about it the wrong way:-( ). Deuce practiced her violin, and even attempted to arrange a duet with Three playing along with the piano. I couldn't sit her down for math, but she did her grammar without complaint, as well as entertained Jack and the baby for a good hour. Three played on the piano a little, practiced reading and spelling, and played a math game.

I had intended to do a little Christmas study during lunch (which we did, I read Becky's Christmas Dream by Lousia May Alcott), after which we were going to finish up the metalloids for our periodic table, and read some history before I took Deuce to choir, and went grocery shopping.

Here is what my kids did instead:

The Renaissance - Giotto

We're continuing on the renaissance, examining the work and artistic influence of Giotto. Famous Men of the Renaissance and Reformation has a really nice, easy biography. After reading this, we looked at some of his paintings. Then, for a real art appreciation, I gave my kids a little "window" cut into a piece of cardstock that they could put over the picture and draw what was in the window, rather than have them sketch an entire work, which can be overwhelming. Here are the results:



Can you tell the figures
that Ace copied??













Here are Deuce's



She copied one of the little angels kneeling by Mary.


Three of Hearts did two sketches from the Lamentation picture. I helped her with the face on Mary Magdalen.







The angel is a little scribble-y, but I think you can tell which one it is by the pose.










Of course I needed to set a good example, so I did one too.



















My dudes were the three amigos to the right of the Roman soldier next to Judas. I think the fellow near the top looks like the husband of a friend of mine. (hah!!)

Anyway, we had a lot of fun, and learned about how hard it is to make faces look life-like!!

Messy!

Baby + Bathroom + Toilet = Messy!

A Tea-Riffic Birthday Party!

Here are some pictures from TOH's sixth birthday party. She had a tea party with all her little girl friends. Ace and Deuce were bribed to go by permitting them to go see the
Spiderwick Chronicles afterwards. But I think they had a nice time nevertheless.


The tea party was held at a local B&B, and a very nice lady-owner ran the tea and made the very scrumptious looking treats and sandwiches and stuff. The little girls really used their best manners. It was a very sweet scene. Afterwards, the kids were allowed to look at the neat bedrooms and check out the balconies.

My daughter's favorite gift was a Disney Cinderella digital clock (?) She loved it so much she slept with it last night. I imagine it was lumpy.

Now to get on to writing those thank you notes!

Some things I will not miss

Jack of Hearts has been having a really rough day, and it's only 11:30 in the morning. Now he naps.

But BEFORE the naps, man! Was he rough!

First off, we need to have a tantrum over the pancakes he had for breakfast. He was sooo hungry, he could not wait another minute. The way he was acting, I think the only way he would have been satisfied was if I gave him batter and a spoon. Naturally, the tantrum continued when I asked his sisters to set the table, and because he wanted to put the butter on the table, but was too busy screaming to tell anyone, he ran over to the table, grabbed the butter and threw it across the room. Nice.

A couple of tantrums later - he still hasn't actually eaten anything - I put him back in his bed, telling him that he can come out when he is ready to be pleasant. About 15 minutes later he comes back into the kitchen, as sweet as can be, and begins to eat his pancake. Then another one, then mid-pancake, begins another tantrum about how he doesn't want pancakes, but instead wants a banana.

Okay, I tell him - and give him the half banana that I have sitting by my plate. Yes, he wants it. That is just what he wants, for about 30 seconds, when I am dodging a flying banana, listening to shrieks again. Back to bed he goes.

It goes like this until my mil comes to pick the kids and take them to Atrium. I tell her that JOH is not going to day. Meanwhile, he is whining about crayons, and whining about paper, and whining about his clothes, and whining about God-knows-what. The moment the girls leave, the crying begins AGAIN, and AGAIN the boy finds himself back in bed. It is 8:30 am by this time.

After a bit, he comes out, and is nice for a little while. We read some stories, the furnace guy comes to clean the furnace, and I get some of the books I pulled off the bookcases downstairs. By 10:00, however, the spell is off, and he is back to whining and crying, and driving me nuts. I put him back in bed, and this time he falls asleep. WHEW!

I WILL NOT MISS DAYS LIKE THIS.

Here is is, getting some nap-time, another crabby day.

Extreme Make-Over: Bunk Bed Edition

So, let's say that you are a three-year-old boy. Let's say that you need a change in your bedroom. Maybe you're not content with having a plain pine bunk-bed. What do you think the answer is? How can you transform your bed on a budget?

The aha! moment hits - why not use crayon? It's cheap, comes in many colors, and covers well.

Here is the result of your hard work. Actually it is the result of JOH's hard work.


On a somewhat related note. Does any one know how to get crayon off of pine?